An Assembly of God church is taken over in Iran by the Revolutionary Guard. Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who refuses to recant his belief in Christ, remains in prison. Nadarkhani’s lawyer has been in prison for the last month.
In the Tanzanian capital Zanzibar, rioters burn down churches.
Christians in Syria are apprehensive and uncertain, about what might come next, should civil war increase, or the mass-murdering dictator Assad be toppled soon.
In Sudan, Christians are persecuted by government officials. Churches are burnt down too.
Churches have been destroyed in northern Mali, displacing hundreds. There have been reportedly house-to-house searches in Mali, forcing Christians to flee to the south.
So far this year, there have been 40 violations against the rights of Christians in Indonesia. Egyptian presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, has stated that Christians should “convert, pay tribute or leave“.
35 Ethiopian Christians languish in prison in Saudi Arabia, having been arrested for congregating at a private prayer service.
In Ethiopia, a Christian was falsely accused, arrested and sentenced to 3 years in prison for allegedly writing “Jesus is Lord” inside a copy of the Quran. He was released half-way into his sentence, due to concern about a lack of evidence regarding his case. He has returned home to find his land had been taken over. He now has no idea where his children are.
41 people have been injured this weekend in attacks on churches in Nigeria, in attacks perpetrated by Islamist terrorists.
habibi adds: Surely Western religious people can help. In fact, there is a group which does the following in foreign conflicts, with Quakers in the lead from the UK:
– Monitoring and reporting violations of human rights and international humanitarian law
– Supporting acts of nonviolent resistance
– Offering protection through nonviolent presence
– Engaging in public policy advocacy
– Standing in solidarity with the churches
Oh, sorry, actually only Israel is targeted by the “ecumenical accompaniers”.