The
original
birth of
civilization
began in the
Middle East
and migrated
westward -
to Greece,
to Rome, and
then to the
nations of
northern
Europe. As
Henry Luce
so aptly
quipped in
1941, ''The
twentieth
century was
the American
Century.''
And indeed
it was. But
the centroid
of power
continues to
migrate
westward: it
is widely
anticipated
that the
21st century
will be the
''Asian
Century.''
With
recent
shifts in
the economic
centers of
the world,
most notably
the decline
of the U.S.,
the Far East
is quickly
rising to
fill the
void.
Note:
These links
are provided
for your
further
research and
education.
Koinonia
House does
not
necessarily
agree with
the
information
on these
sites or
support the
specific
organizations.
N. Korea Defiantly Conducts Nuke Tests - North Korea said Tuesday that it had conducted a new, more powerful underground nuclear test. Jerry Dykstra, a spokesman for Open Doors USA explains, "North Korea again defied world opinion and UN resolutions by conducting a third nuclear test. They threatened the United States directly, and they also are threatening to go even farther in the future." Throwing the sanctions back in the United Nations Security Council's face, North Korea not only refused to shut down nuclear development, but also ignored the warnings of its close ally China not to proceed with a nuclear test. Dykstra notes, "North Korea [Kim Jong-un] thinks that he is strong enough to go out on his own. I think maybe he's trying to consolidate power within his ranks. Unfortunately, how far does this go?" There's no longer the illusion that this is a Disney-loving, amusement park leader. "Kim Jong-un has been in power for just over a year. We thought perhaps he would be a little more flexible," Dykstra explains. However, "He's ratcheting up the dialogue. North Korea is a threat."
North Korea Declares Pro-Nuke Policy - The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution this week condemning North Korea for its rocket launch last month, widely viewed as a de facto ballistic missile test. The rogue state's Foreign Ministry issued a statement after the resolution passed condemning the US, reaffirming its military-first policy and declaring denuclearization off the table. "The present situation clearly proves that the DPRK should counter the US hostile policy with strength, not with words, and that the road of independence and Songun (military-first) chosen by the DPRK is entirely just," the statement said. "There can be talks for peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region in the future, but no talks for the denuclearization of the peninsula."
North Korea Plans Rocket Launch - The United States is shifting warships into position to track and possibly defend against a planned North Korean rocket launch while urging Pyongyang to cancel its second such attempt this year, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command said on Thursday. Admiral Samuel Locklear, who commands U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region, said warships were being moved to the best locations to track the rocket during its launch and flight, which North Korea has set for sometime between December 10 and 22.
Russia To Build Two New Reactors in China - Russia will build two new reactors at China's Tianwan nuclear power plant under an inter-governmental agreement signed on Thursday. The bilateral protocol on the construction of Tainwan's third and fourth reactors was signed in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao. Construction work will begin in December this year.
China Buying Asian States' Loyalties - When U.S. President Barack Obama and more than a dozen leaders arrived in Cambodia for a regional summit meeting this week, only one of them was feted with banners strung from the venue gates. "Welcome Prime Minister Wen Jiabao!" one proclaimed. "Long live the People's Republic of China!" read another. "Some states are easily swayed by money. If they see cash, they easily throw away their principles," said one Asian diplomat at the East Asia Summit. "China has been throwing its weight around and buying the loyalties of some Asian states." A prime example is Cambodia, whose prime minister, Hun Sen, helped China to notch up a succession of diplomatic victories at the summit.
With the wealth of information at our
fingertips, it is sometimes hard to see the
‘’forest for the trees’’. In this Strategic
Briefing, we will give you a current perspective
on many of the trends that shape our world and
their relevance to Biblical Prophecy. Now, more
than ever, we need to stay informed about what
is really going on.
What is REALLY going on in Syria, Saudi Arabia,
and Egypt?
Who is going to deal with the nuclear Iran?
Will Israel go it alone?
