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JULY 2016
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Finding God in the Graveyard of Hope ICC Journeys to India’s Notorious Orissa State
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Cold War Christianity: China’s Hidden War CHINA’S HARDLINE REGIME CONTINUES ITS CRACKDOWN ON THE CHURCH
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By Andrew Kerr
s the son of a minister, my entire life has been spent in the church. There is a running joke in church circles for the families of deacons where whenever the doors are open they are inside, even if it means watching the pastor wash windows. That joke encompasses the amount of time pastors, church leaders, and their families spend in and around the church. While it is lighthearted here in the United States, there are instances during the amount of time spent in church when the lighthearted feelings are meant to
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subside. Youth groups are known for their creative approaches to reaching young people and offering them a glimpse into the life of Christians around the globe. One which I recall participating in was the well-known underground Church scenario. In this scenario, students are split into different groups consisting of townspeople, a pastor, and the police. The object of the game is to simulate the risks in which people take to worship Jesus in countries where it is not welcomed or even illegal. The entire game is played in the dark and the police roam the room searching for townspeople to arrest, whereas the pastor is looking to rescue them by bringing them to the hidden church. It is a fun game for youth groups during overnight “lock-ins,” but it is also
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The remains of St. Pauls Church. Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons.
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Feature Article
Chinese Protestor. Photo credit: Flicker Creative Commons.
meant to be a teaching tool, posing the question of how far one is willing to go to reach Christ. Sure we take part and feel a sense of sadness for the persecuted and maybe even pride for understanding how far our brothers and sisters are willing to go for the Gospel. But do we really put a face to the underground Church, or do we consider them to be faceless people in a far off land? I always viewed the game as describing the Chinese Church and the daily threat that Christians face. Historically speaking, it has not been a safe haven for the faithful since Mao’s Cultural Revolution oversaw the deaths of over 1.5 million people. There have been peaks and valleys along the road for the Church, but even during the harshest of times I never put that face on the millions of Christians living in China. I gather many reading this story have either done the same or have tried in the past, but have lost sight of what they look like. Let us return and embrace that long lost brother and sister we forgot so long ago during our youth. Let us begin with our sister in Christ, Ding Cuimei, of Henan province. This may sound more like a scene from a horror film or someone’s nightmare, but it
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was the reality for a Christian woman by the name of Ding Cuimei who perished in April of 2016. She and her husband, a pastor of a house church in Henan province, attempted to stop a demolition crew from carrying out their orders to destroy the church. As they both stood between the bulldozers and their church building a cry came out from a member of the demolition crew saying, “Bury them alive for me…I will be responsible for their lives.” And so they did. Dirt poured over their bodies from the bulldozer as the order was carried out. In those frightening moments, Ding Cuimei’s husband was able to dig himself out, gasping for air. However, Cuimei suffocated under the weight of the earth crushing her. The aftermath of her death brought a wave of media attention as the story just did not seem to be plausible coming from modern China. With it came outrage for the murder of Ding Cuimei and news reports calling her a “martyr” and “symbol of religious persecution.” Dr. Bob Fu, President of China Aid, who works to raise awareness and provide support for the persecuted in China, said in an interview with ICC that Ding Cuimei’s death “is the tip of the iceberg on the brutal religious policy that is designed for discrimination and really sys-
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tematic animosity specifically directed toward Christianity.” Making matters even worse for Chinese Christians is the fact that the nation censors all forms of media and communication. As a result, the death of Ding Cuimei was suppressed by Chinese media as ICC partners were able to determine from interviews with Christians. According to our partners, “This was never in the news in China; the only way any Chinese people found out about this incident was by WeeChat.” Even then, not every story is factual, making dissemination difficult. Once they were able to read the news reports from Western media outlets, their reaction to it was that the incident was, “a very bad human rights issue, not a religious issue.” It can be argued that they consider her death to be separate from religious persecution due to the limited media coverage of the communist regime’s general campaign against Christianity in China. That policy has become a national campaign to reduce the presence of Christianity in China, but also to bring religion in general under the umbrella of socialism. Since 2013, the Chinese government has conducted a campaign titled, “Three Rectifications, One Demolition,” in which JULY 2016
