icc's july e-newsletter, persecution

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PERSECU ION .org

INTERNATIONAL CHRIS TIAN CONCERN

PERSECUTIONJULY 2012

International Christian Concern

“ Only that you are

glorified”Minutes after Semsa

identified her husband’s mutilated body at the morgue, she gave God

praise.Would you be so faithful to God before your spouse’s body is

even in the grave?

INSIDE THIS ISSUEJuly 2012

Only That You Are Glorified

As the five-year anniversary of her husband’s murder approaches, Semsa Aydin reflects on what it means to be a widow’s martyr, and still praise God for His blessings.

Disobedient: Counting the Cost of Leaving Islam

Although she believed Jesus loved her, Fatima found it almost impossible to escape her oppressive Muslim household, even within the safety of the United States.

Blasphemy Laws: The New Rules of the Middle East

As Islamists dominate the government sphere, they are ushering in blasphemy laws which target Christians and non-Muslims. Discover why experts are calling this the greatest threat to Christians in the Middle East.

Into the Wilderness: ICC on Location

To increase our awareness and effectiveness overseas, ICC recently sent Regional Managers to Nigeria and Iraq. Read an excerpt from their journals.

Your Dollars at Work

Read more to find out how your dollars are assisting the persecuted church today!

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Semsa stood in the morgue looking at her murdered husband’s lifeless and brutalized body. He had just been horribly martyred and with all her heart she cried out “Necati, RISE, in the name of Jesus!”

As you read Semsa’s story, I think, like me, you will be struck to the core at the heartbreak of this wom-an’s loss and her desperate desire to escape the painful desert she was just beginning to traverse. But if you really want to have your mind blown, keep reading and find out what God said to her.

Persecution is concurrently a trag-ic and life-giving force. It is truly a mystery how in God’s kingdom, hatred, bloodshed, and murder pro-duce love and life.

Loved ones left behind are shat-tered and weep at the feet of Jesus, while in heaven, a martyr is wel-comed home, embraced by love, and given a crown.

Back on earth, the death of the mar-tyr causes mostly fear among the Body. But in some, something deep and holy starts to come to life—a burning desire to live for heaven and our Father and to leave this world behind. They become willing

to pay any price to see others find what they have found: a relation-ship with the blazing author of love himself, Jesus.

Like one candle touching another, their hearts are set aflame by Jesus’ heart and the magic begins. They boldy share the Gospel and respond to hate with love. Those around them notice that an ambassador from some other beautiful world has arrived in their midst. They are drawn to them and Hell quakes!

I have to tell you that I am humbled to have met Semsa and had the opportunity to help her as well as other persecuted believers. Our work is a holy work and I invite you to join with us as we bandage, heal, and build the Body of Christ in the most dangerous places for Christians on earth.

As you partner with us, I promise that we will use your gifts effective-ly, ethically, and efficiently.

Jeff KingPresident, International Christian Concern

LETTER FROM THEPRESIDENT

3 | You can help today! www.persecution.org

In one of the most brutal martyrdoms we know of, Necati Aydin and two others died for their faith, leaving Semsa, Necati’s

wife, behind. Five years later, ICC President Jeff King and Senior Regional Manager Corey Bailey sit down with Semsa to hear about that fateful morning, and how she is able to rise each

morning since.

“ Only that you are

glorified”

emsa Aydin stood in the morgue, looking at her hus-band’s mutilated body. “Get

up, Necati!” she insisted: “Rise in the name of Jesus.” With tears run-ning down her face the Lord spoke to her heart: “Do you really want to take this much honor and throw it in the trash so you can have a little more happiness on earth?” This is when Semsa realized that her hus-band was truly gone: “No, Lord,” she said. “I want only that you are glorified.”

Five years ago, in Malatya, Turkey, Semsa’s husband, Necati, was mar-tyred for his faith, and she became a widow. The morning he was mur-dered began like any other. Their children went off to school and she and her husband gathered in the liv-ing room to worship God and study the Bible. They read the story of Goliath and prayed that God would help them be faithful unto death. When Necati left to go to work, he smiled at his wife and walked out the door. She didn’t realize at the time that this was the last time she would see him smile.

