Persecution Watch Weblog

Pastor Zhang “Bike” Mingxuan, known for traveling across China on a bicycle to evangelize, was arrested by Chinese police just two days before the Olympics began. Pastor Bike was the inspiration for the recent partnership between The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association to create the Olympic Prayer Band.

Learn More about the Olympic Prayer Band here

Pastor Asks for Prayer Band

Earlier this year, Pastor Bike pleaded with VOM staff to ask Christians to pray for persecuted Christians in China during the Olympics. The pastor voluntarily preaches the gospel openly in China despite being persecuted. He has asked for his identity to be revealed to bring continued attention to the persecution of Christians in Communist China.

Thanks to Pastor Bike’s inspiration and the commitment of concerned Christians across the United States, more than 800,000 prayer bands have been circulated. On Aug. 6, Pastor Bike was arrested while trying to deliver medicine to his ailing wife. His wife and another pastor were also arrested. We have also learned this week that Chinese officials are opening a full investigation of the Olympic Prayer Bands that were distributed to house church members within China. Despite this increased pressure from Chinese authorities, Chinese Christians continue to ask for prayer and to make their plight known.

Order your Prayer Bands today!

As the Olympics goes on, the harassment of Chinese evangelists continues to increase. Please help remind others to pray for persecuted Christians like Pastor Bike by ordering your prayer bands today!

More about Pastor Bike

Pastor Bike, president of the Chinese House Church Alliance, rode his bike more than 10,000 miles, visiting 24 Chinese provinces to introduce nonbelievers to Jesus Christ. Armed with a Bible and his business card, which declared “Believe in Jesus, Earn Eternal Life,” Pastor Bike brought the gospel to thousands of people. He and other Chinese evangelists have been repeatedly harassed by Chinese officials during this Olympic year. Please pray for the release of Pastor Bike and his wife.

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Philippines (MNN) —- Communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels have executed a church pastor in the Mindanao area after falsely accusing him of aiding soldiers in an anti-insurgency campaign.

Adele Konyndyk with Voice of the Martyrs Canada says unfortunately this trend appears likely to continue. “The reason that church leaders are in the positions of being threatened is because usually they’re in places where they are advocating change. It’s Islamic leaders focusing their attacks on Christian leaders.”

According to the ministry, the murdered pastor, 45-year-old Josefino Estaniel, who had been kidnapped in May, had been subjected to torture during his captivity. Militant Muslim groups in the southern part of the country are intent on forming an Islamic state, and persecution of Christians is increasingly common.

Though the Filipino people predominantly profess Christianity, those Christians living in areas with significant influence from Muslim and Communist guerrilla organizations have faced threats, kidnapping and death.

Keep praying for those who are taking the hope of Christ into the region. Pray for the family of Pastor Estaniel during this time of grief. Pray also for the safety of other church leaders in the region.

Konyndyk says, “Pray that they will be bold and be strong. Be thankful that we have seen in these situations, where even in these climates of threat and of violence, that leaders have actually become bolder and stood up and recognized the need for strong church leaders in these kinds of environments.”

India (MNN) —- The four Gospel for Asia missionaries that were thrown in jail after being attacked by a mob of anti-Christian extremists have officially been granted bail. However, there are several obstacles that must be conquered before the believers can be released.

Missionaries Yohan Samuel, Raj Lohra, Nanji Bir and Shobha Joshi were arrested and charged with attempting to force people to convert to Christianity and with “offending the sentiments of the people.” The men will remain under lockdown until the judge returns from vacation to approve their release.

On Tuesday, after several days of negotiations, the judge issued the bail order. However, some unusual conditions applied. They were as follows:

– Post bail money.

– Five local landowners with extensive holdings must sign off on their release.

– A certified local government official must sign off on their release.

While GFA leaders were able to meet the requirements, the judge won’t return from vacation until at least August 8.

The missionaries, three of which are Bible college students doing their internship, were attacked during a prayer meeting at Yohan’s residence around 9 p.m. on July 31. A mob of approximately 700 people showed up and began harassing them, and after being brutally beaten, the believers were thrown in jail.

One of the missionaries said to a GFA leader who visited them: “We are so happy that God protected us. We are rejoicing here with the Lord. But pray for our bodies; we were beaten quite badly. Please pray that we would receive healing.”

GFA leaders who appealed on behalf of the missionaries arrived in the town the day after the arrests, only to find heavy opposition. The anti-Christian extremists responsible for the attack had organized protest rallies and called for a local strike, which could cripple any government and business work. They also threatened local lawyers to discourage them from taking on the missionaries’ case.

