May 2023 Persecution Magazine
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WWW.PERSECUTION.ORG<br />
MAY <strong>2023</strong><br />
PERSECU ION<br />
Rising from the Rubble<br />
ION<br />
ICC HELPS PERSECUTED BELIEVERS RECOVER IN THEIR<br />
TIME OF GREATEST NEED.<br />
PERSECU ION<br />
PERSECU ION.ORG<br />
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN<br />
PERSECU ION.ORG<br />
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN<br />
PERSECU ION.ORG<br />
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN<br />
PERSECUTION.ORG 1
Contents<br />
MAY <strong>2023</strong><br />
ON THE COVER<br />
Buildings are flattened in Turkey<br />
from the devastating earthquake<br />
and aftershocks that killed tens of<br />
thousands of people in February.<br />
Photo: First Hope Association in Turkey<br />
FEATURES<br />
08<br />
10<br />
14<br />
16<br />
IN THEIR TIME OF<br />
GREATEST NEED<br />
ICC assists persecuted<br />
believers when there’s<br />
no one left to turn to.<br />
FULANI MILITANTS<br />
KILLED THEIR<br />
HUSBANDS, BUT NOT<br />
THEIR JOY IN THE<br />
LORD<br />
BLACKMAILED BY<br />
RADICAL ISLAM<br />
Two stories of Christians<br />
facing intimidation and<br />
discrimination at the hands<br />
of radical Muslims.<br />
BANDAGING THE<br />
BROKEN BODY<br />
Radical Hindu<br />
nationalists terrorize<br />
Christians and shutter<br />
churches.<br />
RECURRING<br />
04<br />
06<br />
“I HAVE SAID THESE THINGS TO YOU, THAT IN ME YOU MAY<br />
HAVE PEACE. IN THE WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TRIBULATION.<br />
BUT TAKE HEART; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.”<br />
ICC NEWSROOM<br />
YOUR HANDS AND FEET<br />
JOHN 16:33<br />
Your Source for <strong>Persecution</strong> News<br />
ICC Projects Made Possible by Supporters<br />
@persecuted @persecutionnews @internationalchristianconcern International Christian Concern<br />
OUR MISSION: Since 1996, ICC has served the global<br />
persecuted church through a three-pronged approach of<br />
advocacy, awareness, and assistance. ICC exists to bandage<br />
the wounds of persecuted Christians and to build the church<br />
in the toughest parts of the world.<br />
DONATIONS: International Christian Concern (ICC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) (all<br />
donations tax-deductible). ICC makes every effort to honor donor wishes in regards to<br />
their gifts. Occasionally, a situation will arise where a project is no longer viable. ICC<br />
will redirect those donated funds to one of our other funds that is most similar to the<br />
donor’s original wishes.<br />
2<br />
MEMBER<br />
<strong>Persecution</strong> | APRIL <strong>2023</strong><br />
© Copyright <strong>2023</strong> ICC, Washington, D.C., USA. All rights reserved.<br />
Permission to reproduce all or part of this publication is granted<br />
provided attribution is given to ICC as the source.<br />
STAFF<br />
Publisher Jeff King<br />
Editor Mike Anderson<br />
Designer Hannah Campbell
We Go Where the Lord Leads<br />
It’s a tragedy to lose your family’s home and everything<br />
you own with it. It’s another thing for it<br />
to happen in the dead of winter. It’s still another<br />
level of tragedy when the government won’t help<br />
you because you are a Christian.<br />
Finally, it’s a catastrophe when it happens to all the<br />
Christians you know at the same time! That’s the situation<br />
for Christians living in Turkey.<br />
Turkey is a Muslim country run by a radical who<br />
hates Christianity and is essentially an enemy of the<br />
U.S. and Europe. For that reason, the news about<br />
Turkey has quickly faded from the headlines in spite<br />
of the fact that 80,000 people died and huge masses<br />
of people have nowhere to live.<br />
That’s why we are assisting our brothers and sisters<br />
there. We rolled up our sleeves to help them and<br />
provided necessities like tents, food, generators, and<br />
more to help families get through this immediate<br />
crisis.<br />
We go where the Lord leads, especially into the<br />
dangerous places where Christians are hated and<br />
attacked. I’ve had the privilege to be part of many<br />
rescues, big and small, for more than 20 years.<br />
Whether the masses in Turkey or the lone Christian<br />
victim of persecution.<br />
From the bottom of my heart, I want to offer you a<br />
sincere, “thank you,” because none of this is possible<br />
without you.<br />
We are a partnership that together, act as the hands<br />
