Around the time of the Chinese Olympics, the Chinese

Community Party (CPU) Government called for

“extraordinary measures” to secure “20 more years of

political and social stability”. They listed four unstable

social elements:
“illegal house church leaders,

petitioners,

human rights defenders

and political dissidents”.

An example of this is the treatment of Pastor “Bike” 
 Zhang Mingxuan. He and his family were forcibly
escorted from their Beijing apartment in October 2008
and finally removed from Beijing on January 16, 2009.

Authorities refuse to allow Pastor Bike Zhang and his family to stay in Beijing. On the evening of January 16, 2009, more than a dozen Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers forcibly escorted Pastor Bike Zhang Mingxuan from Pastor Hua Huiqi’s home in Beijing and put him on a bus to Henan province.         
 

A Christian elementary school teacher, Wilhelmina Holle, was accused of insulting Islam while tutoring one of her students. A flyer accusing her was distributed on November 23, which led to riots in Letwaru village, Masohi district on December 9, 2008.

Enraged Muslims destroyed 69 buildings, including two churches, 42 homes owned by Christians, four shops and a village hall. They also inadvertently struck 16 homes owned by Muslims. Several people were wounded. 1523 Christians and 241 Muslims were displaced by the riots.
Hundreds of local youth in nearby Ambon protested on December 15, holding government officials responsible for failing to maintain law and order. Consequently the officials promised to reconstruct two churches and a number of houses before Christmas.

Bangladeshi pastor confronted
Jhontu Biswas, 31, a Christian pastor in the Meherpur district of Bangladesh, has suffered torture and harassment for more than a year.
On December 9, 2008 a 4000-strong crowd celebrating Islam’s largest festival confronted him en masse at Fulbaria, 270kms west of Dhaka.
They accused him of misleading Muslims by distributing Christian booklets and threatened to harm him and other Christians if a new government came to power. Fortunately for him, the Grand Alliance won the election.

Two of his congregation, Ishmael Sheikh and his wife Rahima Khatun, were baptised on November 9. By the end of the month, Muslim neighbours in their village in Meherpur district, had compelled their own sons to expel them from their house. The neighbours threatened the sons that their children would not be allowed to marry anyone in the village if Sheik and Rahima stayed.
In the SE Rangamati district a young father who converted to Christianity four months before, was beaten and driven from his home by Buddhist villagers on December 18. He can no longer provide for his wife and six year old son.                                       

Murderous rioting sparked by Muslim attacks on Christians and their property in Jos on November 28,29 2008 left six pastors dead, at least 500 people killed, 2,500 people displaced and 40 churches destroyed. After the election Muslims attacked Christians rather than political targets.

   Among Christians killed was Joseph Yari of the Evangelical Church of West Africa. He was shot dead while standing by the pastor’s wife as he helped other Christians who repelled Muslim fanatics bent on burning down Christ Baptist Church at Tudun-Wada .

Churches ordered to stop holding services

According to the news agency Mizzima, local authorities in Rangoon (Yangon, Burma)have ordered at least 100 churches to stop holding worship services.

Mizzima reports the order could affect as many as 80 % of churches in the city, and that 50 pastors were forced to sign at least five documents promising to cease church services. They were reportedly warned they could be jailed if they disobeyed the order.
The campaign appears to be particularly targeted at churches meeting in apartment buildings, rather than churches that own their own building and land.
According to a report by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), officials from the local branch of the Ministry of Religious Affairs summoned the owners of buildings in which churches were meeting and issued them with an order prohibiting the use of private property for religious purposes.
One pastor in Rangoon claimed several churches have now been locked and sealed, including three churches in South Dagon Township.
Some Christians believe the immediate cause of the crackdown is church involvement in providing relief for victims of Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the area in May 2008.  

The Karnataka High Court has reopened approx. 12 churches that were closed down by the Deputy Commissioner of Davangere district, Karnataka, India in early September due to claims that forcible conversions were taking place.
At 7:30 p.m. on January 9, 2009 police officials disrupted a weekly prayer meeting held in the home of Pastor Iswar Albannavar (30) and his wife, Renuka Iswar Albannavar (26), in Gangavadi, Belgaum district accusing the couple of forcible conversion.
The police confiscated Bibles and hymnals and took several believers to the police station.
Although the Christians stated that they were not coerced into attending the meeting, Pastor Albannavar and another believer were charged with "promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion ... and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony."
At last report, the two Christians remained in detention.

Government authorities have shut down relief camps in Orissa, India, without adequate protection for Christians against further attacks or compensation for damages.
Many fear further attacks if they return to their homes, many of which have not been rebuilt.
Reports of attacks and beatings of pastors and Christian workers (including two Operation Mobilisation workers) have come from the states of:
  Karnataka,   Andra Pradesh,   Madhya Pradesh,   Punjab and   Orissa.
In Orissa, three Christians were arrested on false charges of “attempting to rape and murder” in Guntaput, Koraput district.
 A worker from the extremist group RSS named only ‘Nanda’ filed the charge. The tribal woman involved said she had not been attacked and had no idea why the Christians were accused.
The men were released on bail.

New law presented in Sri Lanka

On January 6, an anti-conversion bill was presented by the Buddist-led National Heritage Party (Jathika Hela Urumaya) to the Sri Lankan Parliament.  The purpose of the bill is to "provide prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by use of force or allurement or by fraudulent means."
The current legislation no longer contains two clauses which the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional following challenges from civil and religious rights groups.
Christians and other religious minorities are concerned as the bill aims to introduce serious penalties, including jail terms,  for "forcibly" converting people.

North Korea

On January 14 2009, a ‘Global day of Repentance’ took place on behalf of North Korea. On January 14 1907 there was a famous Christian revival in Pyongyang, the present capital of North Korea, from which developed the huge active church in South Korea.
Christianity is now a serious crime, as the nation ‘worships’ the dead Kim il Sung who is called “Dear Leader’ and ‘Father’. There is the most severe persecution of Christians. Approx. 200,000 are in prison  camps. Christian prisoners are severely punished if they lift up their heads or their eyes, so they walk with bowed heads.
Those who flee to China are often caught by Chinese communists and returned to either torture or death.
Food is available to their huge armed forces  but in short supply elsewhere, resulting in malnutrition and large numbers dying of starvation.

Bible distribution in China

Presumably to counter Bible smuggling, the government is now offering Amity Press Bibles to certain house churches.
Amity Press in China can now print 12 million Bibles per year and claims they can provide all the Bibles needed for China. However it should be noted that about 9 million of these are printed in foreign languages for export outside of China.
The remaining 3 million per year would barely keep up with the expected new converts of more than  3 million yearly and leave none for the many of China’s 100 million Christians desperately in need of a Bible.

Somali Christian attacked in a Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya.

Salat Sekondo Mberwa worked for an international relief and development agency. He fled Mogadishu with his family after a relative was murdered, allegedly for distributing Bibles.
But he was attacked in his room in the refugee camp by five Muslim youths. He and his son managed to beat them off for which Mberwa was jailed.
Christians helped raise the 20,000 Kenya shilling fine(AU$410) that a camp court demanded for his conversion dishonouring Islam and the prophet, Muhammad.
He was at home resting on November 26, 2008 when Islamists in the camp returned, shot him in the shoulder and left him for dead. Relatives gave him first aid and arranged treatment for him in Mogadishu from where he was relocated to Dadaab for recovery. He was exhausted but not about to give in.