How you listen

We were taught to do the following  exercise in a group.  5 persons were needed. An outsider will call A and narrate  something  in front of  the audience.  B,C,D and E were sent out. I was in the audience.  A has to listen carefully, grasp the matter, then  call B and tell him what he heard from the outsider. Then A will be sent out . B will call C and tell him what he heard. C will do the same  to D and D to E.  Finally E will narrate it to the audience. All is done in front of the audience. The matter was completely different when it came to the audience from E. We had enough to laugh. It was a game to measure  human beings capacity  of grasping a matter and sharing it with others.

Jesus said,  

 “So pay attention to how you listen” Lk 8:18

The children of God have to listen from the Heavenly Father daily. The way you listen and grasp the message of the Father  is very important. Today the image of Christianity is very low among non Christians because  many Christians do not  hear  directly from the Father. But they interpret and share  it in their own way from what they have heard from their predecessors. The heavenly Father wants every one of His  children to hear directly from Him .

How to listen and grasp the message? When you pray and are in the presence of the Father, follow your mind, your conscience, your imagination and all your inner elements. When the Holy Spirit  touches you, your spirit get stirred up. It might  reflect in any part of your inner man or outer man.  Your inner man (human spirit)  can sense, feel, or see it.  God is not outside of you.  He is inside of you. Don’t seek him outside. He communicates with your spirit. If your spirit is alert, alive, keen to listen, sharp to grasp and sensitive, you will catch the message.

First time I typed in the docs using my mobile. When I read it only I realised the mistakes in my pronunciation.  Then I could correct it.

When you are in prayer, listen. If you surrender fully your body, soul and spirit to the Lord before you pray, He will speak and give you the reply immediately. (Is 65:24). What you heard in your soul, saw in your mind, sensed in your heart is the reply the Lord is giving. Share it  and check it with the person for whom you received the message. If it is correct, you have listened and grasped the matter correctly. If it is wrong, pay attention to how you listened. Correct the mistakes and try again. Go on trying until you grasp the answer from  the Lord correctly. Make it a routine.

Burkina Faso: Kidnappers Release Pastor and His family after Four Days

The Christian pastor who was abducted on Sunday with his family in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum has been released.

Local sources told national broadcaster Omega Radio that Pastor Pierre Boena, his son David and his daughter-in-law, Ami Sawadogo were released yesterday (7 June).

The report does not specifically mention the two granddaughters, Fasne-wendé Ouédraogo and Pélagie Sawadogo, who were also abducted during the raid on Sunday, but does state that the pastor was released “with all the other members of his family in Malian territory”.

The reason for their release is not known, nor is it known whether a ransom was paid.

Pierre Boena, a pastor with an Assembly of God church, was kidnapped on Sunday evening in his village of Bilhore, near the border with Mali.

At the time of the attack he was at home with four family members and a church member, Pauline Sawadogo, who was visiting with her two daughters, Sanata and Zoenabou, local sources told World Watch Monitor.

These sources suggested that Pauline and her daughters may have been kidnapped along with Pastor Boena’s family on Sunday. Speaking on Thursday they said the whereabouts of Pauline and her daughters remain unknown.

Meanwhile there has still been no news regarding catechist Basnéré Mathieu Sawadogo, and his wife Alizeta, who were abducted two weeks earlier. Mathieu serves as a catechist at their parish, Notre Dame des Apôtres (Our Lady of the Apostles) in Arbinda, 100km from Djibo.

Kidnappers have previously targeted Djibo. Eighteen months ago an Australian couple were taken hostage from the city by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Ken and Jocelyn Elliott had run a 120-bed clinic for 40 years until their abduction in January 2016. Jocelyn was released a month later, but her husband remains in captivity.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the recent kidnappings but World Watch Monitor understands that the perpetrators are believed to be members of the Fulani ethnic group.

Some relatives have been able to speak over the phone with the hostages, who told their family that they were in good health and were being treated well by their abductors.

The kidnappings could be the result of acts of violence against Fulani communities by security forces which, it was said, had angered them.

The Fulani and the Tuareg are the two main nomadic ethnic groups in northern Burkina Faso, and in neighbouring Mali and Niger.

Access to grazing land and water have caused tensions between the two communities. Militant members of the two communities are also fighting alongside numerous Islamist groups active in the Sahel region.

POPE HEARS OF TERRORISM CONCERNS

The recent kidnappings of the two Christian church leaders has created an atmosphere of anxiety among Christian communities in the land-locked Sahel nation, seen as a model of tolerance in a troubled region.

Burkina Faso’s 20 million inhabitants – predominantly Muslim (around 60%), but also with significant numbers of Christians (over 20%, the vast majority of whom are Catholics) and followers of indigenous beliefs (15%) – have long enjoyed peaceful co-existence.

Two weeks ago, 21 Catholic bishops from Burkina Faso and Niger said a better dialogue was needed between Muslim and Christian communities if terrorism was to be eradicated.

Following their five-yearly ad limina meeting with Pope Francis, in which the bishops discussed their concerns with him, Bishop Laurent Birfuore Dabiré of Dori, Burkina Faso, told Vatican Radio that “peaceful cohabitation” between Muslims and Catholics continued “despite the atmosphere of insecurity, and everything must be done to support it”.

His diocese is located in the tense border region with Mali where many of the kidnappings and attacks have taken place but, he said, what unites people “is family, culture, and traditions that are independent of religion”.

INCREASE IN ISLAMIST ACTIVITIES

Unlike Mali, Burkina Faso has not seen as many terrorist attacks. But it appears it is being slowly drawn into the wars of the Sahel. Attacks attributed to Islamist militants have intensified, particularly in the northern part of the country, prompting a military campaign in the region.

In a report published last month, Human Rights Watch highlighted the atmosphere of fear created by the increase in Islamist activities in the region. The New York-based group accused security forces of extrajudicial killings, abuse of suspects in custody and arbitrary arrests. .

In March, the capital Ougadougou was rocked by twin attacks on the country’s army headquarters and the French embassy.

Schools and teachers in and around Djibo have also been targeted by the militants. In April Islamic State in the Greater Sahara kidnapped a teacher “because he was speaking French to the pupils” rather than Arabic, the South African news agency News24 reported.

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Kidnapped US Missionary Jeff Woodke is Alive, Says Niger’s President

A US missionary kidnapped in Niger in October 2016 is alive, according to the West African nation’s president.

Jeff Woodke, who worked for Jeunesse en Mission Entraide et Developpement (JEMED), a branch of the US-based Youth With a Mission, was abducted by unknown assailants late in the evening of Friday 14 October, 2016, from the town of Abalak in northern Niger.

For 20 months, there has been no news of Woodke, but on Monday, 4 June, President Mahamadou Issoufou told TV channel France24 that both he and a German aid worker kidnapped in April this year are alive.

“We have some news; we know they’re alive,” the president said. “We continue to create the conditions for their release. Perhaps the contacts that are underway will help to achieve that goal.”

It is the first proof of life since the kidnapping of the two Western citizens in the Sahel country.

Little had been known, or at least divulged, about Woodke’s condition or location, other than that his captors were tracked to neighbouring Mali by Nigerien authorities. No group has publicly claimed responsibility.

Last July, a coalition of jihadist groups active in the Sahel region (Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, also known as the Group to Support Islam and Muslims), affiliated to Al-Qaeda, released a video showing six foreign hostages, including three missionaries, but not Jeff Woodke.

The three missionaries in the video were: Colombian nun Gloria Argoti, kidnapped on 7 February from her convent in Karangasso, southern Mali; Australian surgeon Ken Elliott, kidnapped in January 2016 from Djibo in northern Burkina Faso, near the Mali border; and Swiss missionary Béatrice Stockly, kidnapped in Mali’s northern town of Timbuktu, also in January 2016.

All are still captive.

Jeff Woodke’s wife, Els, issued a video pleading for his safe return when there was no sign of him in that video, believing that he could also be held by those who issued it.

“I am sure that the families of the captives were very encouraged by this message and appreciated the mercy shown by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen in sending this news and instructions about their loved ones,” said Mrs Woodke in her video.

“But my husband Jeff is not mentioned, so I did not receive the benefit of the reassurance and directions of how to proceed that the other families did. This has been very hard for me, for Jeff’s sons and his father to understand.”

The German Joerg Lange, employed by the aid group Help, was kidnapped by armed men on 11 April, in Niger’s western town of Ayorou, which shares a border with troubled northern Mali.

No group has claimed responsibility for his abduction, but a security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that his kidnappers had “already taken him to northern Mali”.

On Monday, President Issoufou said he did not know exactly where the pair were being detained, but that “it is more likely that they are in Mali”.

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Four Iranian Christians Set to Begin Ten-year Prison Sentences

The four Iranian Christians who saw their ten-year prison sentences upheld by an appeal court earlier this month are expecting to have to report to prison any day now.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, and fellow Church of Iran members Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Saheb Fadaie and Mohammad Reza Omidi could receive a call within the next 24 hours to report at the prison gate in their home city of Rasht, Mansour Borji from the London-based advocacy organisation Article 18 told World Watch Monitor.

The four Christians were convicted of “promoting Zionist Christianity” and running house churches and appealed their sentences before the Revolutionary Court on 14 December last year but were unsuccessful.

Nadarkhani and Omidi, in addition to their jail terms, were also sentenced to two years’ internal exile, which they are to serve in the south of Iran, on the opposite side of the country from their homes near the Caspian Sea.

