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Sestra učitelky domácího sboru Gu Xianggao, která byla minulý měsíc údajně ubita k smrti čínskou státní policií, říká, že úřady zaplatily její rodině za mlčení v tomto případě. V dopise, který obdrželi v ASSIST News Service today, sdělila Gu Xiangyan, že její bratr byl falešně obviněn z vraždy, když policie minulý měsíc zaútočila na jeho domácí sbor o 500 000 členech v provincii Heilongjiang na severovýchodě Číny. Podle zpráv křesťanských pozorovatelů z ChinaAid bylo několik dalších věřících zatčeno a zadrženo včetně vedoucího skupiny Xu Shuangfu a známého Zhao Wenquan. Z obavy před mezinárodní kritikou se rozhodly státní orgány „kompenzovat“ rodině smrt Gu Xianggao, která zemřela ve vězení a přinutily rodiče, aby souhlasili s kremací, sdělila v dopise její sestra. Dodala, že její rodina dostala okolo 28,000 dolarů, což pro chudou čínskou rodinu představuje jmění. Pak jim bylo nařízeno, aby o tom, co se stalo, nemluvili. (Assist News Service) |
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CHINESE AUTHORITIES TRY TO COVER UP DEATH OF TEACHER, SISTER SAYS
The sister of a house church teacher Gu Xianggao, allegedly beaten to death
last month by Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) forces, says the
authorities paid her family money in an attempt to cover up the crime. In a
letter received by ASSIST News Service today, Gu Xiangyan said her brother
was also falsely accused of murder after police raided his 500,000-strong
house church movement known as "Three Grades Servants" last month in
Heilongjiang Province, northeast China. According to Christian rights
watchdog ChinaAid, several other believers were arrested and detained,
including the group's leader Xu Shuangfu and well-known house church leader
Zhao Wenquan. Apparently fearing an international outcry, PSB officials
"compensated" the family of Gu Xianggao, who died in custody, and forced his
parents to accept cremation, his sister said in a letter. She added that her
parents were paid about US$28,000, a fortune to most impoverished Chinese
families, and then ordered not to tell what had happened. (Assist News
Service)
NIGERIAN KILLINGS CONTINUE DESPITE EMERGENCY RULE
Despite the imposition of a state of emergency in Plateau State, Nigeria,
the ethno-religious killings which led to the proclamation of emergency rule
there show no sign of abating. Recent reports indicate that at least four
towns have been overrun by suspected Hausa/Fulani militia who killed 44 in
one 24-hour period. The attackers were believed to have come into Plateau
State from neighboring Nassarawa State. In Saminaka Village there was fierce
fighting, leading to the death of at least six people while scores of houses
were burned down by the rampaging militiamen. A number of casualties were
recorded in several villages of the area. Moses Michael, an Igbo trader
residing in Gidan Sabo said, "We tried to repulse the attack but we were
overpowered and we simply took to our heels." He regretted that there is no
police presence in the affected towns, adding that victims of the fighting
have been fleeing to Kwande to escape the fighting. (Voice of the Martyrs)
UNREGISTERED RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY STILL ILLEGAL IN TURKMENISTAN
Unregistered religious activity remains illegal, an official of
Turkmenistan's Adalat (Fairness or Justice) Ministry has confirmed, despite
a presidential decree abolishing criminal penalties for worshipping without
state approval. "If people act without registration they will be fined," he
said. The ban on unregistered activity in the religion law has not been
amended and Article 205 of the Administrative Code, which spells out fines
of up to ten times the minimum monthly wage for leading or even taking part
in unregistered worship services, remains in force. Muradov denied any
harassment of believers in Turkmenistan, describing those who had claimed
such harassment as "sick." More than ten weeks after the president reduced
the number of members required to register a religious community from 500 to
five, no new communities have yet been able to register. (Forum 18 News)
SOUTHERN INDIA ANNOUNCES REPEAL OF ANTI-CONVERSION LAW
Barely a week after India's Congress Party defeated the previous pro-Hindu
government in national elections, Chief Minister Selvi J. Jayalalithaa of
Tamil Nadu, southern India, has announced the repeal of the state
anti-conversion law. Ms. Jayalalithaa heads the local branch of the All
India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazakham party (AIADMK), which was soundly
defeated in the general elections. On May 18, Jayalalithaa announced that
she would drop the state's anti-conversion law. "I have ordered that the
Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Act 2002 be
repealed at once," she said. "An ordinance for this purpose will be brought
immediately." The Tamil Nadu anti-conversion law was enacted on October 5,
2002, despite large-scale protests by the Christian minority and opposition
parties. It contained loose definitions and required all conversions to be
registered with the state government. Without proper registration, both
"converter" and "converted" could be jailed and fined as common criminals.
(Compass)
EVEN BIOHAZARDS BECOME CAN OPEN DOORS FOR MINISTRY
Jerry and Wendy Cowles of Interserve are working in India to bring the
Emmanuel Hospital Association into compliance with new biohazard laws. Until
now, medical facilities in the country disposed of used needles, human
tissue and other medical waste by dumping it on the ground behind buildings
where people traverse frequently. Not only were passers-by stepping on the
hazardous waste, but drug users were able to scavenge for used hypodermic
needles to resell. Unfortunately, very few hospitals have made a move to
come under the law, and enforcement has been lax. The Emmanuel Hospital
Association is a cooperation of hospitals that have acquired 19 old mission
hospitals serving the rural poor. The hospitals were old and in need of
updating. With the Cowles' assistance, hospital workers dug two pits in the
rear of the facility for biological waste. Because the Cowles work in areas
where it is illegal to openly evangelize, they look for opportunities to
share their faith. They, like others who work with Interserve, are Christian
professionals who use their professional skills to minister to the physical,
emotional, and spiritual needs of the people they serve. (Mission Network
News)
NATIONAL MISSIONARIES REAP HARVEST IN WEST AFRICA
In November 2000, Accelerating International Mission Strategies (AIMS) held
an Equipping for the Harvest conference in Burkina Faso to network pastors
to reach the 32 unreached people groups within the country. Almost 3,500
pastors representing 14 major denominations and approximately 66 percent of
the country's church leadership attended. By the end of the conference, the
pastors formed partnerships with a plan to reach all 32 people groups.
Seventy-five Burkinabe missionaries who attended the 2000 conference
completed their training in May 2003 and were commissioned to take the
gospel to various unreached people groups in the country. Since then,
fifteen new churches were planted and 118 people have accepted Christ. "Our
goal is to see a church-planting movement among every unreached people group
in West Africa," said the AIMS West Africa Coordinator. "We'd like to see
the whole continent saturated with the gospel." AIMS exists to challenge the
church to take the gospel where it has never been proclaimed. (Assist News
Service) |