Iranian believer charged with blasphemy released

Iran (MNN) ― Last week on June 10, Christian brother Mehdi "Petros" Foroutan was released from prison in Iran, reports Voice of the Martyrs, Canada.

Foroutan served about a year in an Iranian prison for crimes against national security. In other words, he did time for following Christ.

Foroutan, 27, was one of five Iranian Christians and ministers who were convicted of crimes against the Islamic Order. They were convicted March 8, 2011 for telling Muslims the truth about Jesus Christ. Their technical crime was blasphemy.

Although the judge ruled that the five were not guilty, the prosecutor appealed the verdict.

At the time of the sentence, one of the five believers was seven months pregnant.

Now Foroutan at least has been released from prison. His time spent was very difficult, as only about a month into his sentence, Foroutan was put in solitary confinement for a period. Pray that he would overcome all of the after-effects of his imprisonment.

This is one small victory for the persecuted church in Iran, but many others remain imprisoned for their faith. Most notably, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani remains on death row in Rasht, Iran. He is still awaiting an official response from the local court regarding his September 2011 trial.

Voice of the Martyrs has several ways for free believers to encourage their persecuted brothers and sisters. Through theirPrisonAlert.com, Christians can advocate on behalf of individual believers, write letters to prisoners, and become better versed in worldwide persecution.

Encourage Youcef Nadarkhani or Behnam Irani, another imprisoned Iranian pastor, here. 

Christian organization rescues a young Indian girl sold by her mother

By Jacob Philip
Assistant Correspondent in India for the ASSIST News Service

MUMBAI, INDIA (ANS) -- The Indian Rescue Mission (IRM), an organisation that rescues minor girls that have been sold, trafficked and forced into prostitution, was recently able to rescue a 14-year-old girl from the clutches of her perpetrators, and from her own people who were trying to sell her virginity and then force her into prostitution.

The rescued girl – pictured blurred to protect her identity

A couple of weeks prior to this rescue, which was done with the help of the local police, IRM received information of a girl child selling racket in Mumbai city and the team verified the information by investigating on the case.

After several days of hard work and meeting with the lady pimp and the mother who were selling her daughter * Jytohi (name changed for security reasons), finally the day came, when she was rescued.

Speaking to ANS, Mr. James Varghese, Founder President of the Indian Rescue Mission said, “We received information of a mother selling her daughter for about $2,000 USD in Mumbai city and our team traveled to the city and then planned a rescue operation which was successful.”

According to a statement that she gave to the police, the rescued girl said, “I was told by my mother that we were going to Mumbai to see my aunt. I was there for a month and, during that time; I was taken before several rich people whom I did not personally know. All I could understand was that a negotiation for money was made, but I was not aware that the ‘dealing’ was for me.”

She added, “Social workers from the Indian Rescue Mission came to my help and rescued me from my own mother and aunt who were trying to sell me off. I would like to express my thanks to the Indian Rescue Mission.”

When counseling the girl, social workers from the Indian Rescue Mission asked her whether she was aware that she was going to be sold for sex to a customer and were shocked when she asked “What is sex?”

James Varghese with girls after a previous rescue conducted by his organization

Speaking about this incident, Mr. Varghese, who is also a correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, said, “It is such a sad thing to know that a girl who is innocent, and does not know anything about what was happening to her when she was getting sold, has to go through such a terrible experience.

“We took action on this because if we don’t rescue girls like her, then she would be sold to someone else who would exploit her, which would become a nightmare for her.”

The rescued girl has since been placed in a safe home in Mumbai where she will undergo training and counseling sessions.

“The Indian Rescue Mission wants to help this girl get a good education and then make her stand on her own feet,” explained Mr. Varghese.

If you have been touched by reading this story, it is possible for you to make big difference. There are hundreds of young girls being sold to brothels every day in India. We can stop this only if we join with an organization like IRM that works to rescue these innocent children.

If you would like to help, then write to them to support their work at:indianrescuemission@gmail.com or info@indianrescuemission.org

For more details on their work, you can also visit them at: www.indianrescuemission.org

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Jacob Philip works as a correspondent for an Indian newspaper and also serves as the Assistant Correspondent in India for ASSIST News Service. Jacob lives in Bangalore and runs a software development business. He can be contacted by e-mail at: jacobforchrist@gmail.com

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Christians Hail Dissolution of Egyptian Parliament

Election irregularities cited in election that ushered in Islamist majority.

By Wayne King

 

CAIRO, Egypt, June 14 (Compass Direct News) – Christians in Egypt welcomed today’s court decision to dissolve the Islamist-controlled parliament due to election irregularities.