What about America’s political future and what
is on its' 2013 horizon?
Most Americans are totally unaware that the
sacred Bill of Rights has been essentially
eliminated; how, when and by whom?
Europe - The State of Dis-Union and its
Islamization.
Join Dr. Chuck Missler and Ron Matsen in the
Executive Briefing Room of
The River Lodge, New Zealand, in an intensive
summary of some of the
Strategic Trends that will impact all of us.
The
issue
of
gay
men
getting
married
to
cover
their
homosexuality
was
back
in
the
headlines
after
a
court
in
Chengdu,
capital
of
Sichuan
Province,
heard
how
a
woman
was
forced
to
commit
suicide
after
her
husband
proclaimed
he
was
gay
on a
social
networking
website.
Greater
international
cooperation
to
thwart
cyberattacks,
boost
online
security
and
end
groundless
accusations
were
some
of
the
recommendations
of a
key
report
on
Internet
security.
A
man
suspected
of
killing
his
wife
and
burning
her
body
in
southwest
China's
Sichuan
Province
has
been
detained
by
police,
local
authorities
said
Wednesday.
Chopsticks
may
bring
to
mind
delicious
Chinese
dishes,
hard-to-use
tableware,
or
ravaged
forests.
However,
the
dinnerware
now
represents
something
far
more
sinister
for
Chinese
Internet
users:
terrible
toxins.
A
responsible
person
for
Beijing
Enterprises
Water
Group
Limited
has
stated
the
company
now
possesses
the
technology
for
large-scale
seawater
desalination.
A
woman
on
Tuesday
took
one
of
China's
largest
online
matchmaking
sites
to
court
after
the
"high
roller"
she
met
online
turned
out
to
be a
married
man
from
the
countryside.
Beijing
plans
to
build
a
new
airport
in
its
southern
suburbs
in
Daxing
District,
which
borders
Hebei
Province,
according
to a
press
briefing
on
Tuesday.
The
number
of
dead
pigs
pulled
out
of
the
Huangpu
River
in
Shanghai
crossed
10,000
since
the
city
government
started
fishing
out
the
carcasses
about
two
weeks
ago.
Authorities
have
launched
a
probe
into
a
lawmaker
who
reportedly
earned
more
than
300
million
yuan
($48.24
million)
after
he
was
contracted
to
run
a
public
cemetery
in
Lufeng,
Guangdong
province.
The
Party
discipline
watchdog
named
and
shamed
officials,
companies
and
institutions
on
Tuesday
that
it
found
to
have
violated
the
eight
bureaucracy-busting
guidelines
announced
by
the
central
government
late
last
year.
The
official
appointment
of
leaders
to
China's
restructured
State
Oceanic
Administration
was
unveiled
on
Monday,
the
latest
personnel
change
among
top
leaders
in
some
provinces
and
central
government
departments.
Wu
Renbao,
ex-Party
chief
of
China's
richest
village
Huaxi, died
of
lung
cancer. With
annual
sales
revenue
of
over
50
billion
yuan
(US$7.93
million),
Huaxi
Village, once
featured
in
Time
magazine,
is
known
for
its
success
in
realizing
common
prosperity.
The
country's
first
jumbo
airfreighter
is
set
for
take-off
into
official
service,
its
chief
designer
said
weeks
after
its
successful
maiden
test
flight.
A
Chinese
navy
fleet
of
four
warships
will
conduct
training
exercises
in
the
South
China
Sea
and
the
western
Pacific
Ocean
after
departing
from
Sanya
in
south
China's
Hainan
Province
on
Tuesday.
Luo
Huining
has
been
appointed
secretary
of
the
Provincial
Committee
of
the
Communist
Party
of
China
(CPC)
of
northwest
China's
Qinghai
Province,
replacing
Qiang
Wei,
the
CPC
Central
Committee
said
in a
statement
Tuesday.
