Global Report: Evangelicals Respond to Unabated Persecution

by Stan Guthrie

Hussein Qambar Ali, a citizen of Kuwait, wasn’t looking for trouble. Married, the father of two small children, and the owner of a successful construction business, he told Open Doors’ Compass Direct news service, “All I wanted was happiness, tranquility, and a peaceful life.”

Hussein Qambar Ali, a citizen of Kuwait, wasn’t looking for trouble. Married, the father of two small children, and the owner of a successful construction business, he told Open Doors’ Compass Direct news service, “All I wanted was happiness, tranquility, and a peaceful life.”

He lost all three when, after a careful search for the truth, he abandoned Islam and converted to Christ, the first Muslim in the Persian Gulf region to do so publicly. A year ago his wife snatched his children from his arms and drove off, and he has not seen them since. After Hussein (whose name is now Robert Hussein) admitted to a local newspaper that he had become a Christian, his home was looted and he began receiving death threats. Surrounded by missionaries whenever he appeared in public, he has since gone into hiding, living with Western expatriates, and never stays anywhere more than several weeks.

Despite Kuwait’s constitutional guarantee of freedom of religious belief, on May 29 an Islamic court declared Hussein, 45, an apostate. As an “apostate,” he was forcibly divorced, lost visitation rights with his 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, and was stripped of his inheritance. In August, Hussein fled the country.

“Kuwait, of course, is the only country in the (Persian) Gulf that has a Constitution that provides for religious freedom,” says Pedro Moreno, international coordinator of The Rutherford Institute, Charlottesville, Va. “If they go against that kind of provision, it would set a very negative precedent.”

Despite the end of the Cold War and the wide if still shallow diffusion of democracy into many areas of the world, religious persecution against Christians remains rampant, particularly in predominantly Muslim states. According to Open Doors, eight of the 10 countries atop its 1996 “Watch List” are Islamic (see chart, page 463). Kuwait, relatively tolerant compared to many Muslim nations, is No. 28.

Reasons for persecution
But mistreatment of Christians because of their beliefs is by no means confined to places where the call of the muezzin is heard. Asia, as illustrated by China and North Korea (which also appear on the Open Doors list) is no stranger to persecution, thanks to strengthening nationalism and totalitarianism. Likewise in Eastern and Central Europe and Latin America, a minority but growing evangelical presence often faces opposition from established churches looking to maintain their position—and willing to stir up nationalistic passions and the power of the state to get their way, if need be.

In anarchic places in Africa, it can be hard for outsiders to distinguish to what degree violence is religiously motivated. For example, in Rwanda’s 1994 ethnic genocide of Hutus versus Tutsis, many people were slaughtered inside churches. In fact, many clergy were specifically targeted for death. Even in the West, where the concept of religious liberty first took root, some of its fruit is beginning to wither.

Stated John Hanford, an aide to U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, “On a worldwide basis, Christians are the most persecuted major religion in terms of direct punishment for practicing religious activities—public worship, evangelism, charity.”

Brian O’Connell, director of the Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Fellowship, an international association of 116 national and regional evangelical groups and 150 million evangelicals, agrees, stating, “The greatest untold story of this decade is the discrimination, harassment, and persecution of Christians throughout the world. In fact, more Christians have been mar-tyred in the 20th century than in the previous 19 combined.” (See chart, page 462.)

Yet not everyone sees opposition to the church as unreservedly bad news. Agreeing with Romanian churchman Josef Tson that persecution is a “weapon of the church” is O’Connell. “My argument is that the reason we are being persecuted is because we are winning, not because we’re losing,” O’Connell said.

Around the world, Open Doors counts some 500 Christians in prison becauseof their faith, although definitions of what constitutes martyrdom and specifically religious persecution are in the eye of the beholder. (See sidebar, page 465.) With 200 cases, heading Open Doors’ list of offenders is Peru, where Christians are often wrongfully accused of aiding terrorists. China, with 166 cases, is No. 2, followed by Vietnam (52 cases), Iran and Saudi Arabia (13 each), Sudan (11), Egypt (eight), Turkey and Colombia (four each). Open Doors calls its accounting of imprisoned Christians the “tip of the iceberg.”

Issue growing in prominence
What is clear is that religious liberty cases are assuming a new prominence. O’Connell says that for the first time non-Western Christians, seeing the role believers played in the collapse of Soviet communism, are speaking out and willing to let their brothers and sisters in the West know about their plight. “Heretofore there has been a reluctance to publicly talk about the problems that they are facing,” he said. And O’Connell praises a new spirit of cooperation among Christian ministries.

In Hussein’s case, a chorus of Western agencies has spoken out. “That’s the great blessing of having a strong country behind you,” Moreno said. “It’s God’s providence that the U.S. is powerful. . . . There is some negative influence, but the positive influence is amazing. Who would care about confronting Kuwait over Hussein if not the U.S.? Who would confront China if not the U.S.?”

