October 2018 Persecution Magazine

Gunmen Storm Church in Pakistan to Settle Property Dispute
3 | PAKISTAN On July 13, a group of armed Muslim men attacked a Catholic church in the district of Faisalabad, approximately 75 miles from
Lahore. A local Christian told ICC that the group of five Muslims, all belonging to the same family, attacked the church as congregants were
gathered for worship. The attackers ambushed the church, carrying guns and kerosene, and attempted to set the church ablaze.
The incident stemmed from a dispute over church property. Thankfully, police arrived on the scene quickly to protect the churchgoers. At the
time of writing, three of the five assailants have been arrested and an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
State-Sanctioned Church in Shandong Province
Demolished
4 | CHINA On July 17, more than 70 police officers and workers demolished
Liangwang Catholic Church in China’s Shandong province. The
church is a state-sanctioned church and has been legally registered since
2006. Recently, local authorities drafted an urban development plan that
involved removing the church. Despite conversations with the local religious
affairs office to find a place to relocate the church, officers arrived
on the scene without warning or documentation to raze the building.
Within a matter of 15 minutes, they demolished the church with bulldozers
and pickaxes. Three church caretakers who were on the premises at
the time had their phones confiscated and destroyed.
Football Coach Who Lost Job for Praying on Field
Petitions US Supreme Court to Hear Appeal
5 | USA In 2016, a Washington State school district decided not to
renew the contract of Joe Kennedy, a high school football coach. This
decision came about after Kennedy repeatedly prayed on the 50-yard
line after games, even after the school district requested that he cease
this practice. Although Kennedy never encouraged or required students
to join him in prayer, the superintendent insisted that the practice was
unconstitutional by suggesting that the practice would appear as a government
endorsement of religion. After years of legal back-and-forth,
Kennedy’s attorneys have now filed a petition with the United States
Supreme Court over the matter.
Foreign Christian Couple Deported from Nepal on
Conversion Charges
6 | NEPAL On July 6, De Vera Richard and Rita Gonga, a Christian husband
and wife, were officially deported from Nepal to their native countries of the
Philippines and Indonesia. The couple had been living in Nepal since November
2017 on a one-year business visa, where they operated a restaurant and were
actively involved with Every Nation Church.
Following a complaint lodged earlier in the year, the Department of
Immigration launched an investigation and discovered that the two were working
as pastors and allegedly “converting Hindus into Christians.” Proselytization
is a crime according to Article 26 of Nepal’s constitution, which can carry a sentence
of five years in prison and a fine of 50,000 Rupees. Thankfully, the couple
was not imprisoned, but they were fined, as well as deported.
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INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
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