MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Matthew 10:22, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

By Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute – “‘500 Muslims had gathered and were watching in amusement as the extremists chased and harassed the Christians, attempting to murder them all, for about 90 minutes.’

As Easter, one of the highest Christian holidays, comes in April, Christian persecution in Muslim nations—from sheer violence to oppressive laws—was rampant: In Nigeria, where jihadis have expressed their desire to expunge all traces of Christianity, a church was bombed during Easter Sunday, killing some 50 worshippers; in Turkey, a pastor was beaten by Muslims immediately following Easter service and threatened with death unless he converted to Islam; and in Iran, Easter Sunday saw 12 Christians stand trial as ‘apostates.’

The persecution of Christians has come to regions not normally associated with it. As in Nigeria, Muslim militants are now also running amok in Timbuktu, Mali—beheading a Christian leader and threatening other Christians with similar treatment. Sharia law has been imposed, churches are being destroyed, and Christians are fleeing Timbuktu in mass.

Categorized by theme, April’s assemblage of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed in alphabetical order by country, not severity:

Church Attacks

Azerbaijan: A church in the Muslim-majority nation has ‘become the first religious community to be liquidated by a court since the country’s harsh new ‘Religion Law,’ requiring all previously registered religious institutions to re-register, came into force in 2009. Greater Grace Protestant Church in the capital, Baku, ‘was stripped of its registration at a 15-minute hearing on 25 April. The decision, which was made in the absence of any church representatives, makes any activity by the church illegal and subject to punishment.’

By Camelia Pasandaran – “A mob of Islamic hard-liners threw stones and bags of urine at the HKBP Filadelphia congreagation of the Batak Christian Protestant Church in Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta, at an Ascension Day service on Thursday. Police tried to stop the mob of some 300 people, but were also attacked, according to reports.

‘They assaulted the congregation members,’ Rev. Palti Panjaitan told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday. ‘Police tried to talk to them, but the mob passed through police and showered us with urine and dirty water. Others threw stones at us.’

The mob reportedly attacked the congregation as the service started, and also shouted profanity and threats.

‘Even after the service, which lasted one-and-a-half hours, the mob chased after us,’ Rev. Palti said. ‘Thank God the police escorted us to a safe area.’

HKBP Filadelphia submitted an application for a building permit in 2007, but church leaders say that despite meeting all the requirements, including the agreement of their neighbors, a permit was never issued.

On Dec. 31, 2009, the Bekasi district head issued a letter banning the members of the congregation from worshiping on the land, forcing the 560 members to hold services along the side of the road fronting the property.

In July 2011, the Supreme Court overruled the Bekasi administration’s decision, saying the church was eligible for a building permit. The court ordered Bekasi to issue one — but the district government ignored the ruling.

Members of the congregation say that Islamic hard-liners have been intimidating and threatening them at their services since January.” Source – The Jakarta Globe.

Daniel 7:25a, “And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws …”

“Attempts by Malian insurgents to impose Sharia law in the north of the country have sparked protests against rebel control.

Witnesses say Ansar Dine – the Islamic sect that controls much of northern Mali, together with Tuareg separatists the MNLA and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb – fired into the air injuring five people during protests in the northern city of Gao, including one by a stray bullet.

‘We received five wounded, including one by a bullet. They are all civilians,’ a source at the hospital in Gao told the South African Press Association.

The protests come amid reports that rebels were intensifying attempts to impose sharia law in northern Mali, smashing  TV sets claiming they were being used to play video games or watch content considered un-Islamic.

Ansar Dine blocked an aid convoy with tonnes of food and medical supplies for the northern city of Timbuktu on Tuesday, objecting to the presence of women in a reception committee set up for the aid…

Ansar Dine already stand accused of desecrating mausoleums dedicated to local saints in Timbuktu, prompting further fears for the 12th century Unesco world heritage site.

The convoy marked the first aid deployed to Timbuktu since a military coup on March 22 toppled the civilian government in the capital, Bamako, allowing rebels to seize control of urban centres in the vast desert north.

Protests against the rebels come as Amnesty International accused all armed groups in northern Mali of ‘running riot’ and committing human rights violations including arbitrary detention, extrajudicial executions and rape.

‘After two decades of relative stability and peace, Mali is now facing its worst crisis since independence in 1960,’ said Amnesty’s West Africa researcher Gaetan Mootoo…

Tens of thousands of people have fled the region, creating a humanitarian crisis in Mali and in neighbouring countries.”” Read more.