and feet of God for his family at the front lines!<br />
In Love,<br />
JEFF<br />
Jeff King, President<br />
International Christian Concern<br />
Author: The Last Words of the Martyrs and<br />
Islam Uncensored<br />
PERSECUTION.ORG 3
ICC Newsroom<br />
YOUR SOURCE FOR PERSECUTION NEWS<br />
Lone Protestant Church in Gaza Struggles to Survive<br />
Gaza’s Christian community is struggling to survive<br />
after years of steady decline in numbers. Only an<br />
estimated 1,000 Christians remain in the Gaza<br />
Strip, an area of more than two million residents –<br />
the third most densely populated political unit in the<br />
world. Internal pressures caused by radical Islamic<br />
terrorists and other political and territorial factors<br />
drive Christians out of the area.<br />
Christians of all denominations have played a<br />
vastly important role in healthcare, education, and<br />
business in the Gaza Strip for centuries. Today, among<br />
evangelicals, only one known Protestant church<br />
continues. Its leadership has been struggling to lead<br />
its flock ever since local Islamic militants martyred the<br />
Bible Society’s Christian Bookstore’s manager in 2007,<br />
which was followed by an exodus of church leaders.<br />
Christians feel pressure from all sides and are in many<br />
ways cut off from fellowship with and support from<br />
the wider body of Christ. Pray for the church in Gaza<br />
that they would remain strong under daily pressures<br />
and threats.<br />
More Than 70 Christians Killed in DRC in Two Weeks<br />
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)<br />
killed 72 Christians in Nord Kivu in the<br />
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)<br />
in the span of two weeks.<br />
Mulinde Esemo, a key church leader in<br />
Butembo, DRC, said the past two weeks<br />
have been a period of “great anguish” for<br />
the body of Christ in Congo.<br />
“We are living in a very tense situation<br />
here in Eastern DRC, both in towns and<br />
in the villages,” said Esemo. “Scores of<br />
believers have been killed in cold blood<br />
by the ADF rebels. It is a massacre like<br />
one killing animals.”<br />
Unabated, the ADF militants have<br />
been on a killing spree as they push<br />
their agenda of the Islamization of the<br />
majority-Christian eastern side of the<br />
DRC.<br />
Esemo continued, “Families that fled<br />
from all those villages are now living as<br />
refugees here in Butembo, despite the<br />
fact that the town and the suburbs are<br />
overpopulated. Women and children<br />
are the most affected since they are<br />
most vulnerable. You will occasionally<br />
hear them crying for the lack of food,<br />
as the men look for casual jobs to buy<br />
something for the families.”<br />
Please consider partnering with<br />
International Christian Concern (ICC) to<br />
assist our brothers and sisters who are<br />
suffering in the DRC and please continue<br />
to pray for them.<br />
4<br />
<strong>Persecution</strong> | MAY <strong>2023</strong>
HEAD TO OUR WEBSITE, PERSECUTION.ORG, FOR THE LATEST NEWS<br />
More Than 36<br />
Murdered in Brutal<br />
ADF Attack<br />
In the early hours of the morning<br />
on March 9, rebels from the Allied<br />
Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked<br />
a village in the eastern Democratic<br />
Republic of the Congo (DRC). At<br />
least 36 people were killed during<br />
the overnight attack.<br />
Villagers were trapped in their<br />
burning houses or murdered with<br />
machetes and hatchets.<br />
Militants Promise Attacks on Nigerian<br />
Christians<br />
Fifty-seven communities in northern<br />
Nigeria were unable to vote at their<br />
polling unit because of their Christian<br />
faith, according to community leaders.<br />
Boko Haram and bandits in Kaduna,<br />
Borno, Yola, and Adamawa states have<br />
displaced more than 200,000 Christians.<br />
Other community sources report that<br />
22 individuals were killed for supporting<br />
Christian candidate Peter Obi of the<br />
Labour Party in Borno State.<br />
Moses David, a Christian rights activist<br />
who supported Peter Obi’s candidacy,<br />
spoke with ICC. He said that the election<br />
was not free and fair, and he is worried<br />
that Christians will not have a voice in<br />
Nigeria again. He predicted Christians<br />
will suffer more if nothing is done.<br />
The attack took place in an area that<br />
has been plagued with violent rebel<br />
activity. The Islamic-affiliated ADF<br />
made ICC’s 2022 comprehensive<br />
