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The Voice of the Martyrs, Canada
www.persecution.net
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
A weekly news digest on the Persecuted Church and how you can respond.
"Remember Them" -- find out how. Go to www.rememberthem.ca.
Subscribe to the RSS feed at www.persecution.net/pnp.xml.
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In this week's edition: Reports from Algeria, China, Nigeria and India.
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1. Six Christians Charged in Algeria
Algerian authorities have charged six Christians with distributing "illegal religious material" after detaining them as they left a prayer meeting at a western city on May 9, according to a May 15 report from Compass Direct. Prior to the Christians' release from detention in Tiaret, they were charged with "distributing documents to shake the faith of Muslims." During their overnight stay at a local police station, officers repeatedly threatened the believers with violence for converting from Islam to Christianity. The first court hearing is scheduled for May 27.
Pray for these Algerian Christians to find peace in Christ in the midst of pressure and opposition for their faith in Him (Philippians 4:7). Pray that God will embolden Christians in Algeria to spread the Gospel in their nation.
For more information on the persecution facing Algeria's Christians, go to www.persecution.net/country/algeria.htm.
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2. A Prominent House Church Leader Detained in China
Pastor Lou Yuanqi, a prominent house church leader in the town of Qingshuihe, Xinjiang province was detained at approximately 1:00 p.m. on May 16, according to a May 19 report from China Aid Association. After being interrogated for an hour in the township police station, Yuanqi was transferred to a detention centre and charged with "inciting separatism." The pastor has been previously arrested several times. This is the first instance, however, of him being placed under criminal detention which means that he will likely face a serious indictment in court.
Pray for Pastor Yuanqi to experience the joy and peace of Christ while he suffers (Acts 5:41). Pray for Chinese house church leaders to stand in God's grace as they continue to face pressure from the authorities.
For more information on the persecution of Christians in China, go to www.persecution.net/country/china.htm.
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3. Teenage Girls Kidnapped By Muslims; Rescue Incites Rampage in Nigeria
On May 12, the police rescued two Christian girls, Mary Chikwodi Okoye (15) and Uche Edward (14), who were kidnapped by Muslim militants three weeks ago in the town of Ningi, Bauchi state, according to a May 19 report from Compass Direct. The kidnappers initially took the girls to the house of a Muslim leader in the town of Wudil. Okoye's foster father and a group of believers heard where the girls were being held. When they arrived at the home, however, the girls had been relocated to the residence of a Muslim leader in Ningi. When the team went to this home they were told by the leader that the girls had converted to Islam and could not be released. The police then stepped in and evacuated the girls to eastern Nigeria where they were reunited with their biological parents.
The following day, Muslims associated with a paramilitary arm of Kano state's Sharia Commission went on a rampage, attacking Christians and setting fire to local churches, in protest of the girls' release. Six church buildings -- the Deeper Life Bible Church, St. Mary's Catholic Church, All Souls Anglican Church, Church of Christ in Nigeria, Redeemed Christian Church of God, and the Redeemed Peoples Mission -- were destroyed in the attack. The Muslims also attacked shops belonging to Okoye's foster father, looting and destroying goods worth over 50 million naira ($430,360 CAD).
Thank the Lord that Mary and Uche were safely released. Ask God to strengthen those affected by the mob attack to remain steadfast as they suffer (Revelation 2:10). Pray that young Christian girls in Nigeria who have been kidnapped by Muslims will remain strong in faith and be freed.
For more information on the persecution facing Christians in Nigeria, go to www.persecution.net/country/nigeria.htm. Go to www.persecution.tv for a preview of VOMC's new DVD, "Nigerian Voices: Testimonies of the Persecuted."
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4. Christian Beaten by Militants in Maharashtra, India
A Christian worker was beaten by Hindu militants in the district of Yavatmal, Maharashtra state on May 13, according to a May 13 report from All India Christian Council. Shrikant Chandekar, who works with Maharashtra Village Ministries, was holding a prayer meeting in his home when approximately 30 Hindu militants arrived and demanded that he stop the gathering. When he refused to do so, they severely beat him.
Pray for healing for Shrikant. Thank the Lord for his example of standing firm in Christ. Pray that the bold faith of Christians in Maharashtra will be a light that draws others to Jesus (Matthew 5:14-16).
For more information on the persecution of Christians in India, go to www.persecution.net/country/india.htm.