Four other Christians who also received lengthy sentences are still waiting the outcome of their own appeals, which were heard in the Revolutionary Court by the same judge, Judge Hassan Babaee, who, according to Article 18, “doesn’t have a good track record in dealing with Christians arrested for their Christian activities”.

Borji said this is partly because judges can’t be independent, as sentences are dictated by intelligence officials.

“Iranian Christians are concerned about the unjust verdicts issued against Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz, and three other Christians who were sentenced alongside him, Amin Afshar Naderi, Kaviyan Fallah Mohammadi and Hadi Asgari“, Borji said

“We are following the appeal process closely and ask all Christians worldwide, and the key members of the international community to join us in calling for these convictions to be overturned. The Iranian government has to be reminded of its obligations under international law and its own constitution, to end its harassment of peaceful Christian community”, he added.

Pastor Bet-Tamraz was sentenced to ten years in jail in July last year for “acting against national security by organising and conducting house-churches”. The three converts were also given ten years, though Amin Afshar-Naderi was given an additional five years for “insulting the sacred” (blasphemy).

Shamiram Isavi Khabizeh, the wife of Victor Bet-Tamraz, was given a five-year sentence of her own in January, while their son, Ramil, is also facing charges.

Miles Windsor from Middle East Concern recently said prison terms are getting longer for Iranian Christians.

“Whilst Christians have consistently been put in prison for their faith in Iran in considerable numbers, the length of the sentence has seemed to have increased in the recent year or so,” he said.

‘ONGOING VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM’

Although Iran’s constitution acknowledges Christians (excluding converts from Islam) as one of the recognised religious minorities allowed to operate in the country “within the limits of the law’, in practice the government continues to harass and imprison Christians and other religious minorities, noted the US State Department’s 2017 International Religious freedom report, which was released last month.

It is illegal for Muslim citizens of the Islamic republic to change or renounce their religious beliefs.

The country has been on the State Department’s list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) since 1999, “for having engaged in, or tolerated, systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom”.

In 2017, over a dozen Christians – most of them converts to Christianity – were given prison sentences of between 10 and 15 years for “acting against national security”.

Iran is 10th on the 2018 Open Doors World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to live as a Christian.

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A HUMBLE APPEAL TO THE PERSECUTED CHURCH! (Contd.)

Isaiah 44:23- 45:1-4

So the Lord has allowed this persecution! Do not pray against it!

 If the Churches obey  the command of the Lord God ,

1. Part with the Institutional set up which allows owning of land, property in the name of the Church
2. Part with the priesthood system
3. Part with the hierarchical structure and recognise the priesthood of all believers. There are no separate priests or mediators other than believers.
4. Part with all the claims on believers after 2 months of training in Troop Churches.
5. Not demand money from believers.
6. Equipping every believer with spiritual gifts (Mk 16:17,18) for evangelizing.
7. Promoting Work place based  
8. No full time workers who depend on believers for their livelihood, no institution run by Structural Churches, no building for Churches and  no clergy.

There is no need of persecution. If the Churches  come together on this basis, persecution will be stopped this  same moment!

I humbly make an appeal to all the foreign countries who provide finances and other resources for evangelization in India, stop all helps to the Indian Church! Let them realize their responsibilities! Let them come together  and take a decision to evangelize India, let them come together with one mind and heart!

"Tell the Israelis that when they have crossed the Jordan River to the land of Canaan, they are to drive out all the inhabitants of the land and destroy all their idols and their molten images. You are to demolish all their high places, take possession of the land, and live in it, because I've given you the land to inherit. (This is not physical destruction but destroying the works of the evil spirits in the name of Jesus Christ!)

"You are to divide the land among yourselves by lot according to your families. The larger the families are in number, the larger their inheritance is to be. The lesser the families are in number, the lesser their inheritance is to be. To whomever the lot falls, that inheritance goes to him. Divide it according to your ancestral tribes. 

 "But if you fail to drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, their survivors will become irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, to prick your sides and afflict you in the very land in which you'll be living.  Then, what I had planned to do to them, I'll start to do to you." Num 33:51-56 

O Church in India, divide the land, States, districts, taluks, villages and towns for adopting and evangelizing . If they  do this,  India can be evangelized in 1 year! Please stop all your funds! We have more than enough funds in our nation! Do you know how many crores we spend on fireworks of  Christian festivals! Do you know how many crores we Christians in India pay as bribes, spend for adultery, drinking, festivals,  rituals we have inherited from pagans, memorial days, ornaments,  dowry, weddings, anniversaries, Birthdays and what not!! Do you know how rich our country India is in minerals! How rich we are in human resources!  We are wasting  our resources! The Lord asked us in 2006  to rise  up and work for the transformation of  India! We were rebellious, disobedient, sluggish, sleepy, easy going, pleasure loving Church! We have produced generations of slaves and  are keeping the  believers  under  us for centuries! We have discriminated God’s children in the name of caste, creed, gender, and what not! We are keeping them under us as milk fed babies!

Please do not pray to God to stop persecution! The righteous God could not tolerate the cries of His children,  non believers,  who are wandering throughout the length and breadth of India, walking barefoot, visiting holy places, holy rivers, doing all kinds of brutal rituals! Nowhere in the world you see such God seekers like Indians! They are still searching God in deserts, mountains, rivers, snakes, statues, Gurus, magicians, witches etc.  We, in our over enthusiasm to spread the “Religion  Christianity”, (which Emperor  Constantine installed in 313 AD) closed our eyes towards them. We became so hard hearted, blindfolded and became labourers of the Christian religion,but not of Jesus Christ! Now only we realize the blunder we committed!  We were so much lulled to passivity and never cared for them! Instead we mocked at them! Took advantage of their illiteracy, ignorance and fear of God! We never bothered to introduce Jesus to them! Instead of  bringing  them into  direct relationship with Jesus Christ, we introduced Christian religion and the heads of our Institutions to them! They became members of an organization/institution instead of coming into direct contact with Jesus! So they did not get salvation! But the business centres falsely named as “Church” flourished! Believers were cheated! Unbelievers died without Christ!

God in His mercy,  tolerated us  all these 2017 years! He sent many prophets from abroad  and raised many prophets in our own country! We  ignored all of them! Killed many! Insulted many! Burned many!

He is righteous! He is righteous! There is no trace of blemish in Him! Even if He hands all of us over to death and persecution still He will be righteous! We have no justification on our part! We have been disobedient! Rebellious to the core! We have been hypocrites! Pledging Him obedience  but never obeyed! We, all of us, till today  rebelled and are rebelling!

PRAYER TO THE FATHER IN HEAVEN!

O Lord! Do with us whatever you want! We are at your mercy! Only do save our 120 crores of people! Even if we die, we want all these poor 120 crores of people to be saved! Show us the way to save them! They, for generation after generation are seeking God! We had  been so selfish, with no  love, that we were not able to reflect Christ! There were many missionaries whom you sent to our country who reflected Christ! They could convert many! After seeing their life witness,  many of our non believer  Indians, accepted Jesus Christ! But we believers of India  have failed, utterly failed in our lives to give Jesus to them! We failed to love them! We were selfish, narrow minded, lacking in  generosity and magnanimity in treating them as our own! We still have caste system practised  even inside churches, inside seminaries, inside convents, even in cemeteries! We are divided and are still fighting over caste, rites, denominations etc.  We still practise witchcraft, divination, sorcery, dowry system and all the pagan practices! We follow all the pagan practices of Vastu, Yoga etc.  Even we participate in idol worship, worship their idols too. We seek to please them in order to survive persecution, without knowing that You only have sent this persecution!

This is not the Church you established! The Church we see in India is our own product and our own bye product!

O merciful Lord! We humbly implore to remove these duplicates! Bring back your original Church! Let the whole world see the glorious Church of Jesus established in India! Let the present duplicate system called “Church” with all discriminations, selfish motives, money mindedness  and  all its carnal desires be buried!

Lord! You have tolerated us enough in this country! As you had warned us on 19.8.2013, through  the revelation “Operation Ecclesia” you have allowed gentiles into this system! You did everything rightly! You do everything as per your word! You revealed to your servants 5 years earlier that you will hand over this wrong system which we call “Church” into the  hands  of gentiles if we do not repent and correct ourselves! Within 4 months you made this message to spread throughout India and the world! It reached the continents of USA, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. We received replies from U.K., U.S.A., Uganda, Africa etc. You did everything in the proper way!

We surrender ourselves! We bow down! We lie prostrate in front of your heavenly throne! Have mercy on us! Restore us! Mould us, shape us, Have your way in us! Give us the mind of determination to follow your instructions

We beseech you in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen!

Sr. Angelica AJ

India: 2017 Saw 20 Percent Increase in Atrocities against Christians, Says Lawyer

Amid growing extreme Hindu nationalism in India, dozens of speakers have called for concerted action to uphold the country’s constitution and fundamental rights, at a conference to mark four years of government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“There is a grave threat to plurality,” Professor Ganesh Narayan Devy, a scholar on India’s religious and linguistic diversity, told the 25-27 May ‘Citizens’ Conclave’ on ‘Building an Inclusive India’ in New Delhi, attended by over 800 delegates from across the country.

“We are living at a time when you are questioned about the food you eat, about the god you worship and branded as anti-national for expressing a different view [contrary to Hindu nationalism],” said Devy.

“They [Hindu nationalists] demonise and attack us: 2017 saw a 20 per cent increase in the number of atrocities against Christians,” Tehmina Arora, a lawyer and director of rights group ADF India, told the conference.