Necati was a Muslim convert to Christianity. Semsa was the one who led him to the Lord. He sat next to her on the bus, only because there was no other empty seat. “He was a radical Muslim and didn’t want to sit by a woman,” Semsa said. But the Lord had other plans. Over the

next few months Necati and Semsa would meet to talk about Jesus and the Bible. His family thought he was meeting to convert Semsa, but she says that with God’s truth and love softening his heart, he soaked up the Gospel “like a sponge.”

Counting the cost, and knowing he would lose his family for convert-ing, Necati gave his life to the Lord. Semsa remembers the response of his family: “If you want your fam-ily, you have to leave Jesus. But if you want Jesus, we’re going to leave you forever.” She said, “I be-lieve he suffered when he put them on the altar, just like Abraham when he put his beloved son on the altar.”

Years later they married and to-gether, shared the Gospel in Turkey. They saw others come to the Lord as Necati pastored their local church.

With tears running down her face the Lord spoke to her

heart: “Do you really want to take

this much honor and throw it in the trash

so you can have a little more happiness

on earth?”

-Semsa

You can help today! 800-ICC-5441 | 4

“Necati was a good shepherd,” said Semsa. “He thought about his lambs and he really showed God’s

mercy to them. And he hugged them with God’s arm and tried to protect them more than himself.”

On April 18, 2007 five men stormed Necati’s office and brutally tortured Necati, Tilman Geske, a German citizen, and Ugur Yuksel, another Turkish convert from Islam. The at-tackers had begun a friendship with Necati, saying they wanted to know about Jesus. Necati feared that they were like Judas. However, Necati was determined to love these Judases the way that Jesus loved his Judas. Necati took precautions and only met them this day because there were other people around and it was mid-day.


“Necati was a good shepherd. He

thought about his lambs and he really showed God’s mercy

to them. And he hugged them with

God’s arm and tried to protect them more

than himself.”

-Semsa

Semsa with her children at Necati’s grave.

The men asked for tea, and Necati welcomed them. After a little while they asked to invite more friends who wanted to hear the Gospel. Soon there were five Muslim “seek-ers” and three Christians. This is when the leader received the call to begin the attack.

Ugur was stabbed over 100 times. Necati and Tilman were stabbed multiple times each. When the au-thorities finally arrived, our broth-ers were found tied to their chairs, disemboweled, their throats cut. All five murderers were immedi-ately apprehended. Semsa said they were found with letters that said, “We killed them for our religion and for our nationality, and this is honor. You have to [be] proud with us.”

Semsa was unaware of the attack until she received a phone call, tell-ing her to turn on the news. Unable to get a straight answer from the au-thorities, she realized her husband was dead when she watched the news coverage and recognized her husband’s shoes sticking out of a body bag. Semsa’s prayer was sim-ply this: That he had been faithful to Jesus until the end. “From when my husband died until now, to give him to Jesus in this way never broke my heart.” she says. “It is like liv-ing in a desert without him here with us… but…. To die for Jesus did not hurt me.” To her, the fact

that he was faithful and died giving glory to Jesus is a blessing.

Semsa and Tilman’s wife, Susanna, publically forgave their husbands’ killers, in a moment that shocked

the nation. Semsa prays that the men who attacked her husband would come to know the Lord.

Though it’s been five years, the court cases are not over. One day, despairing in court, Semsa was comforted by the Lord: “[The Lord] said, ‘On the cross when I died, did I have victory or not?’ I

“They make Jesus their daddy, and this way they are never an orphan.”


said, ‘Yes, you had victory when you died.’ And He said, ‘They have victory when they died, because they were faithful to me. By their testimony, and by Jesus’ blood, they have victory, and Goliath [the mur-derers] lost.”

Semsa’s two children have stopped asking when their Daddy will come home. They no longer ask her to take them to his office because “maybe daddy is at work.” The children encourage each other and decided to love Jesus the way that Daddy loved Jesus. “They make Jesus their daddy, and this way they are never an orphan,” says Semsa.

Semsa and her children now live in the United States. They are in danger of losing their visas and are

seeking asylum. Semsa is worried about what could happen to them if they are forced to return to Turkey. ICC has been able to help by send-ing funds towards living expenses for her and her children.

