icc's october e-newsletter, persecution 2012

Christians Being “Cleansed” in the Middle East

“KILL THE ENEMIES OF ALLAH!” What lies ahead for Egypt’s beleagured Christians?

Read how your donations are transforming the lives of the children of martyrs

International Christian Concern | October 2012

Your Bridge to the Persecuted Church

PERSECUTION

IS SYRIA NEXT?

Nearly 10,000 Christians have fled

Al-Qusayr, Syria after being given an

ultimatum by a rebel commander in June

to leave the city.

3 COVER

13

9

17

21

3 Christians Being “Cleansed” in the Middle East Is Syria next?

9 The Big Picture Regional Manager Corey Bailey never dreamed that she would be able to serve the same village she visited ten years ago.

13 “Kill the Enemies of Allah!” What lies ahead for Egypt’s beleaguered Christians?

17 Speaking Up for the Rights of the Destitute What has ICC been up to on Capitol Hill? Check it out!

21 Your Dollars at Work Read how your donations have helped transform the lives of Christians all over the world!

IN THIS ISSUE

A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT

When Regional Manager Aidan Clay and his wife, Amy, visited one of our orphanages in India, they im-mediately fell in love with one of the little boys, Ranoj. As they spent time with him, they found out that his birthday was coming up and he had never had a real birthday cel-ebration.

Well, if you know Aidan and Amy, you wouldn’t be suprised that they insisted on throwing Ranoj his first birthday party with his fellow or-phans as his guests. The really neat thing about this story is that they paid for it out of their own pocket.

To put it mildly, Ranoj was over-joyed at the celebration, and the other kids loved it as well.

As Aidan told me about his encoun-ter with Ranoj, I decided that we had to do this for all the kids. So now, thanks to the giving heart of one of our staffers and his wife, all of our kids at our India orphanage will have a yearly celebration with decorations, food, and presents, and hopefully feel that they are trea-sured even if their parents are no

longer here to show them.

The parents of these kids were killed in the Orissa, India violence of 2008 and will never know again the warm embrace or foundational and life-changing love of their par-ents. Yet, thanks to you, they are be-ing well-loved, discipled, educated, fed and housed. This is a good work that is truly in line with the heart of God (James 1:27).

Thank you Aidan and Amy, and thank you dear ICC partner for touching the least of these.

Read more on this story: page 21.

Jeff King, President International Christian Concern

3 You can help today! www.persecution.org

MIDDLE EAST

Driving with his family in the Bab Tuma neighborhood

of Damascus on July 23, Nabil Zoreb, a Christian civil officer, was ordered to get out of the vehicle. Nabil, along with his wife, Violet, and their two sons, George and Jimmy, stood on the street in front of the armed rebels who belonged to the group Liwa al-Islam (mean-ing, “The Brigade of Islam”). The militants immediately opened fire and killed them all.

Syria’s Christian community, caught in the middle of a showdown between opposition forces and the Syrian army, have become a prima-ry target of al-Qaeda-linked rebels and other Islamists who are execut-

Christians Being

“Cleansed”IN THE

Middle East

IS SYRIA NEXT?

Nearly 10,000 Christians have fled Qusayr after being given an ultimatium by a rebel commander in June to leave the city.

You can help today! 800-ICC-5441 4

ing attacks in “the name of Allah.” Entire cities have been emptied of Christians while Sunni jihadists, who were fighting alongside al-Qaeda against U.S. forces in Iraq, are returning to fight the regime at home. These Islamists are now in-jecting the weapon it perfected in Iraq—suicide bombings—to “re-store” Syria as an “Islamic caliph-ate” by “redeeming” it from the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

“We have experience now fighting the Americans, and more experi-ence now with the Syrian revolu-tion,” Abu Thuha, an al-Qaeda op-erative, told The New York Times. “Our big hope is to form a Syrian-Iraqi Islamic state for all Muslims, and then announce our war against Iran and Israel, and free Palestine.”

