The world is getting one story from the Muslim dominated BBC about Syria, but is this more like the truth?
"The situation for Christians and other minorities is getting worse and worse since the army pulled out, it is a nightmare," a church leader told Open Doors this week. Syrian forces have now withdrawn from Homs according to an agreement with the Arab league.
The priest, whose identity is protected for his own safety, shared: "Armed civilians have their own checkpoints. Christians in general, but particularly women, are threatened in the streets, at checkpoints and everywhere they go. Many of them are not leaving their homes anymore."
Internationally there is scepticism over whether the Syrian government will call a halt to the violence as agreed with the Arab league. "The scepticism is very understandable," an Open Doors observer for the Middle East said, "but other than giving this initiative a fair chance, the alternatives are bleak. I am sure President Bashar al-Assad's sincerity will be tested soon, if not already, by new protesters taking to the streets."
"For several Christians the situation is alarming," the Open Doors worker says. "We learned that armed people, who are believed to be Sunni Muslim extremists, have their own checkpoints in the streets of Homs. They stop people and check for their IDs. A believer shared that to all non-Sunni Muslims they say 'This is our land.' It was reported that two Christians were killed in the past week."
A pastor in Homs told how he has been threatened by extremists. The fanatics had assumed he had reported information about them to the government and consequently the pastor fled Homs for his own safety.
Showing posts with label Politics. Religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Religion. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Is this the truth about the Arab Spring?
From a Syrian Christian friend:
I have hesitated many times to write about Syria. Yesterday a friend encouraged me to write something to help friends have a better understanding of the situation. It has been very sad to hear and see what is happening but sadder still to see the contradictions between what is said on the news and what I hear from friends within the country. On Tuesday the streets of each city was full to bursting with hundreds of thousands who were Pro Assad demonstrators. He is to some of you a dictator, but he isn’t to the majority of the people of Syria, to us he is someone who allowed different groups and different religions to coexist in harmony without allowing one to dominate the others! This must be said. He has protected the Christians since the time his father took power and continues to do so. Where in the world does the government give you a free land to build your churches, where do they call you in only to say that they are proud of you and of your community? This happened there. I spent the first few years in my life there. It was such a lovely life and such freedom to live our faith and to be who we are. After living in other countries I now appreciate that even more. He also allowed the Muslims, Alaouits, Drouz... and others to exercise their religions in freedom. Syria is not a Muslim state. It signed to laïcity many decades ago. And this is unacceptable to some parties. What we hear on the news is not the real picture at times, like the incident that happened in 1985 in Hamma. What happened there was punishing a radical group that killed hundreds of innocent people by placing bombs in every bus and train to go off at the same day and hour! No one heard of this. In that incident I lost my best friend! As people of Syria we were so pleased he held back extremist and radicals under control. Today most people I talk to – not just the Christians – in Syria are urging him not to allow the extremists to take power!
Today what is going on is not in search of democracy. The problems started in cities that are the hub of radicals, and if you watch carefully things are worse on the Friday as there are those who go in the mosques and preach a message against the West, Israel and the president of Syria.
What baffles me that the West supports the people that will hurt Syria and the West in the future. If they take the power in that region then the church will suffer more than you could imagine, not forgetting the seriousness of the political situation of the region and who or what else might suffer.