Persecutor of the Year report for<br />
worst “entities.”<br />
14,000 Gather in Vietnam for<br />
Evangelism Event<br />
In March, more than 14,000 people in<br />
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, attended the<br />
Spring Love Festival hosted by the Billy<br />
Graham Evangelistic Association.<br />
The event made history. This was the<br />
first time the communist Vietnamese<br />
government permitted, outside of a<br />
holiday, an evangelistic outreach with a<br />
foreign speaker.<br />
Rev. Franklin Graham, who is the<br />
president and CEO of the association,<br />
shared with the crowd, “God makes and<br />
creates you and loves you and Vietnam.<br />
Jesus is in the city tonight.”<br />
Before the event, Graham reportedly<br />
met with Deputy Prime Minister Le<br />
Minh Khai and other officials to discuss<br />
religious freedom in the country.<br />
PERSECUTION.ORG 5
Your Hands and Feet<br />
ICC PROJECTS MADE POSSIBLE BY SUPPORTERS<br />
A Calamitous Quake<br />
ICC Joins Massive Relief Effort Thanks to Your Support<br />
7.8 magnitude earthquake and many aftershocks struck southeast<br />
A Turkey near the Syrian border in early February.<br />
By the (conservative) numbers:<br />
• More than 50,000 people killed.<br />
• More than 300,000 collapsed or heavily damaged buildings.<br />
• More than two million people were displaced.<br />
There is scant media attention two months later. The public turned its short<br />
attention span to other things.<br />
But the crisis continues for displaced families in the region that struggle<br />
under extreme conditions. They lack adequate shelter, food, and necessities.<br />
It’s a gut punch for Christians already facing threats in heavily Muslim<br />
communities under a hostile government.<br />
International Christian Concern (ICC) joined the massive relief effort through<br />
local workers we trust. ICC spent tens of thousands of dollars on tents, food,<br />
clothing, hygiene products, generators, and more, thanks to your support.<br />
ICC is in this for the long haul. With so many churches destroyed and a<br />
government that doesn’t want them there, we are committed to helping<br />
the Christian community rebuild.<br />
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<strong>Persecution</strong> | MAY <strong>2023</strong>
West Watch<br />
A GLIMPSE AT ISSUES INVOLVING CHRISTIANITY IN THE WEST<br />
Photo: First Hope Association in Turkey<br />
Christian Finnish Member of Parliament on Trial<br />
Again for “Hate Speech” One Year After Not-<br />
Guilty Verdict<br />
Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen must once again return to court<br />
to defend her Biblical views of sexuality. Despite being found not guilty of<br />
hate speech against the LGBT community by a Finnish trial court last year, the<br />
prosecutors appealed and are seeking “tens of thousands of Euros in fines<br />
and… insist that Räsänen’s and Pohjola’s publications be censored,” according<br />
to ADF International.<br />
Dr. Räsänen, a medical doctor, member of Finland’s legislature, and former<br />
Minister of the Interior, published a Tweet in 2019 in response to the Finnish<br />
Lutheran Church’s support of pro-LGBT pride event. Her Tweet questioned<br />
the church’s support of the event and included a picture of a Bible verse from<br />
Romans. Unlike many nations, Finland allows prosecutors to appeal a trial<br />
court’s “not guilty” verdict.<br />
Photo: ICC President Jeff King with Dr. Räsänen and her husband Niilo Räsänen<br />
European Court of Human Rights Condemns<br />
Russia for <strong>Persecution</strong> of Home Church Pastor<br />
Europe’s top human rights body, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR),<br />
has found that Russia violated the right to religious freedom against a Christian<br />
pastor. In 2016, Donald Ossewaarde was an evangelical pastor who was<br />
arrested and fined, “after he invited locals to his house for worship, singing,<br />
and Bible study,” according to ADF International.<br />
Pastor Ossewaarde moved his family from their home state of Michigan to<br />
Russia in 2005 to be missionaries. He was conducting a standard Sunday service<br />
in his home when Russian police officers questioned and later arrested him for<br />
illegal “missionary activity” in 2016. Russia has been increasing pressure on<br />
foreign missionaries since a new law was passed in 2016.<br />
In its condemnation against Russia, the ECHR said, “freedom to manifest one’s<br />