THE LOOMING THREAT

In a recently released video on YouTube, masked men that claim to belong to the Free Syrian Army hold AK-47s in front of two al-Qaeda flags. “We are now forming suicide cells to make jihad in the name of Allah,” said a speaker in the video. The video is the latest bit of evidence suggesting that al-Qae-da and other Islamic extremists are hijacking the Syrian revolution and quickly gaining control of the coun-try. According to Agenzia Fides, the official Vatican news agency,

Syria’s Salafis—who follow the radical Wahhabi interpretation of Islam found in Saudi Arabia—is another group carrying out “brief executions” against Christian “in-

fidels” while initiating a “sectarian war.” These Christians are given a choice to either join the opposition or face “harassment, discrimina-tion, [and] violence.”

MASS EXODUS

As a result, there has been a mass exodus of Christians from Syrian cities. In the besieged city of Homs, for example, 63 Christians who were “kept as bargaining chips” by rebels who were evacuated on July 11 after “gunmen told the be-

WE HAVE EXPERIENCE now fighting the Americans, and more expe-rience now with the Syrian revolution....Our big hope is to form a Syrian-Iraqi Islamic state for all Muslims, and then announce our war against Iran and Israel.

-Abu Thuha,al-Qaeda operative


MIDDLE EAST

sieged people that if [they] go out of these areas, [they] will die,” said Maximos al-Jamal, a Greek Orthodox priest. Thousands of Christians lived in Homs prior to Syria’s uprising early last year, but today, only 100 Christian civilians remain.

“The armed [rebels] in Syria [have] murdered more than 200 Christians

in the city of Homs, including entire families with young children,” said a priest in Homs. “These gangs kid-napped Christians and demanded high ransoms. In two cases, after the ransoms were paid, the men’s bodies were found.”Additionally, nearly 10,000 Christians fled Qusayr after being given an ultimatum by a rebel com-

mander in June to leave the city. The threat was apparently echoed in the city mosques: “Christians must leave Qusayr within six days, ending Friday (June 8).”

NEUTRALITY IS NOT AN OPTION

“Christians are increasingly be-ing targeted and driven out of their homes and districts,” wrote Elizabeth Kendal for the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin. “Some 138,000 Christians have fled Homs, where Christians have been terror-ized and churches have been looted and occupied by rebel forces... In areas under rebel control, intoler-ant, hard-line Sunni fundamental-ism is making Muslim-Christian coexistence impossible. For the jihadists, neutrality is not an op-tion, and Christians (and Muslims) refusing to support the jihad are being tortured, expelled and mur-dered.”

ALLEGIANCE TO THE REGIME

As in Egypt, Tunisia, and other Arab countries, the uprisings in Syria—which initially called for democratic change and greater freedoms—provided a platform for Islamists, long-suppressed under authoritarian rule, to rally behind a fundamentalist agenda. Christians have been pressured by both the regime and rebels to take sides

Syrian Christians hide their faces to protect their identity . Photo credit: Shaam News Network


TRULY, IF YOU BRING SCRIPTURE AND A BELIEVING HEART AGAINST ALL WEAPONS,

IT IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO SHAKE THE ESSENCE OF ANY MINDSET. THOUGH IT’S IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO BRING THEM OUT OF THEIR MINDSET, WHAT’S IMPOSSIBLE FOR MAN IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD.”

-SYRIAN CHRISTIAN TO ICC

Churches are emptied as Christians are chased out of the region. The remaining live in fear for their lives, but still believe that all things are possible through Christ .


MIDDLE EAST

and make their allegiances known. Many Christians—who have his-torically experienced a higher de-gree of freedom in Syria than in most other Middle Eastern coun-tries—have refused to actively op-pose the regime which, according to Islamists, means they are loyal to Assad. While these Christians de-nounce the brutality of the regime, they fear that any government that replaces Assad will be dominated by radical Muslims who will se-verely persecute religious minori-ties.

If the regime were to collapse, it is unclear who “will prevent a massacre of the Alawites and the Christians and those Sunnis who supported Assad,” said Vali Nasr, a professor of international politics at Johns Hopkins University. “Liberal

democracy does not emerge in these kinds of circumstances of violence and fratricide.”

“We saw what happened to the Christians in Iraq,” said Abu George, a Christian resident of Aleppo. “What is going on in Aleppo is not a popular revolu-tion for democracy and freedom. The fighters of the so-called ‘Free Syrian Army’ are radical Sunnis who want to establish an Islamic State.”