When the twin towers were bombed in the United States we all tasted the power of evil. I pray that this evil won’t prevail against any peoples or country... please pray for Syria
I have hesitated many times to write about Syria. Yesterday a friend encouraged me to write something to help friends have a better understanding of the situation. It has been very sad to hear and see what is happening but sadder still to see the contradictions between what is said on the news and what I hear from friends within the country. On Tuesday the streets of each city was full to bursting with hundreds of thousands who were Pro Assad demonstrators. He is to some of you a dictator, but he isn’t to the majority of the people of Syria, to us he is someone who allowed different groups and different religions to coexist in harmony without allowing one to dominate the others! This must be said. He has protected the Christians since the time his father took power and continues to do so. Where in the world does the government give you a free land to build your churches, where do they call you in only to say that they are proud of you and of your community? This happened there. I spent the first few years in my life there. It was such a lovely life and such freedom to live our faith and to be who we are. After living in other countries I now appreciate that even more. He also allowed the Muslims, Alaouits, Drouz... and others to exercise their religions in freedom. Syria is not a Muslim state. It signed to laïcity many decades ago. And this is unacceptable to some parties. What we hear on the news is not the real picture at times, like the incident that happened in 1985 in Hamma. What happened there was punishing a radical group that killed hundreds of innocent people by placing bombs in every bus and train to go off at the same day and hour! No one heard of this. In that incident I lost my best friend! As people of Syria we were so pleased he held back extremist and radicals under control. Today most people I talk to – not just the Christians – in Syria are urging him not to allow the extremists to take power!
Today what is going on is not in search of democracy. The problems started in cities that are the hub of radicals, and if you watch carefully things are worse on the Friday as there are those who go in the mosques and preach a message against the West, Israel and the president of Syria.
What baffles me that the West supports the people that will hurt Syria and the West in the future. If they take the power in that region then the church will suffer more than you could imagine, not forgetting the seriousness of the political situation of the region and who or what else might suffer.
When the twin towers were bombed in the United States we all tasted the power of evil. I pray that this evil won’t prevail against any peoples or country... please pray for Syria
Monday, November 15, 2010
Remembrance Day 11th November 2010
One thing the British do well is ceremony. On Saturday night I watched on television the Service of remembrance from the Albert Hall. This is the most solemn day in the British calender when on the anniversary of the armistice in the First World War, we remember our war dead in that and subsequent conflicts. It is especially poignant when our troops are engaged in daily battles as they are in Afghanistan.
The symbol of it all is the poppy, which grew in the fields of Flanders where the great battles of the Somme, and Ypres were fought. Everyone wears a paper poppy on their coat. David Cameron recently almost offended the Chinese on his recent visit there. They thought it was a reference back to the Opium Wars.
The actual service was splendid. The whole Royal Family was there and all leading politicians, but also thousands of ordinary people as well as serving soldiers. Near the end there was two minutes silence during which thousands of paper poppies fluttered down from the soaring ceiling.
I was pleased to see that one of the hymns was How Great Thou Art!
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed;
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
And when I think that God his son not sparing,
Sent him to die - I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home- what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
There was the Duke of Edinburgh straight like a ramrod singing out the words for all he was worth and the Queen, jiggling slightly to the rhythm like a Momma in a Gospel church. And there were Ed Milliband the Labour leader and Nick Clegg the Liberal Democrat leader, both avowed atheists, singing out the second and third verses as if they believed them.
What is the world coming to?
The symbol of it all is the poppy, which grew in the fields of Flanders where the great battles of the Somme, and Ypres were fought. Everyone wears a paper poppy on their coat. David Cameron recently almost offended the Chinese on his recent visit there. They thought it was a reference back to the Opium Wars.
The actual service was splendid. The whole Royal Family was there and all leading politicians, but also thousands of ordinary people as well as serving soldiers. Near the end there was two minutes silence during which thousands of paper poppies fluttered down from the soaring ceiling.
I was pleased to see that one of the hymns was How Great Thou Art!
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed;
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
And when I think that God his son not sparing,
Sent him to die - I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home- what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
There was the Duke of Edinburgh straight like a ramrod singing out the words for all he was worth and the Queen, jiggling slightly to the rhythm like a Momma in a Gospel church. And there were Ed Milliband the Labour leader and Nick Clegg the Liberal Democrat leader, both avowed atheists, singing out the second and third verses as if they believed them.
What is the world coming to?
