Stealing sacred books

Following the recent Mission Fest here in Toronto, we couldn’t account for some of our books when we were doing inventory.  Apparently someone walked off with a few of our books without paying.

Rather than being upset, my own reaction was one of indifference.  Personally, if someone wants one of our books so badly that they would steal it, I’m just happy that they have it.  Maybe God will speak to them through it and help put them on the right path. 

The same would be my feeling towards pew Bibles at church.  If I were a pastor, I probably wouldn’t be too upset if someone walked off with one after a Sunday morning service, especially if he or she were not a Christian. My prayer would be that God would use the stolen scripture to lead them to repentance and faith in Christ.  I suspect many pastors would feel that way.

Now, contrast this with the recent report out of Abuja, Nigeria where a middle-aged Christian man was sentenced to 60 days imprisonment or a fine of $16.00 for trespassing and attempting to steal a copy of the Qur’an from a mosque in late April.

If this fellow was sincerely interested in reading the Qur’an, I would have thought that the local Muslim leaders would be glad to let him have a copy.  Guess not.  I only wish that all Muslims made showing an interest in Islam so difficult!

Destruction of Bibles reflects poorly on U.S. military

The destruction of Bibles sent to a U.S. soldier based in Afghanistan because of their possible use to evangelize the local Afghan people “sets a very bad picture of the U.S. military's perspective on Christianity, and frankly that troubles me” says President of Open Doors USA Carl Moeller in a recent interview with Mission Network News. "Had this been six or seven copies of the Koran that were destroyed, there would be no end to the amount of protest you would hear."

Moeller noted that the Bibles didn't need to be destroyed. "There's certainly many organizations that could put them to good use. Any time you see a Bible destroyed, it really should shake the core of every Christian to realize that this is the kind of desecration that can happen to God's Word." [to read or listen to the entire interview, click here].

Malaysia’s precarious balancing act

Yesterday I read a most interesting blog on Reuters on the confusing balancing act that Malaysia’s government is trying to perform as it seeks to ensure religious freedoms for its sizeable Christian, Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist minorities without, at the same time, offending the sensibilities of its majority Muslim population.  The present government wants to portray itself as reformist by dismantling some of the privileges that were guaranteed to Muslims while at very time when Malay Muslims have taken a more activist approach to the changing religious climate in their country.  All in all, this is a country that definitely needs our prayers. 

To learn more about Malaysia, go to our website for our latest country report or do a search on Malaysia.

How involved is the U.S. military in evangelism in Afghanistan?

To help you to get more information on the recent reports of U.S. soldiers being involved in evangelism in Afghanistan, check out these reports from Democracy Now and Travel the Road.  Please note that VOMC does not endorse the comments made in these (or any other non-VOMC) reports but they are helpful to get a broader perspective on this issue. 

It seems rather obvious that U.S. troops are involved in evangelism in Afghanistan. Among the questions to be answered is, is this inappropriate, in principle or is the problem in methodology (the way in which the gospel is being shared)?  Perhaps there is no problem in your opinion. Or perhaps you think that Christians soldiers have no business sharing the gospel at all. Is this really a U.S. constitutional issue, as presented in this program? If so, how?  We welcome your comments. Please note our comments policy, however.

U.S. military destroys Afghan Bibles

Yesterday, Qatar-based Al Jazeera television showed soldiers at a Bible study on a base in Afghanistan with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages.

Today, the U.S. military denied that its soldiers had tried to convert Afghans to Christianity and that the Bibles sent to a U.S. soldier had been confiscated and destroyed to ensure that troops did not breach regulations which forbid trying to convert people to another religion.

My question is, did these soldiers act improperly? If you listen carefully to the video, you recognize that these men were aware of their orders and were trying to follow them and their Lord. Is this not similar to the dilemma that Christians who serve in the police and military from the first century onwards have often faced when their orders conflict with their faith?  Was the military correct in destroying these Bibles?  Please give us your comments.  Please note our comments policy, however.

Pass it on

On occasion I look through the archives of some of our mission’s newsletters dating back to the late 1960’s. I am often struck by how important it was to Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand that those who were aware of the persecution of Christians tell others. In an August 1967 letter sent to supporters just prior to the first newsletter published in October, Richard closed with the words, “We thank all those who support our work and ask them to recruit new friends for it.” Early newsletter invariably had the words printed along the margins or at the bottom for all to read, “Read and pass it on.” In fact, if you look at the back page of our newsletter today, you will see that we continue this tradition by encouraging you to pass this newsletter on to one of your friends.

