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"MP3 Bibles" Reach Those Who Can’t Read the Printed Page
Imagine if the only way you could read your Bible was to use your fingers? Or wait until someone had the time to read it to you? That could be you if you were one of the estimated 116 million illiterate or seven million blind people in China.

Stickers about Lord Jesus for Traumatized Children
The wars in Iraq and in Lebanon have not only affected the adults in those countries, but also the children.

Open Doors Reaching Out to Suffering in Burma
Open Doors reports that thousands of Christians are among 2.4 million still suffering unimaginable pain in parts of Burma (Myanmar). Decaying bodies float in the river tributaries. Mud and water cover land where homes stood. Farm land and seeds for planting are wiped out, along with rice that could have fed families for five months. Despair and hopelessness are etched on the faces of survivors as so many have lost so much.

One Year after Murders in Turkey, One Man Blamed
MALATYA, Turkey, April 17 (Compass Direct News) – On the eve of the one-year mark of the slaughter of three Christians here, the impartiality of the judges in the case is in doubt, and the young men on trial have now shifted the blame to one man. Accused killers Cuma Ozdemir, Abuzer Yildirim and Salih Gurler had been caught at the scene of the crime on April 18, 2007, butcher knives in their hands and the blood of the victims on their clothing.
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Nearing 80, Brother Andrew Continues His Lifelong Passion:

Nearing 80, Brother Andrew Continues His Lifelong Passion:
Serving Persecuted Christians Worldwide
On May 11, 2008, Brother Andrew, the founder of Open Doors International, will celebrate his 80th birthday. He continues his challenge for believers to care for the persecuted members of Christ’s Body:

As I celebrate my 80th birthday, I have been looking back over my life and a great many things have changed. To begin with the smallest and most insignificant: I myself have changed!

But just as if it was yesterday, I remember my very first trip to a communist country...
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Moeller's Interview on N. Korea Now On CBN Website

SANTA ANA, Calif. (May 5, 2008) – Carl Moeller, President/CEO of Open Doors USA, was interviewed by the Christian Broadcasting Network’s (CBN) Christian World News program last week.

Moeller was interviewed on persecution in North Korea during North Korea Freedom Week (NKFW). He was in Washington, DC, for several NKFW events, including lobbying Congressmen on behalf of suffering North Koreans. The lobbing was sponsored by Open Doors USA. Joining him in Washington was Lindsay Vessey and Jerry Dykstra from the Open Doors USA staff.

You can watch the interview on CBN's website: click on “Olympic Flame Highlights Need for Freedom.” Christian World News is carried by hundreds of television stations and satellite outlets across the world. Check your local newspaper for the time of Christian World News in your area. A story on North Korea Freedom Week was also carried by CBN’s World Watch and 700 Club last week.

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Compass Direct News

World Watch List

January 2008:	Ranking 2007:
1. North Korea	1.
2. Saudi Arabia	2.
3. Iran	3.
4. Maldives	5.
5. Bhutan	7.
6. Yemen	6.
7. Afghanistan	10.
8. Laos	9.
9. Uzbekistan	11.
10. China	12.

More info on the World Watch list

Violence Against Christians on the Upsurge
Between February 14 and March 3, three pastors were attacked, 10 Bible school students were assaulted, and members of a church were harassed. These incidents took place in five separate districts; it was a dramatic increase of persecution against the believers in conflict-torn Sri Lanka. Thus far, the most brutal was the martyrdom of Pastor Neil Edirisinghe on February 17, 2008.

Christian Burial of an MBB Opposed
Members of a controversial sect in Bangladesh opposed the Christian burial of Aminur Rahman, a church planter of the Presbyterian Church of Bangladesh (PCB). On the way to Madargonj village, Melandala district, on March 3 to deliver help and encouragement to the bereaved family, the PCB team of five staff members received death threats by phone from a group of sect members, who also threatened to burn the house of Aminur’s family unless he was buried according to Muslim traditions. However, Aminur’s son Liton insisted otherwise and Aminur was buried in his own land after much pressure. He was the first church planter that PCB lost.

