A Christian mother goes missing in Somalia

Somalia's flag. (Image courtesy Wikipedia)

Somalia (VCM) ― Islamic militants suspected to be from Al Shabaab have kidnapped a Christian mother and threatened to attack her husband because of their faith.

According to reports from the Voice of the Martyrs Canada, three masked men abducted Shamsa Enow Hussein, 28, outside of her home in Bulo Marer, Lower Shebelle Region, on August 5th. Her husband, 31-year-old Mohamed Isse Osman, received a text from her that night urging him to evacuate. "Please leave immediately because of what we believe," she said in the text. "They have abused me sexually, saying I am an infidel."

Mohamed has also received anonymous threatening text messages from the kidnappers, including one that read, "Your wife has told us all about your Christian involvement, and soon we shall come for you, too." Mohamed and his two daughters, aged 3 and 5, have moved to an undisclosed location. A religious leader in the region claims that Osman has had no contact with his wife since her text on August 5th.

Like most Somali Christians, Shamsa and her husband are secretive about their faith. According to one resident of Bulo Marer, locals are aware of Shamsa's abduction but have no idea why it occurred. "What little we knew about (the) family was that they were not very committed to attending the mosque during Ramadan time," he said. Somalis consider themselves Muslim by birth and regard Islam as a significant part of their cultural identity.

Officials estimate that Somalia is close to 100% Muslim. Apostasy, or the leaving of Islam, is punishable by death.

Pray that God will preserve Shamsa's life, bringing her safely back to her family. May they sense His comforting presence throughout the turmoil. Also remember in your prayers other Somali believers who are fearing for their own safety and that of their loved ones. Ask that the Lord will not only provide His protection but also bless them with boldness as they speak the truth in love.

Possible kidnapping of Ukrainian church member

(Map courtesy Wikipedia)

Ukraine (MNN/SGA) ― Picture the most devoted Christ-follower you know. How would you feel if that person suddenly went missing?

That's what happened in the Ukraine at a church supported by Slavic Gospel Association. What follows is a verbatim report from their prayer letter.

Today we received an urgent prayer request from brothers and sisters in the Ukrainian city of Nikopol. One of their dedicated church members, Julia Tsapko, vanished without a trace on her way home from church August 4, 2013. She was last seen at the Nikopol Baptist Church Sunday, August 4, and then was seen walking on her way home. She never arrived.

For a time, Julia was here in the United States, fellowshipping at Grace Family Church, a Russian-speaking congregation in Carmachael, California. She is described as a fervent Christian who loves God and people, and one who has always been involved in various ministries including youth ministry.

She is a graduate of Tavriski Christian Institute, an evangelical Bible school in the city of Kherson. In the past year, Julia returned to Nikopol, Ukraine, where she lived with her parents.

The e-mail we received contained the following statement:

Julia's disappearance has shocked and greatly affected all of her family, friends, and acquaintances. Since she would not have left on her own, this case probably involves abduction. Despite numerous unanswered questions and not knowing, we trust in our God and His mercy, love, and faithfulness. We pray that God will shine His light on this situation, and that He will keep Julia safe, returning her home, and to glorify and lift up His powerful name as a testimony to all people.

Ethiopian Convert from Islam Dodges Dangers in Kenya

Muslim extremists try to kill him; others threaten his life.

NAIROBI, Kenya, February 1 (CDN) — A Christian convert from Islam who fled hostilities in his native Ethiopia has faced attempted murder and ongoing death threats in Kenya.


Somali Muslim extremists in Kenya kidnapped and tried to kill Barack Hussein Kedir in July 2010, and most recently Kenyan-born Islamic extremists in contact with their co-religionists in Ethiopia sent a death threat to his cell phone on Dec. 3, the Christian told Compass. Since then, Hussein has reported the threatening text message to police, and his wife has fled the country with their two children.


“Although I have been experiencing all these countless problems, suffering persecution and merciless harassment both in my own country and outside of the country, I have never given up or lost my hope in serving the Lord,” Hussein said. “Muslims have tried to murder me several times, even here in Kenya.”


Born to Muslim community leaders in Arsi Negelle district in southern Ethiopia, Hussein had been a zealous Islamic youth coordinator who once harassed Christians before his conversion – a long process that led his father to shoot him in the leg for his commitment to Christ, he said.


Hussein had fled to Kenya in 2003 but secretly returned to his rural home in Ethiopia in June 2009 to help establish three new churches. When area Muslims discovered his work, they started looking for him with intent to kill him, forcing him to return to Kenya, he said.