You see, we know that the best representatives of The Voice of the Martyrs are you, our readers and supporters. If you receive The Voice of the Martyrs Newsletter, you can have a vital part in this ministry by encouraging others to receive our monthly magazine. The Voice of the Martyrs Newsletter remains the only monthly magazine in Canada that specifically focuses on the testimonies and courage of today’s Persecuted Church. It is unique.

So pass it on. Tell others. Make use of our Tell a Friend page on our website and have us send a free subscription to someone whom you think would benefit from receiving it. Be a voice for the martyrs!

Pakistani police accused of inaction in finding those responsible for gang-rape and killing of 9-year-old Christian girl

Every now and then, even after almost 12 years of working with persecuted Christians and reading or hearing about almost every atrocity imaginable being committed against my Christian brothers and sisters, I still get a report that manages to shock and anger me.  This is the story that did it for me today.

The Christian Post

Pakistani Christian Girl Raped and Murdered

Sat, May. 02, 2009 Posted: 11:12 AM EDT

John Pontifex
Christian Today Reporter

A nine-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan was reportedly gang-raped before being killed and dumped in a canal. And outrage is growing amid reports that almost a month later no arrest has been made.

Nisha Javid was walking close to her home when she suddenly disappeared, prompting her parents to mount a search for her.

Barely two days later, with a police-led search underway, her body was found in a canal not far from the Javids’ home in Essangri village, outside the town of Jaranawala, Faisalabad.

A post mortem revealed Nisha had been gang-raped and had died after repeated blows to the head.

More than three weeks later, police have been accused of inaction and refusing to follow up allegedly compelling evidence identifying the guilty party.

Fr. Yaqub Masih, parish priest of Jaranwala, said, “People here are very sad – especially the family.”

He explained that Nisha’s mother is “ill with grief” and that her father is unable to work and is devoting every hour to win justice for his daughter’s death, working with police and lawyers.

Masih underlined the impact of the attacks on other Christians.

"If nothing is done about this, where can our children go to feel safe? Everyone feels very insecure and very afraid," he said.

The crime took place on April 9 – Maundy Thursday in Holy Week – and Christians believe the attack was intended as an insult to their faith.

"Our people are very poor and they have no status in society," said Masih. "What can they do to protect themselves?"

He reported that the police have been publicly accused of corruption and failing to intensify their inquiries.

"The police action has been very slow," he noted. "And that has made the people here feel even more powerless."

His comments come amid an upsurge of anti-Christian violence and intimidation in Pakistan.

Nisha’s death follows a narrowly-averted attack on Christians in Jaranawala, prompted by accusations that a man had allegedly damaged a banner containing words from the Koran, thereby breaking Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws.

Also this month in the southern city of Karachi, four people, including an 11-year-old boy, were injured in attacks on Christians that took place on April 22.

Please remember the family of this girl in your prayers.  Even as a father, I can only imagine how they feel.

Egypt pig cull sparks protests by Egyptian Christian farmers

Stooping to serve the Lord

All week I’ve been meaning to write about this but other more urgent things seemed to keep crowding it out and so I thought that this morning might be a good time to get my thoughts down on a subject that is rather close to my heart.

Recently I have reading through Nehemiah for my morning devotions. On one particular day, I had come to Nehemiah 3. Looking at it, I sarcastically said to myself, “Oh great.  Another list of names, this time of those who were working on rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. This should be really edifying.”  In fact, I recall saying something to that effect to my wife who was sitting on a nearby sofa.

And so I plunged in, not really expecting to get much out of that morning’s reading, when I came to verse 5.

And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.

How often I have seen this attitude expressed by leaders, one that sends out the message, “This task is beneath me.” 

I still remember setting up for the first VOMC conference that I ever helped plan back in 1998.  I was unloading and carrying boxes of books into the conference hall when one of our guest speakers looked at me and said, “What are you doing carrying this stuff?  Leave it for someone else.  Your time is too important for this kind of work.” 

And true to form, he didn’t lift a finger to help us either.  He would not stoop to serve his Lord in this way.  I’m still trying to figure out who he thought would do it.  There were only four of us on staff at the time - the director, his wife, our receptionist, and me.  Did he expect the women to do it??