ETHNIC CLEANSING

As war continues without resolu-tion, there is grave concern that Syrian Christians will follow the path of other ancient Christian com-munities throughout the Middle East: in Iraq, after the U.S.-led in-

Syrian jihadists.


vasion in 2003, more than half the Christian population—which wit-nessed more than 60 church bomb-ings and hundreds of cases of Christians being murdered, raped, and tortured—fled the country. In Egypt, reports indicate that since March, 2011, following the politi-cal rise of Islamic parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, at least 93,000 Christians have sought vi-sas to Western countries. The en-dangered status of Christians in Arab countries is so severe that Ken Blackwell, a human rights expert and board member of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, wrote that “Christians are being ethnical-ly cleansed throughout the Middle East.”

NOT IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD

ICC is receiving weekly reports of severe hardship and persecution from Christians in Syria. These Christians daily face the threat of being killed, but they refuse to leave their homeland or to desert their countrymen at such a critical and trying time. Instead, they see themselves as the bearers of Syria’s future hope. “Without us, who will hear about Jesus, the source of all hope, in these difficult days?” one believer tells ICC. These Christians remain on the frontlines to be a light in the darkness and to pro-claim the Good News to the help-less and hurting.

“I desire for life to return back to normal around us. This is some-thing we all wish for when go-ing through hardship and espe-cially war,” a Syrian Christian in Damascus told ICC. “In the early morning we hear shouts of ‘Allah Akbar’ (Allah is Greatest) before rebels open fire on people. This is a reality that we’re facing. Recently I was speaking with someone who believed he was ‘killing for Allah.’ It brought out a desire to share the truth of God, which made this man speechless and shaky. He re-alized that the words of the Gospel defeated his thoughts of destruc-tion. Truly, if you bring all weap-ons against the words of Scripture and a believing heart, it is powerful enough to shake the essence of any mindset. Though it’s impossible for me to bring them out of their mind-set, what’s impossible for man is not impossible for God.”

WITHOUT US, who will hear about Jesus, the source of all hope, in these difficult days?

-Syrian Christian,on why they choose to stay in

Syria, despite the dangerous climate for believers


CENTRAL ASIA

India has long gripped the heart of Corey Bailey, Regional Manager for Central Asia, land of her first

missions trip. She never imagined an impact she could make ten years later, from her desk at ICC.

THE BIG PICTUREPUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER TEN YEARS LATER

ICC Regional Manager Corey Bailey poses on a rickity bamboo bridge in India over ten years ago.


THEN

Ten years ago I went on my first missions trip to a hill tribe in Assam, India. I stood surrounded by sights and sounds entirely foreign to me. Bamboo huts, bright colors and jungle foliage filled my field of vi-sion. The sounds of strange birds and chirping bugs filled my ears. I was served dinner on banana leaves and ate with my hands. The people

were poor, but kind and genuine in their newfound love for the Lord. They said to us, “We had heard there were Christians across the sea who might one day come to teach us, and now you have come!” It felt like a scene out of a movie.

After spending a week with them, we hiked back down to the nearest city and celebrated the New Year with a church service held at a local Christian hospital. They are fond memories from a time gone by.

NOW

Flash forward ten years later to a busy morning at ICC. I am scour-ing the Internet for news of attacks against Christians. I read a report about a man named Manesor who was brought up as a Hindu, but had

given his life to the Lord. Local Hindus from his and neighboring villages were so angry at his con-version that 40 of them banded to-gether to attack him.

THE CHRISTIANS SAID TO US, ‘WE HAD HEARD THERE WERE CHRISTIANS ACROSS THE SEA WHO MIGHT ONE DAY COME TO TEACH US, AND NOW YOU

HAVE COME!’

Children Corey met in the hill tribes ten years ago.


CENTRAL ASIA

When they arrived at his home, he had already gone into hiding. Instead they found his wife and two Christian friends who were guard-ing his house for him. Enraged by his absence, the Hindu mob took Manesor’s wife, Mala, and friends with them. After a night of inter-rogation and scare tactics, Mala and the others could not be swayed. The mob began to beat them with large flashlights. They were injured so severely they had to be taken to the hospital.

