Indonesia Sentences 41 Christian To Five Years Imprisonment

For praying that Muslims come to know Jesus. It's amazing to me that Muslims wouldn't understand that the Christians are demonstrating great love for them by praying that their persecutors would not face the justice that they deserve but be given mercy by the Almighty God. What will be even more amazing is the next group who attempt to pray for the salvation of the Muslims knowing that they could be imprisoned for doing it.

We are so blessed to live in a country where we can freely pray for our enemies and not be persecuted by the state. I pray that remains the case for my lifetime and that of my kids and many more lifetimes until Jesus returns.

Join my in praying for the Muslims in Indonesian that the Lord will open their eyes and lead them from darkness into the light of truth that they may understand that Jesus is Lord and the Son of God and is God.

An Indonesian court has sentenced 41 Christian leaders to five years imprisonment on charges of blasphemy because they openly prayed that Muslims "come to know Christ," local Christians and a well-informed human rights group told BosNewsLife Thursday, November 1.

Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM) Australia said the Christians, who are linked to the international mission group Campus Crusade for Christ, participated in a December, 2006, prayer gathering in the Indonesian province of East Java.

"During this time they prayed for their nation asking that all Muslim leaders come to know Christ. Video footage of this prayer meeting was filmed and was leaked to a Muslim organization," VOM Australia said.

The organization quoted local sources as saying that the 41 believers "have been found guilty of abusing the Koran," seen as a holy book by Muslims. "The judge sentenced them to five years in prison". Their lawyers are planning to appeal the sentence in East Java High Court in Surabaya, VOM Australia added.

(via)

Atheist China Vows to Encourage Religion

Not buying it. China, one of the main persecutors of Christians, promises to make religious services available during the Olympic Games. Probably in one of their state run churches.

China has promised to offer religious services to foreigners at the 2008 Olympic Games and to have religion play a positive role in the future of the officially atheist country, the top religious affairs official said Wednesday.

A large number of religious athletes and tourists are expected at the Games and Beijing will “make sure” their religious needs are met, Ye Xiaowen, director-general of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, said to reporters at the ruling Communist Party’s 17th Congress, according to Reuters.

“Here I can promise that religious services we offer will not be lower than the level of any previous Games,” Ye said. He did not say, however, if China will allow proselytizing like other Olympic hosts.

Ye also urged the Vatican to establish diplomatic ties with China, where there are some 10 million Catholics either in state-approved churches or “underground” churches.

Catholics in state-approved church respect the Pope as a spiritual figurehead but do not recognize his authority as those in the “underground” church do.

Since 1949, China has not had diplomatic relations with the Vatican following the Communist revolution. There has been significant tension between the two powers because of differences on issues such as the authority to appoint bishops, the recognition of the pope, and the Vatican’s relationship with Taiwan.

[...]

Chinese religious affairs head Ye also dismissed accusations that China restricts the printing and sales of Bibles, saying the Bible is only distributed through [state-run] churches and not through bookshops.

They make them available in the state run churches because they want to control the distribution.

The only Christian bookseller in Gaza was murdered

A Christian bookseller was kidnapped and killed:

The manager of Gaza's only Christian bookshop, who was abducted on Saturday by suspected Muslim extremists, was found dead yesterday. Medical officials said Rami Ayyad, 31, had been shot and stabbed. He was the father of two small children and his wife is pregnant with their third.

He is reported to have received several death threats since his Protestant bible shop was fire bombed six months ago, destroying shelves of books and pamphlets. He told friends that bearded men in a car stalked him and looked at him strangely after he locked up on Thursday.

The killers seized him as he left the shop on Saturday night. Suhad Massad, the director of the local Baptist bible society which runs the shop, said friends called his mobile phone when he did not arrive home. He told them he was running late.

It is so comforting in times like this to know that one day justice will be served on those who kill the people of God:

Revelation 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Please join me in praying that the Lord will bring to justice those who murdered his servant and that the Lord will protect this man's wife and children. May he give them safety and protection.

Christian in Eritrea tortured and killed for refusing to renounce her faith in Jesus Christ

Please join me in praying for the other 2,000 Christians imprisoned in this tiny country in Africa:

Christians have been left outraged by the death of a young woman in Eritrea, allegedly tortured to death in a military facility for refusing to renounce her faith in Jesus Christ, Open Doors has reported.

