RLPB 708. August Update, incl. India, Pakistan, Iraq, Nicaragua

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 708 | Wed 30 Aug 2023
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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AUGUST 2023 UPDATE & ROUNDUP
By Elizabeth Kendal

UPDATE: DURING AUGUST 2023 WE PRAYED CONCERNING

THE MISSING [RLPB 704 (2 Aug)] and asked the Lord to shed light on the plight or fate of church leaders, missionaries and human rights lawyers who have gone missing after being abducted or arrested. We prayed specifically for a pastor and three elders abducted by troops in Burma’s Chin State; for Gratia Pello (40) theologian and apologist in Indonesia, who has not been seen since being arrested for ‘blasphemy’ in December 2022; for Reverend Hans-Joachim Lohre and Father Père Joël Yougbaré, two Catholic priests abducted in the terrorist-infested Sahel; and for Gao Zhisheng, a Christian human rights lawyer, missing in China for nearly six years since his capture in late 2017. We pray for their deliverance; but at the very least, that their loved ones would know the truth. Lord have mercy.

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! (from Psalm 139:7-12 ESV)

INDIA [RLPB 705 (9 Aug)], specifically the high cost of faith in Uttar Pradesh (UP) where dozens of pastors and believers – many of them young women/mothers – are languishing in various jails as radical Hindu nationalists exploit the state’s severe anti-conversion law to persecute Christians. Like ‘blasphemy’ in Pakistan, luring people toward religious conversion is a non-bailable offence in UP; the accused go straight to jail. We prayed especially for Pastor Harendra Singh, his wife Priya and their three-year-old son who has been incarcerated with his mother. In the words of one Christian leader, ‘The situation has reached such a stage that holding a prayer service or reading the Bible at home can land you in jail.’ Please pray.

CHINA [RLPB 706 (16 Aug)], where the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) new Measures on the Administration of Religious Activity Venues will, in the words of Bitter Winter, ‘convert places of worship into branches of the CCP propaganda system.’ We also prayed specifically for Christian human rights lawyer Yang Maodong (pseudonym: Guo Feixiong). Detained in January 2021, Yang was only formally arrested in January 2022 (two days after his wife died). On 11 May 2023, Yang was deemed guilty of subversion, and sentenced to eight years in prison. However, his whereabouts remain unknown. Yang Maodong now joins the ranks of ‘the missing’. Please pray.

PAKISTAN [RLPB 707 (23 Aug)], after radical Islamic fundamentalist clerics exploited a local accusation of blasphemy to incite a mob of up to 10,000 fanatical Muslims to attack the Christian colony in Jaranwala city in Faisalabad district, Punjab province. The Jaranwala pogrom of 16 August has left the Christian community totally shattered. Tensions remain high; harassment and threats continue; Christians fear justice will elude them. Please pray. We also prayed for Christians currently languishing in prison because of vexatious blasphemy allegations – especially for those who have been sentenced to death: including Noman Masih (22), Ashfaq Masih (34) and the long-suffering and ailing Pastor Zafar Bhatti (57). Lord have mercy.

UPDATE: A RELATED ‘BLASPHEMY’ ARREST

On Saturday night 19 August, police in Sahiwal (100km southwest of Jaranwala) arrested Ehsaan Shan Masih (27) and charged him with blasphemy under Section 295-A of Pakistan’s Penal Code which criminalises ‘deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.’ Morning Star News (MSN) reports (22 Aug) that Eshaan Masih – an illiterate labourer and father of two children – reportedly uploaded images of the material that triggered the Jaranwala pogrom. Pastor Daniel told MSN: ‘[Ehsaan] came across a video on social media related to the attacks in Jaranwala that he posted on his TikTok account. Ehsaan was probably not even aware that sharing such content is a crime…’ Bishop Abraham Daniel of the Sahiwal Baptist Church told MSN that it was only due to prompt action from local police, who took Eshaan and his family into 'protective custody' [where members were subsequently beaten], that another major crisis was averted. Blasphemy is a non-bailable offence in Pakistan, and so Eshaam Masih remains in jail on judicial remand. He could face years of incarceration before his case is finally resolved. Please pray for Eshaam and for the Church in Pakistan.

AUGUST 2023 ROUND-UP – ALSO THIS MONTH

* INDIA: UPDATE ON MANIPUR
Background: RLPB 694, Manipur Burns, 17 May 2023

 David Thiek: tortured and beheaded.
screenshot from short film by Vishal Arora

During his most recent trip into Manipur (July), Indian Christian journalist Vishal Arora saw first-hand what ethno-religious hatred looks like in Manipur. While Vishal was in the area, a Meitei Hindu mob attacked a Kuki Christian community, killing a Kuki youth. A survivor told Visal how the Meitei mob tortured David Thiek (24) by severing his arms and legs before they beheaded him. They showed him where the Meitei put David’s severed head on public display to be mocked. Vishal reports that the near daily attacks on Christian Kuki-Zo communities are being perpetrated by ‘the Meitei extremist groups Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun. But what is most striking,’ says Vishal, ‘is a claim by Kuki-Zo leaders. They say the Manipur Police, including their elite commandos, and the India Reserve Battalion, or the IRB, which reports to the state government, are present alongside the Meitei groups during these incidents of violence.’ Please pray.

Recommended
Article: The Men Behind Violence in the Indian State of Manipur,
by Vishal Arora. Published by Religion Unplugged, 18 August 2023
Video (YouTube): The Men Behind Violence In Manipur, India (11:30 mins),
by Vishal Arora. Published by Religion Unplugged, 16 Aug 2023.
WARNING: video footage is graphic and distressing (recommended for adults only). 

* IRAQ: AN EXISTENTIAL CHRISTIAN CRISIS
Update to RLPB 695, Iraq: An Existential Christian Crisis, 24 May 2023
and RLPB 702, Final Solution in Iraq, 19 July 2023

Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has published a detailed report on what RLPB has been calling ‘an existential crisis’ for Iraq’s indigenous Assyrian Christians. Written by N. Moses, and dated 23 Aug 2023, the MEMRI report opens by rightly noting: ‘Although it has been five years since the Islamic State (ISIS) was defeated in Iraq, it appears that the danger to the Christians in the country remains, and is in fact escalating.’

