Appeal hearing for Iranian Christians

Iran: Appeal hearing for Iranian Christians

Persecution of Iranian Christians

The appeal hearing scheduled for 24 February to review the sentences of Assyrian pastor Victor Bet Tamraz, his wife Shamiram Issavi Khabizeh, and three Christian converts has been postponed once again.

Three long-standing related cases have been combined and are under review. The first involves Pastor Victor and Persian Christian converts Amin Nader Afshari and Kavian Fallah Mohammadi, who was arrested at a Christmas celebration in December 2014. The second case also involves Amin Nader Afshari, who was re-arrested in August 2016 with another convert, Hadi Asgar. The third involves Shamiram, summoned by the authorities in June 2017.

Pastor Victor was sentenced in July 2017 to ten years’ imprisonment for ‘acting against national security.’ Amin, Hadi, and Kavian also received prison sentences of between ten and fifteen years on similar charges. In January 2018 Shamiram was sentenced to five years in prison for “membership of a group with the purpose of disrupting national security” and another five years in prison for “gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security.”

At an appeal hearing in Shamiram’s case in February 2019, the judge, Ahmed Zargar, decided to combine her case with the two other cases.

A court hearing for the combined cases was scheduled for September 2019 but was postponed after the judge failed to appear. Another court hearing scheduled for November 2019 was also postponed, apparently because the courthouse was “too crowded.” The latest hearing was postponed after a summons for Hadi had failed to be dispatched. A new judge has been appointed to oversee the appeal. Pastor Victor and Shamiram’s daughter, Dabrina Bet Tamraz, commented that the new judge seems to be more reasonable and sensible than previous ones. No date has yet been scheduled for a new hearing.

Prayer Points

• Iranian Christians request prayer that:
• There would be a conclusion to these long-standing cases and that the new judge will rule justly and have the courage to overturn the sentences
• The Lord will encourage the defendants and their families
• The Iranian regime will stop oppressing religious minorities, including Christians

SOURCE: Middle East Concern

Ethnic Tensions Rises as Ethiopians Protest Church Burnings

After a dramatic October, some say Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed must earn his Nobel Peace Prize.

Last month, Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for his “efforts to achieve peace and reconciliation” as prime minister of Ethiopia. Today, he announced that the unusual unrest and ethnic violence which also marked last month had killed nearly 90 of his citizens.


A reformer and a reconciler, the 43-year-old head of state has made unprecedented changes in just 18 months in office, including ending a longstanding border war with neighboring Eritrea; appointing women to half his cabinet posts; releasing thousands of political prisoners, and diffusing a tense situation with insubordinate military officers by doing push-ups.

“I see Abiy as an answer to prayer,” said Frew Tamrat, principal of Evangelical Theological College in Addis Ababa, the capital city. “He tries to live by biblical values. He is a preacher of peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness.”

Though he has a Muslim father and an Ethiopian Orthodox mother, Abiy [Ethiopians go by their given names] attends a “Pente” church whose denomination—Mulu Wongel (Full Gospel Believers)—belongs to the Evangelical Churches Fellowship of Ethiopia.

“His style of leadership relies a lot on a kind of positive mindset, word-of-faith-type Pentecostal charismatic religion,” said Meron Tekleberhan, a graduate of the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology currently finishing her Ph.D. at the University of Durham. “He considers that to be the source of his political philosophy.”

Abiy’s peacemaking has not been limited to the political sphere. In August 2018, he successfully reconciled two factions of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the largest religious group in Ethiopia.

The Tewahedo church comprises 40 percent of Ethiopia’s population and has more than 45 million followers, according to the World Christian Database. In 1991, Patriarch Abune Merkorios was exiled to the United States in the power transition between the Derg communist regime and the current state, leading to the creation of a so-called “exiled synod.”

Reconciliation between the two factions was unforeseen. According to the Tewahedo tradition, a patriarch is only appointed once the previous patriarch has passed away, so there was no scenario for cooperation. Thanks to Abiy’s input, the estranged leaders of the two synods now work side by side, with believers able to worship together.

Similar to Nelson Mandela’s concept of ubuntu, Abiy often invokes the unity of medemer as his political motivation. The literal meaning in Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language, is “addition,” but the word can also be translated as “synergy” or ”togetherness.” A million-copy manifesto outlining his political philosophy and published under the same title was released in October.


Yet there are many who fear that the peace prize was premature. The Nobel committee itself acknowledged that “many challenges remain unresolved,” noting especially the vast amounts of people forced to flee their homes amid rising ethnic tensions. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, Ethiopia currently leads the world with 2.9 million people displaced by violence.

That number continues to rise as conflict grows. Today, Abiy announced that 86 people were killed last month and thousands more displaced in widespread civil unrest across the Oromia region.

“He may [eventually] deserve a Nobel prize, but not now,” said Meron. “It seems premature, overenthusiastic on the part of the committee, and a bit superficial.”

Tedla Woldeyohannes, an Ethiopian professor of philosophy at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Missouri, credits current political turmoil to Abiy’s “pastoral prime ministership.” In his view, the current deterioration in law and order is enabled by Abiy’s focus on an agenda of love, peace, and reconciliation.

“Expecting people to love one another and to live in peace with one another just because a leader of a country speaks about these topics is not practicable,” he argued in an op-ed for ECAD Forum. “A leader’s commitment to a country is to protect the safety and security of citizens, not to exercise patience toward criminals.”

Recent political conflicts have had religious consequences. Last month’s celebrations of Meskel—a festival commemorating the fourth-century finding of the true cross, according to Tewahedo tradition—reflected an urgent longing for an elusive peace. This year, the proceedings in Addis Ababa were noticeably political. Half a million people chanted: “May there be peace, peace, peace for Ethiopia.”

Just a week before Meskel, tens of millions of people marched across the nation. It was the latest in a series of peaceful protests condemning rising violence towards Tewahedo churches throughout the country. Since Abiy’s ascension, more than 30 churches have been violently attacked, and more than half were razed to the ground. Approximately 45 clergy and church members have also been killed while defending their churches against mob attacks from ethno-nationalist groups.

The largest of these demonstrations took place in the city of Bahir Dar, 200 miles north of the capital. Wearing traditional white religious garments, protesters thronged the palm tree-lined avenues of the nation’s fifth-largest city carrying Ethiopian flags, the colorful umbrellas used in Tewahedo religious ceremonies, and signs and banners denouncing violence and expressing solidarity.

“Members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church have been slaughtered,” said Seifu Alemayehu, a demonstration organizer, at a press conference in September, noting also the displacement of thousands more. “The government has been neglectful while this is happening.”

Recent violence appears to be politically motivated. In July, three churches were torched and three people killed in the southern region of Sidama amid protests demanding regional autonomy and ethnic self-administration.