In January the New-York based, think tank Freedom House sponsored a conference on global persecution attended by evangelical heavyweights such as Chuck Colson, Gary Bauer, and James Kennedy, as well as Catholic and Jewish leaders. The National Association of Evangelicals (U.S.) issued a “Statement of Conscience of the NAE Concerning Worldwide Religious Persecution” calling for more government attention to the matter. In April three Republican U.S. representatives urged President Clinton to appoint a special adviser on religious persecution, saying in a letter, “As you are aware, there is heightened resolve within the American Christian community to stem the mounting persecution of Christians throughout the world.” (Clinton, however, was reportedly more likely to name a lower-profile commission on the matter.)

The role of national churches
To help believers who are persecuted, the Religious Liberty Commission has held a series of recent consultations to help national leaders learn how to address issues like persecution, governmental and media relations, and other communications skills. From May 3-7 in Prague, Czech Republic, the RLC and the European Evangelical Alliance held a Conference on Religious Nationalism. However, Moreno, editor of the 1996 survey Handbook on Religious Liberty Around the World, says the problem is often deeper than a lack of knowledge.

“The church in many places is bringing the persecution upon itself,” said Moreno, a native of Bolivia who has traveled widely in his work for The Rutherford Institute. “It’s seen as an irrelevant group of fanatics jumping up and down, clapping and singing, but not really concerned about society, not looking to the future. There is a short-term perspective, waiting for the end of the world, the coming back of Jesus Christ, the rapture. There is no emphasis on being excellent, studying hard, on being an example to others through hard work. There is this idea that religion is more important than the so-called ‘secular.’”

Moreno says Christians must learn to “externalize” their revivals into the larger societies around them if they are to allay suspicion and paranoia about evangelicalism. “In Latin America there is a great religious revival, but it’s not having a social, economic, or political impact,” Moreno said. “It’s mostly a religious phenomenon at this point. It’s not changing the laws or the structures or the mentality.”

Power of prayer
O’Connell, for his part, says the battle against persecution is waged in three arenas—politics, public awareness, and prayer—but that many evangelicals tend to confinethemselves to the first, urging that money be raised, laws passed, and foreign ministers harangued. He says the most important thing Christians can do is pray. Accordingly, the World Evangelical Fellowship sponsored its first International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on September 29, expecting all of its national and regional alliances to participate.

“I don’t want to underestimate, as sometimes we have done even in the evangelical community, the power of prayer,” O’Connell said. “When we talk to people on the front lines in Egypt and Pakistan and say, ‘Look, there are thousands of churches, there are millions of believers praying for you on a regular basis,’ most people can’t understand the impact that has on their lives, the peace that brings, the confidence that stirs.”

What follows are key cases of religious persecution from around the world. In many instances, the church continues to advance despite, or perhaps because of, persecution.

Islamic world
While prosecuting a 10-year civil war to force Islamic law on Sudan’s Christian and animist people in the south, the Arab military regime in Khartoum is accused of raping, enslaving, and crucifying Christians. The war has killed an estimated 1.3 million people and left between 3 million and 5 million homeless.

“A myriad of official and secret government security forces routinely harassed, detained, and tortured opponents,” the U.S. Department of State said in a report about 1995. “Displaced women from the south are particularly vulnerable to harassment, rape, and sexual abuse.”

Bruce Brander of World Vision reports that five women were given death sentences for converting to Christianity. The United Nations, meanwhile, says that more than 9,000 children are being held in 20 camps in the Nuba Mountains and the Kordofan area for indoctrination into Islam. Reports that the regime forces refugees to convert to Islam in order to receive food aid have been widespread as well.

Still, the news is not all bleak in Sudan, where 70 percent of the country’s 28 million people are said to be Muslims. Persistent reports indicate a surprising degree of religious freedom in the north, where many southerners have fled for protection. Revival is said to be spreading in the south. The bishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, Nathaniel Garang, estimates that before the conflagration began 15 percent of the people of the south were Christians. Today, three-fourths may be. Nationwide, poverty and disillusionment are spreading. One Muslim shopkeeper said, “At first this government was popular, but after one or two years it lost most of its popularity because (the leaders) used the Islamic religion very badly.”

Last April Muslim radicals in Somalia killed their sixth Christian in two years, Xaaji Maxamed Xuseen, a university professor who converted to Christ while a student in Canada during the 1980s. Anarchy and drought have reigned in Somalia since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in March, 1995. Open Doors estimates that no more than 700 Christians remain in Somalia. Xuseen, who had been attempting to rebuild the school system in Mogadishu, had witnessed the March, 1994, murder of a prominent Somali Christian, Liibaan Ibrahim.

Christians are also under pressure from Muslim extremists in Pakistan, where increasing numbers have been ensnared by a blasphemy law prohibiting speech against Muhammad. The law has been used by Muslims against Christians under highly suspect circumstances. One 12-year-old boy was spared a death sentence only after an international outcry. Even when Christians are acquitted of unfounded charges, they are still in danger. Last March a Pakistani court acquitted three men of the April, 1994, murder of Manzoor Masih, who had been cleared of blasphemy charges. Since 1991 five Christians have been murdered in Pakistan over the blasphemy law, Compass Direct says.

