"Mother Nature cooperated this year"¨ the government meteorologist said. There were no sandstorms this spring at all in Beijing and most of Northern China in contrast with miserable weather in the last 3 years. There is more rain this year. Praise the Lord! We thank Him for answering our prayers. We continue to pray for the many churches in the Beijing areas, the seminary and many Christian community work

12:11:37 AM    pray []

Religious Freedom Abuses Could Affect Trade Relations

by Sarah Page

BANGKOK (Compass) -- Persecution of Christians continues in Laos with several church closures and arrests in recent months. However, religious persecution is now in the spotlight as the U.S. plans to confer normal trade relations (NTR) status on the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Human rights groups in the U.S. say Laos is not ready for NTR status. In fact, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the government to include Laos on a list of “countries of particular concern.”

Recent events in Laos highlight the abuse of religious freedom. On March 30, officials raided a church meeting in Nong Ing, a small village in southern Savannakhet province. Church leaders persuaded them to let the meeting continue. However on April 3, police returned to arrest two ministers of the church and a third pastor in a neighboring village.

On April 5, local officials tore down “with their (bare) (own)[Dave, I think the emphasis here was using hands rather than tools; shows anger & passion … but up to you!] hands” the building used for church meetings, according to a local observer. The construction materials were then moved to another location for use in a government building project.

At midnight that day, villagers threw stones at the houses of Christians in Nong Ing village and cut off their water supply. They also threatened to cut off electricity and to kill water buffaloes and destroy crops belonging to Christian families. Believers in the neighboring village were also attacked.

Both villages are about three miles from the town of Kengkok, in Champhorn districtprovince. The church in Kengkok is very significant to local Christians. Two British missionaries were captured there during the communist takeover 30 years ago. The two young women were burned to death, becoming martyrs for the Christian cause.

In early 2000, the Kengkok church was confiscated by local authorities. In 2002, Christians in Champhorn district were forced to work as virtual slaves for the district vice-governor. A local pastor, who cannot be named, said they were called away from their own fields during critical planting and harvest times, causing great hardship.

When a U.S. human rights delegation visited Laos in January this year, they asked to see the church in in Kengkok. Government officials refused, saying the church was closed and there were no more Christians living in the area.

However, the delegation insisted. When they arrived, a group of 50 Christians wearing sackcloth, a sign of mourning, had gathered outside the church. Local and national officials were publicly humiliated and demanded tighter controls on Christians in the province.

Churches throughout Laos face an ongoing campaign to eradicate Christianity. Ministers and lay persons alike have been asked to sign affidavits renouncing their faith. Many Christians, including those arrested on April 3, have refused.

Arrests are used to further intimidate the Christians. “Lao Communist authorities have used many forms of persecution in order to get rid of the church little by little,” a Lao pastor told Compass. “They learned every time they made an arrest, some Christians would sign the affidavit. If they don’t give up this time, they may give up next time. So the government keeps applying the pressure.”

In a separate incident, a Christian pastor and his family were expelled from their home near the Vietnamese border. Mr. Koy, from the minority Bru tribe, was forcibly relocated to this area in 1999. He shared his faith with the villagers, and 70 families became Christians.

Koy and his wife were arrested for Christian activities in early 2000 and released in 2001. However, they continued to pastor the church and in March 2003 were expelled from Muang Nong district. They now live with friends in another province.

These incidents are in direct violation of the Lao Constitution and the “Decree on Management and Protection of Religious Activities” issued by the government in June 2002. The decree guarantees the right of Lao citizens to hold religious ceremonies in their own places of worship. But in practice, freedom to worship depends on the tolerance of local officials.

Multiple submissions for and against NTR status were made to a sub-committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Some observers say the U.S. should not confer NTR status at this time. Others believe this move is the quickest way to promote change in Laos. The committee will review the submissions before making a final decision.