Migsti Haile, 33, died 5 September, at the Weaa Military Training Centre, and is the fourth Christian known to have been killed this way in the past year.

Open Doors, a Christian persecution and human rights watchdog, said Haile was tortured for refusing to “sign a letter recanting her faith”.

It is believed she spent 18 months in prison “under severe pressure” since she and nine other single Christian women were arrested at a church gathering in Keren.

The latest news of persecution will further increase international pressure for the Eritrean Government to take action to guarantee religious freedom.

In other Eritrea news the US has issued a warning to Eritrea over it's support of terrorism:

The US has issued Eritrea with its strongest warning yet over its alleged support for terrorism.

A senior US official said the presence of an exiled Somali Islamist leader in Asmara this week was further evidence Eritrea gave sanctuary to terrorists.

The gathering of further intelligence could lead to Eritrea being named as a state sponsor of terrorism - followed by sanctions, the official said.

Update: the integrity of the source has been challenged but The Voice of The Martyrs Canada website says the following about the country:

Until 2002, there was generally freedom to practice religion. However, Eritrean authorities have recently begun a campaign of open persecution against evangelical Christians. It began as a government-led rejection of any non-Orthodox Christian communities. In May 2002, the government announced that all churches other than Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran (Orthodox Church of Eritrea, Sunni Islam, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran-affiliated Evangelical Church of Eritrea are approved according to CIA) were to be closed immediately. Since then, hundreds of evangelical Christians have been arrested for practicing what officials are calling "a new religion." At the same time, they adamantly deny that any persecution is taking place at all. The truth of the arrests has been verified by numerous reliable reports coming out of Eritrea. The flood of arrests has motivated the United States to designate Eritrea a “Country of Particular Concern,” a designation reserved for countries with the worst of human rights offenses. In fact, in his February 7, 2005 editorial on Asmarino.com, journalist Habtom Yohannes states that the Eritrean government has established a task force specifically to eradicate all "menfesawyan" ("spirituals" - a term often used to describe charismatic Christians) from the country by the end of 2005.

By all appearances, they are well on their way to accomplishing their goal. Close to two thousand believers remain in Eritrean prisons where they face deplorable conditions. According to Release Eritrea, these numbers mean that approximately one in ten Eritrean evangelicals are presently being detained. Kelati Awalom, a member of the Rhema Church, was arrested for a third time on March 17, 2004 and was detained for three months, along with two of his daughters. According to reports, he was beaten until he was partially paralyzed. After his release, he continued to suffer the effects of the beating until he died at his home on July 24, 2005. This disregard for basic human rights is not unusual. In fact, where temperatures can soar above 40 degrees Celcius, many believers are held in metal shipping containers with no ventilation or toileting facilities.

That seems to be consistent with the article I linked to.

The website asks that you pray for:

Pray for strength to stand firm in their faith, for those in prison.

Pray that the government will stop the campaign against evangelicals and will allow freedom of religion for all.

Recent Christian converts forced to convert back to Islam

Please join me in praying for the recent converts in Bangladesh who have been threatened by their Muslim neighbors.

Local Muslims in Nilphamari district and Islamist missionaries from abroad are hauling recently converted Christians to mosques and forcing them to return to Islam, area sources said.

Evangelist and pastor Sanjoy Roy said the Muslims have forced 27 recently baptized Christians to return to Islam. Another 14 recently converts are still facing incessant pressure to return to Islam from villagers and from Muslim missionaries called Tabligh Jamat.

“The Muslims are still threatening us and saying that they will change our faith," Roy told Compass. "We wanted secrutiy and police protection, but the district commissioner did not accept our application."

Police provided eight officers to protect area Christians on July 28 but left on August 5. Muslims in Durbachari village then began capturing and hauling all male converts to a mosque to return to Islam, forcing them to sign or provide fingerprint signatures on written or blank papers. As nearly all the converts cannot read, area sources said, they did not understand they were signing or giving fingerprint signatures to return to Islam.