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Pope's visit
I have not commented on the Pope's visit to the UK. It has been all over television and readers can make up their own minds about it. I am not a Catholic and although in some areas I might be regarded as a co-belligerent, supporting some Catholic views, there are clear doctrinal differences between them and me.
What I will comment on, though, is the attempt by the BBC to hijack the visit for its own agenda as reported in this piece.
I will quote small extracts but click the link and find the whole story.
A parish in north London has complained over the way in which the BBC carried out an interview in their church. They say that although they were approached by a BBC reporter who asked to speak with parishioners about their views on the Pope's visit - in fact a service at the church was just used as a backdrop to an interview with someone from a campaigning group not based in the parish.
Penelope Middelboe, of the newly created Catholic Voices for Reform ( May 2010) was shown attending the service at St John Vianney’s, including a close-up, and being interviewed outside the church, giving the impression that she was a parishioner and supposedly a spokesperson for the parish. (I do not understand why she was brought to St John Vianney’s when the interview could have been held elsewhere.)
• When the reporter Robert Pigott was speaking, parishioners were shown in the background leaving the church. He said: “The poll shows that large numbers of ordinary Catholics are, by disputing important teachings on issues like celibacy and the role of women, prepared to challenge the Pope’s view on exactly what the church’s message should be”.
The report does not show any of our parishioners expressing their opinions. So this could be understood that those parishioners who were filmed leaving the church shared the views of what the reporter referred to as ‘ordinary Catholics’.?
It pains and saddens me that I now have to question the integrity of the BBC. It deceived our parish priest and did not do what it had explicitly received permission for, which was to seek the opinions of parishioners at St John Vianney’s.
I hope that the BBC will provide fair and honest reporting of the Pope’s historic visit. On a personal note, I thank our Queen for inviting the Pope to the nation. I look forward to your reply.
What I will comment on, though, is the attempt by the BBC to hijack the visit for its own agenda as reported in this piece.
I will quote small extracts but click the link and find the whole story.
A parish in north London has complained over the way in which the BBC carried out an interview in their church. They say that although they were approached by a BBC reporter who asked to speak with parishioners about their views on the Pope's visit - in fact a service at the church was just used as a backdrop to an interview with someone from a campaigning group not based in the parish.
Penelope Middelboe, of the newly created Catholic Voices for Reform ( May 2010) was shown attending the service at St John Vianney’s, including a close-up, and being interviewed outside the church, giving the impression that she was a parishioner and supposedly a spokesperson for the parish. (I do not understand why she was brought to St John Vianney’s when the interview could have been held elsewhere.)
• When the reporter Robert Pigott was speaking, parishioners were shown in the background leaving the church. He said: “The poll shows that large numbers of ordinary Catholics are, by disputing important teachings on issues like celibacy and the role of women, prepared to challenge the Pope’s view on exactly what the church’s message should be”.
The report does not show any of our parishioners expressing their opinions. So this could be understood that those parishioners who were filmed leaving the church shared the views of what the reporter referred to as ‘ordinary Catholics’.?
It pains and saddens me that I now have to question the integrity of the BBC. It deceived our parish priest and did not do what it had explicitly received permission for, which was to seek the opinions of parishioners at St John Vianney’s.
I hope that the BBC will provide fair and honest reporting of the Pope’s historic visit. On a personal note, I thank our Queen for inviting the Pope to the nation. I look forward to your reply.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Afghan Christians
An Open Letter from the Afghan Christian Community to the Body of Christ Worldwide:
AN URGENT PLEA FOR HELP & INTERVENTION!
We need your help to stop the Afghan government from arresting Afghan Christians and condemning them to death by public execution!
The enclosed letter addresses recent events inside Afghanistan that have unfolded since May 27th, 2010 after an incendiary documentary showing photos and videos of secret “Afghan Christian Converts” aired on Noorin TV, an independent tv station based in Kabul. The documentary was the first of its kind to ever air publicly on national tv in Afghanistan, a country that considers itself to be 100% Muslim, and the controversial content revealing names and faces of supposed Afghan Christian converts sparked ongoing riots and demonstrations throughout Afghanistan in the days that followed (see media links below).
