Volume 6 Issue 03

Warfare prayer of the soldiers of the Army of Jesus to bind and destroy the works of the devil

Let us bind and destroy the works of the devil in the name of Jesus Christ who has conquered sin, satan, curse and death on the cross

Pro  20:6   The spirit which makes one  proclaim his own goodness

Lifted her voice and wept

This week’s  Bible reading and reflection corrected my understanding about Hagar who comes in Genesis. Let me share. 

Hagar never prayed to any God while she was in the wilderness.. It is said, “She  lifted up her voice and wept” 21:16

“And God heard the voice of the boy” Gen 21:17

Hagar,  a lady forsaken by everybody, driven away by the father of the child of whom she bore to him, lifted up her voice and wept. At the same time, her child, who was also forsaken by his father, given up to  death by his mother,  cried. It is not mentioned in the Bible,  to whom both of them  cried. There was nobody in the wilderness to hear their cry. But the Almighty God, creator of all human beings, heard the cry of the  child who was forsaken by everybody, even by his father and mother.  God heard the boy’s voice. Every cry which rises from the earth is heard in heaven by the heavenly Father, because He is the Father of all human beings. He is obliged to answer.

Immediately He answered.

Hagar is given a promise directly by God, not through any prophet or mediator. She didn’t have any either since she did not belong to any religion. She received promises directly from God for thousands of generations of  her son. I could not believe for a moment the fact that, being a pagan, who has not accepted the Lord God, received the blessings for generations.  We, readers of the Bible have to be enlightened about so many truths which are  hidden in between the verses of the Bible.

Media Continues To Ignore Worldwide Christian Persecution

While Christianity traces its birthplace to the Middle East, that region has been arguably the most hostile area for the religion in recent years. A new report by the Christian charity group Open Doors has found that most of Israel's neighbors, including Egypt, Jordan, Syria and the Palestinian territories, are among the world's most dangerous places for Christians.

Susan Michael, U.S. director for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), told JNS that "Islamic extremism originated in the Middle East and is the main cause of persecution of Christians in the world today. It is a dangerous and violent ideology that must be stopped."

Egypt

Egypt's embattled Christian minority, which comprises roughly 10 percent of the country's population and stands as the largest Christian community in the region, has been the frequent target of Islamic terrorism. Coptic churches in Alexandria and Tanta were struck by suicide bombers last April, killing 45 people on Palm Sunday. Last December, at least eight Christians were killed in a terror attack on a Coptic church south of Cairo.

According to the Open Doors report, Egyptian Christians suffer in "various ways" such as pressure on Christian converts to return to Islam, severe restrictions on building places of worship and congregating, and violence.  "Egyptian Christians have had significant attacks and pressure from extremist elements seeking to impose sharia standards on minority faiths, as well as from ISIS factions that want to use Christians as a useful target to undermine the Egyptian government and economy," David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, told JNS. He added that the report "shows that people who want to make a decision to explore or practice the Christian faith face great cultural pressure, if not violence."

Adel Guindy, the former president of Coptic Solidarity, a U.S.-based human rights organization that promotes equality for Coptic Christians in Egypt, told JNS that the situation for the Copts has worsened considerably under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi--despite his rhetoric in support of Christians and against radical Islam--and has reached "an all-time high."

"El-Sisi is quick to blame it on 'external forces,' [but] it is in fact homegrown. It's a direct result of a permeating hate culture that dominates the entire public space," Guindy said.

"Furthermore, the 'big violence' events that attract international media's attention are in fact a mere tip of an iceberg of systemic and systematic discrimination and persecution that amount to a state-sanctioned 'war of attrition,'" he said.

The rest of the Middle East

Elsewhere, the Open Doors report noted that Christian converts in Jordan face "a great deal of persecution, Christians in the Palestinian territories (Gaza Strip and West Bank) are "caught in the middle of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict," and that "Islamic militant groups are the clear threat" to Syrian Christians.

"The persecution of Christians in Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian territories does not necessarily come from their governments, but from their populations who have been indoctrinated with Islamic theological teachings that are hostile to non-Muslims. It will take a significant amount of years of intentional education to change that attitude," said ICEJ's Michael. The report identified North Korea as the country where Christians face the highest level of discrimination, followed by Afghanistan and Somalia. More than 3,000 Christians were killed worldwide due to their faith last year. Other Middle Eastern and North African countries that were ranked among the top 10 most dangerous places for Christians were Libya, Iraq, Iran and Yemen. 

"Whether in North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran, the Palestinian territories or elsewhere, the persecution of Christians has reached near-epidemic levels," said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. 

"We urge world leaders and international organizations like the U.N. to bring this crisis to the top of their collective agenda and seek to protect endangered Christian minorities and all people of faith."