With the coffee-growing region a focal point of an ongoing saga of widespread ethno-nationalism, Abiy authorized a referendum in Sidama this November to determine its status.

“The hostility towards Ethiopian Orthodox churches is deeply tied to ethnic identity politics in the country,” Tedla told Christianity Today.

The Tewahedo Church is mostly concentrated in the northern ethnic regions of Amhara and Tigray, where it comprises 84 percent and 96 percent of the population, respectively. In contrast, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) where Sidama is located, only 20 percent are Orthodox while the rest are overwhelmingly Protestants. [The July/August 2019 issue of CT reported how Sidama is the center of a missions movement among Ethiopian evangelicals.]

Thus, some see the protests as possessing an ethnic dimension. Some of the signs carried by protesters bore slogans such as “church and politics are not the same,” as well as messages accusing the government of inaction, demanding that those responsible be held accountable.

“Abiy is just one man,” said Meron. “As much as he tries to wring change by the force of his personality, a lot of what is happening is longstanding. These ruptures have existed for generations.”

Protesters also denounced efforts to divide the Tewahedo church along ethnic lines. Rising tensions within Ethiopia have not only brought challenges from mobs outside the church but from within as well.

Recently, an Oromo nationalist faction within the Tewahedo church began agitating for the Orthodox to split along ethnic lines in a manner similar to the structure of the federal government, which is divided into nine zones delineated predominantly by ethnic group. Oromia is the largest of these zones, and the Oromo people are the largest ethnolinguistic group in Ethiopia, comprising approximately 34 percent of the population. The Holy Synod, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s highest council, condemned this divisiveness during emergency meetings.

Abiy’s medemer philosophy and vision for religious pluralism is visible among the protesters. Many Ethiopian Muslims and Protestants marched alongside Orthodox believers to condemn the violence. One banner, borne by members of a local mosque in Bahir Dar, showed a cross and crescent moon side by side above the message: “We are one.” Other signs bore messages of solidarity: “We stand together.”

“Sometimes people try to separate us by tribe, language, ethnicity, religion,” said Ephrem Samuel of the SIM-affiliated Kale Heywet church, who attended the protest in Bahir Dar. “But when we come together like this … it shows that we are one.”

But for many Ethiopians, vital unity is not the same as good policy. To justify his Nobel, Abiy must successfully address the nation’s many deeply-rooted challenges.

“He has made a few good starts, but until the elections we are expecting in May, we will not know how well he has done,” said Meron.

“He may be the right leader at the wrong time.”

Written by Jack Bryan for Christianity Today, he is a freelance journalist based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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American Pastor Still Detained in India

 ...Awaiting December Trial

Bryan Nerren

Bryan Nerren “always knew the danger” of missions in South Asia but longed to see revival in Nepal.

Each year, when Tennessee pastor Bryan Nerren delivered the closing message at a conference for Nepali Christian leaders in South Asia, he called them to persist in ministry despite the associated risk in a Hindu-dominated region sometimes hostile to their faith.

Now, Nerren, 58, is living out his sermon more than at any time in his 17 years of mission trips to South Asia, trapped in India for more than a month and prohibited from returning home following six-day imprisonment. While Indian officials charge him with failing to fill out the proper paperwork to declare the cash he was carrying, Nerren’s attorneys call the charges unjust and the detention an example of religious persecution.

Nerren, a pastor of the nondenominational International House of Prayer in Shelbyville, Tennessee, did nothing wrong and “is essentially being held hostage in India for his Christian faith,” according to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the evangelical legal organization representing him. “He deserves to come home.”

Released on bail October 11 in the Indian state of West Bengal, Nerren had his passport seized by a judge while he awaits a December 12 court date. Despite backchannel work by the Trump administration and three US senators, Nerren’s family doesn’t know when he will return home.

Arrest and imprisonment

Nerren’s legal trouble began on October 5. He and two other American ministers cleared Indian customs upon arriving in New Delhi and proceeded through security to board their domestic flight to the northeast Indian city of Bagdogra to lead a conference there, the ACLJ reported. After Nerren answered questions for an hour in New Delhi about the cash he was carrying—including questions about whether the funds would be used for Christian causes—customs officials authorized him to board his flight.

But upon arrival in Bagdogra, he was arrested for allegedly not filling out a form to declare his cash. The ensuing six-day imprisonment included a trip to the hospital because of a health condition, where a physician treating Nerren spit on the ground, apparently in disgust, after learning he was a Christian.

Nerren’s wife Rhonda traveled to Washington in late October to meet with State Department officials and Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), and James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), the ACLJ told Christianity Today. All officials with whom Rhonda Nerren met are “engaged” and “concerned” about her husband’s case, but no information has been released about the specific steps they are taking to secure his release.

Nerren’s son Kevin, an associate pastor at the International House of Prayer, told CT his father has “always known the danger” of ministering in India and Nepal, but he persisted because of love for the Nepali people. (His work in India was limited to the northeastern region, with a focus on its large Nepali population, and he has only ministered there “a couple of times.”)

Each fall, Bryan Nerren has traveled to Nepal to train Sunday school teachers, and each spring he has returned to lead a staff retreat for a Nepali nonprofit organization that partners with the US nonprofit Nerren established to support his mission endeavors, the Asian Children’s Education Fellowship (ACEF). According to the group’s website, ACEF has trained more than 20,000 leaders in Nepal.

“You will never have a conversation with him without his bringing up Nepal,” Kevin Nerren said of his father. In the hallways at the International House of Prayer, “there are pictures and a flag and mementos from Nepal everywhere.”

‘Revival like none other’

The danger of Nerren’s mission work stems from the fact proselytizing has been illegal in Nepal since 2017. Open Doors USA places Nepal at number 32 on its list of the 50 countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian.

India ranks number 10 on Open Doors USA’s persecution list, with an increase in attacks on Christians by Hindu radicals reported since the current Hindu nationalist government came to power in 2014.

Despite the risk, Nerren has persisted in his work with the Nepali people because of a desire to see 1 million Christians in Nepal, Kevin Nerren said.

Official estimates put the number of believers in Nepal at about 400,000 out of a total population of 29.7 million—explosive growth since a 1951 census listed no Christians in the country. Yet Kevin Nerren believes the total number of believers is actually “well over” 1 million today, an assessment corroborated by an NPR report claiming the number Christians in Nepal could be “much higher” than officially reported and calling it “one of the world’s fastest-growing Christian populations.”

Nepal has experienced “a revival like none other,” Kevin Nerren said, recounting trips where his father has discovered thriving Christian communities in remote mountain villages. Such communities arise, he said, because Nepalese villagers go to major cities to find work, encounter the gospel there, and take it back to their villages.

Nerren’s ministry has focused on training Nepali believers in Nepal and India to share their faith and fuel that indigenous Christian movement.

