InChains brings you the news about the persecuted Church worldwide. It also brings you resources available for prayer, statistics, and more. Part of being the body of Christ is remembering those that are persecuted. “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” We need to remember and pray for those that are being persecuted, but we also need to pray for those that are doing the persecuting, that they would come to Christ. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” InChains prays that you will use this knowledge to strategically and specifically pray.
BURKINA FASO
On Jan 25th, jihadists killed 10 people.
CHINA
Bitter Winter is reporting that legal pastors in China are being “trained” to see foreign religious institutions as threats to the government. They are also being trained to indoctrinate their congregations. This article has testimonies of the pastors that attended the training.
China has appointed Xia Baolong to head the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office. This man is known for his involvement in the persecution of Christians in the Zhejiang Province.
DRC
It is important to note that there are many more killings, kidnappings, and injured victims than is reported here. Many instances of persecution are reported as “ethnic tensions” or simply not reported as anything more than violence. Because of the significant amount of violence going on in the country, it is hard to parce out what is due to persecution and what is collateral damage of the war raging. Christians are often targeted because they promote peace, which is against all warring parties. They are also targeted because of their belief system, as some of those promoting violence are against Christianity. It is very hard to ascertain which incidents belong in the persecution category. What is listed in InChains are those incidents that are most likely due to persecution.
Pastor was killed because he refused to give up other pastors and refused to convert to Islam.
EGYPT
Coptic Christians are fighting for their right to have their own inheritance laws. Currently, they are required to adhere to the Islamic Law regarding inheritance. This means that males receive significantly more, if not all, of the inheritance and women get very little, if any. Christians state that their religion requires equal status to both men and women in regards to inheritance. So they are fighting in court to make that happen.
The province of Minya now has a martyr’s shrine to commemorate the 20 Coptic Christians, and 1 Christian from Ghana, that were beheaded on a beach in Libya by ISIS. It was unveiled on the 5 year anniversary, Feb 15th.
INDIA
The RSS, a Hindu extremist political party, is putting together a network of spies to observe and report on Christian activities. Their goal is to have a person in every town that will watch for the spread of the gospel and then attack it.
A pastor was beaten and a church decimated by Hindu extremists in Andhar Pradesh. The Hindus were trying to build a wall to prevent the people from getting to church. When the pastor asked them to stop, the assault began.
IRAN
Reports are coming out saying that Mary Fatemeh Mohammadi is in the Qarchak Prison. This prison is known for its sexual harassment and torture. Mary was arrested during the protests that were held four weeks ago. No one knew where she was. It is believed that she is in this prison. Continue to pray for her.
An update has been found. Reports of mistreatment, abuse, denial of lawyer, and more.
ISRAEL
The town of Jish has been attacked by Jewish extremists. Christians found their tires slashed and buildings vandalized with hate speech.
MALAYSIA
February 13th marks the 3 year anniversary of Pastor Koh’s abduction. Voice of the Martyrs has a petition that can be signed, demanding his release.
NIGERIA
It is important to note that there are many more killings, kidnappings, and injured victims than is reported here. Many instances of persecution are reported as “ethnic tensions” or “farmer/herder” actions. They are not reported as Muslim vs Christian. The two parties, in this instance, are the Fulani (Muslim) tribe and the Christians, but are rarely reported this way. In addition, the problems with Boko Haram (also bears the name Islamic State in the Western African Province – ISWAP) are so overwhelming that victims are rarely identified in the media. For the most part, the media is now only reporting casualties by location/attack However, ISWAP is known to target Christians. Because of the reporting challenges, InChains is only reporting those instances that are known to be on Christians. You can read an overview of the current state of Nigeria’s persecution (as an update to my book) here.
Agenzia Fides has reported that Rev. Fr. Nicholas Oboh was abducted on February 14th in Edo State.
NORTHERN IRELAND
A church in Larne was paint bombed. Police are treating the incident as a hate crime.
RUSSIA
Three protestant churches in Russia are facing closure. The FSB and other officials have been relentless in going after protestant churches with various laws and regulations. Despite having addressed the issues, the churches are still facing closure.
RESOURCES
PRAYER SHEETS
Open Doors February Prayer Calendar.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide has a prayer sheet for the week.
REPORTS & BOOKS
Asia Bibi, a woman who is now safe in Canada after spending a decade on death row, has published her biography with the help of a French journalist. The book is so far only in the French language.
Voice of the Martyrs has a Global Prayer Guide available for free.
OpenDoors released its 2020 World Watchlist Report.
ChinaAid has released its bi-annual report on religious persecution and national policy concerns. You can purchase it on Amazon in English and in Chinese.
If you would like to receive more frequent updates on Christian persecution, you can follow the Persecuted Church facebook page.
