'Recant your faith or get out'

(Image courtesy Christian Aid)

Laos (CAM) ― "Recant your faith or get out!" That’s the ultimatum issued recently to 50 Christians living in a rural community in central Laos.

According to a report from the Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF), on August 30 the leaders of Nongdaeng village summoned representatives of 11 Christian families to the government headquarters building for an official meeting concerning religious affairs in the village.

During the meeting, officials ordered all 11 families--comprising 50 men, women, and children--to recant their Christian faith and return to their village’s traditional animist religion.

“They charged these Lao Christians with believing the religion of a foreign Western power, which is considered destructive to the Lao nation,” stated HRWLRF. “Officials expressed their intention that no Christian faith can be adhered to or practiced in Nongdaeng.”

The order took effect immediately, and the Christians were given three days to comply. However, on Sunday, September 1, this committed group of believers continued to practice their faith and conducted worship in one of their homes. The Lao Christians insisted they have the religious right and protection under their country’s constitution to practice their faith in the village.

“Between April and May 2013, three Lao Christian families began worshiping God in their homes in Nongdaeng village. Prior to that period of time, they had been traveling to Nonsomboon village for worship, which is about 70 kilometers from Nongdaeng,” the HRWLRF reported. “After beginning the worship in their homes, eight other families in Nongdaeng became interested in the Christian faith and decided to embrace Christianity themselves, resulting in a total of 11 Christian families at the present time.”

HRWLRF is appealing to the Lao government to allow the believers in Nongdaeng to stay and to freely live out their Christian faith. In addition, the group is urging the Lao government to punish village officials for “illegally issuing an eviction order that has now brought hardship to the lives, as well as defamation of the name and honor of Nondaeng villagers who are Christians.”

In February, Christian Aid Mission, your link to indigenous missions, reported a similar incident in which a couple in their 50s was evicted from their home village when they converted to Christianity.

Open hostility and persecution of Christians continues in Laos, where over 56% of the population is Buddhist, and animist traditions remain prevalent in rural areas. Evangelical Christians make up less than 2% of the population.

Despite the challenges, a Christian Aid-assisted ministry in Laos is working quietly behind the scenes to start fellowships among small groups of believers. Bibles ($5) and hymnals ($7) are needed for worship gatherings.

If the 11 families are displaced, the ministry would like to supply them with mats, blankets, and pillows. They also want to give them five cows ($3,000) to help them become financially self-sufficient, as well as building materials ($200 per house).

Please pray for God’s provision for the 50 Christians from Nongdaeng village. Pray also that the village leaders will have a change of heart and that they, too, will come to know and follow Jesus Christ.

You can help persecuted believers in Egypt

(Image courtesy Bible Society of Egypt)

Egypt (MNN) ― Friday remains a dangerous day of the week in Egypt. Last week's Muslim Brotherhood call for protests drew some 10,000 people to Cairo alone.

There are protests in the streets, mass killings, and the burning of towns and villages over differing opinions of religion and politics. More than 1,000 people have died, and an estimated 3,500 people have been injured.

Christian Aid Mission, your link to indigenous missions, says there's a way you can help Egypt's Persecuted Church.

So far, Christian Aid says 80 churches, two bible bookstores, three Christian schools, and countless homes, businesses, and property have been vandalized or destroyed. Christian Aid supports several ministries that are sharing the Gospel and reaching out to unbelievers despite violent blows dealt specifically to them.

One of those ministries, the Bible Society of Egypt, watched two of their bookstores go up in flames during the first wave of attacks in mid-August.

“The attackers demolished the metal doors protecting the bookshops, broke the store windows behind them, and set the bookshops on fire," said Ministry Director Ramez Atallah.

"They did the same to many stores on those streets, as well as demolishing many parked cars.”

The Bible stores are located in the cities of Minia and Assiut in southern Egypt. Christians in those two cities have no other source of Bibles, and Atallah is determined to rebuild as the bookstores are in strategic locations.

In addition, the ministry is producing print and audio-visual Scripture selections to address the present crisis both for comfort and to challenge believers and unbelievers during this difficult time.

Egyptian believers are encouraging their distraught brothers and sisters not to seek retaliation in the wake of the attacks. Instead, they ask for Christians in other parts of the Middle East and around the world to offer their support and prayers.

Please pray for Egypt's violence to end. Pray that many will turn to the Lord for peace and accept Him as Lord and Savior. Pray protection for all Christian properties across the nation.

Christians in Egypt are becoming more concerned

Church in Egypt (Photo Courtesy of Christian Aid)

Egypt (MNN) ― Violence toward Egyptian Christians is about to get worse.

Following the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, persecution escalated. Persecution has intensified even more in recent days. 

An Egyptian ministry leader supported by Christian Aid Mission said, "Our situation here is getting worse day by day." Ministries are growing more concerned as they watch radical Islam gain control in Egypt. Christians in Egypt believe that dark days of persecution are approaching. 