Meanwhile, Lao Christians ask for the prayers of the international community. “The Lao government has a plan to get rid of the churches,” says a Lao pastor. “But they know people around the world are watching and praying.”

12:08:03 AM    pray []

China

SARS VIRUS CAUSES PANIC AND DISCONTENT

Christian Ministries Restricted Due to Spreading Epidemic
by Xu Mei

NANJING, China (Compass) -- China is a country under siege. Bars, cinemas and theaters are closed. Classrooms are empty, restaurants and business centers are deserted. Residents in major cities remain indoors, fearful of contracting the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus. Thousands of migrant workers, defying government orders, have left the city for the provinces, spreading the SARS virus even further.

From November 2002, when the first SARS cases were reported, to March 2003, the Chinese government denied the seriousness of the disease. Now China must cope with the grim results. On May 12, the total number of cases on the Mainland had soared to 5013 cases with 252 deaths* -- double the number of cases reported only two weeks before.

Most internal flights in China have now been grounded. Kazakstan recently closed its border with China. Russia has closed many border crossings and may seal the border completely. In one northern province still largely unaffected by the disease, local officials asked American Christians to leave the area. They felt foreign deaths would only add to unwanted media attention.

Hysteria and panic are sweeping through China as a result of the epidemic. A population long used to the propaganda of its rulers is uncertain what to believe, even though Chinese authorities have worked hard to counter the virus.

On April 27,more than 10,000 people rioted in the rural town of Chagugang, two hours east of Beijing. They ransacked a local school after word spread that it would be used as a hospital for SARS patients. Outbreaks of violence have also occurred in the central province of Henan, where some peasants have already been infected by AIDS, and in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Thousands of peasants reportedly destroyed buildings set aside as quarantine centers, built roadblocks to prevent ambulances getting through and beat up police.

Emergency measures have ranged from issuing thermometers to sterilizing banknotes.

Beijing’s sudden determination to take SARS seriously may be a reaction to cases reported among top government officials. Premier Wen Jiabao told the world on April 29 that China now realizes SARS will be a “long-term and complex epidemic.” Some commentators are comparing the effects of SARS in China to those of the Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Christian organizations working in China are reeling from the impact of the virus. Some have withdrawn their workers, while many others are canceling summer programs. One large mission has advised against visits to China until the end of June, when the situation will be reviewed.

Foreigners working in remote areas were initially advised to “sit tight,” as traveling on buses and trains would expose them to the virus. However, the risk is now much greater as the virus has spread to rural areas.

In this climate of fear, Christians in China have found new opportunities to share their faith. They report a growing responsiveness to the gospel as neighbors and friends seek counsel and prayer.

U.N. health official Gro Harlem Brundtland says the epidemic in China is far from over and much wisdom will be needed in the coming months.

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Source:  The World Health Organization.

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Chinese Police Conspire With Cult
Evidence Mounts that Lightning from the East Arranged False Arrests
by Xu Mei

NANJING, China (Compass) -- Lightning from the East is China’s most dangerous secret cult. It targets house churches, infiltrates them and tries to destroy them. Christian leaders have suffered blackmail, kidnapping, beatings and physical injury as a result of this activity.

In April of last year, Lightning from the East pulled off its most spectacular coup by simultaneously kidnapping 34 leaders of the South China Church, one of the country’s most evangelical house church movements.

At the time, sympathetic observers both in China and overseas speculated whether such a massive operation could succeed without at least some collusion on the part of local authorities and police.

The central government in Beijing has ordered a crackdown on the cult and expressed sympathy to members of the South China Church, who went to Beijing in desperation for help. Eventually, the captors released all the abducted leaders.

At the local level, however, police are notoriously corrupt. They often succumb to the temptation to make deals with the criminal underworld, of which this cult is a part.

Evidence has now emerged from northern China of this type of collusion. Sister Wang has long been an effective house church leader in Inner Mongolia. However, in recent years there has been a strong incursion of Lightning from the East cultists; they have taken over many of the house churches in her neighborhood.