The persecution of Christians in Muslim-majority countries presents a stark contrast to the world's only Jewish state, where the Christian population has steadily increased in recent years to about 170,000, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics. Israeli Christians enjoy freedom of worship, and even regularly outperform their Jewish and Muslim counterparts in high school matriculation exams. 

"The Arab-Christian minority in Israel is a minority within a minority and faces some challenges, but they are citizens of a democracy that protects their freedom of speech and freedom of religion," Michael said. "This is in such contrast to the Muslim countries around them, where Christians and their places of worship are regularly attacked. 

There is a growing number of Christians voluntarily serving in the Israel Defense Forces in order to protect their country and their freedoms from the forces of Islamic militants wanting to destroy Israel."

Pence's trip

Vice President Mike Pence is slated to visit Israel, Egypt and Jordan from Jan. 19-23. According to his spokesperson, Alyssa Farah, Pence is expected "to reaffirm our commitment to work with the U.S.'s allies in the region to defeat radicalism that threatens future generations."

Coptic Solidarity's Guindy said that Pence, who is a devout evangelical Christian, should take the opportunity to press Egypt's El-Sisi on human rights and the protection of Christians.

"It's certainly important to engage Egypt as a partner in the war against Islamic terrorism. But this should not come at the expense of human rights, civil society and upholding equal citizenship rights for all--including, and especially, Christians and others who do not belong to the Sunni-Muslim majority," he said.

Michael said that Pence "should require that [countries where Christians are widely persecuted] educate their people to be peaceful and respectful of religious minorities by placing controls on their imams, school textbooks and the media; and make future U.S. financial assistance contingent upon them doing so."

The future for Mideast Christians

Guindy said that recent trends "make it difficult to predict" whether Mideast Christians can survive "the current tsunami" of persecution.

"The picture is rather gloomy, and the fact that Christians' presence in the Middle East has shrunk from one-fifth of the population a century ago to barely 3 percent today speaks volumes....Islamist pressure, coupled with the West's lack of action beyond hollow words of sympathy, make it difficult to be realistically optimistic," he said.

-By PNW Staff

Indian Pastor is Severely Beaten for Refusing to Deny Christ

When Hindu extremists in India told pastor Karma Oraon they would not stop beating him until he worshipped the monkey god, he felt Christ close to him, he said. “In those moments when they were kicking and beating me, I felt that even if I die now, the Lord will make the ministry I leave behind fruitful,” Pastor Oraon told Morning Star News. “We are just a few gathering in the name of Jesus. He is our strength.” His small flock of eight people was meditating on Scripture on Christmas Eve at 10:30 a.m. in Harmu village of Ranchi District, Jharkhand state, when twice as many Hindu nationalists brandishing wooden stick intruded, shouting, “Praise Bajrang Bali.” Bajrang Bali is another name for the popular monkey god Hanuman.
 
“They forcefully dragged me outside when we were in the middle of meditating on the Word of God,” Pastor Oraon said. “They spewed many words in extreme foul language and beat me on my chest repeatedly.” As he was dragged out by the collar, one of the Hindu extremists video-recorded the scene, also asking his accomplices to record, forward and circulate the video, sources said. The Hindu extremists repeatedly asked the pastor his name, refusing to believe him, as his name is typical of area tribal people who practice indigenous religions, not Christianity, he said. They called him an idiot, slapped him and told him to stop lying, and when he showed them his national identification card, they tore the original document to pieces, Pastor Oraon said.
 
“They slapped me and said, ‘You are Oraon? Tell us what you must do, being an Oraon? Should you should follow the Adivasi [indigenous] religion or this foreign religion?’” he told Morning Star News. “They told me, ‘Immediately you should give up Christianity and embrace Sarnaism/Sarna[indigenous religions) – if you don’t, you will be brutally murdered.” Pastor Oraon said they told the congregation, “All the Christians in this area beware! There is no place for Christianity here. All of you must embrace Sarna. If anybody goes against this rule, their houses will be set on fire and they will be killed along with their families.” They kicked him and expelled him from the village, he said.
 
Chotu Munda, 21, said he was beaten when he tried rescue the 34-year-old pastor and female church members who had also tried to separate the assailants from Pastor Oraon. The pastor noted, “They scolded the sisters in very vulgar language for coming to help rescue me.” That night at 10 p.m., he went to a police station, but officers refused to register a case against the assailants or even receive his complaint, he said. “I never had an experience of opposition when I preached gospel or visited families to pray for the sick. But I seek inspiration from my Lord; people have crossed every limit to humiliate Him and crucify Him, but He patiently bore their torture for my sake, for my sins,” Pastor Oraon said. “I strongly feel the presence of my Lord Jesus in all this. Had He not granted the strength to endure, I could have never overcome from what happened.”
 