On the status of Christian minorities, she added: “When you go to police, they hardly cooperate and often refuse to register complaints. There is a growing culture of impunity. We could file only 25 criminal cases, as against the 240+ incidents reported in the year.”

Instead, she said that anyone who is accused of converting Hindus “will be beaten up”. “You [can be] taken to a police station when you pray!” she added.

A pastor having a birthday party was recently arrested and accused of converting Hindus in southern Karnataka state, even though it is not a state which has an ‘anti-conversion law’ in place.

“Even I could be accused of ‘conversion’ for addressing this house [with many non-Christians],” Arora said, pointing to the “worsening intolerant atmosphere” during the government under the BJP, known for pursuing a Hindu-nationalist agenda.

She cited the instance of more than 50 villages in central Chhattisgarh state passing resolutions banning the Christian faith soon after the BJP government assumed office on 26 May, 2014.

ARCHBISHOP LAMBASTED FOR CALL TO PRAYER

“Look at the fuss over the [Delhi] archbishop’s call for prayer for the nation. Churches are for prayer and, if the Christians cannot pray, what can they do?” Arora asked.

Indian media has been gripped by a vicious debate on the “patriotism” of Christians after Catholic archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi sent out a pastoral letter to his community to launch “prayer for the nation”. Not even half a per cent of New Delhi’s 20 million population are Catholics.

“We are witnessing a turbulent political atmosphere, which poses a threat to the democratic principles enshrined in our constitution and the secular fabric of our nation. It is our hallowed practice to pray for our country and its political leaders all the time, but all the more so when we approach the General Elections [in 2019],” wrote Archbishop Couto.

“Let us begin a prayer campaign for our country from 13 May, 2018,” said the letter, encouraging Christians to fast and pray every Friday by “foregoing at least one meal … and offering penance and sacrifices for our spiritual renewal and that of our nation”.

Some major media networks responded by accusing the archbishop, and Christians in general, of being “against Modi”.

Asserting that “minorities are safe in India”, Rajnath Singh, home minister of the country, cautioned on 21 May that “no-one should speak to mobilise the people of the country on the basis of religion”.

But journalist Teesta Setalvad said the media “have an agenda”. “The archbishop’s letter is discussed for hours in the media. What crime has he committed?” she asked.

“There is deprivation in the media. The archbishop is portrayed as anti-national,” added Rajdeep Sardesai, one of the pioneers of TV journalism in India.

“Space for dissent is shrinking”, Sardesai said, adding that many of those “waging such campaigns” were “taught in Christian schools by priests and nuns”.

“The silent majority has been silent for too long. We must speak out and often. Silent majority is not an option any more… You have to challenge them and debate them. We need new alliances,” he said.

‘POLITICS OF HATRED’

Modi was the Gujarat Chief Minister during the 2002 anti-Muslim riots, when more than 1,000 people were killed. Harsh Mandar, who quit the elite Indian Administrative Service to protest at the BJP government’s alleged connivance in the 2002 attacks, pointed out that violence against religious minorities has since been “getting worse”.

“Your identity is a source of great fear – for the minorities,” said Mandar.

Anti-minority violence is “based on hatred”, said Ram Puniyani, columnist and social activist. After he visited Kandhamal, in Odisha state, scene of the worst case of anti-Christian violence in India’s history, he returned to the state capital, Bhubaneswar, where he said some Hindus told him “it is good that Christians have been taught a lesson”. “This is the politics of hatred,” he told the conference.

Shabnam Hashmi, co-ordinator of the Conclave of over 50 speakers from across the country, pleaded with delegates to take its message to the far corners of the nation: “The challenge before us is clear. We have to speak up and take the message to the masses.”

The conference discussion about Indian media coincided with a report by the BBC’s South Asia correspondent, Justin Rowlatt, noting that a sting operation by a news organisation called Cobrapost “claims to have revealed a deeply engrained bias towards the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) within many of India’s leading media groups, as well as a willingness among some of the country’s most senior media executives and journalists to take money in return for pushing a political agenda”.

Cobrapost alleged that some of the country’s leading news organisations were willing to “not only cause communal disharmony among citizens, but also tilt the electoral outcome in favour of a particular party – and all in return for cash”, Rowlatt wrote. However, he warned that “undercover stings of this kind are notoriously unreliable. The footage can easily be taken out of context or edited to change the meaning of a conversation or misrepresent its real nature”.

Indonesian Pastor Facing Prison Sentence for Sharing His Faith

A court in Indonesia sentenced pastor Abraham Ben Moses to four years in prison for religious defamation. The conviction followed his December 2017 arrest due to a viral video of him discussing his Christian faith with a taxi driver. 

Rev. Moses is a former Muslim who studied comparative religions and started investigating the Christian faith to disprove it. This led to his recognizing the reality of the Christian faith and he converted to Christ in 2006.

In the video in question, Moses' talk with the taxi driver brought up a question about marriage in the Koran. He quoted a verse and told the driver that Mohammed contradicted himself. Then he shared the Gospel with the driver and pleaded with him to turn to Jesus. He uploaded the video to his Facebook page, where it went viral.

Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization, Muhammadiyah, filed a blasphemy charge again Abraham Ben Moses. Police arrested him on December 5th and confiscated his cell phone as evidence.

The Tangerang District Court sentenced him to four years in prison and fined him 50 million Rupiah. (Approximately $3,500.) The judge in the case said, “Abraham was convicted under Electronic and Information Transactions Law No. 11/2008 as he intentionally spread information intended to incite hatred against an individual, group, and society based on religion.” 

Rev. Moses’ attorneys’ plan to file an appeal in the case, saying the sentence is “too heavy” for him. He has four adult children with his first wife, a Muslim who left him after his conversion. His new wife was pregnant at the time of his arrest and has since delivered the couple’s first child.

During the trial, Moses told the court, “I spread the word of Jesus Christ so everybody can be saved… I get my strength from Jesus, He is a very good friend.”

One Coptic Mother’s Agony at Trauma of Son Who Saw Islamists Kill His Father

On 26 May 2017 a convoy of Copts was travelling to the Monastery of St. Samuel in Minya, 170 miles (270km) south of Cairo, to celebrate Ascension Day. Among them were Ayad and his sons, Marco (14) and Mina (10).

“I remember it was a very hot day, so my husband and two sons left early for work in the monastery. They were working on the church bells there,” remembers 42-year-old mother-of-four, Hanaa.

Their convoy was stopped on the desert road by eight to ten gunmen. They ordered the Copt men to give up their valuables, then all, who would not confess Islam, were shot. The boys were spared “to tell the story”.

“I was having breakfast with my daughters when the phone rang,” Hanaa continues. “It was my son calling from his father’s phone. He was crying. He told me they had been attacked and that his father was in a critical condition.”

“I went as soon as I could, together with some family. The ambulance was late, so my nephew Ehab put Ayad in the back of his minivan. My husband was soaked in blood, it was a terrible sight. On the way to hospital Ayad was transferred to the ambulance, but it was too late: he died on the way.”

Hanaa’s grief was immeasurably deep. But, she said, “along the way God comforted me through the many visits of priests and people who stood with me.”

The support was also good for her 14-year-old son, Marco. Hanaa says he was encouraged by it, and has been very brave like his late father. He is doing well at school, she says. “[He has] started to go to the monastery to make church bells in his father’s place. He has a strong relationship with God. He always goes to church, especially since his father’s death.”

But she worries for Mina. “My big concern is for my youngest son, Mina,” Hanaa admits. “This incident has had a huge negative impact on him. He’s always afraid, especially to go anywhere on his own, even to the bathroom. He also can’t sleep alone, so sleeps next to me.”

The situation for Copts in Upper Egypt has become increasingly difficult. Islamic State released a propaganda video in February last year, vowing to wipe out Egypt’s Coptic Christians and “liberate Cairo”.

Egyptian Christians have long complained that the government does not take their security concerns seriously. For their part, officials blame violent incidents on foreign-influenced extremists.

But Hanaa said: “Even though we are very much persecuted here in Upper Egypt, we love our Muslim neighbours. Because our religion is based on love and our God is a God of love. Having experienced this harsh persecution myself hasn’t changed my view: I still pray for Muslims and love them. Our Lord is stronger than their persecution.”

Nonetheless, the loss of her husband is real. “Ayad wasn’t only my husband. He was my friend and a brother and a father to me. He was everything for me in this life. He was very kind and honest, a man of God, and I am proud he stood by his faith until his last breath. If he could say something to his attackers, I think he’d say: ‘I forgive you and pray that God forgives you, touches your hearts and open your blind eyes to see His way.’ And I would fully agree with him.”

New Iraqi Leader Vows to 'Support Christians'

The Chaldean Patriarch, Louis Sako, has telephoned Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr to congratulate him on his unexpected victory in the country’s recent parliamentary elections. The Patriarchate also said that Sako told Sadr he hoped for a government that promotes the common good of all the Iraqi people. According to the Patriarchate, Sadr thanked Sako for his words and pledged to “support Christians”, the Vatican-linked news agency Fides reported.

Sako has positioned himself of leader of Iraq’s remaining Christians, who are rebuilding their lives, homes and churches since the military defeat of IS last year

No single candidate won anywhere near enough seats to control the majority of the 329-seat parliament, and Sadr’s alliance with the communists won the greatest number, with only 54 seats. The bloc led by Hadi al-Amari, a militia leader who fought against Iraq during its war with Iran, came second with 47 seats. The bloc headed by Haider al-Abadi, Prime Minister since 2014, fared worse than expected, with 42 seats, but won the multi-sectarian province of Nineveh, which includes many Christian towns and the city of Mosul where, under his overall command, Iraqi forces led the military defeat of IS last year.