If Nerren manages to get out of the region he loves, his next challenge might be getting back in as publicity surrounding his case mounts.

“His name’s probably going to be on a blacklist,” Kevin Nerren said, “especially for India, and he may not get to go to Nepal to do ministry again … He’s struggling with that a bit. But he’ll never stop loving Nepal.”



Written by
David Roach is a writer in Nashville, Tennessee.

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17 years old Israeli Teenage girl killed as Two other Wounded in Samaria 'Horrific' Terror Attack

Lod resident Rina Shenrav, 17

Lod resident Rina Shenrav, 17, succumbs to mortal wounds caused when explosive device detonates as the family was visiting the Danny Spring near Dolev. Shenrav's father, 46, and 19-year-old brother rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem in serious condition. PM Netanyahu calls security consultation, says Israel "will find these heinous terrorists. We will strike our enemy down."


JERUSALEM, Israel - an enormous search is underway on Friday when a teenaged girl was killed while her father and brother seriously hurt in an explosion close to a water spring by the Dolev settlement community in the West Bank.

Rina Shnerb, 17, was critically wounded and pronounced dead on the scene after paramedics worked desperately to save her life. Her father, Rabbi Eitan, 46, and brother Dvir, 19, were evacuated in a military helicopter to Hadassah Ein Karem hospital.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin identified grieved the teen's death and asked for prayers.
"This was an [despicable] attack against innocent individuals going about their daily lives in peace," he said.

Israel Defense Force on Twitter

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to pursue and apprehend the "abhorrent terrorists."
Paramedic Shlomo Perl was one of the first people to treat the family.

“When we arrived at the scene what we saw was horrifying," he said "We saw 3 injured laying on the ground. A 46-year old man, fully conscious, had sustained injuries to his upper body. Next to him was a 20-year old man with injuries to his upper limbs and upper body and a 17-year old teenager with multi-system trauma."

"We administered initial medical checks and provided them with life-saving treatment including stopping injury and medications. We evacuated the 46-year-old and 20-year-old man via the MICU and evacuated them to a military chopper that landed nearby, which took them to the hospital" Perl added.

The Israel Defense Forces said the explosion was "a serious terror attack", the Times of Israel reports. Security services say a suspicious vehicle fled the area after the explosion.

An army spokesperson said an improvised explosive device killed Shnerb and injured her father and brother. Investigators determined the device was planted in the spring earlier and was set off when the family approached it.

Meanwhile, the military is looking for whoever is responsible.

"IDF soldiers are searching the area," the military said.
Israeli officials do not know if a terror group is responsible for the attack or if the perpetrators acted independently.

Medical Response Team

The attack occurred at the Bubin spring, a well-liked hiking spot in Israel.

Last Friday, a Palestinian terrorist rammed his car into two Israeli teens outside the Elazar settlement community. One of the teens was critically injured.

The terrorist was shot dead at the scene.

Mohamad Torokman Security forces and emergency medical personnel were at the scene of the suspected IED bombing near Dolev on Friday after initial reports of the explosion were received, and a large contingent of security forces fanned out in the area following reports of a car that was seen driving away from the scene of the blast.

Security forces were sweeping the area for suspects, with a focus on the area around Ramallah.

President Reuven Rivlin on Twitter

Residents of Dolev were under orders from security officials to remain indoors and report any suspicious activity.

In an interview to Channel 12 News, Habayit Hayehudi MK Moti Yogev, a resident of Dolev, described the spring as "full of life" and flowing water all year round, even in the summer.
Yogev said that hundreds of Israelis visit the spring, as well as the many other springs throughout Judea and Samaria, on Fridays and holidays. Israelis who visit the area are usually instructed to arm themselves and inform security forces of their destination.

"But the Arabs show up and bring death to a place full of life. No Jew has ever attacked an Arab there," Yogev said.

Israel must strengthen its deterrence by strengthening settlements, Yogev said.
Yisrael Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, spoke to Israeli media at the scene of the attack and called on Israel to apply sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.


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Christian Woman from Sudan Kidnapped and tortured in Egypt Highlights Convert Pressures

abducted and tortured

A Christian mother from Sudan had deep cause for worry November last year once her Muslim brother visited her church in Cairo, Egypt with a photograph of her husband and
asked members if they knew his whereabouts.

Muslim extremists from Sudan had abducted and tortured her but 2 years earlier in Cairo, and that they threatened to kill her husband and girl if she refused to come back
to Islam.

The 42-year-old Ebtehaj Alsanosi Altejani Mostafa was tied to a chair in a darkened room with no windows when her abductors gave her that ultimatum in February 2017, she told Morning Star News.
"I won't return to Islam - I hate Islam," she told them, as they continue beating her, Mostafa said.

She had fled to Egypt in 2005 once being imprisoned 5 times for her religion in Sudan.
In Cairo she met a Sudanese pastor, additionally, a convert from Islam, United Nations agency would become her husband; he had also fled abuse in Sudan.

Since she was abducted, tortured and raped in February 2017, Mostafa and her family have had to change residences many times because of the Sudanese Muslim extremists' threats on
their lives.

She still takes medication for the physical and psychological trauma she suffered when 2 Sudanese Muslim extremists abducted her as she was on her way to a market in 2017.
They called her name, grabbed her, coated her nose and mouth, twisted her hands and sprayed some chemical on her that left her unconscious, she said.

They took her to the windowless room in an unknown house where they poured water on her, pulled her hair and tied her hands and legs to a chair, all the while shouting her name.
Covering her eyes, they reminded her of her Muslim upbringing in Sudan and the way after her college years she moved together with her family to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Her Sudanese father, they reminded her, is a sheikh (Islamic teacher) in Saudi Arabia, she said.

"You are a disgrace to your Muslim family, you brought shame to the family," they shouted as they struck her, she said. "You are 'kafira' [infidel]."

They said she should divorce her husband and come back to her Sudanese family in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia so as to avoid wasting her life.
It was then that they further threatened to kill her husband and girl, now 11, if she refused.

After she told them she would rather die than return to Islam, one of the kidnappers brought a copy of the Koran and began reciting verses that call for the killing of those who leave Islam.
Between verses, they yelled, "Allahu Akbar," the jihadist slogan, "God is greater," she said.

The extremists then untied her, forced her to lie on the ground and ripped her garments.
In spite of her pleas to prevent, they raped her in turns, she said.

"This is lesson number one," one among the lads told her.

After leaving the area shortly, they came back and started spitting on her as they abused her with obscenities, describing her as "adulterous" for being the wife of a pastor, she said.
One of the boys was taking photos and video.

Four different men entered the room, two Sudanese and two Egyptians.
By now her eyes were no longer covered.
The Egyptians, she said, were referred to as Abu Mahmoud and Abu Ali.

