World in Brief

A human-rights tribunal ruled in March that a Christian activist discriminated against a transgender woman by distributing flyers that referred to the person, who was running for political office at the time, as a ‘biological male’.

In a 104-page ruling, the tribunal further declared that there is no room for any public debate in the matter. The tribunal ordered the Christian to pay $35,000 in compensation for injury to the person’s ‘dignity, feelings, and self-respect’.

A rape crisis centre had its funding cut after it refused to allow men who say they are women to use some of its services, it was reported in March.

Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter prohibits men from its premises in order to protect women who use its services. Vancouver City Council says the centre will receive no more funding until it accommodates men who identify as women. The centre says it is the victim of ‘discrimination against women in the name of inclusion’.

Prayers have been requested for a young Christian convert from Islam falsely accused, tortured, and imprisoned for his faith since 2017.

‘James’, a Kyrgyz musician from the distant mountain villages of the province of Xinjiang, went on trial with a friend in 2017 on false charges of terrorism. They were jailed for 16 years and James’ family was forbidden initially from visiting. James had brought several of his friends and family to Christ. He was held under house arrest for a year before his trial in 2017.

On 23 March, police officers and government officials raided a Bible-school class at a Beijing church and banned the church from meeting.

All of the students were questioned by authorities with some from other places detained. In response to the raid, the church issued a statement to its members saying that it does not accept the authorities’ decision to ban their church, reminding everyone that the legality of the church is not determined by any religious or administrative agencies. It will continue to meet.

Three pastors in western India were charged on 1 March for refuting a false account of a Hindu extremist attack on six Christians that left a teenage girl unconscious.

Police who took exception to the pastors trying to correct a false report about the beating later charged them with the same accusations filed against the assailants, such as house trespass with intent to assault, even though the church leaders were not even present during the attack. Christians had faced harassment for three months prior to the attack.

On 24 March, police in Tamil Nadu state ordered the shutdown of a Christian prayer meeting.

Ten police officers arrived just as the prayer meeting was about to start and refused to allow the service to continue, demanding that the meeting be closed immediately on the basis that the Christians did not have permission to conduct worship services there. Pastor Gobi was forced to sign a written admission that he had no permission to conduct prayer meetings in the property.

Another prayer meeting in a home in India’s Tamil Nadu state was disrupted on 19 March by approximately 15 people from the Hindu Munani (Hindu Front) and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), which is the religious arm of the RSS, a Hindu nationalist movement.

Bibles, tracts, and hymn books were burned in the street after the people were dragged from the house into the street and questioned.

A married couple was convicted and sentenced to prison on 14 March for their suspected involvement in the bombing of three churches in Surabaya in May 2018.

The husband received a sentence of eight years, and his wife was given three years and four months, after a West Jakarta court found them guilty of ‘aiding criminal acts of terrorism’ and ‘being involved in a criminal conspiracy’. At least 14 people were killed and more than 30 injured in the attacks.

Muslim militants held a gun to the face of a church minister and threatened him when he asked them to stop firing shots into the air around a church in the once predominantly Christian town of Bartella, in late February.

Not a single member of the authorities went to the Christian leader’s aid, even though such use of firearms is against the law in Iraq. This is not an isolated incident. The intimidating practice of shooting into the sky near churches has also taken place recently in the towns of Qaraqosh and Mosul.

Police raided a third Baptist church in Taraz, summarily fining two more worship-

pers, it was reported in March.

Only one of the five people fined did not appeal. ‘We don’t pay fines voluntarily, so they’ll take the money from his pension,’ a Baptist noted.

Nine people were killed and 30 homes destroyed on 16 March in an attack by Fulani militia in southern Kaduna State.

Victims included women and children. The raids occurred in the wake of a televised statement by Kaduna state Governor Nasir el Rufai on the eve of postponed presidential and national assembly elections, in which he alleged that 66 people had been killed in Kajuru LGA, and insinuated the victims were mostly women and children from the Fulani ethnic group.

A Christian with a mental disability was arrested under the country’s blasphemy law after a Muslim neighbour outside his home overheard him arguing inside.

The man was beaten by his accusers who then turned on family members who tried to protect him. His family members had told him many times not to say blasphemous things, but he continued to do so. Intent must be demonstrated for a blasphemy conviction. Pakistan’s laws include provision for people of ‘unsound mind [who are] incapable of knowing the nature of the[ir] act’.

The Baptist Union’s Moscow Theological Seminary was suspended for 60 days from January 2019 and banned from admitting new students, it was reported in March.

The Pentecostal Union’s Eurasian Theological Seminary’s licence was annulled in October 2018 after inspectors questioned the content of its theology course. Pentecostal Union lawyer Vladimir Ozolin said that these actions were ‘systemic, intentional’. Routine inspections carried out by federal education inspectorate Rosobrnadzor resulted in the loss of the licence. The institutions themselves insist that they committed no violations.

Christians are trying to rebuild in the face of an uncertain future after years of conflict, which grew out of a tiny spark of anti-government graffiti in March 2011, and which claimed more than half a million lives.

More than 11 million people have fled their homes; half left the country. Persecution is still rife when people return and people disappear in the prison system or are conscripted into the army. Many ordinary Christians are missing after being abducted or disappearing during IS occupation of areas in Syria and Iraq.

A 170-member church paid off nearly $2 million in medical debt because of generous donations, it was reported in April.

Revolution Church, located in Annapolis, collected $15,000 which they donated to RIP Medical Debt, an organisation which purchases debt and then forgives it. ‘The cities that have churches in them should be different because Christians are in those cities,’ Pastor Kenny Camacho said. ‘So we want Annapolis and Maryland to look different because we are here. We think this is one of the ways that we can do that.’ The donation impacted over 900 individuals and families. The debts forgiven ranged from $200 to $100,000.

Revered advocate for people with disabilities, Joni Eareckson Tada was admitted to hospital because of complications caused by her fight against breast cancer, it was reported in April.

Tada was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time towards the end of November 2018. The 69-year-old author, speaker and artist had recently undergone radiation treatment for her cancer. Following the treatment, Tada’s health began to decline causing her to suffer with ‘significant pain issues including, most recently, difficulty with breathing.’