A
Chinese
bus
driver
who
is
in a
coma
in
east
China's
Shandong
Province
has
tugged
at
heartstrings
around
the
nation
for
managing
to
protect
passengers
while
he
was
having
a
stroke.
In
China,
38
percent
of
people
suffer
from
various
kinds
of
sleep
problems,
compared
to
the
world
average
of
27
percent,
according
to
the
Chinese
Sleep
Research
Society
(CSRS).
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)
— The U.S. military says
it has reached an
agreement with Afghan
President Hamid Karzai
on a plan for gradually
pulling out American
forces from an eastern
province where the
Afghan government says
they have been behind
egregious human rights
abuses.
MANILA,
Philippines (AP) — The
Philippine Supreme Court
temporarily halted the
implementation of a law
that provides state
funding for
contraceptives,
legislation opposed by
the dominant Roman
Catholic Church but
supported by
reproductive health
activists.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)
— North Korea's nuclear
test last month wasn't
just a show of defiance
and national pride; it
also is advertising. The
target audience,
analysts say, is anyone
in the world looking to
buy nuclear material.
TOKYO
(AP) — Cooling systems
were restored for four
fuel storage pools at
Japan's tsunami-damaged
nuclear plant, more than
a day after a power
outage halted the supply
of fresh cooling water
and raised concerns
about the safety of the
facility, which still
relies on makeshift
equipment.
TOKYO
(AP) — Power has been
restored to two fuel
storage pools at Japan's
tsunami-damaged nuclear
plant, but two others
have been without fresh
cooling water for more
than a day, raising
concerns about the
fragility of a facility
that still runs on
makeshift equipment.
NEW
DELHI (AP) — A bus
packed with passengers
crashed through a guard
rail and fell off a
bridge in western India
early Tuesday, killing
at least 37 people and
injuring another 15,
police said.
TOKYO
(AP) — A power outage
has left four fuel
storage pools at Japan's
tsunami-damaged nuclear
plant without fresh
cooling water for nearly
20 hours, raising
concerns about the
fragility of a facility
that still runs on
makeshift equipment.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) —
The former top American
diplomat in Taiwan has
said that the island's
declining military
budgets have left it
vulnerable to Chinese
attack and made it
easier for mainland
spies to penetrate its
armed forces, remarks
that the defense
ministry called "not
entirely objective."
KABUL,
Afghanistan (AP) — The
top U.S. military chief
in Afghanistan said
Monday that his team is
working as fast as
possible to resolve
issues that have
infuriated Afghan
President Hamid Karzai,
including the delay in
handing over a U.S.-run
detention center and the
withdrawal of American
special forces from a
troubled province
neighboring Kabul.
PESHAWAR,
Pakistan (AP) — The
Pakistani Taliban on
Monday withdrew their
offer of holding peace
talks with the
government, saying that
the authorities were not
serious about following
through with
negotiations.
RANCHO
PALOS VERDES, Calif.
(AP) — She was just 16,
a shy girl whose life
revolved around school
and homework, when the
phone call came that
would change her life.
KABUL,
Afghanistan (AP) —
Afghan opposition
parties, taking
advantage of the
government's lack of
progress in making peace
with the Taliban, have
opened their own channel
to militant groups in
hopes of putting their
imprint on a deal to end
11 years of war and
position themselves for
next year's elections.
NEW DELHI (AP) — India's
Supreme Court on Monday
indefinitely extended
its order barring the
Italian ambassador from
leaving the country and
rejected his explanation
of his country's refusal
to return two Italian
marines charged with
killing two Indian
fishermen.
PESHAWAR,
Pakistan (AP) — A
suicide bomber blew
himself up in a
courtroom on Monday in
the northwestern
Pakistani city of
Peshawar, killing four
people and wounding more
than 40 others,
officials said.
YANGON,
Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar
journalists just getting
used to their new era of
freedom howled when the
government announced
plans for a media law
that could lock many old
restrictions back into
place. Then, in the
latest of many moves
that never would have
happened under the
country's old military
rulers, the government
backed off.
