MALAYSIAN-BORN NEW ZEALAND MISSIONARY IN HONG KONG DIES OF SARS

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

HONG KONG  (ANS) -- SARS has claimed the life of a New Zealand missionary living in Hong Kong.

According to a report by Candice Osborne in Challenge Weekly, Malaysian-born Nan Pin Chee was principal of WEC International's Ministry Training School in Hong Kong. Mr Chee was a citizen of New Zealand and married to Eleanor from Otorohanga. Together they were sent out from New Zealand by Worldwide Evangelization for Christ (WEC) in 1981.

In her article for Challenge Weekly, Osborne wrote: "Two months ago Nan Pin was infected by Serious Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). His wife and their son Matthew, aged 15, were also hospitalized for the virus but were discharged. Matthew was allowed home last Friday (May 16) the same day his father passed away."

They also have a daughter Elizabeth, aged 19, who has been studying in Scotland and has returned to Hong Kong for the funeral.

During the 1970s Chee studied at Auckland University and went to the NZ Baptist College. He was in NZ last year for a few months finishing his doctorate, Osborne reported.

"The NZ director for WEC International, Morris Charmon says Mr Chee was a real family man and had a passion for training local Chinese in Hong Kong with a view to putting them out into the mission field. Many prayer requests went out during the two months Mr Chee was ill. Mr Charmon says WEC is aware that in NZ and throughout the world there are probably thousands of people who have prayed specifically for Mr Chee," Osborne wrote.

"We were all looking for a miracle, ok it hasn't materialized, but our confidence is still in the Lord. We appreciated those praying with us," said Charmon.

Charmon has been in daily phone contact with Mrs Chee for the last month, Osborne said.

"Eleanor is coping well but understandably it is grieving time for her. Also knowing that their 15-year-old son has had to go through all that medication etc has been difficult," Charmon is quoted as telling Osborne.

The congregation of Valley Road International Church, Auckland has been faithfully supporting this missionary couple as Mr and Mrs Chee attended this church before going overseas. Whenever they were on furlough they would report back to the church, along with regular correspondence, Osborne said.

Jill Spraggs, an attendee of the church and a former NZ director of WEC, says Mr Chee's death is a huge loss to Hong Kong as well as the wider WEC family.

"He was a very humble man who never drew attention to himself. He always hung in there and didn't let things discourage him. It is a big loss because he was a wonderful man of God and was often asked to speak at churches in Hong Kong of many denominations. Also there was no one else working alongside him other than his wife, who by-the-way is a sterling woman, to take up his ministry," Spraggs told Osborne.

A memorial service will be held in Auckland although details have not been set, as the family in Hong Kong have not yet held their own service.

No other New Zealanders are working for WEC in Hong Kong.

SARS has infected 7860 people worldwide, 1714 of those in Hong Kong. Worldwide 642 people have died, 251 in Hong Kong.

http://www.assistnews.net/

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Today's Prayer Request from Pray For China

Government says approximately 4 million mingong (floating "popular workers") fled from cities to rural regions because of SARS. Another 4 million returned for harvest. Government estimates that this represents merely 10 percent of the total floating population in China and stress the urgent need to boost medical care in the countryside. Let us pray for the believers in the rural churches during the epidemic, granting them faith in the Lord and strong witness. God has mercy on the medically inadequate farming communities

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News from Christian Aid

Vietnamese Christians Suffer Horrendous Persecution

The 2003 persecution list issued by Open Doors International ranks Vietnam as the third greatest persecutor of Christians worldwide, up from fourth last year. A confidential report just received by Christian Aid highlights some recent persecution incidents:

In LK province, Pastor Sung and his whole family were beaten with rocks and clubs until they were unconscious. His son's arms were tied to his back and he was hung upside down from the ceiling because the family members would not renounce their faith in Christ. After being repeatedly tortured, Sung ran into the jungle and lived there for two months. Finally, he could not withstand the hunger and diseases any more and returned home and was fined. Sung and his family are under house arrest, but still keep the faith.

Another pastor was beaten and put in jail for one week for refusing to set up an altar for ancestor worship in his house. He was forced to tell his church members to give up their faith. He fled to the jungle last Christmas and still lives there. Once in a while members of his family and members of his church sneak away to visit him and worship with him in a cave.

A few months ago 36 Hmong and Zao Christians fled to the jungle to escape persecution. They were living in very poor conditions and became very hungry because they could not find any food, not even wild roots. They also came down with a disease that covered their legs with open sores. After four months of suffering they had to return to their village and be punished for attempting to escape. They are currently living under house arrest.