A FAMILIAR NAME

When I read the name of the hos-pital, I froze. I had volunteered and rang in the New Year ten years ago in the very same hospital on that first missions trip—I had likely been to their village. Suddenly, this was not just a place on the other side of the world where “an incident” had hap-pened. This was a part of the world where I spent time. I can tell you

the best coffee shop to go to; I held hands with and prayed for the sick in that very hospital; I shared meals with the natives of this village. This wasn’t just India, it was my India.

IF NOT US, THEN WHO?

I was moved with compassion and urgency to help. I found no other reports online of this situation, and I realized that we at ICC were prob-ably the only people who cared to not only report what was happen-

ing, but also do something about it.

We sent our India staff to the hos-pital and the village. We discov-ered that after the three believers had been mercilessly beaten, the mob had turned on other Christians in the village. They looted their homes, plundered their belongings, stole their cattle and destroyed their houses. The Christians fled to the surrounding jungles to hide, and

I HAD SHARED A MEAL WITH THE NATIVES OF

THIS VILLAGE. THIS WASN’T JUST INDIA, IT

WAS MY INDIA.

A village similar to the one attacked.

Streets near the hospital where the victims recovered.


the police had to step in and lock down the village to restore order. Once the dust settled, seven fami-lies were left without their homes, and Manesor’s wife and friends were discharged from the hospital with nowhere to turn.

I am grateful the story does not end there. I know it is a blessing to these seven families that we are helping. They said to us, “We can’t believe that people we have never met are giving us help. Truly, we are not forgotten!”

FULL CIRCLE

I am struck at the greatness of God. He arranged for me, just out of col-lege, to fly across the world, and broke my heart for the people in these little villages. Then He posi-tioned me, over a decade later, to be a voice for them and arrange for aid to help in their time of need. No one is forgotten. No experience goes without purpose. No moment is wasted with God. Praise the Lord that we can be His hands and feet, extending compassion to the least of these, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

ICC IS SENDING AID TO THESE VILLAGERS. SEE PAGE 22 FOR MORE INFORMATION.

I AM STRUCK BY THE GREATNESS OF GOD.

HE ARRANGED FOR ME, JUST OUT OF COLLEGE,

TO FLY ACROSS THE WORLD, AND BROKE MY HEART FOR THE

PEOPLE IN THESE LITTLE VILLAGES. THEN

HE POSITIONED ME, OVER A DECADE LATER,

TO BE A VOICE FOR THEM AND ARRANGE FOR AID TO HELP IN

THEIR TIME OF NEED. NO ONE IS FORGOTTEN.

NO MOMENT IS WASTED WITH GOD.

Visiting a hill tribe.

A home similar to the one that was attacked.


MIDDLE EAST

Placing a rock against the door, Sameeha Wehba crouched in a cor-ner of her cow pen, trembling in fear as mobs of Muslims stormed the town and looted her home. There she cowered for hours, passing out at one point when tear gas seeped

through the cracks. Emerging at dawn on this past August 2, Sameeha realized she was the only Christian left in Dahshur, a vil-lage south of Cairo. Nearly every Christian (120 families) fled the area for refuge in nearby towns. At

WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR EGYPT’S BELEAGUERED CHRISTIANS?

“Kill the Enemies of Allah!”


least 16 Christian houses were pil-laged, several were burned, and a church was damaged.

Prejudice and hatred toward Egypt’s Christian minority has boiled over since the political rise of Islamists. Since Egypt’s political uprising in early 2011, several churches have

been burned to the ground and more than 80 Christians have been killed as a result of religious-based violence. “The general climate is turning against Christians,” said Bishop Morcos. “Assaults on Christians have increased.”

Attacks reignited on August 14

Ten days leading up to the November 28 elections, the Egyptian military

killed 41 Christian protesters.


MIDDLE EAST

when a leaflet titled, “An Urgent and Important Notice,” was dis-tributed by jihadist organizations in Upper Egypt. The leaflet called for Muslims to “kill or physically attack the enemies of the religion of Allah—the Christians in all of Egypt’s provinces, the slaves of the Cross, Allah’s curse upon them…” The letter went on to promise a re-ward to anyone who helps “achieve Allah’s rights against his enemies.”