However Mr. Sadr did not stand as a candidate himself and has said he will not become prime minister, meaning he instead can function as something of a “kingmaker”. Although Christians were killed or forced to flee Baghdad in 2006 and 2007 as his Shia militias sparked furious fighting with Baghdad’s Sunni populations, he has distanced himself from his Iranian former backers, saying he regards their influence in Iraq as destabilising.

Rend al-Rahim, a former Iraqi ambassador to the US, told Al Jazeera that this result “indicates that at least in Mosul province there is renewed hope for a better future and an acknowledgement of the role of Abadi and the Iraqi army in liberating Nineveh.”

According to the New York Times, Sadr favours Abadi to continue as prime minister. Abadi is a moderate Shia who has partnered with the US in the fight against Islamic State. Sadr met both him and Mr Amari at the weekend as part of negotiations for forming a government, and after meeting Abadi he said their meeting showed that the next government “will be inclusive, we will not exclude anyone”.

The Al Monitor news website noted that on 21 May, Sadr tweeted, “I am Muqtada. I am Shiite, Sunni, Christian, Sabean, Yazidi, Islamist, civil, Arab, Kurdish, Assyrian, Turkmen, Chaldean and Shabak. I am Iraqi. Do not expect me to side with any sect against the other to renew enmities and lead to our demise. We are headed toward a comprehensive Iraqi alliance.”

Although the country’s Christians had only five seats to fight over, the results show a significant shift. Fides reports that four of the five successful candidates belong to the Chaldean Church, and that the Assyrian Democratic Movement, the longest-running Christian party, will have no representation in parliament.

Two of the five seats were won by candidates from the Babylon Brigades militia: Aswan Salem Sawa in Nineveh, and Burhanuddin Ishak Ibrahim in Baghdad. In Kirkuk, the seat was won by the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Council’s Rihan Hanna Ayoub, and in Erbil the seat was won by Hoshyar Karadag Yelda, a candidate for the Chaldean coalition.

The only non-Chaldean, Immanuel Khoshaba, of the Assyrian Rafidain coalition, won the seat reserved for Christians in the governorate of Dohuk.

It is thought that since the emigration of around 70 per cent of Iraqi Christians since the US-led invasion of 2003, Chaldean Catholics are now more numerous than Syriacs and Assyrians.

Patriarch Sako, who has been positioning himself as the leader of all the country’s Christians, urged the Christian politicians “to develop a new vision and unite the stances to safeguard our small quota and its independence, which in turn protects our dignity and unity”.

Meanwhile it was announced on Sunday that the patriarch is to be made a cardinal, increasing his recognition in the Western Church. His predecessor, Emmanuel Delly, received the cardinal’s red hat in 2007 at the age of 80, as a sign of Pope Benedict XVI’s “spiritual closeness and affection” for Iraqi Christians then engulfed amid the Sunni-Shia violence that had erupted in Iraq. Sako is to be made a cardinal on 29 June alongside 13 other prelates including Pakistan’s Joseph Coutts, the Archbishop of Karachi and an expert in interfaith dialogue. Asked by the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle if his elevation to cardinal would improve the lot of Christians, who face considerable persecution there, Coutts replied: “Pakistan’s Christians are struggling to be recognised as equal citizens … My selection as cardinal does acknowledge that there is a viable, visible and active Christian community in Pakistan.” But he added that he had no plans as yet to lobby the Pakistani authorities to pardon Asia Bibi, the imprisoned Christian mother of five on death row for blasphemy.

A Hindu Rashtra Is No Less Than a Saffron Pakistan: Julio Ribeiro

After a letter by Delhi’s Archbishop Anil Couto calling Christians to pray and fast before the 2019 general elections, retired Mumbai Police commissioner Julio Ribiero, in his article for The Times of India, said, “A Hindu Rashtra would make my country nothing less than a saffron Pakistan.”

Couto was heavily criticised by the Bharatiya Janata Party for trying to polarise people around religion, after he wrote a letter to all parish priests and religious institutions in the Delhi archdiocese on 8 May.

Ribiero had earlier faced backlashed for his column in The Indian Express in 2017, in which he wrote about his fears of living as a Christian in India. A year later, in a piece for TOI, Ribeiro, while defending the Archbishop, wrote about the shrinking space for dissent in the country, especially for minority communities.

The former police commissioner wrote that there were far too many Christians who had second thoughts about a BJP government, even before the 8 May circular was sent.

"Christians who voted BJP in 2014 – and there were too many of them to count – have had second thoughts much earlier than May 8, when the Rev Anil Couto’s circular was distributed to all the churches in his diocese." - Julio Ribiero in The Times of India

In his letter, the Archbishop had raised concerns over the current “turbulent political atmosphere” which has threatened the democratic institutions and social fabric of the country. However, Ribeiro said, “He is not the only Indian to have raised such concerns. I know countless Hindus, good, solid citizens of our country, who have condemned the covert and overt attempts to demolish institutions, attacks that portend the end of our secular fabric.”

‘What About a ‘Godman’ Becoming Chief Minister?’

Responding to Union Minister KJ Alphon’s statement urging ‘godmen’ to stay away from political comments, Ribiero pointed out that the BJP has appointed a ‘godman’ as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh

Be fruitful, multiply!

I met a mother who lost her husband and struggling to bring up her children in the ways of the Lord. I could see how the Lord was with her blessing her in every way. Today’s meditation of  Dt 25:5-10 was a pleasant surprise to me. I realised how the Lord has given various statutes to His children in order to fulfil His blessing “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it”. For this purpose,  He established and blessed marriage to beget children. Not getting married or not begetting children was considered wrong in the Old Testament.

"When two brothers are living together and one of them dies without leaving a son, his widow must not be married outside the family to a foreigner. Instead, the brother-in-law must go to her, take her as his wife, and by doing so perform the duty of a brother-in-law.  The firstborn whom she will bear will continue the name of the dead brother, so his name will not be erased from Israel.  But if the man does not want to marry his brother's widow, then she must go to the elders at the city gate and declare, ……. Then the elders of the city are to summon him and speak with him. If he insists on saying, 'I don't want to marry her,'  then she is to approach her brother-in-law in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and say in response, 'May this be done to the man who does not preserve the lineage of his brother.' Then his family name in Israel will be known 'as the family of the one whose sandal was removed." Du 25:5-10

What all perversities and deceptive methods the crafty devil has introduced in  the world today against the commandment of marrying and begetting children on earth! God’s children!  Beware of all these!

• It was an amazing experience to worship the Lord and felt this 2 hours should never end. I saw the angel holding a baby and taking care of it while worshiping. The Lord is my savior and I am blessed to experience again in my life may this worship at NWC never stop.
• I saw a torch in west of India and it was ignited with fire and a lion was holding that torch. Right after that a person who worshiped with, he spoke in prayer about Gideon’s army and prayed for anointing. The Lord reveled conformation of that vision.
• When I was worshiping I heard a voice, this is the time of struggle which will get over soon, go ahead with God’s work, I am with you.
• Beautiful experience. When my husband and myself started worshipping, the presence of the Lord filled us. God gave me a conformation through his word (Jer 29:11). I wanted to come with my husband. God fulfilled this wish of mine with wonderful experience.

Rejoice in all that you put your hand to

About 15 years ago, one brother came to meet me and said,

“I have finished engineering. Worked in many countries. For the past 20 yrs, I have been into many businesses. But nothing prospered. I’m married but no children. I am a Christian. Why am I not prospering in my life?”

I had to sit with him, along with the Holy Spirit to make an analysis of his life. It took almost 3 hrs. When we prayed together, the Lord showed the spreadsheet of his life to him. How he was stuck up in a structural institution called “Church” all these years. The Lord convinced him that if at all he has to receive the promises and blessings of the Lord mentioned in Bible, he has to step out of the structural institution which has suppressed him, exercise the authority which Jesus has entrusted him with and work for Him. He came to understand how he was misled by the structural Church all these years, not giving any role for the Holy Spirit in his life. He admitted his failures and surrendered his life to the Lord. Next day he went to meet his Church head and made his position clear. The Church head told him, “If you are leaving my Church, please do not disturb other people. Do not try to convince them of these ideas.”

He wanted to line up his life with God’s Word and His will, allowing the Holy Spirit to redirect and reprogram his life and actions. That very moment he felt the freedom and victory.

His life started progressing. He adopted 2 children. He is working and serving the Lord as a family.

It is the will of God that we, the children of God, rejoice in His presence, come to His rest, enjoy life in its abundance, and be blessed in all the works we do. (Dt. 12:9)

Then you and your household will eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with all the works of your hand with which he blessed you”. Dt 12:7 

No Place To Hide - Facial Recognition Technology Will End Your Privacy

The Chinese police in Nanchang made news in mid April when the press reported the arrest at a concert of a man wanted for fraud. The story was significant because automatic facial recognition systems, linked through now 176 million cameras across the country (rising to 600 million by 2020), had picked the man out of a crowd of 60,000 concertgoers and allowed the police to pinpoint his location in real time. 

The episode was promoted by the Chinese government as proof positive of the benefits of the Chinese surveillance state, but the notion that an authoritarian government uses automatic facial recognition to track its citizens everywhere has sent shivers down the spine of anyone concerned about privacy and who may not have full faith in the benevolence of the Chinese government.

