The Christian residents of Peshawar, in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP), have received letters from Islamic extremists telling them to convert to Islam or else they would become the victims of a suicide bomber. One letter stated, "You are openly invited to convert to Islam and quit Christianity, the religion of infidels… Ensure your place in heaven by coming into the fold of Islam. We will wipe out your slum on next Friday, August 10th, 2007. And you yourself would be responsible for the destruction of your men and material. Get ready! This is not a mere threat, our suicide bombers are ready to wipe out your name and signs from the face of earth. Consider it to be the Knock of Death."

Members of the Christian community staged a protest on August 8, imploring the authorities to give them protection and apprehend the authors of the letters. Ten police officials were then deployed to the Christian compounds in Taligodom, Sadagodom and Goaldodom. Although the deadline for the retribution passed, Peshawar’s Christian minority continues to live in fear. Some church activities have been cancelled. Hindus in the area have also received similar threats.

A case has just been filed in Egypt addressing the state’s refusal to legally recognise those who have converted to a minority religious group from Islam.

Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy, 24, a convert to Christianity from Islam, has expressed his desire to the Egyptian government to have his change of faith reflected on his personal identification paperwork. He was denied by Egypt’s interior ministry, and filed suit against the state on 2 August 2007.

Normally, converts from Islam to Christianity do not seek to change their official documentation for fear of retribution, but Hegazy took the extraordinary step because he wants Christians in Egypt to be legitimately recognized by the government. While it is legal for Muslims to convert to another religion, the Egyptian government does not issue official ID cards reflecting any religion but Islam. It is possible however, for an Egyptian to gain an official ID once converted to Islam that reflects he/she is Muslim.

Hegazy and his family are currently in hiding resulting from threats of violence they have received by filing suit. Furthermore, Hegazy’s initial lawyer, Mumdough Nakhla (director of the Al Kalema Center for Human Rights) has resigned after being threatened. Others in Egypt’s Christian human rights community have also been affected by this case, including 61-year-old Dr. Adel Fawzy Faltas, the head of an Egyptian Christian rights group. Dr. Faltas was arrested at his home in Cairo by state security forces for corresponding with Hegazy.

About 200 masked men on August 4 demolished a parish house under construction at Chavand, 50km from Udaipur in Sarada town, Rajasthan, according to the daily newspaper The Hindu. At around 2 a.m. Hindu extremists entered the mission compound and destroyed the priest’s residence, which was nearing completion with only the roof yet to be built. Joseph Pathalil, bishop of Udaipur, said he suspected the attackers belonged to the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP). The parish priest, Father Paul Ninama, was away and was unharmed, but the extremists hit and injured the two watchmen on duty. Pathalil said "The [Hindu] extremists in this area have been opposing our social welfare work among the tribal people and also make false allegations of forced conversion." Church authorities have filed a complaint, but at press time no arrests had been made.

It is very difficult to get information from North Korea, the world’s most restricted country. Douglas Shin is a Korean-American pastor living in Los Angeles who has been involved in assisting North Korean refugees since 2000 as leader of the "Exodus 21" movement. We are pleased to reprint this interview with Douglas here, from Compass Direct. In it he discusses the communist country – run by reclusive dictator Kim Jong Il, whom North Koreans are taught to worship.

What makes North Korea any worse a violator of religious rights, in comparison with, say, a country like Saudi Arabia?

The Saudis can come and go out of the country as they please, but North Koreans are all in captivity – a prisoner of Kim Jong Il.

What are the most important items for prayer for North Korea?

The early demise of Kim Jong Il, whose health is obviously failing rapidly nowadays, and smooth transition of power to a less horrible tyrant or tyrants after that.

The Chinese government recently said there are about 50,000-70,000 North Koreans in China. Is it true that about 70 percent of them have accepted Christ?

70 percent is a fair estimate, but the number of refugees may be bigger.

Has the number of refugees from North Korea increased in the past five years?

I don’t have any field information, but from what I read and hear, I think the number of crossings has decreased because of the beefed up security by North Korean border patrol. But corruption in North Korea has worsened, so it’s actually easier to get to China if you have the money. In China, crackdowns on North Korean refugees and on refugee workers have increased very much because of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Olympics may be a time of festivity for the Chinese economy, and the world that may be watching, but it definitely is a terrible menace to these people on the run.