religion includes… the right to express one’s religious views” and that missionary<br />
work and evangelism is a protected right under European law “along with other<br />
acts of worship.”<br />
PERSECUTION.ORG 7
In Their Time<br />
of Greatest<br />
Need<br />
ICC assists persecuted believers<br />
when there’s no one left to turn to.<br />
When we read the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, we<br />
see it as an act of love and satisfying their need for<br />
food. They were hungry and left with nowhere to turn<br />
for food. He didn’t provide them with food with a stipulation of<br />
repayment or conversion into becoming his followers. He healed,<br />
fed, and performed miracles simply out of love for the brothers<br />
and sisters He saw in need.<br />
Though we can’t perform miracles in the same way, when we<br />
see our suffering brothers and sisters, we meet them in their<br />
time of greatest need – whether it’s providing aid packages of<br />
food to feed the hungry, medical care to bandage the broken, or<br />
household supplies and rent to the homeless.<br />
We often have the privilege to serve as a lifeline to believers of<br />
the persecuted church. Though these situations of need come<br />
from severe pain and distress, the work that follows is filled with<br />
hope for a better tomorrow, and ultimately points to hope in a<br />
better, more perfect eternity.<br />
In the Bible, Paul so clearly and eloquently writes this to<br />
church members in Corinth, saying, “For this light momentary<br />
affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all<br />
comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV).<br />
Though trials of persecution are heavy on all our hearts, compared<br />
to the eternal weight of glory, they will only be a memory of<br />
momentary affliction. This is the good news that propels us to<br />
bandage persecution’s wounds of our brothers and sisters.<br />
In the following pages, you’ll read stories of persecution survivors<br />
from all over the world who have been helped by International<br />
Christian Concern (ICC). In the Middle East, one Christian family<br />
began to struggle financially after the husband’s radical Islamic<br />
employer refused to promote him unless he converted to Islam.<br />
ICC provided the family with a small business.<br />
Upon receiving the help to start the business, the wife expressed<br />
to ICC that our visit was like a visit from Christ. One that was<br />
undeserved but something they’re grateful for beyond words.<br />
8<br />
<strong>Persecution</strong> | MAY <strong>2023</strong>
Types of Bandaging<br />
A crucial aspect of our ministry involves<br />
what we call ‘bandaging’ the church. These<br />
are often immediate, and sometimes longer<br />
term, needs that believers face in the wake<br />
of persecution.<br />
MEDICAL CARE<br />
When believers are brutally attacked<br />
for their faith, they need medical attention<br />
as soon as possible. Because<br />
Christians in high-conflict don’t areas<br />
have immediate access to healthcare,<br />
we make sure they get the care<br />
they need.<br />
FOOD PACKAGES<br />
Food is essential. Sometimes food is<br />
too scarce or expensive to acquire<br />
for believers after a persecution incident.<br />
In Nigeria, we empower Christian widows to provide for their<br />
families after the loss of their husbands and breadwinners.<br />
“All my life I’ve never seen the kind of Christian heart as exhibited<br />
by ICC; because since the death of my husband, no one has shown<br />
up to render the kind of help my children and I have received<br />
from ICC,” said Monifa, a widow you will read more about in the<br />
following pages. “I know that generally, life is difficult, but this<br />
help would enable me and my children to get other things that<br />
we would not have been able to.”<br />
We strive as a ministry to provide Christlike care to as many<br />
suffering brothers and sisters as we can, and that is all fueled by<br />
supporters, including you. We are beyond grateful for the work<br />
you enable us to do—together—throughout the world.<br />
RENT AND HOUSE SUPPLIES<br />
When believers lose their homes and<br />
have nowhere to turn, we make sure<br />
they’re able to sleep with a roof over<br />
their head.<br />
SMALL BUSINESS STARTUP<br />
We don’t want to create dependence<br />
on immediate relief aid. So, we assess<br />
the skills of our persecuted believers<br />
and supply them with tools and resources<br />