PESHAWAR,
Pakistan (AP) — A
suicide bomber blew
himself up in a
courtroom on Monday in
the northwestern
Pakistani city of
Peshawar, killing at
least three people and
wounding more than two
dozen others, police
said.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP)
— A senior government
official says militants
have attacked a court
complex in northwest
Pakistan, killing at
least two people.
KABUL,
Afghanistan (AP) —
Afghan political parties
united against President
Hamid Karzai recently
opened talks with the
Taliban and
U.S.-declared terrorist
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,
hoping to broker peace
ahead of next year's
exit of international
combat troops and a
presidential race that
will determine Karzai's
successor, Taliban and
opposition leaders have
told The Associated
Press.
NEW
DELHI (AP) — Five men
have been arrested and
have confessed to raping
a Swiss woman who was
attacked in central
India while on a cycling
vacation with her
husband, police said.
NEW
DELHI (AP) — Police said
they arrested five men
Sunday in connection
with the gang rape of a
Swiss woman who was
attacked in central
India while on a cycling
vacation with her
husband.
NEW
DELHI (AP) — Indian
police said they
arrested six men Sunday
in connection with the
gang rape of a Swiss
woman who was on a
cycling vacation in
central India.
NEW
DELHI (AP) — Police in
central India said
Sunday that they have
detained 20 men after a
Swiss woman on a cycling
trip with her husband
was gang-raped.
NEW
DELHI (AP) — Indian
media are reporting that
a Swiss tourist was
gang-raped in the
central state of Madhya
Pradesh and that 13 men
are being questioned.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)
— Afghan President Hamid
Karzai says he will
issue a decree banning
Afghan security forces
from asking
international troops to
carry out airstrikes
under "any
circumstances."
PESHAWAR,
Pakistan (AP) — Five
years after setting up
an umbrella organization
to unite violent
militant groups in the
nation's tribal regions,
the Pakistani Taliban is
fractured, strapped for
cash and losing support
of local tribesmen
frustrated by a
protracted war that has
forced thousands from
their homes, analysts
and residents say.
TAMUNING,
Guam (AP) — Their
well-equipped arsenals
offer everything from
tiny revolvers (for
ladies) to Berettas,
Glocks, semi-automatic
pistols and M16 military
assault rifles. If kids
can see over the
counter, they are
welcome too.
ISLAMABAD
(AP) — Indian troops
shot and killed a
Pakistani soldier who
crossed the makeshift
border separating Indian
and Pakistani held
Kashmir, officials said
Friday, in a development
that threatened to upset
the delicate ceasefire
in a region claimed by
both countries.
KABUL,
Afghanistan (AP) — The
Afghan army is training
female special forces to
take part in night raids
against insurgents,
breaking new ground in
an ultraconservative
society and filling a
vacuum left by departing
international forces.
SEOUL,
South Korea (AP) — For
the past decade, the
world's most powerful
nations have turned to
sanctions in an attempt
to punish North Korea
for a series of rocket
launches and nuclear
tests. Their stated
goal: to stop North
Korea's march toward
acquiring an arsenal of
nuclear-armed long-range
missiles.
PESHAWAR,
Pakistan (AP) —
Politicians called for
peace talks with the
Pakistani Taliban on
Thursday, as the group
killed 18 people in a
pair of bombings in the
country's northwest on a
police post and a
vehicle carrying
anti-Taliban militiamen.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)
— Afghan President Hamid
Karzai on Thursday
demanded an explanation
from the new top
commander of U.S. and
NATO troops for an
airstrike that local
officials say killed 10
civilians, half of them
children.
KABUL,
Afghanistan (AP) —
Dozens of Afghan
activists and supporters
marked Valentine's Day
by marching in Kabul on
Thursday to denounce
violence against women
amid reports that
domestic abuse is on the
rise.