The number of the entire North Korean refugee population in China may have actually grown because of the accumulation over the years. Many North Koreans have adapted to Chinese soil by now and are somewhat rooted their existence in China, albeit precariously. It’s been over a decade now since Exodus 21 – the 21st century-version of the biblical Exodus – has begun.

Where are refugees arriving?

They come to Thailand, Mongolia, Laos, and Vietnam, then on to South Korea – all through China first, because China is the only country that North Korea shares a land border with. The North Korean refugee population in South Korea reached the 10,000 mark around last December, and it is increasing steadily by a rate of 2,000 per year. There are virtual North Korean refugee camps – though no government, neither the United States nor South Korea, nor any host country, will call it by that name, due to political sensitivity – in Mongolia and Thailand holding far more than 1,000 and 500 North Koreans respectively.

Are most refugees fleeing mainly famine/economic failure, or human/religious rights violations?

Mostly economic failure, but more and more are fleeing for freedom in general, including very seldom the freedom of faith.

Is relief work in China and other border areas getting more difficult?

Because of the pre-Beijing Olympic crackdowns on any potential source of negative news on China, it’s getting really tough at the border.

It is said that there are between 200,000 and 400,000 Christians in North Korea, and that about 50,000-70,000 of them are in labor camps – do those estimates seem accurate to you?

I think it could be true, but you never know anything for sure with North Korea.

A boy has been prevented from sitting a high school entrance exam because of his Christian faith. Phong Hong Phong was told by the school principal of Ka Dang Public Elementary School, Quang Nam province, that a new rule barred him from sitting the exam because he "followed a religion". The principal expressed sympathy to the boy’s family, but said the decision was outside his control, because it was a rule belonging to the high school the boy was hoping to attend. Phong Hong Phong and his family are Degar (Montagnard) Christians from the Central Highlands. Local Christians say that other students have received similar letters, indicating that despite some improvements in Vietnam’s religious freedom, Degar Christians still face significant discrimination.

Pastor Petr Barankevich of the Christ’s Grace Evangelical Church is the latest Russian citizen to win a freedom of belief case from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France. Though the court awarded Barankevich monetary reimbusement to be paid by the Russian government, he replied that the financial compensation was "not as important" as the Russian government upholding his rights to religious freedom. Now settled, the trouble originally began for Pastor Barankevich in 2002, when his church was denied permission by the Russian government to conduct a worship service at a public park in Chekov (near Moscow).

US-based human rights group China Aid Association has received a letter from the founder of South China Church (SCC), Pastor Gong Shengliang, who is serving a life sentence in Hongshan prison, Hubei, for “organizing and utilizing a cult organization to undermine law enforcement,” rape, and destroying property. Initially it was believed that the charges against Gong were fabricated by the Chinese Government to curtail his house church activities. However, the letter contains confessions by Gong that he was guilty of some of the crimes of which he was accused.

Although China Aid Association has not been able to verify all the points in his letter, and has not been able to ascertain Gong’s reasons for publishing the correspondence, there is evidence to suggest that he did in fact molest some female members in his church network over a period of years. There is also evidence that he encouraged the use of violence against some members of the church who gave information about house church activities to local authorities. In the letter he thanked the international community for their help and concluded by saying, "I realized that I deserve this punishment for what I have done."

Analysis:

The news about Pastor Gong’s confession is very concerning, especially given the support he gained from the international community. He was first convicted in 2001 and given a death sentence. After international outrage – not only at his sentence, but also in the belief that the charges against him were manufactured – the Chinese authorities ordered a retrial and Gong’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

It is well known that Gong has been cruelly treated in custody and has been exposed to all manner of torture and physical punishment during the years since his arrest. (Reports in the past have said that his mistreatment was such that he was left virtually unable to walk.) Needless to say, the fact that Gong may be guilty of some or all of his crimes does not justify the abhorrent treatment he has received at the hands of prison authorities. Many human rights organisations have advocated on his behalf to try and improve his situation.

Although our colleagues at China Aid Association have intensely investigated his case, there are still questions over the confession, but they conclude that by appearances, it seems to be genuine on the evidence available to them.