Earlier, on July 26, a local source said, local Muslims and Tabligh Jamat missionaries gathered in a schoolyard near the homes of some of the Christians who had been baptized in a river on June 12. Using a microphone, the Muslims threatened violence if the converts did not come out.

Fearing for their lives, the Christians emerged and gathered. The source said the Muslims asked them why they had become Christians and, furious, told them that Bangladesh was a Muslim country “where you cannot change your faith by your own will.”

[...]

Abul Hossen, 38, a fruit seller, told Compass that Muslims in the mosque threatened to hang him in a tree upside down and lacerate his body with a blade.

“Then he will understand what are the consequences of being a Christian,” the Muslims told him, Hossen said, adding that they always use “filthy language whenever they see the Christians.”

Hossen said the Muslims “do not allow us to net fish in the river” and offered him 5,000 taka (US$75) and a mobile phone handset if he returned to Islam.

“But I did not give up my faith, because I found Christ in my heart,” Hossen told Compass. “They threatened me with severe consequences if I do not go back to Islam. I said I am ready to offer up my life to Christ, but I won’t renounce my faith in Him.”

Read the rest. There are more stories of forced conversion and harassment.

Gaza Christian forced to convert to Islam

Not much of a religion if you are forced to convert to it:

Hamas-aligned officials at Gaza City's Palestine International University have been accused of forcibly converting one of their female Christian colleagues to Islam.

Sana al-Sayegh, head of the university's Science and Technology Department, disappeared in late June, reported WorldNetDaily. Days later she contacted her family and indicated that she was being held against her will and would have to marry a Muslim man who was also a professor at the university.

Another week passed and the family received a conversion certificate stating that their daughter was now a Muslim. One of the witnesses who signed the document was the university president, a known Islamist with strong ties to Hamas.

When the family complained to the Hamas authorities, they were promptly visited by a group of heavily-armed militants who insisted Sayegh's conversion and marriage had been matters of free will.

Tags: forced conversions

Egyptian Christian being detained in Saudi Arabia

The Saudis won't let him return to Egypt:

An Egyptian Christian surgeon is reportedly being detained by the Saudi Arabia government because of his faith, alerted a Washington-based Christian human rights group Wednesday.

The Christian surgeon was working at Albyaan Menfhoh Medical Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, before he was removed from his position at the center six months ago, according to ICC. Fahmy has since not been able to obtain another work permit because of his Christian faith.

Harassments targeted at Fahmy began early on when his Muslim colleagues at the medical center in 2004 repeatedly pressured him to become a Muslim. After becoming tired of enduring the taunts, Fahmy told his co-workers that he was a Christian and would not change his religion. In response, the group accused him of being a missionary.

In Fahmy’s letter to ICC, the doctor details the maltreatment he underwent because he publicly acknowledged his Christian faith in Saudi Arabia:

“On April 12, 2005, I had a surprised visit from three Saudi officials at work. Two were in civilian attire and one was a police officer. They informed me that they were from the morals policing organization (Muttawa). They proceeded to insult me publicly before the staff and patients of the medical center. They confiscated my wallet, cell phone and keys. They handcuffed me, shacked (sic) my legs and dragged me to a waiting car, then proceeded to my residence.”

Fahmy then told how the police officer allowed two civilians to raid his house and confiscate all his written and published materials.

“I was then taken to the police station … where I was formally accused of being a Christian missionary and of consuming alcoholic beverages at work,” recalled the persecuted Christian doctor. “I was placed in solitary confinement for five days. After my confinement they began the interrogation process. Each time I was questioned, I was cursed and insulted. The interrogator referred to me as ‘Infidel.’”

After his release Fahmy was told that his passport was now in the custody of the police.

The Saudi government has reportedly been leading Fahmy in circles, promising to let him leave the country but in the end blocking his path.

[...]

ICC and Fahmy are requesting that people contact the Saudi embassy to inform them of the growing awareness of Saudi Arabia’s human rights violation in this case.

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, US
601 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Phone: (202) 342-3800
info@saudiembassy.net

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Canada
99 Bank Street Suite 901,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1P 6B9
Telephone: (613) 237-4100
Fax: (613) 237-0567

Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, UK
30 Charles Street, W1J 5DZ
Tel: +44 (0)20 7917 3000
ukemb@mofa.gov.sa

Two young boys forced to take a conversion test in Egypt

Or they will not be able to advance in their education.