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of secular and Christian believers protested in Tahrir Square. 

Most recently, judges from the country's highest appeals court and its sister lower court are on an indefinite strike. 

The standoff began when President Morsi issued decrees that gave him near-absolute powers and gave himself and the Islamist-heavy assembly immunity from the courts. This open-ended strike took place on the day it was supposed to rule on the legitimacy of two key assemblies controlled by allies of the Islamist leader.

 

The judges will remain on strike until Morsi rescinds his decrees. Without a functioning justice system, Egypt will be plunged even deeper into turmoil. 

Though unlikely, the ministry leader writes, "We pray that this common protest will restore the bridges between Christians and Muslims as it was in the days of the revolution." 

Tens of thousands of Christians have fled the country. There is an increasing danger to being attacked or killed, or their homes and businesses ransacked or torched.

The ministry leader remains and continues to share the Gospel. "God has given us the grace to form friendships with Muslims and show them the love of Christ in practical ways. We ask for your prayers and financial support during this terrible time, which will only grow worse. Our most pressing need is to support our coworkers as they labor in the shadow of this darkness."

If you would like to help this persecuted Egyptian ministry, click here. Continue to keep Christian leaders working in Egypt in your prayers. 

Syrian refugee crisis hits Jordan

Hussein Malla\AP

Jordan (MNN) ― The violence continues in Syria, and now a border situation is causing a refugee crisis.

Bill Bray with Christian Aid Mission says, "Early in the week the Turks closed their border, and it's created a lot of panic. The fighting on the ground is horrific. A lot of these [refugees] are widows and children. This is a real crisis."

Jordanian native missionary leaders say they are being overwhelmed by a new surge of terrified Syrian refugees. "They are coming under the fences every night--2,500 to 3,000 at a time since the border with Turkey closed two days ago," says an indigenous leader of one of the main mission groups who asked not to be identified for security reasons.

"There are already 180,000 refugees here from Syria, and they are growing every day. This is a very, very intense time for us." The Christians are responding as good Samaritans to the desperate refugees, helping them find food and shelter. Most are women and children.

The indigenous leaders asked Christian Aid Mission and others in the USA to help send more immediate financial aid so that food, medicine, and clothing can be purchased on the local market for free distribution to the refugees.

"The refugees are only dressed in light, summer wear and have nothing but the clothes on their backs," he said. "They don't want to enter government camps where there is food and water shortages. Instead, they are coming to us for food and clothing."

Winter is coming, he added, and at least $150,000 will be needed now to keep food parcels going out, supply blankets and winter clothing.

Like all the other front line states, Jordan has officially closed its borders to Syrian refugees and is trying to resist pressure by Sunni Jihadists from nearby Saudi and Qatar. The Islamic Jihad wants to divide up Syrian territory under various militias in order to help bring down the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite Muslim who is accused of many atrocities but has protected the Christian minority.

A special fund has been set up by Christian Aid coded 400REF to aid the Syrian Christians during this time of crisis. 

Offerings for the suffering believers of Syria are being collected by phone at 800-977-5650 or at the Christian Aid Mission Web site: www.ChristianAid.or.

"We want to thank you Americans from the bottom of our hearts," said the Jordanian native missionary. "Your prayer and support is helping us befriend, love, and supply aid to these people. Discipleship requires an investment of time, resources, and courage, which we trust the Lord to provide to us."

Bray says, "The biggest thing they need right now is cash immediately to purchase food, medicines, and warm clothing."

A nearby pastor said, "I feel like finally, for the first time, we are doing outreach successfully."

Among the biggest needs they face:

• $70 each to sponsor the education of one child
• $45 each to supply medications for a refugee family
• $12 each for Arabic Bibles
• $55 each for food packets
• $180 per share of rent if a family shares an apartment with several other families

All the Syrian refugees told Christian Aid Mission reporters that they fled Syria after family members were killed. "We lost it all in Syria," said one woman. "I feared for my children, but here in Jordan they can play without being shot! I worry for my family that didn't make it out. I lost friends and loved ones. I've lost all hope."

Just crossing the border can be deadly. "We waited until nightfall, climbed through a barbed-wire fence under heavy gunfire with our husbands and kids. Our husbands didn't make it across."

Another said she came because "I couldn't sleep at night as I watched over my kids thinking this is our last night."

Bray says workers supported by Christian Aid Mission are using this for the Gospel sake. "In the midst of it, they're doing a lot of child evangelism and children's classes. This provides a lot of context in which to do a lot of Christian outreach."

Christian Aid Mission has been supporting indigenous missions in Syria and the front line states of Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey for decades. "We already had an indigenous network in place before the fighting began," said a Christian Aid Mission spokesperson in Charlottesville, Virginia. "We are able to get help to the field quickly."