Facial recognition holds the promise of an incredible leap forward in law enforcement but backwards in individual rights. No longer will oppressive governments need to employ human watchers to monitor video footage. 

Now highly accurate computer algorithms, monitoring tens or even hundreds of millions of video feeds, match patterns of facial geometry to identify individuals, even if beards or makeup are used. A criminal suspect shows his face on a public street, at a shopping mall, in a bank or at a bus stop and an alert can immediately go out to summon police for arrest. 

Tellingly, the same system can be used against terrorists, political dissidents, union leaders, human rights protestors, members of the press, the poor, or ethnic minorities. As Paul Harvey used to say, you can run, but you can't hide.

Though China has made the hardest push for ubiquitous surveillance through its vast network of cameras linked in real time to computer-based facial recognition, it is far from alone. The NYPD has been attempting to gain access to the state database of facial recognition information collected for driver's licenses. 

The NYPD's Real Time Crime Center and Facial Identification Sections are not satisfied with using only the facial scans of those it has arrested but wants to link every driving adult to its camera-equipped system, the vast majority without ever having been arrested. Thousands of cameras now installed at NYC intersections, tunnels and public buildings are feeding data into automatic facial recognition systems similar to those in Communist China.

As a precursor to real-time facial recognition powered by machine algorithms, Georgetown University's Center on Privacy and Technology revealed in 2016 that 26 states are already sharing facial recognition data collected on driver's licenses and 16 of those also share with the FBI, meaning that roughly half of the adult population can already be identified through facial recognition, though only upon arrest at this point. 

Proponents of automatic recognition systems linked to pervasive surveillance point to the ability to locate missing persons, help dementia patients, identify unconscious victims and catch dangerous felons. The drawbacks are much harder to swallow, however.

Protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party Movement and Black Lives Matter, were all monitored by the FBI with thousands of faces being fed into federal databases, according to recently revealed information. Those attending vigils held for victims are also common targets for facial pattern collection, representing what amounts to a chilling crackdown on free speech. 

With frightening similarity to Egyptian police who manually record protest marches so they can come, often in the night, to arrest dissidents for torture in secret prisons, the creation of a government database of known protestors and blacklists of Americans is unsettling to say the least. 

The latest proposal to link such automatic systems to police body cams takes the concept even further because it makes every officer a walking eye of the surveillance state.

The recent leak of data on 87 million Facebook users is another cause for concern because Facebook, as its name implies, is currently the world's largest facial portrait database and the profile photos cannot be made private, according to company policies. 

Facebook itself ran afoul of European privacy laws in 2012 and was forced to suspend its activities after it used facial recognition automatically to tag and link photos, a dangerous proposition for those who want to stay hidden from abusive ex-spouses. 

The system showed a 97% accuracy in testing, superior at the time to even the FBI's modest 85% accuracy several years prior. Now it is reported to be ready to restart its facial recognition program for all users. 

Even more worrying, there is strong evidence to indicate that private intelligence companies have already compiled this vast trove of 2.2 billion photos for facial recognition purposes, to be sold to governments and corporations alike.

Forbes magazine reported this year on a company called Terrogence, started by an ex-Mossad intelligence officer. For the last five years, Terrogence has specialized in the construction of huge face-scan databases, compiling the data from social networks, Youtube videos, Internet forums, blogs, official records, news articles and a host of other sources. 

Terrogence has been selling cutting-edge intelligence technology and information to the NSA. So, what the government doesn't collect legally through driver's licenses and arrest data, it quietly purchases from private intelligence corporations.

Marketed as an effort to stop terrorism by tracking down jihadists solely by their faces, LinkedIn profiles and leaks from former employees, their involvement in politics appears to go much deeper, with one employee describing her job as "open source intelligence practices and social media engineering methods to investigate political and social groups." 

The company quietly boasts of infiltrating political groups with fake online personas in an effort to gather intelligence and create dossiers on possible subversives, all for profit and free from even the loose legal tethers of the US deep state. 

The American no-fly list is a famous example of a black list that, although a sensible project that started with good intentions, quickly spun out of control until it was banning toddlers with similar names. There was no way for an individual to know if they were on it, how they got there or if there was a way to get off such a black list. 

The same threat to personal liberty now exists with privatized "black lists" created from these corporate databases and, in addition to being denied access to flights, the consequences could be high-risk police stops, pervasive monitoring and restrictions on normal activities, all based on automatic facial recognition.

Communist China has made no efforts to hide what will soon be a total-information surveillance state, but the United States is quietly building out the same level of control through private contractors and a patchwork connection of corporate and government data. 

The reality is that all our unique facial signatures are likely already in a database, whether government or corporate, and those databases are being linked, slowly at first, to automatic facial recognition systems through cameras popping up around major cities.  There will soon be nowhere to hide. Comparisons to Orwell's 1984 have become cliché by now, but what else can really be said except that Orwell never dreamed it would go this far. 

PNW Staff

The 23rd Psalm

This is an eye opener; some probably never thought nor looked at this Psalm in this way, even though they say it over and over again.

The Lord is my Shepherd

That's Relationship!

I shall not want

That's Supply!

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures

That's Rest!

He leadeth me beside the still waters

That's Refreshment!

He restoreth my soul

That's Healing!

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness

That's Guidance!

For His name sake

That's Purpose!

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

That's Testing!

I will fear no evil

That's Protection!

For Thou art with me

That's Faithfulness!

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me

That's Discipline!

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies

That's Hope!

Thou annointest my head with oil

That's Consecration!

My cup runneth over

That's Abundance!

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life

That's Blessing!

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

That's Security!

Forever

That's Eternity!

Compiled by Sr.Anita

Testimonies

• I am completely changed in Jesus name by his stripes – Sis.Jessy

• “I was in the Lord’s presence. Received many visions and prophecies. Learned the Word in depth, the solid and strong food for my body and soul. The classes touched me, molded me. Learned to fight with satan. The visions the Lord showed in the NWC was a surprise. Learned that the Army of Jesus is fully under the control of Jesus” – Reuban

• The way the Holy Spirit taught me was amazing! Each class taught me the mystery of the Word of God! The classes on prophecy really touched me – Catherine

• My heart received real peace and joy. All my worries disappeared - David Navaraj

• I came as an empty vessel. But now my cup is overflowing. I came as an ordinary man. Now going back as a soldier. This short term emergency training prepares soldiers for emergency warfare and about the strategies. In my life first time 5 days I forgot all about the worldly things and was without any worries - Seena

• Learned many new things. Got delivered me from all mental worries – Victoria J

Christian Soldier in Egypt Shot in another Mysterious Military Death

Another Christian soldier in Egypt has died under mysterious circumstances.
 
The family of Mikhail Farahat Saad received notice from the army on April 22 that their son had died in a military camp in North Sinai Governorate, near El Arish, reported Al Karma TV. He was 22.
 
When his body last week was transported to the southern Egyptian town of Qusiya, where his family lives, his death certificate stated he died from a “gunshot wound that resulted in his death,” according to Al Karma.
 
At first a nurse and a soldier accompanying the body denied any knowledge of the cause of death, but later they said he died when a rifle accidentally fired while he was cleaning it, according to Al Karma.
 
A relative who is not a member of his immediate family told Al Karma in a live phone interview on April 23, however, that a doctor at Qusiya General Hospital who examined the body said the bullet wound entered from the back and exited from the front, shattering the jaw. The entry and exit wounds indicated someone else shot him, he said.
 
The relative, identified only as Yousef, told Al Karma’s Dr. Mona Roman that Saad had spent 2.5 years in the army and was not a novice in gun maintenance and cleaning safety regulations.
 
At this writing the army has issued no official explanation for his death.
  
Saad was the latest of several Christian soldiers to die in military camp, with the army citing “suicide” as the cause of death in most cases.
 
On July 19, 2017, another Coptic Christian, 22-year-old Joseph Helmy, died in a hospital near Al-Salaam. Four soldiers were reportedly arrested on suspicions of beating him to death.
 
Other Coptic Christians who have died for their faith while serving in the Egyptian military include Michael Gamel Mansour. On Feb. 17, 2016, the Egyptian military informed his family that the 22-year-old conscript from Assuit had committed suicide. Authorities claimed Mansour, who was assigned to a unit that guards El Gomhoreya Stadium in Cairo, shot himself with a rifle.
 
On Nov. 20, 2015, the military informed Nataay Boushra that his son, Private First Class Bishoy Nataay Boushra, a second-year conscript soldier in the Egyptian army, was dead, also a victim of suicide. Boushra, 21, served in the Central Security Forces (CSF), a ubiquitous, 450,000-man unit under the command of the Ministry of Interior used to augment the Egyptian National Police.
 
According to the military, Boushra was found dead the morning of Nov. 20, 2015 in the bathroom of a military jail cell with a sheet wrapped around his neck. Officials told Nataay Boushra that his son hung himself from a windowsill.
 

 In addition to the ligature marks expected from a hanging or strangling death, Boushra’s torso was covered with bruises and huge welts from what appeared to be sustained, brutal beatings.
 
For months before his death, according to his father, Boushra endured threats, violence, intense verbal abuse and public humiliation from a fellow draftee, a Muslim known to the public only as “Mustafa.” Boushra took the abuse in stride until Nov. 4, when the Muslim soldier launched into yet another tirade against Christianity. Boushra picked up a stick the size of an ax handle and hit the other soldier in the head, knocking him to the ground, according to military court testimony.
 
