Christians in the north African, Muslim-majority country of Libya say that religious freedom has improved. Following the 1969 revolution, in which Colonel Muammar Qadhafi came to power, church buildings and property were confiscated and closed down. In recent years, however, Orthodox, Anglican and Catholic communities have re-established themselves. This improvement is partially due to international dialogue established after Libyan involvement in the bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie back in 1998. There are still restrictions on the building and maintenance of churches, but amongst the small Christian minority, there is a sense of unity. In March, a 17th century building owned by the Catholic Church was donated to Libya’s Anglican community for their use.

Four members of Grace Presbyterian Church in Karaganda, north eastern Kazakhstan, are being investigated by the national security committee on charges of high treason. Pastor Igor Kim, his sister, the church administrator, and Pastor Alexei Kim from an associated congregation in Oskemen are all under suspicion, but church members deny they are guilty of crimes against the state. However, under current guidelines published by the government, it seems that "transferring to other religious faiths represents treason to one’s country and faith". On September 7, 12 members of the church began a hunger strike in protest at the raids and investigations. (Forum 18)

The US Federal Bureau of Prisons is purging prison libraries of "non-approved" religious books and materials because of terrorism concerns, say a number of US religious groups amid warnings of possible violations of religious freedom. Books not approved include works by respected 20th century theologians such as Reinhold Niebuhr and Karl Barth. The policy is called the "Standardised Chapel Library Project" and reportedly limits religious library holdings to 150 book titles plus 150 multi-media resources. "It's swatting a fly with a sledge-hammer," said Mark Earley, president of Prison Fellowship, a prison ministry group. The measures are intended to prevent the prisons from becoming places where those advocating militant Islamic beliefs or other religious views deemed "extremist" could recruit followers. (ENI)

Four Christian women have died in the hands of the Eritrean authorities this year, with 33-year-old Migsti Haile being the most recent. She died on 5 September after being tortured for refusing to recant her Christian beliefs. Haile was being kept at Wi’a Military Training Center, along with 10 other single Christian women. Each of the 10 was arrested at their church in Keren. Before her incarceration, Haile was working and studying to complete her high school degree.

A small country in East Africa, Eritrea has been a hub for an unusually large number of deaths – or near-death abuse – for members of the Christian faith. In May 2002, Eritrea banned independent Protestant churches, including house churches. Still, many Christians remain faithful in their walk with Jesus Christ and continue to meet – Haile took part in such gatherings. All in all, there are more than 2,000 Christians, imprisoned for two years or longer, in Eritrea – each living in harsh conditions and without access to proper medical care.

The remaining 19 Korean missionaries held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been released after 40 days in captivity. 

Shim Sung Min, Korean mission worker killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, August 2007.

The South Korean government has consequently issued a ban on its citizens from engaging in further missionary activity in Afghanistan.

The hostages, a group of Christians who intended to spend just over a week working as volunteers in Afghanistan in hospitals and orphanages, were first captured by militants on the road to Kandahar on July 19. Reports emerging after the incident suggest they were beaten in custody and threatened with death if they refused to convert to Islam. Two of their party were killed during the ordeal, and two women who were ill were released in advance of the main group. Reports say that their physical wounds have healed, but the emotional scars remain. Some of the women, in particular, are suffering insomnia and symptoms of trauma and depression.

Analysis:

This international incident has opened up a debate about religious freedom, Christian evangelism and the wisdom of sending missionaries to a volatile area.

On the one hand, some argue that religious freedom is a basic human right, and that Christians should be able to travel anywhere in the world to conduct aid work or missionary enterprise without intimidation. They also argue that these young people were simply answering the call of Jesus on their lives to take his message to "the ends of the earth". The South Korean government has also been criticized for issuing its ban on missionary involvement in Afghanistan. People say that this is a restriction on the religious freedom of its citizens.

On the other hand, though, critics have said that the team showed a distinct lack of preparedness for the conditions in Afghanistan, and made mistakes which "asked for trouble" – such as travelling in a large group on a bus through treacherous territory. Moreover, the group has been accused of callously disregarding warnings against visiting Afghanistan at this time.