Flashback: Mali: Christian Leader Beheaded as Islamists Terrorize Country, Create List of All Christians They Intend to Execute by Beheading – “A Christian leader has been beheaded and others are being threatened with similar treatment as Islamic militants run amok in Mali, West Africa. Christians have fled the town of Timbuktu in the north of the country where harsh Sharia Law has already been imposed amid reports that churches in Gao, 200 miles to the east, have been completely destroyed… ‘We have escaped in the wake of horrible death threats as the Islamists have a list of all the Christians in Timbuktu whom they intend to execute by beheading.’” Read more.

By ANTHONY KITIMO, Daily Nation – “The umbrella body of evangelical churches and a human rights organisation have condemned the lynching of two pastors at Jomvu in Mombasa early this week.

Federation of Evangelical and Indigenous Christian Churches of Kenya asked the police to pursue the case up to the end, with the culprits arrested and charged in court.

On Thursday, the federation’s national chairman, Mr Joseph Methu, said punishment of killers of the two clerics in a case of mistaken identity should be used as an example to those who spearhead crime.

‘Time has come for the government to enforce the law and bring to book those who participated in the act that saw innocent pastors on a preaching mission burnt to death,’ said Mr Methu…

As police continue with their investigations, there are conflicting reports by the church and Jitoni residents in Jomvu, where the two pastors were lynched.

The pastor in charge of Melchidizek Church, Mr Samuel Wainaina, said the owner of the home the clerics visited was converted into a Christian a few weeks.

His family, however, dismissed the conversion claim.

Ms Mapenzi Abdalla, one of the members of Mr Mutana Nyandu’s family, said they were all Muslims and no one had converted to Christianity as claimed by Pastor Wainaina.

Ms Abdalla said three people had visited their home and they even welcomed them before confrontation ensued after one of them took a bag containing paraphernalia used by the family to treat the sick.” Read more.

John 16:2b, “… the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.”

By Isaac Shobayo, Chris Agbambu, Clement Idoko and Christian Okeke, Nigerian Tribune – “PRESIDENT of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), Reverend (Dr) Soja Joseph Bewarang, has accused those in leadership positions of treating the Boko Haram insugence with kid gloves, warning that if the leaders fail to curtail the terrorists, they may end up being consumed by them.

Reverend Bewarang gave the warning while delivering his address at the opening of the General Church Council meeting of the church held at the COCIN headquarters in Jos, Plateau State.

According to him, the country’s leaders were more interested in using their privileged positions to better their lot and in the process neglected the common man and the need to tackle once and for all the act of terrorism that has bedevilled the society, particularly Christian communities in the northern part of the country.

He said if those in leadership position allowed the trend of insecurity to continue, the rampaging terrorists would not spare them and allow them to enjoy their accumulated wealth.

The COCIN president said the country was facing a Jihad, targeted at eliminating Christians and Christianity, adding that the act was becoming bolder by the day because of the well-planned denial and excuses of those who should curb the terrorists’ activities.

He, however, said despite the insecurity and frequent attacks, the church would march on because Jesus Christ is building His church and all gates of hell in any disguise will not prevail against it.

He said the church was equally concerned about the role of military personnel in handling security situations in Plateau State, adding that the situation had become so unpredictable that everybody lived in fear.

He said until those in leadership positions put their heads together, the leaders would soon be leaders of no people, adding that the church was more concerned that the attacks were coming at a time when people were expected to be cultivating and planting.” Read more.

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.

“Christians living in conflict-torn Syria are afraid that their community would fall victim of religious extremism if President Bashar al-Assad regime collapses and Islamists come to power.

‘I am afraid that we will suffer bad times,’ a member of Damascus’s Christian community, who identified himself as Jorge, told RIA Novosti.

A full-fledged civil war will break out in Syria if Assad’s enemies and their western supporters continue efforts to topple the president, he continued.

‘If the regime falls…, Islamists will come to power,’ Jorge said, adding that Islamists ‘wrongly believe that we support the current regime,’ and for that reason they will complicate the life of Christians.

‘Sunni Muslims who predominate Syria think that if President Assad’s regime representing the interests of the Alawi minority falls, they will live better. But I personally think that they are wrong. Syria is a secular state and its people, including Muslims, will not like it if the new power starts thrusting orthodox Islamic norms of moral and behavior on them,’ he added.

According to Jorge’s opinion, extremist forces rather than liberals would come to power in Syria.

