Voice of the Martyrs update (2/28/08)

Prayers for February 27, 2008
From The Voice of the Martyrs.


CHINA
21 House Church Leaders Simultaneously Sentenced to Labor Camp - China Aid Association
China Aid Association (CAA) reports 21 senior house church leaders were recently simultaneously sentenced to a labor camp by the Linyi City Re-education Through Labor Commission. According to CAA, "The leaders were detained on December 7, 2007 when they gathered for leadership training with 249 other leaders in Hedong district, Linyi city, Shandong province. After paying fines and finishing detention ranging from a few days to a few weeks, 249 leaders were released. The 21 most senior leaders were sentenced to three years to one year and three months." The Public Security Bureau has accused and labeled the house church leaders as "evil cult" members. Of the 21 leaders sent to the labor camp, 12 are men and four are women. Pray for these believers and their families during this difficult time. Ask God to protect and encourage them. Pray they will be a good witness of Christ's love to other prisoners and their captors. Psalm 27:1

SRI LANKA
Pastor Killed, Wife in Seriously Injured in Attack - National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka
On February 17, Pastor Neil Edirisinghe, of the House Church Foundation, was gunned down by two assailants outside his home in Ampara, Sri Lanka. According to a report by the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL), "Pastor Edirisinghe was engaged in the Lord's ministry in Ampara for many years. The attackers also shot his wife in the stomach. At last report, she was in the hospital in critical condition. Their two-year-old son who received a minor injury in the attack is also suffering from trauma." NCEASL added the motive for the attacks was believed to be in response to Pastor Edirisinghe's ministry. The Voice of the Martyrs is assisting the family during this difficult time. Pray for peace and comfort for Pastor Edirisinghe's family. Pray for a speedy recovery for his wife and child and for them to rely on the great Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 107:2

GAZA
YMCA Library Bombed - VOM Sources
On February 16, unidentified assailants bombed the library of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) compound in the Shajaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza city. According to VOM sources, shortly after midnight, at least 12 gunmen entered the YMCA compound and kidnapped two guards at gunpoint after asking them why they worked for "infidels." The men stormed the building and detonated two homemade explosive devices inside the library. All 8,000 books in the library were destroyed and the floor, walls and ceiling were damaged. The attackers stole computers and other equipment from other YMCA offices. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. . However, sources in Gaza reportedly believe that the perpetrators were Muslim militants acting in response to the reproduction of cartoons "ridiculing" Muhammad in a number of Danish newspapers last week. Praise God no one was injured in this attack. Ask God to protect and give wisdom to believers in Gaza. Pray the attackers will come into contact with the grace and love of Jesus Christ. Joshua 1:9

ETHIOPIA
Christian Couple Beaten and Chased From Mosque - VOM Sources
On February 10, Muslin Christian converts, Jemmal Abdo and his wife, were beaten and chased out from a mosque where they both worked in the capital city of Addis Ababa. According to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts, "Jemmal and his wife accepted Christ two months ago. Soon after their conversion Jemmal's friend saw him talking with Christians and told the imam of the mosque. Jemmal and his wife were interrogated in the mosque during a meeting called by Muslim leaders in an attempt to persuade the couple to recant their faith. The couple refused to do so, even after the leaders offered them higher positions and salaries if they denied Christ. The couple was beaten and dragged out of the mosque." Jemmal and his wife were able to flee to a new location for safety. Pray for the speedy recovery for Jemmal and his wife, who were injured in the attack. Ask God to strengthen them and provide for them as they stand strong in their new found faith in Jesus Christ. Isaiah 54:17

"He paid his life for his faith, for his dignity, and the dignity of the Bible and Jesus Christ"

The owner of a Christian bookstore in Gaza has been murdered by Islamists because he was a Christian. From Yahoo News (h/t: Jawa Report):

The body of Rami Khader Ayyad, the 32-year-old director of Gaza's only Christian bookstore, bore a visible gunshot wound to the head, and an official at Gaza's Shifa Hospital said he was also stabbed numerous times. Ayyad had been missing since Saturday afternoon.

Ayyad regularly received anonymous death threats from angry people who accused him of missionary work, a rarity among Gaza's Christians. His store, which is associated with a Christian group called the Palestinian Bible Society, was firebombed in April.

"We feel Rami was killed for his Christian faith," said Simon Azazian, a spokesman at the Bible Society's head office in Jerusalem.

About 3,200 Christians live in Gaza among 1.4 million Muslims, and the Christian community has grown uneasy since Hamas routed forces of the secular Fatah movement and seized control of the coastal strip in June. During the takeover, vandals ransacked a Roman Catholic convent and an adjacent school, breaking crosses and smashing the face of a ceramic Jesus.

Ayyad had been increasingly worried about threats on his store, Azazian said.

On Friday, he noticed that he was being followed by a car with no license plates. Ayyad called his family Saturday afternoon to tell them he had been abducted but would be freed later in the evening, said Azazian. Police were notified, but his body was found the next morning.

Ayyad left two young children and a pregnant wife.

This is what we are up against. We are up against an enemy that will kill innocent men for the simple crime of being a Christian, and selling Christian books. And don't be so comfortable in your life that you think it can't happen here. Many in positions of power are eager to convince this country to bow down at the feet of Islam, rather than fight it.

Don't let anybody sell you that whole "Islam is a religion of peace" nonsense. The goal of Islam is for the whole world to bow to Allah. They will fight until "religion [is] only for Allah." (Sura 2:193). They will "then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)" (Sura 9:5). Because, according to the Hadith, "[A] martyr’s privileges are guaranteed by Allah; forgiveness with the first gush of his blood...he will be...[married] to seventy-two [virgins] and his intercession on the behalf of seventy of his relatives will be accepted." What better way to convince young men to kill and maim than to promise them eternal sex? Yet some people try to claim that this is the same God we Christians worship. Baloney!