officials target churches and church crosses for demolition. Based on the historical context of the Church in China, it would make sense for the campaign to target what are considered “underground” churches. This is occurring, but they are not the only churches being targeted as government-registered churches face persecution as well. Current figures from various Chinese and Western non-profit organizations estimate that over 2,000 church crosses have been removed, surpassing the 2,000 mark in just the first month of 2016. Along with the cross removals, over 400 church facilities have been demolished, similar to Ding Cuimei’s church. Both Cuimei’s death and the cross removal campaign follow a pattern of oppression and religious persecution brought on by communist principles. According to Karl Marx, the father of communism, religion is “the opiate of the masses,” a manmade object that limits the people from doing what is necessary, clouding their judgement. Mao Tse Tung followed the Marxist principle on religion and pushed it further by calling religion “poison” in need of eradication. The modern Chinese government would likely state that they do not follow the approach that either of the two had regarding
“Bury them alive for me...I will be responsible for their lives” – LEADER OF DEMOLITION CREW
religion, as they try to create an “open and free society.” Yet the people would suggest otherwise. “Some have compared President Xi to Mao in the sense that he likes very much to have control,” said ICC’s partners. “The general feeling we got is his suspicion toward all foreign influence that may be working against the government.” Hearing and reading the realities of Christianity under communist rule over the past year has been as if the mud had been washed from my eyes and I finally am able to see. Some have read stories out of the old Soviet Union dealing with the treatment of religious minorities, but those same people likely think it is all just history. History, if
not learned from, is doomed to repeat itself, whether it be in China or elsewhere. Yet all is not hopeless. Organizations like China Aid are “very optimistic for the expansion of God’s kingdom in China...by 2030 China will host more Christians than any other country on earth.” Until that moment arrives or until Christ’s return, we as a part of the Body must remember that when one part of the Body suffers, the whole Body suffers. As Christians who desire to aid our brothers and sisters in China, prayer is always important. Along with prayer, training and proper biblical teaching of pastors is possibly the single most important need for the Chinese Church. Apostasy and general lack of experience in leading churches have just as dangerous an impact on the Church as do cross removals and bulldozers. While the latter stories reflect an attack on the physical, the former reflects an attack on the spiritual. Just as I was able to do, so must others in understanding that persecution is real and there are many levels to it. But it must never be taken lightly and we must be willing to suffer along with those who suffer, as we are all children of the living God.
One of hundreds of crosses being systematically removed in China. Photo Credit: Gospel Herald.
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RISING FROM THE DEAD Hundreds of Christian women in Pakistan are forcibly abducted, converted and married each year. One woman details her descent into hell.
M By ICC’s Pakistan Correspondent
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misery started around the middle of June, the hottest month of 2015,” Komal (name changed for security), a Christian teenager in Pakistan, told ICC with tears streaming down her face. It was then that Komal joined the ranks of hundreds of Christian girls in Pakistan who are abducted, raped, and forcibly converted to Islam each year. According to many of Pakistan’s Christian leaders, the abduction and forced conversion to Islam of young Christian girls is just as serious a problem as the murder and/or imprisonment of Christians for false blasphemy accusations. The Movement for Solidarity and Peace in Pakistan published a report in 2014 that said that as many as 700 Christian girls, usually between the
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ages of 12 and 25, are abducted and forcibly converted each year. Similar to other attacks, Komal was abducted by a group of Muslim men. She was repeatedly beaten and raped, forced to convert to Islam, and then forced to marry one of her rapists. Her final deconstruction as a human being came when she was forced into prostitution by her Muslim “husband.” Her hellish experience lasted six months in all, until through a daring escape, she was able to return to her parents and share what she endured. “I am 15 years old [and] the youngest daughter of my elderly parents who work at a brick kiln factory,” Komal told ICC. “They did not have enough of [an] income for my education, therefore I have never been to school, although I wished.” “I was sleeping along with my mother on a single bed in the yard of our house since the power had been cut (this happens often in Pakistan),” Komal said, remembering the day she was abducted. “Around midnight, five armed men with masks climbed over our [security] wall and entered our house.” “The armed men brutally beat the
Komal rejoices in the freedom she has found in Christ.