Although GFA leaders did manage to find legal representation, anti-Christians have been working against them since the beginning of the case. Lawyers weren’t able to meet with the judge until the missionaries had been in jail for a few days.

China (MNN) —- 8.8.08 signals the start of the long-awaited 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with the elaborate opening ceremonies.

The Chinese consider eight a lucky number because in Cantonese it sounds like the word for “get rich” or “prosper.”

Many Chinese will celebrate Aug. 8, 2008 as one the most important dates in Chinese history — the launching of a prestigious event for the entire world to see the “new, open China.”

Johnny Li with Open Doors agrees. “China is more open. I think it’s the best religious freedom improvement in the last few hundreds of years. And, I think the believer in China is practicing more religious freedom than before. That’s not to say we’re perfect. We still have a lot of room to grow.”

Li is hoping that once the Olympics are completed, even more openness will be seen.

But many Christians are hardly “lucky” this year. The fact is that many Christians have suffered even harsher persecution by the Chinese government due to the glare of the Olympic spotlight. Li says, “They [are] on the run because of the Olympic Games. The government did not like them in Beijing or some of the cities where [some of the events are being held]. And they were afraid they would meet with the media and say something they wouldn’t like.”

As a result, many have been thrown into prison or transported to areas far away from Beijing and the Games venues. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reported last week that nearly 700 Protestant leaders who are not registered with the government have been placed in custody in the past year.

Those prisoners include Shi Weihan, who was re-arrested earlier this year for publishing Bibles and Christian literature. Shi ran a Christian bookstore, a printing press and travel agency. The bookstore is located near the Olympic Village. Weihan’s health has deteriorated since his imprisonment as a result of poor prison conditions and the refusal of prison officials to give him medicine for his diabetes, according to China Aid Association. CAA recently reported Shi was coerced to sign and recognize a confession convicting him of “engaging in the printing and distribution of a large number of illegal publications.”

“Unfortunately, there has been a crackdown on house church leaders in wake of the start of the Olympics,” states Open Doors USA President/CEO Carl Moeller. “Please join me in praying for all those in prison. It’s a travesty that hundreds of Christians sit in prisons while the Chinese government pats itself on the back for its hosting of the Games.”

The crackdown has had an effect on outreach efforts by house church leaders, says Li. “Most of them are more quiet, particularly [those] in cities where Olympic [events are being held]. Many of them were warned by the authorities not to do anything until after the Olympic Games.”

That doesn’t mean the church is sleeping. “They’re more focused in prayer. They’re more focused on one-to-one evangelism–particularly the government church because ‘religious freedom’ does not allow anyone to go out to the street. You have religious freedom inside the church, not outside the church.”

Open Doors is urging Christians in the United States to e-mail Chinese Ambassador to the United States Zhou Whenzong to express concern over the status of believers, especially Shi, including his lack of access to medical care and medicines, adequate clothing, visitation rights for his family, and a fair and prompt trial. To send an e-mail and for more information, go to www.OpenDoorsUSA.org.

Open Doors is looking for prayer warriors to host a special prayer event in their church or small group during the Games Aug. 8-24. Open Doors is offering resources in the “Get-Set-Pray” kit. The materials can be downloaded from the Open Doors web site.

Please pray especially for the meeting between President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao this weekend in Beijing. President Bush will bring up concerns over China’s poor human rights record.

An estimated 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with more millions facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the world’s most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers.

India (MNN) — A mob of anti-Christian extremists attacked and brutally beat a Gospel for Asia missionary and three GFA Bible college students in Karnataka, India. The group of four was then taken to a local police station, where physical and mental torture continued throughout the night.

The three students, Raj Lohra, Nanji Bir and Shobha Joshi, and their leader Yohan Samuel, were attacked during a field internship last week. Approximately 700 people made up the mob, and the attack occurred around 9 p.m. The extremists are said to have the active support of local officials and political parties.

The believers were charged with attempting to force people to convert to Christianity and with “offending the sentiments of the people.” Lohra, Bir, Joshi, and Samuel are being held without bail. A GFA leader headed to the city where the men are being held and will attempt to bail them out of jail.

The story was picked up by the local media, and the reports were mostly supportive of the extremists. It was also reported that a large mob was provoked by the extremists to plan a protest rally against the Christians. Threats were also made against a team of women GFA missionaries working in a nearby area, but the women were able to move to a safer place before the mob could find them.

GFA mission leaders in Karnataka admit that the situation looks grim for these brothers in Christ.

Greece (MNN) — A missionary charged with proselytism was acquitted this summer, AMG International reports. In Greece, proselytizing in public is illegal.

