Remember My Chains

A few times on this site I have written about the plight of Christians in different parts of the world. There have been a few reports over the past few weeks, that have caught my attention, which have not been widely reported by the popular media. What is normally reported is what is referred to as "religious violence" between Christians and Muslims or Christians and Hindus, etc... Digging a little deeper, what this usually means is that Christians have been attacked by a group representing whatever the religious majority of the country or region involved.

This article is not designed to absolve the Christian church of all guilt; we are all familiar with the crusades and other shameful periods in church history. Suffice it to say that those who participated in these and other regrettable chapters over the centuries were actually acting against the teachings of Jesus Christ. Thankfully, church leaders have gone to great lengths to try to make amends for these events, though they took place in the distant past. The full text of the apology issued to Muslims is given below. If you wish to read more on the "Reconciliation Walk," click on the link.

"Nine hundred years ago, our forefathers carried the name of Jesus Christ in battle across the Middle East. Fuelled by fear, greed and hatred, they betrayed the name of Christ by conducting themselves in a manner contrary to His wishes and character. The Crusaders lifted the banner of the Cross above your people. By this act, they corrupted its true meaning of reconciliation, forgiveness and selfless love.

"On the anniversary of the first Crusade, we also carry the name of Christ. We wish to retrace the footsteps of the Crusaders in apology for their deeds and in demonstration of the true meaning of the Cross. We deeply regret the atrocities committed in the name of Christ by our predecessors. We renounce greed, hatred and fear, and condemn all violence done in the name of Jesus Christ.

"Where they were motivated by hatred and prejudice, we offer love and brotherhood. Jesus the Messiah came to give life. Forgive us for allowing His name to be associated with death. Please accept again the true meaning of the Messiah's words:

"'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.' As we go, we bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."

I'm thankful that there are good things happening in the area of reconciliation, but what I'd like to do today is to draw our attention to the millions who are suffering for their Christian faith in the world today. According to estimates, there are an average of 171,000 people being martyred for their Christian faith every year. As I said earlier, rarely do we hear of these through normal news channels. Let me draw attention to a few of them.

March 24, 2011 - (Mauritania) A report was received from Mauritania that a Christian Pastor named Ahmadou Abu Bakr was murdered by Islamists. He left a wife and three children, now in hiding. He had been kidnapped sometime before. His bullet-riddled body was discovered on March 6. It was reported that he was the fourth Christian martyred in that region of Mauritania since 2009. There was no report of arrests made.

March 23, 2011 - (Pakistan) As Christians gathered to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their Salvation Army church in Hyderabad, Pakistan, a group of young Muslims gathered nearby and began to harass young women who were making their way to the service. When some of the men came out to protect the women, some of the Islamists left and came back with weapons. They opened fire on the Christians, killing Younis Masih and Jameel Masih and seriously injuring two others. None of the identified attackers had been arrested by police. This comes on the heels of the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian member of government in Pakistan. Bhatti was an outspoken critic of the anti-blasphemy law, used by Muslims to imprison Christians and other minorities. A Christian imprisoned for blasphemy also recently died in prison after being regularly beaten.

March 23, 2011 - (Iraq) A report by Sarah MacDonald tells us that conditions for Christians in Iraq are so critical it's been described as "near-genocidal." Since 2003 more than 500 Christians have been murdered. Islamic activists have targeted Christians in an effort to purge the country of a Christian community dating back almost 2,000 years. The increasing pressure on Christians has caused many to flee the country, bringing the estimated Christian population from about 1.3 million in 1991 to about 500,000 today.

March 23, 2011 - (China) ChinaAID reports that yet another Chinese house church was raided on March 13, 2011. 12 Christians were arrested, 2 of whom still remain in detention. They are Weng and Zhang Yongkuan. Police confiscated all Bibles and other books. Thousands of Christians remain in prison or in "re-education camps" in China. Many disappear, never to be heard from again.

March 22, 2011 - (Nigeria) The Stefanos Foundation, an organization established to support the persecuted church in Nigeria, reports an attempted bombing of a church on Sunday, March 20, 2011. The timer on the bomb apparently malfunctioned and it blew up prematurely, killing two attempted Islamic terrorists. Earlier that day, three Christians had been murdered at Duala Junction and six other Christians were being treated in hospital for stab wounds. Muslim elders in the region declared a jihad (holy war)on Christians on December 28, 2010, stating their intentions to cause such mayhem that the government would be forced to declare a state of emergency.