It should be said that the persecuted church is not the perfect church. Although there are inspiring examples of great faith in extraordinary circumstances, we would be foolish to think that persecuted Christians are any less vulnerable to sin than those of us living in the free world.

It is generally true, however, that the spread of Christianity does occur at a great rate in times of persecution. Certainly, the Chinese house church movement is a testimony to this. But dramatic church growth is not always accompanied by access to the Scriptures, sound doctrinal teaching, and strong mentoring by those who are more established in the faith. One of the greatest problems facing the Chinese Christian movement is discipleship – how to teach and pastor the masses of new converts effectively. Indeed, someone has said that the persecuted church is "a mile wide and an inch deep". All the more reason to pray for new believers in the persecuted church – that God would equip them in every way to become true followers of Christ, knowing what he requires of them and how they should rightly live.

On August 8, Baptist Pastor Zaur Balaev was sentenced to two years in jail in Azerbaijan for "using violence against a state representative", and holding "illegal meetings under the guise of religious activity without concrete authority and without state registration". He was also accused of attracting young people to worship services and playing loud music at the services. Moreover, authorities claimed he set a dog on police but reneged on this charge after over 50 people signed a written statement testifying to Balaev's innocence.

Balaev was then accused of attacking five policemen and damaging a police car door. Prosecution witnesses admitted that they had not witnessed the alleged assault by Pastor Balaev. They stated that they had only heard about it from people at the market, teahouse, or because police pressured them into testifying. The Baptist Union is preparing to submit an appeal on Balaev’s behalf.

A young Christian man has been killed amid fresh allegations of secret intelligence operations in the Indonesian province of West Papua.

On 6 August, Matius Bunay, a 22-year-old youth group leader in the Kingmi Church in Nabire was kidnapped by the Indonesian military on his way home from church. His mutilated body was found the next day at the front gate of the local government high school. Also on August 7, a prayer service in a church at Mulia, Jayawijaya regency, was disrupted by military personnel. Men and women in the church were separated and 13 men were tied up and take from the church. They have not returned home and locals are fearful they may have been killed.

According to allegations made by the Australian-based West Papua National Authority (WPNA), Indonesian troops have been issued with close surveillance orders over all Papuan students at the Cenderawasih University, Walterpos Theology College, Baptist Theology College, Isaac Samuel Kijne Theology College, DIGI Theology College, and Fajar Timur Theology College. The WNPA believes police and military commanders were also ordered to monitor religious leaders of the Catholic Church, Protestant Synod and Papuan Muslim leadership in a high-level military meeting on 11 June.

Moreover, there are unverified complaints that plain clothes Indonesian military personnel are poisoning food and selling it in market places in different parts of Papua. According to one source, 40 people died in Wamena and 20 people died in Nabire district. If these disturbing reports are true they indicate the use of a form of biological warfare against the Papuan community.

August 15 marked the 45th anniversary of the New York Agreement which determined that West Papua was to be handed over to Indonesian rule. Since that time Indonesian occupation has resulted in widespread allegations of human rights abuse. West Papuans in Australia met outside Parliament House in Canberra to commemorate the day by staging a peaceful protest.

Shim Sung Min, Korean mission worker killed, August 2007.

19 South Korean short-term missionaries are still being held by their Taliban captors in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, after being taken hostage on the road to Kabul on July 19. As reported in last month’s newsletter, the group’s leader, Pastor Bae Hyung-Kyu was murdered when the Taliban’s demands were not met. A second male hostage, Shim Sung Min, 29, was also shot a few days later and his body dumped, when the drama was prolonged without resolution.

On August 13, two female hostages who were ill were released, as a so-called "gesture of goodwill". Kim Gi-Na and Kim Kyung-Ja reportedly looked traumatized during a brief television interview at Incheon airport, west of Seoul, on their return home

At the time of writing, the Taliban were still demanding a prisoner exchange. According to reports, they had separated the hostages into small groups at different venues to thwart any possible rescue mission.

In another incident, a female German development worker from the Christian relief agency, Ora International, was abducted from a restaurant in Kabul on August 18. Identified as Christina Meier, she was freed by Afghan police a couple of days later. The Taliban were not involved in this second kidnapping.