During the ensuing protests, demonstrators called on President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan government to take strong and decisive actions against these exposed Afghan Christian converts by enforcing the Afghan constitution, based on Islamic Sharia law, which clearly call for the arrest and public execution of anyone who leaves Islam for another religion.
According to an online report by the Associated Free Press dated June 1, 2010 (see links below), Abdul Sattar Khawasi, deputy secretary of the Afghan lower house in parliament, called for the execution of Christian converts from Islam saying, “those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be executed in public, the house should order the attorney general and the NDS (intelligence agency) to arrest these Afghans and execute them”. In another reported statement, Qazi Nazir Ahmad, a lawmaker from Herat, declared that killing a Muslim who converts to Christianity is “not a crime”. Waheed Omar, the spokesman for the President, told reporters that President Hamid Karzai himself was “personally” taking an interest in this case, and had ordered his interior minister and the head of the country’s spy agency to do a full investigation and "to take immediate and serious action to prevent this phenomenon".Reports from inside Afghanistan already tell of many arrests in recent days, frequent and ongoing searches of homes and businesses, as well as claims of torture by those under arrest in an effort to forcibly extract the names of other Afghan Christian converts and the locations of secret Afghan Christian “churches” and underground fellowships throughout the country.
In light of all these events, and the perplexing media silence on these atrocities occurring in plain view of the international community, we are pleading with the Body of Christ around the world to support our Afghan Christian brothers and sisters during this critical time by taking a firm and vocal stand against the severe and devastating wrongs being committed against them by their own government!
We ask that you please forward and share the enclosed “open letter to the church” with your friends, churches, prayer groups, human rights advocates, the media, your local representatives, senators and other government bodies and authorities… we need everyone’s help to make our voices heard!
We must make people aware that right now our Afghan Christian brothers and sisters are being subjected to forcible arrest, intimidation, fear, torture and certain public execution merely for choosing to be Christian! We must raise up a standard against these egregious injustices and blatant human rights violations by taking a strong and public stand against these unconscionable actions being perpetrated and condoned by the Afghan government from the parliament floor against its own people!
The enclosed letter was written on June 8, 2010 by Afghan Christians who are currently living in exile from their beloved homeland because they were forced to flee their country in order to save their life and the lives of their families, due to orders of execution issued against them by the Afghan government for choosing to convert to Christianity:
******
Letter to the Body of Christ around the world, written by members of the Afghan Christian community on June 9, 2010:
To the Body of Christ:
This letter is written by the Afghan Christian Community in New Delhi, India which is a small community of 150 Afghan Christian refugees and asylum seekers.
We left our country because we were sentenced to death on the account of our Christian faith (conversion), as Afghanistan is a Muslim Country, the Afghan Government is an Islamic government, and Islam is the only formal religion of the country, and according to the Constitutional law of the Afghan Islamic Republic, conversion is considered as a big crime, Christian are called pagans and infidels and are sentenced to death by the Afghan Government. Christians are considered criminals. Death penalty is waiting for all those who want to leave the darkness and come to the true light, repent from their sins, and put their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Lord and Savior of all human being.
We believe that you (the Body of Christ) have already heard that some pictures and movies of the Afghan believers (from Delhi and Kabul) were shown by an Afghan Private TV (Noorin TV), this TV channel showed these picture in a especial program (Sarzameen Man), and the Government and people were encouraged and provoked to think about the issue of conversion, to make a stand against it and to take serious and practical measures and actions to destroy Afghan Converted Christians (Sons of God) and those who share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Lost.