to start a small business.<br />
EDUCATION ASSISTANCE<br />
We believe education holds the key<br />
to unlocking cycles of generation persecution.<br />
Unfortunately, education<br />
is something only reserved for the<br />
wealthy in many countries. Through<br />
scholarships and other assistance,<br />
we set children up with a second<br />
chance at a brighter future.<br />
Illustration iStock/Andry Djumantara<br />
PERSECUTION.ORG 9
10<br />
<strong>Persecution</strong> | MAY <strong>2023</strong>
FOUR WOMEN RECLAIM THEIR<br />
FUTURES WITH THE HELP OF ICC<br />
AFTER FULANI MILITANTS KILLED<br />
THEIR BELOVED HUSBANDS<br />
One day not long ago, on the eastern<br />
edge of Nigeria, Amara, her four<br />
children, her pastor, and a handful of<br />
others gathered inside a newly revamped,<br />
cinderblock structure and dedicated the<br />
space to the Lord.<br />
And with that, amid smiles and “thank<br />
yous,” Operation Poultry began.<br />
After years of recovering from deep pain<br />
and trauma, and struggling to survive and<br />
support her family, Amara has joy and<br />
hope – and dreams for the future.<br />
ICC helped bring that hope with the<br />
delivery of 150 chickens. With ICC’s aid,<br />
Amara renovated and launched a poultry<br />
farm. ICC equipped her with an ongoing<br />
way to provide her family with nutrition<br />
and steadily generate income.<br />
The need for this helping hand came<br />
after a tragic attack by radical Fulani<br />
militants in February 2019. Four pastors<br />
PERSECUTION.ORG 11
were headed to show support and offer<br />
their condolences to the people of<br />
another village recently attacked by the<br />
Muslim militants. But on their way, the<br />
militia gunmen ambushed and brutally<br />
murdered the pastors, one of whom was<br />
Amara’s husband.<br />
To the militants, it was just a few more lives<br />
in a decades-long slaughter. Depending<br />
on who you ask, it’s estimated the Fulani<br />
militants have killed between 50,000 and<br />
100,000 Christians in the past 20 years<br />
and displaced more than 3 million.<br />
But to Amara and her children, and their<br />
community, it was heart-wrenching<br />
devastation and loss. The tragedy forced<br />
Amara in an instant, with no forewarning,<br />
into the role of being the sole parent<br />
and provider for her children. The<br />
economic conditions in the<br />
area were difficult, and it was<br />
a struggle just to survive.<br />
They migrated west to a<br />
different state, and with<br />
some financial backing<br />
from ICC, Amara had<br />
the opportunity to relaunch<br />
a poultry farm business that had<br />
run down due to a lack of finances.<br />
The day the chickens were brought in and<br />
the business was dedicated to the Lord,<br />
Amara expressed her delight and thanks:<br />
“I am happy because it is something that<br />
I least expected,” she said, “I am so much<br />
happy about it, I am full of joy.<br />
“My future plan and my prayer are that<br />
this farm will grow and be a big farm<br />
so that anyone who wants to see an<br />
example, it will be an example for many,”<br />
she said.<br />
Amara and her children – three sons<br />
and a daughter ranging from pre-teen to<br />
young adult – recorded a quick video of<br />
themselves clasping their hands together<br />
and saying, “Thank you, ICC.” The smiles<br />
and laughter are evident.<br />
Joy and hope look like squealing, wiggly<br />
piglets for Orisa and her children – also<br />
victims of the Fulani militants.<br />
Orisa lost her husband and her five<br />
children lost their father in the same<br />
attack in which Amara’s husband was<br />
killed. Like Amara, Orisa also struggled to<br />
support her family after the death of her<br />
pastor husband. ICC knew setting Orisa up<br />
with a piggery would provide her with the<br />
means to support her family.<br />
A location was found, building supplies<br />
were bought, and masons started<br />
constructing a cinderblock pen. Once<br />
they were done, carpenters put a blue<br />
corrugated tin roof in place. Everything<br />
was ready! Ten piglets were ordered and<br />
delivered, and Orisa’s pastor was invited<br />
to pray and dedicate the new business to<br />
the Lord.<br />
“We did not expect this, but we thank<br />
you. <strong>May</strong> God bless you,” said Emmauella,<br />
Orisa’s daughter who bears the name of<br />
her slain father, Emmanuel.<br />
Their names mean “God with us,” and God<br />
is surely with them. Despite the heartbreak<br />
