20,000 Muslims Attempt to Kill Pastor and Torch Church in Egypt

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

EGYPT (ANS) -- A mob of nearly 20,000 radical Muslims, mainly Salafis, attempted recently to break into and torch the Church of St. Mary and St. Abram in the village of Meet Bashar, in Zagazig, Sharqia province.

St. Mary's Church in Meet Bashar, Egypt

According to a story by Mary Abdelmassih for the Assyrian International News agency (AINA), they were demanding the death of Rev. Guirgis Gameel, pastor of the church, who has been unable to leave his home.

AINA said nearly 100 terrorized Copts sought refuge inside the church, while Muslim rioters were pelting the church with stones in an effort to break into the church, assault the Copts and torch the building. A home of a Copt living near the church and the residence of a church staff member were torched, as well as three cars.

AINA said the mob demanded the return Rania of Khalil Ibrahim, 15, to her father. 

She has been held with the Security Directorate. Christian-born Rania had converted to Islam three months ago after her father, who had converted to Islam two years ago and took custody of her.

AINA said she had disappeared from the village last Saturday, after claiming to go shopping. According to Gameel, she had a disagreement with her father, who had arranged a marriage for her with a Muslim man.

Her father, Khalil Ibrahim, went to the police on Saturday and accused the priest of being behind her disappearance, and said she had gone to live with her Coptic mother.

AINA said a Salafi mob of 2000 went to the priest's home and destroyed his furniture and his car, surrounded the church and pelted it with stones. They demolished a large section of the church fence. In the evening security forces announced that they had found Rania in Cairo and that she was not abducted by Christians. She was brought to the police station in Meet Bashar.

“After hearing this news yesterday everyone was relieved,” AINA reported Coptic activist Waguih Jacob said.

He added, “However, the Copts noticed that the Muslims did not completely disperse, but were hovering in all streets.”

AINA said the few security forces stationed in front of the church were dismissed as the village seemed to return to peace.

But the mob became more angry when they heard that Rania refused to go back to live with her father, and returned in much greater numbers.

AINA reported some Coptic eyewitnesses said a number of Muslim villagers tried to prevent the Salafis from assaulting their Christian neighbors, and some stood as human shields to protect the church until security forces arrived.

Bishop Yuaness, Secretary to Pope Shenouda III, said that they have been in contact with authorities “at the highest levels.”

AINA said Marian Malak, a Coptic member of parliament, contacted Egyptian Prime Minister El-Ganzoury, who ordered sending reinforcements to contain the crisis.

Bishop Tadros Sedra, of Minia el Kamh and Zagazig Coptic diocese, said that military and police forces have arrived in great numbers and have dispersed Muslims from outside the church and Gameel’s home. He confirmed that security will stay in the village for at least two weeks.

AINA said US-based Coptic Solidarity International, issued a press release strongly urging the international community, through the United Nations Human Rights Council, to appoint a special rapporteur for the Copts in Egypt. That particularly in light of the recent evictions, property confiscations and attacks against Copts.

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Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City." Additional details on "Homeless in the City" are available athttp://www.homelessinthecity.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net.

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International Petition Drive to Help Pastor Persecuted For Conducting Baptisms

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

SRINIGAR, INDIA (ANS) -- The president of the Global Council of Indian Christians is trying to raise international awareness of the case of an Indian pastor arrested on charges 'disturbing communal peace.'

In a media update, Ann Buwalda, Executive Director of Jubilee Campaign, says that Sajan George is highlighting the case through a petition drive.

Jubilee Campaign says Rev. Chander Mani Khanna, pastor of All Saints Church in Srinagar was on November 19th, 2011 arrested on charges 'disturbing communal peace.'

The arrests of Khanna and two others came after a local Muslim clerical association calling itself a 'Sharia court' accused Rev. Khanna of 'luring' Muslims into converting from Christianity. Their only evidence was a YouTube video of Rev. Khanna baptizing seven believers from a Muslim background.

Jubilee Campaign says that after 11 days in, jail Rev. Khanna was released on bail, but the so-called Sharia court issued a fatwa of expulsion, ordering him and two other Christian workers to leave the state.