The Afghan Parliament, Senate, Religious Council and Islamic Parties and leaders made statements that the Afghan Government has to search, find, arrest, deliver to courts and executes all Afghan Christians, and the Christian NGOs and Organization have to be stopped too. University students protested against Afghan Christians in Kabul and Herat Provinces, and the Afghan Government also made a statement that all Afghan Christians will be arrested and executed, and the Christian NGOs and Organizations which involved with the issues of conversion will be closed.
Mr. Mujajdi the Chairman Of Afghan Senate said that if the Afghan Government does not take serious action, he and other Islamic leaders will call and request the Afghan people to take practical measures to kill all Afghan Christians.
President Karzai himself showed his personal interest in this regard and said that all Afghan Christians will be arrested and executed and Christian organizations which are involved with this issue will be stopped. He ordered the Afghan security organs to take serious measure in this regard. The Afghan Home Minister and the Chairman of the Afghan Intelligence told to the Afghan Parliament that 4 Afghan Christian individuals and one family are arrested and they are under investigation, 13 NGO are recognized and suspended, names of the Afghan Christians are listed and the Afghan Intelligence agency is trying to arrest them. Two Church organizations by the names of WCA and NCA are closed.
As we are in contact with our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan, many believers are arrested, our houses are checked by police and intelligence people in Afghanistan, our families and parents (though they are Muslim) are under investigation and even arrested, and all Afghan believers are misplaced.
So, We (Afghan Christian Community) along with our other Afghan Christian brothers and sisters who are in
Afghanistan request you to:
1. Please pray for us and for this critical situation, pray for those who are arrested, and those who are under investigation.
2. Please come together and help your Afghan brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are sentenced to death, we are arrested, we are under investigation, the Afghan Government kills us because we believe on Jesus Christ, we know that we should consider it pure joy when we suffer
(James 1: 1 -4), and we are enjoying all suffering all joy. But we also know that faith without deeds is useless (James 2: 14 – 17), and this is the time to raise your voice for your brothers and sisters, for our children, for our old parents, for the execution of thousand Afghan believers. This is the day that all of us should come together and pray, think, help and raise our voices to the International Community, to put pressure on the Afghan Government to stop killing, persecuting and executing Afghan Christians, to give us freedom of religion, to respect and accept us as Afghan Christians.
3. We do not know how the whole world and especially the Global Church is silent and closing their eyes, while thousand of their brothers and sisters (Body of Christ) are in pain, facing life danger and death penalty, and are tortured, persecuted and called criminals because they believe on the Truth. We need to wake up, get up and speak up today, and to prove it that we are really in concern, and care for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we should help the persecuted part of the body of Christ, for His Glory. If we really believe that Lord Jesus Christ is God, then, He commands us to love Him and to love our neighbor, if our own brothers and sisters, are in pain and suffering, and we are silent and we ignore them and their suffering, then the question is that do we really obey Lord Jesus commandment of love Him and our neighbor?
So, dear brothers and sister (the Body of Christ), we (Afghan Christian Community in New Delhi) on behalf of all Afghan Christians request you to support us by your prayers and practical measures, lets tell to the Afghan Government, that we are not pagans and infidels, we are not criminal because of our Christian faith, and lets tell them not to sentence us to death.
May God bless you!
Afghan Christian Community
(Obaid S. Christ)
AN URGENT PLEA FOR HELP & INTERVENTION!
We need your help to stop the Afghan government from arresting Afghan Christians and condemning them to death by public execution!
The enclosed letter addresses recent events inside Afghanistan that have unfolded since May 27th, 2010 after an incendiary documentary showing photos and videos of secret “Afghan Christian Converts” aired on Noorin TV, an independent tv station based in Kabul. The documentary was the first of its kind to ever air publicly on national tv in Afghanistan, a country that considers itself to be 100% Muslim, and the controversial content revealing names and faces of supposed Afghan Christian converts sparked ongoing riots and demonstrations throughout Afghanistan in the days that followed (see media links below).