Shortly after midnight on July 8, 2010, Muslim extremists in Nairobi slipped a CD under his door containing information on how they kill Christians and burn church buildings, along with a threatening letter in the Arabic and Somali languages, he said. The next evening at about 7:30 p.m., presumed Muslim extremists rammed their car into the driver’s side door of the car he was driving and told him they would kill him.


On July 27, 2010, four Somalis, presumed Muslim extremists, forced him into a car at about 9:30 p.m. in Nairobi and, at gunpoint, made him take a detergent (Jik) mixed with powdered soap (Omo), and he fell unconscious and was pushed out of the car, he said. Passers-by took him to a hospital, where staff determined that he must have been thrown out of the car at high speed.


The Somalis, whom he did not know, objected to his preaching Christianity, he said.


Hussein converted to Christianity in 1995 after a series of life threatening episodes that began in 1990. Previously he had traveled to various regions teaching about Islam and developed hostility toward other religions; he harassed many Christians, stealing their food and trying to burn some church buildings, he said.


“While I was practicing and spreading Islamic faith in the country like wildfire, something amazing happened to me,” Hussein said. “I converted to Christ in an unusual way, when Jesus revealed Himself to me through difficult circumstances in which I almost lost my life.”


In 1990 he was mysteriously blinded, he said. After hospital treatment and the prayers of Muslim leaders were of no avail, he said he heard the voice of Jesus saying He loved him.


“In response I said, ‘No, I do not need your help, go away,’” he said. “The voice then said to me, ‘Do you need to get back your health?’ I said, ‘Yes, but I do not need you.’”


Hussein told Compass he later became hopeless and heard the voice again bidding him to ask to be healed, but that again he declined.


“That very evening I saw a white image, and there came the sign of the cross, and I rebuked it,” he said. “The house shook like there was an earthquake. I then decided to cover myself inside the blanket. Everyone inside the house was frightened. Then came again the cross. This time I wanted to catch the cross. My eyes then got opened, though I could not see well. It was very red. Then another voice came to me saying, ‘I am Christ Jesus, follow Me. I am the one who made you blind. I now have healed you.’”


Still skeptical about the healing, he left for a predominantly Christian area to preach Islam, he said, but he lost all sight again and was also paralyzed for seven months.


“I was then taken to my rural village to die there,” Hussein said. “I used to lie on the floor, helping myself [to food or drink] right where I was lying. The place became filthy and smelly. Death dominated my thoughts. I questioned Allah, why he does not want to heal. I then contemplated committing suicide. At that point my eyes got opened and a voice called me again, ‘Barack, I love you. I caused you to be paralyzed. I love you. I am Jesus Christ. Follow Me.’”


The voice directed him to a location about 200 kilometers (124 miles) away in order to regain his health.


“I found this to be very difficult,” he said. “People said I was going crazy. I was then put on a horse and traveled for one hour to reach the bus station. Before reaching the destination, in a vision, I saw a narrow road and a white sword in front, and fire. I got afraid thinking that it wanted to kill me. That time I was barefoot. Then I was woken up, for I had reached the destination. There a cross sign was handed over to me and the message came, ‘Follow Me.’ I got healed miraculously, then returned back with the cross.”


When he arrived home with the cross sign, his father shot him in the leg, forcing him to try to take refuge in a church building – where he was initially rebuffed as an enemy of the faith.


“After a while I was accepted and was taken by the church to Jimma Bible College,” Hussein said. “There I had the seal to preach the gospel within the Jimma vicinity. Soon things turned bad. With my miraculous healing, especially carrying the cross sign around, I faced persecution from my own family as well as the community. It would have been safer for me to either kill myself or recant the Christian faith, but I endured it all, and finally I fled to Kenya in 2003.”


He was admitted to Pan Africa Christian University, and after earning his degree went on to obtain a Master of Leadership from the Nairobi International School of Theology. He is now pursuing another master’s degree, this one in peace and international relations, at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa.


“God has called me to a precious life,” he said. “I have no regrets, and I thank God for delivering me from Islam. I know I have to pay the price, since those who wish to live a godly life must be ready to face persecution.”


Hussein submitted his application for asylum to a third country on July 19, 2010 to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Officials there interviewed him on Nov. 4, 2010, and also last year, but to date he has not received a determination. A letter to the UNCHR requests that he not be returned to a country where he faces threats on his life or freedom.


A decision is expected at a scheduled May 17 appointment.


