MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“An exodus of Christians is taking place in Western Syria: the Christian population has fled the city of Qusayr, near Homs, following an ultimatum issued by the military chief of the armed opposition, Abdel Salam Harba.

This is what local sources told Vatican news agency Fides, pointing out that since the conflict broke out, only a thousand of the city’s ten thousand faithful, were left and they are now being forced to flee immediately. Some of the city’s mosques have issued the message again, announcing from the minarets: ‘Christians must leave Qusayr within six days, ending Friday.’ The ultimatum therefore expired on 8 June and spread fear among the Christian population which had started to regain hope as a result of the presence of the Jesuit Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio, who stopped off in Qusayr for a week to ‘pray and fast in the name of peace, right in the midst of conflict.’

The reasons for this ultimatum remain a mystery. Some say it is necessary in order to protect faithful from further suffering; other sources reveal ‘a continuity in discrimination and selective repression.’ Others still claim that Christians have openly expressed their loyalty to the state and this is why the opposition army is chasing them away. Now Christian families in Qusayr have begun their exodus as displaced persons, towards the surrounding valleys and rural areas. Some have taken refuge in parents’ and friends’ homes in Damascus. Very few families have courageously decided to stay behind in their birth city but who knows what fate will meet. Fides sources have reiterated that groups of Salafi Islamic extremists within the armed opposition consider Christians as ‘infidels’; they confiscate their belongings, carry out mass executions and are ready to declare a ‘denominational war’.” Source – Vatican Insider.

Flashback: ‘Deliberate and Growing’: Christian Persecution From ‘Arab Spring’ Insurgents in Syria Becoming a Steadily Growing Reality, ‘It Will Never Be the Same Anymore’ – “Refugees who have fled to Jordan from Syria are telling mission leaders supported by Christian Aid Mission about deliberate, new persecution from the ‘Arab Spring’ insurgents who are seeking to overthrow the brutal Assad regime in Damascus. Nearly 100,000 Christians so far have fled from Homs and other cities being targeted by government forces, but it is no longer just to escape the crossfire. Now, more reports are revealing that a new wave of persecution is deliberate and growing… ‘It is over; we can’t get back what we lost,’ said one discouraged Christian refugee here in Jordan. ‘It will never be the same anymore for me or my family. We’ve lost hope.’” Read more.

Associated Press – “A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives Sunday outside a church in central Nigeria as gunmen attacked another church in the nation’s northeast, killing at least six people and wounding dozens of others in the latest attacks targeting Christian worshippers in a nation increasingly divided by faith, officials and witnesses said. A radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram claimed the attacks.

The violence Sunday in Jos and Biu, a city in hard-hit northeastern Borno state, comes as almost every weekend this year has seen churches targeted by Boko Haram.

In Jos, a city on the uneasy dividing line between Nigeria’s largely Muslim north and Christian south, the suicide car bomber drove toward the compound of the Christ Chosen Church of God in the city and detonated his bomb nearby, said Abu Emmanuel, a spokesman for Plateau state police. Angry youths later surrounded the area, striking back against Muslims in retaliatory violence, witnesses said. Four people and the suicide bomber were killed, while more than 40 others were wounded.

Meanwhile in Biu, a city in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, gunmen opened fire during a service at an EYN church, an acronym that means ‘Church of the Brethen in Nigeria’ in the local Hausa language of Nigeria’s north, witnesses said. An usher and another worshipper at the church were killed in the attack while others were injured.” Source – The Indian Express.

Flashback: Nigeria: ‘Proud Soldiers of Allah’ Vows to Take Down Government and Destroy Christianity, ‘We Will Devour You … Our Joy Is To Die In Jihad’ – “Islamist sect, Boko Haram, has threatened to bring down the Federal Government led by President Goodluck Jonathan within three months. Purported leader of the sect said this in his second video posted on the Internet yesterday… ‘You, Jonathan, cannot stop us; instead we will devour you in the three months like you are boasting … We are proud soldiers of Allah; we will never give up as we fight the infidels. We will emerge as winners … we will finish you and end your government … for us, [death] is eternal victory to die working for Allah. Our joy is to die in Jihad for Allah … We are not doing physical human service, but Allah’s work … We are not afraid because we are not doing man’s work but Allah’s work…” Read more.

