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If they're caught, they'll be crammed into makeshift prisons built from shipping containers that are blazing hot during the day and frigid during the night. (Public Domain)
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Homes. Graveyards. Shipping Containers.
These are the meeting places of the Eritrean church. Over 100 believers have been arrested in Eritrea during the last month, but Greg Musselman of Voice of the Martyrs Canada says the recent crackdown is nothing new for the nation.
Fifteen years ago, the evangelical Church in Eritrea was growing. "The government was very paranoid and they saw evangelical Christianity as destabilizing the country," said Musselman. "They thought the church would bring an American agenda to Eritrea and cause all sorts of problems."
The Eritrean government had a close relationship with the Orthodox Church, and the number of Christians leaving the Orthodox Church to join evangelicals was starting to grow too quickly. New laws were passed. Lutheran, Catholic and Orthodox churches were allowed to remain, and Islam remained virtually untouched, but evangelical churches were shut down and forced to register.
But that's easier said than done, since much of the persecution against evangelicals hasn't been officially viewed as cracking down on the church. "They'd say, 'It's more for political reasons, it's not for religion.'"
"Christians started to meet in homes, but the government got wise to that and began arresting the evangelicals in church homes," Musselman said. "They'd go to an evangelical wedding and arrest the bride and groom, and at one point, there were thousands of Christians in shipping containers and military prisons all over the country."
When even the leader of the Orthodox Church spoke out against the new, harsher persecution, he was removed from his position. Musselman said Christians and even non-believers began to leave the country "due to the oppressive nature of the government."
Now, the intensity of persecution is picking up again. Christians are forced meet in pairs or small groups in homes, cemeteries and other locations hidden from the government's eye. If they're caught, they'll be crammed into makeshift prisons built from shipping containers that are blazing hot during the day and frigid during the night. Many believers are forced into physical labor until they renounce their faith, and some prisoners who have refused to give up on God have been imprisoned since the crackdown began 15 years ago.
But that doesn't mean they're giving up. "Even in the midst of the persecution, the shutting down of the visible evangelical church, the church is still growing, and people are still coming to know the Lord."
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According to the article, the charge was based on an event that took place months ago when a woman with a mental illness visited the church, looking for help. After she was prayed over, she left. (keso s/Flickr/CC)
Christians Land in Jail on Accusations of Practicing Witchcraft
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It's not often in our modern world that people are criminally prosecuted under the charge of witchcraft. But it happened recently in Nepal, according to a report from World Watch Monitor. Five Christians in Nepal were charged with witchcraft and violence. Four were convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
According to the article, the charge was based on an event that took place months ago when a woman with a mental illness visited the church, looking for help. After she was prayed over, she left.
This comes just after another court case involving eight Christians was dropped. They were charged under Nepal's new anti-proselytizing law.
Despite the fact that Nepal is a secular state, the status of religious freedom isn't cut and dry. The anti-proselytizing law is the first clue. But, as we can see from this most recent story, when that law doesn't apply, other ways can be found to persecute Christians.
Dyann Romeijn of Vision Beyond Borders says much of the tension has to do with a growing Hindu-nationalist sentiment, influenced by India. Even though it's legal to be a Christian, and it's legal even to leave another religion to become a Christian, it is frowned upon.
Romeijn says, "I think that's what they're trying to do is silence that Christian voice. [If] people can't hear, then they have no opportunity to know the truth."
Regardless of the motive of behind the law or false accusations targeting Christians, the foundation of these situations is always the same thing.
"I think overall, it comes down to the same thing we see around the world, is that it's a spiritual persecution, that a lot of times they're not as worried about cultural differences when they come in different ways, but when it comes in with the truth of the gospel, I just think we see everything rise up against that."
But, she points out, there have been moments in history where Christianity was more welcomed in this country.
After the earthquake in 2015, Christian organizations were able to reach out and meet the many physical needs that arose. It's in these types of situations that people better recognize their spiritual needs as well. The impact of that time is still going on today. It's hard to know just how big the Christian population is.
"There is a lot of growth in Christianity taking place in these countries, and I do believe we'll see an uptick in those numbers. Sometimes it's difficult for people to claim to be Christians in countries like this in regular reporting because it puts them at greater risk," she says.
Reacting to changing environments
Vision Beyond Borders works in several countries—each with its own level of religious freedoms. These situations can change rapidly, so they work closely with their contacts to best meet the needs at any given time.
