Vietnamese police forces swooped down on a house church in a village, attacking worshippers with firearms, batons and tree branches, leaving 16 men and women injured, including a 13-year-old girl, and a man who was beaten unconscious, then arrested.

The incident, which occurred last month, took place in Buon Kret Krot village, in the  province of Gai Lai. The police forces kicked and beat the worshippers until many were rendered unconscious.

The police also threatened the villagers, saying they would return and if they are worshipping in the same way when they come back, they will face five years in prison.

Twelve men and four women were attacked in the melee, according to an ICC report. Ten of the men and two women were attacked so viciously that they fell unconscious.

The villagers were attacked and beaten with firearms, tree branches and batons. When they fell on the ground, the policemen kicked and stomped on them, including Y Kang, a 13-year-old girl.

Also beaten by the police was A. Jung, 29, who was repeatedly hit with a baton until he fell to the ground, after which police kicked him and stomped on his stomach until he was rendered unconscious. He was arrested by the police and is in custody, where he likely is being tortured.

The International Christian Concern said on its website that the persecution of Degar Montagnard Christians continues to be purposeful through policing, harassment and violent coercion of this minority indigenous and religious group.

Hundreds of Christians are festering inVietnam’s harsh prisons for refusing to join government-sanctioned churches, which are heavily monitored and controlled by the Communist nation.

House church preferred

Christians prefer house churches, which are illegal, but which they believe are more genuine. One worshipper, Puih H’Bat, a Central Highlands Degar woman, was arrested for leading an underground church.

Puih, then 41, is a mother of four. In 2008 police broke into her home while some 20 worshippers were praying with her. She and two others were arrested, tortured and threatened. The two men were later released, but Puih continues to be in jail and is serving a five year sentence for “destruction of the unity of the people’s solidarity,” Canada Free Press reported.

Although Puih is expected to be released in 2013, the international community has made several failed attempts to speak to her or to see her. It is not known whether she had been murdered or if she died amid the harshness of the prison system.

ICC has petitioned the government of Vietnam to release information on the state of health of Puih H’Bat, for the benefit of her family and her community.

On its website ICC said, “Vietnam has a long-standing practice of policing, harassing, and arresting Christians who are unaffiliated with the government-sanctioned and only legally-recognized religious bodies in the nation.”

Scott Johnson of the Montagnard Foundation told ANS, “The Vietnamese government has targeted indigenous Degar Montagnards for simply being members of Christian house churches, in a long running policy designed to eliminate independent Christian house churches.

“Hundreds of Degar Montagnards remain in prison today and in custody many prisoners are brutally tortured and even killed. There is a shameful silence from the international community, including the United Nations and State Department, as to the plight of these forgotten prisoners even while the evidence of systematic religious persecution is overwhelming.”

ICC’s Kris Elliot, regional manager of Southeastern Asia said on its website, “We call upon the Vietnamese government to cease this systematic practice of violence and persecution against Christians, especially Degar Montagnards. We also urge the US Department of State to once again designate Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern, as conditions for religious minorities have vastly deteriorated since the designation was lifted in 2006.

“A CPC designation backed by strong US policies has the potential to pave a path towards significant improvements for Christians and other religious minorities inVietnam,” Elliot said.

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At least 10 Christians have been killed in the last two months in Nigeria by the radical Islamic Boko Haram sect.

The murder of the Christians took place in Maiduguri, Borneo state in northeastern Nigeria. An anonymous source (a local church leader) described it to International Christian Concern as part of a more widespread “silent killing” of Christians.

The source told ICC, “Boko Haram is seeking to eliminate Christianity because they want Islamic (Sharia) law. They don’t want to see anything Christian in the northern states [of Nigeria].”

The source added, “That is why churches are being persecuted and Muslims who don’t follow the [hard line teachings of] Boko Haram are also persecuted,” ICC reported.

Most Christians have fled Maiduguri, and those who have stayed are fasting and praying. Many churches in the city have suspended services for the safety of parishioners.

The source told ICC they are seeking prayer. “[We also] ask for assistance in the rebuilding of churches that have been burned down since 2006. The government has not compensated for the losses of Christians, but it has compensated for losses that Muslims suffered [at the hands of radical Islamists].”

Dialogue with Boko Haram

The government has expressed willingness to open up dialogue with the Boko Haram, in response to censure by human rights organizations. It has also formed a committee that will investigate the Boko Haram and try to determine the root cause of the violence.

