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"For
this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to
pray for you . . ."
-Colossians 1:9
"The blood of the martyrs is
the seed of the Church."
"Go on, rack, torture, grind
us to powder: our numbers increase in proportion as you mow us
down. The blood of Christians is their harvest seed."
-Tertullian
(Ca. 200 A.D.)
In the past 100 years (during
the 20th Century) 26,000,000 Christians were killed for their faith
(martyred). This is more than the combined total of all previous
centuries. It does not count the untold numbers who were
persecuted in other ways, imprisoned, tortured, and even
enslaved.
These things are all still
going on right now, and in certain countries are worse than they
have ever been.
![[Back]](back.gif) 
"Open Doors"
2009 World Watch List of the Top Ten Worst Persecutors of
Christians by Country:
 "Open
Doors" was Founded by Brother
Andrew ("God's Smuggler").
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1.
 North Korea
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2.
Saudi Arabia
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3.
Iran
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4.
Afghanistan
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5.
Somalia
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6.
Maldives
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7.
Yemen
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8.
Laos
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9.
Eritrea
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10. Uzbekistan
SANTA ANA, Calif. (Feb.
3, 2009) – The oppressive, isolated country of North
Korea headed by dictator
Kim Jong
Il retains its grip as the worst persecutor of Christians in the
world.
According to Open Doors’ 2009 World Watch List, North
Korea is ranked No. 1 for the
seventh year in a row. Christians are persecuted constantly
under the communist government, which denies human rights to its
citizens.
The Wahhabi kingdom of Saudi
Arabia is No. 2 and Iran
No. 3. Both countries are ruled by Shariah law.
Afghanistan,
Somalia
and the Maldives
take the fourth, fifth and sixth positions, respectively. Afghanistan
moved up three spots on the list this year as a result of
increased pressure from the Taliban movement during 2008. Yemen
is No. 7, Laos
No. 8, Eritrea
No. 9 and Uzbekistan
No. 10.
Somalia
and Eritrea
are new countries to the top 10 list. In Somalia,
the number of incidents against Christians increased
dramatically in 2008, explaining its rise to No. 5 from No. 12
in 2007. For Eritrea,
there was no major change in the lack of religious freedom for
Christians. Around 3,000 Christians are being held in Eritrean
prisons.
China
and
Bhutan
dropped out of the top 10 with China now No. 12 and Bhutan No.
11. Last year China
was No. 10 and Bhutan
No. 5.
Islam is the majority religion in seven of the top 10 countries:
Saudi
Arabia, Iran,
Afghanistan,
Somalia,
Maldives,
Yemen
and Uzbekistan.
Two countries have communist governments: North
Korea and Laos.
Eritrea
is the only dictatorial country in the 10 highest countries on
the list.
The World Watch List is compiled based on the results of a thorough
questionnaire consisting of 50 questions covering various
aspects of religious freedom. A point value is assigned
depending on how each question is answered. The total number of
points per country determines its position on the World Watch
List of countries that are the worst persecutors of Christians.
“It is certainly not
a shock that North
Korea is No. 1 on the list of
countries where Christians face the worst persecution,” says
Carl Moeller, President/CEO of Open Doors USA. “There
is no other country in the world where Christians are persecuted
in such a horrible and systematic manner.
“I encourage you to join our
on-going prayer campaign for North
Korea and to plug in to the many
opportunities Open Doors offers to advocate for the
oppressed believers there during North
Korea Freedom Week April 25-May
2.”
The status of religious freedom for
Christians deteriorated in 2008 in Saudi
Arabia, Iran,
Afghanistan,
Somalia,
Pakistan (No. 13), Iraq
(No. 16), Mauritania
(No. 18), Algeria
(No. 19), India
(No. 22), Northern Nigeria
(26), Indonesia
(No. 41), Bangladesh
(No. 43) and Kazakhstan
(No. 50 and new on the top 50 list).
Persecution continues unabated in Saudi
Arabia.
Five months after the daughter of a member of Saudi
Arabia’s religious police was
killed for writing online about her faith in Christ, Saudi
authorities reportedly arrested a 28-year-old Christian man for
describing his conversion and criticizing the kingdom’s
judiciary on his Website, according to Compass Direct
News. Saudi
police arrested Hamoud Bin Saleh on Jan. 13
“because of his opinions and his testimony that he had
converted from Islam to Christianity,” according to the Arabic
Network for Human Rights Information.