“Mommy, do not worry,” her son tells her. “Trust in Jesus!” And she chooses to do so daily. Not without hardship and not without pain, but never alone with Jesus by her side.

Further projects to aid Semsa are in development. If you would like to help Semsa, please call us at 800-422-5441, 9-5 EST, or go to www.persecution.org and designate your gift to “Suffering Wives and Children.”


In the midst of mourning Necati’s death, attendees took time to praise God.

“The Lord said, ‘On the cross when

I died, did I have victory or not?’ I

said, ‘Yes, you had victory when you

died.’ And He said... ‘By their testimony, and by Jesus’ blood,

they have victory, and [the murderers]

lost.’”

-Semsa

For some, a dream like that would just be a half-remembered, blurry image; but for a little Muslim girl searching for the truth, it was indel-ibly burned into her mind.

Raised in an oppressive Muslim home in the United States, Fatima was expected to pray five times a day, read the Quran and do ablu-tion (a cleaning ceremony). This little girl would ask her parents, “Mommy, why do we do this?” “Daddy, why does Allah say this?” Her questions were met, not with an answer, but with a smack across her face. Fearful of her father’s un-


DIS BEDIENTCounting the Cost of Leaving Islam

Fatima was only 12 years

old when Christ appeared to

her in a vision and said: “Give

me your heart and I’ll love

you forever.”

questionable wrath, she

grew up with-out a choice: She

was a Muslim and would grow up to

marry a good Muslim man. For her family, there was nothing to ques-

tion. They were from Pakistan, and to be Pakistani was to be Muslim. There was no separa-tion.

Yet, in the midst of her desperation, Christ appeared to her. “I literally woke up seeing the world in color.”

Fatima, like millions of Muslims around the world, did not want to disappoint her family. Family is ev-erything, and Allah is everything. To become a Christian meant leav-

ing everything she knew; leaving her family. “All Muslim children want to make their parents proud,” she said. “The worst thing you can do is disappoint them.” Barely a teenager, Fatima knew she wanted a truth different than the one her parents had taught her. And yet she feared the consequences: beat-ings, no doubt, but a reality where her parents denied her existence? Fatima was not ready to say good-bye, so she stayed silent.

In the next nine years, Fatima’s re-lationship with the Lord deepened. She felt if she didn’t tell her parents she was a Christian, she would be living a lie. “I told them that I saw Jesus in a dream; that I’d been want-ing to live for Jesus, but couldn’t because of being a Muslim.”


“All Muslim children want to make their

parents proud. The worst thing

you can do is disappoint them.”

-Fatima


Many Muslims struggle to give their lives to the Lord because Islam is so ingrained in the culture, that to consider another religion is unfathomable. To be Pakistani is to be Muslim. If one turns their back on Islam, they are also turning their back on their country, people and family. Saying “yes” to Jesus opens them up to beatings, persecu-tion, being disowned, and possibly death.

Fatima’s freedom as a U.S. citizen stopped at the front door of her house. Her Muslim family denied her the right to search out other re-ligions, go to church or even read the Bible. She felt that being in this strict Muslim home was preventing her from being able to follow Jesus.

Fatima remembers thinking at the time that things at home couldn’t possibly get worse. “I was de-pressed and being abused, but af-ter I told my family that I was a Christian everything got worse,” she said. Her brother immediately disowned her, her sister ran out of the room crying, and her mother began sobbing. Her father’s re-sponse was the one she feared the most. “He gave me the worst beat-ing of my life. He was hitting and punching me into the ground while everyone else watched. My mom, sister and brother just sat on the couch and watched. During the beating I had visions of God saying

[to me]: ‘It’s going to be OK,’ but I was scared and wasn’t sure if it was going to be OK. I knew I had to deny being a Christian or my dad was going to kill me.”

