EGYPT: Muslims Attack Christian Churches

At least 12 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded on May 7, when several hundred ultraconservative Salafist Muslims attacked two churches and surrounding Christian-owned homes and businesses in the Imbaba district, a poor section of Cairo.

The Muslims gathered outside the Coptic St. Mena Church, protesting over the allegation that a Christian woman was being held there against her will because she had married a Muslim man and converted to Islam. In attempts to dispel the rumor, head clergymen of St. Mina allowed a group of Islamic imams into the church to search for the woman. Violence erupted though, according to witnesses at the scene, the imams declared to the gathering Muslims that the woman wasn't in the building.

After unsuccessfully trying to push through barricades the Christians had managed to erect, the rioters went to the nearby Virgin Mary Church and set it and other homes ablaze.

Sources: BBC News and Compass Direct News
Photo: Compass Direct News

Please pray for the volatile situation in Egypt. Pray for members of the church that was burned and those who were injured in the attacks. Pray that God will comfort the families of those slain. Pray also that God would block the Muslim Brotherhood from coming into power and raise up God-fearing men and women to govern Egypt.

"But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." 1 Peter 5:10

VOM assists Christians in Egypt through its Family of Prisoners Fund, Christian radio broadcasts and discipleship training for Muslim converts.

May 18th, 2011

A Voice of the Martyrs Volunteer

CHINA: Shouwang Church Members Arrested

Members of the Shouwang congregation in China were arrested on May 15 as they gathered to pray in the commercial area of Zhongguancun in Beijing.

Shouwang Church is the largest unregistered church in Beijing, and its leaders have been in an ongoing battle with authorities since being forced out of their worship space and prevented from renting or buying a new building.

On April 10, police detained 169 members attempting to hold services in a public park. On Easter Sunday, police detained about 34 church members. Despite the mounting persecution, house church leaders are taking a stand for the Shouwang congregation. Nineteen house church leaders are petitioning China's legislature to resolve the ongoing tensions and to guarantee religious freedom in their country. The full text of the petition is available here.

Sources: Christian Broadcasting Network and ChinaAid - Photo: ChinaAid

Please pray for house church Christians and leaders in China. Pray that God would grant them favor with the authorities and that His will prevails.

"This You have seen, O LORD; do not keep silence. O Lord, do not be far from me. Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication, to my cause, my God and my Lord. Vindicate me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me. Let them not say in their hearts, 'Ah, so we would have it!' Let them not say, 'We have swallowed
him up.'" Psalm 35:22-25

VOM assists Chinese Christians by providing Bibles, Christian literature, scholarships for training and emergency aid to families of prisoners.

May 25th, 2011

A Voice of the Martyrs Volunteer