Cardinal Sako vs Al-Kildani

A major struggle is underway over leadership of Iraq’s Chaldean Christian community and control of its resources. The struggle pits Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, the Patriarch of Baghdad and head of the Chaldean Church, against challenger Rayan Al-Kildani. A fellow ethnic Chaldean/Assyrian, Al-Kildani commands the Babylon Brigades (a militia within the Iran-backed Shi’ite-dominated Popular Mobilization Units (PMU)) and leads its political arm, the Babylon Movement. The crisis attracted international attention on 3 July when Iraq’s president, Abdul Latif Rashid – whose Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is the more pro-Iranian of Iraq’s two main Kurdish political parties – entered the fray on the side of Rayan Al-Kildani. MEMRI rightly concludes: ‘These internal conflicts over the identity of Iraq’s Christian community are likely to further weaken it and endanger the future of this historic group in the country… The involvement of President Abdul Latif Rashid, which harms Sako, does not bode well for the future of the Chaldean Church and Christianity in Iraq generally… Iran’s man Al-Kildani seems to be following a pattern seen elsewhere, in both Syria and Lebanon, where Shi’ite militias and their non-Shi’ite front-men push for advantage against vulnerable religious minorities.’ An existential Christian crisis indeed! Lord have mercy.

Recommended
In Iraq, Struggles Over Power and Control of the Chaldean Catholic Church’s Resources and Identity; Iraq’s Interim President Sides With Patriarch Sako’s Rivals.
By N. Mozes, for MEMRI, 23 August 2023

* NICARAGUA: JESUITS TARGETED
Background: RLPB 660, Ortega Moves to Silence the Church, 31 Aug 2022.

On Tuesday 15 August the government of President Daniel Ortega ordered the confiscation of all assets belonging to the prestigious, Jesuit-run, Central American University (UCA) in the capital, Managua, after a judge labelled it a ‘centre of terrorism organised by criminal groups.’ Then, on Wednesday 23 August, the government banned the entire Society of Jesus (Jesuits) – from the country and ordered the confiscation of all its assets, claiming the religious order had failed to comply with tax reporting. At the time of writing, only 11 Jesuits remained in the country. The government has been pursuing the Catholic Church since April-May 2018, after it opened its doors to shelter the victims of deadly state violence. Reuters notes (23 Aug) that, since the anti-government protests of 2018, the government has ‘outlawed or closed more than 3000 civic groups and non-governmental organisations’. In its report, The Tablet notes (16 Aug), ‘Since 2021 the government has imposed restrictions on 25 private universities, including the Protestant Martin Luther King University.’ In May of this year, the government ordered the Nicaraguan Red Cross shut down, accusing it of ‘attacks on peace and stability’. In June, the government confiscated properties belonging to 222 forcibly exiled political prisoners, comprising church leaders, rights activists, journalists and lawyers [see RLPB 681, Forced Exile and Imprisonment, 22 Feb 2023]. Please pray for the Church in Nicaragua.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) is a donor funded ministry. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 707. Pakistan: The Jaranwala Pogrom

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 707 | Wed 23 Aug 2023
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Sign up for the RLPB at www.ElizabethKendal.com  
View RLPB archives at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog.
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PAKISTAN: THE JARANWALA POGROM
By Elizabeth Kendal

On Wednesday morning 16 August a riotous mob of up to 10,000 fanatical Muslims descended on the Christian colony in Jaranwala, a city on the eastern edge of Faisalabad District, in restive, densely populated Punjab Province. Fortunately, as Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reports (16 Aug), ‘Christians from Jaranwala began leaving their homes as early as 5am [that] morning after local Muslims warned them an attack was coming.’ Resident Shakil Masih told Reuters (16 Aug) that he fled with his family as soon as he heard announcements [allegedly from mosque loudspeakers] inciting the mob and then saw crowds heading towards his Christian area.

Morning Star News (MSN) reports (18 Aug) that the rioting began after Muslim residents of Cinema Chowk in Jaranwala accused Umar (Rocky) Saleem Masih and his brother Umair (Raja) Saleem Masih of desecrating pages of the Qur’an and writing blasphemous comments. The brothers work as cleaners and are members of a Full Gospel Assemblies church. A relative told MSN that Rocky was leaving for work on Wednesday morning when he saw a piece of paper with something written in red ink pasted on the door of a Muslim neighbour. ‘When he went closer to read it, he was shocked to see a photograph of him and his younger brother Umair, alias Raja, pasted on top of the page. Beneath the page were some partially burnt pages of the Qur’an inscribed with derogatory remarks about Islam and Muhammad.’ Rocky panicked and instinctively removed the pages from the door. As if on cue, two Muslims pounced on him, snatching the pages and accusing him of committing blasphemy. As the relative notes: ‘The allegation is ridiculous – otherwise who would name himself and his brother as the writers of the note and also put their photo on it? Someone has framed them to exact revenge.’ Similarly, provincial police chief Usman Anwar told Reuters (19 Aug) that the one of the pages ‘carried the names, addresses and national identity card numbers of the accused’, adding that police were investigating as to why the names and addresses would be attached.

Recommended: The National (20 Aug).
Christian families return to their burnt-out homes.
Report by Muhammad Shahid.

During the 10-hour-long pogrom, some 500 homes were looted and ransacked, while more than 80 were torched. At least 20 churches were looted and ransacked, while at least five – including the Salvation Army Church, the United Presbyterian Church, the Allied Foundation Church and the Shehroonwala Church – were torched. Property was dragged out of churches and homes and burned in the streets before cheering mobs. A Christian cemetery was vandalised, and the office of Shaukat Masih, a Christian assistant police commissioner in Jaranwala was torched. Videos show an overpowered police force acting more like spectators. A ‘Section 144’ – which restricts movement and prohibits the assembly of four or more people in an area – was imposed on Faisalabad district for seven days (expires today, Wed 23 Aug).