Fatima’s father did not kill her that day, but instead began a campaign to win his daughter back to Islam. Her family watched everything she did and had to know where she was at all times. Her father beat her daily and brought an Imam to the house to convince her to turn back to Islam. She felt completely

“I was depressed and being abused,

but after I told my family that I was a Christian

everything got worse....I

knew I had to deny being a

Christian or my dad was going

to kill me. ”-Fatima


rejected by her family and very confused about what to believe. In one hand, she had Islam, the other Christianity. She was rewarded when she acted a Muslim, and beat-en when she questioned it. And yet, Muhammad had never shown up in a dream.

Despite her family’s efforts to shel-ter Fatima from outside influence, they allowed her to have a friend-ship with a Christian girl. This friend was a ray of hope in her dark days, but then her friend died sud-denly and Fatima was truly alone. “I really had no one else to talk to. I was alone. My whole life was gone.” Her mother escorted her to the fu-neral, which was held in a church. She remembers that as she walked through the doors, she felt the Lord’s indescribable peace; some-thing she had never felt from Allah. She left that day knowing she had to pursue Jesus.

“Belief in God gave me the will to live. I remember thinking: ‘Get me out of this house. Get me out. I have nowhere else to turn but to Jesus.’” But Fatima, like many who want to leave Islam, had nowhere to go.

About this time, Fatima met

Christians at her university and was given a Bible. “I spent count-less nights waiting for everyone to fall asleep to read it under my covers with a flashlight, shaking in fear of getting caught reading Genesis.” One night her eyes fell on Psalm 27:10 which reads: “If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me in.” Fatima could not ignore her desire. “That’s when I knew I had to flee everything I knew so I could openly embrace this God of love.”

Christians on campus and an orga-nization called Open Doors helped plan and execute Fatima’s escape. It took four months and three failed

“Belief in God gave me the will to live.

I remember thinking ‘Get me out of this house...I have

nowhere to turn but to Jesus.’”

-Fatima

attempts before she was able to run to safety and freedom. She had to obtain restraining orders, coordi-nate with her university and the authorities, and change all her pass-words. At a predetermined time, a handful of her new Christian friends spent 15 minutes at her home pack-ing her belongings.

During the weeks before she left, Fatima took something from each family member’s room to remem-ber them by. “I spent extra time with each of my family members. I would agree with whatever they said, even though my heart didn’t, because I wanted to be near them just a little bit longer. I knew that they saw I was different. I know they saw Christ in me. I also knew I might never see them again.”

Once she escaped, the local church and Christians she had met on cam-pus became Fatima’s family. They let her stay in their homes and store her belongings in their cars. They met with her for prayer and Bible study. Hearing her story, one fam-ily let her move in with them. She lived there for over a year, becom-ing a part of their family.

Fatima says that since her escape everything has changed. “Now I see life with color. I’m happy. I’m

in a safer environment where I’m told the truth. I’m living truth, even with the mistakes. It’s all worth it. My treasure is in heaven. Even if I hadn’t left, my treasure would be in heaven. If I didn’t do this, though, I wouldn’t be alive. I would have killed myself a long time ago. The depression was so bad. Either my dad would have killed me, or really, I would have killed myself because I wouldn’t want to die the way my dad would have killed me.”

Fatima is a recent college grad-uate and has been estranged from her family for three years. Life is not easy on her own, but she is free to worship God. “I miss my family, but I’m never alone—that’s a big deal.”


An American Tale

Unfortunately, Fatima’s story is not uncommon. Muslim

children who stop following Islamic teachings are targets for “honor killings” by their

families, even in the U.S.

In Arizona, Noor Almaleki was run over and killed by her

father last year for becoming “too westernized.”


Blasphemy Laws The New Rules of the Middle East

“Butcher those who mock

ISLAM”-Muslim protester


Top Photo: Protesters demand release of Asia Bibi, in Lahore November 21, 2010/Mohsin Raza

America and much of the western world praised the Middle East’s ‘Arab Spring’ that toppled long-standing and oppressive dicta-tors in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and perhaps, in the near future, Syria. The American ideal of democracy outweighed fears that greater free-doms in majority Muslim countries may usher in even more repressive

governments. There is no denying the immediate ramifications of the ‘Arab Spring’ on religious minori-ties, mainly Christians.

Churches have been burned and destroyed in Egypt, Christian cem-eteries have been desecrated in Libya and Christian girls have been abducted and forced to convert to Islam in Egypt.