"This time I saw them clearly," she said.

One of the new arrivals ordered her to repeat the shahada, the Muslim profession of religion, after him. When she refused, he had one amongst the others shove her onto the chair and tie her hands and legs again; her chest and back were in great pain, she said. Placing a cup of water and a bit of bread on the ground, they tried to force her to take them, however, she refused.

After going away from the room for a short time, they came back and covered her eyes as they mentioned whether or not to stay here on the chair.

They then forced her to kneel at length, painting her legs, and one of the men sat on the chair and began smoking a cigarette.

The man burned her back with the smoke twenty-six times attempting to force her to mention the shahada, she said.
They laughed with every burn mark, she said; the area was filled with smoke.

They tied her to the chair again. Refusing their demand once more, she was maltreated on her face and kicked many times, she said, as they continuing ordering her to renounce Christ and save her life.

"Baya [a nickname for Ebtehaj], say the shahada and confess that Muhammad is that the prophet of God," they told her.

Mostafa collapsed to her left. They left her in the dark room.
When they came back, they turned on the light and asked if she needed to mention one thing.

"You are tired, did you change your mind?
Are you certain you would like to stay with Jesus? " they asked her in turns.

They once more tried to force her to mention the Muslim profession of religion, and once she again refused, they asked her why she worships 3 gods: Mary, Jesus Christ and God.

"This isn't true, I believe in God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit - one God," she told them.

Before going away the room, they told her that this was her last probability to come back to her previous faith before they're allowed to kill her.

After a few minutes, they returned, carrying a Muslim prayer mat.
"This is your day of reckoning with us," one among them said.

They put a container of water in front of her to wash and say the Muslim confession, but she again refused.
She was given a face veil, the Muslim veil for ladies that leaves solely the eyes exposed, along with many papers for her to sign, as one of the men continued taking photos and videos, she said.

After many tries to force her to sign the papers speech she had came back to Islam, they hurt her hands as they forced her against her will to sign one
of the papers, she said.

Then she felt a blow to the rear of her head and lost consciousness.

When she came to, she found herself on a street with individuals and cars passing by, she said.

Prior to her abduction, Mostafa had received a telephone call from one among her sisters telling her that her uncle and brother were reaching to hurt her, she said.

Her uncle, a prominent officer in Sudan's notorious National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), also has a large influence as the military attaché in Sudan's Foreign Ministry in Khartoum
and can simply move between Sudan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where his brother lives, she said.

Mostafa said she is trusting that God has His purposes for her abduction and that her purpose in revealing it was that the international community would know what kinds of pressures Sudanese converts face in Egypt.

"Our God is ready, and I am now alive," she said.

Sudan hierarchic sixth on Christian support organization Open Doors' 2019 World Watch List of states wherever it's almost tough to be a Christian, whereas Egypt hierarchic sixteenth.

Finnish Christian missionaries held in Malaysia return home

Christian Finns deported from Malaysia

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Four Finnish tourists who were arrested in Malaysia last week for distributing Christian materials in public places on a resort island returned to Finland on Wednesday according to AP News

Timo Valtonen held up a pen — similar to ones inscribed with Bible verses that were seized in Malaysia — as he and three others were greeted by supporters at Helsinki’s Vanta airport.

They were detained last week in Langkawi and investigated for allegedly causing disharmony and violating their visa status. Police seized 47 pens and 336 notebooks containing Bible texts. They were deported Tuesday.

Proselytizing of Muslims by members of other religions is forbidden in Malaysia, although the reverse is allowed. Muslims, who comprise nearly two-thirds of Malaysia’s 31 million people, are also not legally permitted to change religion.

Spokesman and group leader Timo Valtonen, centre, holds up a pen as he makes a statement to the press upon his arrival, with three other Finns after being deported from Malaysia, at the airport in Vantaa, Finland, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018.

Four Finnish tourists who were arrested in Malaysia last week for distributing Christian materials in public places on a resort island have returned to Finland. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto/Lehtikuva via AP)


The four — two men and two women aged between 27 and 60 — were deported on Tuesday, 27 November, AP said.

District Police Chief Mohamad Iqbal Ibrahim told the media the arrests were made following complaints by the public. Since the arrival of the Finns on 18 November at least three reports regarding their activities had been filed, he said, according to Free Malaysia Today.

‘I Want to Glorify God’-Jennie Finch-Daigle

Christian Refuses to Dance to ‘Bisexual Anthem’ on ‘Dancing With The Stars’.

A Christian female athlete is being applauded for standing up for her beliefs and refusing to dance to a “risqué” song on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars.

Professional softball player Jennie Finch-Daigle told the show’s producer after which her dance partner that she couldn’t dance to Janelle Monáe's song “Make Me Feel,” that is made up of effective lyrics and highlights on bisexuality. It’s even been referred to as “bisexual anthem.”

“I’m not really sure about the song,” she told dance partner Keo Motsepe during a rehearsal broadcast on the May 7 episode. “It’s just not me.”

Motsepe told her to “just relax” and that he would “make it work.”

Viewers then heard a phone call between her and the producer in which she said, “I’m struggling with my song choice. It’s a little too risqué. I’m just not feeling comfortable with it. I can’t go through with it.”

She later told Motsepe, “I wish to follow who I am and defend what I believe.”

Mainly because of the change in songs, both of them had only three days to put together a new dance.

Finch-Daigle later told reporters, as reported by US Weekly, “I want to glorify God out there, and that just wasn’t a great choice for me to do that.”

She won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a silver medal in 2008.

On the official Dancing With The Stars YouTube channel, most commenters praised her decision.

“She did fantastic for having changed the song that late in the week! She followed her instincts, and that’s great! Good to do that now in the competition rather than later,” one person wrote.

Another wrote, “I give Jennie major props. She stays true to who she is as a person and I commend/respect her for doing so.”





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Terrorists Kill Eight Christians in Central Nigeria

Muslim Herdsmen, Terrorists Kill Eight Christians in Central Nigeria

Violence attacks on villages in north-central Nigeria that killed eight Christians during the past two weeks were executed by Muslim Fulani herdsmen aided by terrorists from Islamic extremist groups, a local pastor said.

The Rev. Sunday Gado Biri told reporters that the assailants also torched 50 homes owned by Christians, including his very own, and his church building was partly burnt in the attacks on Zanwra, a suburb of Jebu-Miango close to the city of Jos, Plateau state. 

“A critical view these attacks have demonstrated that it's not just the herdsmen that are attacking Christian communities, as there are terrorists working together with them to execute these attacks,” said the 54-year-old pastor of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Zanwra.

He appealed to the Nigerian government to bring to an end unabated attacks on Christian communities.

“It is regrettable that the soldiers brought here are not taking critical measures against the herdsmen,” he said. “When the herdsmen were burning up the houses, the soldiers could not stop them. Regardless of this, I still want to appeal to the Nigerian government that it should stop these killings.”