PARACHINAR, Pakistan
(AP) — A roadside bomb
hit a vehicle carrying
members of an
anti-Taliban militia in
northwestern Pakistan on
Thursday, killing seven
militiamen, a police
spokesman said.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)
— He was known as
Prisoner X, his crimes
unknown. For months he
languished in an Israeli
prison until he was he
was found dead in his
cell in an apparent
suicide. Later, rumors
would swirl that he was
an Australian-Israeli
who worked for the
Israeli secret service
Mossad.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)
— He was known as
Prisoner X, his crimes
unknown. For months he
languished in an Israeli
prison until he was he
was found dead in his
cell in an apparent
suicide. Later, rumors
would swirl that he was
an Australian-Israeli
who worked for the
Israeli secret service
Mossad.
A
third person has died
after being hit by a car
during a rampage in
Guam's tourist district
that left two others
dead and 11 people
injured, officials said
Thursday.
MANILA,
Philippines (AP) —
Angelica Nino, a
22-year-old manager of a
Manila restaurant, was
preparing to assign
shifts to her crew last
week when she got a big
surprise from her
Filipino boyfriend who
has been in Italy for a
year on business.
A
third person has died
after being hit by a car
during a rampage in
guam's tourist district
that left two others
dead and 11 people
injured, officials said
Thursday.
TOKYO
(AP) — North Korea's
latest underground test
shows it is making big
strides toward becoming
a true nuclear power.
But the test may also
reveal key clues the
secretive nation might
have hoped to hide about
how close, or how far
away, it is from
fielding a nuclear
weapon capable of
striking the United
States or its allies.
A
Guam judge on Wednesday
ordered $2 million bail
for a man accused of
killing two Japanese
visitors and injuring 12
others after he drove
his car into pedestrians
and went on a stabbing
rampage in the U.S.
territory's tourist
district.
KABUL,
Afghanistan (AP) —
President Barack Obama's
decision to bring half
of America's 66,000
troops home within a
year was welcomed
Wednesday by Afghan
officials who have long
agitated to control
their country, but was
greeted with dismay by
Afghans who think
America failed to keep
its promise of a better
and safer life.
KABUL,
Afghanistan (AP) — A
NATO airstrike struck
two houses, killing 10
Afghan civilians and
four insurgents near the
Pakistani border,
officials said
Wednesday. President
Hamid Karzai condemned
the attack, the latest
in a series of civilian
casualty reports that
have raised tensions
between the Afghans and
the U.S.-led foreign
forces.
Has it ever occurred to you that Muslims might be as afraid of you as you are of them? An Arab Muslim woman studying in the United States confided in me that her family was worried about her living in America. “They tried to stop me,” Najma said. “My aunt visited me and warned me, ‘Don’t you know America is full of violence? They will kill you on the street!’” Together, we laughed at her aunt’s...
When a Christian brother we’ll call “Bilal” died last spring in a small Nepali city, it was important to his family that his body be buried. For Nepali Christians, burial is not only a way to dispose of a body but also an “Ebenezer” (1 Sam. 7:12), a permanent landmark of a person’s faith and God’s faithfulness. But in Nepal, where 75 percent of the people are Hindus, cremation is the expected ritual...
VOM workers say Christians in northern Nigeria are facing unprecedented trials and fierce persecution. It was therefore a special privilege for VOM workers to distribute the gift of 37 bicycles, 15 motorcycles and 50 megaphones to pastors and Christians workers in the north recently. These simple tools will help them evangelize and preach the gospel in northern Nigeria. At a distribution in Gombe state, one of the hardest hit areas in the north,...
Farshid Fathi, an Iranian Christian pastor, is beginning the third year of a six-year prison sentence on a conviction of “being chief-director of foreign organizations in Iran and gathering funds for these organizations.” Farshid is one of several believers arrested over the past few years in the Iranian government’s attempts to suppress Christianity. The details of his arrest were only recently released. At about 6 a.m. on...
