Pakistan’s churches increase security after Peshawar blasts

Officer dies guarding another church in Peshawar

Christians guard the Full Gospel Assemblies
 Church in Bahar Colony in Lahore.

Security around churches in Pakistan has increased since the deadly suicide blasts in Peshawar in September and the death of a police guard outside a church last month.

On September 22, two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the All Saints Church in Peshawar when congregants were leaving the church after the Sunday service. Ninety-six people were killed and 133 were injured.

Then on November 19, a police constable, Muhammad Attaullah, was killed during a security operation outside another church in Peshawar.

Samson Simon Sharaf, Central Defence Secretary of Peshawar’s  provincial ruling political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), told World Watch Monitor that the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Association is “providing security to 160 churches and it can be increased further”.

Following the Peshawar blasts, the Pakistani police held meetings with church leaders in Christian areas, such as Bahar Colony in Lahore.

Rev. Dr. Liaqat Qaisar from the Full Gospel Assemblies Church in Bahar Colony said that police were working alongside church members to provide security on Sundays.

“The police instructed us to put barricades on the outside of the church, to keep the entrance clear and, rather than all the congregation leaving at the same time, worshippers should leave in small groups after the church ends,” said Qaisar.

After the death of police constable Attaullah outside the Swati Gate Assemblies of God (AG) church in Peshawar, Deputy Superintendent of Police Fazal Wahid told World Watch Monitor that the incident had no religious dimension; rather that terrorists were attacking police everywhere.

The church administration, however, did not rule out the possibility of another attack on a church and added that the church had employed security guards for a number of years.

“The first time indiscriminate firing took place outside the church was in 2009, after which security has been permanently deployed,” AG General Secretary Dr. Arshad Masih told World Watch Monitor.

He added that another police constable, Muhammad Shehzad, was killed outside the church on July 5.

In Lahore, three men were arrested on October 6, after they were spotted at a wedding in St. John’s Catholic Church in Yahounabad.

The men, Pashtoon in origin, were spotted by security guards, who noticed that they were outsiders to the area and asked why they had come to the wedding. When they could not provide a reason, they were handed over to the police.

Locals say they have noticed Pashtoons (from the north-west region of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan) moving into Yahounabad – one of the largest Christian settlements in South Asia – in recent years. They add that they are concerned not only by possible terrorist attacks, but also of increasing hostilities to the long-term residents, such as trying to manoeuvre them out of this prime area of the city, by buying up land.

Meanwhile, local media reported that there were fears that the Lohari Gate Presbyterian Church in the Anarkali area of Lahore may be a target for terrorist attacks.

PTI Defence Secretary Sharaf added that churches were one of the most likely targets for such attacks.

“Christianity is seen as a symbol of Western cultural imperialism, which is why, after the Shiite and Barelvi [an offshoot of Sunni Islam] worship places, churches are the third target of hardliner terrorist groups,” he said.

*****************

©2013 World Watch Monitor

Syria: Conflicting Reports about Missing Nuns

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (ANS) -- Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), has told the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) that it is concerned for the welfare of twelve nuns and three young women who were taken away from their convent in a village 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) north of the Syrian capital Damascus by Islamist rebels on Monday, 2 December 2, 2013.

The Greek Orthodox convent of St. Takla of Maaloula

But now, according to CSW, there are conflicting accounts on the current plight of the nuns and their three associates. Pope Francis has called for prayer for "the nuns of the Greek Orthodox convent of St. Takla of Maaloula in Syria who were forcibly taken away by armed men two days ago,"

However, yesterday their mother superior, Pelagia Sayyaf, said the women were "comfortably installed in a house in Yabrud and no one was bothering them,"

Thousands of Christians and many Muslims fled Maaloula when it was invaded on September 5, 2013, by Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Islamist militia, including the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabat al-Nusra. 

Christian families who escaped were accommodated by churches in the Damascus area, which provided food and medical supplies. However, 40 nuns remained in Maaloula to look after dozens of orphaned children.

Maaloula is a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the few places in the world where the locals still speak Aramaic. According to Syrian news agency SANA, the rebels "committed acts of vandalism in the town's neighborhoods and around the convent, attacking locals and targeting them with sniper fire."

Syrian rebels forcibly evacuated 12 nuns including the mother superior Pelagia Sayyaf (Reuters)

CSW remains concerned by the disappearance of Archbishop Boulos (Paul) Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church and Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church, who were abducted by gunmen in April 2013 as they returned from a humanitarian mission near the Syria/Turkey border. 

Their whereabouts remains unknown.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights the Syrian civil war has so far claimed at least 125,835 lives, with five million people internally displaced, and two million Syrians fleeing to other countries. The seven million affected represent a third of Syria's population.