As you can see, these are all reports from within a less than one-week period. The following video on behalf of Christian martyrs was prepared by Voice of the Martys Canada. Please pray for Christians around the world who are suffering for their faith.



Items of Interest;
Shahbaz Bhatti - Christian Martyr
Modern-Day Martyrs in Turkey - A Reprise
Modern-day Martyrs in Turkey
Assumptions

5 Stories You Likely Haven't Heard About

1. David Suzuki and Charitable Tax Status

During the last Federal election a number of outspoken critics of the moral stance taken by the Liberal Party of Canada received calls from Revenue Canada bureaucrats. At least one, Bishop Fred Henry, was warned that his organization could lose its charity tax status if he continued to criticize the government's stance on issues such as "same-sex marriage," abortion and divorce. Henry was critical of any and all politicians who took opposing views. He was reminded that the charities act requires that he abstain from partisan political activism.

Suzuki, Canada's leading voice for environmentalism, has been traveling the country, speaking at schools and other functions. In a Calgary school he attacked the Federal Conservatives in front of an assembly of sixth-graders, admitting he was directing his comments more to the adults in the room. The question is whether it's okay for the left to participate in partisan politics while keeping their charity status, or if they will be held to the same standard as Christian organizations. We'll let you know if Revenue Canada takes any action. Follow this link to read the original story.

2. Founder of Lesbian Magazine Goes Straight and Becomes a Christian.

This story is the height of political incorrectness and flies in the face of everything we hear about in the press. I've been told on numerous occasions that gays and lesbians are born that way and that it's genetic, etc... The evidence for that is still forthcoming, by the way.

Now we hear of Charlene Cothran, founder and editor of VENUS magazine, not only "coming out," but inviting others to join her. It's created a firestorm of criticism around her from the usual suspects, but you need to read the story for yourself. She wrote an article in her own magazine about her experience.

3. German Authorities Take Child Away From Parents Because of Homeschooling.

This story is another bizarre one, I first talked about it a few months ago. It's hard to believe, but homeschooling is illegal in Germany, under a law enacted by none other than Hitler himself. The law was designed to enable the Nazis to indoctrinate children into their way of thinking. For some reason it is still on the books, and has been used to remove 15 year old Melissa Busekros from her home and place her in an undisclosed location. Her siblings may face the same fate.

An organization named "Parents of the World" has launched a boycott of German companies to try to bring pressure on the local government to reverse its decision. It raises the whole question of parental vs. state authority. Check out the article by Gudrun Schultz on the subject.

4. Former ACLU Leader Arrested On Child Porn Charges

I include this for purposes of fairness. We all heard ad nauseum of the events surrounding Ted Haggard's fall from grace. It was featured repeatedly on all of the major networks, newspapers and news websites for weeks and became the subject of many a comedian's routine. He came under special criticism because of the hypocrisy of heading a Christian organization espousing morality while leading a private life that opposed it.

Charles Rust-Tierney, 51, the former president of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU, was arrested late last week by federal authorities and charged with receipt and possession of child pornography in violation of federal law. He has previously lobbied against internet filtering of web sites in public libraries and pushed for "maximum, unrestricted access to the valuable resources of the Internet." Easy access to pornography is fast becoming one of the greatest social problems families face. Read the full story here.

5. Iraqi Christians - Does Anybody Care?

The Christian community in Iraq is one of the oldest anywhere in the world. They have survived generations of persecution and somehow learned to survive in an often hostile environment. Now there is a war in Iraq, largely fueled by the animosity between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. What both groups can agree on, though, is that Christians are a common enemy.

How bad is it? The latest figures from the UN estimate that around 3.7 million Iraqis - 1 in 8 - have been forced out of their homes by the violence since 2003. Christians, who made up only 3-4% of the population of Iraq, account for nearly a quarter of the refugee population. The number of Christians left in Iraq has fallen from 1.4 million in the 1980s to less than 500,000 now. Those who stay often face violence and/or death. An e-petition has been launched in the U.K. to help protect the rights of Iraqi Christians. For more of the story click here.

Let me know if you found this helpful - I might make hard-to-find news stories a regular feature.