In the following days, four Christian shops were set ablaze and dozens of Christians were severely beaten in the Upper Egypt town of Sohag. “Any Christian who dares to leave his house will be killed,” said one local Muslim. Hundreds of Christians gathered outside the po-lice department in Assuit pleading for the protection of their children and their property

from Muslim gangs.

It is unlikely, however, that the Christians’ voices will be heard. Egypt’s Islamist parties, lead by the Muslim Brotherhood, are solidify-ing complete control over the gov-ernment and military. On August 5,

President Mohammad Morsi of the Brotherhood forced two command-ing military generals from power in a maneuver that grants him full executive and legislative author-ity over the country. By reclaiming power of the constitution drafting process, the president is now able to implement Islamic Sharia law as the main source of the country’s legislation, a proposition that Morsi already endorsed during his presi-dential campaign in May.

“We are not only dealing with Morsi, but the entire Brotherhood of Muslims. Morsi takes his orders from the Brotherhood and they will write an Islamist constitution that will deny the rights of minorities Leaflet threatening to kill Christians in

Upper Egypt

ANY CHRISTIAN WHO DARES TO LEAVE HIS HOUSE WILL BE

KILLED.

-EGYPTIAN MUSLIM TO CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORS

and Christians,” Wagih Yacoub, a Coptic human rights activist, told ICC. “They are trying to control the

entire country. We can only wait to see what happens.”

The future for Christians in Egypt is grim. Prior to Morsi’s power grab, Christians still had hope that the military would maintain con-trol and prevent Egypt’s transition into an Islamic state. However, it now appears that the Constituent Assembly, which proposed a con-stitution based on the ‘principles’ of Sharia, will apply Islamic law as the main source of the country’s legislation. Under a Sharia consti-tution, attacks on churches and the killing of Christians will continue to increase. Whatever freedoms Christians have will be nonexistent.“There is a Brotherhood strategy to work toward building an Islamic country,” said Yousef Sidhom, the

editor of the weekly Watani news-paper and a Coptic Church official. Sidhom went on to add that the Brotherhood will withhold govern-ment positions from Christians, tax non-Muslims, and base education on Islamic teachings.

Tens of thousands of Christians have fled Egypt following the rise of Islamists. Those who remain are afraid of what the future holds. By removing top generals from office, Morsi and the Brotherhood have made it clear that they are in full control. It appears that President Morsi has suddenly become the

democratically elected dictator of Egypt. The entire country, includ-ing the fate of Egypt’s ancient Christian community, is now at his mercy.


Prejudice and hatred towards Egypt’s Christian minority leaves believers

vulnerable for deadily attacks.

PRESIDENT MORSI TAKES HIS ORDERS FROM THE

BROTHERHOOD AND THEY WILL WRITE AN ISLAMIC

CONSTITUTION THAT WILL DENY THE RIGHTS

OF MINORITIES AND CHRISTIANS.

-WAGIH YACOUB COPTIC HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST


ADVOCACY

Speaking Up for the Rights of the Destitute

RECAP OF ADVOCACY TOURS

NIGERIA TOUR

Five days into 2012, radical Muslims carrying automatic assault rifles stood outside of a church in Northern Nigeria and pumped bul-lets into the congregation, killing six and wounding ten. The next day, at the funeral, the Islamists at-

tacked again and killed 18 more. The attacks followed a dire warn-ing published in local newspapers just a few days before by the noto-rious radical Islamic group, Boko Haram: Christians had three days to leave the Muslim-dominated Northern Nigeria or they would be killed. The threat was not hollow.

ICC’s Advocacy Officer and a foreign guest meet with a congressional office.


ICC covered the attacks through multiple platforms:

• 5 news releases• 50+ radio and print interviews• 27 meetings with congressio-

nal offices, State Department and U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

• 2,200 signatures on a petition

In July we took the issue to the Capitol, where a debate was rag-ing between congressmen and the State Department on whether to of-ficially designate Boko Haram as a terrorist organization. For Nigeria’s Christians, that designation hap-pened long ago.