Even as the government announced this, yesterday another bomb exploded near a police patrol van in Bauchi city, wounding four policemen. In a separate attack, last Saturday one policeman and one civilian were wounded in an ambush on a patrol team elsewhere in Bauchi, a city where Boko Haram are believed to be hiding.

Call for dialogue

The Etsu Nupe (ruler of the Nupe ethnic minority inNigeria), Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, has urged Boko Haram to come out of hiding and engage in a dialogue with the government, adding that violence is not the answer to the country’s problems.

“It is only through dialogue that they can table their grievances for the government to understand them better and find the means of responding to their demands,” Abubakar told The Nation.

Call for justice

Jonathan Racho, regional manager of Africa for ICC, said he hopes the investigating committee can be a tool for justice for the victims of Boko Haram, and welcomed the measure to ensure security of civilians.

Racho said, “We welcome the deployment of the Nigerian security forces to protect innocent civilians from the attacks by Boko Haram. We also welcome the establishment of the committee to investigate Boko Haram. We call upon the committee to look into the plight of the victims and ensure that the perpetrators of the violence are brought to justice.”

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An international human rights group said recently that some 800 people have died in riots in Nigeria that swept the country since April’s presidential election that gave a new mandate to its Christian leader Goodluck Jonathan.

Human Rights Watch issued a report last Monday urging the new government to work fast to ensure that those responsible for the violence are arrested and that justice is served, Christian Today said.

In northern Nigeria Christians wept over mass graves where their loved ones were hurriedly buried. ICC reports that the government rushed the burials so that there would be no exact figures of the number of the victims, Christian Today said.

The unrest began on April 18 when early returns in the elections already showed that Jonathan, from majority Christian southern Nigeria, had a sizeable lead over his Muslim opponent, Muhammadu Buhari.

The Muslim majority north broke out in simultaneous riots that occurred in almost every state in the north, Christian Telegraph said, quoting an International Christian Concern report.

Supporters of Buhari also staged demonstrations claiming the elections had been fixed. However, international observers dubbed the polls as the fairest in the history of Nigeria—while HRW says it was also the most violent.

Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher of HRW told Christian Today, “The newly-elected authorities should quickly build on the democratic gains from the elections by bringing to justice those who orchestrated these horrific crimes and addressing the root causes of the violence.”

The HRW based its report on interviews with 55 witnesses including clergy from both Christian and Muslim faiths and members of the police, according to Christian Today.

The homes, churches and businesses of Christians who were suspected of supporting Jonathan were torched, and the Christian Association of Nigeria said at least 170 Christians were reported killed, according to Christian Today.

However, others say that the number of Christians who died in the north could be higher. An ICC spokesperson said, “Nigerian government authorities were in such a hurry to hide the extent of the massacre, that they organized mass burials of the victims almost immediately after the attacks. As a result, the exact death toll remains unknown,” Christian Telegraph reported.

Greatest losses in Kaduna State

ICC said the most losses, however, were in Kaduna state, the northern part of which is majority Muslim, and the southern part of which is majority Christian. ICC estimates more than 300 people were slaughtered in Kafanchan town in southern Kaduna, and Zonkwa town in the northern part of the state, according to Christian Today.

HRW pegs the number of deaths at higher than 500. Some 1,000 families were displaced and are now in government camps. Over 200 were rendered homeless while hundreds of other Christians have fled, Christian Telegraph said.

Attacks with machetes

A group of students in a Christian college were pursued by a mob and were driven against a wall where they were beaten and struck with machetes, killing four students and one Christian lecturer, Christian Today said.

There are also reports of serious abuse and excessive force wielded by the police and military with reports of eight cases of unarmed citizens in Kaduna and Zaria who were killed and detainees who were beaten, Christian Today said.

Dufka told Christian Today, “The Nigerian authorities should promptly investigate these credible reports of unlawful killings and other abuses by members of the security forces. The use of violence by rioters, mobs, and state actors alike needs to be stopped.”

President Jonathan has set up an investigating committee to look into the riots, but the HRW reported that Christians are not confident that justice will be effectively rendered, Christian Today said.

Sources:

http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue12912.html

http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/post-election-violence-in-nigeria-claimed-800-lives-rights-group/6271.htm

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A missionary group said recently that Christians in Syria are being threatened by Muslim extremists to join rallies that are calling for the resignation of the country’s president.

International Christian Concern said it has been receiving reports that Syrian Christians are being pressured to join rallies even as violence against them has stepped up, according to Christian Today.