There are many Christian workers living in restricted or volatile countries who do so very carefully, aware of the potential dangers. While not avoiding persecution, they usually take careful measures to protect the Lord’s work and are committed to stay long-term. But because of this incident, almost all Korean aid work in Afghanistan has been affected or shut down. Ultimately, it is the Afghan people who will suffer the loss of this assistance – despite the Taliban’s perception of a ‘win’ to their side.

The deaths of two Korean Christians under these circumstances are very distressing, as is the trauma suffered by the other team members. But we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). Good will come, if not now, then later.

On September 3, police in Turkey’s western city of Izmit arrested a man who lit a fire at the entrance to a local Protestant church and then shot off his pistol several times. The church’s pastor is the brother-in-law of one of the converts to Christianity murdered in Malatya in April and has been targeted by Islamic extremists. Identified by police authorities as Semih Sahin, the man who set fire to the church entrance reportedly told interrogators that he had been “bothered” by what he heard and read in the newspapers about the Izmit Protestant Church, so he wanted to "make a scene" to arouse public attention against it. Just prior to the attack, on Saturday September 1, the Legal Committee of the Alliance of Protestant Churches of Turkey issued a report saying that the past year has seen "scores of threats or attacks on congregations and church buildings." The incident was recorded on a security camera installed by the church several months ago.

In a speech on September 21, Pope Benedict XVI spoke out against the persecution of Christians, as well as defending the right of Muslims to convert to Christianity. He expressed particular concern for Christians in Iraq and criticised Muslim nations where Christians are treated as second-class citizens. The comments came almost exactly a year after he provoked a wave of anger among Muslims by quoting a Byzantine emperor who linked Islam to violence.

Cai Zhuohua

Chinese house church leader Cai Zhuohua, jailed since 2004 for "illegal business practices" after distributing Christian literature, has been released with stern warnings to stop practising his faith outside of the government-sanctioned church. The US-based China Aid Association said that on Thursday September 13 - three days after Cai’s release on September 10 - officials of the Public Security Bureau took the well-known Beijing house church pastor to their offices and tried to intimidate him with threats. "They warned him to be careful – not to be interviewed, to obey the law and not attend religious activities," China Aid spokesperson Bob Fu said. 

Zhang Rongliang

The Bibles in question were reportedly donated by South Korean churches and were to be distributed without charge.

In other news from China, Pastor Zhang Rongliang, who has four years to go of a seven-and-a-half-year sentence, is reportedly suffering extreme ill-health. He suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, and must be carried from place to place by two men. Zhang was a leader in Henan’s China for Christ Church. Please pray for his immediate release and recovery.

A fellowship of converts to Christianity from Islam remains in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Borno, although death threats and other dangers drove most of the congregation to other parts of Nigeria. Of the 25 converts who formed a church in the city two years ago, only three remain. Still, while worshipping separately in the towns where they now reside, once a month the converts brave the threats of Islamic extremists and family members to return to Maiduguri to secretly pray and praise together. "The venue and time is agreed among themselves, and the venue is also changed every meeting so that they are not attacked," said the Rev. Titus Dama Pona, founder of Good Way Mission, who planted the church, Kanuri Christian Fellowship, in September 2005. The only known underground fellowship in Nigeria, the group is said to be the first church among the Kanuri and Shuwa Arab ethnic groups in the Islamic enclave of Borno.

In recent weeks, around 100,000 people took to the streets of Rangoon in daily peaceful protests against Burma’s military regime – initiated by some 10,000 Buddhist monks. What began as a protest over economic hardship caused by rising petrol prices became a fresh call for democracy and peace in the troubled nation. 

Displaced people in Shan State get together to declare their solidarity with those demonstrating in Rangoon.

Photo: Free Burma Rangers 

Burma’s democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years. In her first public appearance in four years, she briefly met with some of the protesters a couple of weeks ago at her home, after they were mistakenly let through security. On September 30, she was also able to meet with Ibrahim Gambari, the United Nations’ special envoy. At the time of writing, he had also met with some senior military leaders.

Christians in Burma have been targeted by the military government for their religious practice and historical connections with the West, as well as their opposition to human rights violations, environmental degradation, and the drug trade.

Even so, all of Burma’s people are suffering under the current situation. Christians in Burma ask that we pray for them at this strategic time.