END

Overseas Chinese Christian Businesswoman Who Visited House Churches in China is Kidnapped, Tortured by State Security Agents

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- A Chinese Christian businesswoman from Canada who visited China late last year was kidnapped and tortured by Chinese state security agents after she visited two persecuted Chinese house churches during the Christmas and New Year's holiday season, ChinaAid has learned.

Photo: Jenny Chen took this photo on Christmas Day 2011 of an armored personnel carrier and other police vehicles outside Jindeng Church in Linfen, Shanxi province.

Jenny Chen, who is in her 50s, was held by state security agents and denied food and water for nearly two days.  About to go into shock, she was taken to a police hospital, from where she managed to escape and get on a flight to Los Angeles, arriving in the United States on Jan. 17.

Chen, who does business in Canada, the United States and China, had learned of the severe persecution inflicted on Shouwang Church in Beijing and the Linfen house church in Shanxi province from reports online.

Motivated by Christian concern for her fellow believers, Chen and her daughter traveled to Beijing and Shanxi.  On Christmas Day, she was an eyewitness to police action in front of the Jindeng Church established by the Linfen house church.  She saw both regular and armed police and police vehicles, including armored personnel carriers, surrounding the church to stop church members from attending a Christmas worship service. Police blocked streets leading to the church and closed nearby shops.  Chen was followed and threatened by plainclothes police officers.

In Beijing, Chen had paid a visit before Christmas to Rev. Jin Tianming, senior pastor of Shouwang Church, who has been under house arrest since April 2011, and on New Year's Day, she and her daughter attempted to attend Shouwang's outdoor worship service. (See her account here: www.chinaaid.org/2012/01/new-years-visit-to-shouwang-church.html.)  On both occasions, she was followed by Domestic Security Protection agents.

Aware that they were being followed more and more closely, Chen put her daughter on a U.S.-bound plane on Jan. 10, then returned to her hometown in the city of Tianjin.  On the evening of Jan. 14, she was forcibly taken into custody by two plain-clothed state security agents who refused to show their IDs and taken to a secret place for questioning.  She later realized that she had been kidnapped by Tianjin state security agents.  She was interrogated in a cold, windowless cell with only one chair, and was asked what organization she was affiliated with and what overseas mission she was on.  Chen said she had no organizational affiliation nor was she on any overseas mission.  She said she was simply an overseas Christian whose conscience had propelled her to return to China to visit her fellow believers.  The agents appeared not to believe her and threatened to imprison her for more than ten years for subverting state power and stealing state secrets if she did not tell them the truth.  The agents also beat her, pulling her hair and slapping her hard. 

Chen was detained for nearly two days without food and water, and almost went into shock. 

Physically exhausted, she was sent to the Tianjin Public Safety Hospital, where she was diagnosed with slight pneumonia and had to be hospitalized.  However, Chen had no money with her, and the state security agents said they had no money either.  The hospital refused to treat her, giving her the excuse of returning home to get money.  Instead, she took a cab and rushed to Beijing Capital Airport, where she caught a flight in the early morning of Jan. 16.  She arrived in Los Angles on the following day and is currently undergoing medical observation and treatment.

"It is appalling to hear what Ms. Chen had experienced at the hands of the brutal Chinese security forces for simply visiting and trying to worship with the Chinese Christians during the Christmas season," said Eddie Romero, director of ChinaAid's Los Angeles office. "The unprecedented persecution against the peaceful house churches like Shouwang and Linfen should be stopped. We urge the Chinese government's highest authorities to hold those abusers accountable for the harm done to this businesswoman, Ms. Chen."

Jenny Chen's journal New Year's Visit to Shouwang Church:www.chinaaid.org/2012/01/new-years-visit-to-shouwang-church.html

Two Catholic Priests Kidnapped in Sudan

Islamic militias loyal to government forces attack Catholic church compound.

KHARTOUM, Sudan, January 25 (CDN) — Islamic militias loyal to the Sudanese government have kidnapped two Catholic priests in Rabak, Christian sources said.

A large truck smashed through the gates of the St. Josephine Bakhita’s Catholic Church compound in Rabak, 260 kilometers (162 miles) south of Khartoum, on Jan. 15 at 10 p.m., and the assailants broke down the rectory door, the sources said. The Rev. Joseph Makwey and the Rev. Sylvester Mogga were kidnapped at gunpoint.

Four days later, on Jan. 19, the kidnappers forced the two priests to call their bishop with a ransom demand of 500,000 Sudanese pounds (US$185,530), 250,000 Sudanese pounds each.

Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Adwok told Compass by phone that there was no direct communication between the bishop and the kidnappers, though the priests managed to convey that they were being mistreated.

“We are worried about the two priests,” he said. “They are not treating them well.”

The kidnappers have attempted no communication with church leaders since then, Adwok said. Neither Makwey, in his 40s, nor Mogga, in his mid-30s, are supporters of southern Sudan military forces in territorial conflict with Sudan over border areas, he added.

Eyewitnesses told Compass that they saw the assailants severely beating the priests while abducting them. The kidnappers also looted the priests’ living quarters, stealing two vehicles, two laptops and a safe.

The incident caused panic and terror among Christians in Rabak, with church leaders saying they fear for their lives as they become targets of the Islamic government and its allied militias.

Sudan has seen a steep increase in persecution against Christians, according to an annual ranking by Christian support organization Open Doors. Sudan – where northern Christians experienced greater vulnerability after southern Sudan seceded in a July referendum, and where Christians were targeted amid isolated military conflicts – jumped 19 places last year from its 2010 ranking, from 35th to 16th, according to Open Doors’ 2012 World Watch List.

Sudanese law prohibits missionaries from evangelizing, and converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by imprisonment or death in Sudan, though previously such laws were not strictly enforced. The government has never carried out a death sentence for apostasy, according to the U.S. State Department’s latest International Religious Freedom Report.

Christians are facing growing threats from both Muslim communities and Islamist government officials who have long wanted to rid Sudan of Christianity, Christian leaders told Compass. They said Christianity is now regarded as a foreign religion following the departure of 350,000 people, most of them Christians, to South Sudan following the July 9, 2011 secession.

Sudan’s Interim National Constitution holds up sharia (Islamic law) as a source of legislation, and the laws and policies of the government favor Islam, according to the state department report. Christian leaders said they fear the government is tightening controls on churches in Sudan and planning to force compliance with Islamic law as part of a strategy to eliminate Christianity.

As he has several times in the past year, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Jan. 3 once again warned that Sudan’s constitution will be more firmly entrenched in sharia.

“We are an Islamic nation with sharia as the basis of our constitution,” he told crowds in Kosti, south of Khartoum. “We will base our constitution on Islamic laws.”

His government subsequently issued a decree ordering church leaders to provide names and contact information of church leaders in Sudan, sources said. Christian leaders said the government is retaliating for churches’ perceived pro-West position.

Muslim scholars have urged heavy-handed measures against Christians to Al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in Darfur.


END

Egyptian Judiciary Accused of Collusion in Kidnapping and Forced Islamization of Christian Minors

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

CAIRO, EGYPT (ANS) -- A Middle East journalist is reporting that an Egyptian court has ordered a 16-year-old Christian girl to be held in a state-owned care home, instead of returning her to her family, allegedly for expressing her wish to convert to Islam.

The 16-year-old girl

“She is to be held in state care until she reaches the age of 18. The decision has been widely criticized by Copts, who say it encourages Islamists to continue unabated the abduction of Christian minors for conversion to Islam,” said Mary Abdelmassih writing for the Assyrian International News Agency (www.aina.org).

“The decision taken by a prosecutor in Boulaq El Dakrour district, Giza, makes him an abductor and makes the law an accomplice to the crime,” said Dr. Oliver, a Coptic activist. “What this prosecutor committed is a crime -- he legitimized child abduction and detention.”

Dr. Oliver explained that these crimes are committed by thugs, criminals and kidnappers of children and, when the State legitimizes them, it makes itself a partner. In addition, he said, placing a girl under care for allegedly wishing to convert to Islam while still a minor is “tantamount to abduction by the State”.

Abdelmassih went on to say that the abduction of 16-year old Amira Gamal Saber, from Saft-el-Khamar village, Minya province, who disappeared from her home over 40 days ago, has turned into a tug of war between the Christian family and Islamist lawyers from an organization named Alliance for the Support of New Muslim Females.

They claim that they are “defending the rights of their Muslim sisters” and that “according to the Egyptian constitution, the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia), which should apply to both Muslims and non-Muslims, and therefore at 16 years of age, Amira can chose her own religion.”

According to the Al-Azhar Islamic Institution, a person cannot convert to Islam before reaching the age of 18 years.

In December 2011, Amira attended a school lesson but failed to return home. Her teacher said she had left school with two veiled girls. Her family looked for her in all the neighboring villages and were informed that she had accompanied three Muslim men to Cairo. They filed a report with the police on December 4. The head of security in Minya confirmed her kidnapping and assured her family that the culprits were being watched and not to take any action until they were detained. However, time passed and nothing was heard from security.