Christians are told to either join the protests or leave the country. In Dara’a, a Christian village in southern Syria, some 20 masked men drove through the village on motorcycles for a drive-by shoot at a Christian home, Christian Today said.

In Karak village, Muslim Salafists coerced Christians to remove pictures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from their homes and to join the protest demonstrations. One man who rebuffed the Salafists was found dead the following morning, his body hanging on his front porch, Christian Today reported.

Christian churches also were sent letters during the Easter season, according to ICC, that stated that unless parishioners joined the demonstrations, they should leave the country, according to Christian Today.

Aidan Clay, ICC’s Middle East regional manager, told Christian Today that the U.S. should be careful in its diplomatic relations with Syria noting, “Unlike in Egypt, where Christians predominantly supported the revolution that removed President Hosni Mubarak from power, Syrian Christians have not participated in protests, anticipating that chaos and bloodshed will follow if radical Islam takes hold of the country.”

Christians enjoy more protection and freedom in Syria than in Muslim countries where Shariah law prevails. Because of this, Christians would like to see change in Syria, but without having to unseat Assad, Christian Today said.

Although as of now the riots are not yet sectarian, there is fear that they may be overtaken by an extremist agenda. So far, protests are rooted in social issues of repression and inequality, and economic woes including employment and massive price hikes of food and fuel, Continental News said.

Sneaking in

An unnamed Christian leader told Christian Today, “Muslim Salafi groups are sneaking in with their goal, which is not to make changes for the betterment of Syria, but to take over the country with their agenda. We want to improve life and rights in Syria under this president, but we do not want terrorism. Christians will be the first to pay the price of terrorism.”

The Assad family has been in power for 50 years. Christians have been protected because the Assad family belongs to the Alawite sect, which is an obscure offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, according to Continental News.

Only one percent of Syria’s population is Shi’ite, while 6.3 percent is Christian. The majority, 90 percent, is Sunni Muslim, which views the Alawite sect as heretical, Continental News said.

Syria’s constitution has a provision for religious freedom, but the government has imposed strong restrictions on this right. ICC told Christian Today that protesters in Duma, a suburb of Damascus, chanted last week, “Alawites to the grave and Christians to Beirut!”

The protection the Assad family lends Christians is strategic, as are its ties with Iran, and Lebanon’s leading Shi’ite leader. Of late, however, there has been concern by analysts of the “Shi’itization” of Syria, Continental News reported.

Israel, the U.S. and Arab government would like to see Syria pulled apart from its ties with Iran and Hezballah, while the latter two will not want this. The Salafi jihadists from Saudi Arabia and the Muslim Brotherhood are aiding Syria’s opposition, while the Syrian government is being aided by Iran, Continental News said.

Syrian Christians are concerned by the chaos that may follow as Syria “risks being torn apart by an Iraq-style sectarian conflagration over the regional balance of power,” according to Continental News.

Clay of ICC said, “We urge the U.S. Government to act wisely and carefully when developing policies that have deep political ramifications for Syria’s minorities by not indirectly supporting a foothold to be used by radical Islamists to carry out their anti-Christian agenda” Christian Today reported.

An unnamed Syrian Christian leader said, “If Muslim Salafis gain political influence, they will make sure that there will be no trace of Christianity in Syria,” according to Christian Today

Clay told Christian Today, “Throughout the Middle East, Christians have been fleeing their homeland in unprecedented numbers. Now, in a country where Christians have historically taken refuge from nearby purges in places like Turkey a century ago and Iraq in recent years, Islamists are threatening their existence.”

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A Christian human rights group is seeking justice on behalf of an Ethiopian Christian evangelist who was beaten to death and his pregnant wife who was injured and left unconscious by a group of Muslim attackers.

International Christian Concern asked government officials in Ethiopia to arrest and prosecute the murderers of Abraham Abera. The group of men also beat and injured Abera’s pregnant wife, Birtukan, whom they left unconscious on the road, OneNewsNow said.

Birtukan, who was hospitalized, said when she regained consciousness that she knew two of the assailants, OneNewsNow said. The incident occurred in south-central Worabe, an Ethiopian village with a 97 percent Muslim-majority population, according to Worthy News.

Jonathan Racho, ICC regional manager of Africa, said it is possible that the attackers will not face prosecution. He told OneNewsNow, “Most of the local officials in the area are Muslims, and we are afraid that they may not bring any charges against the attackers.”

Racho also expressed concern about growing radicalization of Muslims in the area. “Most of the time, the moderate Muslims in Ethiopia are more violent, and they entice them to kill Christians [and] destroy churches. In Ethiopia, we have seen the recent radicalization of the Muslims,” OneNewsNow reported.