In attacks on Zanwra village between Jan. 22 and Jan. 25, the eight Christians died in four ambushes on several days, even though the houses were damaged in two distinct attacks.

Pastor Biri said one of his church elders, 60-year-old James Nengwe, was slain the night of Jan. 24 as he tried to escape.

“He was on his way to the military camp almost two kilometres from his house when he was ambushed, shot and killed by the herdsmen,” the pastor said. “In fact, he was only a few hundred meters from the military camp. He chose to take refuge at the military base camp when he saw the herdsmen destroying and burning up houses close to his house.”

Zanwra resident Moses Chohu confirmed that armed herdsmen shot Nengwe to death as he fled for security.

“A Christian community leader, the ward head of Zanwra, Nengwe, was ambushed and shot to death near a military base camp by armed herdsmen as he tried escaping to the military camp,” Chohu told Morning Star News. “Houses in Zanwra village were being burned by the herdsmen when they ambushed Nengwe and killed him.”

Pastor Biri said the attacks have reduced the number of people attending his church services.

“Some of our members have been displaced, and church attendance has drastically dropped,” he said. “Prior to these attacks, church attendance was at about 400 worshippers, but at the moment we hardly have about 200 worshippers during services on Sundays.”

Nigeria ranked 14th on Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.

The pastor said Nengwe has family members and was devoted to the church.

“When the attack on our villages started we constituted a committee to support Internally Displaced Persons,” he said. “Baba James was a member of this committee. Lately, there was an attack on this community by herdsmen, and five houses owned by some people in my church were burnt down by the herdsmen. Because of this, we constituted the committee on the IDPs.”

Another Zanwra resident, Patience Moses, 30, told reporters that on Jan. 25, a day after killing village head Nengwe, the assailants attacked again at about 7 p.m.

“All houses surrounding the DTV area [near Zanwra] to the ECWA Church, Zanwra, were burnt down,” she said. “The house of the pastor of ECWA church, Rev. Sunday Biri, was burned down, even though the church itself was partly burned. Soldiers that were attempting push away the attackers ran out of bullets, and so the attackers prevailed in burning down houses.”

A mini-van carrying persons from Jos to Kwall was ambushed near the ECWA church, Zanwra, and “the driver, the conductor, and one other Christian” were killed and about 20 others injured, Moses said. Police identified two of the Christians killed in the ambush as Danlami of Kwal District and Emmanuel Audu of Jebbu-Miango.

Around 50 houses belonging to Christians were burned, Moses said, including those of Pastor Biri; Dauda Babuje; Jonathan Davou; John Huyep; Danladi Sunday; Sunday Ragwa; Yakubu A.A.; Morris Ragwa; Joro Sunday; Adamu Hunye; Timothy Audu; Audu Hunye; David Saku; Luka Adamu; Infor Aji; Demi Sunday; Damjuma Gah, and two identified only as Maley and Monday.

In the DTV area near Zanwra, the houses of the following Christians were burned down by the herdsmen, she said: Joshua Audu; Saku Leh; Musa Akwa; Paseh; Audu; Shehu Audu; Danlami Gyah; Monday Njwe; Friday Monday; Igya Danlami; Monday Gyah; Uwah Audu; Gbah Gyah; Kuku Gbah; Adeh Njweh; Jonathan Ndeh; Musa Njweh; Ishon Njwe; Yakubu Njweh; Ishaya Barry; Fidelis Barry; Monday Ishaya; Musa Dahro; Christopher Musa; Joshua Musa; Guba Bitrus; and Friday Saku.

Zanwra resident Chohu said attacks on Christian communities in the area began on Jan. 14 when three Christians from Kimakpa village went to Maiyanga village, and herdsmen attacked them as they were returning to Kimakpa at about 6 p.m.

“One of them was killed, the second was injured, while the third escaped unhurt,” Chohu said. Their names were not readily available.

On Jan. 22 three Christians from Kpachudu and Kwall villages who had gone to a mining camp at Telma village were returning at about 6 p.m. when Muslim Fulani herdsmen ambushed them at Chuvo-Kpara village, Chohu said. The three died in the attack, with the herdsmen chopping off the head of one of them and taking it with them.

“On Jan. 24, at about 7:50 p.m., just about an hour after the ward head was murdered by the herdsmen, they also set afire four houses in Alleh village near Zanwra,” he said. “The houses burnt were those of Christians Dauda Ahmadu, Musa Nengwe, Danjuma David and SundayNengwe.”

The ward head, Nengwe, was buried on Jan. 25 at about 10 a.m. in a funeral witnessed by a Morning Star News correspondent, and by the evening of the same day, the herdsmen invaded Zanwra village anew, burning more houses of Christians and displacing many of them.

Zanwra residents identified two of the dead as Emmanuel Audu and Danlami.

Matthias Tyopev, the spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command, said in a press statement that three people were killed in the Jan. 24 attacks.

“Three people were killed and burned by the armed men,” he said. “Eight others sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries. About 20 housing units were also set ablaze. An investigation is ongoing to unravel the remote and immediate causes of these attacks.”

Christians make up 51.3 percent of Nigeria’s population, while Muslims living primarily in the north and middle belt account for 45 percent.



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Most Dangerous Countries To Live As a Christian

List of most dangerous countries on the planet as a Christian

Researchers found 1 in 12 Christians face extreme repression and that female followers are some of the most targeted

-List reveals the nations most probably to persecute religion's followers, with North Korea at the very top
-List ranks world countries based on level of violence against Christians and pressure on religious life
-North Korea came out top for the 16th year running followed by Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan and Pakistan
-Causes were radical Islam and governments using religious persecution to support their power, report said

These are the 50 countries in the world where it is most dangerous to be a Christian, according to a study by organisation Open Doors which measured levels of violence against followers and pressures put on their daily lives 

North Korea, Afghanistan and Somalia are the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian, according to a new report.

The list was put together by Christian organisation Open Doors which ranked world countries by violence against the religion's followers and pressure place on their everyday life.

Researchers found that 1 in 12 Christians worldwide experience high levels of persecution, with repression by radical Islamic regimes being the main driver.

Other causes include weak governments using religious nationalism to prop up their power in places like India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, and the resurgence of Islam in central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

North Korea has topped Open Doors' list since 2002 thanks to the brutal repression of all religions, but especially Christians, by the Kim regime.

North Korea topped the list for the 16th year running thanks to the Kim regime's brutal repression of all religion. Christians form part of the third and lowest caste of North Korean society, and are actively discriminated against

Not only are the Kim family leaders of the state, they are also the state religion, and worshipping any deity over them is considered treasonous. Neighbours and relatives are asked to watch out for suspicious behaviour and report it.