The same attitude came out a couple of years later when I travelled with him to Sudan where he rebuked me for helping to unload the airplane when we landed in a remote area with relief aid. We needed to hurry and offload the plane so that the pilots could take off before the Sudanese government realized that we were there and possibly intercept the plane. As I jumped was busy handing boxes out of the plane, his attitude was “Leave it to the natives!” meaning the Sudanese Christians who had come to help carry the supplies from the airstrip to the nearby village.

Maybe, it’s part of my growing up as a farm boy in Alberta where if there was work to be done, you did pitched in and did it.  But I like to think that it is also God’s work in my life in developing a servant attitude; one that I am convinced is called for in the life of a Christian leader.  Look how often God calls His key leader servants:

• Abraham (Gen. 26:24)
• Moses (Ex. 14:31)
• Caleb (Num. 14:24)
• Elijah (2 Kings 9:36)
• Isaiah (Is. 20:3)
• Paul (Rom. 1:1)
• Peter (2 Pet. 1:1)
• Jude (Jude 1:1)

Jesus is seen in Scripture as God’s Suffering Servant, set forth as a model which we are to emulate (Phil. 2:7). Servanthood requires stooping.

What a contrast is seen a few verses later in Nehemiah 3:12.

Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters.

Whereas the Tekoite nobles would not stoop to serve the Lord, here was the ruler of half of the Jerusalem district diligently working away with his daughters. If any man had an excuse not to stoop to such manual labour, Shallum did.  He was an important man who had no sons to help him; only daughters.  But the task of securing Jerusalem’s people against their enemies was reason enough for him to get his hands dirty and to recruit whatever help he could muster.

This is the kind of leadership God’s people need to see more of today!

Swine flu merely an excuse to wipe out pigs owned by Christian farmers

The government ordered killing of hundreds of thousands of pigs in Egypt in the name of preventing the spread of swine flue is merely an excuse for wiping out an unpopular industry that provides a livelihood to many Egyptian Christians. The pig is an impure animal in Islam. Hence, they have always been unpopular with the public and many Egyptian TV programmes are saying this is the prime opportunity to get rid of the pig in Egypt. The opposition Muslim Brotherhood is also putting pressure on the government to carry out this cull, which the World Health Organization says in entirely unnecessary.   As this report by Radio France International points out, this cull will inevitably provide tremendous hardship to Egyptian Christians. 

This is NOT freedom of expression. A response to the International Islamic Fiqh Academy

The Orwellian use of language by the International Islamic Fiqh Academy in their most recent communiqué is almost breathtaking.

For those who are wondering who I am talking about, the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) is an offshoot of the Jeddah-based Organization of the Islamic Conference. The IIFA is a body consisting of scholars and jurists of the Muslim world that focus on issues presented by the contemporary world and propose Islamic answer to those problems.

In this year’s meeting, the issue of freedom of religion and freedom of expression were key issues.  In a communiqué released at the conclusion of its international five-day conference on Islamic jurisprudence in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on Thursday, IIFA recommended that Muslim countries enact laws that allow freedom of expression and not to exploit freedom to malign Islam and its sacred symbols or cause chaos in society. 

Note the use of the word allow.  True rights are not allowed.  They are recognized and acknowledged. No one can give you rights and no one can take them away.  True rights are inherent; you are are born with them simply because you are human.

According to Arab News, the IIFA communiqué defined freedom of expression as the expression of views on personal or public matters that are beneficial to society and the person communicating the views. “Freedom of expression is a protected right in Islam to be practiced within certain legal restraints,” the statement said. These legal restraints were defined as not abusing the dignity of others, adherence to truth and objectivity, and not being irresponsible. The communiqué further urged Muslim countries to strive to persuade other countries to make laws to protect sacred religious symbols of Islam and stop distorting them in the name of freedom.

This is not freedom of expression. This is a call to suppress all expression that disturbs the Umma (the Islamic community or nation).  The only freedom “allowed” by the IIFA is the freedom to be a Muslim, to speak favourably about Islam, to promote Islam or, alternatively, to shut up and say nothing at all.  Again, this is not freedom; this is Newspeak with an Islamic spin where inherent rights are allowed privileges, the suppression of rights is called the protection of rights, and where the expression of one’s ideas can only be legitimate if it agrees with what the Islamic society believes.