Police have arrested Rocky and Raja Masih and registered a First Information Report (FIR) against them under sections 295-B and 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code. Section 295-B criminalises any wilful damage or desecration of the Qur’an or an extract therefrom. Section 295-C states: ‘Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine.’ In 1990, Pakistan’s Federal Shariah Court ruled that the death penalty should be mandatory.

Noman Masih
(Morning Star News
via defense counsel)

If Rocky and Raja Masih are condemned to death for blasphemy, they would join the likes of Noman Masih (22) a Christian from Bahawalpur, Punjab, who, on Tuesday 30 May, was deemed guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to death under section 295-C despite a total absence of evidence (MSN, 31 May). They would join Ashfaq Masih (34) a Christian mechanic in Lahore, who on 4 July was deemed guilty of blasphemy under section 295-C and sentenced to death by hanging on the testimony of a Muslim mechanic (a competitor) who, the judge said, ‘would not spin a story in this regard’. They would join the ailing Pastor Zafar Bhatti (57) – Pakistan’s longest serving blasphemy prisoner who has been holed up in Adiala Central Jail, Rawalpindi, since July 2012. In 2017, Pastor Bhatti had been sentenced to life imprisonment rather than death precisely because, as the judge admitted, there was ‘no concrete evidence’ against him. Despite that, on 3 January 2022, a court upgraded Zafar Bhatti’s sentence, from life imprisonment to death. [For the latter two cases see: RLPB 653, Death for Blasphemy, 13 July 2022]. [NOTE: The name ‘Masih’ simply means Messiah and identifies the person as Christian.]

NOTE: It could well be that a jealous, competitive, or angry Muslim framed Rocky and Raja Masih ‘to exact revenge’. In fact, a local resident told The National (20 Aug), that the brothers were having trouble with a visa consultant who took money for visas which he did not obtain and was now refusing to return the funds. Regardless, the response indicates that Islamist clerics exploited the opportunity to take ‘revenge’ on Christians in general, possibly in response to Qur’an burnings elsewhere. A government source told Reuters (16 Aug), that the pogrom was led by Islamic clerics, most of whom are known to be associated with Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a radically Islamist political party dedicated to ‘safeguarding Islamic values’.

Pakistani Islamists have been out in force since early July, protesting and issuing threats against Christians, after the Swedish government allowed Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika (an ethnic Assyrian whom Western mainstream media is describing as Christian, despite him describing himself as atheist) to burn a Quran in a public protest. On Sunday 2 July the Lahore-based terror group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) announced that it will attack Christians and churches in Pakistan in retaliation for the Qur'an burning incident in Sweden. The very next Friday, 7 July, Pakistan observed a day of protests over the incident and TLP chief Saad Hussein Rizvi urged Pakistan to declare war on Sweden. Tensions are also soaring in Iraq, where remnant Christians are likewise exceedingly vulnerable. Meanwhile, the Swedish Security Service has raised the terrorist threat level from level 3 (‘elevated’) to level 4 (‘high’) on a 5-level scale warning that Sweden and Swedish interests abroad are now a ‘prioritised target for terrorist attacks’.


PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR MERCIFUL GOD WILL:

* protect, comfort, sustain and provide for the Christians who lost homes, belongings and all sense of security in the Jaranwala pogrom. May they all be able to say with the Psalmist: ‘But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.’ (Psalm 3:3)

* redeem this wickedness and turn it to good for the benefit of the Church in Pakistan. May reform be forthcoming. May multitudes of Pakistani Muslims be awakened to the dangers of intolerant, fundamentalist Islam – and in rejecting it, may many embrace the beautiful way of Jesus Christ. May those who walk in darkness, see the light! (Isaiah 9:1-7) May Christ continue to build his Church in Pakistan.

* secure justice for the Christian victims of Pakistan’s infamous blasphemy law: for those who have been driven from their homes; for those who are currently languishing in prison; and especially for those who have been sentenced to death – including Noman Masih (22), Ashfaq Masih (34) and the long-suffering and ailing Pastor Zafar Bhatti (57). Lord have mercy.

‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. (From Jeremiah’s prayer in Jeremiah 32:17-25 ESV)


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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PAKISTAN: THE JARANWALA POGROM

On 16 August thousands of fanatical Muslims attacked the Christian colony in Jaranwala, a city in the Faisalabad district, Punjab province. Fortunately, Christians were quick to flee. During 10 hours of rioting, the Muslims looted and ransacked some 500 homes and at least 20 churches, torching many. Around 2000 Christians have lost everything, including all sense of security. The pogrom, which was triggered by a blatantly false accusation of blasphemy, was led by fundamentalist Islamist clerics associated with Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a radically Islamist political party. Pakistani Islamists have been stoking tensions, protesting and issuing threats since early July, after the Swedish government allowed an Iraqi refugee to burn a Qur’an in a public protest. On 2 August Lahore-based terror group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) announced it would respond by attacking Christians and churches. Please pray.
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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) is a donor funded ministry. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 695. May Update, incl. India (Manipur), Australia, Azerbaijan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, India (Goa), Iran, Iraq, Mali, Pakistan, Sudan

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 695 | Wed 24 May 2023
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Sign up for the RLPB at www.ElizabethKendal.com  
View RLPB archives at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog.
For bite-size: follow religiouslibertyprayer on Instagram.

NOTICE: There will be no RLPB next week – Wednesday 31 May – as I will be taking a much-needed break. Consequently, I am publishing the May Update this week, giving us plenty to pray about for the rest of May.