and subsequent hardship, these families<br />
have endured. God, who never forsakes,<br />
offers Himself to them to bind up their<br />
hearts and souls, and He provides practical<br />
12<br />
<strong>Persecution</strong> | MAY <strong>2023</strong>
healing and hope through ministries like<br />
ICC that come alongside the suffering<br />
persecuted.<br />
Monifa, another woman made a widow<br />
and left with five children that fateful day<br />
in February, was also deeply moved by the<br />
way she saw the Lord ministering to her<br />
family through ICC.<br />
“All my life I’ve never seen the kind of<br />
Christian heart as exhibited by ICC,”<br />
she said, “because since the death<br />
of my husband, no one has shown<br />
up to render the kind of help I and<br />
my children have received from<br />
ICC. It’s such a great assistance.”<br />
Monifa was given what she needed<br />
to set up a poultry farm business:<br />
100 chicks and the construction of<br />
a solid cinderblock structure for<br />
her to house the chickens in.<br />
“It’s such a great assistance,” she<br />
said. “I know that generally, life is<br />
difficult, but this help would enable<br />
me and my children to get other things<br />
that we would not have been able to.”<br />
Monifa points out that her chickens are<br />
doing well, and she said she is thankful<br />
to the Lord and ICC.<br />
“I say Thank You multiple times, I am<br />
so grateful,” she said.<br />
“All my life, I’ve never<br />
seen this kind of<br />
Christian heart as<br />
exhibited by ICC,”<br />
- MONIFA, WIDOW<br />
AND MOM OF FIVE<br />
PERSECUTION.ORG 13
Blackma<br />
by Radic<br />
Islam<br />
We will often hear stories of Christians<br />
living in areas of the Middle East<br />
who are targeted and discriminated<br />
against for their faith in Christ. This is<br />
the case for Farah, Omar, and Arman.<br />
Farah is a 50-year-old woman, who is<br />
married to her husband, Omar. Together, they have two<br />
married daughters and two sons. One of the sons, Mina,<br />
is 22 years old and works in a blacksmith shop. The other<br />
son is 12 and is still in school.<br />
The family lives in a village that is 94% Muslim, leaving<br />
them in the minority. Omar struggled to find a job in the<br />
village, so he traveled to a larger city where he worked<br />
at an iron factory, and because of his honesty and<br />
intelligence, he was quickly promoted.<br />
Two stories of Christians facing intimidation and<br />
discrimination at the hands of radical Muslims.<br />
He worked for seven years until a new<br />
boss came along. This new boss was an<br />
Islamic extremist and hated Christians.<br />
He used to curse Omar and insult<br />
Christianity, but Omar chose not to<br />
respond to the harassment.<br />
Omar’s new boss asked him to convert<br />
to Islam to promote him. When Omar<br />
refused, Hassan and some of the<br />
workers accused Omar of negligence<br />
and began to file complaints. One day<br />
they gathered and beat him severely,<br />
damaging his spine, and eventually, they<br />
fired him.<br />
Omar was unemployed due to his spinal<br />
injury, and his son Mina supports the<br />
house even though he earns only 50<br />
pounds a day. The family wants to start a<br />
clothing business to generate income to<br />
support their daily expenses.<br />
ICC rented a storefront and provided<br />
14<br />
<strong>Persecution</strong> | MAY <strong>2023</strong>
iled<br />
al<br />
the startup materials and clothes<br />
for Farah to sell while her husband<br />
recovers from his injuries. She can<br />
support her family with these profits.<br />
“I thank God who helped me in my<br />
difficult circumstance. I believe that<br />
God has compensated me for all the<br />
persecution and injustice that my<br />
husband suffered, and I am confident<br />
that through this project, I will be<br />
able to provide for my family. Many<br />
times I felt despair, but when your<br />
staff visited me, I felt Christ’s visit<br />
to me. [The staffer] listened to my<br />
story and reassured me. Thank you<br />
for your help, and may the Lord bless<br />
you,” said Farah.<br />
Arman, another follower of Jesus,<br />
was an experienced tailor of more<br />
than 10 years in the Middle East. But<br />
a group of Muslim extremists burned<br />
his shop down after they could not<br />
convert him to Islam.<br />
It started when a man walked into<br />
Arman’s shop to discuss the Bible.<br />
This “customer,” however, was<br />
secretly trying to convert Arman to<br />