"Hundreds of similar stories were told during my visits with the indigenous pastors," Christian Aid's contact said.

Several months ago there were over 400 churches in Dac Lac Province. According to the contact, there are now only three churches that are still operating legally and openly. To avoid the attention of police, the rest of the churches subdivided into more than 600 house groups. To avoid detection, they gather for worship early in the morning any day of the week.

At the same time, hundreds of Jorai and Bahnar pastors and gospel workers have been imprisoned by authorities in Gia Lai and Kontum provinces in the Central Highlands. In the same area, hundreds of Mnong and Ede pastors and believers in Dac Lac Province also have been arrested. Two of them were brought to the hospital after they were released and are still under treatment. Others who allegedly have been released have not been found.

The number of Christians who have long-term prison sentences in the North remains the same (about 70 as of last month). Police are on a rampage to arrest pastors and church workers.  They usually detain them at the police station several days to weeks, and then release them under very restrictive house-arrest rules. Some run for their lives into the jungle to escape.

The contact himself had a narrow escape. Due to the political pressure in Vietnam he could not visit the tribal Christians in their villages as he had hoped. Instead, many of them came to the cities where he was able to meet with them, listen to their troubles, and pray with them.

"Upon our arrival at one of our appointed locations, police confronted me and three of my colleagues. After a few questions, the officer told us to follow him to his office for further interrogation. We knew we were in big trouble and everybody prayed very hard to be rescued. The police officer rode on a motorcycle and we followed in our van.

"When we came to an intersection, it started to rain really hard. The policeman turned to the left, but our driver went straight and stepped on the gas. Because of the heavy downpour, the dusty roads became mud and the officer couldn't chase us on his motorcycle. After about 15 minutes, the rain let up, but by that time we had escaped."

The contact and his comrades spent over ten hours on a steep and winding road that night and continued their journey the next day.

The contact said that the Vietnamese churches have an open door to evangelize the 1.1 million Khmer tribe in the South, and the 588,000-population Zao tribe in the North. For more information write insider@christianaid.org and put MI-420 740-VTC on the subject line.

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 Lao Christians Forced from Homes, Deprived of Basic Needs

Despite claims that persecution is unauthorized, Lao authorities recently ordered Christian families in the Attapue Province to leave their homes and cut them off from food and water supplies.

Twelve Christian families in Donphai village of the Attapue Province were given an ultimatum by village and provincial authorities to leave their homes by April 1 or be burned out. Local ministries are providing food and transportation for these believers, but they remain in need of prayer.

In the village of Kang, the police chief was joined by district and village officials in ordering Christians to leave their homes by April 28. The believers had already been cut off from food and water, forcing them to make a 4-hour roundtrip journey to the nearest city for supplies. They are also consistently denied basic medical and emergency services in their village.

When these Christians had not left their homes by April 30, unknown people posted mocking, threatening leaflets on the doors of their houses.

Sadly this type of persecution is nothing new for Christians in Kang village. They have been imprisoned, had their animals poisoned, had rocks thrown at their houses and have been the victims of shootings. All four church leaders in this village have been imprisoned at one point or another.

According to an Agence France-Presse story dated April 27, Lao authorities similarly evicted three other Christian families from their homes in Maung Phine District of Savannakhet Province. The story cited U.S. State Department reports of Christians in the northern city of Luang Prabang and elsewhere facing similar threats.

The story quoted seven members of the U.S. Congress as saying Laos "continues to be one of the world's most reprehensible abusers of human rights--with a repertoire that includes torture, harsh restrictions on the press and free speech, and imprisonment of people for their religious beliefs."

Please pray that the Laotian Christians will hold strong in the face of this persecution, and that God will provide all their needs. Also pray that the Laotian government will follow through on promises to investigate these acts of cruelty. For more information, write insider@christianaid.org and put MI-420 730-CFL on the subject line.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  Nepalese Christians Remain Jailed Despite Pleas

Despite at least one hearing by the District Court and an attempted appeal to the king himself, three believers from the Pyuthan District of Nepal who were imprisoned in February remain in jail.

The three men were arrested for carrying Bibles and Christian literature in their bags. While this is not technically against the law in Nepal, authorities presumed the literature was being used to convert others to Christianity, and charged them with proselytizing, which is criminal in their country.

Leaders from the Nepal Gospel Outreach Center have made continuous appeals on behalf of their brothers. They even tried to submit a letter to the king, but they were turned away by his secretary, who promised to make phone calls to the judges involved and give authorization to set the three Christians free. Yet freedom has not come for the men, and any court decision continues to be delayed. It could take up to six months for a final verdict to be reached, according to a Gospel Outreach Center newsletter.