Worship Anything but Christ

In a separate incident in Jharkhand state, another group of Hindu extremists beat tribal Christians while they worshipped – also reviling them for leaving their indigenous religion for Christianity. About 60 Hindu nationalists stormed into a house church on Christmas Day in Behratoli village, Ranchi District, where 16 Christians had gathered to celebrate Christmas. “They rushed inside and held me by collar – it was sudden,” said pastor Rakesh Tirkey. “They were at least 60 people, and we were just 16. They shouted at us and asked us to stop the singing.” They arrived on 25 motorcycles, slapped him and asked him his name to determine his indigenous heritage, he said. “They abused me in extreme foul language, saying, “Idiot, if you are a Tirkey, then how did you become a Christian?’” the 35-year-old father of three told Morning Star News. “They beat me with wooden sticks; the blows got heavier after they got to know that I am a Tirkey.” Initially they accused him of stealing a motorcycle, and when he showed them the ownership and insurance papers, they told him they didn’t want to see any Christians in the area, he said, adding that they snatched away his Bible, tore the pages to pieces, spit on it, kicked it, and told him, “Stop converting Adivasis – we will slash your neck off.” When they tried to light a match to set the torn Bible on fire, they were unable to ignite it, he said. Jeevan Munda, at whose house the worship service was held, was also injured in the attack. That night Pastor Tirkey went to a police station to file a report, but officers refused to accept his complaint, the pastor said.
 
“After the attack, I invited the believers to my house in Khunti District and urged them to pray in their houses,” he said. “I told we must stand firm in Christ no matter how severe the opposition.” He became a Christian eight years ago. Then an alcoholic with declining health that no doctor was able to relieve, he was healed after putting his faith in Christ, he said. “It was then I decided that the Lord has given me good health, so I will dedicate it to my Lord’s work, and as long as I live, I will serve Him,” he said. “Now I am leading a life full of joy.”
 
Endangered Religious Freedom

Pastors Oraon and Tirkey belong to the Believers Eastern Church. The Rev. Somnath Honhaga, Believers Eastern Church secretary of the Diocese of Chakradharpur, told Morning Star News that religious freedom in Jharkhand is in danger. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, the hostile tone of his National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), against non-Hindus has emboldened Hindu extremists in several parts of the country to attack Christians, religious rights advocates say. The growth of Christianity in Jharkhand state has also brought increasing attacks by Hindu nationalist groups, Honhaga said. Unable to get police to register their cases, the two pastors have filed First Information Reports online, though there has been no progress in the investigations, Honhaga told Morning Star News. “The police did not make any arrests,” he said. “Instead, we have been told that since the pastors cannot identify the assailants, it is difficult to catch the culprits.”
 
Politicizing Conversion

Indigenous leaders on Dec. 24 raised black flags in parts of Jharkhand in protest of rising Christianity and “Western culture,” and Christian leaders suspect indigenous Sarna advocates supported by the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were behind the attacks.The Central Sarna Committee (Kendriya Sarna Samiti) of Jharkhand state issued a press release demanding the government enforce the state’s “anti-conversion” law. The law passed last year bans forcible or fraudulent conversion, though comments by Hindu nationalists indicate they mistakenly take it to mean it bans any conversion from Hinduism. People convicted of fraudulent or forcible conversion can be punished by prison terms of up to three years in Jharkhand state, or up to four years if the person fraudulently or forcibly converted is an indigenous tribal known as Adivasi. Adivasis are entitled to government benefits. “Christian missionaries are forcefully taking away the rights of Adivasis by converting them,” the Central Sarna Committee statement read, labelling as “Westernization” people converting to Christianity. “People from other faiths representing themselves as Adivasi are rising to the positions of village president, ward members and government employees.”
 
Phulchand Tirkey, director of Sarna Samiti, demanded the government stop considering Christians as Adivasi, saying, “Christians must not be given the status of Adivasi. The Constitution of India recognizes tribal populations who are original inhabitants of a given region as Adivasi regardless of their religious beliefs, a constitutional expert who requested anonymity told Morning Star News. “There is potential threat to the Christian converts from those who believe in the deep-rooted casteism,” the source said.

