Category: News Briefs

Source: Lausanne Movement, August 1, 2022

Early one December morning in 2021, Zmicier and Anna Chviedaruk woke to loud knocking and shouting at the door. The Belarusian police⁠ had come.

“It was like in the movies, with armed guys holding shields and guns, shouting ‘Lie on the floor!’” says Zmicier.

The police beat Zmicier, pilfered through their belongings, and took him away. In the car, they used a taser to force him to record a video saying the police were polite to him.

“He was sentenced to 15 days in jail,” says Anna.

An hour after Zmicier was taken away, Anna learned she was pregnant with their first child. It was the beginning of a harrowing months-long journey that would take the couple from Belarus to Ukraine—at the outbreak of war—and finally to Poland.

The full story provides background on the situation in Belarus, includes an interesting snapshot of Zmicier’s experience in prison, and explains how the family ended up planting a multi-ethnic church for Russian-speaking refugees.

Another Lausanne article, this one from 2017, asks, Is God Reviving Europe Through Refugees?

See also Where Evil Abounds in Ukraine, the Church Is the Best Remedy (The Christian Post).

Source: International Christian Concern, August 1, 2022

The Burmese military’s Major General Zaw Min Tun spoke at a press conference in Myanmar’s capital city on July 26.

In his address, General Zaw Min Tun promised that any verbal, written, or online post insulting Buddhism will be punished according to law. Flaunting punishment for those who insult the religion is a clear attempt to galvanize religious extremists and nationalists into taking action against civilians.

Since the military’s takeover of Myanmar’s democratic government last February, the military junta has been working closely with Buddhist priests to stomp out civil unrest. The strategy’s effectiveness has fallen flat, however, as Burmese citizens accuse Buddhist priests of encouraging the military to carry out unjust punishment against civilians.

Read the full article.

Also read a story about churches being burned down, destroyed, or restricted from gathering in parts of the country (Open Doors).

From a neighboring country: A Thai Buddhist starts reading the Bible, but how will he respond when what it says collides with his culture? Read Panit’s Story: Challenges of Faith in Southeast Asia (Pioneers-USA).

Source: Evangelical Focus, July 19, 2021

The distribution of Bibles slightly increased worldwide in 2021, the United Bible Societies recently reported in a press release.

According to their data, around 32.6 million complete Bible editions were distributed last year, “after the pandemic-related slump in Bible distribution in the previous year,” the situation has stabilized again.

Compared to the previous year (30.9 million copies), this was an increase of 5.5% in 2021.

Furthermore, around 20% of all full Bibles distributed were downloaded from the internet, so that the share of digital Bibles is lower than in the first “corona year” 2020, but is 15% higher than in 2019.

According to the report, the distribution of digital editions “is playing an increasingly important role, especially in crisis regions.”

Read the full story.

You might also be interested in a video-based story about the creation of a New Testament for the Yupik people of St. Lawrence Island in Alaska (Wycliffe Bible Translators; about seven minutes long).

Source: Middle East Concern, June 23, 2022

Prayer is requested for a ministry caring for the needy in Sderot, near Gaza, and its associated Messianic congregation as they face two court cases and opposition from ultra-orthodox Jews.

City of Life Ministries (CLM) rents a large space in the industrial area of Sderot for humanitarian work and congregational meetings. In June 2020 CCTV picked up an ultra-orthodox Jew who had illegally entered the building and was using his phone to record videos. CLM reported the incident to the police and made an official complaint. However, at a July 2020 court hearing, the judge treated the intruder leniently, only forbidding him from approaching within 300 meters [of] the building for a one-month period.

Yad L’Achim—a Jewish organization opposed to evangelistic activity—staged a protest outside CLM in August 2020. A chief rabbi also visited the property owners to try to persuade them (unsuccessfully) to cancel the rental agreement. On August 12, 2020, CLM received a letter from the Engineering Department of the municipality summoning pastor Michael Beener for questioning following an “investigation” (though no one from the Engineering Department had actually formally approached CLM to inspect the premises). According to Michael, the questions focused more on CLM’s funding than the building or the humanitarian activities and congregational meetings.

Even though CLM hired an architect and surveyor to check and approve the building’s suitability for the ministry’s purposes, Sderot Municipality has brought two legal cases (against Michael and against CLM) claiming that as a public place of worship they do not meet zoning requirements. The first hearing was scheduled for June 23 but delayed until September 29 to allow the lawyer representing Michael and CLM time to prepare.

Read the full article with prayer points.

1. World: “Persecutor of the Year” Awards for 2022
2. Crimea: Muslims and Christians Prosecuted Under Russian Anti-Missionary Law
3. Taiwan: Influence of a Chinese Christian Pop Star Going Viral
4. Kenya: Demon-Possessed Man Bursts Into Prayer Meeting, Confesses to Killings
5. Pakistan: Christian Man Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy
6. Data: Only 3 Percent of Christian Missionaries Focus on the Unreached

Read or share the email edition, or scroll down to read stories.

