VOM (Voice Of The Martyrs) News About The Persecuted Church Around The World
In more than 40 nations around the world today Christians are being persecuted for their faith. In some of these nations it is illegal to own a Bible, to share your faith Christ, change your faith or teach your children about Jesus. Those who boldly follow Christ—in spite of government edict or radical opposition—can face harassment, arrest, torture and even death. Yet Christians continue to meet for worship and to witness for Christ, and the church in restricted nations is growing.
Areas of the world where Christians face persecution include:
Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Somalia, Algeria, Eritrea, Malaysia, Sri Lanka , Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Maldives, Sudan Bangladesh, Gaza and the West Bank, Mindanao, Philippines, Syria, Belarus, India, Mauritania, Tajikistan , Bhutan, Indonesia, Morocco, Tibet (China), Brunei, Iran, Nepal, Tunisia, Burma (Myanmar), Iraq, Nigeria, Turkey, Chiapas, Mexico Jordan North Korea Turkmenistan China Kuwait Oman United Arab Emirates Colombia Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Comoros, Laos, Qatar, Vietnam, Cuba, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
For more information on these countries and persecution worldwide, sign on at www.persecution.com
BURMA: Not My Backyard
Burmese Christian Raped And Beaten
The world needs to know about the genocide that is happening today in Burma.”
— Patrick Klein, Vision Beyond Borders
The Burmese army is carrying out a massive killing campaign against its people, and the world is unaware, Patrick Klein of Vision Beyond Borders told VOM staff.
According to Patrick, who recently returned from Burma and Thailand, more than 500,000 people have been killed in Burma (also known as Myanmar) in the last 30 years. More than 3,300 villages have been burned to the ground by the Burmese military, and thousands of children have lost parents from brutal attacks by Burmese soldiers. About 1 million Burmese refugees have fled across the border to Thailand, where they wait in uncertainty. At any moment they might be sent back to Burma to face certain death.
Even refugee camps in Thailand are not safe from Burmese soldiers. They frequently cross the shallow river separating Thailand and Burma to poison water supplies and kill or kidnap refugees, whom they sometimes use as human mine sweepers. The Thai generals who rule the area work hand in hand with Burma’s ruling military junta regime and grow rich through the illegal drug trade that profits them both.
Patrick said the genocide is both an ethnic cleansing and a reaction against pro-democracy movements in Burma, but it also has a specifically anti-Christian agenda. When the head of a monastery asked soldiers if he should warn Buddhist monks to leave a conflict area, the soldier replied, “No, we are not going to harm the Buddhists. We are only against the Christians.”
One heavily targeted Burmese minority group is the Karen people. Historically Christian, today about 40 percent of the Karen people are Christians. A Burmese official boldly stated recently, “Soon there will be no Christians in this nation. You will only be able to see a Karen person in a picture in a museum.”
In the midst of this horror, God is at work in Burma. Many people are trusting their lives to God. One of the believers went so far as to tell Patrick, “Without this genocide, maybe this worship would not be happening, and people would not be coming to Christ.”
Patrick said he was saddened and horrified by conditions in the Burmese refugee camps he visited. He heard many stories of suffering, but what affected him most was an enthusiastic worship service by a group of 86 orphans who are cared for by a Baptist pastor. “We had a worship service from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. Then at 10 p.m., the kids came back and asked if we could go on worshiping! They have little happiness in their lives, but what they do have is the joy of the Lord,” Patrick said.
— Patrick Klein, Vision Beyond Borders
The Burmese army is carrying out a massive killing campaign against its people, and the world is unaware, Patrick Klein of Vision Beyond Borders told VOM staff.
According to Patrick, who recently returned from Burma and Thailand, more than 500,000 people have been killed in Burma (also known as Myanmar) in the last 30 years. More than 3,300 villages have been burned to the ground by the Burmese military, and thousands of children have lost parents from brutal attacks by Burmese soldiers. About 1 million Burmese refugees have fled across the border to Thailand, where they wait in uncertainty. At any moment they might be sent back to Burma to face certain death.
Even refugee camps in Thailand are not safe from Burmese soldiers. They frequently cross the shallow river separating Thailand and Burma to poison water supplies and kill or kidnap refugees, whom they sometimes use as human mine sweepers. The Thai generals who rule the area work hand in hand with Burma’s ruling military junta regime and grow rich through the illegal drug trade that profits them both.
Patrick said the genocide is both an ethnic cleansing and a reaction against pro-democracy movements in Burma, but it also has a specifically anti-Christian agenda. When the head of a monastery asked soldiers if he should warn Buddhist monks to leave a conflict area, the soldier replied, “No, we are not going to harm the Buddhists. We are only against the Christians.”