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5. Trial Date Set for Uygur Christian in China
The trial date of Alimujiang Yimiti, a Uygur Christian who was arrested on January 12 and accused of "endangering national security" (see www.persecution.net/news/china210.html for more details), has been set for May 27 in Kashi, according to a May 14 report from China Aid Association. Yimiti's wife and his two children are hoping for a fair trial that will result in his unconditional release.
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The Persecution & Prayer Alert is a ministry of The Voice of the Martyrs, Canada. (Mailing address: P.O. Box 117, Port Credit, Mississauga, Ontario L5G 4L5)
Tel. (905) 670.9721. Website: www.persecution.net
Editor: Glenn Penner
Iraqi: 'I killed her with a machine gun'
- Story Highlights
- Residents of Basra have begun telling stories of militia massacres
- Mom says one son was killed for drinking alcohol, two others slain for their car
- Authorities: Man admits to killed 15 girls, including one 9 year old
- Dad in park says, "It's the first time that we have dared to come here in two years"
VIDEO
CNN
BASRA, Iraq (CNN) -- The man, blindfolded and handcuffed, crouches in the corner of the detention center while an Iraqi soldier grills him about rampant crimes being carried out by gangs in the southern city of Basra.
Iraqi authorities say this man has confessed to killing 15 girls, including a 9 year old.
"I raped one, sir," the man responds.
"What was her name?"
"Ahlam," he says.
Ahlam was a university student in the predominantly Shiite city of Basra. The detainee said the gang he was in kidnapped her as she was leaving the university, heading home.
"They forced me, and I killed her with a machine gun, sir," he says.
The suspect, who is unshaven and appears to be in his 20s or 30s, was arrested by Iraq security forces after they retook most of Basra in April.
CNN was shown what authorities say was his first confession. On it are the names of 15 girls whom he admitted kidnapping, raping and killing. The youngest girl on the list was just 9 years old.
Basra turned into a battleground between warring Shiite factions vying for control of the country's oil-rich south after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Basra's streets teemed with Shiite militias armed with weapons, mostly from Iran, according to the Iraqi forces and the U.S. military. 
Watch a mom describe her three sons killed »
For four years after the invasion, Basra was under the control of British forces, but they were unable to contain the violence and withdrew in September last year.
Women bore the brunt of the militias' extremist ideologies. The militants spray-painted threats on walls across Basra, warning women to wear headscarves and not to wear make-up. Women were sometimes executed for the vague charge of doing something "un-Islamic."
In the wasteland on the outskirts of Basra, dotted with rundown homes, the stench of death mixes with the sewage. Local residents told the Iraqi Army that executions often take place in the area, particularly for women, sometimes killed for something as seemingly inocuous as wearing jeans.
Don't Miss
Militias implemented their own laws with abandon, threatening stores for displaying mannequins with bare shoulders or for selling Western music. Many store owners are still too frightened to speak publicly.
But the horrors of militia rule are now surfacing as some residents begin to feel more comfortable speaking out.
Inside her rundown home, Sabriya's watery eyes peer out from under her robe. She points to the first photo of one of her sons on the wall.
"This one was killed because he was drinking," she says.
She draws her finger across her neck and gestures at the next photo.
"This one was slaughtered for his car."
"This one the same," she adds, looking at the third.
Her three sons, her daughter and her sister were all killed by the hard-line militia. Her sister was slaughtered because she was a single woman living alone.
"They said [to her], 'Why don't you have a husband?' " Sabriya says. "They came in at night and put a pillow on her face and shot her in the head."
Sabriya lives on what was once dubbed "murder street" for the daily killings that happened there last year.
On the day CNN visited, dozens of young men sat where there used to be piles of bodies. Sheik Maktouf al-Maraiyani shudders at the memory.
"Every day, we would find 10 or 15 of our men killed," he says, adding sorrowfully "one of them was my son." His son was 25 years old.
Now, "murder street" is part of a citywide effort to get Basra back on its feet. In a project funded by U.S. forces, Sheikh Maktouf and others are being paid $20 a day and upwards to clean up trash. Watch the transformation of 'murder street' »
Basra may be part of the country's oil rich south, but it wallows in its own sewage and trash. The stench of filth is impossible to escape. The effort also helps with the massive unemployment plaguing the city.
British forces officially handed over responsibility of Basra to Iraqi forces in December.
"The situation was so bad because the security forces were controlled by the militias," says Brig. Gen. Aziz al-Swady, who commands the 14th Iraq Army Divison.
To help curb the violence, British troops have returned to the city, adopting the U.S. approach of embedding with Iraqi units as advisers. The Iraqi prime minister also has flooded the city with additional troops, bringing in soldiers from western Iraq along with their American advisers.