Source: International Christian Concern, June 2022

ICC’s team of Washington DC-based analysts spends thousands of hours annually reporting on and analyzing reports from overseas staff and sources. Throughout the year, they also develop in-depth reports on countries with the worst religious freedom records.

This year, ICC has compiled a comprehensive publication of the world’s worst persecutors. This effort is to bring to light what our persecuted brothers and sisters experience in the dark and to shed light on the suffering they endure to live out the faith they have chosen.

No matter your position or playing field, we hope you use this report and information to support the cause of religious freedom.

See who “won,” watch a video presentation, and/or download the complete report (registration required). Much to pray about here.

Source: Forum 18, July 5, 2022

On June 16, Dzhankoi District Court in Russian-occupied Crimea rejected Emir Medzhitov’s appeal against a fine of three weeks’ average local wages for leading Friday prayers in a mosque. His public defender Aider Suleimanov insisted that the prosecution had not proved that Medzhitov had conducted the “missionary activity” for which he was punished. “It turns out that Emir was punished simply for conducting communal prayers,” Suleimanov complained.

Dzhankoi District Prosecutor’s Office official Natalya Tishchenko—who led the case in court—put the phone down when Forum 18 asked why the Prosecutor’s Office had opened a case against Medzhitov at the instigation of Russia’s FSB security service and why he had been prosecuted and punished for exercising freedom of religion or belief.

The full article describes cases affecting both Muslims and Christians persecuted under the Russian law against missionary activity.

Note that the political status of Crimea is disputed.

Elsewhere, in historically tolerant Switzerland, evangelical churches are appealing a ruling against conducting baptisms on Lake Geneva’s public beaches (Evangelical Focus).

Source: Back to Jerusalem, July 11, 2022

Non-Mandarin speakers might not know him as well, but mention the name Jay Chou anywhere in the Chinese world and they are certain to know exactly who he is. Jay Chou is a Chinese singer who has been dubbed “King of Mandopop” and has been shaping the world of Chinese music for years.

At the age of 33, Jay accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and was baptized in 2012. Now, as an evangelical Christian, his influence is having a massive impact on how an entire generation of Chinese see Christians.

Last week, Jay released a new video called “Greatest Works of Art” on YouTube and immediately garnered 9 million views in just two days.

The viral reception on YouTube is only a small part of the story. YouTube is blocked in China, so most Chinese viewers are not able to see it on that platform. It went even more viral on Chinese platforms, with the hashtag for the album viewed more than 420 million times on Chinese social media and the video gaining 130 million views on Weibo and 14 million views on the streaming platform Bilibili.

Read the full article. Want to watch the music video? Here you go. It’s set in Paris, performed in Mandarin, and subtitled in English.

Source: Voice of the Martyrs, July 13, 2022

A court in Pakistan has sentenced a Christian man to death for blasphemy.

Ashfaq Masih was accused of blasphemy in 2017 after allegedly saying that Jesus Christ was the only true prophet.

In court, he said he was innocent of the charges and that the case against him was “baseless, false and frivolous.” He also claimed that the accusation was made by a rival in an attempt to destroy his motorbike repair business and have him evicted from the property.

His older brother, Mehmood Masih, said the judgment reduced the whole family to tears and that it feels like “the end of the world” for them.

This is the second time in the space of a month that a death sentence has been handed down for blasphemy.

Read the full article or see a report from Jubilee Campaign.

See also The Politics of Blasphemy, a response to a case in Nigeria (Foreign Exchanges).

Source: Christian Aid Mission, June 23, 2022

Church members and community leaders had gathered for prayer following a series of murders in their town in western Kenya when a young man burst in and confessed to raping and killing six young women.

The gathering was part of a three-day prayer event called in response to violence against young women and children.

“As the prayer was going on, this 29-year-old man ran into the meeting and started confessing all the past killings of the six girls that he had killed in the maize plantations,” said the native ministry leader who organized the event. “This man was so confused and possessed by demons, and as we prayed for him, he cried and groaned in pain.”

The local missionaries prayed for deliverance and salvation as the commotion drew more people to the meeting tent—including some bent on lynching the killer and burning his body, the leader said.

“This man was so confused and possessed by demons, and as we prayed for him, he cried and groaned in pain.”

“We called the police, who arrested him for interrogation to find more of his friends who had been committing the killings,” he said. “This man was charged in court, and in court he confessed Christ, saying that he will not kill again and now is born again.”

In the following months, the attacks on young women and children that had terrorized the town came to a stop.

Read the full article. It includes several more stories of transformation.