The soldier was taken to a hospital for examination and then released. Both men were arrested and placed together in a jail cell awaiting a hearing in a military court. For reasons still unknown, another soldier who was a friend of Mustafa was later locked in the military prison cell with Boushra and Mustafa, the same cell in which he was later found dead, according to the military.
 
In August 2015, a Muslim soldier reportedly shot Coptic Christian Bahaa Karam, in Marsa Matruh, Matrouh Governorate, during a religious dispute. He was 22.
 
In July 2015, the army reported Abraam Girgis, 21, died after receiving multiple injuries at his post at the Central Security unit in Cairo. In June 2015, Bahaa Silvanus 23, was said to have committed suicide, but relatives denied the claim.
 
The army claimed Abou al-Khair, 22, committed suicide in August 2013. In September 2006, Girgis Youssef, 20, died from a “sudden drop in blood pressure,” according to the army, but relatives said they found injuries consistent with torture on his body.
 
In August 2006, the body of Hany Nasrallah, 21, was found in the Nile River in Upper Egypt with signs of torture.
 
Egypt was ranked 17^th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Anti-Conversion' Bill Becomes Law in Uttarakhand State, India

Uttarakhand has become the seventh state in India to put “anti-conversion” legislation in force.
 
Gov. Krishna Kant Paul on April 18 signed the “Freedom of Religion” bill (Dharma Swatantrata Adhiniyam), which the state Legislative Assembly had passed.
 
“The bill has been signed by the governor,” Ravi Bijarniya, assistant director for information in the governor’s office, told Morning Star News.
 
Despite confirmation from the governor’s office, sources at the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) denied receipt of the signed bill.
 
“We confirm the receipt of 10 bills, which do not include the anti-conversion bill,” Officer on Special Duty R.B. Pant told Morning Star News. “We had sent the anti-conversion bill for approval on April 17, and if it has been signed, we might receive it soon.”
 
While staff members of the concerned office deny receiving the signed bill, local media and Jagran, a national newspaper, have reported the news of the governor’s approval of the bill and enforcement of the act.
 
Uttarakhand now joins Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand as states that have adopted anti-conversion bills, which Hindu extremists routinely use to falsely accuse Christians of forcible or fraudulent conversion.
 
Dr. John Dayal, spokesman for the United Christian Forum and the All India Catholic Union, told Morning Star News that enacting the anti-conversion law was driven by the ruling group’s communal agenda. 
 
“It fails the very basic test of explaining to the world the need for having such a law,” he said. “There is no forcible or fraudulent conversion in the state to the Christian or Muslim or Sikh faiths shown either by the Census data or by the police statistics. In the absence of such reality, the only explanation can be that it is to threaten the minority communities or to curb the freedom of religion of the Dalit and backward communities whose rights are being crushed by the upper castes which exercise political power in the state.”
 
The ruling party came to power on a “rabid communal platform,” he added.
 
“We will challenge such a law, in the court of law and the court of public opinion,” Dayal said.
 
Regulating the Holy Spirit

The new law makes forced conversions a non-bailable offense punishable by a jail term of between one and five years. If a victim of “forced conversion” is a minor, woman or person belonging to either a Scheduled Caste (Dalit) or a Scheduled Tribe (Tribal), the minimum jail term is two years.
 
The law also makes it mandatory to obtain permission from the state government prior to religious conversion. An affidavit has to be submitted with the respective District Magistrate at least one month prior to conversion. Persons converting for the purposes of marriage also must submit the same affidavit one month prior to marrying.
 
If this procedure is not followed and conversion is discovered, it will be invalidated and considered illegal by the state government.
 
The law also requires the clergy performing the conversion ceremony to give a month’s advance notice to the district magistrate. After receiving such information, a police enquiry will be conducted “with regard to the real intention, purpose and the cause of that proposed religion conversion,” according reports.
 
The law stipulates that any marriage solemnized for the sole purpose of conversion by a man belonging to one religion with a woman of another religion may be declared null and void by the family court, according to reports. The law also allows immediate family members of a person who has been converted to register a case to nullify the marriage.
 
Swift Passage

The entire process of introducing, passing and signing the bill took less than six months in a state where Christians are just 0.37 percent of the population, according to the 2011 Census. The state is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
 
The government of Uttarakhand, headed by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, prepared a draft bill after the Uttarakhand High Court in November 2017 suggested the state legislate a “Freedom of Religion Act” to keep a check on “sham” conversions, which in some cases were “only to facilitate the process of marriage,” according to the court.  
 
While the judges admitted that “it is not the role of the court to give suggestions to the state government to legislate,” nevertheless it justified the suggestion, “due to fast changing social milieu.”
 
The state cabinet, in a meeting led by the chief minister, cleared a draft of the bill on March 12, and it was subsequently introduced in the State Legislative Assembly and passed on March 22. The BJP enjoys a three-fourths majority in the 70-member House.
 
According to Pant, the bill was sent for the governor’s approval on April 17. Local media on April 19 reported that the governor gave his approval on April 18.
 
The swiftness of the Uttarakhand government to comply with a mere suggestion by the High Court has led many to believe the process was a mere formality.
 
Before passage, Dr. Indira Hridayesh, leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, was quoted in media as saying, “There was no need to come up with this piece of legislation; they know they cannot win the elections solely on their own work and are now going back to the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] agenda of Ram Mandir [temple] and religious conversions.”
 
She had highlighted that the bill would violate the provisions of religious freedom that allows individuals to practice religion of their choice without interference.
 
The Rev. Theodore Mascarenhas, general secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, told Morning Star News that the law empowers the government to trespass on private life.
 
“It is a complete encroachment on the private life of a person,” Mascarenhas said. “Religion and faith is something very private; it cannot be taken into public domain and controlled from the outside. These are personal decisions.”
 
Dr. Satish John, vice president of the Minority Commission of Uttarakhand, saw the law as very serious matter.
 
“This could be misused against minorities,” he told Morning Star News. “We must safeguard ourselves by approaching the Minority Commission if discrepancy is noticed in any individual case. The commission is established to make sure that such laws are not abused.”
 
Passed v. Enforced 

Anti-conversion laws are currently in force in Odisha (formerly Orissa), Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and now Uttarakhand. Arunachal Pradesh passed legislation but has not framed corresponding rules, and a bill passed in Rajasthan was not signed by the then-governor of the state.
 
The Gujarat, Jharkhand and now Uttarakhand laws necessitate prior permission in order to convert while the other six laws require notification.
 
Uttarakhand is the tenth state to pass anti-conversion legislation and the seventh since 2000. Orissa (now Odisha), Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Jharkhand have passed similar laws, with Tamil Nadu passing a law in 2002 and repealing it in 2004.
 
Though attempts to enact anti-conversion laws happened even before India’s independence in 1947, Orissa (now Odisha) was the first state to enact an anti-conversion law in 1967, ironically titling it a “Freedom of Religion” law.
 
Uttarakhand’s BJP-ruled government, led by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, completed one year in power on March 18. Rawat is a known RSS worker who has worked his way up the organization, serving as the Organizing Secretary for the RSS in the Uttarakhand region, and later the state before he entered politics through the BJP in 2002.
 
The hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist BJP, against non-Hindus, has emboldened Hindu extremists in several parts of the country to attack Christians since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, religious rights advocates say.
 
India ranked 11^th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of countries where Christians experience the most persecution.

Muslim Extremists Murder 39 Christians in Benue State, Nigeria

Still shocked over a deadly attack on a Catholic congregation on Tuesday (April 24), Christians in Nigeria’s Benue state yesterday suffered another onslaught by Muslim Fulani herdsmen that reportedly left at least 39 people dead.
 
More than 160 houses also were reported to have been set ablaze in heavily armed attacks that began late Tuesday night in the Guma area on predominantly Christian Tse-Umenge, Mbakpase and Tse-Ali villages. Dozens of Christians were wounded, and at this writing the total number of those killed was not confirmed.
 
The area is about 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the Gwer East area attacks that took place the day before.
 
A resident of Mbakpase, Alice Terwase, told Morning Star News that the herdsmen who invaded her community were dressed in military camouflage and armed with AK-47 weapons.
 
“The herdsmen destroyed more than 60 houses in our village, and three members of my community were also killed during the attack,” Terwase said by phone. “At Tse-Ali village, more than 70 houses were set ablaze and 21 Christians killed. All affected victims are members of NKST [Universal Reformed Christian Church, or Nongu u Kristu u i Ser u sha Tar] church, and the Roman Catholic Church in the affected communities.”
 
John Umenge, of Tse-Umenge village, told Morning Star News that more than 50 houses were burned down by the herdsmen in his community.
 
“More than 15 Christians were killed and 50 houses destroyed by the herdsmen,” Umenge said. “The attacks began around 11 p.m. on Tuesday night and lasted to the early hours of today [Wednesday].”
 
The attacks by the herdsmen have led to protests in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.
 
Pastors and church leaders could not be reached for comment as Benue state is engulfed in a state of emergency.
 
Nigeria’s House of Representatives on Wednesday (April 25) suspended session and invited President Muhammadu Buhari to explain why the attacks have persisted.
 
Akpen Leva, chairman of the Benue state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), last month said the herdsmen had destroyed 500 church buildings since 2011 with attacks that have displaced 170,000 people.

Assault on Displaced

Seven Christians among several hundred taking refuge in a church building were killed shortly after midnight last night by Muslim Fulani herdsmen, a local official said.
 
The attack on the displaced Christians took place at the African Church in Mbamondo village, in the Logo area of Benue state.
 