Large numbers of Christians have

been arrested and brutally killed in Egypt and Syria, not to mention in the ongoing conflict in Iraq and un-der the oppressive regime in Iran. Even secular media, which tends to downplay or outright avoid report-ing on religious violence against Christians, has given unprecedent-ed coverage to many of these atroc-ities in the past year.

However, perhaps more alarming than the churches that were burned or the Christians that were killed is what these new Islamist-dominated governments—given power by ‘democratic’ principles—are do-ing behind closed doors. The resur-gence of blasphemy laws—which criminalize Christians and some-times even Muslims for insulting Islam—are spreading like wild-fire throughout the Islamic world.

Protesters both for and against blasphemy laws gather around Pakistan. Photo by: AFP/Farooq Naeem


They are perhaps the greatest threat against Christianity in the Middle East today.

In May, Kuwait’s parliament ap-proved the death penalty for in-sulting Allah, the Qu’ran, Muslim prophets, or Muhammad’s wives. The decision, similar to newly en-forced laws in other Middle Eastern

countries, was a response to com-ments that were posted on social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter, that Muslims found offen-sive.

Protests in Kuwait and throughout the Gulf states ignited when Hamad Al-Naqi, a Shiite Muslim, allegedly used Twitter to curse the Muslim Prophet Muhammad in March.

The case of writer Mohammad Al-Mulaifi followed when he was sen-tenced to seven years in jail in May after publishing remarks deemed offensive to Shiite Muslims. A sim-ilar high-profile case is pending in Saudi Arabia.

Other indications suggest that Kuwait is headed toward becoming

an Islamic state, including a pro-posed law to prohibit the construc-tion of churches and other non-Islamic places of worship. “The ground is now fertile to amend the second article of the constitution to facilitate the road to change mak-ing Sharia the sole source of legis-lation in Kuwait,” said parliamen-tarian Mohammed Al-Haif.

Members of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance gather to protest blasphemy laws and the incarceration of Asia Bibi. Photo by: Abid Nawaz/Express


While there are relatively few Christians in Kuwait, it is Christians who have faced the brunt of such laws in Egypt. For example, on April 4, 17-year-old Gamal Abdou Massoud was given a three-year prison sentence for posting “in-sulting” cartoons on Facebook in the Upper Egypt province of Assiut. The cartoons, published in December, led to violent Muslim protests in neighboring villages that lasted for two days. Several Christian houses were burned and several Christians were injured dur-ing the protests.

Massoud’s case followed similar charges filed against Christians and secularists in Egypt. On January 9, Christian telecom mogul Naguib Sawiris, who founded the Free Egyptians political party, was charged with “blasphemy and in-sulting Islam” when he reposted

a cartoon of a bearded Mickey Mouse and a veiled Minnie Mouse on Twitter. While an Egyptian court dismissed the case filed against Sawiris in March, other cases re-main pending, including charges filed in early February against Adel Imam, the Arab world’s lead-ing comic actor. Imam was given a three-month prison sentence by an Egyptian court for “defaming Islam” because of characters he portrayed in several films. In Tunisia, Nabil Karoui, the owner of Nessma TV, was fined for blasphemy in May after airing the French-Iranian animated film “Persepolis” which features a car-toon depiction of Allah and is con-sidered sacrilege to some Muslims. Nearly 140 lawyers filed lawsuits against Karoui for “violating sacred values” and “disturbing public or-der.” Following the release of the

“The ground is now fertile to amend the second article of the

constitution to facilitate the road to change making Sharia the sole

source of legislation in Kuwait.”

-Mohammed Al-Haif, parliamentarian


film in Tunisia, a Muslim mob dam-aged Karoui’s house with Molotov cocktails in October. “I am very sad when I see that the people that burned my house are free while I am here because I broadcast a film which was au-thorized,” Karoui told reporters outside the court-room. He de-scribed the trial as the “death of free-dom of expression [in Tunisia],” The Associated Press reported.

“We’ve become the ahl al-dhim-ma,” Abdelhalim Messaoudi, a jour-nalist at Nessma TV, told The New York Times in ref-erence to the sec-ond-class status to which minorities have historically been subjected in Muslim states. “It is like the Middle Ages.”