Two young boys ordered to take a school test that would result in their conversion to Islam wrote, "I am Christian," on the exam papers, knowing in advance that could very well spell the end of their educations. Now a U.S.-based organization is lobbying for international pressure on Egypt to quit forcing Christians into such no-win situations.

"What brought the case to the public attention is the categorical refusal of the two kids to pass the Islamic exams and convert to Islam, stating, 'they will not deny their Christianity and convert to Islam no matter what it would cost them,'" Sam Grace, a spokesman for Coptic News said.

The organization aims to "reveal the untold stories � which are not told by the conventional Arabic press."

He told WND the boys, Mario Medhat Ramses, 11, and Andrew Medhat Ramses, 13, now are facing a future without educational opportunities even though they had been classified as "brilliant" students at the French Lycee school of Alexandria.

Grace said Egypt's ministry of education ordered the boys to take the test that would result in their conversion to Islam because their father, who left the family about five years ago, had decided to convert from Christianity to Islam.

The parents, Medhat Ramses and Camellia Medhat were a Christian couple when the boys were born, but the father then divorced the mother, leaving his sons behind, and converted to Islam to marry a Muslim.

But Islamic religious law, which has been adopted by the civil government in Egypt, requires that children follow the faith of any parent who converts to Islam, "since Islam is the superior religion that abrogated all other religions," Grace said.

(via)

I wasn't aware that Egypt was under Sharia law.

Tags: Sharia law, Egypt

The Iraqi Christians are under intense persecution

There is widespread persecution of Christians going on in Iraq, not only from the Islamists but ordinary Muslims who are trying to gain from the persecution of Christians. The persecution is so widespread that there are few areas of refuge for the Christians. They have been forced to remove the crosses from their churches, conceal their Christian names, and women now wear the hijab.

Before being executed, they were informed that they would be spared on the condition that they converted to Islam. All refused. Ganni was one of many Iraqis killed since 2003 for no reason other than their Christian identity. Additionally, thousands of Christians have been expelled from their homes, extorted, harassed, beaten, raped and ordered to covert to Islam, spawning a frantic and ongoing exodus. As a result, Iraq's Christian community stands on the verge of extinction.

[...]

The violent and anarchic period following the invasion has proven disastrous; some estimates indicate that in the past four years, the Christian population of Iraq has halved. Although bombings of churches receive media attention, assassinations and kidnappings go largely unnoticed. Recently, however, expulsions and large-scale harassment of Christians, such as those under way in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Al-Daura, have been reported. "The Islamic State of Iraq," a Sunni terrorist umbrella group which includes Al-Qaeda, ordered Christian residents of Al-Daura to pay a jizya, the Islamic poll tax historically imposed upon non-Muslims. The money would go to financing the very activities that threaten the future of Christians in Iraq. Seventy percent of the neighborhood's Christians subsequently fled.

It is crucial to understand that Christians in Iraq are not simply suffering from the general violence and anarchy plaguing the country, but are being targeted as Christians by Islamists as well as criminal gangs. While Islamist terrorists openly aim to rid Iraq of all "infidels," criminals seek to exploit the perceived wealth of Christians. Thus, many Christians who were middle-class are now destitute, having paid exorbitant ransoms for kidnapped loved ones - some of whom were killed nonetheless.

[...]

Christians are targeted by both Sunni and Shiite violence. Though some have sought sanctuary among coreligionists in the Kurdish-controlled north, for many there is no option but to leave Iraq altogether. Women are especially vulnerable. Theological justifications for the rape of non-Muslim women and their forcible betrothal to Muslims are widespread - Mandaean women have been specifically targeted - as are rulings permitting the summary murder of all non-Muslims who violate Islamic law. Violations can be selling liquor, dressing "immodestly," refusing to pay a jizya, expressing a political opinion, or even just professing one's faith openly. In the worst circumstances, the very act of being non-Muslim is perceived as an offense; many Islamist militias simply present non-Muslims with the choice of converting to Islam or being killed.

[...]

