MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Pakistan Christian Post – “A Christian village named Khushpur in sub-district Samundari of Faisalabad district came under attack of Muslims on May 19, 2013, killing one Christian student of 10th Grade and injuring many Christian by firing…

On informations of Muslims attack, contingents of police reached to village and prevented further killing by Muslims.

Faisal Patras, a Christian student of class 10th of High School was killed by firing of Muslims while Danish Masih who is brother of Faisal Patras and Patras Masih father of deceased was seriously injured with bullet wounds when trying to safe Faisal Patras.

After agricultural revolution in Pakistan, many Christians peasants of these Christian villages in Punjab province of Pakistan which were distributed without any cost by Catholic and other missionaries moved to cities and sold this gifted land to Muslims.

Muslim attack was on a petty dispute on a piece of land which Christian of Khushpur have sold to Muslims.

According to Samundari Social Media Network, there was killing of one Christian in other Christian village Chack Number 468/GB in this district one months ago by firing of Muslims and killers are at large …” Read more.

Flashback: Muslim Persecution Of Christians Escalating In Pakistan, ‘The Situation Is Becoming Alarming’ – “In recent years, the Christians of Pakistan have become one of the most vulnerable religious communities in the world. Most of the time, the Pakistani extremists use two common accusations to persecute the Christians: defamatory remarks toward Mohammed, and burning pages of Quran. Christians in Pakistan, a news site on behalf of the Pakistani Christian community, predicted that the situation is becoming alarming. The site alleges that there are currently many cases being reported of Christians being targeted, but no action to reform or address the problem by any government official.” Read more.

Flashback: Pakistan: Islamists Warn Christians They Will Die If They Dare To Protest Against Their Treatment Again – “HUNDREDS of Pakistani Christians became homeless in Badami Bagh, Lahore, on Saturday, March 9 after an attack by a mob of 3000 fanatics. Two hundred homes in the Joseph Colony were turned to ashes and poor Christians of the neighbourhood are now living in the streets, desperate for food and other needs… There were protests in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Jhelum and Sahiwal, to name but a few… Now the community is living in fear of reprisals for their simple act of condemning violence and the blasphemy laws of Pakistan.” Read more.

AINI – “The escalation of Muslim attacks on Christian churches in Egypt continues unabated. This week two attacks were carried out, one in Alexandria and one in Menbal in Upper Egypt — both allegedly prompted by harassment of Muslim women. Yesterday the church of St. Mary, in the Dakhela district, west of Alexandria, was attacked by Molotov cocktails and bricks, causing the gate to burn and the breaking of most of the stained glass windows. One Copt was killed and several injured.

According to the official police explanation, the Copt Basem Ramzy Michael was seen by the Muslim Hamada Alloshy, a registered criminal, allegedly extending his body from his balcony to gaze at the flat of Alloshy’s sister, who lives on the ground floor. A quarrel broke out and when the church was attacked, hundreds of Copts hurried to the area to defend the church, among whom was 36-year-old Sedky Sherif, a father of three children. According to his nephew Rabah, who was with him at the time of his death, 1000 Copts were present and were attacked by over 20,000 Muslims, who were firing bird shots at them and throwing bricks. While the church was being attacked the Muslims were shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’ Security forces were sent out to diffuse the situation and disperse the crowd. They made several arrests on both sides.

According to the Security report, the Copt ‘died of fright,’ suffering a heart attack after hearing the sound of gun fire. According to his family and those who saw him, his body was full of bruises and marks from bird shots.

The family and relatives of Sedky Sherif waited this morning at Kom el Dekka morgue to receive his body and the results of the autopsy. A death certificate was issued quoting cause of death as ‘under investigation.’ Weesa Fawzy from Al-Kalema Human Rights Center said that this was the first time that a death certificate is issued and the cause of death is still under investigation. ‘Has he been seen by the forensics team or not, so how are they still investigating when the body is already buried?’

Coptic Mina Milad Saber, 19 years, was severely injured in yesterday’s attack and underwent brain surgery, but this morning he was found shackled to his bed by the police for fear he might escape, although he is still in a coma.

