‘So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’
2 Corinthians 4:18
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Pakistan – Several injured as Muslims open fire on Christians in Lahore
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Myanmar – Three pastors arrested for leading prayers for peace released from prison
Nigeria – Nigeria – Kidnappers release five more students; gunmen kill 34 in Christian community; pastor killed by Muslim mob
Kidnappers in Nigeria freed five more students and the matron of Bethel Baptist High School, Kaduna State on 8 October.
Around 120 students were abducted by gunmen from the Christian boarding school on 5 July. Students were freed in batches in late July, August and September. Some managed to escape their captors.
Elsewhere in Kaduna State, gunmen killed 34 people and razed several houses on Sunday 26 September in an attack on Madamai village in Kaura Local Government Area, which is 95% Christian.
Michael Magaji, a church leader in nearby Kafanchan, said that most of the victims were women and children. Thirteen members of the same family were among the dead.
The attack took place on the same day as gunmen shot dead one person and injured several others after storming Sunday morning worship at a church in Gabaciwa, also in Kaduna State.
In Nigeria’s northern Kano State a Muslim mob armed with machetes fatally wounded a pastor, and burned his home, church and mission school to the ground on 22 September after he was suspected of being involved in the conversion of a Muslim man.
Pastor Yohanna Shuaibu, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the Sumaila Local Government Area of Kano, was warned of an impending attack and briefly left his home as a precaution. He went back the following day to evacuate pupils from the Christian school and, believing tensions had eased, chose to remain. That night the mob attacked.
The Hausa Christian Foundation described the pastor as a “soldier of Christ” who “was hunted and gruesomely killed at his duty post
and his wrong was that he was a servant of the Lord”.
Pastor Yohanna was involved in a number of community initiatives, including raising funds for boreholes for Christian villages denied access to government-provided water sources. Under his leadership, a faulty water source at a local mosque was refurbished by Christians.
The pastor’s family are now in hiding in a safe place and Barnabas Fund is helping to support their immediate needs.
Give thanks for answered prayer with the release of more Bethel Baptist High School students. Pray that the Lord will strengthen them as they adjust to freedom after their long captivity. Remember the last four students still held captive and ask that they too will be set free. Stand with those bereaved in the attacks in Kaduna and Kano states and ask that Pastor Yohanna’s legacy as a true soldier of Christ (2 Timothy 2:3) will inspire many to imitate his faithfulness and dedication. Pray for healing of the seven Christians wounded and hospitalised in Kaduna and that the violence against Christians in the Middle Belt and North of Nigeria will cease.
India – Christian acid attack teenager dies; extremists use anti-conversion laws to harass Christians
Christian teenager Nitish Kumar, 16, who suffered burns of up to 70 per cent of his body following an acid attack in Bihar state, India, died in hospital on Sunday 26 September.
The family of the young church leader say the attack on 11 August was carried out by radical Hindutva nationalists in reprisal for his refusal to stop holding daily prayer meetings in his home. Police, however, claim the death was a suicide.
Elsewhere in India, extremists are continuing to use anti-conversion laws as a means of harassing church leaders and other Christians.
On 28 September a pastor and two brothers were arrested after a group of extremists ordered them to stop distributing Bibles and leaflets in Rampur city, Himachal Pradesh.
Pastor Charlie John denied attempting to gain converts to Christianity through force and inducement, explaining, “I only offered the Bible, and I gave it to those who freely accepted the Good News.”
The following day, in Madhya Pradesh, radical Hindutva nationalists disrupted a Christian wedding ceremony after falsely alleging that the bride had unlawfully converted from Hinduism. Police did not file charges.
Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, described anti-conversion legislation as “a tool to persecute innocent Christians”.
Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are two of nine Indian states that criminalise seeking converts through force, fraud or allurement. A tenth, Karnataka, is already treating conversion activities as illegal and plans to introduce legislation soon.
Karnataka’s chief minister, Basavaraj Bommai, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claimed on 28 September that forceful conversions had “become rampant” in the state.
Days earlier, a group of Karnataka church leaders had met with Bommai to express their opposition to any anti-conversion law, arguing that accusations of forced conversions in the state were “malicious” and that an anti-conversion law would lead to “unnecessary communal issues and unrest”.
Thank the Lord for Nitish Kumar’s brief but faithful life of service. Pray that his family will know the Lord’s comfort as they come to terms with their loss. Call on God to bring about the repeal of anti-conversion laws in India and ask that He will prevail upon legislators in Karnataka to turn from such a harmful path. Pray that Christians facing false accusations will respond with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15) and will not be deterred from living and testifying faithfully for Him.