Dr. Argyris Petrou was attending a youth outreach event in 2004 when the incident occurred, said Patrick Ragan, Coordinator of Missionary Personnel for AMG.

“He took ownership, took responsibility for what was going on because it was a bunch of young people who were doing this as an outreach of the local church,” Ragan said. “Someone made a scene that they were handing out…the Gospel of Luke, and they realized that these were evangelicals. And an adult accused them of doing proselytism, and that’s illegal. So that is why Dr. Petrou was singled out.”

Initially, Petrou was taken to the police station. After a couple of hours, he was released and told that the court would get back with him, which didn’t happen for four years. He received the notification for his trial date at the beginning of the summer of 2008.

“Some of the legal things like this are being relaxed a little bit,” Ragan said, perhaps because Greece joined the European Union. “And yet, it still is on the books that it is illegal to proselytize.”

However, not all evangelism is automatically illegal. The judge followed a “very strict interpretation of the law,” acquitting Petrou because the outreach event was very open and not covert or coercive.

“Even though they were sharing the gospel, it wasn’t forced, and it wasn’t coerced in any way. It wasn’t taking advantage of people who might not understand what it is they were receiving,” Ragan explained.

“In fact, what was being given out was a Gospel of Luke with a letter that explained who they were with–the church, one of the largest churches evangelical churches in Greece. And so because of their transparency, the judge ruled in Dr. Petrou’s favor.”

Evangelicals form a very small minority of the Greek population: less than .2 percent. Only about 30,000 of Greece’s 11 million people are followers of Christ.

The Orthodox church plays an extremely prominent role in Greek culture, so much so that to be born in Greece virtually means to be born Orthodox. As a result, evangelism in the country requires a lot of patience for building relationships.

“When you’re part of that church, it really is part of who you are, part of your identity,” Ragan explained. “Just because of the nature of the church and the power it holds over the people, and even the blindness of not truly understanding saving faith, it is a difficult soil; it is a hard ground to work.”

That’s part of the reason why AMG sponsors national missionaries in the country. National missionaries understand what is and is not acceptable in their culture.

“They know their people; they love their people,” Ragan said. “They’re effective because they know best how to reach their people.”

He believes the outcome of this summer’s court case is an encouragement to the evangelical church in Greece.

“Dr. Petrou has been part of the evangelical community for years,” Ragan said. “He really is seen as one of the leaders of the evangelical community. He’s written many books. He’s been involved with the director of a publishing company. He’s well known in the community. I’m sure that this case was well-publicized within the community of believers there, and that most people were very encouraged by the outcome.”

Dr. Petrou is now serving as a full-time missionary, teaching at the Greek Bible Institute. With the value of the dollar falling against the euro, he has not yet been able to raise all of his support.

“That’s one of the sacrifices this family has made to serve the Lord and to obey God, to help train young people the next generation,” Ragan said. Although Greece doesn’t get as much attention as many other parts of the world, it is still an important and strategic part of the mission field.

“AMG began in Greece over 65 years ago, and it is a very needy mission field,” Ragan said. “It’s kind of in the center of the world, if you look at a map. And Greece is a very strategic place to promote missions, to see what God’s doing around the world, to be actively involved in it.”

Azerbaijan (MNN) — A Baptist pastor remains jailed today despite not being convicted. According to Forum 18 News, the judge in the criminal trial of Baptist pastor Hamid Shabanov has not yet convicted him.

Defense attorney Mirman Aliev called for Shabanov to be acquitted, for an end to the criminal case and for him to be freed. However, the judge was afraid to grant these requests and instead sent the case back for further investigation.

Aliev says the judge ordered the re-investigation to be complete by 23 August and be ready for a new trial.

Pastor Shabonov was arrested and charged with having an illegal weapon. Shabanov’s congregation and his family insist that the Nagan pistol a Prosecutor’s Office official claims to have found, during the 20 June house search, was planted. Shabanov was arrested immediately after the alleged discovery.

After the trial, Zakatala Deputy Police Chief Kamandar Hasanov accused the head of the Baptist Union, Ilya Zenchenko, of being “an English spy who acts only for money.” Hasanov claimed that there is “a special instruction not to allow Baptists to function in Zakatala District.”

Defense lawyer Aliev complained of “numerous, gross violations of procedure” including forged documents, with alleged interrogations of Shabanov on days when no interrogations took place.

Police have also wrongly claimed that copies of the Bible in Azeri and Georgian are “illegal.”

Pray that God will soften the hearts of those involved with the case. Pray that Shabanov’s testimony will be what God uses to draw them to Himself. In the meantime, also pray that God would grant boldness to the rest of the congregation.