Police Detain, Beat Converts from Islam in India

Police in India’s Kashmir Valley detained and beat converts from Islam and were expected to arrest Christian workers after Muslim leaders alleged that Muslim youth were being “lured” to Christianity.

Police in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley picked up seven converts who were recently baptized in All Saints Church in Srinagar, a local Christian, who spoke to the converts after their release on Nov. 2, told Compass. Srinagar is the summer capital of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir and the main city of the Kashmir Valley.

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Church attacked in Kenya, as threats hamper relief work

After grenade attacks on a church in northern Kenya blamed on Islamic extremists, religious leaders say they are redoubling inter-faith peace efforts - writes Fredrick Nzwili.

At the same time, about 100 kilometres away, Christian relief agencies have been carrying out humanitarian work in Dadaab, the world's biggest refugee camp, despite security threats.

Two grenades were lobbed into the East Africa Pentecostal Church compound in the town of Garissa on 5 November, killing two people and injuring five others. The attack has been blamed on al-Shabab militants who are facing a Kenyan military operation in southern Somalia.

"We are alarmed by this blatant attempt by evil forces to drive a wedge between Christians and Muslims," Sheikh Adan Wachu, General Secretary of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims told a news conference on 10 November in Nairobi.

Speaking under the auspices of the Interreligious Council of Kenya, he said the militants had hoped to ignite Christians-Muslims violence, but had failed. He said the faiths were united against groups that misuse religion to cause anarchy and would be preaching that message in churches, mosques and temples.

"We have lived peacefully with one another for long. Therefore we choose not to interpret this as religious war," the Rev Joseph Mwasya, a clergyman from Garissa said on 8 November at a news conference.

At Dadaab, many agencies have scaled down since October when threats escalated, but the Rev Eberhard Hitzler, the director of the Department for World Service of the Lutheran World Federation said on 8 November the organisation will continue to deliver humanitarian relief at the camp.

"We have not yet the impression that the current situation in Dadaab constitutes a serious crisis, despite the security risks increasing for the organisation; so we should set up a team to respond to it," said Hitzler whose organisation is responsible for housing and security in the camp. The 20-year-old settlement now contains more than 460,000 refugees who have fled war, famine and disease in Somalia.

[With acknowledgements to ENInews. ENInews, formerly Ecumenical News International, is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.]

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Boko Haram Bombs 11 Churches in Nigeria

A radical Islamic group, Boko Haram, killed more than 150 people and bombed 11 churches in the northern Nigerian city of Damaturu on Nov. 4, according to International Christian Concern. While the press painted this as an attack targeting the police, Christian sources on the ground are reporting to ICC that the majority of the victims were Christians who were deliberately targeted because of their faith.


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UN must follow Syria's Arab League suspension with action

The Arab League's decision to suspend Syria should spur the UN Security Council into action over its abuses, human rights campaigners say.

At an emergency meeting in Cairo today, 18 out of 22 member states voted in favour of suspending Syria's membership of the regional organisation with effect from Wednesday if the government continued to breach the terms of the Arab League's action plan.

"This decision sends a clear signal from the Arab League that the gross human rights violations that continue to be committed against mainly peaceful protesters in Syria must stop," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director.

"Now that the Arab League has taken decisive action, it is time for the UN Security Council to finally step up to the plate and deliver an effective international response to Syria's human rights crisis."

"The question is whether those countries who have been blocking effective international action on Syria - in particular Russia and China - will recognise how isolated they have become by giving support to a Syrian regime which Amnesty International considers to have been committing crimes against humanity."

Amnesty has called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, impose an arms embargo, and freeze the assets of President Bashar al-Assad and his top associates which are held abroad.

On 5 October 2011, Russia and China used their vetoes to block the passing of a UN Security Council resolution which condemned Syria's crackdown on protesters and left open the possibility of sanctions.

More than 100 people are reported to have been killed since Syria announced last week that it would abide by the action plan it agreed with the Arab League on 30 October. The majority of those killed appear to have been unarmed protesters and bystanders shot by the security forces and army.

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Election tension leads to fear of war in Liberia

Liberia (MNN) ― People remain inside and afraid during post-election tension in Liberia.

Some fear that the situation could even give way to civil war again.

"I think from both parties--the opposition and the government right now--that no one wants it to go back to war," says evangelist Sammy Tippit. "I think that has at least been stated from both groups and both sides. However, emotions can run wild."

If no one wants to go to war, though, what's the big issue, you may ask?

The recent run-off elections, which dubbed Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf the nation's president for a second term, have been highly criticized by opposition party the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) and its candidate, Winston Tubman.