Most Christians who were injured during the attack either went privately for treatment or quietly left hospital, ‘as it will end by them being arrested too,’ said Weesa Fawzy.” Read more.

Flashback: Egypt: Islamist Organizations Distribute Leaflets Calling For The Killing Of All Christians Who Will Not Convert To Islam – “According to today’s issue of El Fegr, ‘Elements of terrorist, jihadi organizations distributed leaflets today inciting for the killing of Copts in Suez, Ismailia, and Upper Egypt, promising them [Copts] a tragic end if they do not return to the truth.’ An image of a copy of the letter appears on El Fegr’s website. Titled ‘An Urgent and Important Notice,’ it begins by calling on ‘all brothers and sisters’ to ‘kill or physically attack the enemies of the religion of Allah—the Christians in all of Egypt’s provinces, the slaves of the Cross, Allah’s curse upon them…’” Read more.

Qur’an Sura 9:5,11, “… fight and slay the Pagans [non-Muslims] wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war) … But if they repent and establish worship [of Allah] … then [they are] your brethren in religion [Islam] …”

Revelation 13:15, “The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.”

Gulf News – “Vienna: An Austrian man held hostage for five months in Yemen said he was kept in permanent darkness in a room too small to stand up in and was forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint.

At one point, Dominik Neubaur told Austrian magazine News, he was taken out for what he thought would be his execution — but believed he was spared after he recited verses from the Quran.

‘I heard a weapon being loaded and felt its muzzle on the back of my head,’ he said his first interview since his release a week ago.

Neubaur, a 26-year-old student of Arabic, and the Finns were kidnapped by tribesmen in Sanaa on December 21, and were later sold to Al Qaida, according to the Yemeni government. The three were freed on May 9.

The Austrian said he did not know how his release had come about. Both Austria and Finland have denied paying a ransom.

Austrian media has however claimed that Oman, which negotiated the release, paid close to $50 million in ransom. Omani authorities have not commented on the matter.

The three hostages disappeared from view after their capture until a video appeared on YouTube in February in which Neubaur, with a rifle pointed at his head, said he would be killed if ransom money were not paid to a Yemeni tribe within a week.

Neubaur said he believed he was taken out to be killed when that deadline expired …” Read more.

Flashback: Islamists Vow To Continue Killing Those Who Do Not Worship Allah – “Somalia militia group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s twin attacks on two churches in Garissa County that left 17 people dead… An Al-Shabaab loyalist Sheikh Hassan Takar said that the militia killed people who did not profess allegiance to Allah. ‘The mujahedeen (holy warriors) punished with their hands those believing and worshipping other than Allah,’ he said. ‘The militants will continue until such practice is eliminated.’ He added” Read more.

For peaceful purposes …

Matthew 16:25b, “… whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Morning Star News – “Gunmen believed to be members of the Islamic extremist Boko Haram group yesterday killed the Rev. Faye Pama Musa, secretary of the Borno state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). He was 47.

The gunmen reportedly followed the long-time Christian leader from his church building, where he was holding an evening Bible study, to his house in the Government Reservation Area in Maiduguri, and shot him dead there, said the Rev. Titus Dama Pona, chairman of CAN’s Borno chapter.

‘Rev. Faye Pama was killed last light,’ Pona said this morning by phone from Maiduguri, the state capital. ‘I am right now with his family, and they are still consulting on what next to do.’

The assailants reportedly dragged the pastor from his home and shot him outside, in front of this daughter, who had followed them out pleading for his life. Pama was the father of three children.

Senior pastor of a Pentecostal church, Rhema Assembly, Pama often spoke out against persecution of Christians in Borno state, epicenter of Boko Haram attacks in northeastern Nigeria. He had been involved in ministry leadership for more than 26 years.

The shooting happened within an hour of President Goodluck Jonathan declaring a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, allowing the government to send more troops and take other special measures to try curbing violence by Boko Haram. The group has reportedly killed more than 4,000 persons since 2009, and the state of emergency comes after a gun battle between the military and Boko Haram in Baga, Borno state last month that some say took more than 100 civilian lives.” Read more.