"Now the citizens have started to trust the Iraqi security forces," said al-Swady.
The biggest difference is that residents are starting to leave their homes -- something unthinkable just a few months ago. At one of the parks in the city this past weekend, a father named Al'aa was out with his three young children and his wife.
"It's the first time that we have dared to come here in two years," he said.
The park was once often used for executions.
Everyone, residents and soldiers alike, knows the battle for Basra is not over. Militias still lurk in the shadows, and the security gains may not last without economic gains.
"The most important thing, our government must focus on finding jobs, different jobs for these people," says Maj. Gen. Tariq al-Azawi.Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Mom forced to live in car with dogs
- Story Highlights
- Mother of three grown children says, "This is my life in this car right now"
- Santa Barbara, California, allows homeless to sleep in cars in 12 parking lots
- Affluent city has seen a rise in homelessness during California's housing crisis
- Advocate for homeless: "It's just amazing the people that are becoming homeless"
Read
CHARTCNN
SANTA BARBARA, California (CNN) -- Barbara Harvey climbs into the back of her small Honda sport utility vehicle and snuggles with her two golden retrievers, her head nestled on a pillow propped against the driver's seat.
Californian Barbara Harvey says she is forced to sleep in her car with her dogs after losing her job earlier this year.
A former loan processor, the 67-year-old mother of three grown children said she never thought she'd spend her golden years sleeping in her car in a parking lot.
"This is my bed, my dogs," she said. "This is my life in this car right now."
Harvey was forced into homelessness earlier this year after being laid off. She said that three-quarters of her income went to paying rent in Santa Barbara, where the median house in the scenic, oceanfront city costs more than $1 million. She lost her condo two months ago and had little savings as backup.
"It went to hell in a handbasket," she said. "I didn't think this would happen to me. It's just something that I don't think that people think is going to happen to them is what it amounts to. It happens very quickly, too."
Harvey now works part time for $8 an hour, and she draws Social Security to help make ends meet. But she still cannot afford an apartment, and so every night she pulls into a gated parking lot to sleep in her car, along with other women who find themselves in a similar predicament. Watch women who live in their cars »
There are 12 parking lots across Santa Barbara that have been set up to accommodate the growing middle-class homelessness. These lots are believed to be part of the first program of its kind in the United States, according to organizers.
The lots open at 7 p.m. and close at 7 a.m. and are run by New Beginnings Counseling Center, a homeless outreach organization.
It is illegal for people in California to sleep in their cars on streets. New Beginnings worked with the city to allow the parking lots as a safe place for the homeless to sleep in their vehicles without being harassed by people on the streets or ticketed by police.
Harvey stays at the city's only parking lot for women. "This is very safe, and that's why I feel very comfortable," she said.
Nancy Kapp, the New Beginnings parking lot coordinator, said the group began seeing a need for the lots in recent months as California's foreclosure crisis hit the city hard. She said a growing number of senior citizens, women and lower- and middle-class families live on the streets. 
See how foreclosure filings are up 75 percent »
"You look around today and there are so many," said Kapp, who was homeless with her young daughter two decades ago. "I see women sleeping on benches. It's heartbreaking."
She added, "The way the economy is going, it's just amazing the people that are becoming homeless. It's hit the middle class."
She and others with New Beginnings walk the streets looking for people and families sleeping in their cars. The workers inform them about the parking lot program.
New Beginnings screens people to make sure they won't cause trouble. No alcohol or drugs are allowed in the parking lots.
"What we are trying to do is we pull bad apples out, and we put good apples in the parking lots and really help people out," said Shaw Tolley, another coordinator with New Beginnings.
Most of the time, the lots are transition points. New Beginnings works with each person to try to find a more permanent housing solution.
"It saddens me when they live in their vehicles," Tolley said. "It is not the most ideal situation for senior citizens and families, but it is reality."
He added, "We need to engage this problem. This is reality."
John Quigley, an economics professor at the University of California-Berkeley, said the California housing crisis has left many middle-class families temporarily homeless or forced them to go to food banks to feed their families.
"Part of the reason why it's so painful in Santa Barbara is there's so little in the way of alternative housing," Quigley said. "If there were alternative low and moderate housing and rental accommodations that were reasonably close by, you can imagine it wouldn't have this desperate look to it as people living in their cars."
At the only lot for women in Santa Barbara, it's a tough existence. There are no showers or running water. On the night CNN visited, a half-dozen women already were in the parking lot before nightfall.
Linn Labou, 54, lives in her car with four cats. She used to be in the National Guard and is on a waiting list for government housing, but the wait is a year long.