CSW's Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, "Our thoughts and prayers are very much with the nuns and the three young women in their entourage, particularly in light of conflicting reports regarding whether they were forcibly abducted or evacuated to safety. These are worrying times for the Christian community in Syria, given the earlier abductions of two Archbishops and the documented and deliberate targeting of clergy and laity by Islamist militia.

"CSW urges every party to the conflict to adhere to humanitarian standards with regard to the treatment of civilians, religious leaders and religious establishments, regardless of creed or ethnicity. We also request the speedy release of these nuns and their associates into the hands of church authorities."

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

Lahore church provides aid to 'tortured and abducted' brick kiln workers

Now they say they are receiving death threats for helping them

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A Lahore, Pakistan, church has told the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) that has been providing aid to "tortured and abducted brick kiln workers" in Lahore, the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab.

Two of brick kiln workers

According Pastor Javaid Austin of the Light of the City Church, the shocking incident took place on September 12, 2013, when six kiln workers, namely Mr. Asghar, Mr. Iqbal, Mr. Tariq Masih, Sharif Jalal, and two others, were "brutally beaten along with their families including women, and children" by local kiln owners and six "unknown" persons, and later were forcibly taken to Dhondaey village "with the threat of weapons."

He said that when he first heard of the shocking incident, he and a team rushed to the scene, and asked people who saw the incident what had occurred, and they said that the kiln owners and others had "hit them with heavy slippers and sticks and hung them on the front side of wall of a house."

The pastor added that after the "brutal and inhuman beating," the victims "became disabled and can no more work to earn a livelihood for their families."

Pastor Javaid Austin (in blue) with some of brick kiln workers

The pastor then said that, despite the fact that they were ones who were beaten, the kiln owners then registered what he called a "fake" First Information Report (FIR) # 737/2013 at Raiwind City Police station, Lahore, against Tariq Masih and Sharif Jalal.

The pastor went on to say, "All these people are innocent and they have not committed any crime, but in spite of all this, they were tortured by the kiln owners. Iqbal Masih's wife was pregnant and was brutally beaten by owners and, due to this act, her child has died."

Pastor Austin says that his church "is working in order to raise the voice of voiceless people, especially for the down-trodden kiln workers for their economic, educational and social uplift."

He then said that when he first heard of heard about this "cruel act and inhuman treatment," he and his son Azeem Javaid, and other team members, including Pastor Ashik, Mubashir Younis, Yousaf Daniel, Javaid Saleem and Shumshar Ashgar, "rushed to the place to try and "take the necessary action to save them from the cruel kiln owners."

"When the Police were called by me and my team, they did not take any action against the kiln owners, but rather they protected owners. No one was ready to speak against kiln owners for the fear of their lives," he added.

The pastor said that they encouraged those who had been injured saying that they would do "all they could" to support them, and two of the men were taken to his home for "medical treatment, shelter, safety and protection."

Pastor Austin leading a protest against the treatment of the brick kiln workers

Then, the pastor and his team, provided legal aid to the workers, and protested in front of the Assembly Hall in Lahore "in the favor of victims" which, he said, was carried in several newspapers.

Pastor Austin has since submitted, on behalf of his church, a writ petition to the court of the Session Judge of Lahore, on behalf of those who were attacked.

"Since this incident occurred, we have receiving death threats on us and our families, in a bid to stop us continuing the case," he said. "We are continually attending the hearings of courts and we have requested to high officials of the Government that justice be done and have asked that due legal protection should, as early as possible, be given to the tortured workers as well as our families, and our Christian organization, as early as possible."

If you would like to contact Pastor Javaid Austin, his e-mail address is: lightofthecitychurch@yahoo.com

To watch a video about the incident, please go to https://vimeo.com/80067681 

American Pastor Saeed Abedini Robbed, Life Threatened, as Health Deteriorates in Deadly Iranian Prison

Social media "event" spearheaded by Albuquerque pastor draws about 25,000

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ANS) -- Pastor Saeed Abedini not only confronts deadly conditions in Iran's Rajai Shahr prison, but he also faces direct threats on his life from other prisoners.

Campaign logo

According to a story by the American Center for Law and Justice's (ACLJ) Jordan Sekulow, Abedini's Iranian family was able to visit himMonday - the second visitation allowed since he was transferred to the deadly new prison last month.

Abedini is facing constant threats to his life in the new prison. There have been several nights where he has awoken to men standing over him with knives.

The ACLJ said his "cell" is only separated by a curtain from the rest of the violent prisoner ward he is forced to share. That allows dangerous prisoners - murderers and rapists - access to him 24 hours a day.

Abedini has also been robbed at knife point several times, stripping him of what few necessities he has been permitted to purchase for personal hygiene.

The ACLJ said, "As a result of the robberies, the utterly deplorable conditions of the prison, and the lack of doctor-prescribed medication which is being withheld by prison authorities, Pastor Saeed's health has quickly deteriorated."