In the media release, Buwalda says: “This case represents a worrying continuation of a dangerous trend Jubilee Campaign has seen in India for some time. Over the past several years radical Hindu leaders have reacted to the massive growth of Christianity with frequently accusations that Christians are 'luring' poor Hindus into converting by bribing them or lying to them. It was this sentiment which led to the passage of anti-conversion laws in several states of northern India and led to the 2008 violence against Christians in Orissa.”

Buwalda explained the causes of this sentiment are “complex and specific to the traditional Hindu society where political and economic power was based around the caste system.”

Buwalda said: “The Muslim view on conversions is more explicitly theological, as indicated by the term apostasy. Nevertheless the Hindu response to conversions, which involves baseless accusations of misconduct resulting in vigilante killings of religious minorities is very similar to the Muslim response that we have seen in Pakistan and elsewhere.”

Buwalda went on to state: “This attempt by the Kashmir Muslims to activate the radical Hindu lobbying in support of their actions has been at least partially successful judging by the response of a high-ranking Indian official.

“Of more immediate concern is to the local Christian community is the way that the Sharia court was able to enforce its fatwa of expulsion against Rev. Khanna and the two other Christian workers,” she said.

Buwalda added that, emboldened by their success, groups of local Muslims have been pressuring the families of converts, causing several other converts and Christians workers to flee.

In response, Sajan George, the president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, is trying to raise international awareness through the petition.

Jubilee Campaign urges concerned believers to sign the petition calling for the government of India to respect its own laws and stop the unjust persecution of Rev. Khanna.

Support Rev. Khanna and the Christian Minority in Kashmir, by signing the Petition here:http://tinyurl.com/774gh3m  

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** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

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Report warns unrest could spread in Congo

(In Focus screen grab from Congo protest)

Congo-Kinshasa (MNN) ―The electoral commission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has called for backup.

In the chaos following the presidential and parliamentary vote, they're waiting for help from the United States and Britain before resuming the  ballot count in the parliamentary elections.  

Accusations of ballot-rigging have plagued the presidential election, and with roughly 19 000 candidates vying for one of the 500 seats in the National Assembly, the commission is taking no chances. The results of the parliamentary polls are due to be announced on January 13.

A cloud of doubt remains over the announced results from the presidential election. Both the European Union and the U.S. State Department have also expressed severe reservations about the vote's legitimacy, although the country's Supreme Court validated the results.

With that green light, Joseph Kabila was sworn in for another term in office as president of DR Congo eight days ago. In his first week in office, he's faced a public relations nightmare. A Human Rights Watch report lays blame for the deaths of at least 24 people on Congolese security forces. 

Even as he reportedly promised to safeguard national unity, tanks were to prevent protests. Meanwhile, Opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi maintains he won the poll and had himself sworn in December 23. As a result, there were concerns that post-election violence could spread.

Although the region is one of the biggest and oldest fields for Grace Ministries International, Sam Vinton says so far, they've not been disrupted. "I think that in the Eastern Congo area, where we work from the main cities, I've heard of no real conflict. We've had no communications of any adverse effect on our ministries."

As for the warning of spreading violence, Vinton says it's unlikely to spread to the area where they're working. "A lot of the people in the area where most of our churches are located were probably pro-president (Kabila). But I think in the area of central Congo, where the main opposition is located, I can see that area being in torment and a lot of trouble."

The upheaval has had very little negative impact on their latest evangelistic outreach. In fact,  "It's just amazing how the response continues. We've run out of the 'Book of Hope,' and yet we're showing the DVD of the 'GodMan' and also working in the actual schools. The last report is that close to 4000 students have trusted Christ as their Savior."

4,000 more students coming to Christ, needing discipleship, and a local church body. The GMI team is scrambling to keep up with the demand, because they've run out of everything, and they're trying to get the local churches ready for the onslaught of new believers.

God's hand is all over this project which started with a goal of hoping to see 1000 accept Christ. A year down the road, God has answered beyond their wildest imaginations. "The responsiveness of the students is a remarkable thing when we look back a number of years when it wasn't there. We're pushing forward. We have a team of nine men who are doing this work, and we're just trying to get more funding so that we can keep them going."

It's clear that despite the bullhorns of the rallies and the political jockeying going on, that the voice being heard loudest is the Still Small One.