Lawlessness: Nigerian President Declares State Of Emergency As Entire Villages, Towns Across Northeast Now Controlled By Islamists – “Admitting Islamic extremists now control some of his nation’s villages and towns, Nigeria’s president declared a state of emergency Tuesday across the country’s troubled northeast, promising to send more troops to fight what he said is now an open rebellion. President Goodluck Jonathan, speaking live on state radio and television networks, also warned that any building suspected to house Islamic extremists would be taken over in what he described as the ‘war’ now facing Africa’s most populous nation. However, it’s unclear what the emergency powers will do to halt the violence, as a similar past effort failed to stop the bloodshed.” Read more.

By Le Dauphine via Islam verses Europe – “The day after the attack on Father Grégoire, Monsignor Cattenoz has spoken out strongly and denounces ‘people of the Muslim faith taking control of the district’. The facts are taking on a political/religious dimension…

On Monday at around 8 pm, Father Grégoire from the parish of Saint-Jean was attacked by an individual. Struck on the face, the priest was unconscious on the ground until two other members of the parish arrived. This Tuesday morning at around 11 am, Monsignor Cattenoz, Archbishop of Avignon, denounced growing insecurity in the district of Saint-Ruf (while the local authority official in charge of public safety claims instead that there has been a decrease in crime in this sector), as well as the proliferation of thefts and threats towards members of the parish.

The leader of the Catholics in Vaucluse went even further: ‘People of the Muslim faith have progressively taken control of this district’… before proposing to create a committee bringing together representatives of the main religions, in order to calm the situation.

The Avignonnese Mohammed Moussaoui, president of the French Council of the Muslim Religion, also wants to calm things down: ‘Before highlighting adherence to one or another religion, we need to see if the attack was accompanied by words or gestures associated with the religion. Giving it a religious dimension seems counter-productive to me.’

Meanwhile, politicians have not been slow to react.

The mayor of Avignon Marie-Josée Roig (UMP) said he was ‘dismayed by this indescribable act’, recalling that ‘our republican compact cannot tolerate such violent acts perpetrated by some who have an unbearable sense of impunity’. the deputy mayor of Orange Jacques Bompard (Ligue du Sud) [League of the South] calls it an ‘act of racism (in the sense of the penal code) with regard to a Catholic priest, which is also the consequence of the hatred which a certain Islamism propagates with regards to everything that is French and Christian.'” Source – Islam verses Europe.

• Flashback: The Islamization Of France In 2012
• Flashback: France Seeks To Reclaim Muslim ‘No-Go’ Zones
• Flashback: France Sees ‘Shocking Surge’ in Anti-Semitic Violence
• Flashback: France: Muslim Man Attacks, Stabs Rabbi And His Son In Paris
• Flashback: Imams’ Indoctrinating French Muslims With Culture Of Hate, Racism
• Flashback: France: Muslim Mobs Burn Nearly 1,200 Cars On New Year’s Eve
• Flashback: France: Christian Church Vandalised With Graffiti, ‘Islam Is Growing In Power’
• Flashback: France: Gunman Claiming Associations With Al-Qaeda Kills Three During Random Shooting Spree In Southern Town

Qur’an Sura 9:123, “O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you …”

Qur’an Sura 8:12b, “… terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Qur’an.”

Barnabas Aid – “Barnabas Aid has received requests for prayer and practical help from Christian leaders in Bangladesh as the Church is endangered by a violent uprising by Islamists who are demanding that the country become an Islamic state.

Christian homes have been torched and churches threatened as increasingly volatile protests have rocked the country.

Scores of people have been killed in the clashes, which erupted in February. At least 37 died earlier this week as police tried to quash protests in the capital, Dhaka, where 70,000 Islamist demonstrators took to the streets on Sunday (5 May), calling for the introduction of an anti-blasphemy law.

This was the deadline that one Islamist group, Hefazat e-Islam Bangladesh (HIB), had given the government to implement its demands, which include sharia rule, virtual segregation of women and the death sentence for those who insult Islam or Muhammad.