The journalist added that attorney, Tawfik Kamel, who accompanied the Sabry family to Giza, said that on January 15 a man named Mohammad Ahmed Ibrahim phoned the family and said that Amira had been staying at his home in Boulaq El Dakrour for the last 38 days and asked for 200,000 Egyptian pounds ($33,110.41 USD) for her return.

“The family asked to speak to their daughter, and she spoke to her mother,” he added.

According to Kamel, “We had no idea that Islamists were involved. We went to Giza to pay a ransom to someone and collect our daughter, instead we were directed to the police station where Amira is, and then we were told there that government prosecuters are handling the case.”

They were detained and interrogated for seven hours.

“We were surprised to find a bearded lawyer,” said Kamel, “backed by another 12 Salafist lawyers, appearing in the session, claiming that Amira wants to convert to Islam, and that she does not want to return home as she is afraid of retribution.” He presented prosecution with the birth certificate proving Amira is 16-years-old and a certificate from the Fatwa department of Al Azhar saying they have no record of her, and conversion is not permitted for people under 18 years old.

“We thought we would bring Amira home but were stunned by the decision to send her to a care home in Giza until she reaches 18,” said her uncle.

Abdelmassih added that Tawfik Kamel said that he heard that Amira is presently not in a state-owned care home, but in a home affiliated to the Sharia association in Giza, which is in violation of the court decision. He said that he is in the process of appealing the decision to the Attorney General.

Nancy and Christine Fathy

The decision of the prosecutor in Boulaq El Dakrour was not the first time that prosecution has taken such a measure. On June 12, 2011, 14-year-old Nancy Magdy Fathy, and her 16-year old cousin Christine Ezzat Fathy disappeared from their home in Minya. The family accused two Muslim brothers from a neighboring village of abducting them. Two weeks later they were found in Cairo, but said they converted to Islam, refused to go back to their families and applied for protection from them.

Prosecution decided to put them in a state care home and provided protection for them, until completion of the investigations. It was discovered they had lied about converting to Islam, according to Al Azhar.

“To this day they are still in the care home,” said activist Waguih Yacoub, “and no progress on their status had been made, except that the two brothers implicated of their disappearance were released”.

According to Dr. Oliver there is an active ring called “Sharia Association of Ain Shams” in the Cairo suburb of Ain Shams, which kidnaps Christian minors. “It depends on the protection and backing of a prosecutor serving there who colludes with this association,” he said.

“It is also not uncommon that prosecution detains parents of abducted minors so that they cease to search for their abducted daughters.”

Abdelmassih concluded by saying, “Similarly organized Islamization rings, which depend on the protection and collusion of high profile personalities, including prosecutors and policemen, exist in Alexandria. They target Christian minor girls through sexual coercion”.

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Dan Wooding, 71, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books, one of which is his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.

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** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

No justice for kidnapping case

Sudan (MNN) ― Kidnapping, rape, torture, and threats are all methods of persecution suffered by Christians in Sudan at the hands of Muslims. One teenage girl who recently escaped from the hands of her Islamic abductors suffered all four.
Voice of the Martyrs, Canada(VCM) reported that Hiba Abdelfadil Anglo, 16, was abducted last year on June 17 by a Muslim gang. She was just reunited with her family last month after several months of trauma and suffering.

According to VCM's source with Compass Direct, Hiba was kidnapped while going to the Ministry of Education for transcripts to enter into secondary school. She didn't know she was being monitored and one of the kidnappers pretended to work for the Ministry of Education.

She was taken and moved around various locations in Khartoum by her kidnappers. All the while, Hiba was constantly pressured to convert from Christianity to Islam. She was often locked in a room and beaten until she lost consciousness.
In trying to recount the story to Compass Direct, Hiba broke into tears. "They did many bad things to me," she says.

The group members tortured her and referred to her family as "infidels." They would not let her pray Christian prayers, and the leader of the group sexually abused her. "Apart from abusing me sexually, he tried to force me to change my faith and kept reminding me to prepare for Ramadan," says Hiba.

Two days after Hiba was kidnapped, her family started receiving threatening phone calls and text messages demanding a random of 1,500 Sudanese pounds ($560 USD) if they wanted her back.

Hiba's mother, Anglo, went to the police station to open a case to find her daughter, but the police refused unless Anglo converted to Islam as well.