During the Dec. 24 protest, Sarna activists were reported to have taken an oath to disrupt Christmas celebrations, according to local media reports. “Standing in the middle of the main road in the state capital, Ranchi, they shouted these words,” Honhaga said. “They raised slogans against Christianity.” The smaller churches were attacked, he noted. “It was a pre-planned attack by the Sarna committee supported by the RSS,” Honhaga said. “They are trying to divide the aboriginal people of this state. The Christian missionaries have played a vital role in bringing education to the Adivasis. They have reached even the remotest parts of Jharkhand, started good schools and propagated the love of God through various activities.” The Hindu nationalists cannot abide tribal people rising to higher positions, he said. “The word Adivasi means native of the region, and they want to use tribals as their vote bank by creating divisions among them,” Honhaga told Morning Star News. “If an Adivasi converts to Christianity, how can he lose the status of being an Adivasi? He is the native, and he will remain so. They have left behind the pointless beliefs and myths, idol worship and have come to the Light. Instead of encouraging their progress, they are creating rifts among them. It is pathetic.” Adivasi Christians in Jharkhand requested prayers for freedom to worship.

India ranked 11^th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of countries where Christians experience the most persecution, up from 15^th the previous year, and ahead of Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Egypt.

El-Arish Copt Gunned Down by Three Gunmen Looking for Christians

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on the evening of January 13, 2018, three armed men killed a Coptic Christian named Bassem Attala as he was returning home from work. Bassem and his family were among the hundreds of Christian families who originally fled el-Arish last year after the Islamic State killed seven Copts. Bassem and his family had returned to el-Arish in August 2017 because they could not find employment elsewhere.  According to a priest at Mar Girgis Coptic Church in el-Arish, "On Saturday evening at about 9:00 p.m., Bassem and his brother finished work in their mobile maintenance shop, closed it, and headed home. While they were on their way, they walked with their Muslim friend; three armed men then forced them at gunpoint. First, the armed men asked Bassem to show the wrist of his hand to see if he was a Christian or not. When they saw a cross tattooed on his wrist, they said to him, 'Are you Christian?' He replied, 'Yes, I'm Christian.' They then shot him in the head, instantly killing him. After killing Bassem, they asked the Muslim friend and his brother to show them their wrists. When they saw nothing tattooed, they thought they were Muslim. They then asked them to leave " Many of Egypt's Coptic Christians have a small cross tattooed on their wrist or hand, a public symbol of their faith. Additionally, Christians dress differently and often live in their own neighborhoods, further increasing their vulnerability to targeted attacks by Islamic extremists.

"The situation in el-Arish has become so dangerous after killing Bassem. There is a state of terror and panic after this incident. Those militants... want to remove Christians from el-Arish. Killing Bassem was a threatening message from them to intimidate Christians... and to say to anyone from the displaced families who are thinking of returning back to el-Arish [that] 'your fate will be the fate of Bassem when you return.' After killing Bassem, all the displaced Christian families lost hope to return back to their homes," the priest continued.   

From January to February 2017, a series of targeted murders against Christians took place in el-Arish, forcing hundreds of Christians to flee the area. Many of the displaced families have since struggled to provide for themselves. In May 2017, another Christian named Nabeel Saber Fawzi had returned to el-Arish because he was seeking to meet the physical needs of his family. He was also gunned down by militants shortly after his return.

Claire Evans, ICC's Regional Manager, said, "Nearly one year after ISIS displaced the Christians from el-Arish, extremists are once again sending a strong message that Christians are not welcome in Egypt. Bassem was singled out by the gunmen for no other reason than his faith, showing the dark intentionality of the gunmen's actions. El-Arish Christians long to return to their homes, and they have greatly struggled to make new lives elsewhere in Egypt. The authorities need to secure the safety of Christians across Egypt. Otherwise, the militants will continue in their efforts to eliminate Christianity from Egypt."

Church Closures Spur Fear of Crackdown in Algeria

Algerian Christians fear government officials may be coordinating intensified persecution against them following arrests, inspections, and church closures in recent months.

Middle East Concern and World Watch Monitor reported that police arrested three people on Dec. 19 in a cafe in Chlef after finding they had Christian literature. A newspaper hostile to Christians called it a “foiled evangelism attempt.” Although released, the three Christians could face criminal charges of proselytizing. Punishment can include fines up to 1 million dinars and five years’ imprisonment, according to the U.S. State Department. That same week, intelligence, police, religious affairs, and fire brigade authorities showed up and inspected two Protestant churches in Bejaia, a northern province, for safety compliance. The buildings host eight congregations. In southern Algeria, a provincial governor ordered a church to cease all religious activities at their facility after a decade of use. Officials there accused church leaders of failing to comply with safety regulations and obtain government permission. They were told they cannot reconvene until three months after obtaining a permit. Other churches and Christian facilities were targeted recently. The churches are all part of the L’Eglise Protestante d’Algeria. Although the Algerian Constitution allows for freedom of conscience and worship, groups must be registered, and religious services can only be held in buildings set aside exclusively for that use. Acts like insulting any religion or proselytizing a Muslim remain illegal.