An anti-blasphemy law would be disastrous for Christians in Bangladesh. Their counterparts in Pakistan suffer grievously as a result of the blasphemy laws there, under which they are vulnerable to malicious, false accusation. Devotion to Muhammad is a particular feature of South Asian Islam, and the Pakistani law specifies a death sentence for anyone who insults him.

Jama’at-e-Islami (JI), the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh, has threatened to ‘kill all the Malauns [infidels]’. Muslims view Christians and other non-Muslims as ‘infidels’.” Read more.

• Flashback: Christian In Bangladesh Goes To Prison For Evangelism
• Flashback: Bangladesh: Hundreds Of Christian Children Abducted, Forcibly Converted To Islam
• Flashback: Bangladesh: Mob Attacks Three US Missionaries Accused Of Converting Muslims
• Flashback: Bangladesh: Muslim Teacher Burns Children’s Legs With Hot Iron Rods After Learning They Didn’t Pray Regularly During Vacation

Revelation 13:16-17, “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” (ESV)

The Christian Post – “Coptic-owned businesses and pharmacies in Menbal village, Minya in northern Egypt were attacked by a mob, resulting in extensive damage and several injuries.

‘The thugs attacked my shop, assaulting it with stones. Some of the contents were damaged … they destroyed a number of Coptic-owned shops and pharmacies,’ Michael Sobhi, a witness from the village, told Mideast Christian News.

‘The Copts of the village couldn’t confront the thugs, as their numbers increased. They had firearms and blades, so Copts tried to avoid fighting with them,’ he added.

‘The thugs began the attack by insulting Copts from the village entrance and car park,’ Sobhi continued. ‘They threatened to expel them from the village.’

Sobhi said the mob attacked Coptic citizen Ibrahim Abdou, 48, and his wife as they were returning home. Abdou suffered a cut to the forehead from a blade and his wife sustained bruises.” Read more.

Flashback: Egypt: If You Don’t Repeat the Islamic Statement of Faith, You May Not Be Able to Buy From Muslim Stores – “A friend from Egypt, who lives in Cairo says that she is regularly greeted in Muslim places of business with ‘lā ilāha illà l-Lāh, Muḥammadun rasūlu l-Lāh’ (There is no God other than Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger). If she does not respond in kind, she is asked to leave.” Read more.

Flashback: Media To Muslims: Do Not Buy Or Sell To Christians – “Christians in Egypt are currently experiencing their worst time in recent centuries… Christians are being violently killed under the eyes of the international media… churches are being systematically burned and destroyed. The police are taking no action… Problems are also experienced in day-to-day life because calls are often made in the media not to buy from Christian merchants or to sell anything to Christians. Businessmen are therefore faced with a struggle for economic survival. Christians are indirectly excluded from employment…” Read more.

Flashback: Islamists Destroy Christian Businesses In Iraq: ‘If Anyone Decides to Reopen His Store, We Will Kill Him’ – “… [T]he managers [of Christian businesses] have received threatening letters, which state that the exercise ‘will be blown up.’ The attacks are the result of a ‘campaign’ that targets ‘all that is contrary to Shariah,’ promoted by Islamists who want to radicalize the country. Unfortunately, the source adds, there is no ‘moderate movement’ capable of containing the fundamentalist drift.” Read more.

Samuel Bitrus, one of 14 Christians killed in Islamist attack.

Morning Star News – “Anti-Christian hostility drove an Islamic extremist killing spree in this village in northeastern Nigeria, though the attack was portrayed mainly as politically motivated, an area Christian leader says.

In the course of an attempt to attack the deputy governor of Adamawa state last month, gunmen from the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram killed 14 Christians, including the cousin and two nephews of the Rev. Moses Thliza, head of a Christian organization dedicated to preventing AIDS and caring for AIDS patients and orphans.

‘My cousin, Bulus Buba, was dragged out at gunpoint from his house by the Boko Haram members,’ Thliza told Morning Star News. ‘They collected his car keys, demanded money and asked him three times to renounce his Christian faith, and three times he declined to do so.’

