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APRIL 2016
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ALIVE!
Remembering Those We’ve Lost ICC marks the anniversaries of some special martyrs
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The Enduring Scars of Faith
Christ Church, Youhanabad
The wall of Christ Church, scarred by the blast of a suicide bomb, remains a testament to the scarred but resilient faith of this Christian community.
Witnessing a Christian community’s recovery after twin suicide bombings.
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A Tragedy to Remember
By William Stark
or me, it’s hard to believe that it has already been more than a year since St. John’s Catholic Church and Christ Church were bombed. For myself and for many of the Christians affected, it still feels as though the tragedy just took place. People say time heals all wounds, but looking over the past year, I see that some
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as possible. Although the truly heroic efforts of Christians volunteering as security guards were able to keep the terrorists from entering the churches, 19 people were still killed and more than 80 others injured.
wounds simply won’t be fully healed. The scars remain and change us and, if we allow, take us to a place spiritually we’ve never been before. Last year, on March 15, militants from the Pakistani Taliban attacked two churches in a predominately Christian neighborhood of Lahore called Youhanabad. Using guns and suicide vests, the terrorists attempted to break into St. John’s and Christ Church during regular Sunday services to kill as many
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“I was leading the church in a song during the offering when we were attacked,” Fr. Francis of St. John’s told me in an interview days after the bombings. “Thank God for the volunteer security people. They really saved our people.” Outside, a terrorist armed with a handgun and a suicide vest was fighting to enter the church. At the expense of their own lives, security volunteers from the church’s own congregation were able to tackle and hold down the terrorist before he detonated his suicide vest, killing himself and a young security APRIL 2016
helped Akash deter the terrorist at St. John’s, his body is a physical reminder of what happened to him last year. “I lost an eye in the bomb blast last year,” Sikandar said. “The ball bearings are still in my legs and stomach, and I am still unable to hear out of my right ear.” “For me, the past year has been full of tension and challenges,” Sikandar continued. “However, I am still thankful to God for sparing my life. I was standing in front of the main gate when the attack happened. The suicide bomber was right in front of me, trying to get into the church. We managed to stop him, but (it’s a miracle) I survived.”
Scarred Faith Akash gave his life to stop a suicide bomber from entering his church.
ICC spoke with the families of those killed in twin suicide bombings. volunteer named Akash Bashir. “When the bomber shot at the church security, Akash stood firm,” Fr. Francis said. “He stopped the bomber from getting inside the church; he would have killed many more.” “After the attack, I went to the main gate to see what had happened,” Fr. Francis continued. “I saw the gate had been blasted 35 yards back, and the ground was covered in blood and body parts.” “The first blast took place at St. John’s,” Rev. Irshad Ashknaz, head pastor at Christ Church, told me last year. “The second blast was at our main gate and only happened five second[s] after the blast at St. John’s.” Similar to the events at St. John’s, Christian security volunteers sacrificed their own lives to keep the terrorist from entering Christ Church. A Christian man named Zahid Yousaf, nicknamed Goga, apprehended the terrorist
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and pushed him 20 feet away from the church before the suicide vest was detonated. When the dust settled, hundreds of Christians were affected by these two attacks and left with both emotional and physical scars. Scars they have had to learn to live with over the past year.
A Challenging Year
“It’s been nearly a year since the bomb blast,” Fr. Francis told me recently. “The situation faced by the Christian community has been very difficult. There has been a lot of pressure on the community.” “People still think a lot about the incident, the bodies, the people who died and those who were injured,” Fr. Francis continued. “It was a terrible scene, and it happened to us. It has been like a mental block for the community.” For Sikandar, a security volunteer who
Despite the scars the Christians in Youhanabad continue to carry, there still remains a commitment to their faith and a hope that better things are still to come. This “scarred faith” was something I encountered in the days following the bombings last year. In one of the first interviews I conducted following the bombings, Akash’s mother told me, “We are depressed because we lost our son, but we are also proud of his sacrifice. He saved hundreds. I am happy that God has given him the crown of martyrdom.” This is a feeling that remains strong even a year later. “He was such a brave person, and today the whole nation recalls him,” Akash’s mother told me recently. “One of the questions people keep asking me is about the attendance of the church following the bombings,” Fr. Francis told me. “It is true that after the bombings, many people left Youhanabad, but many have come back … and they are stronger in their faith.” In fact, attendance at St. John’s and Christ Church has increased since the bombings. This has been a real testament to the strength of the Christian community in Youhanabad. “We remember the people who died for this cause and in this incident,” Fr. Francis continued. “We especially remember our hero, Akash. His sacrifice and the sacrifices of others who saved the churches that day have really increased our faith.” Looking over the past year, it’s truly amazing to be connected with a community like the Christian community of Youhanabad. To show such strong faith in the face of such an intense tragedy is something I pray I can emulate in my own Christian journey.