Another Syrian, an engineer from Homs, said on conditions of anonymity that he is sure that if Assad’s regime falls, Christians will be ‘expelled from the country in one day.'” Read more.

Syria: Jihadists Seize Christian Village, Expel Its Residents – “Armed jihadist seized control of Qastal al-Burg village on Thursday, May 10, and ordered its 10 Christian families to leave, according to a report published by UPI on its Arabic language website. A resident of the village, who did not wish to be identified, said ‘armed jihadist (expiatory) group came to the village and ordered us to leave our homes empty handed.’ The armed group, he further stated, ‘have exercised their control over all the houses, and occupied the church and made it as their command control center.’ Qastal al-Burg village is in the province of Hama and is 48 kilometers northwest of Hama.” Source – AINA.

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.

By Areeb Hasni, The News Tribe – “Abuja: At least seven people were brutally killed in central Nigeria when gunmen set fire to a home in a Christian village, violently divided by faith, and shot those who ran outside to flee the flames, media reported on Thursday.

According to reports the killings that took place late Wednesday night happened in the village of Tahoss, said Mark Lipdo, who runs a Christian advocacy group known as the Stefanos Foundation.

Lipdo said that the gunmen, suspected to be from the Muslim Fulani herdsmen who roam the pasturelands of the plateau, targeted one specific family in their attack.

Local police spokesman Samuel Dabai said that he visited Tahoss and saw the corpses. Dabai said police had begun an investigation into the attack.

The attack represents the latest killings spiraling out of unrest between Christians and Muslims living around the city of Jos, an area that has seen thousands killed in the last decade in fighting. That violence continues to go further and further out into rural villages, a potential sign that killings could again rage out of control.” Read more.

“Washington, D.C. May 8 (ICC) – “‘We don’t know if our daughter is still alive,’ Magda told ICC during a recent visit to Egypt. ‘We haven’t seen or heard from her in five years… Her kidnapper called us and said she was dead and buried.’

Mary disappeared in June 2007, but to her mother, Magda, it feels like only yesterday that she was sleeping peacefully in her own bed under the loving care of her parents. For those who lose a child, as Magda had, the pain never goes away.

‘There were no warning signs. There was nothing we could do, but the guilt doesn’t go away. If only we could have known [what would happen],’ Magda explained while fighting back tears.

The abduction took place on an ordinary Thursday evening. After school, Mary went out with friends for pizza and a movie. While sipping cocoa at a restaurant, Mary began to feel dizzy and sick. ‘You go ahead and go home,’ said Nahla, a Muslim girl. ‘The rest of us want to go to the cinema.’ Nahla was new to Mary’s group of friends; they had only known her a few weeks.

Mary left the group to catch a bus home alone. This was the last time her friends would see her. No one knows what happened next, but Mary was gone.

Mary’s friends and parents believe Nahla had something to do with it; perhaps she was an accomplice to Mary’s abductors who put drugs in Mary’s drink. Although this suspicion has yet to be confirmed, after Mary’s disappearance, Nahla was nowhere to be found.

Mary’s parents stayed up throughout the night waiting anxiously for their daughter’s return. Mary’s father filed a report at the police station the next morning. He stayed at the station the entire day, determined to see that an investigation was being carried out. Late that afternoon, the police told him they had found his daughter.

Mary was escorted along with several other women into the station by four men in Islamic dress with long beards. The men were Salafis, a group that follows the strict doctrine of Wahhabi Islam from Saudi Arabia. Mary was covered head to toe in a burka. ‘[My husband] recognized her by her shoes,’ Magda told ICC.

Two armed policemen stood by, watching the father’s every move. When he called Mary by name, a Muslim man hit her in the face. There was no answer.

Then he tried to grab his daughter, but she was quickly taken away by the police. The father yelled after her while struggling desperately to free himself from the grip of the police officers who were holding him down. It was no use. Mary was forced in the back of a van and driven away.

‘I went back to the police station that night with my son,’ Magda said. ‘They cursed us and humiliated us. They treated us very badly.’

The parents soon began receiving threatening e-mails and phone calls. ‘Become a Muslim and we’ll spare your life,’ one caller said. ‘Pay a £6,000 ransom or your daughter is dead,’ said another. One caller told Magda that Mary had been killed and buried.

‘Look at me. I’m dying inside,’ Mary’s father told BBC. ‘Jesus Christ gave me my daughter. He gave her to me, not to them.'” Read more.