Lured from home

The incident occurred when a group of Muslims lured Abera and his wife Birtukan away from Kale Hiwot Church, which is both the ministry and home of the Christians. Abera was told that a friend of theirs was ill and needed help badly, Worthy News said.

Once Abera and Birtukan were out of range of the church, the men began to beat the male evangelist to death with rods. They told the couple that the Christian population is growing in the area, and because of this, believers will be destroyed, OneNewsNow said.

When Birtukan tried to intervene they attacked her and inflicted her with an acute head injury which rendered her unconscious on the street. She was left alone on the road, Worthy News reported.

Others found Birtukan and brought her to a hospital in Butajira, a nearby town. When she regained consciousness she recalled the details of the attack and said she could identify two of the assailants, OneNewsNow reported.

Birtukan recalled being told by the attackers, “You [Christians] are growing in number in our area. You are spreading your message [the gospel]. We will destroy you,” according to Worthy News.

Birtukan also sustained injuries to her midsection. However, she was told by hospital medics that her baby will survive, according to Worthy News.

A Christian leader (unidentified) told Worthy News, “Christians in Worabe and its surrounding areas are persecuted at the hands of Muslim radicals, and the local government officials, who are Muslims, don’t protect Christians. We urge the higher government authorities [state and federal officials] to intervene and protect us.”

Racho of the ICC told Worthy News, “The brutal killing of Evangelist Abraham and the beating of his wife, Birtukan, is deeply troubling. We urge the federal government authorities to investigate this latest attack as well as reports of persecution against Christians in the Silte zone, [where Worabe is located].”

Racho also is asking Christians around the world to contact the Ethiopian embassy within their vicinity and to urge officials to prosecute the assailants and render justice for Abera and Birtukan, according to OneNewsNow.

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A Christian rights worker said recently that another Afghan Christian is in jail and needs the help of the international community.

Aidan Clay, regional manager of the Middle East, International Christian Concern, said Shoaib Assadullah, 23, has been in jail since Oct. 21 for converting to Christianity, Allvoices reported.

Assadullah was arrested in Mazar-e-Sharif after giving a bible to a man who later reported the incident to local authorities, Allvoices said. While in prison, he has been physically abused and threatened with death by inmates.

Clay noted that another Afghan Christian, Said Musa, was released and granted asylum in Europe after nine months of abuse in jail, because of pressure from the international community including the U.S., Italy and other countries, Allvoices said.

In the same way, Clay told Allvoices that international diplomacy should be stepped up to help to secure the immediate release of Assadullah. Clay noted that while Musa was released amid a slew of international publicity, little progress has been made on behalf of Assadullah.

Clay expressed concern that Assadullah may be sentenced to death, the penalty for apostasy. Although Afghanistan’s constitution allows freedom of religion, apostasy falls under Islamic law, Allvoices reported.

In a letter that was shown to BosNewsLife and dated Feb. 17, Assadullah wrote, “Several times I have been attacked physically and threatened with death by fellow prisoners, especially [from members of the] Taliban [group] and anti-government prisoners who are in jail.”

Assadullah added, “These assaults on my human dignity have affected me negatively, close to the point of death,” according to BosNewsLife.

In another letter written by Assadullah dated Mar. 11, he wrote, “I am under emotional pressure from being in prison. Add to that the threat of being executed, constant insults and accusations, threats, cursing and being forced by other prisoners and by prison guards to do work for them… all because of prejudice against my different beliefs and my different ethnicity,” BosNewsLife reported.

Assadullah, on Mar. 24, said in a phone conversation that he would die for his Christian faith rather than return to Islam, according to BosNewsLife.

Clay told BosNewsLife that under President Hamid Karzai, “Afghanistan continues its anti-Christian crackdown and is far from altering any policies to protect apostates. The release of Musa was a great victory, but the battle carries on. The fight for religious freedom in Afghanistan is far from over.”

In a statement the U.S. State Department said, “The United States and its international partners remain committed to helping Afghans realize their vision for a country that is stable, democratic, and economically successful, and to an Afghan Government committed to the protection of women’s rights, human rights, and religious tolerance,” BosNewsLife reported.

In the Netherlands, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte promised to do “everything in his power to prevent executions of Christian converts,” BosNewsLife said.

It is estimated that there may be up to 10,000 Christian converts in Afghanistan, despite its being a highly Islamic nation where expressing one’s faith openly can lead to murder by militants, family members or government officials, BosNewsLife reported.