Thliza’s two slain nephews were skilled volunteers at the organization he heads, Christian Faithful Fight AIDS in Nigeria (CFFAN), and their passing has left huge gaps in the organization, he said. CFFAN’s work centers on AIDS prevention, care of orphans and treatment of those infected with HIV and AIDS, as well as training of pastors. The organization provides services in Plateau, Gombe, Taraba, Adamawa and Borno states.

Thliza and another eyewitness, Usumam Ijarafu, said about 30 of the masked attackers – identified in local press reports as members of Boko Haram – arrived in two vans in Adamawa state’s Midlu Shalmi village, in the Madagali Local Government Area, at about 1:40 a.m. on April 7 and set upon a Church of the Brethren Church (EYN) building. Over the next three hours, they also attacked the residence of the deputy governor of Adamawa state in the village and a house where Christians were mourning at a wake.

‘They also went the pastor’s house of our [EYN] church in the village, where on sensing that armed men had stormed the church, the pastor escaped, but the attackers held his wife, Shuwa Ishaya, at gunpoint,’ Thliza said.

The gunmen ordered her to lead them to the house of the church treasurer, but as they approached, he too escaped from his home, Thliza said. The Islamic extremists then proceeded to the house of state Deputy Gov. Bala James Nggillari, where they killed two guards keeping watch and held a third at gunpoint.” Read more.

Flashback: Nigeria: Islamists Pull Over Bus Near Maiduguri, Kill All Christian Passengers, Embark On Door-To-Door ‘Islamisation Campaign’ At Gunpoint – “… gunmen pulled over a bus near Maiduguri on Saturday, demanded passengers declare their faith and then killed the six people who said they were Christian. Meanwhile, in Gwoza, also in Borno state, Islamists are reported to have embarked upon an ‘Islamisation campaign’. Stefanos reports that gunmen are going from door to door demanding people profess allegiance to Islam at gunpoint.” Read more.

Christian Today – “An Iranian Assemblies of God (AOG) pastor, his wife and two church workers have been returned to jail after their one year sentences for converting to Christianity and ‘propagation against the Islamic regime through evangelism’ were upheld by a High Court on 1 May.

Pastor Farhad Sabokrooh, his wife Shahnaz Jayzan and church workers Naser Zaman-Dezfuli and Davoud Alijani were initially arrested in December 2011, after authorities in the southern town of Ahwaz raided their church’s Christmas celebrations and detained everyone in the building, including children attending Sunday School.

According to Iranian agency Mohabat News, all four were charged with ‘converting to Christianity and propagating against the Islamic Republic through evangelism’, and were each sentenced to one year in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Ahwaz. They were temporarily released, but were summoned to court on 1 May 2013 and re-arrested. Mr Alijani was transferred to Ahwaz’s Karoon Prison to complete his sentence, while Pastor Sabokrooh, Shahnaz Jayzan and Mr Zaman-Dezfuli were taken to Sepidar Prison.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has also been informed that Mostafa Bordbar, a Christian arrested in Tehran in December 2012 and whose case details were obscure, is now confirmed to be detained in Ward 350 of Evin Prison, along with Church of Iran member Alireza Seyyedian and AOG Pastors Farshid Fathi and Saeed Abedini. Pastor Abedini, who had been placed in solitary confinement for taking part in a peaceful protest against prison conditions, has now been returned to Ward 350 after being taken to hospital this week following a further deterioration in his health.

Mohabat News reports that a Christian prisoner in Adel-Abad Prison in Shiraz is in urgent need of medical attention. Vahid Hakkani, who was arrested in February 2012 along with eight others during a raid on a prayer meeting, is reported to be suffering from internal bleeding and has been informed by prison doctors that he needs surgery urgently, but so far this has not occurred.” Read more.

Christian Prisoner In Critical Condition, Denied Medical Attention – “One of the Christian prisoners in Adel-Abad prison in Shiraz is in critical health condition, suffering from a lack of much needed medical care. According to Mohabat News correspondents, Vahid Hakkani, a Christian prisoner in Shiraz, is suffering from internal bleeding of his digestive system. As told by doctors in prison, he needs surgery urgently. However, prison officials do not seem to care and have not taken any action to accommodate his transfer to a hospital for the much needed surgery.” Read more.