Christians, along with Buddhists, form part of the lowest caste of North Korean society, meaning they are subject to constant observation and actively discriminated against with regards to receiving jobs, entering into college, and receiving supplies by the regime.

Afghanistan is Islamic by constitution, which means government officials, ethnic group leaders, religious officials and citizens are hostile toward adherents of any other religion, the report says.

For that reason Christians are without the benefit of property and businesses while being put through beatings and are often killed for practicing their religion.

Somalia, which expects all citizens to be Muslim and is also home to the extremist al-Shabaab group, came in third

In Somalia, Islam is also the state religion and all Somalis are required to follow the faith. Imams and madrasas have stated publicly that there is no room for Christianity nationwide, the report says, while militant group al-Shabaab also threatens Christians with death.

At the moment the report was being put together, researchers recorded 3,066 cases of Christians being killed 1,252 abductions; 1,020 instances of rape or sexual harassment; and 793 church attacks.




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Chinese authorities Dynamite Christian Megachurch

Chinese Authorities Blow up Christian Megachurch with Dynamite

The Golden Lampstand Church in 2009

ASIA: Chinese authorities have demolished a well-known Christian megachurch, inflaming long-standing tensions between religious groups and the Communist Party.

Witnesses and overseas activists said the paramilitary People's Armed Police used dynamite and excavators to destroy the Golden Lampstand Church, which has a congregation of more than 50,000, in the city of Linfen in Shaanxi province.

ChinaAid, a US-based Christian advocacy group, said local authorities planted explosives in an underground worship hall to demolish the structure following, developed with nearly $2.6m in contributions from local worshippers in one of China's poorest regions.

The church had faced "repeated persecution" by the Chinese government, said ChinaAid. Hundreds of police and hired thugs smashed the building and seized Bibles in an earlier crackdown in 2009 that ended with the arrest of church leaders.

Those church leaders received prison sentences of up to seven years for charges of illegally occupying farmland and disturbing traffic order, reported by state media.

The Golden Lampstand Church in Shanxi Province was destroyed this week by paramilitary police officers

There are approximately 60 million Christians in China, the majority of whom worship in independent congregations such as the Golden Lampstand. Many millions of Christians, Buddhists and Muslims also worship in state-sanctioned assemblies.

However, the surging rise in popularity of non-state-approved churches has raised the ire of authorities, cautious of any threats to the officially atheist Communist Party's strict political and social control.

The video below shows the destruction of the Golden lampstand Church in Shanxi Province this week by Chinese paramilitary police officers.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed under China's constitution, so local authorities in many cases are considered using technicalities to attack unregistered churches. Charges of land or building violations and disturbing the peace include the most common.

The state-run Global Times newspaper reported the official basis for the destruction was the structure did not hold the required permits.

"A Christian offered his farmland to a local Christian association so they privately built a church using the cover of building a warehouse," a government department official was quoted as saying.

Religious groups must register with local religious affairs authorities under Chinese law, the report said, adding the church was illegally constructed nearly about ten years ago in violation of building codes.

Pictures made available by ChinaAid revealed the church's steeple and cross toppled in a large pile of rubble.

The authorities used dynamite and heavy machinery to raze the Protestant megachurch.

“The repeated persecution of Golden Lampstand Church demonstrates that the Chinese government has no respect for religious freedom or human rights,” said ChinaAid president and founder Bob Fu.

He added: “ChinaAid calls on the international community to openly condemn the bombing of this church building and urge the Chinese government to fairly compensate the Christians who paid for it and immediately cease these alarming demolitions of churches.”

A pastor at a nearby church, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he saw large numbers of paramilitary police on Tuesday surrounding the area around the church, which was being taken apart by heavy machinery. He later heard a loud explosion.

The Golden Lampstand Church was built by husband and wife evangelists Wang Xiaoguang and Yang Rongli as a permanent home for their followers.

The couple had been preaching around Linfen since 1992, establishing congregations in improvised spaces such as factory dormitories and greenhouses.

While authorities did not block the church's construction, they later cracked down on it, and the couple and other church leaders were sent to prison.

ChinaAid said authorities also demolished a Catholic church in Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi province, on 27 December. Officials smashed crosses and confiscated statues, the Eucharistic altar, and other religious artefacts as they demolished the building with heavy machinery, the organisation said.

The demolition prompted more 100 church members to protest in front of government offices this week.





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'We Want to Obey Jesus' says Laos Teen sisters

Teen Sisters in Laos Beaten, Tied Up by Family for Converting to Christianity

Two teenage sisters in Laos who converted from animism to Christianity have shared how their loved ones beat them, tied them up, locked them out of the home, and left them there for four days -- however, their faith continues to be unshaken.

17-year-old Nani and 16-year-old Nha Phong converted to Christianity in autumn 2016 after listening to the truth of the gospel from a relative.

"My cousin told me about the Good News," Nani told persecution watchdog Open Doors. "He is a pastor in a church based in a village near ours. I liked what I heard really, and for this reason, I became a believer."

The sisters before long became involved with their local church -- nevertheless, their newfound faith didn't come without repercussions. The girls' parents and extended family members, devout animists, strongly opposed their decision for being followers of Jesus.

"When we went to church one time, our family became very angry at us. They told us never to go. My cousin and nephew said It was necessary to return to my old religion, and if I failed to they will hit me and force me out from the church," said Nani.

That period, the cousin failed to fulfil his threat. But 3 weeks afterwards, as soon as the girls left for church, their family members - around 6 to 9 individuals - followed them secretly­ and dragged the sisters out from the worship service

"They tied us up and my dad hit my sister, but he didn't hit me. I don't know why" Nani recalled.

They took the sisters back to their village, where they were separated and kept tied up for several days.

"They took me to my uncle's house and asked over and over again: 'Do you still believe in God?' They threatened me and told me that unless I renounced my new faith, they will keep me tied up," said Nha Phong.

Finally, after four days, the sisters were released.

"Our family remained very upset over our decision to stand firm in our faith in Jesus," Nha Phong said.

Despite such persecution, the girls say their faith is stronger than ever.

"I believe our strength to stand firm is a gift from God. God gave us the passion to believe," said Nani. "There is a Bible verse in Ephesians 6. Whenever people fought in the past, they used a shield, and I want to have faith like a shield. When the evil one tries to shoot arrows at us, I will use the shield to protect me. So I have to put my faith in Jesus."

While Nani and Nha Phong's father is still opposed to his daughter's religion, his wife has shown interest in Christianity and even followed her daughters to church on occasion.

"Our mother never hit us, but our father did. He did this after the head of the village told him to. Dad listened to the authorities who did not want us to go to church," said Nani. "He didn't want my Bible in the house, so he took my Bible and hid it somewhere I couldn't find it. I found it later, so now I can read my Bible again."