Barnabas Fund – “A 119-year-old church was torched by Muslim extremists in an Indian state where Christians are under mounting pressure; over 400 have fled their homes as a result of threats from Muslims.

The church in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, was set ablaze on 23 May; while the guard was away, the offenders threw a petrol bomb into the building.

Bishop Peter Celestine Elampassery of Jammu-Srinagar said that the Muslim fundamentalists want Christians to leave the state, and because they are a minority, cannot resist the pressure.

He said that the church had filed a case with the police but had been advised not to ‘play up’ such incidents.

Earlier this year, the church minister’s motorcycle was set on fire while parked on the veranda of his residence.

Christians are coming under growing threat from Kashmir’s Muslim majority. A Christian human rights group in India said that over 400 Christians have been displaced as a result.” Read more.

Flashback: India: Christian Couple Distributing Pamphlets About Christianity Arrested in Muslim Kashmir for ‘Promoting Enmity’ – “The Jammu and Kashmir Police has arrested a Christian couple on charges of ‘promoting enmity’ while they were allegedly distributing pamphlets about Christianity in the border township of Bandipora in north Kashmir. The police said the couple from Delhi, along with a local girl, was distributing pamphlets in the Bandipora market when people raised a hue and cry and called the police. Sensing trouble, the police seized the pamphlets and immediately whisked them away for sustained questioning.” Read more.

Flashback: India: Police Detain, Beat Converts from Islam to Christianity in Muslim-Majority Kashmir Valley – “Police in India’s Kashmir Valley detained and beat converts from Islam and were expected to arrest Christian workers after Muslim leaders alleged that Muslim youth were being ‘lured’ to Christianity. Police in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley picked up seven converts who were recently baptized in All Saints Church in Srinagar, a local Christian who spoke to the converts after their release on Nov. 2 told Compass… The source, who requested anonymity, said police beat the converts and asked if Christians had given them money for their conversion. Most of the converts were from Budgam district, about 18 miles from Srinagar, and pastors there fearful of being arrested were in hiding, he added.” Read more.

Compass Direct News – “The number of violations of Christians’ religious rights in Indonesia reached 40 in the first five months of the year, nearly two-thirds the amount of anti-Christian actions in all of last year, according to the Jakarta Christian Communication Forum.

The Christian minority in Indonesia faced 64 cases of violations of religious freedom last year, up from 47 in 2010, said Theophilus Bela, president of the group. Bela said he was worried about the growing incidence of violence and church closures, as his group recorded just 10 anti-Christian incidents in 2009. There were 40 such incidents in 2008, he said.

At least 22 churches have been forced to close this year, including 18 in the Singkil regency of Aceh Province that were sealed last month (see http://www.compassdirect.org, ‘Harsh Era Looms in Aceh, Indonesia,’ May 16), as local authorities either sided with or came under pressure from extremist Islamist groups in this Southeast Asian archipelago that is home to the world’s largest Muslim population, according to Bela.

The closures in Aceh followed last month’s election of a hard-line Islamic governor. Bela said that after his organization’s intervention the closed churches in Aceh began worshipping again on May 13, but unconfirmed reports indicate other churches in the area have since been forced to close.

Violence against Christians has also increased, with most incidents taking place in areas surrounding Jakarta and Singkil, said Bela, who is also secretary general of the Indonesian Committee on Religion and Peace, a group that promotes inter-religious dialogue.” Read more.

Flashback: Massive Increase of Radical Islamism Spreads Throughout Indonesia, Including ‘Top-Quality’ Universities – “The suicide bombing of a church in Central Java on Sept. 25 pointed not only to a new level of attacks on religious minorities in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country but to a political bent that accommodates Islamist extremism. ‘Radicalization of Islamic teachings and understanding is a problem in Indonesia,’ admitted Dr. H. Nasaruddin Umar, director general of Islamic Community Guidance under the Ministry of Religious Affairs. ‘There’s a need to re-explain the concept of jihad.’ Pino Damayanto, aka Ahmad Yosepa Hayat, who blew himself up wounding over 20 members of the Sepenuh Injil Bethel Church (Bethel Full Gospel Church) in Solo on Sept. 25, apparently believed it was his religious duty to kill ‘the enemies of Islam,’ according to his understanding of ‘jihad.’” Read more.