"What we try to do is put them at as little risk as possible. So, whatever help it is they're looking for at that time and the ways it's most helpful, whether it be Scriptures, whether it be supporting financially the work or bringing teams over to help with projects and Bible schools and things like that."
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We've kept you updated on the situation in Fallujah, Iraq, the town under ISIS control that was recently reclaimed by Iraqi troops. Thousands of people from Fallujah had fled to a nearby refugee town dubbed the City of Refuge.
Frontiers USA tells us in the last 18 months, through the work of indigenous missionaries, over 140 of those people in the City of Refuge have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.
As Iraqi forces now work to secure Fallujah and resume public sanitation, Frontiers' President Bob Blincoe says some of these new Christians want to go back to their homes and share the hope they've found through Christ for the first time in Fallujah!
"They are attracted to go home because that is the place they knew as where they lived their lives. And there's no future for them in the refugee tents in the City of Refuge. But now they have a mission, and they feel jubilant in the Lord. They have been baptized, most of these groups that they're working with have been baptized, which is the real step of faith in the Muslim world."
What is it about the gospel message that strikes such a chord with Muslim refugees?
Blincoe shares, "For the first time, there are enough Muslims who have come to faith to actually do the kind of surveying to understand from their perspective what was the attractive thing about the gospel. More than any other answer, they refer to Jesus' words, 'Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. Learn of me, I will give you rest for your souls, for I am meek and humble.' This way of the Lord, this unexpected hope for miserable people, for desperate people, is the No. 1 reason."
The possibility for a growing and flourishing Church in Fallujah and the City of Refuge is having a domino effect. What started as a handful of local missionaries sharing Christ with their neighbors in the City of Refuge now has those new believers turning and doing the same with their family and friends as well.
"This is driven by Muslims who have come to faith themselves, which is the thing that of course must happen. ... Frontiers works directly with the leaders of this movement. There are five or six essential church-starters, all of them from a Muslim background. So we don't know hardly any of the people that have come to faith. We only know the people that are making disciples, which is really how it should be," says Blincoe.
"We have to set in place the kind of disciple making that does not depend on the missionaries for the extension and the creation of new groups. We have to set in place the idea that once you come to faith, you are born again to make other people come to faith as well."
Testimony From Fallujah Refugees
Blincoe shares one of the testimonies of a new family of believers who escaped Fallujah:
"In Kurdistan, Iraq where many refugees have fled to for safety, I heard one story that tells the whole story, and that's about Layla and her husband and children who fled on foot from ISIS in the city of Fallujah.
"They fled on foot, losing ground to the upcoming cloud of the enemy cars and trucks heading their way when, to their great surprise, a pickup truck slowed down and stopped and [the driver] said, 'Get in the back.' They scrambled into the pickup truck and off they zoomed to the nearby city, which we call the City of Refuge where we are working.
"Once they were safe and in a blue tarp tent on the edge of town like thousands of other refugees, they closed the chapter on their lives [and] couldn't go back for now. [They] lost everything but the shoes on their feet and the clothes on their back.
"Then God gave this woman, Layla, this vision of a man who would tell her about Jesus. That happens, I'm not going to say 'often,' but it's often the entry into people hearing from the Lord. That fellow ... was distributing goods and he came to her house the next day and offered to open up the Bible with them.
"This was not a single occurrence, but over several weeks of reading the Bible, the death and resurrection of Christ is finally what caused them to accept the message of the Lord and soften their hearts.
"So over a year ago, they came to faith and since that time they have started a whole network of about 20 groups of Muslim-background believers, mainly families, who are now studying the Word of the Lord through them, through these Muslims who have come to faith. And what she says is, 'God has now given us the pickup truck.' That is, we were saved by others, now He's given us the chance to save others.
"In fact, she is planning to go back to their city of Fallujah, a city that no westerners could possibly show up in, and bring the hope of Jesus Christ to that war-torn city."
The Soul of Iraq
Looking ahead, the church in Iraq is poised for something big. The harvest is so ready, and individuals and families are hungry for a deep and satisfying spiritual hope that can be found only through God's Holy Spirit and His Word.
"Now the real contest for the soul of Iraq begins," says Blincoe.
"We have a sense that we are on the frontlines of the free world. That everything depends on winning the people that have been displaced by ISIS, them going back to their homes, and winning those parts of Iraq where no missionaries can set foot.