One heavily targeted Burmese minority group is the Karen people. Historically Christian, today about 40 percent of the Karen people are Christians. A Burmese official boldly stated recently, “Soon there will be no Christians in this nation. You will only be able to see a Karen person in a picture in a museum.”
In the midst of this horror, God is at work in Burma. Many people are trusting their lives to God. One of the believers went so far as to tell Patrick, “Without this genocide, maybe this worship would not be happening, and people would not be coming to Christ.”
Patrick said he was saddened and horrified by conditions in the Burmese refugee camps he visited. He heard many stories of suffering, but what affected him most was an enthusiastic worship service by a group of 86 orphans who are cared for by a Baptist pastor. “We had a worship service from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. Then at 10 p.m., the kids came back and asked if we could go on worshiping! They have little happiness in their lives, but what they do have is the joy of the Lord,” Patrick said.
IRAQ: Elderly Christian Killed
Hung For Their Faith In Christ
Iraq: Elderly Christian Killed On Jan. 11, Hikmat Sleiman, a 75-year-old Christian man, was shot to death by unknown assailants in Mosul, Iraq, according to VOM Canada and Asia News.
Sleiman had just returned home from closing his grocery shop when a group of assailants opened fire, killing him instantly. Local Christians see his murder and a string of other recent attacks against believers as evidence of “ethnic cleansing” designed to force Christians from the area. Some believe Muslim extremists are targeting shopkeepers in an effort to wipe out the Christian community’s economic activity and drive believers from the area.
The Christian community in Iraq is estimated to be 3 percent of Iraq’s population of 26 million, or about 780,000 people. Islamic extremists have targeted Christian leaders, churches and businesses in Iraq since 2003. As a result, many believers have fled.
The Voice of the Martyrs actively supports Christians in Iraq with Action Packs, resources for Christian leaders and evangelistic literature. VOM also distributes the New Testament in Arabic and supports widows through the Families of Martyrs fund in Iraq.
VOM encourages you to pray for those who mourn for Hikmat Sleiman. Pray that his attackers will come to know the Lord as their savior. Ask God to embolden the Christian community in Mosul to proclaim the gospel even while suffering. Pray that Christians in Mosul will be filled with Christ’s peace during these difficult times.
Sleiman had just returned home from closing his grocery shop when a group of assailants opened fire, killing him instantly. Local Christians see his murder and a string of other recent attacks against believers as evidence of “ethnic cleansing” designed to force Christians from the area. Some believe Muslim extremists are targeting shopkeepers in an effort to wipe out the Christian community’s economic activity and drive believers from the area.
The Christian community in Iraq is estimated to be 3 percent of Iraq’s population of 26 million, or about 780,000 people. Islamic extremists have targeted Christian leaders, churches and businesses in Iraq since 2003. As a result, many believers have fled.
The Voice of the Martyrs actively supports Christians in Iraq with Action Packs, resources for Christian leaders and evangelistic literature. VOM also distributes the New Testament in Arabic and supports widows through the Families of Martyrs fund in Iraq.
VOM encourages you to pray for those who mourn for Hikmat Sleiman. Pray that his attackers will come to know the Lord as their savior. Ask God to embolden the Christian community in Mosul to proclaim the gospel even while suffering. Pray that Christians in Mosul will be filled with Christ’s peace during these difficult times.
Malaysia: Churches Firebombed
IRAN: Christian Arrested
Prisoner Alert
Location: China
Arrested: July 2007
Days Imprisoned:;923
In July 2007, 42-year-old Li Mei and nine house church leaders were arrested, when they were discovered having a Sunday worship service. They were charged with singing Christian hymns to villagers, showing the JESUS film in a nursing home and praying for healing for a disabled elderly man. The nine were sentenced to re-education through labor for 12 to 18 months. Li Mei served part of her one-year sentence in a hospital with both hands chained to her bed. Repeated beatings and torture caused her to require a hysterectomy. She is currently serving the remainder of her sentence at home under house arrest.
Arrested: July 2007
Days Imprisoned:;923
In July 2007, 42-year-old Li Mei and nine house church leaders were arrested, when they were discovered having a Sunday worship service. They were charged with singing Christian hymns to villagers, showing the JESUS film in a nursing home and praying for healing for a disabled elderly man. The nine were sentenced to re-education through labor for 12 to 18 months. Li Mei served part of her one-year sentence in a hospital with both hands chained to her bed. Repeated beatings and torture caused her to require a hysterectomy. She is currently serving the remainder of her sentence at home under house arrest.