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Christian Persecution South o
ICC President, Jeff King (far right), and CSW’s Anna Lee meet with Chiapas State Human Rights Officials
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ICC’s continues to address the persecution of minority Christians in Mexico. rticle 24, of the Mexican Constitution states: “Every man is free to pursue the religious belief that best suits him, and to practice its ceremonies, devotions or cults, as long as they do not constitute a crime. Congress cannot dictate laws that establish or abolish any given religion.” Despite clearly established constitutional protection for freedom of worship, enforcing Mexico’s constitution has proven to be a different matter. While minority Christians are persecuted for their faith, ICC has engaged in a year-long, ongoing campaign to encourage the Mexican government to provide them this freedom. Of all the countries in which International Christian Concern provides advocacy, awareness and assistance, Mexico may not be the first to come to mind. However, over the past
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year, ICC and Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) before us have documented a number of cases throughout Mexico in which minority Christians are being persecuted for their faith. The persecution is typically perpetrated by village councils who are dominated by a majority belief system seeking to force minority Christians in their communities to convert and help pay for village festivals. In an effort to coerce these conversions, villagers have expelled minority Christians from their homes and villages, denied them resources like public utilities and have even banned them from burying their dead in the public cemetery. Last June, ICC estimated there to be more than 70 open cases of religious persecution, like those described above, against minority Christian communities, each case involving between 20 and 200 victims. These cases exist in the states of Chiapas, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla, Guerrero and, most recently, Jalisco. Despite the frequency and intensity of persecution, the Mexican government’s silence
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on the matter has been deafening. With the U.S. government and the general public relatively unaware of this persecution, CSW and ICC were led to be the voice for Mexican Christians who are impoverished and have little political power to advocate for their rights. To that end, ICC arranged for a tour of 19 meetings with elected leaders in Congress, the U.S. State Department and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom in June 2015. These meetings led to this issue being raised at multiple levels within the Mexican government. ICC also hosted a briefing for congressional staff on persecution in Mexico with other Christian non-governmental groups and a guest speaker from Mexico. In addition, on July 15, 2015, Senator Marco Rubio questioned Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, the current nominee for the next U.S. ambassador to Mexico, on how she would address this trend of persecution with the Mexican government. APRIL 2016
h of the Border Setting Legal Precedents in Chiapas, Mexico
ICC President, Jeff King, delivers aid to one persecuted community
“Every man is free to pursue the religious belief that best suits him, and to practice its ceremonies ” – ARTICLE 24, MEXICAN CONSTITUTION At the grassroots level, an ICC petition addressed to Mexico’s ambassador to the United States, calling for the immediate end to violence against and displacement of religious minorities in Mexico, garnered nearly 4,000 signatures from over 90 countries. In addition, ICC mobilized its volunteer base and supporters to make calls to the Mexican embassy in support of the persecuted Christians. In terms of direct assistance, ICC was able to provide food aid to victims of persecution in Mariano Matamoros, in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, where the Christian minority was denied public utilities and had their crops destroyed for refusing to convert. In Chiapas, ICC has provided legal assistance by hiring a lawyer to file a case in the state court regarding the plight of the
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Christians in Mariano Matamoros, as well as those in the village of Leyva Valasquez, who were expelled from the community for refusing to convert. Our hope is that a win on this court case will set a precedent for the country as a whole. Looking ahead, ICC will continue to put pressure on the Mexican government to prosecute those responsible for persecuting religious minorities. We ask for your continued prayers for our Mexican brothers and sisters in Christ who are unable to worship the Lord freely. For the leaders of Mexico, we ask that you would pray that their hearts and eyes would be open to this suffering and that they would act to enforce their own laws.
