World in Brief

A wedding magazine run by Christians was forced to close in December because it wouldn’t feature same-sex couples.

Luke and Carla Burrell, who started White Magazine 12 years ago, said the publication had been targeted by homosexual activists following Australia’s decision to redefine marriage. Their advertisers began to pull out, and the couple said the magazine was no longer economically viable as a result. They received a flood of online abuse after explaining their stance on marriage.

Belgian officials are investigating whether doctors improperly euthanised a woman with autism, it was reported in December.

The 38-year-old had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism, two months before she was euthanised by a doctor in an apparently legal killing that she had asked for. Among Belgians euthanised for mental health reasons, the most common conditions are depression, personality disorder and Asperger’s.

More than 100 members and leaders of Autumn Rain Covenant Church in China’s Sichuan province were arrested on 9 December after local authorities raided the homes of many church members.

Members’ phones lines were blocked and the police ambushed homes, arresting many church members and leaders. Some were forced to sign a document stating that they will no longer attend the house church. The officers refused to provide legal documentation or a reason for the arrests.

A 3 December report concluded that ‘there is no question that violations of human rights, including attacks on the civilian population and severe restrictions on religious freedom, continue or have grown worse in many parts of the country,’ despite the 2016 peace agreement.

Unilateral changes have been made to the peace agreement by the government, which local civil society leaders fear could lead to some ex-members of the FARC-EP taking up arms once again if they believe that the government is not fulfilling its side of the agreement.

Two Congolese pastors were among the seven Christians killed in attacks by an Islamist militant group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on 10 and 11 November.

As well as the murders, they also kidnapped 13 people, both adults and children. The pastor’s daughter was screaming due to the machete attack, and when her father arrived, they were both shot dead. One of the grandchildren remains missing. Houses and vehicles were also set on fire.

Wielding an iron bar in one hand and holding a Qur’an in the other, a Muslim extremist shouting ‘Allahu Akbar … death to the apostates’ broke into a Cairo church on 11 November.

After injuring two people with his weapon, the attacker was overpowered by church members who restrained him until the police arrived. The extremist, whilst in police custody, said: ‘Give me your gun so I may kill them. If you don’t, you’d be an infidel like them.’

Hong Kong and Taiwan voted to retain the definition of marriage between one man and one woman in a vote in mid-November.

In Hong Kong, a motion to pave the way for legalising same-sex unions was rejected by 27 votes to 24 votes in parliament. A referendum in Taiwan also rejected legalising same-sex marriage in defiance of a high court ruling last year.

Hindu extremists persuaded a community of people to try to drive out five Christian families from their homes whilst they were at a worship service in November.

Threatened with expulsion from the village and with seizure of their farmland, three of the five families converted back to the tribal religion, Sarnaism. Pastors and Christians tried to encourage them to continue in the Christian faith. Political interference in communities is evident in the way in which communities are being turned against each other.

Authorities in Kenya have forbidden Marie Stopes International (MSI) from carrying out abortions, it was reported in November.

Medical authorities issued this order after they found MSI was advertising abortion services, despite a prohibition on all abortion advertising. Over the past five years, the United Kingdom has sent £163m of taxpayer money to MSI via the Department for International Development (DfID).

A man in mid-October was beaten for being in the house of a Christian as he too was a Protestant and deemed a kafir, an infidel.

His teeth and his jawbone were broken and he was threatened with death if he had not left the village by the following morning. Members of a wide variety of religious communities of different faiths have expressed concern at continuing attacks on people because of their beliefs. They have also expressed concern at the impunity the authorities appear to give such attackers.

On 20 November, four Finnish nationals, two men and two women, were arrested for allegedly passing out Christian pamphlets on the streets in Malaysia.

The arrest was made following complaints from local citizens. They were charged with ‘disturbing religious harmony’. If found guilty, they face a five-year prison sentence. It is illegal to convert from Islam to Christianity and therefore it is against the law to evangelise in Malaysia.

On the second anniversary of the disappearance of the American Christian aid worker Jeff Woodke from his home in Abalak, northern Niger, community leaders have called on the President to secure his release.

Woodke, 57, was abducted by unknown assailants. The kidnappers, believed to be from an extremist Islamic group called Mujao, killed two security guards. In a video, supporters appealed to the President of Niger to gain his release. Woodke had been working on community aid projects at the time of his disappearance.

Following the Autumn announcement by Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram that it will keep a Christian high-school girl as a slave, church leaders said they are not giving up on pressing for her rescue.

Leaders of the Evangelical church Winning All have intensified discussions with government officials, urging that they continue talks with Boko Haram to win the release of 15-year-old Leah Sharibu and other Christian girls and women being held captive by Boko Haram.

As en went to press, a source close to Asia Bibi’s family said that she will remain in Pakistan until the petition to overturn her release from prison has been heard in January.

There has been much unhelpful speculation over her whereabouts as it was widely assumed she would leave the country immediately upon her release. The petition was made by hardliners to Prime Minister Imran Khan, who gave into their demands following violent protests and imposed a travel ban on Asia.

Officers arrested six pastors in eastern Uganda on 24 November after hundreds of Muslims, furious over a public talk comparing Christianity with Islam, descended on the local police station.

Following a series of public events at which mosque leaders criticised Christianity, the local Pastors’ Fellowship had invited Pastor Moses Wangaia, a popular Christian apologist, to speak at a series of open-air talks defending the faith. The pastor is a convert from Islam. An 1,800-strong group came into the area chanting the jihadist slogan ‘Allah Akbar’.

A Christian student who defended a biological definition of gender and traditional marriage at her university was asked in November to leave the political group she represents on campus.

20-year-old Isabella Chow, a senator of the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) Berkeley, was removed from the Student Action party following her stance. The controversy surrounded a resolution condemning the Trump administration for considering a legal definition of gender as biological.

After a 19 November raid, Protestants were threatened with prosecution for having legally-bought religious literature.

Officials, who in September tortured Protestants and thieves who stole property from them, remain unpunished.

A special event was held to celebrate ten years of Bible preaching work by Langham in Vanuatu.

Steve Gibb preached in Bislama, the local language, from John 7. Others present were Rosemary and Andy Williamson, former teachers at Talua Bible College. Rosemary had translated the materials used in training the week before the celebrations into Bislama.