"It has been really hard to not obey our father, who is the head of the family. But we want to obey Jesus more than anyone. We know that Jesus died for us, and we do not want to go back to our old religion. Even if it is difficult, we want to follow Jesus," she added.

While the girls have been able to go to church for Sunday service from time to time, they continue to face persecution.

"The head of the village told our mum that if we, her daughters, continue to go to church, they will throw us in jail. They said that we should get out of the village," said Nha Phong.

In May, authorities arrested the girls along with seven other Christians. Shortly after, the sisters were released, and they escaped to another village. Today, they live in their Christian cousins' village.

Due to the fact, Nha Phong cannot read, she's only able to hear the Word of God when she's able to come to Church.

"But I believe in my heart," she said.

Open Doors asks believers around the globe to pray that Nani and Nha's mother, father and cousins should come to trust in Jesus; that God will give the girls the strength and courage to stand firm; and that Nha should be able to learn how to read and write to ensure she can read the Word of God for herself.

Buddhists make up more than 57 percent of the population of the Communist country, according to Operation World. About 35 percent of the population adheres to indigenous religions, and only 3.4 percent of the population is Christian.

Open Doors notes that Buddhism, animistic beliefs and practices, is deeply ingrained "in the thinking and culture of society."

"Every deviation from it is unthinkable and perceived as dangerous," says the outlet. "Therefore, Christians refusing to participate in Buddhist practices are perceived as foreign and a threat to traditional culture. Witnessing to Buddhist neighbours and family can be a huge challenge, but believers here are boldly living out their faith."


Laos is ranked 24 on Open Doors’ World Watch List of countries where believers face the most persecution and have received the maximum score in the violence category.

China: Christmas-related activities not permitted

Christmas banned by university’s Communists in China

Winter in Shenyang, where a university has banned students from celebrating Christmas

CHINA: A Chinese university has banned Christmas in order to help young people resist the “corrosion of Western religious culture”, reports The Telegraph.

A notice posted online at Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, north-eastern China, said: “some young people are blindly excited by Western holidays, especially religious holidays like Christmas Eve and Christmas Day”.

The notice, posted by the Communist Youth League, said the students’ union and other student associations would not be permitted to hold Christmas-related activities. The ban was put in place to help students develop their own “cultural confidence”.

Christmas is not a national holiday in officially atheist China, and few people understand its traditional meanings or religious roots.

However, according to a recent report in the South China Morning Post, at about 90 million, there could be more Christians than members of the Chinese Communist Party. And in a speech to the Communist Party Congress in October, President Xi Jinping reiterated the importance of Chinese nationalism, saying the government would “uphold the principle that religions in China must be Chinese in orientation, and provide active guidance to religions so that they can adapt themselves to socialist society”.

So in Wenzhou, a city in the wealthy eastern province of Zhejiang, for instance, all Christmas activities in schools and kindergartens have been banned, the British newspaper said.

Zhejiang is known as the ‘Jerusalem’ of the east for its strong Christian presence. In 2013 Zhejiang’s provincial authorities launched the ‘Three rectifications and one demolition’ campaign targeting an increasing number of churches, some illegally built. Over the following two years officials sanctioned the removal of more than 1,000 church crosses.



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Suicide bombers storm church and detonate explosives as congregation worships in Pakistan church attack

Suicide bombers storm Christian church in Pakistan as hundreds of worshippers attended pre-Christmas services

Quetta, Pakistan;  Not one but two suicide bombers have attacked a church in the Pakistani city of Quetta, killing nine people and wounding more than 50.

Sarfraz Bugti, the home minister for the south-western Baluchistan province, said many hundreds of worshippers were attending services at the church before Christmas. He said the attackers clashed with security forces, with one assailant killed at the entrance while the other made it inside.

The Baluchistan police chief, Moazzam Ansari, praised the response of security forces guarding the church, saying the attacker who made it inside was wounded and unable to reach the main building. “Otherwise the loss of lives could have been much higher,” he said.

The Quetta police chief, Abdur Razzaq Cheema, said a search was underway for two suspected accomplices who escaped.

Local television showed ambulances and security patrols racing to the scene while women and children were led out of the church’s main gate.

Islamic State claimed responsibility through its Amaq news agency, saying two “plungers” from the group had stormed the church, without providing further details.

Wasim Baig, a spokesman for Quetta’s main hospital, said three women were among the dead while four women and two children were among 57 wounded.

Aqil Anjum, who was shot in his right arm, said he heard a blast in the middle of the service, followed by heavy gunfire. “It was chaos. Bullets were hitting people inside the closed hall,” he said.

Dozens of Christians gathered outside a nearby hospital to protest at the lack of security.

Pakistan’s president and other senior officials condemned the attack.

“Attack of terrorists on Zarghoon road church in Quetta is condemned. Pakistan’s resolve against terrorism cannot be deterred by these cowardly acts,” Mohammad Faisal, a spokesman for Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs, said.

Baluchistan has long been the scene of an insurgency by separatists fighting against the state to demand more of a share of the gas and mineral-rich region’s resources. They also accuse the central government of discrimination.

No stranger to such attacks

Quetta is the provincial capital of Balochistan province. The city has witnessed recent several attacks in the past two years. This was the fifth attack this year.

In October, eight people including seven policemen were killed in a terrorist attack.


Islamic State or Daesh has claimed responsibility for the attack on social media.


Authorities in Pakistan have expressed their concern over the presence of IS in Afghanistan near Pakistan border. Interior Ministry last month issued directives to security forces to strengthen the security of borders following reports that some IS terrorists had entered Pakistan.

Christians make up about 1.6 percent of Pakistan’s 200 million people and have long faced discrimination - sidelined into low paid jobs and sometimes the target of blasphemy charges.

Along with other religious minorities, the community has also been hit by Islamic militants over the years.

“Attack of terrorists on Zarghoon road church in Quetta is condemned. Pakistan’s resolve against terrorism cannot be deterred by these cowardly acts,” Mohammad Faisal, a spokesman for Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs, said.

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What happened To Lebanon Christians

My 911 Happened To Me in 1975 -Brigette Gabriel

As a 10 year old girl, Brigitte Gabriel did not have to read about radical Islam from a textbook, or through stories. She experienced it. When her native homeland, Lebanon, was bombed by Islamic terrorists, the rubble of her home was around her, along with the sounds and smells that come along with that. After escaping with her life, she later became an American citizen. She thought all of the memories and realities of Radical Islam were long gone. That all came crashing down when the events of September 11th struck terror in the hearts of America. This event was different for her than most. As most Americans had never experienced terrorism at such a level, this brought all of the pain and emotions that Gabriel thought she had left, back to the surface of her own life.