During the ensuing protests, demonstrators called on President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan government to take strong and decisive actions against these exposed Afghan Christian converts by enforcing the Afghan constitution, based on Islamic Sharia law, which clearly call for the arrest and public execution of anyone who leaves Islam for another religion.
According to an online report by the Associated Free Press dated June 1, 2010 (see links below), Abdul Sattar Khawasi, deputy secretary of the Afghan lower house in parliament, called for the execution of Christian converts from Islam saying, “those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be executed in public, the house should order the attorney general and the NDS (intelligence agency) to arrest these Afghans and execute them”. In another reported statement, Qazi Nazir Ahmad, a lawmaker from Herat, declared that killing a Muslim who converts to Christianity is “not a crime”. Waheed Omar, the spokesman for the President, told reporters that President Hamid Karzai himself was “personally” taking an interest in this case, and had ordered his interior minister and the head of the country’s spy agency to do a full investigation and "to take immediate and serious action to prevent this phenomenon".Reports from inside Afghanistan already tell of many arrests in recent days, frequent and ongoing searches of homes and businesses, as well as claims of torture by those under arrest in an effort to forcibly extract the names of other Afghan Christian converts and the locations of secret Afghan Christian “churches” and underground fellowships throughout the country.
In light of all these events, and the perplexing media silence on these atrocities occurring in plain view of the international community, we are pleading with the Body of Christ around the world to support our Afghan Christian brothers and sisters during this critical time by taking a firm and vocal stand against the severe and devastating wrongs being committed against them by their own government!
We ask that you please forward and share the enclosed “open letter to the church” with your friends, churches, prayer groups, human rights advocates, the media, your local representatives, senators and other government bodies and authorities… we need everyone’s help to make our voices heard!
We must make people aware that right now our Afghan Christian brothers and sisters are being subjected to forcible arrest, intimidation, fear, torture and certain public execution merely for choosing to be Christian! We must raise up a standard against these egregious injustices and blatant human rights violations by taking a strong and public stand against these unconscionable actions being perpetrated and condoned by the Afghan government from the parliament floor against its own people!
The enclosed letter was written on June 8, 2010 by Afghan Christians who are currently living in exile from their beloved homeland because they were forced to flee their country in order to save their life and the lives of their families, due to orders of execution issued against them by the Afghan government for choosing to convert to Christianity:
******
Letter to the Body of Christ around the world, written by members of the Afghan Christian community on June 9, 2010:
To the Body of Christ:
This letter is written by the Afghan Christian Community in New Delhi, India which is a small community of 150 Afghan Christian refugees and asylum seekers.
We left our country because we were sentenced to death on the account of our Christian faith (conversion), as Afghanistan is a Muslim Country, the Afghan Government is an Islamic government, and Islam is the only formal religion of the country, and according to the Constitutional law of the Afghan Islamic Republic, conversion is considered as a big crime, Christian are called pagans and infidels and are sentenced to death by the Afghan Government. Christians are considered criminals. Death penalty is waiting for all those who want to leave the darkness and come to the true light, repent from their sins, and put their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Lord and Savior of all human being.
We believe that you (the Body of Christ) have already heard that some pictures and movies of the Afghan believers (from Delhi and Kabul) were shown by an Afghan Private TV (Noorin TV), this TV channel showed these picture in a especial program (Sarzameen Man), and the Government and people were encouraged and provoked to think about the issue of conversion, to make a stand against it and to take serious and practical measures and actions to destroy Afghan Converted Christians (Sons of God) and those who share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Lost.
The Afghan Parliament, Senate, Religious Council and Islamic Parties and leaders made statements that the Afghan Government has to search, find, arrest, deliver to courts and executes all Afghan Christians, and the Christian NGOs and Organization have to be stopped too. University students protested against Afghan Christians in Kabul and Herat Provinces, and the Afghan Government also made a statement that all Afghan Christians will be arrested and executed, and the Christian NGOs and Organizations which involved with the issues of conversion will be closed.