"So pray for the extension of the gospel into these places, to the Fallujahs of Iraq, and that would be the beginning of what our children may very well say was, 'When did this all begin? The conversion of the Muslim peoples of Iraq?' We may be seeing it in our time."
It's time for believers and churches all over the world to answer God's call to make disciples of all nations, and to respond to the deep needs for the gospel within the 10/40 window.
One of the best ways you can help is by equipping and supporting the local missionaries in Middle Eastern countries like Iraq to spread God's message to their own hometowns and communities. Frontiers USA is doing just that.
"We can help churches get to the frontlines where there are no campfires, no pushpins, to use that analogy, and start original work among Muslims who are prepared by God through what the Bible calls the man of peace, the person of peace, who God has prepared—as it seems that God has prepared Layla and her husband," challenges Blincoe.
"There are more like that out there still beyond the reach of any missionary. Let's go to those places."
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Hundreds of Nepalese Christians died as their churches crashed down upon them when last week's devastating earthquake hit during their weekly worship services.
In Nepal, Christians worship on Saturday because it's a day off, while Sunday is a work day. Most services last until 12:30 in the afternoon meaning most were still in service when the quake hit at 11:56 AM.
"Many Christians were buried while they were worshiping on Sabbath and died," the president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nepal, Umesh Pokharel said, according to an article by Christianity Today. (The article cited several sources, including: Adventist Review, AsiaNews, Global Mission Nepal, the Brethren in Christ Church, Mission Network News, the Assemblies of God, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Christian Aid, and the Nepal Church of Christ.)
The CT article cites a Facebook post by a Brethren in Christ Church worker: "Although unclear some have reported 100 believers in a church in Kathmandu were worshipping on the 7th floor rented building was completely collapsed, some 40 bodies were taken out whereas others still missing."
About 80 people died when the Nepali Evangelical Church in Kapan oustide Kathmandu collapsed.
Seventeen bodies were discovered in the rubble of a rural church that was struck just as the service was ending, according to the IMB. The pastor reporteldy lost three family members in the tragedy.
Assemblies of God World Missions reports that three of its churches are totally destroyed and several lives lost.
Christian Aid said several churches had just let out ahead of the quake, including one in Kathmandu.
"Ten minutes earlier and everyone would still have been inside," said Christian Aid's South Asia director. "There would have certainly been many injuries, if not deaths."
Overall, approximately 500 Christians are feared dead.
Islam Posts Rapid Growth in US—Are Christians Ready?
The Crescent Project is helping Christians learn how to reach out to Muslims. (Facebook)
According to the United States Census Bureau, the number of mosques in the U.S. soared 74 percent between 2000 and 2010. The report also found there are now 2.6 million Muslims living in the U.S.—an increase of 66 percent.
What are Christians doing to reach out to them? According to the Crescent Project, they're not doing enough.
Fouad Masri, founder and president of the Crescent Project, says Christians need to listen to Jesus.
"Jesus says, 'You are the light of the world,'" Masri says. "Jesus is asking us to shine our light. Today, more than ever, Muslims see that they are in darkness. Muslims, for the first time, are asking questions."
Unfortunately, Christians don't know how to be a light to Muslims today. Masri says that's why the Crescent Project is holding its Oasis Conference in the Dallas area next week.
"We're asking Christians to come to the conference," he says. "Join us in praying for Muslims. Join us and learn how to share the gospel with Muslims."
According to Masri, you probably have Muslims in your hometown.
"It could be someone who's a student, an immigrant, somebody who's a refugee," he says. "We're asking Christians to lock arms with us and [share] this beautiful message about Jesus with our Muslim neighbors."
The Oasis Conference is being held at 121 Community Church in Grapevine, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Masri says the training is highly effective.
"Three out of four [people] who come to our training have never shared the gospel with Muslims," he says. "However, after they go through the training, 74 percent of them get involved in reaching Muslims."
The training does even more than that.
"Four out of five [alumni] become mobilizers," Masri says. "They start talking to churches [and] friends about the issues of Islam in America, about the issues of Islam overseas and about how to build bridges with Muslims."
According to Masri, because many Muslims are searching for truth, many are surprised when they hear Jesus is still alive. He references two Afghan women who watched the story of Jesus on video and began to cry. Was it because of the crucifixion scene?
Masri explains, "They said, 'No. We're crying because Jesus rose from the dead, and nobody has told us for 2,000 years. For 2,000 years, we never heard that the end of the story was resurrection.'"