Attack on Christian Family Part of Hindu Campaign
A Christian family was attacked by members of the Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal on March 22, one day before Easter. Open Doors visited the family and prayed with them. This is the third attack over the past year on a group of about 40 people who have recently put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Local leaders of Bajrang Dal have instigated a campaign of terror and intimidation against the Christians by recruiting and training people who are of the same low caste as their victims.

Young Woman Arrested; More Churches Ordered to Shut Down
On Saturday, March 29, a young woman in possession of six books about Christianity was arrested at a checkpoint and held for 24 hours. Official charges are not known, but the case is scheduled for May. On March 21, two men were arrested; one was carrying 10 Bibles meant for his congregation and the other only carried his own Bible. They were released after one night in prison, but fear prosecution on charges of proselytism. Recently, 19 churches were ordered to cease their activities. In the last year, the Algerian media has warned the country against missionaries who want to “Christianize” Algeria.

‘Caciques’ Grab Evangelicals’ Land in Mitziton

‘Caciques’ Grab Evangelicals’ Land in Mitziton

On April 1, after two years of peaceful coexistence between traditionalists and Evangelicals that followed some nine years of violence in Mitziton, a town of 800 in the municipality of San Cristóbal de las Casas in Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas, sources in Mitziton report that conflict has resumed with the newly elected community president, Salvador Hernández Jiménez. This president, who began his year-long term on January 1, instructed a mob of some 200 traditionalist Catholics wielding hammers and pliers to knock down fences that border farmlands of 70 Evangelical families – an act that allowed bosses, or caciques, to lay claim to Evangelical lands. Most of Mitziton’s Evangelicals were affected.

Four Arauca Churches Closed, Members Displaced
Four Arauca Churches Closed, Members Displaced

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, on February 2 ordered closure of four churches in the United Pentecostal World Missionary Movement and displaced their approximately 80 members.

Prayer Asked For Messianic Believer Severely Injured By Bomb
Prayer Asked For Messianic Believer Severely Injured By Bomb
SANTA ANA, CA (March 28, 2008) – On Thursday, March 20, a “mishloach manot” (a Purim food basket) was placed at the doorstep of a family of Messianic believers in the Samarian settlement of Arie in Israel. In Jewish tradition, food gifts are exchanged before the Purim festival. The gift was addressed to David Ortiz, the father of the family, and the label said in colorful Hebrew letters, “Happy Purim” and was decorated with innocent smiling faces. The top half of the gift was transparent cellophane, showing chocolates inside.

Ami (or Amiel), the 15-year-old son of David and Leah Ortiz and youngest of six children, brought the gift inside and opened it on the kitchen table. While unwrapping the gift, a bomb exploded in front of Ami, leaving him severely injured on the ground.

A neighbor who heard the explosion ran over to the apartment and called for an ambulance.
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China Slammed for Return of North Korean Refugees
SANTA ANA, Calif. (April 16) -- A United States commission said Tuesday that North Korean refugees suspected of meeting with religious groups are often marked for harsh interrogation, torture and long detentions without trial after they are forced by China to return to North Korea, according to reports from several news agencies.

Brother Andrew Visits Martyr’s Widow,YMCA, Islamic Jihad Leader In Gaza

SANTA ANA, CA (March 17, 2008) – Brother Andrew visited Gaza in late February to encourage the Christians living there under terrible circumstances.

“The condition of this small piece of land is miserable,” said Andrew, founder of Open Doors. “It had been raining for a few days and the sewer was damaged in many places, so stinking garbage was floating through the flooded streets of Gaza.” With a sad voice he added: “And trash in the streets was only one problem people have to face…”
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A Cry From Iran Wins Major Documentary Award

SANTA ANA, Calif. (Oct. 31, 2007) – A Cry from Iran, a powerful documentary on modern-day martyrdom, captured the Best Documentary Award at the prestigious San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival last weekend.