Hiba tried to run away three different times, but each time her captors caught her and severely beat her for trying to escape. Freedom finally did come when Hiba gave enough of a pretense of converting to Islam for her captors to lighten up on guarding her. She got out and begged a motorcyclist to give her a ride to her home two hours away.
Such a situation just shows the intensity of the religious profiling at the level of law enforcement in Sudan and the ongoing persecution there.

Even Hiba's captors were so sure of their safety if they were caught. Hiba says she was warned by her captors, "Even if you call the government, they will not do anything to us."

Anglo says, "It is good that those who prayed for us to know that their prayers were answered, and that my daughter is back at home with me. I also need prayers because I am jobless since the time my daughter was kidnapped."

Please pray for Christians in Sudan suffering persecution both from Islamic groups and from lack of justice by the law.

Pray for the emotional and spiritual wellness of Hiba and she and her family recover in Christ from this traumatic time.

Kidnapped lawyer still missing

China (MNN) ― Last Monday, August 15, marked the fifth year since Christian lawyer Gao Zhisheng was first kidnapped and tortured by Chinese officials. It has been over a year since his last kidnapping took Gao off the face of the map.

ChinaAid, a Voice of the Martyrs partner, formally petitioned the UN this past Monday to start an investigation into the illegal kidnapping and torture of the disappeared Gao.

The request was filed by the legal counsel of China Aid Association with the United Nations Special Rapporteur of Torture.

Gao first earned the Chinese government's attention in 2005 when he took on "sensitive" cases representing persecuted Christians, groups, and house churches in court. His wife and two young children were placed under communist police surveillance.

On August 15, 2006, Gao was kidnapped by police from the home of his sister, confined, and tortured. Authorities later charged him with inciting subversion or rebellion.

Gao was kidnapped again on September 21, 2007 after writing a detailed report to the U.S. Congress on the Chinese government abuses of human rights. His kidnappers brutally tortured Gao for 50 days before releasing him with a death threat if he spoke of his torture.

However, death threats wouldn't stop Gao. He waited until his family had escaped police surveillance and gained asylum with ChinaAid before publishing an account of his last kidnapping and torture.

A third kidnapping took place in February 2009 following the publishing of his torture account. Gao was released after the international community's outrage gained enough attention.

The last time Gao was heard from was in April 2010 before he was kidnapped again. European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek says he is assuming the worst after reading Gao's previous account of the torture he suffered.

The U.S. State Department has inquired of Chinese officials concerning Gao's whereabouts, and the UN declared Gao's treatment by the Chinese government to be illegal.

In response, the Chinese government blatantly told the UN to "mind its own business," saying this is a matter of internal affair in their country. This is despite the fact that China signed the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights as well as 20 other UN agreements and documents.

ChinaAid's legal counselor, David E. Taylor, states, ""Nonetheless, we believe it is important for the international community to see again how the Chinese Communist Party responds with arrogance and recalcitrance to the UN, and to show the world--especially Gao's family and the Chinese government--that Gao has not been forgotten for even one second, and never will be."

Hopefully, through Gao's bold refusal to back down from supporting the persecuted in the face of threats and trial, other Christians will be bold to stand up for the Gospel and their fellow believers.

Please pray for the UN to pursue investigations of the illegal conduct of the Chinese government towards Gao. Pray that Gao would be found and released and that the Lord would protect him from harm.

Click here to sign the petition for Gao's freedom.

Pastor Taken from Home, Likely to Be Killed

Iraq (MNN) ― An Iraqi pastor was recently kidnapped and is expected to face death at the hands of his attackers.

Voice of the Martyrs, Canadareports that the house church leader's daughter recently witnessed her father's capture when a group of militants broke into their home.

Pastor Jamal reportedly works among the Shabak people--a people who have Jewish roots and speak Arabic and Kurdish. Several weeks ago, militants attacked the home of one of Jamal's converts with machine gun fire.

It is suspected that the militants targeted Jamal because he has led many Muslims to Christ. It's feared that the pastor will not be released, but instead will likely be killed by his captors.

Over the past several months, hundreds of thousands of believers have fled Iraq out of fear of just such an incident. (Read more about that here.) Pastor Jamal has bravely remained where he is but is paying the consequences for his faith in this hostile environment.

Pray that Jamal's capture would not be incentive for Christians to flee the region. Pray that believers would remain bold in their faith despite this frightening setback.

Pray for Jamal's safety and for peace for his family. Follow up with the pastor's plight on the Voice of the Martyrs Web site.

To learn more about the persecuted Christ-followers of Iraq, click here.