“The attack carried out by the herdsmen in the church premises of the African Church in Mbamondo took place at about 12:20 a.m.,” Richard Nyajo, council chairman of Logo Local Government Area told Morning Star News by phone. “Seven Christian villagers who were displaced in previous attacks and were taking refuge in the church premises were killed.”
 
The assailants set houses on fire and were armed with deadly weapons, he said. The wounded have been transferred to a hospital Makurdi.
 
Protests Planned

Christians in Nigeria plan a nationwide protest on Sunday (April 29) against attacks on Christian communities..
 
CAN leaders directed all churches in the country to hold peaceful protests following the attack on the Catholic church in Benue state that killed two priests and 17 parishioners. The protests also are planned to object to the continued captivity of the only Christian girl kidnapped by Boko Haram from Dapchi School, Leah Nathan Sharibu, and the remaining Christians girls abducted from a Chibok high school four years ago.
 
“CAN urges Christians in Nigeria to hold peaceful protests on the set aside date in the premises of their churches, asking the Federal government and the security agencies to stop the unending killings and bloodshed in the country,” the Rev. Supo Ayokunle, president of CAN, said in a statement. “Christians are to carry placards with inscriptions meant to address issues about sustained killings, attacks and destruction of their property in Nigeria.”
 
The government should be called upon to perform its constitutional responsibility of protecting citizens now, Ayokunle said.
 
“No excuse should be given for this wicked act again, and perpetrators must be brought to book now,” he said. “CAN seizes this medium to appeal to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to mount different effective plans aimed towards disarming herdsmen across the northern states and in communities where they have been wreaking havoc across the country in national interest.”
 
The failure of the government to stop the killings by herdsmen is the reason they have continued to kill, he said.
 
“The association also calls on the heads of the security agencies to wake up to their constitutional role of protecting lives and property across the federation while preventing Nigeria from descending into chaos and a lawless country,” he said. “CAN recalls with pains, disappointments, and worries how Nigerians in the North East, Middle Belt and southern parts of Nigeria become visibly endangered with sustained attacks from Boko Haram, herders and armed bandits.”
 
Christians make up 51.3 percent of Nigeria’s population, while Muslims living primarily in the north and middle belt account for 45 percent.
 
Nigeria ranked 14^th on Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.

Father’s House,

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Tamil Nadu, India.

National Worship Centre is a centre where the Lord of hosts, the Lord God Almighty is worshipped in His majesty all the 24 hours. Per day 12 worship teams come to worship from different parts of the Nation. One slot consists of 2 hours. The opening of NWC also turns to be the trumpet sign to start the fatal war against satan to this Nation for Christ! Do you want to join this praising Army?

Book your slots

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Praise God for the successful completion of 17438 slots in National Worship Centre with a Non Stop Worship (24/7)

Israel At 70: A Prophecy Fulfilled

In 1867, a young man named Samuel Langhorne Clemens set sail from New York, bound for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. 

Clemens is better known by his pen name -- Mark Twain (although in 1867, he was still an obscure journalist who had somehow convinced a California newspaper to fund this spectacular trip abroad, in exchange for regular updates from different stops on his journey).

Twain's two most famous books, about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, were still many years away -- and much rested on the success of his travelogue. As it turned out, the five-month cruise was a gamechanger, and the resulting book, The Innocents Abroad (1869), sold 70,000 copies in its first year, and was Twain's best-selling book during his lifetime.

The most important leg of the journey for Twain and his fellow passengers was their visit to the Holy Land, then known as Palestine -- at the time a minor outpost within the Syrian province of the Ottoman Empire. Most of the tourists on Twain's trip were devout Christians on their first pilgrimage to the land of the Bible. 

Twain, who was brought up Presbyterian, was undoubtedly swept up by the excitement and anticipation of reaching the Promised Land, spurred on by his distaste for almost everywhere else he had visited along the way.

But just about every myth and expectation was dashed by the reality that Twain confronted when he arrived. "The word Palestine always brought to my mind a vague suggestion of a country as large as the United States," he began, "I do not know why, but such was the case. I suppose it was because I could not conceive of a small country having so large a history."

Unlike the grandiose palaces and churches that Twain had encountered in Europe, along with the teeming cities and towns of Turkey and Syria, the land of the Bible was not just a jarring contrast -- it was inconceivable in light of the rich history with which it was associated. 

Western civilization owed itself to countless centuries of events that had occurred in this exact geographic location, and yet it was a veritable wasteland, whose inhabitants -- of all faiths and cultures -- were primitive and unsophisticated.

"Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes," he wrote. "Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies."

Twain described in vivid, unfiltered detail, the squalor and desolation that he witnessed in every place he visited across the country, and his description of Jerusalem, once the crown of Judea, is particularly disturbing: "Renowned Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in history, has lost all its ancient grandeur, and has become a pauper village; the riches of Solomon are no longer there to compel the admiration of visiting Oriental queens; the wonderful temple which was the pride and the glory of Israel, is gone."

The state of Jerusalem's inhabitants only underscored just how much this once glorious city had sunk into decline. "It seems to me that all the races and colors and tongues of the earth must be represented among the fourteen thousand souls that dwell in Jerusalem. Rags, wretchedness, poverty and dirt ... abound."

Twain was particularly struck by how barren the country was, and how few people there were. As he traveled through the Jezreel Valley, he noted that "there is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent -- not for thirty miles in either direction ... [and] one may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings." With hindsight, this was hardly surprising. The population of Palestine in the 1860s was 350,000; compare that to today's 8.5 million.

Twain's conclusion was that the Land of Israel was a bitter disappointment. It is "desolate and unlovely," he wrote, although "why should it be otherwise? Can the curse of the Deity beautify a land? Palestine is no more of this work-day world. It is sacred only to poetry and tradition; it is dream-land."

Twain's final analysis was that the Holy Land was a fantasy for religious dreamers looking for ghosts in a cemetery that was trapped in eternal damnation. But how wrong he was. Approximately 2,600 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel prophesized (Ez. 36:8): "But you, mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home." According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a) "there is no greater sign of the redemption than the fulfillment of this verse." 

The Holocaust martyr, Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal, in his seminal work Eim Habanim Semeicha, wrote that the desolation of the Land of Israel, as witnessed by Twain, is an essential component of that prophecy, a precursor to the flourishing renewal of the land in Messianic times.

Seventy years after the creation of the State of Israel, we have all personally observed the fulfillment of that prophecy. And as we contrast the highly-developed, prosperous country with the dreadful place described by Mark Twain, and even with the struggling Israel that marked most of its formative years, let us all be acutely aware that the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy was highlighted by the Talmud as the greatest sign of imminent Messianic redemption.

PNW Staff

Persecution is Rising in India, but Christianity  Standing Strong

It's more dangerous now than ever before to be a Christian in India.

Open Doors has officially released its 2018 World Watch List, and India ranks number 11 out of the top 50 countries where Christian persecution is at its worst.

"Persecution of Christians is rising in India. More than ever before, the growth of radical Hinduism in the nation is fueling violent attacks, with even greater impunity for attackers as the government sides with radical groups," the organization wrote in its report.

Pastor Joseph D'Souza, who works tirelessly for human rights in India told CBN News Hindu extremists are spreading dangerous propaganda against Christians in the country.

"The propaganda that continues to go on which is absolutely not correct that Christians are involved in false and forced conversions. Nothing of that sort is happening," he explained.

"The propaganda that somehow Christians are working against India, against the interests of India by trying to be Christians, is propelling this. And a lack of control of these groups that seem to commit crimes and attack minorities with impunity," he continued.

D'Souza said radical Hindu extremists aren't just targeting India's Christians, but anyone who does not adhere to their ideology.

"It's not just related to the Christians. It's also related to the Muslims, Dalits, and now also Hindus," he said.

The situation is especially hard for Dalits -- people who rank the lowest in India's caste system and are considered "untouchable."

"India cannot continue with a caste system," D'Souza said. "While many Dalits have found freedom and dignity through Christian work and education and spiritual work, the problem is not over."

Despite the growing persecution of Muslims, Dalits, Hindus, and Christians, D'Souza said God is still at work in India.

"Persecution has never stopped the growth of the church. In fact, when we are attacked, when we are persecuted, we become stronger," he said. "They're standing strong and they're not recounting."

Pastor Murdered, Church Burned, Anti-Christian Violence on Upswing in India

India may be the world's largest democracy, but the government often falls short when it comes to protecting Christians and other minorities from attack by militant Hindus.

In 2017, Christians experienced almost as many attacks against them during the first half of the year than during all of 2016. So far this year, there are  no signs that the religious intolerance and persecution is letting up.

Just within this past week, two major incidents occurred: one in Tamil Nadu state, and another in Jammu Kashmir.

Last Saturday, parishoners of Maknayeem Church near Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu attempted to enter their church for a prayer and fasting meeting. When they arrived, they discovered the church gate was locked.
After unlocking the gate, they entered the church and found 43-year old Pastor Gideon Perisyaswamy hanging form the rafters of the church.

According to Wilson Chowdhry of the British Asian Christian Association, when police arrived on the scene they appeared "whimsical" and failed to initiate an investigation of the crime scene. Instead, they labeled the pastor's death a suicide.

Chowdhry says the church members suspected foul play because a gold ring was missing from the pastor's finger and there were signs of welts, bruising and torture on Pastor Gideon's body. 

"This was a particularly special day in which a large number of the church were about to attend for prayer an fasting. It would seem very unusual for a man to commit suicide before that without leaving a note," he said.