Mr. Mujajdi the Chairman Of Afghan Senate said that if the Afghan Government does not take serious action, he and other Islamic leaders will call and request the Afghan people to take practical measures to kill all Afghan Christians.
President Karzai himself showed his personal interest in this regard and said that all Afghan Christians will be arrested and executed and Christian organizations which are involved with this issue will be stopped. He ordered the Afghan security organs to take serious measure in this regard. The Afghan Home Minister and the Chairman of the Afghan Intelligence told to the Afghan Parliament that 4 Afghan Christian individuals and one family are arrested and they are under investigation, 13 NGO are recognized and suspended, names of the Afghan Christians are listed and the Afghan Intelligence agency is trying to arrest them. Two Church organizations by the names of WCA and NCA are closed.
As we are in contact with our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan, many believers are arrested, our houses are checked by police and intelligence people in Afghanistan, our families and parents (though they are Muslim) are under investigation and even arrested, and all Afghan believers are misplaced.
So, We (Afghan Christian Community) along with our other Afghan Christian brothers and sisters who are in
Afghanistan request you to:
1. Please pray for us and for this critical situation, pray for those who are arrested, and those who are under investigation.
2. Please come together and help your Afghan brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are sentenced to death, we are arrested, we are under investigation, the Afghan Government kills us because we believe on Jesus Christ, we know that we should consider it pure joy when we suffer
(James 1: 1 -4), and we are enjoying all suffering all joy. But we also know that faith without deeds is useless (James 2: 14 – 17), and this is the time to raise your voice for your brothers and sisters, for our children, for our old parents, for the execution of thousand Afghan believers. This is the day that all of us should come together and pray, think, help and raise our voices to the International Community, to put pressure on the Afghan Government to stop killing, persecuting and executing Afghan Christians, to give us freedom of religion, to respect and accept us as Afghan Christians.
3. We do not know how the whole world and especially the Global Church is silent and closing their eyes, while thousand of their brothers and sisters (Body of Christ) are in pain, facing life danger and death penalty, and are tortured, persecuted and called criminals because they believe on the Truth. We need to wake up, get up and speak up today, and to prove it that we are really in concern, and care for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we should help the persecuted part of the body of Christ, for His Glory. If we really believe that Lord Jesus Christ is God, then, He commands us to love Him and to love our neighbor, if our own brothers and sisters, are in pain and suffering, and we are silent and we ignore them and their suffering, then the question is that do we really obey Lord Jesus commandment of love Him and our neighbor?
So, dear brothers and sister (the Body of Christ), we (Afghan Christian Community in New Delhi) on behalf of all Afghan Christians request you to support us by your prayers and practical measures, lets tell to the Afghan Government, that we are not pagans and infidels, we are not criminal because of our Christian faith, and lets tell them not to sentence us to death.
May God bless you!
Afghan Christian Community
(Obaid S. Christ)
Friday, June 18, 2010
Why are we in Afghanistan?
On 31 May, the Deputy Secretary of the Afghan Lower House of Parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, called in parliament for the public execution of the Afghan Christians shown in the TV programme. Other members called for proselytising groups to be expelled from the country.
On 1 June, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said that the president was taking a personal interest in the situation and had ordered immediate and serious action to prevent any more conversions. In the following days many Kabul homes were searched and dozens of Afghan Christians fled.
On 5 June Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said that they had been investigating the issue of conversions for the last two years. He announced that the government had a list of 23 people, Afghans and foreigners, whom they were seeking to arrest.
On 1 June, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said that the president was taking a personal interest in the situation and had ordered immediate and serious action to prevent any more conversions. In the following days many Kabul homes were searched and dozens of Afghan Christians fled.
On 5 June Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said that they had been investigating the issue of conversions for the last two years. He announced that the government had a list of 23 people, Afghans and foreigners, whom they were seeking to arrest.
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