Islam.<br />
Islamic leaders soon followed and<br />
came to Arman’s shop to pressure<br />
him to convert. But he refused.<br />
The extremists eventually gave up<br />
and kicked him out of his shop,<br />
forcing Arman to sell clothes for<br />
several years in the open market.<br />
In early 2022, Arman rented out a<br />
new shop from a Christian owner,<br />
but extremists found him again and<br />
burned the shop and all his supplies.<br />
After hearing of his hardship, ICC<br />
helped Arman resupply his shop so<br />
he could return to business.<br />
“For I consider that the sufferings of this<br />
present time are not worth comparing with<br />
the glory that is to be revealed to us.”<br />
- ROMANS 8:18 (ESV)<br />
PERSECUTION.ORG 15
Bandaging the<br />
Broken Body<br />
Radical Hindu Nationalists Terrorize<br />
Christians and Shutter Churches<br />
16<br />
<strong>Persecution</strong> | MAY <strong>2023</strong>
Church photo via Usplash/Paul Silvan to protect the true identity of the church<br />
It’s an epidemic of violence toward<br />
Christians in Uttar Pradesh, an Indian<br />
state that has seen a sharp rise in<br />
crimes against Christian communities<br />
in recent years. In one attack, radical<br />
Hindu nationalists left a church<br />
building destroyed, the congregation<br />
injured, and everything, including and<br />
especially the Bibles, burned.<br />
The furious mob demanded the<br />
Christians leave the area and told them<br />
that the police would not protect them<br />
from their wrath. Sure enough, the<br />
police stood by while the attack took<br />
place. It was only after the damage was<br />
done that police arrested the attackers<br />
– only to release them later that day.<br />
The mob would later rally and move<br />
on to the neighboring village to<br />
inflict more harm on the Christian<br />
community.<br />
There, several Christian families were<br />
expelled from the village. Fearing for<br />
their lives, they took shelter where<br />
they could until the hostilities died<br />
down. Hungry and traumatized, the<br />
Christian families never waned in<br />
their faith. They ultimately decided<br />
to return to their village to repair the<br />
damage from the attacks.<br />
THE CHURCH AS ONE BODY<br />
ICC found out about the attacks<br />
shortly after and stepped in to aid the<br />
Christian community. Food packages<br />
for the affected families, rent for their<br />
stay, and medical attention were<br />
needed. ICC also<br />
The church congregation gathers for prayer during<br />
their first worship service in their new church building.<br />
supplied building materials to repair<br />
the church building.<br />
In total, ICC served more than 30<br />
Christians in the small community who<br />
expressed their deep gratitude.<br />
“When we saw things that were<br />
brought to us like groceries and the<br />
items for the church repair, I felt<br />
scriptures being fulfilled in our lives.<br />
When one part of the body suffers, the<br />
other part shares and helps,” said one<br />
member of the congregation. “I want<br />
to really thank God and His servants<br />
for not only meeting our physical<br />
needs by providing food and church<br />
building repairs but assuring us that<br />
we were one alone. We are one body.”<br />
The local pastor of the church also<br />
shared his feelings, saying, “We have<br />
a roof over our heads again. We have<br />
resumed our Sunday worship after<br />
almost three months of recovery,<br />
thanks to people who graciously<br />
supported the repair of our church.”<br />
It was a full house with all the<br />
congregants of the church gathering for<br />
Sunday worship. The pastor continued<br />
to share his gratitude, saying how the<br />
congregation was in full attendance<br />
after seeing God’s people come<br />
together to help and pray for them.<br />
A TERRIFYING TREND<br />
What happened to these Christians<br />
is all too common in India, especially<br />
in Uttar Pradesh. Last year alone,<br />
immense pressure from Hindu<br />
nationalists closed more than 500<br />
churches and house fellowships.<br />
Politicians and media turn a blind eye<br />
to the flagrant persecution of religious<br />
minorities, only adding to the system<br />
of oppression for those who suffer<br />
because of their faith.<br />
We continue to pray for our Indian<br />
brothers and sisters and be inspired<br />
and humbled by their resilience.<br />
They cling to their faith, even when<br />
