Farsighted, First glance

Remember... those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

Just a quick glance at some of the people places around the world where your brothers and sisters suffer for their faith. These are all from the Decision Magazine I referenced in my last journal. (See picture).

Pakistan

Khuram Masih, 23, has been jailed without bail after being charged with blasphemy and accused of burning the pages of the Quran in order to prepare tea. Masih's lawyers state at a January 3rd hearing that the accusations were false and based only on hearsay, and that police had found no incriminating evidence. Even so the judge denied bail. Khuram remains imprisoned.

Indonesia

The Indonesian Protestant Church Union reposted that acts of violence and intolerance against Christians in the country almost doubled in 2011. There were 54 acts of violence/intolerance as compared to 30 in the previous year. In the city of Bogor, the city has prevented the Yasmin church from worshiping in its half-constructed building which the city sealed off in 2010. In December 2010 the Indonesian Supreme Court ordered the church unsealed, but the Mayor has defied the order. The congregation continues to worship on a sidewalk outside their church building.

Sudan          

In two separate incidents, two church leaders in Khartoum were arrested in January. On January 16, 2012 Gabo Haile Selassie who lives on the property of a Sudanese Presbyterian Evangelical Church, was arrested. The church is in a dispute with a Muslim businessman, Osman al Tayeb who wants the church property for the purpose of developing a business center. He is attempting to take church property by force. On January 17, 2012 James Kat of the Evangelical Church of Sudan was arrested and beaten by police, because he was using the church facility as his home.

Iran

Iran's Ministry of Intelligence ordered two officially registered churches in Tehran to discontinue Friday services in the Farsi language. Emmanuel Protestant Church and St. Peter's Evangelical church were the last two official churches offering such services. The churches will be allowed to hold Farsi services on Sundays, but in Iran most people are at work on Sundays. Authorities reportedly were concerned that too many people were being attracted to the Christian services on Friday, the Muslim day of worship.