MAY 2023 UPDATE & ROUNDUP
By Elizabeth Kendal

UPDATE: DURING MAY WE PRAYED CONCERNING

BANGLADESH [RLPB 692 (3 May)], where the Bangladesh Armed Forces is waging a counter-terror operation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Because the BAF accuses the Christian Kuki-Chin minority of providing aid and support to al-Qaeda-linked jihadists (JAFHS), the Christian Kuki-Chin – who are seeking autonomy so they might preserve their people, lands and culture – are also under attack. Thousands have been driven from their homes, with the help of a tribal Buddhist militia that has forged a peace deal with the Bangladeshi government. This is an on-going – and indeed, existential – Christian crisis. Please pray.

LIBYA [RLPB 693 (10 May)], where six Libyan nationals who have been arrested for apostasy (leaving Islam) and Christian proselytism (missionary work) could face the death penalty if found guilty. The authorities have broadcast video footage of their recorded ‘confessions’; one believer had already broken under torture. Please pray.
 
INDIA [RLPB 694 (17 May)], where rioting in the North East state of Manipur by the dominant, mostly Hindu Meitei tribe against the mostly Christian Kuki-Chin hill tribes has left the Christian community deeply traumatised.

UPDATE: SUPREME COURT BACKS CHRISTIAN APPEAL

On 17 May India’s Supreme Court (SC) heard a petition filed by the Manipur Tribal Forum appealing for urgent intervention to contain the violence. The SC’s Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud denounced the order of the Manipur High Court that led to the sectarian violence, declaring it ‘absolutely wrong’, and asked Manipur’s BJP-led state government to furnish the SC with a status report. A senior Catholic Church leader described the effect of the Chief Justice’s words as ‘like applying balm on the wounds’. ‘The high court order paved the way for violence and now the top court in the country has termed it illegal. This is something heart-warming amidst tension and fear,’ Father Velikakkam told UCA News on 18 May. The toll to date: more than 70 dead and 231 injured; with 121 churches and some 1700 homes burned. The state has opened 318 relief camps in which 47,914 persons have been accommodated. While those in the camps are receiving some aid, those taken in by relatives and those languishing in the bush, are not receiving any government assistance. Around 62 companies of Central Armed Forces and 126 columns of the Indian Army have been deployed along with state police to maintain law and order. Please pray.

‘your ruin is vast as the sea; who can heal you?’ [from Lamentations 2]

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” [Lamentations 3:21-24 ESV]


MAY 2023 ROUND-UP – ALSO THIS MONTH

* AUSTRALIA: A.C.T. GOVERNMENT SEIZES CATHOLIC HOSPITAL

Calvary Public Hospital, Canberra, A.C.T.

Located in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Calvary Public Hospital is one of two major public hospitals in the city. Owned and run by the Catholic Church, Calvary Hospital has been serving the community since 1979. In recent years, however, the ACT’s Labor-Greens coalition government has been at war with the hospital administration over its ‘definition of healthcare’. As the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports (ABC, 17 May): ‘For the government, the provision of abortion is non-negotiable, whereas Calvary Hospital relies on institutional conscientious objection to refrain from participating in abortion based on the conviction that it is morally wrong to intentionally end a human life.’ On 11 May the ACT government passed the Health Infrastructure Enabling Bill 2023. The legislation enables the government to legally take ‘the Calvary Public Hospital land, and transition existing Calvary staff and assets to the Territory’. This is happening at ‘breakneck speed’, with the acquisition set to be complete by 3 July.

John Steenhof of the Human Rights Law Alliance notes, this ‘disquieting move ... has sparked concerns about the future of religious freedom rights… Despite the government’s assertions that the acquisition is not related to ideology, the forced acquisition comes shortly after the release of the final report of the government’s inquiry into abortion access in the ACT, which was scathing of Calvary hospital, characterising it as “problematic” due to its “overriding religious ethos”.’ Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher OP writes: ‘It’s no secret that the ACT government want to force Calvary Hospital to provide abortions now, and euthanasia and assisted suicide in the future. Taking the land, buildings and hospital equipment and transferring staff employment across to Canberra Health Services allows them to push their anti-life agenda right through the hospital.’ As the ABC notes, the move ‘has far-reaching ramifications for freedom of religion and freedom of conscience in Australia’. Please pray.

See also
Forced Government Takeover: What’s Next?
Australian Christian Lobby, 19 May 2023 (YouTube)

 * AZERBAIJAN: PERILOUS STATE OF ARMENIAN MINORITY
Update to RLPB 677, Nagorno-Karabakh Besieged, 25 Jan 2023

On 23 April Azerbaijan installed a border checkpoint at the entrance of the Lachin Corridor, the road that links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh (N-K; an Armenian Christian enclave inside Turkic Muslim Azerbaijan). Whilst the blockade has now been suspended, all Armenians travelling to and from N-K are now being screened by Azerbaijani border guards. Armenian villagers living between the blockade (near Shusha) and the checkpoint report feeling trapped. N-K residents requiring urgent medical care in Armenia are having to be escorted by Russian peacekeepers. Armenians in N-K feel abandoned, particularly by the West which is heavily invested in Azerbaijan and needs its oil. For the Armenians of N-K, the threat of genocide looms larger by the day. Please pray.

BURMA (MYANMAR): REV. DR SAMSON’S APPEAL DENIED
Update to RLPB 675, Burma: Christian Leader Arrested, 14 Dec 2022

On 3 May, to mark the occasion of Vesak (an important Buddhist festival), the Burmese junta amnestied and released 2135 political prisoners. Among those not released was the Rev. Dr Hkalam Samson (65), a former leader of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) and respected peace advocate. Arrested on 4 December 2022, Dr Samson was charged with ‘terrorism, unlawful association, and inciting opposition’, and sentenced on Good Friday 7 April to six years in prison [RLPB 689 (12 April)]. On 2 May – the day before the Vesak amnesty – the Myitkyina Prison Court, in Burma’s northern Kachin state, rejected Dr Samson’s appeal. Please pray.