"I went looking for family, but I couldn't get them to help me," she said.
As for Harvey, she begins each day by walking her two dogs before going to her part-time job. She leaves the dogs in her car with its windows cracked while she works.
It's another chapter in her life that she's certain she'll get through, even though she said she knows it pains her children. Her 19-year-old daughter moved in with friends to avoid being homeless.
"My daughter especially is very unhappy. Sometimes she'll cry and she'll call and say, 'Mom, I just can't stand it that you are living in a car,' " Harvey said. "I'll say, 'You know what? This is OK for right now because I'm safe, I'm healthy, the dogs are doing OK and I have a job and things will get better.' "
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Man opens fire outside California church
Shots rang out shortly before 11 a.m. outside St. John Baptist de la Salle, a Roman Catholic church in Granada Hills, Officer Norma Eisenman said. Bystanders tackled the man and held him until he was taken into police custody, she said.
"He was tackled by an off-duty Burbank police officer" and taken into custody by Los Angeles police, she said.
The gunman wounded three people, including a female who was shot in the elbow, Eisenman said. Two people were taken to a hospital in stable condition and one was in critical condition, she said.
Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said another person was treated for chest pains.
The motive for the attack was not immediately known, Eisenman said.
Church officials did not immediately return calls for comment.
Within the Pain
This week I wanted to get off this crazy train called life and just escape somehow. I comfort myself in that I have lots to be thankful for. The truth is that we all do. I want to take the argument of how could God let innocent people stand trial or go through terrible suffering and death. I pondered this and then realized that the answer is as simple as looking at Jesus' face. Jesus came to this earth so innocent and pure and without blemish and sin. What did we do to Him? We killed Him. We tore out his beard, we spit on him, we mocked him, we whipped him, we beat him so badly that there was no way of telling who he was, we then crucified Him and watched Him die as we mocked and laughed at God. I look at that and then realize that Pain is a part of our humanity and it is us that choose to cause pain. God allows it to happen because He is so loving and merciful that He endures with us because of who Jesus is and because of His mercy. It is also because HE is JUST. He isn't like us at all. He KEEPS HIS WORD.
Maybe it is the childlike idealism in me but I still have hope for this world and maybe even for myself. I have realized that there are no guarantees in life. God can't guarantee me that I won't go through suffering or that I won't die. That would mean that what Jesus did didn't exist. Jesus suffered and He also died. This means that we as human beings are just dust. We can fool ourselves by pridefully lifting up our flesh and believing we are indestructible. The truth is that is the most temporal and fleeting thing about us. I used to buy into and maybe still do at times that my flesh is perfect and that people like me because of my flesh. I look on the TV and see ads for that endless youthful prospect. The truth is we are just fooling ourselves. Inside of us is a heart that can contain the very Savior that died for all of us. To see people with the fact that God's image is on each person is the only way to look at each other. The image is not only in the flesh but the image is mostly crafted inside of us. God's craftmanship is contained in the flesh. God's crafting came from dust and the flesh is a masterpiece of course but it is what lies beneath His crafting is what really matters.
I think the problem with us is that we play God alot of times. There are only certain people that are beautiful to us. Instead of accepting our differences and respecting that God made some to look one way and then some another, we vouch for a communistic view of the flesh. We want everyone to be what we deem as beauty. I often think that Satan plays a tape on the TV, internet and Movies saying that only certain people are acceptable and loveable. It is His way of condemning us all to Hell I guess. The more we condemn another, the more we condemn ourselves. Satan condemns us all because He Himself is condemned. I know that when we accept Jesus, we see the flesh of others in a whole different way. At least we have eyes that Jesus can open so we can see that image to Him is not the way we see it at all.
I realized today that in this pain of mine is the answer to my struggle. As long as I am on this earth, I will want to fit in and be like everyone else. I also know that if I can get my focus off myself, I can focus on Jesus long enough to see that this doesn't really matter at all and that what I really need to do is not fit in. I won't in fact fit in because Jesus didn't either. I think I just realized that the battle will be going on till the day I die. The only way to live is to be a soldier and fight. I so look forward to putting down my sword at Jesus' feet and be done with my battle with pride. Victory over Pain is Jesus alone!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Mom indicted in deadly MySpace hoax
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A Missouri mom was indicted Thursday for her alleged role in the death of a teen who killed herself over a failed Internet romance that turned out to be a hoax.
Megan Meier, 13, hanged herself in her bedroom after being targeted in a MySpace hoax.