The pain in Abedini's stoma ch has returned and he is now experiencing increased pain in what he described to his family as his kidneys. As a result of repeated beatings in Evin Prison, Abedini also suffers from internal bleeding.

After months of being refused medical care, the ACLJ said Abedini was allowed to see a doctor and was prescribed medication earlier this year. As a result of that medication, his physical condition had improved and his pain had subsided.

However, since being moved from Evin to Rajai Shahr last month, Iranian officials have refused to allow him this critical medication and his condition is worsening.

In addition to being denied needed medication, the prison conditions and lack of basic hygiene have led to Abedini's body being covered head to toe in lice. Because of the lice and increased pain, he is having trouble sleeping.

He is also experiencing symptoms of recurring urinary tract infections. There is no medication to stop the infections. He is now also experiencing significant joint pain.

T he ACLJ said Abedini has also noticeably lost weight in the new prison from lack of proper nutrition.

"The conditions he faces are unfathomable, "the ACLJ said. "He faces direct threats to his life on an almost daily basis. Iran has sent him to disappear. The time is now to pressure Iran for his release. Each day could be his last."

These troubling reports make Albuquerque Pastor Alan Hawkins' efforts to pressure the Iranian authorities to free Abedini even more crucial.

Social media blitz to free Abedini

Abedini's plight caught the attention of Alan Hawkins, founding pastor of Albuquerque's New Life City Church. Hawkins has organized a social media "event" to bring attention to Abedini's plight.

Those interested are encouraged to get involved by going to www.facebook.com/events/451324411638963/

The hope is that an onslaught of attention, and the accompanying pressure, will help in Abedini's release.

But how did Hawkins, 59, come up with this idea? In a recent interview he told me that his interest took a while to sprout.

Hawkins said it was his brother-in-law who first drew his attention about a year ago to Abedini's situation.

"I read the basics and then forgot about it," Hawkins said.

That changed when a group of men with whom Hawkins "blogs with theologically" began sharing their displeasure about how Abedini's situation has been handled by the American administration.

Hawkins said, "We complain a lot. Why don't we do something?"

Some more discussion resulted in a social media blitz focused on Dec.4. Hawkins said he came up with the Dec. 4 date as that was the day former hostage and Associated Press Correspondent Terry Anderson wa s released in 1991 from six years and nine months of captivity in Lebanon.

Hawkins said the project is an attempt to create "viral awareness" about Abedini's plight. He dubbed it a "spontaneously generated passion."

Reflecting on his fellow theological bloggers, Hawkins said "We're a bunch of people who had spent years debating over stuff who finally decided to do something."

And now the spark of passion has ignited, Hawkins said he's going to see it through.

"I don't expect them to release Abedini on the 4th, but I expect the awareness to rise to another level. I think American Christians really care, but they don't know much. This will put it in their faces, and we'll also make sure the politicians know we do care."

People do care. At time of writing, about 25,000 people had signed up for the "event."

To contact Hawkins, email him at alan@newlifecity.org

Nigeria’s Boko Haram strikes again in Cameroon

Missionary killed, churches torched around time of French priest’s kidnapping

In April last year, churches were targeted
 by suspected Boko Haram militants.
 Some victims had their throats cut,
 while others were beaten to death or burned alive.
 Here is one of the survivors,
 whose name is being withheld to protect
 his security.
Cameroon Human Rights Monitoring

A missionary has been killed and several churches set ablaze in attacks by Nigeria’s Islamist group Boko Haram in neighbouring Cameroon.

David Dina Mataware, with the Christian Missionary Foundation (CMF), was killed on November 13 by suspected Boko Haram militants in Ashigashia.

He was murdered on the same day as the kidnapping of a French priest, Father Georges Vandenbeusch.

Over the weekend of November 15-17, a number of incidents took place alongside the porous border of Nigeria and Cameroon. Dozens of properties, including Ewy church in Tourou (in Cameroon) were attacked while at least one church was set ablaze and destroyed on the Nigerian side of Ashigashia.

At least four people were killed and many others wounded and transferred to health centres. Despite the reinforcement of security forces in the area, villagers fear continued attacks from Islamist militants from Nigeria.  

Read more...

12 nuns abducted as rebels recapture Maaloula

Three other women also abducted; Mother Superior says all ‘fine and safe’

Mar Takla, Maaloula.
Richard / Flickr / Creative Commons

The Vatican has reported that 12 nuns were abducted as opposition rebels captured Syria’s historically Christian town of Maaloula yesterday (December 2).

They were reportedly taken to the nearby rebel-held town of Yabroud.

Febronia Nabhan, Mother Superior at the Saidnaya Convent told the Associated Press today that the nuns who left were accompanied by three other women.

Nabhan said that the Maaloula convent’s Mother Superior, Pelagia Sayaf, called her later on Monday and said they were all “fine and safe”.

Read more...