* CHAD: CHRISTIAN VILLAGES ATTACKED IN SOUTH

encircled: Logone Oriental.
(click on map to enlarge)

On Monday morning 8 May Fulani Muslim militants attacked Christian communities in Logone Oriental, a region in Chad’s deep south bordering north-west Central African Republic and north-east Cameroon. According to Barnabas Aid, at least 17 people were killed, including (according to Catholic media) an infant. ‘Among the dead were a pastor, Doumro Tadingao Gaston, and 12 other worshippers who were attending a prayer meeting in the village of Don. Around 20 villages in the region have been burned down, with several thousand people displaced by the violence. This follows Islamist attacks on four other southern Chadian villages a month earlier, in which two pastors were killed and many other people injured.’

In April, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported on the escalating ‘clashes between [semi-nomadic Arab] herders and [sedentary indigenous] farmers in southern Chad’. Authorities accuse ‘rebels based in neighbouring Central African Republic [CAR] of igniting the trouble’. According to Chadian General Ahmat Dari Bazine, the rebels are aiming ‘to create problems between herders and farmers, between Muslims and Christians’. One Christian leader warns (in personal correspondence) that there is a ‘drift towards genocide of some villages and communities… [as] people speaking Fulani have attacked villages and church services killing many people including three pastors and a Catechist… There has been the move of many Fulani Communities from CAR to settle in the forest of Southern Chad. These Fulanis seem armed and ready to deal with any opposition to their ambition. Chad has experienced since last year many horrible situations in the South. The recent attack on churches and the killing of people in villages has affected the Church in Chad. The Evangelical Fellowship of Chad is sending a high-level team to access the situation, encourage Christians who are traumatised, seek ways to assist the victims, and promote peace according to the Bible…’ Please pray.

* INDIA: RELIGIOUS RIGHTS UPHELD IN GOA
Update to RLPB 647, India: Viral Hatred Spreads Through India, 1 June 2022

In May 2022 Pastors Domnic and Joan D’Souza, of Five Pillars Church in Goa (a former Portuguese colony on India’s west coast), were arrested for allegedly ‘luring’ people to convert to Christianity. Lacking an anti-conversion law, the authorities booked the couple under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act for allegedly using magic to heal and convert people. Hindu nationalist BJP MPs – including the Chief Minister – immediately got busy plotting anti-conversion legislation. The couple were subsequently bailed on health grounds. Then, in December 2022, the North Goa District Magistrate banned Pastors Domnic and Joan from carrying out religious activities in their own residence, citing communal tensions. On 19 May the Goa High Court quashed the order, ruling not only that the accusations of forced conversions levelled against the pastors were totally baseless, but that the state has a duty to extend all possible protection to its citizens to propagate their religious practice, as guaranteed under India’s constitution. Praise and thank God! And please, continue to pray for the Church in India.

* IRAN: BELIEVERS RELEASED
Update to RLPB 660, Iran: Christians Fined, Imprisoned and Punished, 31 Aug 2022

Acquitted and released: Sara and Homayoun

On 9 May an Appeal Court in Tehran acquitted Christian converts Homayoun Zhaveh (64; with advanced Parkinson’s disease) and his wife Sara Ahmadi (45; a house church leader) and ordered they be released from prison. Critically, Article 18 reports: ‘In the ruling, the appeal-court judge said that gathering with people of one’s own faith was “natural”, and having books related to Christianity was “also an extension of their beliefs”. He added that there was “no evidence” that Sara and Homayoun had acted against the country’s security or had connections with opposition groups or organisations.’ He also noted that, ‘the law has not recognised [participation in Christian home groups] as criminal activity’. This is the second time an appeal court has ruled this way. Praise and thank God! And please, continue to pray for the Church in Iran.

* IRAQ: AN EXISTENTIAL CHRISTIAN CRISIS

(left) Cardinal Sako
(right) US-blacklisted Rayan al-Kildani 
('Rayan the Chaldean'),
head of the 'Christian' Babylon Movement,
which holds 4 of the 5 seats reserved for Christians
and is aligned with the Iran-backed Shi'ite
Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
(Asia News 17 May 2023)

On Friday 12 May hundreds of Christians – including many nuns and priests – gathered in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square to show support for Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldean Church, as tensions between the Church and Iraq’s political leaders heat up. Iraq’s electoral law mandates that five parliamentary seats be reserved for Christians. However, anyone – not just Christians – may elect those Christian representatives. Consequently, major Kurdish Sunni and Arab Shi’ite political parties work to ensure the election of corrupted Christians who – for personal gain – will advance Kurdish or Arab Shi’ite interests at the expense of the mostly indigenous Assyrian Christian community. For advocating for change and for the rights and future of Iraq’s Christians, Cardinal Sako has come under intensive attack. The current situation further exacerbates Iraq’s existential Christian crisis. Please pray.

* MALI – BURKINA FASO: DR KEN ELLIOT RELEASED

On 19 May media reported that Australian missionary Dr Ken Elliot (88) had been released from captivity in Mali and reunited with his family in Western Australia. In January 2016 Dr Elliot and his wife, Jocelyn, were abducted from their home near Djibo, in northern Burkina Faso, by terrorists linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb [RLPB 341 (27 Jan 2016)]. Whilst Jocelyn was released a few weeks later, Dr Elliot was retained. As a medical doctor, he was far too useful to be let go. The jihadists released a video in July 2017 in which Dr Elliot gives his name and requests that governments do what they can to negotiate his release. From the 6:20 minute mark, he addresses his family: ‘I just want to say again, I love you all. I appreciate all your prayers and all your cares; and I look forward to one day being reunited… I pray God will bless all of you, abundantly.’ At that time many (possibly including Dr Elliot himself) suspected the terrorists would never release him, and that he would die in captivity. We do not know any details about how he came to be released. What we do know, is that his release and homecoming is a wonderful miracle of divine mercy ‘in answer to the prayers of many’ (2 Corinthians 1:11). Praise and thank the Lord! And please, continue to pray for the Church in the Sahel: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

