INSPIRATION
“More Christians were killed for their faith in the 20th Century than all previous 19 centuries…”
These stories and case studies give a taster of just some of the issues faced by Christians who are persecuted for their faith, across the world. What is your response to their stories? Paint it. Draw it. Sculpt it. Design it. Snap it. Write it. Record it. Enter it.
Eritrea
It's dark. The smell of urine reeks. In the day the sides of your cell become too hot to touch. At night the cold grips you til you wish for the heat again. This is the daily life of hundreds of Christians locked in shipping containers in Eritrea. They are denied their freedom simply because they believe in Jesus Christ. They are fed basic rations; let out once a day to relieve themselves. The conditions are even worse for others. Crammed into dark holes in the ground, they are left there for days, some in isolation, others in groups in such tight conditions that permanent paralysis occurs.
Escape is possible but unlikely. In May 2006, 15 Christians managed to escape from a military camp in Asabe. The prisoners, all men, had been detained in metal shipping containers for the past two years, simply because of their faith. At around 6am they took their chance and ran to the surrounding desert. The police pursued them into the dry arid land and found the bodies of five of them who had died of exposure. The remaining ten disappeared without any sign of whether they made it across the border.
So who are these prisoners? Religious fanatics? Restless minorities? No, just normal people who are trying to follow Christ in a hostile situation.
What's your response?
Muslim-background believers
Muslims pay a high price to become Christians. The consensus among Muslim scholars for 14 centuries has been that those who leave the faith should be killed. Those who convert out of Islam - especially to Christianity - lead a lonely and dangerous existence. Within the Islamic world there are at least 14 states that make it illegal to convert out of Islam. In at least eight of those states, it is punishable by death. Often the greatest risk to converts from Islam is not from the up-keepers of Islamic Shariah Law but from their own family members. In so called "honour-killings" converts are killed by relatives to save the reputation of the family name. And the police turn a blind eye to it.
In some Muslim countries in Central Asia Christians are treated as 'enemies of the state' and are misrepresented in the media, causing much suspicion and discrimination against them.
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
What's your response?
Family disruption
Whole families have been devastated by the effect of persecution.
Many things changed for Pastor Thongla and his family when Laos came under communist rule in 1975. Christianity was considered a religion of the enemy and therefore Christians were enemies of the State.
Persecution became an everyday thing for Thongla as a worker of God. He was taken to the police station repeatedly, was questioned day in and day out, threatened and was sometimes beaten up. He was also imprisoned on several occasions.
A co-worker who spent time with him in prison testified how Thongla selflessly took care of others' needs first before taking care of his own. He shared everything he had with fellow prisoners and tried to help those in need of comfort and encouragement. Many attempts were made on Thongla's life before a final attempt was successful. In November 2001, he was travelling on a motorbike with his second oldest daughter. They were going up a hill when gunfires erupted. One bullet hit Thongla in the forehead. Another hit him in the chest. The third one hit his leg. His daughter sustained an injury when the third bullet that hit Thongla exited his leg and went through her hand. Both father and daughter fell off from the bike straight to the dusty mountain road. Thongla died quickly. His daughter cried helplessly at the sight of the hapless and bloodied body of her father amidst her own physical pain from the bullet wound on her frail hand. Since witnessing the horrific death of her father, she has been severely traumatised.
What's your response?
Grace under persecution
What would your response to persecution be? Hostility? Perseverance? Love? What should our response be?
Ten Saudi Arabian police armed with wooden clubs raided a private Christian worship meeting of more than 100 Christians at 11am in the coastal city of Jiddah in June 2006. The startled worshippers offered hospitality and brought chairs to seat them. The police then sat and waited for the three hour worship service to end. Then they arrested and jailed the four leaders. Under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic law, public non-Muslim worship is prohibited. However, members of the royal family insist that Christians are free to worship within their own homes. In 2005 five other Christians were detained for a month simply for leading a private Christian worship service in another town.
In Colombia, many Christians are caught up in the terrorist conflict. There are thousands of innocent victims, like Juan who is nine months old. Eighteen months ago his young mother was raped. Juan's mother was raped by a member of an armed group, many of which terrorise Colombia's rural areas. She was easy prey: she is deaf and mute and had no chance to call for help when she was raped. Out of such evil Juan was born. But Juan's grandparents are full of pride and love for their grandson despite the circumstances in which he came to be.
What's your response?
For those stuck for ideas, or wanting to lead a group, see the Workshop Info download on the Entry Procedure page.
©Open Doors 2006 | Registered Charity No.260600