Four months ago, National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas demanded that Alicia Castilla leave her home in Arauca, in northeastern Colombia. On the evening of Jan. 7, during a visit from the family’s pastor, assassins entered her home and shot her in front of her three children and her father. She died immediately. The guerrillas had killed Alicia’s husband, a lay-minister, two years earlier. The guerrillas told Alicia’s...
Police raided a group of 80 Christians in Uzbekistan on Dec. 1 while they were vacationing at the Simurg resort in the Bostanlyk District of Uzbekistan. The raid occurred during a meeting at which they were discussing their faith and singing Christian songs. Police authorities confiscated songbooks and Bibles and charged some of the Christians with leading unsanctioned worship. According to Forum 18 News, police initially claimed they only...
Ribur was beaten and locked in jail for 60 days because she talked about Jesus. Ribur grew up in a Christian family in Indonesia, and during high school she became interested in mission work. After studying for five years in a Bible school, she joined a community-development group that was teaching agricultural methods to villagers in Aceh, located in the far north of Indonesia’s most western island, Sumatra. Teaching agricultural methods,...
Please note
Rescue Christian .org has moved to "The Rise of Islam" page.
Christianity may have become one of
the world’s predominant religions, but
there are still many places where
Christians are persecuted, dispossessed,
tortured and even killed for their
faith. Often this occurs as part of
governmental or religious policy.
Western media frequently under-report
these incidents, fearing to offend
cultural sensibilities. As a result,
much of this news must be culled from
secular human rights publications and
religious watchdog groups. Submitted for
your approval are the Top 10 Most
Dangerous Countries for Christians, as
ranked by the Open Doors World Watch
List.
10
Laos
Population: 6.4 million; 200,000
Christians
Main Religion: Buddhism
Government: Communist State
The Laotian government’s attitude
towards Christians is openly hostile.
Lao authorities, along with many in Lao
society, view Protestant Christianity
(and Hmong Christians in particular) as
an American threat to Communist rule.
Christian churches cannot operate
freely, and Christians are restricted in
their family and community roles. Many
Laotian believers endure extreme
physical and emotional pressure to
abandon their faith.
Case in point: in 2010, 29
Christians were killed, and at least 20
were arrested and held without trial,
while several churches were destroyed.
In January of that same year, 11
Christian families in Laos’ Saravan
province were driven out of their
villages and into the forest, after
refusing to deny their faith.
9
Uzbekistan
Population: 27.5 million; 208,600
Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
Pressure on Uzbek Christians
increased last year. The number of raids
on churches spiked, and fines for
illegal religious activities now exceed
100 times the minimum monthly wage.
Short-term prison sentences (3-15 days)
are frequently meted out as a punishment
for Christian religious activities, and
27 year-old Baptist missionary Tohar
Haydarov has been sentenced to ten
years’ imprisonment on (likely trumped
up) drugs charges. An appeal is being
prepared for his release.
Many churches have also lost their
registration and some of their buildings
in 2010 as well. Recent Christian
converts also experience job loss,
beatings, social rejection and often
expulsion from the family home.
8
Iraq
Population: 30.7 million; 334,000
Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Parliamentary democracy
Don’t be fooled by all those
American soldiers: violence against
Christians in Iraq is on the rise, with
large numbers of believers killed and
injured. ‘Targeted killings’ of
Christians in Mosul during the run-up to
the March 2010 election, led many
Christians to flee their villages and
settle in the Nineveh plains. Fears of a
‘Christian ghetto’ in Baghdad were born
that day. Pope Benedict XVI even made an
appeal for the safety of Iraqi
Christians during this time.
Attacks on church buildings and
Christian institutions also increased in
the latter half of 2010, and at least 58
Christians were killed in a bomb attack
on a Baghdad church during an evening
Mass, in October of that year.