It was the terrorizing events of September 11th that changed Gabriel’s life, in more ways than one. Gabriel was about 10 years old when she experienced the terrorist attacks in Lebanon. At that moment, she asked her father why this was happening. Fast forward a few decades, and she found herself reciting the very same words of her father, when her daughter asked her why the events of September 11th were happening. “Mommy why did they do this to us?” Gabriel continues, “and I found myself looking at my daughter and repeating to her exactly what my daddy told me in Lebanon, 30 years ago. ‘They hate us because they consider us Infidels and they want to kill us because we are Christians.’” It was this very moment that defined in her what she has been called to do in her life, as an American, to be an activist against Radical Islam and to educate Western Civilization about Radical Islam.

It is this very understanding of who Gabriel is, and her background, that emphasizes her authority when speaking about Radical Islam. As noted earlier, her knowledge does not come from books, or writing a thesis, but from personal experience. This was truly demonstrated when she spoke about the history of the ideology of Islam recently at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC. It is no surprise to say that Radical Islam is a national threat today. Gabriel openly addresses this concern by stating, “...what I’m going to do right now is crunch 1,400 years of Islamic history in 5 minutes and make it as exciting as I can possibly make it.”  As she begins speaking, she underlines her speech with the wisdom, “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Often times, the Western Culture has been unaware of the original foundations of Islam. Gabriel continues by explaining how Islam started with the prophet Mohammed and his “revelation.” As Mohammed desired to make this “revelation” known to others, it was made known to only his immediate family and friends. Unsatisfied with the results, Mohammed went to Medina in hopes of a better response to Jews in Medina.  So, he took excerpts from the Old Testament. Gabriel expresses, “This is why you see a lot of similarities between Judaism and Islam. For example, Jews don’t eat pigs. Muslims don’t eat pigs. Jews pray few times a day. Muslims pray few times a day. Jews fast on Yom Kippur. Muslims fast on Ramadan.”

She continues to emphasize how the original spiritual beginnings of Islam took a militant turn, as we are seeing now in the world with ISIS. The response of the Jewish audience didn’t have the response as Mohammed had hoped. When Mohammed was once for them, he was now against the Jews. “That’s when Islam went from a spiritual movement for the first 12 years of Islam into a political movement cloaked in religion.” It was this very reaction that caused Jews and Christians to be viewed as ‘second class citizens’, or “Dhimmi”, in Islamic language.

As the militant movement against the Jews continued under the leadership of Mohammed, he created his own methods of marking those that he was against. “Jews and Christians were given identifiable clothing. The yellow star, which was given to the Jews that most people think, is a German invention. It was actually an Islamic invention, in the 9th Century, in Iraq…” It is this very revealing truth of history that causes one to pay more attention to the mindset -shattering truths that Gabriel offered to all of those who listened. She continued to express the true events of what took place during The Crusades, The history of The Caliphate, the significance of ISIS, the history of Yasser Arafat and why the current peace treaty with Iran regarding their nuclear program MEANS NOTHING TO IRAN.

Be not only educated, but empowered in truth to know how to respond to the events facing our culture today, and so much more. Greg and John shared in this segment. Also shared in this segment: prophet Mohammed, Islam, Medina, military, the yellow star, persecution, Jizyah tax, Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Radical Islam, Germany, The Crusades, Saudi Arabia, Taqiya, Mecca, peace treaties, Yasser Arafat, Oslo Accord, Iran, Nuclear Agreement, Afghanistan, and The United Nations.

Your Testimony - God’s Story in You

You have a story and if your story is God’s story in you, then that story is a testimony and can be a powerful witness for Jesus Christ. Sharing your story requires thought but no special training. “You are an expert on what happened to you!” And you can share your testimony anywhere with anyone and give them the “reason for the hope that is in you.”

You can share about Jesus Christ through your story - what God has done for you, what He is doing, and how you have experienced his grace and goodness in your life.


Here’s a question for you: Are you Ready to share your faith story with others and how God’s story has transformed your story?  please use the contact us form or send an email via businessofchrist@gmail.com


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‘Fairly Serious Error’ Reading of Quran in Church Service

Queen’s Chaplain Steps Down, Calls Reading of Quran in Church Service a ‘Fairly Serious Error’

Rev. Gavin Ashenden

One particular chaplain to the queen resigned right after his criticism with the reading of the Quran within the church service held at St Mary's Episcopal in Glasgow recently.

The Rev. Gavin Ashenden, in a blog published on his website, explained he necessary to resign from his post, that he held for nine years, in order to avoid any confusion that his statements against what occurred in the service were released on behalf of the Queen.

As among the 33 chaplains for the Queen, his behavior could possibly be misinterpreted as representing the monarchy. When deciding on to vacate his post, although being able to freely “speak on behalf of the faith,” he said.

“If I did decide to speak out, really should be integrity and responsibility, I should not do it while I was in possession of the office of ‘Chaplain to the Queen,’” Ashenden wrote. “Because I think it a higher and more compelling duty to convey out on behalf of the faith, than to retain an open honor which precludes me performing this at the moment, I resigned my post,” he continued.

Ashenden got involved with a controversy when he openly criticized the reading of the Quran during a church service at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in celebration of the Feast of Epiphany. As reported by the church, Muslim worshipers were invited and permitted to participate in the service as part of the church's efforts to bolster interfaith relationships.

Having said that, while in the service, passages from the Quran saying Jesus was not the Son of God were read in Arabic, causing many Christians to feel offended that this was allowed at a church service, particularly one which was intended to celebrate the wise men’s visit to Jesus when He was a child as an acknowledgment of Him being God in human form.

 Muslims believe Jesus is a prophet but does not believe He is God.
Ashenden felt compelled to share out up against the Quran reading, that he thought to be “a fairly serious error.”
“To have a reading from the Koran at that point was a fairly serious error for the Christian worshipping community, but to decide on the reading they chose doubled the error,” he told BBC Radio 4 in an interview. "Of all passages you could have read likely to cause offense, that was one of the most problematic.”

In a letter he wrote for The Times, he also demanded that the church apologizes to Christians who are enduring intense persecution from Muslims.

"The challenge with what actually happened in Glasgow was that even though it was presented as a way of building bridges and a way of educating people it was done badly in the wrong way in the wrong place in the wrong context.,” he said. “It must not occur in the Holy Eucharist specifically a Eucharist whose principal purpose is to celebrate Christ the word made flesh come into the world.”
Ashenden said he made a decision to resign after meeting with officials from Buckingham Palace.

The Scottish Episcopal Church released an announcement stating that while developing strong interfaith relationships is one of the commitments of the church to cultivate the work of reconciliation, efforts to do so “must be founded on truth.”

“We approach others with open hearts but we stand in the truth of the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” the Scottish Episcopal Church said. “Those who are looking for to operate in the area of interfaith relationships must consider thoroughly perhaps the choices which they make are suitable or otherwise.”





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