 

The decision offered hope for Christians, many of whom were convinced the country was about to be handed over to Islamists who would stifle religious freedom and persecute non-Muslims.

 

“Christians are happy, because they were afraid the Muslim Brotherhood was taking over the parliament,” said Athanasious Williams, a Coptic Christian human rights lawyer in Egypt and a leader within the Egyptian Social Democratic Party. “But now they feel that there might be a better chance for a secular government.”

 

In the 2011-2012 elections for the People’s Assembly of Egypt, political parties competed for two-thirds of the body’s total 508 seats. Candidates unaffiliated with any political party, also known as “farmers” or “workers” candidates, competed for the rest.

 

In reality, many of the “independent” candidates ran as party members. On Thursday, the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo ruled that the independent candidates who had been sponsored by political parties had been seated unconstitutionally. The entire assembly will be dissolved.

 

The results of parliamentary elections shocked many Christians throughout Egypt, with parties affiliated with Islamist groups winning 71 percent of the seats in the People’s Assembly.

 

An increase in attacks against Christians and church buildings after the Jan. 25-Feb. 11, 2011 revolution, combined with the ever-changing rhetoric from the Islamist parties on the subject of Islamic law, had caused anxiety among Christians in Egypt fearful that they would be relegated to second-class citizens at best if hard-line Muslims took power.

 

Along with the decision to strike the parliament, the court also ruled to allow Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister of former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime, to continue running for president. Shafik, despite his connection to the old regime, is seen by many Christians as a preferable option to Mohamed Morsy, the candidate fielded by the Muslim Brotherhood. The two-day presidential election will start on Saturday (June 16).

 

The court ruling does not guarantee that the Islamists won’t regain power through another parliamentary election. Samia Sidhom, managing editor of Watani newspaper in Cairo, said the Muslim Brotherhood is skilled at manipulating public opinion and could use the ruling to their favor.

 

“They are very good at playing the victim,” she said. “How they will be able to exploit this, we will have to see.”

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

END

 

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Copyright 2012 Compass Direct News

Gutted Church Building Leaves Egyptian Copts with Debt

Additional repairs needed for structure Muslim extremists set ablaze last year.

By Wayne King

 

Photo of the restored Virgin Mary Church
(Courtesy Compass Direct News)

CAIRO, Egypt, June 14 (Compass Direct News) – A hasty, inadequate renovation of a church building that Salafi Muslims largely gutted a year ago has left the congregation with staggering debt from additional repairs, church members said.

 

Waiting inside the main hall of the Virgin Mary Church in Imbaba, Cairo on Sunday (June 10), a woman looked at the woodwork and religious artwork around her.

 

“The church looked much nicer before it was burned,” she said.

 

On May 7, 2011, at least 12 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded when members of the conservative Islamic movement attacked at least two churches and surrounding Christian-owned homes and businesses in a poor section of Cairo (see www.compassdirect.org, “Islamic Extremists Attack Churches in Cairo, Egypt,” May 9, 2011).

 

Salafis, a hard-line Islamic movement with extremist tendencies rioted, then set fire to the Virgin Mary building of the Coptic Orthodox Church after a rumor spread that a Coptic woman who had allegedly converted to Islam was being held inside the building against her will.

 

Army and police forces did little to stop the attacks, arriving at the scene two hours after they ceased. Fire crews spent four hours trying to extinguish the blaze. A church attendant, Salah Aziz, died in a room used in part for baptismal services.

 

No one has been charged for the fire or Aziz’s death.

 

Promises

In the weeks after the fire, the governorate of Cairo pledged to pay for the entire cost of the repairs.

 

“The city governorate said that they had funds of 6.5 million [Egyptian] pounds [US$1.07 million] for renovating the church building,” said Alfons Ghatas, a deacon at the church. “With this amount, they could have demolished the whole building and rebuilt again, and it would have cost less than that.”

 

Ghatas said the construction company the government hired, Arab Contractors, worked around the clock on the project. As early as two days after the fire, workers from the company were at the site surveying the fire damage. But their materials and workmanship were inferior, Ghatas said.

 

“They had a timetable, and they were working twenty-four/seven, but the kind of work was what we call quantity, not quality,” he said.

 

Much of the original woodwork in the church building was replaced with inferior, veneer covered, pressed plywood. Some structural and decorative elements were not rebuilt, including a florescent cross on top of the church building that could be seen across Imbaba.

 

“After they finished, we started to look through the work they had done, and it was just covering up what was destroyed instead of completely changing it and doing it in a way it should have been done to last for a long time,” Ghatas said.

 

The additional repairs, which had to be done quickly, became expensive for the congregation, Ghatas said.