* PAKISTAN: CHRISTIAN TEENS CHARGED WITH BLASPHEMY

On 18 May police in Lahore’s Qurban Lines neighbourhood arrested two Christian teenagers after a passing police officer claimed to have overheard them ‘disrespecting’ Islam’s prophet Muhammad. The boys – Adil Babar (18) and Simon Nadeem (14) – deny they had even been discussing Muhammad. Adil’s father, Babar Sandhu Masih (a Catholic) told Morning Star News (MSN) that he had been inside resting after lunch when he heard a commotion. He went outside to investigate, and found a policeman named Zahid Sohail beating Simon, and Adil trying to intervene. Sohail subsequently registered a blasphemy case against the boys – a case Masih insists is absolutely baseless. Masih saw the boys briefly on 19 May. ‘Both boys were in a state of shock and fear and are still unable to understand why Sohail had gotten them arrested.’ Napolean Qayyum of the Pakistan Centre for Law and Justice told MSN that they were helping the two families and arranging legal support for their children. Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports (22 May), ‘Approximately 50 Christian families reside in the Qurban Lines area, and most of these families fled the area for fear of violence after the accusation was made.’ Please pray.

* SUDAN: CHRISTIAN FLEE KHARTOUM; CHURCHES ATTACKED

Since the conflict erupted on 15 April, Christians have been fleeing Khartoum. Many Christians were settlers from the war-ravaged Nuba Mountains and South Sudan; they have fled back into harrowing situations, exacerbating an already serious humanitarian crisis marked by food insecurity and near total absence of medical care. But not all Christians have been able to flee and for those trapped in Khartoum the situation is rapidly deteriorating. On Sunday morning 14 May, fighters belonging to Hemeti’s Rapid Support Forces attacked the Coptic Mar Girgis (St George) Church in El Musalama in old Omdurman (Khartoum’s twin city across the Nile). Three worshippers received bullet wounds to their legs, while the church guard was shot in his abdomen. Assistant bishop Anba Sarabamon was assaulted; he sustained several fractures. His residence at the church premises was destroyed and his car was stolen. The Rapid Support Forces have forcibly occupied several churches, including the Episcopal All Saints Cathedral and the Coptic Virgin Mary Cathedral in Khartoum. These church compounds include schools, dormitories, and clerical residences. Everyone living in these compounds has had to be evacuated. Please pray for the Church in Sudan.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church.

The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) is a donor funded ministry.
To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 691. April Update, incl. Bangladesh, China, DRCongo, Eritrea, India, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 691 | Wed 26 April 2023
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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View RLPB archives at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog.
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APRIL 2023 UPDATE & ROUNDUP
By Elizabeth Kendal

UPDATE: DURING APRIL WE PRAYED CONCERNING

BURMA (Myanmar) [RLPB 689 (12 April)], after junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing labelled the resistance ‘terrorists’ with whom the junta would not negotiate, vowing instead to ‘annihilate them to an end’. Within days of his speech, the Christian-led Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) had scored some significant victories, thereby triggering a massive military retaliation. By Easter Sunday 9 April some 10,000 civilians had fled Karen lands across the border into Thailand. Please pray for peace, and for the Church in Burma/Myanmar.

UZBEKISTAN [RLPB 690 (19 April)], after police raided the 9 April Easter Sunday worship service at the Baptist church in Qarshi, using batons and electric shock prods to incapacitate believers. Despite advancing transformative reforms, President Mirziyoyev – cognizant of the threat of Islamic terrorism and unrest – is reluctant to embrace religious freedom. Consequently, the new religion law, passed in July 2021, retains many of the repressive elements of the Soviet era law, including mandatory registration, censorship of religious materials, restrictions on religious education, and a ban on ‘missionary activity and proselytism’ and ‘activities which offend the religious feelings of believers’. Please continue to pray for the Church in Uzbekistan.  

APRIL 2023 ROUND-UP – ALSO THIS MONTH

BANGLADESH: EASTER GRIEVING IN BANDARBAN

Kuki-Chin Christians flee their homes
in Bandarban District, CHT.
(bdnews24.com 8 April 2023)

On Maundy Thursday, 6 April, eight Christians – four Baptists and four Presbyterians – were killed when fighters from the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF, dominated by Buddhist hill tribes) attacked Khamtangpara village, in Chittagong Hill Tract’s (CHT) southernmost Bandarban District. The ensuing gunfight between fighters from the UPDF and the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF, representing the CHT’s minority Christian Kuki-Chin tribes) led more than 250 people from 80 Kuki-Chin (Bawm) Christian families to flee their homes. After sheltering overnight in local schools and churches, they headed into town where they are receiving aid and shelter. To protect Kuki-Chin people, lands and culture from Bengali Muslim colonisation, exploitation, and violence, the KNF seeks an autonomous state within Bangladesh. The UPDF, on the other hand, seeks an autonomous state comprising the whole of CHT (one in which the Christian Kuki-Chin would still be a persecuted ethnic-religious minority [as the Chin are in neighbouring Buddhist Burma]). Pastor Georgy Loncheu, of the local Presbyterian Church, told Catholic media, ‘Our Good Friday and Easter were very painful. We Bawm people are worried…’ On Tuesday morning, 25 April, gunfights erupted between the UPDF and KNF in the hills of nearby Mualpipara neighbourhood. Please pray.  [More on the Christian crisis in the CHT next month.]