Still, it is in Pakistan where laws against blasphemy are most severe. Asia Bibi, a young Christian mother, is currently on death row in what has become one of the world’s highest-profile blasphemy cases. Bibi was

accused of breaking Section 295C of the Penal Code, which stipulates that “derogatory remarks” against Muhammad warrant the punish-ment of “death, or imprisonment for life.” On November 8, 2010, after spending more than a year in jail, Bibi was sentenced to death by hanging. Two of her closest ad-

vocates, Salmaan Taseer, the gov-ernor of the prov-ince of Punjab, and Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s sole Christian cabinet minister, were as-sassinated for pub-licly opposing the blasphemy law.

While Bibi is the first to be sen-tenced to execution for blasphemy, 46 of the 1,060 people charged for blas-phemy between 1986 and 2011 have been killed while awaiting tri-al or after having

been acquitted, the Christian Post reported. For example, in 2009, 40 houses and a church in the town of Gojra in Punjab province were set ablaze by a Muslim mob. At least seven Christians were burned alive. The attacks were triggered by re-ports that Christians desecrated the

Asia Bibi, a young Christian mother,

is first person to be sentenced to death

for blasphemy. She is currently on death row

in Pakistan.


Qu’ran, violating 295B of the Penal Code. Hence, whether an offender is officially convicted in a Pakistani court or merely accused of blasphe-my by a neighbor, the offense may still merit the death sentence in one form or another.

In August, a Pew Forum survey reported that anti-blasphemy laws are a primary reason for the de-cline of religious freedom around the world. The report, titled “Rising Restrictions on Religion,” states that 59 countries have policies which forbid blasphemy at some level. Of those, 44 countries enforce punishments ranging from fines to imprisonment to the death pen-alty. More than 80 percent of those countries are in the Islamic world.

“The battle, of course, is being waged by Islamists who want their interpretation of the religion to be declared as the only acceptable

version,” said Barry Rubin, the director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center. “Westerners don’t under-stand that when that happens any-thing more moderate or flexibly traditional hence becomes illegal and punishable. The Islamist coun-ter-Bill of Rights proclaims that the country’s people have no freedom of speech or freedom of religion, no right to free assembly or of the press.”

Rather than giving rise to greater individual liberty, blasphemy laws are turning the Arab Spring into a repressive winter, with tyrannical and intolerant Islamist forces dash-ing the hopes for greater freedoms. These laws will embolden radi-cal Muslims to commit ever-more violent acts against perceived blas-phemers and inevitably, the pri-mary targets will be the Christian community.

“The battle, of course, is being waged by Islamists who want

their interpretation of the religion to be declared as the only

acceptable version.”

-Barry Rubin, director of Global Research in International Affairs Center


s part of our commitment to bringing assistance, aware-ness and advocacy to the

persecuted Church, we routinely send our Regional Managers into their regions to get firsthand ac-counts of the situation.

Despite the present dangers to both natives and foreigners, ICC man-agers arrive in some of the darkest places on earth to collect reports, foster relationships with contacts who send us information, and re-search how ICC can help.

This past month, ICC sent Regional Managers into Nigeria and Iraq. These are excerpts from their jour-nals. You can read their amazing reports in our August issue.

Nigeria

On a cold March evening in 2010, a group of Muslims entered a vil-lage at 2 a.m. intent on killing the villagers.

An attack this extreme had never been imagined by the townspeople. With only the moonlight to guide them, the Muslims macheted 500 Christians, showing no remorse for women and children who were slaughtered.

On my sixth day in Nigeria, I vis-ited the village called Dogo Nawa. Two years later, this village is de-fined by this attack. At the entrance to the city stands a large monument

INTO THE WildernessICC ON LOCATION


in memory of the victims that no one can forget.

I met with one survivor, a man named Elisha. On that fateful morn-ing, gunshots awoke him. At first, his family decided to stay inside the house, but with his neighbor’s home set on fire and the attackers roaming the village, Elisha fled in an attempt to distract them from entering his house where his family was hiding.

Elisha’s family was untouched, but he was cornered by the Muslims, beaten and cut with machetes. Mi-raculously, he survived.