A volunteer for the service of the Lord

Last March I was reading through the Old Testament book of 2 Chronicles for my personal devotions and I happened upon an interesting passage in chapter 17 concerning the godly king Jehoshaphat.

And Jehoshaphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store cities, and he had large supplies in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. This was the muster of them by fathers' houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with 300,000 mighty men of valor; and next to him Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000; and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, a volunteer for the service of the Lord, with 200,000 mighty men of valor. Of Benjamin: Eliada, a mighty man of valor, with 200,000 men armed with bow and shield; and next to him Jehozabad with 180,000 armed for war. These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah. - 2 Chron. 17:12-19 (ESV)

In this passage, the author lists five key commanders for the king’s army; Adnah, Jehohanan, Amasiah, Eliada, and Jehozabad. Each of these men had heavy responsibilities in leading thousands of others in service of the kingdom. However, did you note that only four of them appear to have been professional soldiers? One of them is distinguished rather differently and yet his responsibilities were no less in value or in quantity. Amasiah, we are told, was a volunteer for the service of the Lord, responsible for leading 200,000 men of valor. The others, I suspect were paid for their service but Amasiah gave himself to the service of the kingdom voluntarily. His responsibilities were no less valued by the king and certainly the expectations upon him were as high as the others. There was no slacking and no sense of being second-best or expendable.

As Chief Executive Officer of The Voice of the Martyrs, I, too, have my “commanders”; men and women whom I count on to fulfill their God-given roles in the mission. I have high expectations of them and their responsibilities are formidable. VOMC volunteers are among them! In no way do I see the role of our volunteers here at the mission as second-best, expendable, or not as important as our paid staff. They are vital to the success of God’s mission that He wants to accomplish through The Voice of the Martyrs. Only together can we glorify God by serving His Persecuted Church.

To each of our volunteers, I want to say thank you for your partnership in this vital service for the Lord. Not a VOMC volunteer yet? Click here, to find out more.

Nigeria earns rare designation - country of “particular concern”

Nigeria has had a special place in my life ever since I started dating my wife 30 years ago.  Denita grew up there as a “missionary kid” until she was 14-years-old, having moved there when she was still an infant. Over the years, I have met numerous of her “aunts” and “uncles” – other missionaries that her family worked with during their time there. Behind me on a stand, as I type these words, is a handcrafted wooden lamp made by some Nigerian craftsman that we wouldn’t think of ever parting with.  Nigeria, quite simply, has been part of what is our family’s legacy and history.  A few years ago, I visited Nigeria myself, as part of my duties with VOMC, visiting persecuted believers in the northern states in cities like Kaduna and Kano.  The population of Nigeria is pretty much evenly split between Christian and Islam, with Christians predominant in the south and Muslims in the north. 

So it was with special interest that I read the following report this morning in the online version of WORLD Magazine.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released its annual report Friday advising the State Department of nations with “ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom,” adding Nigeria to the notorious list titled “countries of particular concern,” which also includes Iran and North Korea.

The report argued that the Nigerian government’s response to sectarian strife has been “inadequate and ineffectual . . . resulting in thousands of deaths.” [read more…]

The Voice of the Martyrs does a great deal of work in Nigeria, particularly in caring for Christian children who have suffered the loss of one or both of their parents due to persecution. Our sister mission, Voice of the Christian Martyrs, does a tremendous ministry throughout the country. 

Please pray for our co-workers in Nigeria today.  Pray that the Nigerian government will respond to this particular designation by the U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom with a determination to improve its response to religious persecution in northern Nigeria.

Ghana Christian freed from Libyan jail

Almost eight years.  That’s how long Daniel Baidoo served in a Libyan jail for the “crime” of distributing Christian material.  Sentenced to 25 years in 2001, Baido returned home to Ghana yesterday with the Vice President John Dramani Mahama who had intervened on his behalf during an official visit to Libya. 

Mr. Baidoo, who moved to Libya in 1998, had apparently requested for Christian literature from a Christian organization in the U.S and was arrested at Garyan Post Office when he went to collect a parcel said to contain Bible documents in Arabic. Under Libyan law, it is illegal to witness or try to convert a Libyan into any another religion other than Islam. Libyan authorities accused him of distributing evangelistic tracts to Libyan Muslims.

Thank God for Mr. Baidoo’s release. Pray for others like him who are still in detention in jails around the world for the crime of sharing the message of Jesus Christ.