Eventually, the violence in Iraq will subside and a modicum of security will return. Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds will arrive at a modus vivendi, however imperfect. In attempting to forge some semblance of unity, a nationalist historiography will likely blame the occupation forces for Iraq's post-Saddam violence. And this will be the second crime perpetrated against Iraqi victims of Islamist terror. After all, there can be no greater insult to the murdered than to exonerate their murderers. For the Christians of Iraq, indeed, for all Iraqis who have been killed or otherwise persecuted for their religious affiliation, this would mean exonerating the Islamist purveyors of holy war, Sunni or Shiite, who incite against one another and against non-Muslims. It would mean "moving forward" without ever confronting the Islamist theologies of murder, rape and genocide, whose adherents have forever disfigured Iraq.

Go read the rest to get the full picture of the plight of the Iraqi Christians.

Please join me in praying that the Iraqis will be able to bring order to their country and that they can deal with these issues once the area has been pacified. That those who persecute Christians and others will be brought to justice. And that God will give the Iraqi Christians the ability to witness the love of Christ to those around them even during this time of persecution.

Cambodia limits proselytizing by Christians

If we can't proselytize, then we are not being the church:

Cambodia's government has issued a directive limiting proselytizing and other activities by Christians.

Without mentioning other religions, the directive says Christians are not allowed to promote their religion in public places, or use money or other means to persuade people to convert.

The Great Commission commands the church to make disciples of the nations:

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in [2] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Join me in praying that the churches in Cambodia will find a way to do as Christ commanded and share with the people of Cambodia the good news of Jesus Christ. And that they will remember the words of Peter when he was told to stop speaking or teaching in the name of Jesus:

Acts 4:17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

And then there's this:

More than 90 percent of Cambodians are Buddhists, who are generally tolerant of other religions. But last year, about 300 Buddhist villagers destroyed a partially built Christian church.

I wonder what the Buddhists who wouldn't even kill red ants would think of this?

Egypt: Muslim mobs attack churches near Alexandria

Tensions between Muslims and Christians continue to rise in Egypt:

Muslim rioters attacked two Coptic Orthodox churches, damaged Christian-owned shops and injured seven Christians in two unrelated incidents in northern Egypt during the past week, local Christians said.

Witnesses said that a mob in Zawyet Abdel-Qader, 20 miles west of Alexandria, had freely vandalized the town’s Christian quarter for 90 minutes the night of June 8 before police intervened.

In a second incident in Dekheila, six miles west of Alexandria, police immediately halted a mob attack on the Church of the Holy Virgin on Tuesday night (June 12), preventing all but minimal damage from occurring.

Local Christians confirmed that each attack was triggered by a fight between a Muslim and a Christian, but Akram Anwar Bekheed, a local member of the National Democratic Party in Zawyet Abdel-Qader, laid partial responsibility on the government.

Bekheed said that the government had created a permissive atmosphere for sectarian violence by allowing previous attacks on churches to go unpunished in the interest of keeping peace.

(via)

Please join me in praying for the Christians in these nations where they are outnumbered by the Muslims. Pray that they can share the love of Christ with their neighbors and that he will protect them from persecution.

Attacks on Christians in the Gaza Strip

This is not surprising:

Christians living in Gaza City on Monday appealed to the international community to protect them against increased attacks by Muslim extremists. Many Christians said they were prepared to leave the Gaza Strip as soon as the border crossings are reopened.

The appeal came following a series of attacks on a Christian school and church in Gaza City over the past few days.

Father Manuel Musalam, leader of the small Latin community in the Gaza Strip, said masked gunmen torched and looted the Rosary Sisters School and the Latin Church.

"The masked gunmen used rocket-propelled grenades to storm the main entrances of the school and church," he said. "Then they destroyed almost everything inside, including the Cross, the Holy Book, computers and other equipment."

(via)

Join me in praying for the safety of the Christians who remain in such a lawless state.

Farmer fined because he's a Christian

More Hindu persecution of Christians in India. Villagers and family force a Christian farmer from his village:

In a nation where 75 percent of the population is Hindu, there was a congregation of four Christians in his small village when Rajan expressed a faith in Jesus Christ. But that's back down to three after he lost his family and crops, and was forced to leave his home and village, because of his conversion, according to new documentation obtained by the Voice of the Martyrs.