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entire family and threatened them [with] severe consequences if they shouted for help,” Komal continued. “Then, the kidnappers dragged me from my mother’s lap to their car in the street.” “My eyes and mouth were covered with a piece of cloth and they took me to [an] unknown place where five of them raped me in front of each other, taking turns,” Komal said. “I think it was a neighboring city from where they kidnapped me.” Komal’s abduction was, unfortunately, only the beginning of her suffering. “Burning my female parts with cigarettes was a routine exercise for them,” Komal shared when asked about how she was treated in captivity. “The kidnappers often [degraded] Christians, especially Christian women. For almost two months, they beat me every day for nothing and did not give [me] enough food to eat.” “After two months of inhuman treatment and humiliation, they took me to a courthouse and forced me to put my thumb impression on a document that declared me the wife of a Muslim,” Komal con-
tinued. “I did not want this to happen, however, I had no other option because they threatened to kill my parents if I did not obey. Therefore, they forcefully married me to a Muslim and converted me to Islam.” “Without my wish they changed my religion, my identity and even my name,” Komal said. “My new husband, who continued to rape me for the next two months, then moved to another city. This man already had two wives at his house.” Komal’s treatment is tragically common. Since child marriage is illegal in Pakistan, documents claiming she was over 18 were forged and in Pakistan, a woman’s husband has full legal custody (control) over his wife. This leaves victims without power and trapped. “At this stage, I experienced the worst agony of all,” Komal continued. “I felt like dying every day when my husband forced me to have [relations] with other visitors for earning money. I had become a forced prostitute. He even hired a watchwoman to keep an eye on me almost round the clock.” “I spent the next six
months in captivity but had faith that Jesus would get me out of this hell. In February, I had a golden opportunity to escape. Before [the] sun rose, I managed to sneak away from the house to an urban area after a five hour walk. I begged for money to cover a bus fare and was able to reach my parent’s home after sunset that same day.” “I am thankful for this mercy and the miracle of rejoining my parents now,” Komal said with a smile on her face. “I couldn’t stop crying when I hugged my parents and family for the first time. One can hardly imagine the painful situation which I and my parents experienced. It was like rising from the dead.” Despite returning home to her family, Komal still faces significant struggles following her abduction and forced conversion. “When I returned home, I was five months pregnant,” Komal shared. “I am confused about what to do with my unborn baby. What will the future of my child be if I give birth to him or her?” For all Christian victims of forced conversion, the pursuit of justice is nearly impossible. In many cases, police side with the Muslim
abductors and often forcefully return victims to their Muslim “husbands” because they have primary custody. In cases where victims are able to secure legal representation, the Christian family is threatened with violence or a false blasphemy accusation until they are forced to drop their case. “I want justice, but don’t want to put my parents into danger,” Komal said when ICC asked her what she wanted to do now. “Those people are very rich and influential and therefore we cannot go into the legal process against them. I just want to be divorced and try to plan a happier life.” Unfortunately for Komal, her Muslim abductors may have already robbed her of that simple wish. As an uneducated Christian girl in Pakistan, her opportunities for securing a happy life were already limited before her abduction. Her best opportunity was her ability to secure a good marriage. The stigma of being a rape victim and giving birth to the child of an unknown Muslim father will likely deter most suitors, leaving Komal forever scarred by persecution.
Komal is just one of many Christian women in Pakistan who live under the threat of kidnap and rape.
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