Pakistan – High court rules abducted Christian girl mentally old enough to convert to Islam and marry
The Lahore High Court has ruled that a 14-year-old Christian girl who was abducted, forcefully converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man should not be returned to her Christian family.
Even though the legal age for marriage in Pakistan is 16 (except in Sindh where it is 18) the judge ruled that Chashman Kanwal is mentally mature enough to consent to marriage and conversion.
In a judgment on 24 September, Justice Tariq Nadeem set aside the Pakistani law in favour of the sharia (Islamic) principle that marriage to a girl who has reached puberty is legal.
Chashman’s father, Gulzar Masih, reported his daughter missing on 28 July after he went to pick her up from school in Faisalabad, Punjab province, and could not find her. He said his family was saddened by the ruling and would appeal.
The case is similar to the ordeal of two Christian sisters abducted in Lahore, Punjab province in June 2021 and forced to marry two Muslim cousins and convert to Islam.
Arooj, 18, and her sister Kinza, 14, reported that their captors had threatened to kill them if they did not go through with the marriage and forced conversion.
Arooj was released on 12 July after pressure from local leaders and Kinza escaped in September. Both are now in a safe place and have filed to have the marriages annulled.
Seek the Lord urgently that the appeal against the forced conversion and marriage of Chashman will be accepted and the decision overturned. Pray that God’s Spirit will convict judges to exercise sound judgment and fairness and forbid such marriages, knowing that they too must stand before the supreme Judge (Psalm 96:13). Praise God for Arooj’s release and Kinza’s escape. Ask God to protect them and other Christian girls from the constant danger of abduction in Pakistan.
Myanmar – Three pastors arrested for leading prayers for peace released from prison
Give thanks for answered prayers after three pastors from the Kachin ethnic group, imprisoned and awaiting trial for organising prayers for peace in March, were released by the Myanmar military government.
The pastors were freed on 18 October along with over 5,600 political prisoners as part of a general amnesty.
Pastor Koshan Singsar, Pastor Z Kaw Htinah and Pastor M Hawng Di were arrested and charged on 28 June 2021 after organising an inter-denominational prayer service in Putao district on 3 March.
Under the penal code they would have faced up to three years’ imprisonment on charges of incitement to cause fear, spreading false news and agitating for criminal offences against government employees.
Concerns had been voiced for the pastors’ health, especially Pastor Hawng Di, in his 70s, who has high blood pressure.
Military chief Min Aung Hlaing granted the amnesty just three days after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) excluded him from attending its summit, which was due to start on 26 October.
Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on the Myanmar human rights, commented, “The junta is releasing political prisoners in Myanmar not because of a change of heart, but because of pressure.”
Praise God for the release of pastors Koshan Singsar, Z Kaw Htinah and M Hawng Di in response to your prayers. Ask that their health needs will be fully met, especially those of Pastor Hawng Di, and that they will be able to resume their ministries in God’s time. Pray that those who attended the March prayer service will be particularly encouraged and press on confidently in their Christian walk, undeterred by past setbacks (Philippians 3:14). Ask that the junta will have a genuine, lasting change of heart in its treatment of non-Buddhist, non-Burman citizens in Myanmar and for an end to the oppression of these minorities.
Eritrea – Fifteen Christians re-arrested
Fifteen Christians have been re-arrested in Eritrea and taken to the Mai Serwa maximum security prison in the capital Asmara following raids on their homes.
All had been previously imprisoned for their faith. Most had served between five and six years, but some had endured 16 years of incarceration until being freed in September 2020 as part of anti-Covid-19 measures.
The majority of the group, who range in age from their late 20s to 60s, are men. They were re-arrested after the discovery of a list of Christian contacts.
The arrests followed the detention in July of two elderly pastors, Girmay Araia and Samuel Gebrewleldi, from the Full Gospel Church of Eritrea. The men, both in their 70s, were taken to Asmara’s Second Police Station.
Cry out to God of behalf our brothers and sisters re-arrested. Pray that they will be able to set their eyes on things above (Colossians 3:2) and draw strength from their Redeemer as they contemplate further harsh incarceration. Ask that the Light of the World will overpower dark thoughts (John 1:5) and that the authorities will reverse this decision and set them free, along with other Christians imprisoned for their faith in Eritrea.