In April, Wang reported that members of the cult approached the local Public Security Bureau and gave the police a bribe to arrest her. They concocted a false charge as an excuse -- alleging she had written “anti-Party propaganda” -- and threatened Wang with an eight-to-ten-year prison sentence.

Fearing for her safety and even for her life, Sister Wang fled to another part of China, far removed from her hometown. In her latest communication with the international Christian community, she asked for prayer.

To be labeled a cultist in China is a serious matter that leads to arrest and imprisonment. Ironically, cultists themselves are able to take advantage of endemic corruption to target Christians, who are most opposed to cults.

**********
Chinese Officials Continue Campaign Against Underground Christians
Officials Blame ‘Jesus Fever’ for Growth of Unregistered Churches
by Sarah Page

BANGKOK (Compass) -- The spread of the SARS virus has not distracted Chinese officials from their campaign against unregistered churches. At least 52 key house church leaders have been arrested in recent months. Police also arrested and fined hundreds of “ordinary” Christians in the first four months of 2003.

The growth of the underground church, attributed in some official documents to “Jesus fever,” has enraged Chinese authorities. During the National People’s Congress in March 2003, officials agreed to continue the “Strike Hard” campaign against all unauthorized groups. These include “separatists, terrorists and cult organizations.” Unregistered churches are included in the list of “illegal cults.”

China’s constitution requires all churches to register with the government. However, strict limitations are placed on official churches and many Christians prefer to go underground and practice their faith without compromise.

On March 25, police raided a house church meeting in Nanyang county in southern Henan province. At least 20 people were arrested, including a Dutch citizen. Local Christians were released after questioning; however, they were also fingerprinted and fined.

On April 2, senior house church leader Elder Chan was arrested in Anhui province. Officers of the Public Security Bureau (PSB) followed Chan’s son, 17, as he went to meet his father and arrested both of them. The son was released three days later, but Elder Chan remains in detention.

As one of the “most wanted” house church leaders in China, Chan has evaded capture for the past four years. For months he has moved from house to house, meeting with his family only on rare occasions. His situation is precarious. Gong Shengliang, a house church leader arrested in December 2001, received the death sentence, although it hasn’t been carried out. Chan could easily share the same fate.

On April 4, police arrested 120 Christians at a meeting in Pingdingshan. This was just one of four mass arrests in Henan province in recent months. However, the April 4 arrest was significant because it involved several key house church leaders.

Ordinary Christians are usually questioned, beaten, fined and released. Local PSB officers can sentence them to three years of “re-education” without trial, but in practice this rarely happens. The main targets of the raids are leaders of the house church movement.

Twenty of those arrested on April 4 were released within a few days. The remainder regained their freedom by the end of April, largely through the mediation of a Chinese-American arrested with the group who used his influence to gain the prisoners’ release.

One of the leaders arrested and later released was Wang Xincai. Xincai was first arrested in 1983 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement with a house church movement. He was released in 1994, but arrested again in 1997, leading to a further three-year incarceration in a labor camp.

Xincai, arrested on April 4 and released on April 23, has spent 16 of the last 20 years in prison for his faith.

Another series of arrests took place in Sichuan province during the third week ofduring the third week of April. A Christian from the group arrested in Henan on March 25 had traveled to Sichuan to meet with Christians there. He may have been identified while traveling and followed by the PSB, leading to the further series of arrests in Sichuan. Road blocks and identity checks are now common in China because of the SARS epidemic. These checks make it very difficult for known house church Christians to travel without attracting attention.

Article 36 of China’s Constitution declares, “No state organ, public organ, or individual may ... discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion.” A white paper issued by the Chinese government in October 1997 reiterates, “In China, no one is to be punished due to religious belief.”

As recent events have shown, the reality is quite different for millions of house church Christians in China.

www.compassdirect.org

12:06:25 AM    pray []