As persecution of minority Christians in Mexico continues to increase, ICC has added a new arrow to its quiver in an effort to force the Mexican government to restore religious freedom in the country. As ICC continues to work with the U.S. government to put pressure on the Mexican government through political means, we are also running a parallel legal case in the state court of Chiapas, Mexico. The case specifically cites instances of persecution in Mariano Matamoros and Leyva Valasquez, two villages in the state of Chiapas which have seen minority Christians threatened with violence, expelled from their community, and denied public utilities for refusing to convert from their faith. Last June in Mariano Matamoros, minority Christians in the village had their utilities and sewage disposal cut off by the local government after refusing to convert. The persecution reached new heights in late November 2015 when the perpetrators of this persecution and their allies plundered crops of corn, pineapple and coffee and divided property and land belonging to these religious minorities. Despite multiple state government offices being notified, the perpetrators have committed these attacks without the intervention of any competent judicial authority. In Leyva Valasquez, 30 Christian minority families were expelled from their community by local leaders and saw their homes and property destroyed in early January of this year. This is the latest incident of many acts of harassment and persecution by community leaders in this village. Although state and federal officials have been notified of these illegal acts, the Mexican government continues to ignore pleas for help. ICC has hired a lawyer in Chiapas who filed a case on February 9 in order to force all levels of government in Chiapas to answer for their refusal to take action in enforcing the law and allowing persecution to persist. It is our prayer that the court will force the government to take action, simultaneously setting a precedent for the rest of the country to follow suit. Perhaps then the Mexican government will take seriously the need to enforce their own constitution which is meant to protect freedom of worship.
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Letters from Our Kids ICC’s Kids Care fund supports kids with education, discipleship, and food. Here are a few of the letters they have written to us Dear ICC, Thank you so much for everything that you do for me. I’m so sad for my mother because she’s always in conflicts with my uncles. My mother cries and gets really mad, which makes me sad. Nobody feels how I feel, even my father, because he is old and sick and he can’t do anything about it. You have no idea how bad it is to be living in conflicts and with your family. Have you ever been through this before? Please pray for me that God would solve these conflicts.
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Dear ICC, I’m happy to write to you again and will be even happier if you come visit me at home. How is (ICC Staff) doing? Can he speak now? I am at grade six now, and I joined the singing team at Sunday school and I really like being part of a team. I want to share with you that the past time was very hard for me since my dad passed away. I am very upset, and I miss him very much. Please pray for me and for my mom. Thank you so much. Dear ICC, How are you? I am glad I’m writing you this letter. Please visit Egypt and meet my mom, dad and siblings. I am in grade five now. My siblings are (names). I am very good at memorizing verses, and I like the verse that says, “I AM, do not be afraid.” My mom always tells me to say this verse whenever I face something that scares me. Please pray for my brother Attia, because he is sick. Thank you for your sponsorship.
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APRIL 2016
Dear ICC, My family is thanking you for your care and love, and we thank you for the food you send. You know, something very weird happened to us a little while ago. My brother was going to work with someone he knew, and some Muslim people kidnapped them and hit them, but when they knew that we were poor people and can’t afford the hostage fee, they let him go. They took a very big fee from the other guy with him. When my brother came home, he was very tired and scared and injured very badly. Do you get any of these incidents in your country? Please pray for us. Dear Friends, Thank you for caring for me. Thank you for your help financially and emotionally, as you gave me the chance to be educated. I’m asking for prayer because I want to be like you and help the needy. I love the color red. I’m in fifth grade, and I would like to have a doll.
Dear ICC, Thank you so much for your care, because my father is dead. But you search for me like a father and you always ask me for my needs and fulfill them. Please pray for my mother and me. I like the color brown, and I’m in the sixth grade.
Dear ICC, Thank you for helping me without knowing me personally. Thank you for always asking about my needs and demands. Please pray for my brother, because he is abroad and he takes care of me after my father died. I’m in fifth grade.
Dear Friends at ICC, How are you? I always pray you are fine. Thank you so much for loving me, caring for me and sending me food every month. You know, I’m really tired and sad because so many people bully me and call me names and some of them are very close to me. At these times I wish my father would come back and hug me and protect me. I really miss him. Have you ever felt lonely with people around?
Dear Friends at ICC, Thank you so much for sponsoring me and for praying for me. Thank you for the nice monthly meal you send me. You know, my grandfather died. He used to take my father’s place. He was so kind to me and he loved me very much. But he also died and left me alone. I really feel so lonely. Please pray for God to console me. I want to see your picture, or please come and visit.
Dear ICC, I truly thank you for everything. I also thank you for the good food you send us. You know, my father was traveling and came for a short vacation, and when he was here I felt so safe. He played with me a lot. When he traveled again, I couldn’t sleep. I was so scared and worried. I don’t find anyone to defend me. Please pray for me and let me know how you’re doing.
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