 

“We decided to ask for donations, and we did collect a lot, and we redid a lot of the work all over again, but that wasn’t enough, and this is why the church still owes the good contractors money,” he said.

 

The Rev. Sarabamoun Abdo, elder priest of the church, said that the congregation still owes 350,000 Egyptian pounds (US$57,760) to the second set of contractors for the additional renovations.

 

Faith from Ashes

Five days after the fire, as fine ash particles still hovered in the air, members of the church gathered to observe the Coptic liturgy. The liturgy was an act of obedience to God, but also of defiance to the men who attacked the church building.

 

“If you saw the crowds of people in the service just after the attack on the church, and how that strengthened people’s faith… As the Bible says, ‘The gates of hell will not prevail against you,’” Abdo said.

 

www.compassdirect.org

 

END

 

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Copyright 2012 Compass Direct News

Turkey's new constitution may not allow for a neutral state

Turkey (MNN) ― Turkey Constitutional Reconciliation Commission (AUK) started writing the draft of a new Constitution on May 1. But since the project has been underway, Forum 18 News Service has noted that it is still unclear as to whether or not the new constitution will effectively protect the right to freedom of thought, religion, or belief at all.

Turkey does not exactly have a history of equality among its people. Although it's certainly much more tolerant of minorities than neighboring countries, Turkey remains 31st on the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted of Christians.

A quality, neutral Constitution would not necessarily solve problems of persecution, but Forum 18 argues it "could solve at least some of the systemic problems and send a strong signal to government and society of other necessary changes."

In other words, it may encourage change in the daily lives of the Turkish people.

Throughout the Constitution drafting process, representatives from multiple religious groups have presented their views to the AUK. A few smaller minority groups have been left out of the process, but Sunni Muslims, minority Alevis, Christians, and more have been able to express their concerns and ideas.

Forum 18 says, "Some of the key religious freedom manifestations that religious groups--including minorities and groups within the majority Sunni Muslim population--hope to see protected in the new Constitution include: the right to establish schools where religious training can be provided, the right for religious organizations and communities to acquire legal entity status, the right to establish places of worship, the right to appoint leaders in accordance with their respective religious traditions."

These are ideas they have been able to express to the AUK. However, recent government decisions suggest that the AUK may not necessarily take all of these concerns into consideration.

For one thing, there have been odd moves in the education realm. Forum 18 notes that the Turkish government recently allowed the opening of Islamic schools and the creation of distance learning for female students who want to wear headscarves. However, no accomodations have been made for other minority groups.

At the same time, the "Religious Culture and Knowledge of Ethics" class students are required to take has yet to be abolished or even refined. Forum 18 suggests it could be redefined to include education about all religions in Turkey or at least provide optional lessons to learn about Christianity, Judaism, and other religions found in Turkey.

Furthermore, on June 1, legislation was passed introducing tax exemptions for people building places of worship or places of religious instruction. But Forum 18 notes that in order to get the exemption, the places must be approved by the local Governorship. Forum 18 says that seriously limits who can receive the tax exemptions. They say Protestants already face serious obstacles in establishing places of worship.

If the strange goings-on of the government indicated nothing, and the AUK created a truly neutral Constitution, things still might not pan out in favor of religious freedom. Forum 18 reports that although the AUK has to make a unanimous decision, the draft Constitution will be subject to changes by the General Assembly of parliament, the Grand National Assembly.

Clearly there are multiple variables in this Constitution process that could jeopardize religious freedom and tolerance within Turkey. The best thing to do now is pray. Pray for a Turkey's Constitution to provide freedom for believers, but most importantly, pray that the Gospel would move forward regardless of what comes next. 

China: Woman Forcibly Aborted at Seven Months (warning, graphic image)

SHANXI PROVINCE, China, June 12, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Women's Rights Without Frontiers has learned that a woman was forcibly aborted at seven months of pregnancy on June 3, 2012.

 

Photo: Feng Jianmei and her baby, high resolution version, Credit: 64Tianwang

 

According to a report by the China-based human rights organization 64Tianwang, the woman, Feng Jianmei, was beaten and dragged into a vehicle by a group of Family Planning Officials while her husband, Deng Jiyuan, was out working. The officials asked for RMB 40,000 in fines from Feng Jianmei's family. When they did not receive the money, they forcibly aborted Feng at seven months, laying the body of her aborted baby next to her in the bed. Feng is under medical treatment in Ankang City, Zhenpin County, Zengjia Town, Yupin village.

 

Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, stated, "This is an outrage. No legitimate government would commit or tolerate such an act. Those who are responsible should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. WRWF calls on the United States government and the leaders of the free world to strongly condemn forced abortion and all coercive family planning in China."