Over 10,000 Christians have died in Nigeria in the last 10 years. In next month’s issue, I will share firsthand accounts of Christians who praise God in the midst of this suffering.

Iraq

“We have no militia. We have no way to defend ourselves. We are sitting ducks. And, when we are attacked, no one is prosecuted. How can we survive?” a Christian from Baghdad, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told ICC. Long before the U.S. pulled troops out of Iraq last year, the country’s Christians came to under-stand that they had been neglected and that one of the oldest and most vibrant Christian communities in the world is nearing extinction.

Terrorism targeting Christians in Iraq continues. “Last year there were two bombings outside our church,” a Protestant pastor from Kirkuk told ICC. “Thankfully, no one was killed, but the damage was done… only a few families remain in our congregation who were here before the war. Nearly everyone has fled to Syria or Turkey to immi-grate to the U.S. or Europe. There is no hope for them here. How can I blame them for leaving?”

In Kirkuk alone, three churches were bombed and at least five Christians were abducted for their faith in 2011. Three of them were found dead; one was beheaded.

In Baghdad, I visited with the few church leaders and congregants who remain in one of the world’s most persecuted cities. The faith-ful remnant has seen their churches bombed and their fellow believ-ers brutally murdered. Yet, they have found refuge in Christ alone.

“We’re praying for the terrorists who think that they’re doing so for God, to wake up and know who’s the real God,” said the pastor in Kirkuk. “We’re praying for [Christians] to get closer to Jesus, for the many families who lost a loved one, their houses and money. [We pray] they’ll never forget that no matter what we lose, we’ll still have the place Je-sus is preparing for us in heaven.”


Underground Pastors

Orissa is one of the most difficult places in India to share the Gospel as there is much persecution. Two of our church plant-ers asked for a motorbike so they could reach more people in a shorter amount of time. Currently, one of the church planters visits 10 house fellowships that are over 60 kilometers away. Due to the distance, he only visits the two far-thest once a month by bus. These fel-lowships are seeing incredible growth

and with better transportation can be visited once or twice weekly. The two church planters who will share this motorcycle have said: “[We] are very happy to receive the motorbike for God’s glory…. Now the ministry will grow twice faster than before. Thank you, ICC!”

YOUR DOLLARS AT WORK

Community Rebuilding

We’ve recently received a report from one of our long-term projects in Burma. In this war-torn nation, where the military has shown itself to be openly hostile to-wards Christianity, ICC has been sponsoring relief teams to bring medical aid, clothing, and the Gospel to beleaguered women and children. As the most vulnerable members of society, women and children are often left to face life in a war zone with little support. Over the course of the last several months, ICC donors sponsored visits to 16 different villages, 60 schools, and some 3000 children. The children pictured here are just some of the kids whose lives were helped by this program.

Wives and Children of Martyrs

Kemi’s husband was a missionary pastor. He was brutally murdered by Muslim attackers who came to his house to kill him because of his ministry. ICC provided financial assistance to help Kemi with expanding her small business. She was struggling with running her business and paying for her children’s school. Through our help, she was able to work and provide for the needs of her family.

Kemi expressed her gratitude to the donors saying, “The money came at the right time. That time it was not easy. I was struggling to pay for the school fees of my children. The money I received really helped me to come back again (into business)….I thank God so much for [the donor’s] care because if they are not concerned about us, we wouldn’t do things like that (business). You make us feel that somebody cares for us.”

YOUR DOLLARS AT WORK


Bibles to the Persecuted

Last month we received a report from one of our partners in China detailing the results of ICC’s efforts to put Bibles into the hands of believers across the country. We are happy to report that in March and April alone, more than 5,500 Bibles were delivered to Christians in provinces as far flung as Yunnan and Inner Mongolia.

In addition, we have helped to distribute 7,000 Bibles in Burma, and will be

sending 5,000 Bibles into North Korea in the next few months.

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© Copyright 2012 ICC, Washington, D.C., USA. All rights reserved. Per-mission to reproduce all or part of this publication is granted provided attribution is given to ICC as the source.

International Christian Concern is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) (all donations tax-deductible).

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