According to Chowdhry, the church and pastor had received several death threats from militant Hindus who were angry about the church evangelizing and converting Hindus to Christianity. Pastor Gideon had reported the threats to local police.

On January 16, 2018 in Jammu Kashmir, a Hindu mob burned Sehal Christ Church of Seri Panchayat. Several Christian businesses were also set ablaze.

Chowdhry says the militants were upset because a former Hindu was given a Christian burial. 

The woman, Seema Devi had converted to Christianity before she became ill and died. Her parents wanted her body to be cremated which is the Hindu custom, but her husband wanted the Christian ceremony because his wife was Christian.

The parents accused Rinku Kumar of murdering his wife Seema, but Chowdhry says Kumar actually prayed regularly for her healing.

Many Christians from Sehal Christ Church have fled into the woods because Hindus are forcibly re-converting many of them to Hinduism. Chowdhry says his organization has helped the pastor find refuge in a safe house about 200 miles away from the village.

We are happy to intimate to you the forthcoming 4^th anniversary celebration of National Worship Centre. 17238 slots have been completed so far .We are going to celebrate the anniversary for 7 days from 7/4/18 to 13/4/18.

2 Chr 30:21, 22 In this verse we see King Hezekiah celebrating 7 days feast for the Lord. For that he called all the people of Israel. They joined together and worshiped our Lord for 7 days.

2 Chron 30:21 “..For seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests sang to the Lord every day, accompanied by the Lord's instruments of praise”.

In the same way we are going to celebrate 7 days of special worship. In the end i.e. on 13/4/18 we join together and worship our lord. We are glad to invite you for this programme. BFF trainees, troop churches, NWC regular worshipers must take part in it. Come worship our lord as a team.

2 Chron 30:27 “..God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place”.

In the same way those who attend and worship the Lord these days - their prayer will reach heaven. They will receive from the hands of the Master special blessing and promises. No doubt the nation is going to be shaken during our worship. Be ready and prepare for that, Book your Slot.

Praise God for the successful completion of 17338 slots in National Worship Centre with a Non Stop Worship (24/7)

China Pledges to Protect Religious Freedom, Days after Bible Ban

China presented an official ‘white paper’ on religion on Wednesday, 4 April, guaranteeing “protection” for religious freedom, just four days after banning the online sale of Bibles.

The policy paper, titled ‘China’s Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief’, was presented by the State Council Information Office at a press conference and followed the disbandment of the Religious Affairs Bureau.

A local source said they had not been able to find or download Bibles from a popular Amazon-like online platform and that other people had reported similar experiences on social media. Others, however, still seemed to have access to online Bibles earlier this week, the source said.

The latest developments follow the implementation of new regulations on religion in February, which some religious leaders in China said violated religious freedom.

‘ACTIVE GUIDANCE NEEDED’

According to Bernardo Cervellera, writing for AsiaNews, the ‘white paper’ signalled a shift away from the Marxist philosophy that defined religion as the “opium of the people”, defining China as a “multi-religious country since ancient times”. However, the government’s policy document added that “active guidance” was needed so religions could “adapt to socialist society”.

The ‘Sinicization’ of religion has long been a core message of President Xi Jinping. Under his rule, control of religious life has increased, causing more pressure on Christians, Muslims and Buddhists.

Five Years on, Central African Republic Crisis Deepens

A UN spokesperson has called for a new approach to end the still-deepening crisis in the Central African Republic.

The situation in CAR has been deteriorating for five years now, and in the next six months may grow even worse, according to the head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in CAR, Joseph Inganji.

Speaking to World Watch Monitor last week, Inganji called on “all actors to sit around the table to have a shared analysis and joint planning, in order to cut the vicious cycle of violence, and respond according to each other and everyone’s mandate”.

CAR fell into chaos on 24 March 2013 when a predominantly Muslim coalition of rebels, known as Séléka, ousted President François Bozizé and took power.

Six months later, in September 2013, Séléka’s leader, Michel Djotodia, who had proclaimed himself president, disbanded the group and in January 2014 resigned as president, to be replaced by Catherine Samba-Panza.

 “Since 2013, children are no longer going to school in some regions,” he said. “Which kind of future are we preparing for this country with a whole generation sacrificed?”

Meanwhile, Imam Omar Kobine Layama, the president of the Islamic Conference in CAR, said “all our efforts remain vain because of the lack of security”.

The imam called on the reinforcement of the state, notably the national army, to accompany the UN peacekeepers already deployed in the country.

Finally the representative of CAR’s Evangelical Alliance, François Ndeckere Nzogbia, welcomed the contribution of the international community towards the resolution of the crisis in CAR, but said more needs to be done:

“We need to be supported strongly in order to stop the acts of these warlords and criminals, who continue to kill central Africans on a daily basis. But unfortunately the echo is not raised loud enough to enable the world to know that somewhere in that world, men and women continue to be killed cowardly.”

The Geneva briefing was organised jointly by the World Evangelical Alliance and the Catholic charity Caritas International.

It was also attended by various key stakeholders, including the UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic, Marie-Thérèse Keita Bocoum, who stressed the key role of the religious leaders:

“I want to insist on the importance of interreligious dialogue, which will enable each locality of CAR to move forward to listening, forgiveness and reconciliation.”

5 Countries Where Christians Celebrated Easter Despite Persecution

Easter this year was a time of mixed emotions for the Christians who live under pressure for their faith. While political and religious leaders called for peace, reconciliation and brotherhood, Christians in countries like Syria and the Philippines continued to face violence and its consequences.

Below, World Watch Monitor gives a snapshot of what Easter 2018 looked like in some of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Photo courtesy: ©Thinkstock/elinedesignservices

1. SYRIA

In war-torn Syria, the Catholic community in the city of Aleppo celebrated Holy Week with a mixture of hope and scepticism, Bishop Georges Abou Khazen told AsiaNews. The Apostolic Vicar of the Catholic Church said: “We have experienced death and destruction but at the same time we have lived great testimonies of love and solidarity. The war continues and new victims die every day, an exaggerated number of deaths. People continue to flee from the country. Faced with all this suffering we cannot remain deaf and impassive; even after eight years we cannot resign ourselves to the logic of violence and war.”

2. PHILIPPINES

In the Philippines, 7,000 of Marawi’s 400,000 displaced citizens were able to visit their homes on Easter Sunday for the first time since the Philippine army liberated the city, which is on the southern island of Mindanao, from Islamist militants in October.

It followed a day of protests on Good Friday when, according to Catholic news site UCAN, thousands gathered to demand the opportunity to visit and pray in their devastated city. The protestors also claimed displaced residents had been mistreated by the government.

3. INDONESIA

People in Indonesia defied fears of growing Islamist extremism when Muslims joined Christians in celebrating Holy Week. Following dance performances by dozens of young Muslims during a procession on Good Friday in Ambon, capital of the south-eastern Maluku Province, Bishop Canisius Mandagi told the UCAN: “This is an example of where religion becomes a unifying tool and this religious celebration becomes a bridge to strengthening relations”.

Meanwhile Jakarta’s Catholic Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo toldChristians they “should go out and mingle with people from different backgrounds. This is a very important thing to do right now”. In his Easter message he also challenged the “money, power and prestige” that, he said, have become “serious challenges to national unity in Indonesia”, as “money is spent to gain power through bribery and corruption."

4. VIETNAM

For Catholics in the mountainous north-western part of Vietnam, Holy Week was marked by the first ever visit by a bishop since Catholic communities were established in the area over a century ago, reported UCAN. Bishop John Mary Vu Tat of Hung Hoa, in Hanoi, travelled 160km north-west to Yen Bai Province, where he visited nine parishes, sub-parishes and mission stations.

He baptised and administered Confirmation to members of the ethnic minority Hmong people group during an Easter Mass at Vinh Quang Church, which was attended by 2,000 people. A Paris-based Vietnamese human rights group recently expressed concern about an increase of attacks against religious minorities, like the Hmong Christians, in the Southeast Asian country.

5. ISRAEL

In Israel, 13 church leaders in Jerusalem issued a joint Easter message on Good Friday as violence erupted between Palestinians and Israeli security forces along the Israeli-Gaza border. “We pray to almighty God that people who are walking in the way of the cross may find it the way of hope, peace, and life,” they said.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christianity’s holiest site, was visited by hundreds of pilgrims on Easter Sunday. This following its closure in Februarywhen churches protested against the municipality’s plan to end the tax-exempt status with regards to commercial properties the churches hold.

Iraqi Christian Woman is Reunited with Father after 3 Years in ISIS' Captivity

An Iraqi Christian woman who was kidnapped by ISIS in 2014, raped and sold as a sex slave, has been reunited with her father.

Rita Habib called the emotional reunion a “dream,” as there were many times during her captivity when she never expected to see her father again.

“I am very happy that after three years I reunited with my father. It is a joyous moment because he is the only family I have left," Habib said.

The Christian Post reports that Islamic extremists overran Habib’s hometown of Qaraqosh, southeast of Mosul, three years ago. Thousands of people were killed and hundreds of woman, including Habib, were taken captive.

Habib was held captive in Mosul for several months before being sold as a sex slave to Syria.

She recounted some of the horrors she saw and experienced while in ISIS’ captivity:

"I was bought and sold four times. They did evil things to us. They beat us and raped us. The worst of all was girls aged nine who were raped. Girls would be sold for 4,000 to 15,000 dollars."

Habib was rescued several months ago as ISIS' stronghold in the region began crumbling. Now that she is back home and reunited with her father, she says she wants to begin rebuilding her life and community. She also hopes to help other women who were kidnapped.