We held 27 meetings with congres-sional offices, the State Department, et al. These meetings allowed leg-islators to hear first-hand from a Nigerian Christian leader, someone “on the ground.”

Our meetings were in support of two efforts: One was a “member letter” from 28 U.S. legislators asking the State Department to acknowledge the religious nature of the attacks against Christians (something the State Department wants to avoid) and to publicly denounce them.Secondly, we sought the support of legislators on H.R. 5822 which

would require the State Department to explain why it refuses to desig-nate Boko Haram as a terrorist or-ganization.

ICC held 27 meetings with congressio-nal offices, advocating for the protec-tion of religious minorities in Nigeria.


ADVOCACY

SAUDI ARABIA TOUR

On December 15, 2011, 35 men and women were arrested at a pri-vate prayer service in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All 35 were Christians and Ethiopian citizens. During their in-terrogation, some of the men were physically beaten and the women were forced to undergo strip search-es. Local authorities openly ac-cused them of being “unbelievers” and later sent in Islamic preachers to try to pressure the Christians to convert. ICC broke the news a few days later and alerted the U.S. State Department in January, urging them to put pressure on the Saudi govern-

ment to release the prisoners.

It soon became apparent that the Saudis had no plans to release the Christians. Over the next four months, ICC sponsored two protests on the streets outside of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington, D.C. We also hand-delivered a pe-tition with over 3,000 signatures from 67 different countries to Saudi officials, asking that they halt the abuse against the Christian prison-ers and release them. They asked us why so many people knew about this case.

Over 100 people joined ICC to protest the unjust arrest of 35 Ethiopian Christians in Saudi Arabia.

ICC then brought an underground pastor from Saudi Arabia to Capitol Hill and held 24 meetings with con-gressional offices in the House and Senate. This resulted in calls di-rectly from the legislators to the Saudi ambassador demanding to know why the Saudi government had arrested the Christians for participating in a worship ser-vice, something that clearly vio-lated international law.

Our efforts led to at least four meet-ings where Saudi officials were summoned to the Capitol to report in-person on the arrests. We then held another protest outside the Saudi Embassy. Soon afterwards

we heard from our sources in Saudi Arabia that orders had “come from above” for the release of the pris-oners, who throughout their incar-ceration had never been officially charged with a crime. At first local authorities delayed as long as possible, but finally, in ear-ly August, all 35 Christians were released and sent back to Ethiopia after nearly eight months of deten-tion. They reported that pressure from the outside had been instru-mental in ending their stay in jail. For the staff at ICC, the congres-sional staff members involved, the thousands of petition signers and the hundreds of protestors, news of their release signaled a very happy ending to eight months of hard

work!


ICC was able to highly publicize this case by holding two protests outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy.


YOUR DOLLARS AT WORK

One of ICC’s orphanages in India was formed to care for the children left orphaned as a result of

the horrific Orissa, India attacks in 2008. Many of the chil-dren were too young at the time to understand that their parents died as martyrs for their faith.

Now four years older, they under-stand the honor with which their par-ents died. ICC not only pays to keep a roof over their heads, the lights on and food on their plates, but also for their education and medication. We recently purchased a refrigerator that allows for the children’s medication to remain cold and for healthy foods to last longer. When we heard that none of the children had ever had a birthday party, one of our staff and his wife paid to throw them a proper party.

It brought so much joy to the kids that we have decided that a proper annual birthday celebration with cake and presents must be part of our care for all the kids. Your dol-lars go a long way in India. The chil-dren are very aware that Christians around the world care about them and love them.

CHILDREN OF MARTYRSKids Care

YDAW

TOP: some girls are excited to see party decorations. BOTTOM: the children enjoying a meal of biryani.

CHILDREN OF MARTYRSKids Care


Seven Christian fami-lies in India recently lost everything: their homes, belongings,

cattle and hope when radical Hindus attacked them. When they heard that Christians from the other side of the world heard their story and wanted to help them, they were stunned.

We told them, “It is the love of Christ which unites us all.” Until ICC stepped in, these families were destitute and homeless. With your help we are in the process of build-ing and repairing seven of their homes and replacing all their stolen belongings and cattle.