Flashback: Number of Christian girls abducted and coerced into Islam has skyrocketed – “The number of Christian girls abducted and coerced into converting to Islam since the Egyptian ‘January 25 Revolution’ has skyrocketed, according to Father Filopateer Gamil of St. Mary’s Church in Giza. ‘More than two to three girls disappear everyday in Giza alone,’ he said. ‘The cases that are brought to public attention are few compared to what the numbers actually are.’ Many Christians blame the military council for not intervening to put an end to this problem, which has escalated after the Revolution because of the ’emergence of Muslim Salafists,’ says activist Mark Ebeid, ‘who believe strongly that converting a Christian Infidel is in some ways like earning a ticket to paradise — not to mention the earthly remuneration they get from the Saudis.'” Read more.

“A Lebanese priest who baptized a Muslim woman has been kidnapped and released.

The daughter of a Shiite cleric ‘said she was physically and psychologically tortured by her father for converting to Christianity three years ago, although she is a 24-year-old adult,’ said Maronite Catholic Bishop Simon Atallah of Baalbek. ‘I have received an unconfirmed report that she had recently fled to an unknown destination after her father forced her to marry someone.’

The kidnappers thought that Father Walid Gharious knew the woman’s whereabouts and later released him. The nation’s president condemned the kidnapping.

According to the prelate, the kidnapped is part of an escalating pattern of violence against local Catholics.

‘Last Wednesday, unknown assailants fired gunshots at the house of a priest from the Kairouz family in the town of Nabha, and a similar incident occurred on Sunday before the start of the municipal elections, when shots were fired at the Our Lady Church in Nabha,’ he said.” Source – Catholic Culture.

By Nurdin Hasan, Jakarta Globe – “The Aceh administration has shut down at least 16 Christian places of worship since May 2, alleging they were being run without permits and had been drawing complaints from locals.

The 16 buildings, called ‘undung-undung’ in Aceh, were located across four subdistricts in Aceh Singkil district. Different from churches, undung-undungs are smaller in size and have no cross on their exterior.

Aceh Singkil district head Razali Abdul Rahman said his administration started sealing the buildings May 2 and May 3 in response to locals’ complaints.

‘It’s not churches but undung-undungs that we’ve sealed. It’s because they don’t have any permits and because they’ve breached a previously agreed deal,’ Razali told the Jakarta Globe.

‘The sealing of houses of worship that run without permits is meant to avoid conflicts among the religious communities,’ he added. ‘We previously agreed that there should be only one church and four undung-undungs in Singkil.’

On April 30, hundreds of members of the Aceh Singkil Muslim Forum held a rally in the town to demand the closing of the undung-undungs.” Read more.

By Giulio Meotti, INN – “The UN does nothing, the world is silent, and most Western citizens, who know little about Africa, do not know it is happening. The goal is creating a big African-Islamic continent. Christians must be killed or expelled.

Fom Nigeria to Sudan, it is raging, the ‘Odium Fidei’, the war of religion.

A genocide epitomized not by the images of Sydney Pollack’s ‘Out of Africa’, which presents a continent that is rich and attractive, but by the Nigerian village of Dogo Nahawa, where Islamists, armed with machetes, killed 300 Christians, mostly women and children.

The Nigerian Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature, Wole Soyinka, called them ‘the butchers of Nigeria’.

It’s an invisible genocide where sadistic killers slaughter and execute thousands of Christians.

According to Philip Jenkins, a leading expert on Christianity, in Nigeria, what is at stake is the balance between Islam and Christianity. It’s the largest Muslim country of Africa, a global leader in oil production and a country where the future of religious cohexistence is precarious, since the country is divided in a half between Islam and Christianity.

The Islamic conquest of Africa began in the seventh century, when the Umayyads spread the faith in the Mediterranean lands which had long been Byzantine. But in deeper Africa, the penetration was difficult and for centuries Islam was unable to climb over the Horn of Africa.

Now, with modern methods of warfare, we are witnessing a wave of Islamization with unforeseeable, tragic consequences. The ‘Islamic project’ is trying to build a unique ‘adan’ (Islamic call for prayer) from the Libyan minarets to the Juma Mosque in Durban, South Africa.

Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania are already 90 percent Islamized, the rate decreases as one moves downward, reaching nine per cent in South Africa and almost none in the rest of the southern region – so far.

The goal is creating a big African-Islamic continent. Christians must be killed or Read more…