7
Yemen
Population: 23.6 million; very few
Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
Yemen’s state religion is Islam,
and sharia law is the source of all
legal matters. Foreigners do have
limited religious freedom, but
evangelism of any kind is strictly
prohibited. Case in point: several
expatriate workers were deported, in
2010, for discussing Christianity with
(well-meaning) Muslims who asked about
it.
Moreover, Yemenis are not allowed
to leave Islam; those who convert to
Christianity face persecution from
family, authorities and extremist
groups. Worse, terrorist movements and
separatists made Yemen very unstable
recently. Christian aid worker Johannes
Hentschel, his wife Sabine and their
young children Lydia, Anna and Simon,
along with married British engineer
Anthony Saunders were among nine
foreigners abducted in in the
north-western Yemeni province of Saada.
Last year Anna and Lydia (3 and 5
years old respectively) were rescued by
security forces from neighboring Saudi
Arabia. But the Saudis also found the
bodies of three other abducted
Christians, German Bible students Rita
Stumpp, Anita Gruenwald, and South
Korean teacher, Eom Young Sun. German
and British investigators have since
ended their active search for the other
hostages.
6
Maldives
Population: 311,000; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
All citizens must be Muslims in
Maldives, as sharia law forbids
practicing of any religion except Islam.
Christian churches are forbidden, and
importing Christian literature into the
country is strictly prohibited.
New regulations governing
religious practice were unveiled by the
government in 2010, and stricter
policies have been imposed on tourists
after some were discovered with Bibles.
The few indigenous believers in Maldives
are isolated from one other and are
closely monitored by the law enforcement
, religious authorities, and locals.
5
Somalia
Population: 9.1 million; very few
Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Charitably described as
‘Transitional’
Somalia as a “country” has been
without an effective central government
since 1991. It’s dangerous for anyone to
live there, but doubly dangerous to be a
Christian.
At least fifteen Christians were
killed by Islamist insurgents Al-Shabaab,
in 2009, and they killed at least
another eight Christians, in 2010. So
it’s no wonder a quarter of all
Christians have already fled the
country. The few believers remaining are
heavily persecuted and must practice
their faith in secret, lest they be
murdered in front of their children,
like Christian convert Osman Abdullah
Fataho.
Al-Shabaab has taken control of
most of southern Somalia, and they have
a stated goal to wipe out Christianity
from all of Somalia. However, recent
indications hint they may be losing
popularity.
4
Saudi Arabia
Population: 25.7 million; 565,400
Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Monarchy
There is no religious freedom in
the Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Public non-Muslim worship is absolutely
forbidden, and conversion to
Christianity – perceived apostasy – is
punishable by death. Most Christians
there are monitored foreign workers who
are allowed to worship privately within
isolated ‘foreigner’ compounds, and even
then they sometimes face difficulty.
For example, twelve Filipino
Christians and a priest were arrested
while attending a service in a private
home, in October 2010. They were
verbally charged with ‘blaspheming
against Islam” and cordially banned for
life from Saudi Arabia (quiet
deportations are a new tactic of the
religious police – it avoids the media
scrutiny that heavy-handed arrests
generate).
Saudi believers fear being open
about their faith, even with their
family. There have also been reports of
several Christians being physically
harmed for their faith, in 2010.
3
Afghanistan
Population: 28.15 million; few
Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic
Open Christians in Afghanistan
face constant pressure from family,
society and government agents. Believers
usually keep a very low profile, and
never meet together publicly. In June
2010, the deputy secretary of Parliament
called for the execution of Christian
converts, after seeing baptisms of
Afghan Christians on an Afghan
television (correction—THE Afghan
television).
As a result, many Christians have
gone into hiding, and, in August 2010,
the Taliban shot and killed ten members
of a Christian medical team that had
been providing eye treatment and other
health care in remote villages of
northern Afghanistan.