Even attempts to visit the believers in prison have been thwarted. About a month after they were arrested, five of their friends and family coming to see them were also put in prison for carrying Christian literature and Bibles. Thankfully they were released the next day.

Unfortunately, persecution continues to occur in Nepal even though new, more "freeing" political changes were brought about in 1990. Believers are still victimized by Hindu radicals. Ministries such as the Gospel Outreach Center remain faithful to support their brothers and sisters. Please join them in praying for the three jailed Christians to be released. If charged with "attempting to convert others into Christianity," the men could face three to six years in prison.

To find out more about this situation or the Gospel Outreach Center in Nepal, e-mail insider@christianaid.org and put MI-420 702-GOC on the subject line.

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XINJIANG UYGHURS SAY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS DEMAND FREE LABOR

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2003--Local officials in China's remote Xinjiang
Autonomous Region are coercing members of the Muslim Uyghur minority to
perform manual labor for the government without pay, Radio Free Asia (RFA)
reports. The practice, confirmed by Xinjiang officials and known in the
Uyghur language as "hasha," aims primarily to secure labor that local
villages cannot afford to hire.

"In the other provinces in China where there has been rapid economic
development, 'hasha' was phased out long ago," an agricultural official in
the Xinjiang regional government told RFA's Uyghur service. "But here in
Xinjiang, we still need it."

Another regional official described the practice as occurring predominantly
among peasants in the southern part of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region--one
of the poorest regions of China. "I myself worked on the 'hasha' scheme when
I lived there," said the official, who asked not to be named.

These officials, along with Uyghur residents of Xinjiang interviewed for
this story, said village authorities essentially conscript Uyghur men and
women of all ages for a variety of jobs that they cannot afford to hire
workers to perform. These include road-building, irrigation, agriculture,
and construction. Uyghurs are usually employed in this manner for about 50
days a year, sporadically or consecutively, with thousands of people
conscripted annually, villagers say.

The work is generally organized by Uyghur village leaders at the request of
local governments, and laborers face fines of between 30 and 60 yuan daily
(about five dollars U.S.) if they fail to show up, officials and Uyghurs in
Xinjiang said in separate interviews. Those most often coerced into
providing free labor are from Aksu, Kashgar, and Khoton prefectures--in
Chinese, Akesu, Hashe, and Hetian, respectively--Xinjiang residents say.

"At the moment, there is no money to pay the peasants. The money given to
the government is very limited. We already have to use the little we have
for flood prevention and other public works," the agriculture official said.
Public attention to the issue might boost political will to change the
system, he said.

A spokesman for the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Washington
said the Geneva-based organization was aware of forced labor in remote
regions of China, although he declined to comment specifically about the
"hasha" system. Central government officials in Beijing indicated that they
were unaware of it.

The agricultural official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, attributed
the "hasha" system to problems in reforming China's tax system. Peasants in
China are currently overtaxed by a locally imposed system of fees, charges,
and levies, often by corrupt officials. Pressure to reform the system first
came after local Communist Party cadres warned then Premier Zhu Rongji that
unrest caused by the "peasant burden" could spiral out of control. The
central government has moved since then to implement a new system of
taxation in some areas of China, although progress has been painfully slow.

But these changes, according to the agricultural official in the Xinjiang
government, have been slow to arrive in Xinjiang, especially in the southern
areas, where local government coffers are chronically empty. He added,
however, that reform was on the way. "As soon as the tax reforms are carried
out in southern Xinjiang [and the government has money], 'hasha' labor will
definitely be eliminated in Xinjiang as it has been in the other provinces
in China," said the official.

One man, a native of Kashgar who is in his 30s, said his continuing "hasha"
assignments consisted of dredging and widening a river and irrigating
fields.

"For one month out of every year for three years," said another man in his
40s, also from Kashgar, "we were forced to open up land that had never been
settled before--it was just wilderness. We were also forced to build houses
for Han Chinese immigrants who were resettling in the area."

China uses forced prison labor as an officially sanctioned form of legal
punishment. For this reason, it is one of just 10 member countries to
decline to sign two ILO conventions on eliminating forced labor. Since the
fast-paced economic reforms of the late 1990s, reports of underground
private sweatshops using slave labor have also surfaced in the news media,
and have occasionally been the target of official investigations. However,
official embarrassment ensures that no statistics are reported and the true
size of the problem is unknown.

Copyright © 1999, RFA. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. http://www.rfa.org.

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