Elsewhere in the Muslim world, last May Muslim radicals attempting to overthrow Algeria’s military government beheaded seven Trappist monks. In Egypt, attacksagainst churches continue to make headlines. Last February militants in Egypt destroyed an entire Christian village after the Christians attempted to add a room to their church. No arrests were made, and Christians in areas dominated by Islamists remain vulnerable to periodic violence.

In Morocco, a Muslim convert named Ait Bakrim Jaama, who was arrested a year ago for “disturbing the Islamic religion,” was sent to a psychiatric hospital. Last January presumed Muslim extremists shot dead Philippine pastor Severino Bagtasos, 30, on the southern island of Mindanao, the site of a Muslim breakaway movement in the Philippines. Bagtasos had been actively evangelizing Muslims.

A mob of at least 1,000 Muslims destroyed 10 churches in Surabaya, Indonesia, on Sunday morning, June 9. One pastor was left permanently lame after the violence. Police arrested some members of the mob and discovered a list of about 50 targeted churches. “Many church members were hurt and hospitalized, women were mistreated, and hundreds were threatened with further violence,” a source told Compass Direct. “Fear has gripped the city, and scores of churches are nearly paralyzed.”

In 1994 three prominent Christian leaders were murdered in Iran, and church services in Farsi, the main language, are forbidden. Muslim converts and other Protestants continue to face arrest, imprisonment, and torture. In July, Iranian authorities arrested and imprisoned Shahram Sepehri-Fard, a Muslim convert, before releasing him in August. In spite of the pressure, Iran’s underground church has an estimated 15,000 or 16,000 members—half of them Muslim converts, according to Iranian Christians International.

Missionaries sometimes find themselves caught in the middle. “Our personnel are experiencing an increasing openness and responsiveness to their gospel witness from all segments of society,” stated Dale Thorne, area director for the Middle East and North Africa for the Southern Baptists. “We are now seeing people coming to Christ, and they are under persecution. We don’t know how to deal with this.”

Asia
According to Amnesty International, last year China tortured and imprisoned hundreds of people for their religious beliefs and activities. And although not all were Christians, many were. Many Christians have been jailed and fined heavily by authorities. Compass Direct reports that three believers were beaten to death by authorities last spring, scores were arrested, and 300 house churches were closed during a “fierce crackdown” against unregistered churches.

Carol Lee Hamrin, a Chinese affairs specialist at the State Department and an adjunct professor at the School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, says last year’s attempt to register all unofficial religious groups failed, so authorities launched a new “major campaign” on March 1. She predicted that 1996 would be a “tough year” for Protestants and Catholics.

Amnesty International stated in a recent report, “Religious persecution is a reaction to the lasting revival of religious activities within the last 15 years.” Compass Direct reports the closing of house churches in Shanghai and the torture of Christians in northern China.

The Rutherford Institute’s Moreno reports troubling trends in India, due to the radical pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, plus Thailand and Japan, where Buddhist militants are exploiting nationalism to restrict other religious communities. “Buddhism is combined with nationalism in Thailand and is seen as the identity of the people,” Moreno said. In Japan, Buddhist groups are hoping to capitalize on revulsion over the Aum Supreme Truth cult to clamp down on other groups, he said.

In Laos, hundreds of Christian families have been forced to sign statements saying they will not evangelize, gather for worship, or pray for healing when they are sick. About 40 churches in Luang Prabang have been closed, sources say.

Latin America
For the last three decades in southern Mexico, Chamula Indian Protestants have been persecutedby Catholic-animist community leaders. In all, some 30,000 have been evicted from their homes. Christians have been gunned down in the neighboring state of Oaxaca. Overall, authorities have done little to stem the violence.

After a brief thaw in relations, the communists ruling Cuba have clamped down on the island’s growing evangelical community. Estimates of the number of house churches range from 3,000 to 10,000. On May 24, 1995, authorities put Assemblies of God house church leader and evangelist Orson Vila in prison for his refusal to close his Camaguey house church, which had 1,500 members.

After Vila’s arrest, the government shut down his church and ordered all house churches in Cuba closed. However, many churches stood firm. One church leader told Compass Direct, “Some denominations, including ours, have told our pastors that if they close the house churches, their minister’s credentials will be revoked.” After receiving a 23-month prison term, Vila was released early last March. While on probation until November, he plans to continue in the ministry.

Besides Vila, authorities have released two other Christian leaders from jail this year. Compass Direct, however, reports “a new wave of pressure” against the church.

Last December Colombian evangelist and radio supporter Julio Ruibal was assassinated in Cali while on the way to a meeting of pastors. Ruibal was one of 14 pastors killed in Colombia in the last year. The gospel’s spread in Colombia continues, however.

“His life was sowed as a seed for a great revival for which he was travailing in prayer on his sixth day of fasting—the day he died,” Ruibal’s widow, Ruth, told HCJB World Radio. “The long awaited spiritual awakening in Cali is beginning to happen. We see it through the unity of the churches. The joy that this brings to us far exceeds the suffering that his death has caused.”

Copyright © 1996 Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS). All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMIS.

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