CHINA: HIGH COST OF FAITHFULNESS

The trial in Hohhot – the capital of China’s Inner Mongolia – of (Mrs) Wang Honglan and 11 other believers, will commence in late April. Wang (66), her husband (73), several family members and other believers were arrested in April 2021 and charged with ‘illegal business operations’. The authorities accuse them of selling Bibles and makings millions of dollars in profit in the process. However, the Bibles – which were printed legally in China, and purchased legally from a government-sanctioned (i.e. legal) Three-Self church in Nanjing – were not being sold. The legal Bibles had been legally purchased with money donated by parishioners and were being given away to people unable to afford them. It seems that, because Wang’s group belong to an unregistered (i.e. illegal) house church, their religious activity is automatically illegal. Initially set for January 2022, the trial was postponed to give lawyers more time to examine the case. While three members of the group were bailed, the other nine have spent the past two years in prison. The prosecution is seeking a 15-year jail term for Wang and lesser sentences for the other defendants. China Aid reports: ‘Wang Honglan became a Christian when she was 24 years old. She has been serving her church since then… In the past 30 years, they held a morning prayer meeting every day at 6 AM. The morning prayer meeting never stopped for a single day, regardless of any weather conditions.’ Lord have mercy. Please pray.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC): ENDLESS TERROR

On Wednesday, 19 April, Islamic State Democratic Republic of Congo (ISDRC: the DRC chapter of Islamic State Central Africa Province) attacked civilians in Samboko village in Beni territory, in north-east DRC’s war-ravaged North Kivu region. The terrorists killed at least 20 civilians and abducted others. Congo’s army engaged the terrorists, but only managed to free two of the hostages. ISDRC is one for more than 120 armed groups fighting in DRC’s north-east provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, both of which border Uganda. While most militias are fighting for land or to control of mines, others are just trying to protect their communities. ISDRC is exploiting the chaos to consolidate and expand in the heart of central Africa, doubtless hoping to establish a base at the junction of four predominantly Christian, resource-rich yet under-developed states: Uganda, South Sudan, Central Africa Republic and DRC. Please pray.

Background: D.R. Congo (DRC): Islamic State Consolidates and Expands in Central Africa (Religious Liberty Monitoring, 21 Sept 2021.

ERITREA: HIGH COST OF FAITH

Pastor Tesfay Seyoum before his arrest.
Died 9 April 2023,
after ten years in prison for his faith.

On Resurrection Sunday, 9 April, Pastor Tesfay Seyoum, the founder and leader of Meserete Kristos Church, died in hospital as the result of a brain haemorrhage, leaving behind his wife and daughter. The fact that Pastor Seyoum had spent the last ten years incarcerated in the infamous Mai Serwa Maximum Security Prison near the capital, Asmara, reminds us of the high cost of faithfulness in Eritrea. Since May 2002 (when the persecution began) thousands of faithful Christians have been arrested, tortured and detained – in shipping containers in military camps, in unsanitary over-crowded prisons, and even in underground cells in the desert. Seven Evangelical church leaders currently in detention have been incarcerated for at least 18 years. On 19 April, officials arrested 103 Christian youths who had been attempting to record Christian music on YouTube. According to Release International the group were taken to Mai Serwa Maximum Security Prison. Lord have mercy. Please pray for the Church in Eritrea. 

(above): screenshot from an official 2022 music video of The Mahalians -- the Christian youth choir whose members and technicians are now languishing in an Eritrean prison.

INDIA: COSTLY FAITH IN CHHATTISGARH’S BASTAR DIVISION

(1) FALSELY ACCUSED: PROTESTANTS TO FACE COURT
 
On 19 April, in the northern tribal-belt state of Chhattisgarh, the Bilaspur High Court granted bail to 10 Protestant Church leaders. The pastors and evangelists were arrested in January in relation to the anti-Christian pogroms that struck 18 villages in Narayanpur district, in Chhattisgarh’s southern Bastar Division in December 2022 – pogroms that left more than 1000 Christians displaced [see RLPB 677, ‘Bastar Burns…’ 25 Jan 2023]. Catholic media reports (UCA, 20 April): ‘the Christian leaders were charged with rioting, being armed with deadly weapons, voluntarily causing hurt to public servants on duty, and criminal intimidation and assault. If convicted of all the charges, each of them faces punishments of up to 10 years in jail and fines.’ Local Church leaders believe, ‘the Protestant Church leaders were arrested and remanded to appease the majority traditional animist religion followers… [They] had no role in the violence but they were implicated in the case as they visited the victims.’ Relived they have finally been released on bail, their lawyer is confident their innocence will be proved in proved in court. Please pray.

(2) HINDU NATIONALISTS CALL FOR BOYCOTT

[NDTV news video]

Jagdalpur city in Bastar district, is the administrative capital of Chhattisgarh’s southern Bastar Division. On 10 April, Hindu nationalist leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP: World Hindu Council) and the Bajrang Dal (a Hindutva youth militia) openly took a public pledge and called for an ‘economic boycott’ of Christian and Muslim shops and businesses. The boycott follows a communal incident that occurred on 8 April in Bemetara district, 360km to the north in Durg Division. Hindus in Bemetara rioted after a 22-year old Hindu boy was killed in communal violence triggered by a clash between Hindu and Muslim schoolboys. A Muslim father and son were found murdered the next day. At least 11 Hindus were subsequently arrested for rioting, arson and murder. For this, Hindu nationalists in Bastar Division want to inflict a devastating boycott on all Muslim and Christian businesses. Social and economic boycotts have become a common form of persecution in India’s tribal belt. They might be bloodless, but they are crippling and have the effect of driving minorities out of the area.

Jitendra Faular Singh, secretary of the Inter-Denominational Church Fellowship, which represents 18 Christian groups in the tribal-dominated Bastar Division told Catholic media: ‘We have submitted petitions to the commissioner and the inspector general of the Bastar division… We want exemplary action taken against all those who have called for a boycott of Christian and Muslim business establishments.’ Please pray.

IRAQ: ‘BLASPHEMY’ IN SUPPOSEDLY SECULAR IRAQI KURDISTAN

On 16 April, the appeal court in Duhok, in Iraq’s far north, confirmed the sentence of Jagarkhuin Abdulrahman Ismael issued by the lower court on 29 March. ‘Jagar’ (38, married) – who became a follower of Christ in 2018 and attends the Anabaptist church in Duhok – will spend six months in jail on charges of misusing a telecommunication device in a way that is threatening, defamatory or insulting of others. In other words, he said something on a device that ‘offended’ a Muslim. Middle East Concern (MEC) reports: ‘His church had difficulty finding him a lawyer due to rising Islamic sentiment in the KRI [Kurdistan Region of Iraq].’ Jagar’s lawyer has filed an appeal. MEC notes that Jagar’s case ‘coincides with – and is related to – the case of Bishop Bahzad Mziri, the regional leader of the Anabaptist church, who was also charged with blasphemy in the same period.’ In response to a Muslim who had made offensive statements on social media against Jesus and the Bible, Bishop Mziri – also a convert from Islam – presented a comparison between the life of Jesus and the life of Muhammad. Fundamentalist Muslims were offended – if not by the bishop’s words (which were doubtless true), then by the fact he, an apostate, dared to utter them. Islamists then republished the comments and incited anger against the bishop and the Church. Calls for the bishop to be killed forced the family to flee the country. Both cases have been widely publicised online, inflaming Islamic indignation. Please pray.