Tubman and the CDC were miffed after the initial election, in which no candidate was decided upon, but in which Tubman and Johnson-Sirleaf were instead chosen as run-off candidates. Even though the international community generally agreed the first election was fair, Tubman claimed Johnson-Sirleaf committed fraud. To make his point, Tubman called for a boycott of the run-off.

The boycott was stunningly effective. Some stayed home out of fear due to violence surrounding the election days, but others stood firmly planted away from the polls in solidarity with Tubman.

According to Reuters, the turnout could have been as low as 25-35%--less than half the 71% record in the first round. Nonetheless, a clear winner was determined, as Johnson-Sirleaf earned 90.8% of the run-off vote, according to All Africa.

Now Tubman and many others are saying the win is invalid due to the boycott, and since Tubman believes Johnson-Sirleaf shouldn't have been in the run-off to begin with, he may seek an annulment of the run-off results.

Reuters reports that there had been some discussion of power-sharing, but that Tubman went on to call a power-share "unlikely, if not impossible" after police allegedly attempted to kill him.

The tension is thick, and people are desperately afraid. Liberia is still fairly fresh out of war, and the scars of those days remain imprinted on their minds.

"There have been a number of groups in there, including [Sammy Tippit Ministries], who are there really trying to help rebuild the country, and it's been going very well," notes Tippit. "However, if war breaks out, it's like everything that's been done would just be destroyed."

Ministry is on hold while people stay tucked away in their houses. STM has ministry in Liberia through schools, healthcare programs, economic assistance and well drilling, but while everyone's afraid to leave home, these programs cannot continue. Which means the Gospel cannot spread as it typically would through those programs.

At this point, Liberian believers are just desperate for prayer, says Tippit. "There have been things taking place. And if they escalate into another war, it could be absolutely devastating to the country. And so Christians there have said, ‘Please pray for peace.'"

Pray that the election disputes would be handled smoothly, and that the nation would not return to war. Pray that believers in the meantime would take heart and share God's peace with their neighbors. 

Samaritan's Purse Refugee Camp bombed

Yida Refugee Camp bombing
(Photos courtesy Samaritan's Purse)

Sudan (MNN) ― The United States condemned Thursday's bombardment of a refugee camp by the Sudanese armed forces of the southern town of Yida.

Ken Isaacs, Samaritan's Purse Vice President of Programs and government Relations, spoke to MNN from the camp via satellite phone. "The World Food Program landed a helicopter with 12 tons of food in it. When the helicopter took off after it was off-loaded, a bomber came over and dropped four bombs on the refugee camp."

Over 23,000 people are living in the camp in the northernmost part of Unity State, after being displaced by fighting across the border in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan State. A team from Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse ministry works there distributing food and other supplies. Samaritan's Purse staff was present along with a handful of UN workers and journalists when the bombing run started.

Four bombs were dropped. One bomb hit the marketplace, and two others fell on the fringe of the camp. Isaacs says, "The fourth one actually fell in the middle of the camp, in a schoolyard that had nearly 300 children in it. It was a miracle that the bomb didn't go off. It hit a big tree limb, probably 10-inches around. It took the tree limb out, and the bomb sat there in the ground halfway through the wall of the grass hut classroom."

All of Samaritan's Purse staff have been accounted for and are safe. There is a report that 12 people died in the attack, but they have not been able to confirm the casualties among the refugees. However, blame for it is landing at the feet of Sudan's Khartoum government. Isaacs explains, "The government of Sudan is the only one with high altitude aircraft like that in this part of the world. It has been a pattern of the government of Sudan, throughout the war with South Sudan, to bomb areas during food distributions."

The violence has been rising steadily and may point to a possible border attack from Sudan. "This has all just started in the last four days, so there's clearly a pattern starting. There is speculation that it's going to get worse." Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham, who visited the camp six days before the bombing, called for the world to take action in the immediate aftermath of the most recent attack.

    

The refugees are stranded in a swampy area in Unity State near the border between South Sudan and Sudan. The camp has been accessible only by plane because the rainy season washed out the roads, making fleeing a moot point.

The largely-Christian South Sudan became independent from the Islamic northern part of the country four months ago. However, as to the question of persecution, Isaacs doesn't think the root issue is religicide. It's more likely motivated by the loss of oil to South Sudan. That doesn't mean there aren't religious overtones. "Clearly, the government of Sudan uses religion to brutalize people and to motivate their fighters to launch attacks."

Where does the Gospel come into play in a scenario like this? As Samaritan's Purse teams work in crisis areas of the world, people often ask, "Why did you come?" The answer is always the same: "We have come to help you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ."

While Samaritan's Purse's ministry is all about Jesus--first, last, and always, Isaacs says, "Pray for Samaritan's Purse staff. We're the only organization that's working here now. All of the UN people pulled out; the other agencies pulled out. Ten of our staff are still here."