World in Brief

The congregation of a church in Boldipukur has been threatened by unknown parties warning them not to pursue legal action against attackers who carried out a violent robbery in early July.

Around 50 Muslim attackers rounded up and attacked workers at the church and seized valuable items. They attempted to rape female church workers. Police arrested 12 people in connection with the robbery. It is thought that the robbers were trying to find and steal land ownership documents for the site.

Evangelical Christians began a legal battle at the end of July against new measures that could result in the dissolution of Protestant denominations and other groups that have ministered in Bolivia for decades.

As organisations that fail to comply with the new government measures will lose their legal standing, the National Association of Evangelicals of Bolivia presented a Petition of Unconstitutionality to the country’s Constitutional Tribunal, seeking their repeal.

Chinese Pastor Zhang Shaojie, sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 100,000 RMB (approximately £9,400) for fraud and ‘gathering a crowd to disturb public order’, lost his appeal on August 21.

The appeal hearing took place without the knowledge or presence of the pastor’s lawyers. The original detention of the pastor and several others took place without formal documentation, and lawyers were repeatedly denied access to their clients.

The homes of Christians in Minya, Upper Egypt, were pelted with Molotov cocktails by Muslim residents, in an incident reported by local media on August 5.

Around a dozen people were arrested following the violence, which allegedly broke out after Muslims learned that believers planned to build a new church. The Christians said that the community would still seek to construct the church, after it had received official permission.

On August 20, people who found that their church building was on fire had to wait 90 minutes for a response from the fire station despite repeated calls to it.

A bucket brigade to douse the fire was put into action, and no one was hurt, but the blaze destroyed the rear of the small church building and its contents. Complaints about police-and fire-department disinterest have been part of the backdrop to Christian life in Egypt for a long time.

Dr Melisachew (Mel) Mesfin, a team leader for AEUK in Ethiopia, reported in late August that there is a great need for Bibles to help train church leaders.

A Bible costs around £10. In the year 2014/15 (Ethiopian year 2007), 6,000 leaders are to be trained in Christian leadership throughout the country.

A number of Christians were severely injured when Hindu nationalists disrupted a prayer meeting in Coimbatore, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on August 3.

The believers were gathered at the home of Mr Bagavathi praying for his 12-year-old daughter’s broken hand. A group of ten assailants broke into the house, barred the door from the inside and beat the believers with iron bars. Women and children were among those attacked, as was the pastor; some of the victims were hospitalised. Police arrested two people in connection with the incident.

Four Christian women were arrested in the Indian state of Karnataka after visiting the home of a non-Christian family in mid-August.

The women were falsely accused by residents of forcing the family to convert by ‘laying siege to the house’. A local official also reported to the authorities that he had seen the women distributing Christian leaflets in an attempt to convert people. After they were taken into custody, the women were questioned for two hours before being released.

Christian prisoner Farshid Fathi was moved with no known reason from Evin prison (Tehran) to Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj on August 19 and has found himself threatened by other prisoners who are members of ISIS.

He is detained in an open cell with hardened criminals and drug addicts and in this tense atmosphere he has asked for prayers for his safety. Due to the more aggressive nature of this prison, a guard is constantly present in the cell to try to prevent the inmates from attacking each other.

In early August, a pastor spent a week in solitary confinement where he faced pressure to make a false confession about his church activities, and a pastor’s wife has been tried in absentia.

Pastor Haghnejad faced pressure to falsely confess that his church is involved in anti-government political activity, and Fatemeh Torkajouri was tried in her absence on charges of ‘action against national security’. She and her husband left the country when he was charged with blasphemy and mistreated in prison in 2010.

A group of Christians in Laos who were falsely accused of murder were declared not guilty on August 6.

The believers, who remain in custody, were arrested after a sick woman sought prayer at her local church, converted to Christianity and later died. The five Christians, four of whom are church leaders, have been detained since June. Despite the verdict, they need the district chief to allow them to be released.

The president of the Baptist church in Mali spoke in early September about Islamist attempts to wipe out the Christian community in Mali.

He said that God in his goodness has not allowed such an eventuality and that the church remains there. Believers are returning to it despite the sustained attacks and the destruction of the church buildings. France has been bombing Islamist militant positions to stop the emergence of jihadists in the Sahel.

The 14 people killed in an attack by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in mid-August in Plateau state were Christians killed for their faith, not cattlemen slain for their livestock, area Christians said.

A throng of heavily-armed herdsmen attacked the remnant Christian community in the early hours. Houses were burned and survivors fled to nearby towns. In another village, two Christians were killed by a group of gunmen.

The home of a Pakistani Christian lawyer who recently pledged to help Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother on death row for blasphemy, was shot at by suspected Islamic militants on August 9.

The attackers began shooting at the home of Sardar Mushtaq Gill in the late evening, while his younger brother and two other men were standing in the doorway. A Muslim neighbour was injured in the shooting, which police are investigating. Mr Gill’s organisation petitioned the Lahore High Court to set a date for Aasia’s appeal, which has been postponed five times.

The Pretoria University Mission took place in early September and saw almost 2000 people attend the opening night.

Participants included Stephen Lungu, astronomer Professor David Block and singer Loyiso Bala. Michael Cassidy preached and 30 people responded to the call to rededicate their lives to Christ. Four people committed their lives for the first time and another three had further questions. Other meetings during the week included the young South African Foxfires, rugby player Pierre Spies and many others.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF), a campus ministry organisation that is nearing its 75th anniversary, has officially been ‘derecognised’ by California State University’s (CSU) 23 schools – for requiring its leaders to affirm core Christian beliefs, it was reported in mid-September.

CSU issued a non-discrimination policy that requires campus organisations to allow all students access to leadership positions in campus clubs. IVCF’s requirement for its student leaders to affirm Christian doctrines was therefore considered discriminatory for non-Christians.

Bibles, which had been removed from US Navy rooms following complaints from an atheist group, have been returned, it was reported in early September.

A review is taking place with regard to the placement of religious materials, and so the Bibles have been returned pending an outcome to this review.