In Iran,
a major crackdown on house churches occurred and a large number
of Christians were arrested, marking 2008 as one of the toughest
years regarding Christian persecution since the Islamic
Revolution of 1979.
In Afghanistan,
a Western Christian aid worker was killed because, according to
the Taliban, she was spreading Christianity in Afghanistan which
is prohibited by law in the country.
In Somalia,
Open Doors received reports of at least 10 Christians killed for
their faith in 2008 and several others kidnapped and raped.
Pressure on the Christian minority in
Pakistan continued
unabated.
Iraq’s
Christian minority faced a year full of violence in 2008.
Churches were attacked or damaged by bombs, Christians received
death threats and several Christians were murdered, abused
and/or kidnapped.
For years India
has ranked No. 30 on Open Doors’ persecution
index. This year it moved to No. 22 primarily because in
the third quarter of 2008 there was the worst outbreak of
religious violence on record for Christians in
India,
especially in the state of Orissa. The number of incidents
regarding arrests, physical harassment, abductions and church
attacks remained high all over India.
“The escalation of violence against Christians in India
in 2008 is very troubling,” says Moeller. “Please pray for
believers there.”
In a major positive development, fewer believers were harassed
in Vietnam
this year. As a result it fell to No. 23. Last year it was
ranked No. 17 and in 2006 it was No. 8. Open Doors
recorded fewer reports of persecution of Christians in Colombia
this year. As a result, this long-time World Watch List country fell off the list.
An estimated 100 million Christians
worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their
faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and
alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers
in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian
literature distribution, leadership training and assistance,
Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry
and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers.
© Copyright
2008 Open Doors USA.
In addition to
North
Korea, countries with Communist governments include
Vietnam,
Laos, and China.
Islamic-dominated countries are
Saudi
Arabia, Iran,
Somalia,
Maldives
and Yemen. Bhutan's
dominant religion is Buddhist.
Where is the church receiving the
greatest persecution today?
A major area of intense persecution today is in the "10/40
Window" where 97 percent of the world’s least evangelized people
live. This rectangular area extends from West Africa across Asia,
between the 10th and 40th parallels north of the equator.
There are 1.6 billion Muslims, Hindus
and Buddhists living in this window, and in some countries the Church
has almost been eliminated as a result of Islamic oppression. The
Christian population there is less than 2 percent, a small but precious
minority.
200
Million Christians in 60 Countries Subject to Persecution
Wednesday,
June 27, 2007
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
LONDON, UK (ANS) -- The British Secret Service,
MI6, has published an alarming report in the Sunday Express magazine
revealing that some 200 million Christians in 60 countries around the
world are at risk of or suffering persecution, according to a report
carried by the Catholic News Agency (CNA).
The report reveals that in the Sudan, for example, “thousands of
Christians have been massacred and the fundamentalist government has
done little to protect them.” In Iraq, “the situation is grave:
Christians do not have their own militia to defend them, and Sunni and
Shiite factions accuse them of collaborating with the American
‘crusaders’ and among the hundreds of victims of kidnappings this
year there are a growing number of Christians.”
“The
study also reveals that during the last year, at least seventy
Christians were killed in Pakistan. In Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and
Tajikistan, Christians who belong to the Russian Orthodox Church are
often looked down upon: in these three republics of the former Soviet
Union, Muslim preachers, ‘under the influence of Al Qaeda,’ present
Christians as followers of a religion closely associated with the
despised Western colonialism and they call for their expulsion,” the
report states.
The
CAN story concluded by saying, “North Korea, China, Ethiopia, Nigeria
and Uganda are other countries where Christians are persecuted. North
Korea has sent some 50 thousand Christians to concentration camps, while
in China
some 40 thousand have suffered the same fate.
The report also
notes the increasing difficulties facing Palestinian Christians due to
the progressive radicalization of the Islamic masses in the Middle
East.”
You may republish this story with proper
attribution:
By Dan
Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
Related Pages:
_____________________________________________________________
Text
is in the Public Domain. Photos
& Layout: Copyright © 2006 S.G.P. All rights reserved.
Photo of Skellig Michael Copyright © Irish Tourist Board.
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"Níor
dhún Dia doras riamh
"The first thing
persecuted Christians ask me for is prayer."