NIGERIA: ENDLESS TERROR
-- a Christian crisis of monumental proportions.

(1) BENUE: 134 SLAUGHTERED IN FIVE DAYS

Located on the south-eastern edge of Nigeria’s volatile Middle Belt, Benue State is predominantly Christian (95 percent). On Saturday 1 April, a large contingent Fulani Muslim militants and herdsmen raided villages in Apa Local Government Area (LGA) killing six Christians. Later that day, Fulani militants attacked an evening worship service in Logo LGA, killing one worshipper and leaving five seriously wounded. These killings were but the start of a five-day wave of terror ahead of Easter that left 134 Christians dead and more than 40 hospitalised. An editorial in Nigeria’s Premium Times (24 April) questions how a five-day killing rampage could take place ‘without the police and other security agencies having a whiff of intelligence that would have helped to nip [it] in the bud, or reduce the carnage’. On the weekend of 22-23 April, Fulani militants attacked a funeral in Apa LGA where they ambushed Nathaniel Ochoche, the chairman of the Benue chapter of the Labour Party (the party headed by rising star Peter Obi, an Igbo Christian). Ochoche and three others were killed, many more were wounded, and some remain missing. Please pray.

(2) KADUNA: 33 CHRISTIANS SLAUGHTERED IN THEIR BEDS

At 10pm on Saturday 15 April, Fulani Muslim militants invaded Runji village, in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area (LGA) of predominantly Christian southern Kaduna. The terror – which continued into Sunday morning – left 33 Christians dead and many wounded. Around 40 homes (comprising half the village) were torched. It was the third attack on area Christian in the space of one week. Four days earlier, two Christians had been killed in Runji village and 17 in nearby Atak Njei village. Francis Sani, a council official of Zangon Kataf LGA, confirmed the killings, telling the media: ‘The attackers in their numbers maimed and burned mostly women and children, set houses ablaze, and raided several houses within the community, leaving an aftermath of gruesome murder of 33 people, with four sustaining various degrees of injuries and some in critical condition that have been referred to Specialist Hospital, and properties worth millions [of Nigerian Naira] destroyed. We are devastated and shocked by the level of carnage and mindless bloodletting.’ Writing for Nigeria’s This Day, journalist Yemi Adebowale askes, ‘what kind of explanation will our security agencies put up in defence of their failings?’. He notes that despite Kaduna being ‘a garrison state, with a huge number of military formations’… ‘terrorists roam unimpeded’. Lord have mercy. Please pray.

PAKISTAN: THREE ACCUSED OF BLASPHEMY
-- a Christian cleaner, a Muslim gardener, and a Chinese engineer.

On 15 April, Christian widow Musarat Bibi, and Muslim gardener Muhammad Sarmad, cleaned out a storeroom in a government girls’ school in Arif Wala, Pakpattan District, Punjab Province. The gathered up wastepaper was subsequently burned. Unfortunately, some of the paper scraps had Quranic texts on them; not that Bibi or Sarmad would have known, as both are illiterate. All who know them understand that the pair did not intend to offend anyone. However, fundamentalist Muslims accused them of blasphemy, forcing the police to arrest and charge them. Days earlier, a Chinese engineer complained to workers at the Dasu hydropower project in the country’s far north-west that ‘precious time’ was being lost due to prayer breaks. Furious Muslims whipped up a storm, accusing the Chinese national – known only as Tian – of blasphemy. On 17 April, an anti-terrorism court in Abbottabad ordered Tian be jailed for 14-days. As for Mussarat Bibi, her lawyer is hopeful the court will grant her bail and drop the charges. That said, anyone accused of blasphemy in Pakistan will know their life is gravely imperilled. Luka Masih, a local pastor who leads the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Arifwala City, told British Asian Christian Association that only a few Christians live in Bibi’s village; and fearing retribution they have all fled their homes. Please pray.

UGANDA: TERROR STRIKES GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER SERVICE

On Good Friday evening, 7 April, believers gathered in the NABI Pentecostal church in Biguli, Kamwenge District. Their prayers were interrupted when a petrol bomb exploded outside, damaging the front of the building and several parked vehicles. Church security pursued and apprehended one of six suspects, who they handed over to police. The assailant, Bwambale Sadadi (28) told police that he had engaged in jihad (Islamic holy war) during Ramadan as a way of serving Allah who would reward him in paradise. Local Christians were shocked (although doubtless relieved this bomber was an amateur). Kamwenge District is in western Uganda, close to the border with Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu region. Security officials subsequently announced they had arrested three suspected members of Islamic State Democratic Republic of Congo (ISDRC: formerly known as the Allied Democratic Forces). One was the suspect in the Good Friday church bombing. A Counter Terror Task Team arrested the other two as they attempted to cross into DRC carrying explosive devices. ISDRC is recruiting in Uganda, including in the capital, Kampala. Lord have mercy.  Meanwhile, on the evening of 8 April, Muslim fundamentalists in Namakwekwe area of Mbale town, in Uganda’s Eastern Region, stabbed to death Engineer Herbert of Sironko District. Local Christians told Morning Star News (21 April) that Herbert (42) had been ‘very effective in evangelistic activities’ that led many Muslims turn to Christ. Please pray.  
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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) is a donor funded ministry. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com