Religion Today Summaries - May 4, 2005
Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world. In today's edition:
Vietnamese Officials Break up Mennonite Meeting, Arrest Christians
Muslim Radicals In Islamic-Dominated Regions Often Proves Lethal
Building the Church Amid War
Rally Planned in Support of Concerned Parent Arrested at Son's School
Vietnamese Officials Break up Mennonite Meeting, Arrest Christians
Compass Direct
After just two days of freedom, Vietnamese prisoner-of-conscience Ms. Le Thi Hong Lien was arrested for attending a Bible study with other Christian believers on May 1 at the home of imprisoned pastor Nguyen Hong Quang. A "work team" of about 30 local officials came to the residence, which serves as a meeting place for the Vietnam Mennonite Church in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City. When Mrs. Quang went out to talk to them, a number of police officers pushed their way past her into the house, loudly demanding that all religious activity cease. They ordered everyone to the ward police station for interrogation. A particularly abusive officer said he had orders to harass the Christians until they no longer went to the Quang house to worship. Lien remained silent throughout the interrogation, even though she was threatened with force. She was released at about 10:30 p.m. along with others of the group. She reportedly returned to the Quang home exhausted and terrified.
Muslim Radicals In Islamic-Dominated Regions Often Proves Lethal
Agape Press
Muslim authorities and fundamentalist extremists in several Islamic nations are coming down hard on Christians caught sharing their faith with Muslims. Associated Press reports that police in Saudi Arabia recently raided an underground church in suburban Riyadh and arrested 40 foreigners, including some children, for proselytizing. It is illegal in modern Saudi Arabia to promote any religion other than Islam, and organized churches are illegal. Adherents of non-Islamic faiths there are generally allowed to practice their beliefs in private homes but may not proselytize or meet for organized worship or other religious observances. Those arrested could face prison or possible deportation. And in Malaysia, another Islamic nation that forbids proselytizing of Muslims, police have detained two U.S. citizens who allegedly were handing out Christian pamphlets near a mosque. A Malay official says the American men were taken into custody on charges of "disturbing the peace in a religious manner," and the police have a court order permitting them to hold the two men for up to two weeks "for questioning." And while official retaliation for proselytizing can be harsh, the response from Muslim radicals in Islamic-dominated regions often proves lethal.
Building the Church Amid War
Gospel For Asia
In a war-torn country where many people are fearing for their lives, a GFA pastor is bringing the message of God's hope to spiritually hungry hearts. And that message is spreading rapidly. In a remote Nepali village, GFA Pastor Arjun and his Believers Church congregation recently held a rally that attracted most of the villagers to hear the Gospel. In the wake of such meetings, 25 men and women have received Christ as their Savior in recent months. What is exciting to Pastor Arjun is that each new believer has the potential to spread the hope they have found to others. And even more exciting is that fact that Pastor Arjun is just one of more than 300 GFA missionaries daily laboring to win the lost and plant churches in Nepal. So in the midst of the fear and terror of civil war, thanks to the faithful prayers and support of believers around the world these courageous brothers and sisters are pointing the shattered people of Nepal to Jesus, the Prince of Peace, in whom they are finding a lasting hope and refuge.
Rally Planned in Support of Concerned Parent Arrested at Son's School
Jim Brown, AgapePress
A Massachusetts pro-family group is planning to hold a statewide rally in support of a Christian parent who was recently arrested and hauled off to jail after raising objections to pro-homosexual curriculum and discussions in his son's kindergarten class. Lexington parent David Parker had scheduled a meeting with the principal of Estabrook Elementary School and the town's director of education. His reason for the meeting was to once again ask that his six-year-old son be opted out of classroom discussions and curriculum endorsing homosexual "marriage." When the school officials told Parker they did not have the authority to grant him that parental right, he said he would not leave until the request was granted. Parker was then handcuffed and arrested by Lexington police, and forced to spend a night in jail. Brian Camenker, who heads the Article 8 Alliance, was with Parker at the time of the arrest. "To watch a man go through this in America is a very, very frightening thing," Camenker's group plans to hold a statewide rally in support of Parker on May 15. His attorney, Harvey Silvergate, maintains Parker's son was subjected to "coercive indoctrination" by being required to remain in the classroom. There is a difference, the attorney says, between "academic education" and "socialization or indoctrination."
Originally published May 04, 2005.
