Displaying items by tag: Asia

As the eyes of the world turn toward Beijing and the Olympic Winter Games, we are invited by Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) to join believers around the globe in praying for our Christian brothers and sisters suffering persecution by China’s Communist government. Though they are not considered Olympians, many Chinese Christians walk or bicycle great distances to deliver the gospel, lift countless boxes of Bibles for delivery to new believers, and endure great suffering for the name of Christ - even in Chinese prisons and concentration camps. VOM have suggested specific ways to pray for Chinese Christians during the Olympics: a) that pastors and church leaders will stand for biblical truth despite government pressure to compromise, and b) that Chinese believers will be encouraged, experiencing unity and fellowship as members of the body of Christ. For more ways to pray and to join Christians around the world who are committing to pray for China’s Christians during the Olympics, click here

January 2022 looks very different in contrasting corners of the Middle East and North Africa - from wealthy Gulf nations to countries in crisis like Afghanistan and Yemen. SAT7 analysts see hopeful signs of nations beating swords into ploughshares, but too few leaders are using their power, or lessening their grip on it, for the good of all. An important positive trend we will see continuing from 2021 is renewed diplomacy by key players and rivals in the region. The UAE reached out to Turkey with a $10 billion investment olive branch. Both countries are looking to de-escalate the tensions which have resulted, for example, from their military support for opposite sides in the Libyan conflict and their opposite policies towards the Muslim Brotherhood. Turkey has also sought to ease tensions with Egypt and began 2022 with a new rapprochement with Armenia. For the full briefing click the ‘More’ button.

Throughout the Holy Land, Christians are targeted with frequent attacks by fringe radical groups. Since 2012 priests and clergy have been physically and verbally assaulted and Christian churches and holy sites regularly vandalised and desecrated. There has been ongoing intimidation of Christians who simply seek to worship freely and go about their daily lives. These tactics are being used in a systematic attempt to drive the Christian community out of Jerusalem and other parts of the Holy Land. Russel Rook, director of the Protecting Holy Land Christians campaign, reported Christians being spat at as they walked into a church. For priests, it is having a rock thrown at them and their church vandalised or firebombed. These dramatic, terrible things have caused the Christian population in the Holy Land to drop from 12% at the turn of the century to just 1% today. Persecution forces many to seek refuge elsewhere in the world. See

Buddhist nationalism is strong in Myanmar, and Buddhists continue to persecute the 4.4 million Christians. Christian converts are persecuted by families and communities for ‘betraying’ the Buddhist system. Communities aiming to stay ‘Buddhist only’ make life for Christian families impossible by not allowing them to use community resources such as water. Myanmar is also the scene of the longest civil war in the world, and believers are vulnerable to persecution by insurgent groups and the army. The Covid pandemic has brought added challenges, since many Christians are deliberately overlooked in the distribution of government aid. Also on Christmas Day the charred bodies of at least 35 civilians were found in a Christian village; they had apparently been shot by the army the day before and then burned. At least 23 church buildings and over 350 civilian homes were burned or destroyed in Chin state between August and December.

Authorities are cracking down hard to make China Covid-free ahead of the Winter Olympics. In a Maoist-style shaming stunt, four violators of Covid rules were paraded through Jingxi city wearing hazmat suits, with placards showing their names and photographs round their necks and surrounded by armed police in riot gear. At Christmas, China imposed a lockdown on Xi'an city (population 13 million) and Yuzhou city (1.2 million inhabitants) after finding three cases of Covid. Residents cannot leave home, even to buy food. Government workers have been distributing aid, but the distribution is patchy, resulting in many desperate stories leaking onto social media of residents near to starvation, bartering mobile phones for food. Some people are living on one egg or one bowl of porridge a day. 'I'm about to be starved to death,' was one message. Recently authorities turfed a thousand people out of their homes at midnight and carted them off to grim quarantine facilities. See

The start of a harsh winter is accelerating Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis. Since the Taliban’s seizure of power, and international sanctions, the economy has gone into freefall. The collapse of the previous government and the withdrawal of Western support have led to soaring unemployment. Few can afford to feed their families or heat their homes. One million children are at risk from severe malnourishment. The UN has now issued an urgent call for aid for the country, stating that 22 million people inside Afghanistan and a further 5.7 million displaced Afghans in neighbouring countries need vital relief this year. ‘A full-blown humanitarian catastrophe looms. My message is urgent: don't shut the door on the people of Afghanistan,’ said UN aid chief Martin Griffiths. ‘Help us scale up and stave off wide-spread hunger, disease, malnutrition, and ultimately death.’

Kazakhstan’s ongoing civil unrest shows the need for meaningful progress against corruption. Last week there were countrywide protests over inequality, poverty and corruption, also calling for meaningful reforms. The wealth the country’s political elite have amassed through corruption has been a particular concern throughout the protests. Kazakhstan has made some progress in fighting corruption in recent years - in a 2019 study people and small businesses saw things improving on the ground - but serious concerns remain, such as the flawed anti-corruption framework, lack of responsiveness in policy-making, and state control of the media. Pray for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other independent voices who are urging the government to resolve the ongoing unrest peacefully. Unless the violence stops immediately, the way out of the crisis is uncertain for the already struggling Kazakh society.

Authorities from Siming District raided a Christian school and fined the person in charge of the school 100,000 yuan (£11,619.14). They said that they had discovered religious education training without authorisation, and demanded that all activities stop. Any appeal must be made within three days of receiving the notice and fine. In recent years the government has intensified repression on Christian education, with constant raids and arrests. Also, lawmakers issued new policies to tighten control over homeschooling and private education. In the Family Education Promotion, the government now has authority over education outside and inside the home. Christians constitute the majority of the homeschooling population, so it is anticipated that more Christian schools will face further persecution in the future. Christian churches and church leaders are also being persecuted multiple times.

Despite the pandemic, the Winter Olympic Games hosted by China are expected to go ahead as normal. However human rights groups have raised concern over the religious freedom violations carried out there. US president Joe Biden has already introduced a diplomatic boycott, followed by other nations including the UK. Now Christians are being urged to play their part in standing in solidarity with persecuted brothers and sisters in China. Open Doors and a former US ambassador for religious freedom are calling for action, saying, ‘In the USA people of faith are woefully ignorant of the plight of their fellow believers in China. The persecution of Chinese Christians is rarely if ever mentioned in American megachurches. Raising awareness has been a long, slow struggle for organisations exposing religious persecution in China and elsewhere’. They are calling for Christians to break their silence, pray and fast, and pressurise their politicians to act.

Protests in Kazakhstan began on 2 January when the government removed a fuel price cap. The speed with which protests turned violent surprised everyone, hinting that they are not only about fuel. This is a traditionally stable Central Asian state, often described as authoritarian, with no electoral democracy - so people needed to take to the streets to be heard. Accusing foreign-trained ‘terrorist gangs’ of being behind the trouble, President Tokayev imposed a state of emergency that includes a curfew, a ban on mass gatherings, and Russian assistance to help ‘stabilise’ the country. Dozens of protesters were ‘eliminated’ after they stormed police buildings to steal weapons. By 6 January about 1,000 people had been injured; 400 are being treated in hospital and 62 are in intensive care. Twelve members of the security forces have been killed, and 353 injured.