World in Brief

Hamid Shabanov, an Azerbaijani man fined for leading a ‘house church’ without state permission, has suffered ‘multiple violations of law and process’ during his appeal against the fine, it was reported in October.

During his appeal process, the hearings had been held in the Azeri language, which Shabanov does not speak, and the court did not provide him with the translation required by law. He also had documents given to him to sign in the wrong language. The authorities have repeatedly turned down Shabanov’s application to register his congregation.

In October, a church in Australia was tagged with graffiti reading ‘crucify “no” voters’ and urging people to vote ‘yes’ in the national consultation about redefining marriage.

Drew Mellor, lead pastor of Glen Waverley Anglican Church in Melbourne arrived on Sunday morning to discover various messages on a church building, including ‘bash bigots’ and a tag equating the cross with the swastika.

Hundreds of Egyptian Christians gathered on 5 and 6 October for a two-day worship festival in Egypt within 15 miles of a terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 28 believers in May.

The Days of Harvest event at Maghagha in Minya governorate was one of at least six large-scale conferences that drew Christians for worship and teaching. All the festivals have taken place since the summer, when security threats forced churches to cancel any large meetings off site.

Samaan Shehata, a 45-year-old church minister from the village of Beni Sweif, south of Cairo, was stabbed to death in a Cairo suburb on 12 October.

A lawyer who was present when police later questioned the attacker told journalists that he said he murdered the minister because ‘I sensed Allah telling me to go kill him’. A report on an Egyptian news site, citing the Interior Ministry, claimed that the attacker had mental health problems, casting doubt on what appeared to be a religiously motivated attack.

A Christian man involved in church work across ten villages in the southern Indian state of Telangana was severely beaten on 5 October.

The victim, known as Pastor Seviya, was attacked by five Hindu extremists with rods and thick sticks until he became unconscious. The pastor was in a critical state for many days in hospital because of head injuries sustained during the attack. He had blood clots on the brain and bleeding from his ears.

A thousand Christian families were given less than 24 hours to evacuate their homes on 24 October because of clashes between Kurdish and Iraqi forces.

The Christians had returned to their village of Teleskof, north of Mosul, after it was liberated from Islamic State. It had been rebuilt only months before with aid money from the Hungarian Government. Children and other civilians had been wounded in clashes between Kurdish Pashmerga forces stationed in the village, and Iraqi Army and Shia militia.

As Raymond Koh turned 63 in early November, there was still no news about the pastor almost nine months after his abduction.

Koh was kidnapped in broad daylight by masked men driving black 4x4s in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur, on 13 February. The whole incident, which lasted less than a minute, was captured on CCTV but, despite an early report of a suspect being arrested, progress on the case appears to have come to an abrupt halt.

A Criminal Code Bill, which includes clauses that criminalise religious conversion and the ‘hurting of religious sentiment’, was signed into law on 16 October by Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.

Nepal’s Constitution stipulates that the Hindu faith will be protected by the state. Furthermore, Article 26 (3) of the Constitution restricts religious conversion and the free expression of one’s faith. The Bill was signed on the same day that the UN General Assembly elected Nepal as one of 15 new members of the UN Human Rights

The teenage daughter of a pastor kidnapped on 16 October in Diffa, south-eastern Niger, was returned the following day 10km from where she was abducted.

Aphodiya Garba Maida, 17, daughter of a pastor with the EERN (Église Évangélique de la République du Niger), was on her way to school when she was kidnapped by three women and three men. She was able to use her mobile phone to send a message, saying that she was being held in an unknown location.

A new Christian bookshop opened in south western Nigeria in September.

A seminary of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in Ilesha is hosting a bookshop supported by Africa Christian Textbooks. According to Operation World, CAC has 7,000 local congregations and close to 3 million worshippers (including children). The need for good literature and the opportunity to serve are both great.

A Christian man who was arrested for an alleged blasphemy died on 2 November before he could challenge the accusations in court.

Mukhtar Masih’s family have called for his name to be cleared of any charge because they believe their father died under a false accusation that has left them vulnerable and despised by Muslims. The family are calling for a posthumous exoneration of him to take place. His own testimony was ignored at the time as, under shar’ia law, a Christian’s testimony against a Muslim’s has no value.

The Philippines Government declared victory over pro-Islamic State (IS) militants in October after a five-month siege to recapture Marawi city.

Fighting has left 1,000 dead and 600,000 displaced. The historic city has been devastated, leaving many buildings reduced to rubble. Christians in the city spared by the jihadists were taken hostage, forced to build bombs, and scavenge for food and weapons for the Islamist rebels. Islamist groups have been fighting for independence and for shar’ia law to be established.

In an ongoing bid by the government of Sudan to take over leadership of the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC), police on 22 October arrested five SCOC church leaders after they refused to comply with an order to refrain from worship.

Police officers arrived at the SCOC-Harat church in the Hai Al Thawra West area of Omdurman and ordered the Christians to cancel the worship service. They were charged with disturbing the public before they were released. They were later charged with causing sound pollution through overly loud church services.

A Pakistani Christian asylum seeker died in the notorious Bangkok Immigration Centre on 19 October.

The latest victim, Khurram Ashi, a father of two children, suffered a major heart attack. Prior to going into the Centre, there were no concerns about heart problems. However, whilst living in Bangkok his health worsened. He was working for a pittance and was exploited in several jobs, often not being paid for hard labour. It is believed depression, poor diet and stress contributed to his death.

A leading Turkish Islamic cleric with close ties to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed on 22 October that one day there will be a single Muslim state in which non-Muslims will be permitted to live if they pay ‘a simple tax’.

He issued the statement in the Turkish newspaper GazeteOku. Until the late 19th century, non-Muslims living in the Ottoman Empire were forced to pay jizya, a tax paid by non-Muslims to an Islamic government as a sign of subjugation.

Billy Graham celebrated his 99th birthday on 7 November. Franklin Graham said of his father: ‘His mind is good but he’s quieter these days. He can’t see or hear well, but his health is stable.’

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is kicking off a yearlong celebration of the preacher’s past. Franklin, who heads the association, said it will highlight the elder Graham’s impact on worldwide evangelism and personal testimonies of people whose lives were forever changed at one of his father’s crusades.

26 people who had gathered for Sunday worship at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas were killed when Devin Kelley entered the building and opened fire.

The man who helped to stop Kelley is also in need of prayer. Stephen Willeford went to protect those inside the church. He engaged Kelley in a gunfight and wounded him. Willeford is reported to be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

A pastor under surveillance in the city of Urgench was followed to a meeting that was then raided, it was reported on 19 October.

A Bible was ordered to be destroyed and one person was tortured. Police replied to complaints with: ‘We do not care, you can complain anywhere’.