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The trial of a disabled man in Afghanistan who faces the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity was postponed recently to November 28.

Said Musa (also spelled Sayed Mossa), 45, who is married with six children, must on the appointed day face trial without a lawyer, because nobody wants to represent him, BosNewsLife reported.

Last week Musa was expected to be sentenced to death under sharia law, legislation from the former Taliban regime. Aidan Clay, International Christian Concern Middle East manager noted that millions of international dollars were spent training Afghanistan’s judiciary to follow the nation’s constitution, which has no penalty for changing faiths, BosNewsLife said.

International attention on Musa’s case may have caused the delayed trial. Ann Buwalda, executive director of Jubilee Campaign, USA expressed gratitude for the delay and said, “This dear brother has been illegally imprisoned for six months, tortured, abused and threatened with death, all because he is a Christian,” BosNewsLife reported.

Musa was jailed in May after nationally televised footage showed Muslims being converted to Christianity, triggering protests and causing a crackdown on Christian converts. (For background go to http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/06/afghanistan-suspends-relief-efforts-of-2-christian-aid-groups-12375).

Qamaruddin Shenwari, director of Kabul courts’ north zone, said that in the end, the judge may still consider sharia. “According to Afghanistan’s constitution, if there is no clear verdict as to whether an act is criminal or not…then it would be referred to sharia law,” BosNewsLife reported.

Under sharia law conversion from Islam to another faith is punishable by death. However, ICC said this goes against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which forbids executions for crimes that do not fall under national or international law, and of which Afghanistan is a signatory, BosNewsLife said.

Forced to renounce faith

Clay said he worries that Musa might be made to “stand before a Muslim court without representation and will likely be asked to renounce his Christian beliefs. His response to that question may determine his fate, and before a sharia court, his sentence may be death,” according to BosNewsLife.

Clay asked Christians worldwide to call their Afghan embassies and consulates on behalf of Musa. ICC is demanding that Musa’s trial is delayed until he has legal representation, BosNewsLife said.

In a letter, Musa wrote, “Nobody [lawyer] wants to be my defender before the court. When I said ‘I am a Christian man’, he [a potential lawyer] immediately spat on me and abused me and mocked me…I am alone between 400 [people with] terrible values in the jail, like a sheep,” BosNewsLife reported.

Musa also wrote to “the international church of the world and…President Brother [Barack] Obama and to the head of  [International Security Assistance Force] ISAF in Afghanistan” to be released from jail, BosNewsLIfe said.

He said he worries about wife and six children. The eldest child eight years old, and one child is mute. In 2006 Abdul Rahman, another Afghan Christian charged with death for conversion, was granted asylum in Italy, BosNewsLife reported.

There are some 10,000 Christian converts in Afghanistan, a country where people are killed for openly expressing their Christian views, according to BosNewsLife.

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A governor in Eritrea ordered a harsh crackdown on Christians in his area, resulting in the detention of 11 of them, in undisclosed locations.

Governor Mustafa Nurhussein of the Southern zone of Eritrea ordered the arrest of the 11 unnamed Christians from Dibarwa, Mendefera and Dekemharre last Oct. 20, further burdening a Christian population that has long been intimidated and victimized, Mission News Network said.

Police also confiscated video players, TVs and other electronic equipment that belonged to the 11 Christians, most of whom are from the Full Gospel Church, a group that was banned in 2002, according to MNN.

Jonathan Racho, International Christian Concern’s regional head of Africa said, “We are saddened to hear about the detention of the 11 Christians. Eritrean officials have continued to mistreat Christians in the country for choosing to practice their faith. We ask Eritrea to immediately release the 11 Christians and the more than 3,000 others who are illegally detained,” BosNewsLife reported.

A government-supported statement from Eritrea in 2003 stated that “no groups or persons are persecuted in Eritrea for their beliefs or religion.”

The actual number and names of detained Christians is hard to obtain. MNN said usually the details of arrests are only learned when a missing Christian has become ill while in prison.

Medical treatment is only given to Christian detainees if they have malaria or other specific illnesses. A number of evangelicals have died while in prison—which can usually be shipping containers, underground dungeons or barracks—either from torture or harsh conditions, BosNewsLife said.

Although Eritrean officials have not commented on the 11arrested, in the past, regarding similar cases, they have said they wish to protect Eritrea from foreign-inspired “dangerous sects,” BosNewsLife said.