We are also setting up five of the families with sustainable small businesses. Some of the wives are excellent seamstresses so we are supplying a shop for them, provid-ing long-term incomes to feed their families.

Upon learning about Amira’s new faith in Jesus, her brother at-tempted to strangle

her. Amira was severely beaten by him for several days until she managed to escape.

“Her brother told her that if she did not deny her Christian faith and if she continues to set foot in the church he will be an enemy against her,” said an ICC representative in Algeria who offered Amira tempo-rary housing.

Today, however, Amira has a new life. ICC provided rent, food, and clothes for Amira for the next three months. Additionally, we honored Amira’s request to attend a Christian school by paying her tuition and dormitory fees for the next year.

“I want to attend school so I can serve in the church the rest of my life,” Amira told ICC. “I want to commit my life to Jesus. I am so grateful for ICC’s support.”

Because of your generous dona-tions, Amira now has begun a new life where she can freely grow in faith and serve Jesus. *Name change for security

FREEDOM FOR AMIRA*Save Our Sisters

ASSAM ATTACKSCommunity Rebuild

Amira

Newly married with a one-year-old daugh-ter, Akli and Zohra recently converted

to Christianity from Islam. When their conversion became known, Akli’s Muslim sis-ter turned the community against them and they were forced by their family to move out of their home in May. The only support they re-ceived came from the local church, but Akli could not find a job and the family had been suffering greatly. “I don’t know where food will come from each day,” Akli told ICC. “We trust God for our daily bread.”

“WE...SEE IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE AN

EXAMPLE OF CHRIST.”

-ZOHRA

In July, the family showed inter-est in starting a small business that manufactures artisan bread and ori-ental cakes. ICC thought this was a great idea! ICC paid a full year’s rent for a small shop in town where bread can easily be sold. Addition-ally, we purchased an oven, mixer, other equipment and the raw mate-rials needed to get the business go-

ing. Within a few months, the busi-ness will be completely sustainable and provide the income the family needs.

“We are very excited about hav-ing our own business,” Zohra said. “We love our customers and see it as an opportunity to be an example of Christ in their lives. And, life will be much better for us now. Thank you ICC!”

ICC would like to thank our donors for contributing to the Middle East Hand of Hope fund that supported this family and many others in sim-ilar circumstances throughout the Middle East and North Africa. This project could not have been accom-plished without your generous sup-port and commitment to serving the persecuted Church.


OUR DAILY BREADHand of Hope: Middle East

YDAW

Zohra and Akli


ICC has been support-ing the children of Ugandan Pastor Mu-linde, a radical preach-

er who converted from Islam.

As an Islamic scholar, Pastor Mu-linde was very successful in evan-gelizing to Muslims, as he could re-late to them and answer their many questions about the difference be-tween Christianity and Islam. His reputation spread far, and he be-came a target for attacks by local Muslim leaders.

“THANK YOU FOR SUPPORT-ING ME IN THIS CHALLENG-ING MOMENT OF MY LIFE.”

Radical Muslims attacked the pas-tor with acid, causing him to lose one of his eyes. While he has been recovering in Israel, ICC has been supporting his four children for the past six months. Their schooling, food and other basic needs have been funded by ICC donors. In a message to ICC, Pastor Mulinde said, “Dear friend: I write to thank you for supporting me in this chal-lenging moment of my life and min-istry.” We would like to join Pastor Mulinde in thanking you, our do-nor, for helping him!

PASTOR MULINDEUnderground Pastors

TOP: Pastor Mulinde thanks ICC and donors for the care of his children. BOTTOM: the acid stains from Pastor Mulinde’s attack.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED (IDOP)

To raise awareness of the persecuted Church, ICC is providing a free prayer bulletin insert for your congregation to become better in-formed about the persecuted. This year, the bulletin features four of the darkest countries in the world that are in desperate need of your prayers.

Simply go to persecution.org/idop and download the bulletin, available October 1. Bulletins are free of charge. It is our gift to you to help inform Christians of what is happening in the world today.

The bulletins are non-date specific, so you are free to host an IDOP on a date most convenient.

November 11, 2012



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icc's october e-newsletter, persecution 2012

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