Sources within Nepal, the mountainous nation sandwiched between India and China that holds Mt. Everest, have told the Voice of the Martyrs that the persecution campaign encompassed all parts of Rajan's life when he became a Christian.
"Hindu neighbors have dug up Rajan's cauliflower and potatoes," the VOM reported its sources confirmed. "He has lost his whole year's income."

Villagers took every opportunity to make life difficult for him, including their response when some water from his field inadvertently spilled onto a neighbor's land, the sources reported.

"He was recently fined 6,000 rupees (about $100, a large sum in Nepal), after water from his field spilled over into a neighbor's field," the VOM sources reported. "Normally, this would not be a problem, but the neighbors consider water from Rajan's field unclean because he is a Christian.

"Normally, we wouldn't fine you, but because you changed your religion and became a Christian, you need to pay 6,000 rupees," the villagers told him, according to VOM.

They even turned Rajan's wife and family against him, and he was forced to leave his home, to stay with a pastor briefly, and then to move to another village.

But nothing can separate us from the love of God:

"When Rajan left his home to live with the pastor he was sad, but said his experiences had made Jesus more precious to him than before," the Voice of the Martyrs reported. "His pastor told us that as persecuted believers, they have learned that one of the results of persecution is that Jesus becomes much more precious to them."

VOM reported, however, that Rajan's faith was unshaken.

"No matter what you do to me, I will not leave Christ," Rajan told his Hindu neighbors.

Pray for those who have lost everything to follow Christ and pray also that we who have everything will not take it for granted but will appreciate the many blessings that the Lord has given us and that we realize that he has given them to us for a purpose.

Christians have 10 Days to Convert to Islam in Pakistan

A religion that forces people to worship, isn't much of a religion. The Pakistanis are demonstrating what we all know: Islam doesn't mean peace it means submission:

Christians in Charsadda, a town in North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan, have been warned that if they do not convert to Islam by 17 May they will face “dire consequences and bomb explosions”, Christian Today has learned.

The threats were made in a letter circulated last week to the town’s Christian population, according to the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance.

They come as Pakistan’s National Assembly overwhelmingly rejected proposed amendments to the blasphemy laws, which were tabled by a minority representative Member of Parliament, Mr Bhandara. On 8 May, the Government led the movement in the National Assembly to defeat the reforms.

Under the existing blasphemy laws, anyone convicted of blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad faces life imprisonment or the death penalty, according to section 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Mr Bhandara, a Parsi, proposed a bill which would amend the penalty for blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad to a five year prison sentence and a fine. He also proposed applying the law to other religions, not only Islam.

His proposals were greeted with cries of “shame” from Government and opposition benches and were rejected by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister as un-Islamic. “Islam is our religion and such bills hurt our feelings. This is not a secular state but the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the Minister said according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

In a statement, APMA said: “Christians and other religious minorities are being roped into false cases under the blasphemy law. They are being murdered by zealots … This law is proving to be a sword hanging on the heads of non-Muslims and secular-minded people.

Join me in praying for the Christians in Islamic nations. They are being persecuted daily and yet they persevere in the faith despite the danger. Praise be to God that he's given them such strong faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christian lawyers imprisoned in Vietnam

When you no longer have due legal process that pretty much spells the doom for freedom and justice:

Vietnamese Christian lawyers, Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan, were yesterday sentenced by a court in Hanoi to five and four years in prison respectively, followed by four and three year periods of probation.

The Christians were convicted of “disseminating slanderous and libellous information against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” under Article 88 of the nation’s Criminal Code.

Nguyen Van Dai and Le Thi Cong Nhan are among the most prominent lawyers defending religious freedom cases in Vietnam.

Their arrests were the subject of House Resolution 243 in the United States Congress, which calls for their immediate and unconditional release. However, many commentators have stated their beliefs that the sentences were decided even before the case went to trial.

The trial of the pair followed the sentencing of 60-year-old Catholic priest and activist, Father Nguyen Van Ly to eight years in prison for distributing “material harmful to the state”, on 29 March 2007, and the sentencing of three other dissidents to prison terms ranging from three to five years, on Thursday.

Please join me in praying for the Christians in Vietnam as persecution against them escalates.