Four religious groups are recognized by Eritrea, namely the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Evangelical Church of Eritrea and Islam, according to BosNewsLife.

Despite this, in May 2007, the patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, Abune Antonios was placed under house arrest, where he remains today, according to BosNewsLife.

Last year, the government called on citizens to report of Christian gatherings in their neighborhoods, which the government said is illegal and punishable by law, BosNewsLife reported.

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The Syrian government closed down recently at least eight Christian churches in Northern Syria, amid stepped up efforts to assail evangelical Christianity in the country.

The churches were closed down because of legislation that states that parishes must only congregate in buildings that bear a resemblance to church structures, BosNewsLife said.

However, Syrian Christians believe the law is being implemented as window dressing for the government’s underlying intent to attack and clear out evangelical Christianity in the country, according to BosNewsLife.

International Christian Concern told BosNewsLife that many churches lack funding to purchase a church building, so they meet and worship either at the house of a believer, or buy a home dwelling for church services.

ICC quoted a Syrian Christian who said, “Christians who are active in their faith know that they are watched very closely, and the government is waiting for an excuse to crack down on them,” BosNewsLife reported.

The Christian, who spoke anonymously for security reasons added, “The government is targeting all religious activities which are considered ‘extreme’ — from Muslim extremists all the way to Christians … It is generally believed that the government is getting reports from Orthodox and certain denominations as well as secret police and various Islamic congregations.”

A letter from an Arab Christian which was posted by Christian novelist Joel Rosenberg said the churches that were closed down are mainly located in the towns of Homs, Tartous, Lattakia and wadi Al-Nasara, BosNewsLife said.

According to BosNewsLife Rosenberg said, “Some of the churches in Damascus and Aleppo know that their turn will come soon. They are closing some of the Baptist and Alliance churches. It is apparently by the approval of the High Counsel representative in Syria.”

Aidan Clay, ICC’s regional manager for the Middle East, said the recent closure of so many churches indicate that evangelical Christians in the country are slated for more difficult times ahead.

Clay told BosNewsLife, “Christians in Syria, unlike some of their neighbors, have enjoyed relative freedom to practice their faith. Yet, religious freedom in Syria is a delicate ideal, and Syrian evangelicals have walked a tightrope not to offend the government and lose their precious liberty to worship.”

Clay said he felt that the Syrian evangelical community is falling prey to false reports and prejudice “by both Orthodox Christians and certain Muslim groups, (which) if continued, will destroy that fragile balance of religious freedom so cherished by Syrian evangelicals,” BosNewsLife reported.

The ICC called on the Syrian government “to preserve Syria’s religiously tolerant society and protect its religious minorities,” according to BosNewsLife.

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A human rights advocacy group for persecuted Christians worldwide launched recently its first campus chapter in Maryland.

The International Christian Concern launched its first ICC campus chapter at the University of Maryland, College Park. The ICC has served for 15 years as an activist for the rights of persecuted Christians worldwide, The Christian Post reported.

“Many students were not aware of the issue of religious persecution,” club president Jessica Ford told The Christian Post. “They thought that worldwide religious freedom was like here in America. When they realized the terrible circumstances some Christians live under, they wanted to assist and learn more.”

Ford also told The Christian Post, “To date, there isn’t one (campus group) with the mission of helping persecuted Christians overseas. We are changing that.” She noted that there are some 27 Christian organizations existing on her campus, but they focus either on a specific denomination, or on bible study.

ICC president Jeff King expressed excitement at the launch of the UMCP campus chapter. He told The Christian Post, “College students around the country have been trying to do this for years and seeing this finally happen is a huge boost to religious freedom.”

He told The Christian Post, “I think college students are a large untapped resource in helping their vulnerable brothers and sisters around the world.”

The role of the ICC campus chapter will be to spread information to college students about the human rights violations of Christians around the world. They will also help to raise funds for orphans in conjunction with their special blessing campaign, The Christian Post reported.

The Washington-based ICC has been in operation since 1995with a vision to promote religious freedom and to help international Christians who are victimized by persecution or discriminated against because of their faith, according to their website.

A large part of their work involves helping to raise awareness and to generate aid and advocacy for persecuted Christians. As of today, some 200 million Christians worldwide are victims of arrest, interrogation, physical abuse, violence and even death because of their Christian faith, The Christian Post reported.

The ICC has through the years lobbied at the State Department, U.S. Congress and the White House for changes in legislation and for the leverage of government pressure on countries where persecution of Christians is rampant, as well as to work for the release of Christians in prison, The Christian Post said.

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