The girl, Megan Meier, committed suicide after her online love interest spurned her, according to prosecutors, telling her the world would be a better place without her.
Drew faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers to obtain information to inflict emotional distress.
The indictment, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, accuses Drew and others of registering on MySpace as "Josh Evans" and using the account to lure Meier into an an online romance.
Authorities have previously said that Drew set up the account to find out what Meier, who lived in her neighborhood, was saying about her daughter.
Prosecutors allege that Drew and the others violated MySpace's terms of service by using false information to create the account so they could "harass, abuse or harm" Meier, according to the indictment.
The two corresponded for about four weeks before "Josh" broke off the relationship, authorities said. Within an hour, Meier hanged herself in her room and died the next day.
Don't Miss
The indictment does not allege that Drew sent the final message telling Meier the world would be a better place without her. Instead, it blames her unnamed co-conspirators, who authorities have previously said include a teenage girl.
After Drew learned of the teen's suicide, the indictment alleges, she directed one of the teens involved to "keep her mouth shut" and deleted the account.
Meier's mother, Tina Meier, told CNN in November that her daughter had self-esteem issues and had struggled with depression since childhood.
She said when her daughter began receiving messages from "Josh" telling her she was pretty, she was thrilled.
When "Josh" broke off the relationship, Tina Meier said, her daughter was devastated.
"She was looking for me to help calm herself down like I always did and be there for her. And I was upset because I didn't like the language she was using, and I was angry she didn't sign off when I told her to," Tina Meier told CNN.
"She said to me, 'You're supposed to be my mom, you're supposed to be on my side,' and then took off running upstairs," Tina Meier said.
Tina Meier found her daughter hanging by a belt shortly afterward.
"It's as if my daughter killed herself with a gun," Meier's father, Ron, told CNN. "And it's as if they loaded the gun for her."
Drew is scheduled for arraignment in June.
"This adult woman allegedly used the Internet to target a young teenage girl, with horrendous ramifications," U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said in a written statement.
"Any adult who uses the Internet or a social gathering Web site to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenage girl, needs to realize that their actions can have serious consequences," O'Brien said.
In December, Missouri prosecutors declined to file charges against Drew, saying there was no law under which she could be charged.
"There is no way that anybody could know that talking to someone or saying that you're mean to your friends on the Internet would create a substantial risk," St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said. "Under the law, we just couldn't show that."
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
(AP) -- Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word "evangelical" has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.
The declaration encourages Christians to uphold traditional marriage, as in this Massachusetts protest.
The statement, called "An Evangelical Manifesto," condemns Christians on the right and left for using faith to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
"That way faith loses its independence, Christians become 'useful idiots' for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology," according to the draft.
The declaration, scheduled to be released Wednesday in Washington, encourages Christians to be politically engaged and uphold teachings such as traditional marriage. But the drafters say evangelicals have often expressed "truth without love," helping create a backlash against religion during a "generation of culture warring."
"All too often we have attacked the evils and injustices of others," the statement says, "while we have condoned our own sins." It argues, "we must reform our own behavior."
The document is the latest chapter in the debate among conservative Christians about their role in public life. Most veteran leaders believe the focus should remain on abortion and marriage, while other evangelicals -- especially in the younger generation -- are pushing for a broader agenda. The manifesto sides with those seeking a wide-range of concerns beyond "single-issue politics."
Among the signers of the manifesto are Os Guiness, a well-known evangelical author and speaker, and Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, a leading evangelical school in Pasadena, California. Organizers declined to comment until the final document is released.
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* U.S. ignores religious oppression, panel says
They say more than 80 evangelicals have signed the statement, although only a few names have been released. A. Larry Ross, spokesman for the authors, said the theologians and Christian leaders involved are seeking to "go back to the root theological meaning of the term evangelical."
Some champions of traditional culture war issues are not among the supporters.
Richard Land, head of the public policy arm for the Southern Baptist Convention, said through a spokeswoman that he has not seen the document and was not asked to sign it.
James Dobson, the influential founder of Focus on the Family, a Christian group in Colorado Springs, Colorado, did not sign the document, said Gary Schneeberger, a Dobson spokesman. Schneeberger would not say whether Dobson had read the manifesto or had been asked to sign on.
Phil Burress, an Ohio activist who networks with national evangelical leaders, said that if high-profile evangelical leaders such as Dobson and Land don't support the document, "it's like throwing a pebble in the ocean" and will carry no weight.
But the drafters hope they can start a movement among evangelicals to reflect and act on the document. "We must find a new understanding of our place in public life," the drafters wrote. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