2
Iran
Population: 74.2 million; 450,000
Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic
There was a sharp increase in the
number of Christians arrested in Iran
during 2010. Although some were later
released, pressure on the Christian
church remains very high. Many of the
approximately 450,000 believers from
Muslim backgrounds live in fear of
harassment by the government.
Even worse, the regime has lost a
great deal of credibility following the
social upheaval of the 2009 elections,
and subsequent demonstrations. In a
transparent effort to distract attention
from continuing protests, the Iranian
government has been lashing out against
Christians with even greater fervor.
1
North Korea
Population: 20 million; 400,000
Christians
Main Religion: Atheism
Government: Dynastic Communist
Dictatorship
North Korea’s persecution of
Christians knows no equal, and being a
Christian there is considered one of the
worst crimes possible. North Korean
communist dogma considers religion an
‘opiate’ of the people, unless of course
that religion is the personality cult of
‘Great Leader’ Kim Il Sung or his son,
‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong Il.
North Korean Christians must hide
their faith at all times, and Christian
parents can’t teach their faith to their
children until the kids are old enough
to understand the dangers (and for
parents to be sure their kids won’t turn
them in). Just owning a Bible in North
Korea is grounds for execution or
deportment to a harsh labor camp
(essentially a gulag).
In 2010, hundreds of Christians
were arrested: some were publicly
executed, while others were sentenced to
labor camps. Despite the risks, the
Christian church is growing: an
estimated 400,000 believers now
(Dec. 2011 List Verse.com)
Introduction:
Has it ever occurred to you that Muslims might be as afraid of you as you are of them? An Arab Muslim woman studying in the United States confided in me that her family was worried about her living in America. “They tried to stop me,” Najma said. “My aunt visited me and warned me, ‘Don’t you know America is full of violence? They will kill you on the street!’” Together, we laughed at her aunt’s...
When a Christian brother we’ll call “Bilal” died last spring in a small Nepali city, it was important to his family that his body be buried. For Nepali Christians, burial is not only a way to dispose of a body but also an “Ebenezer” (1 Sam. 7:12), a permanent landmark of a person’s faith and God’s faithfulness. But in Nepal, where 75 percent of the people are Hindus, cremation is the expected ritual...
VOM workers say Christians in northern Nigeria are facing unprecedented trials and fierce persecution. It was therefore a special privilege for VOM workers to distribute the gift of 37 bicycles, 15 motorcycles and 50 megaphones to pastors and Christians workers in the north recently. These simple tools will help them evangelize and preach the gospel in northern Nigeria. At a distribution in Gombe state, one of the hardest hit areas in the north,...
Farshid Fathi, an Iranian Christian pastor, is beginning the third year of a six-year prison sentence on a conviction of “being chief-director of foreign organizations in Iran and gathering funds for these organizations.” Farshid is one of several believers arrested over the past few years in the Iranian government’s attempts to suppress Christianity. The details of his arrest were only recently released. At about 6 a.m. on...
Four months ago, National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas demanded that Alicia Castilla leave her home in Arauca, in northeastern Colombia. On the evening of Jan. 7, during a visit from the family’s pastor, assassins entered her home and shot her in front of her three children and her father. She died immediately. The guerrillas had killed Alicia’s husband, a lay-minister, two years earlier. The guerrillas told Alicia’s...
Police raided a group of 80 Christians in Uzbekistan on Dec. 1 while they were vacationing at the Simurg resort in the Bostanlyk District of Uzbekistan. The raid occurred during a meeting at which they were discussing their faith and singing Christian songs. Police authorities confiscated songbooks and Bibles and charged some of the Christians with leading unsanctioned worship. According to Forum 18 News, police initially claimed they only...
Ribur was beaten and locked in jail for 60 days because she talked about Jesus. Ribur grew up in a Christian family in Indonesia, and during high school she became interested in mission work. After studying for five years in a Bible school, she joined a community-development group that was teaching agricultural methods to villagers in Aceh, located in the far north of Indonesia’s most western island, Sumatra. Teaching agricultural methods,...