it costs them everything. ICC will do<br />
everything it can to bring attention to<br />
this injustice, advocate for change, and<br />
bring relief to God’s suffering children.<br />
PERSECUTION.ORG 17
Stolen land<br />
Redemption Comes in the Form of an ICC Supported Medical Clinic<br />
18<br />
<strong>Persecution</strong> | MAY <strong>2023</strong>
“And after you have<br />
suffered a little while,<br />
the God of all grace, who<br />
has called you to his<br />
eternal glory in Christ,<br />
will himself restore,<br />
confirm, strengthen,<br />
and establish you.”<br />
- 1 PETER 5:10 (ESV)<br />
Sara puts her left hand on the<br />
back of a little boy’s head and<br />
neck as she holds a flat wooden<br />
tongue depressor in her other hand<br />
and peers into a child’s mouth.<br />
Her sage-colored attire is covered in<br />
a leaf and floral pattern—the pink<br />
flowers matching her lipstick. Her<br />
head is covered with a loosely draped<br />
scarf, and there’s a small nose ring<br />
adorning the left side of her mature<br />
face.<br />
She and her husband, Victor, both<br />
older adults, have embarked on a<br />
new adventure together: opening<br />
and operating a first aid clinic.<br />
It may seem an unusual time of life to<br />
start an endeavor like this, but when<br />
Victor’s land was essentially stolen<br />
from him, he was left without a way<br />
to support Sara and himself.<br />
Victor is a Christian in a South Asia<br />
country where approximately 96% of<br />
the population is Muslim. He used to<br />
seek out work as a daily laborer as his<br />
means of supporting his family, but<br />
as he became older, that became less<br />
and less of an option and he’d come<br />
home empty-handed, having earned<br />
nothing.<br />
Victor’s financial hope for the future<br />
had been six acres of farmland he<br />
inherited from his father. His father<br />
had leased the land to a Muslim man,<br />
and then died before the lease was<br />
up, meaning ownership of the land<br />
transferred to Victor. When the lease<br />
was up in 2021, Victor attempted to<br />
regain possession of it—counting on<br />
the financial support it would bring<br />
him.<br />
But Muhazzim, the man who had<br />
been using the land, refused, claiming<br />
that Victor’s father had sold him the<br />
land.<br />
Victor was shocked to hear this false<br />
narrative—his father had not sold<br />
that land to Muhazzim.<br />
When Victor disagreed and stood his<br />
ground, Muhazzim and several other<br />
Muslims beat Victor and told him to<br />
leave the land.<br />
Muhazzim’s intimidation didn’t stop<br />
there: he told Victor there would be<br />
dire consequences if he took legal<br />
action to repossess the land.<br />
Besides being a victim of theft and<br />
injustice, Victor, unable to work as<br />
a daily laborer any longer, needed<br />
this land; it was his only hope for<br />
supporting his family.<br />
But hope and relief came in another<br />
form, through ICC’s assistance: how<br />
did they feel about starting a first aid<br />
clinic?<br />
Sara held a medical certificate<br />
that qualified her to run the clinic,<br />
and together she and Victor could<br />
establish and operate this clinic as an<br />
enterprise that would support them.<br />
They were deeply grateful for the<br />
help, saying they could never repay<br />
the favor.<br />
“We are thankful to you guys [who]<br />
help us in this hard time,” Sara said,<br />
“we are able to earn by ourselves<br />
instead of begging [from] others.”<br />
ICC provided funds for construction<br />
that was required to modify an<br />
existing shop, and then they assisted<br />
with purchasing the equipment<br />
and supplies needed, such as a<br />
stretcher, wheelchairs, a medical bed,<br />
medicines, and medical instruments.<br />
“I am thankful to [ICC] for this help,”<br />
Victor said. “Now we are able to<br />
survive. Our circumstances were not<br />
good: Muslim people grab my land,<br />
and we don’t have any earning option<br />
before that, but [ICC] help us with<br />
this clinic—God bless you.”<br />
Even though it seems Victor will not<br />
receive justice and regain his land, the<br />
situation was not hopeless, because<br />
with Christ it never is, He always<br />
makes a way, and in this instance<br />
He used ICC to come alongside and<br />
lift the burden from this persecuted<br />
couple by equipping them to support<br />
themselves in a dignified way.<br />
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