The film tells the true story of Haik Hovsepian, a leader of evangelical Christians in Iran. He was brutally murdered in 1994 for speaking out against the persecution and imprisonment of another Christian under Iran's Islamist regime.
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Ongoing Violence Marginalizing Minority Christians In Gaza
SANTA ANA, CA (January 29, 2008) – Since Christian bookstore manager Rami Ayyad was murdered on October 7, the small Christian minority in Gaza has lived in heightened fear.

Several Christian families have been evacuated from Gaza in the face of threats from Islamic militants. Many other Christians have fled or are seeking to emigrate due to the deteriorating conditions.

Open Doors Calls for Prayers in Kenyan Crisis
SANTA ANA, Calif. (Jan. 18, 2008) – Kenya is still wrapped in a terrible crisis. Official records indicate that more than 600 people have been killed, but according to reliable sources on the ground, more than 1500 people have died as a result of the crisis. More than 250,000 people are currently taking refuge in schools, internally displaced people (IDP) camps and police stations after being displaced from their homes.

Pastor Spreads Good News In Chinese Prison
Pastor Zhang Rongliang sits in a prison cell despite a judge’s previous statement that “insufficient evidence and ambiguous facts” surrounded his case, and that Zhang would be judged fairly. Zhang was sentenced in July 2006 to 7.5 years in prison for “attaining a passport through cheating” and “illegal border crossing.” Zhang, leader of the China for Christ house church movement, was arrested without charge on December 1, 2004.

Ministry Taking Place In Iraq Despite Turmoil
The following is an updated report on the situation for Christians in Iraq. Open Doors continues to minister in Iraq despite the chaos and violence. Please continue to pray for the Christians in Iraq and for the outreach of Open Doors there.

Christians Leaving Country
Although it is difficult to state how many Iraqi Christians are in the country, the number in 2003, prior to the fall of Sadam Hussein, was around 550,000. The dreadful situation lately has caused many Iraqi people, both Muslim and Christian, to leave the country. Church leaders in Iraq conservatively estimate that almost 75,000 Christians live outside Iraq in places like Syria or Jordan

Do Terrorists Find Jesus?
From an area that has been described as an "ocean of despair" comes this positive word.

One terrorist who came to know Jesus is Ray.*

“I was part of a terrorist group. Our intention was to build an Islamic state. In 1991 and 1992 I signed up with this group, so I could be one of the persons to blow myself up, to fight against the Christians or the West. We found some Christians who where converting others to Christianity and I told them to give me the books and all the information. We fought against those Christians. However, I started to read their materials and the Bible. I found out that this information was very good. And then I saw a dream about Jesus.”

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Gazan Christian Martyred

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The small Christian community of Gaza is shocked and in mourning. Rami Ayyad, 30, the manager of the Bible Society Bookshop in Gaza, was found dead Sunday morning. The identity of the murderers is unknown.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (July 11, 2007) – In his letter to his protégé, Timothy, Paul says, “I have fought the good fight.”

In Arabic, those last three words are translated “the good jihad.”

Secret Believers: What Happens When Muslims Believe in Christ (Revell, July 2007) is a riveting story of the Church in Islamic countries struggling to come to grips with hostile governments, terrorist acts and an influx of Muslims coming to Christ. You will meet a group of men and women you never knew existed. The names and places have been changed to protect the real people in the real places. But the stories are true.

Muslim Background Believers Threatened To Relinquish Faith
INDIA: Six Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) and their families in Nutangram village, West Bengal, have been pressured to relinquish their Christian faith. A few days before September 4, the mosque committee called for thousands of villagers from nearby areas to come against the Christian families, as they wanted the families to recommit themselves to Islam. As a result, vegetables were not sold to them, no workers came to do jobs in their fields, and no customers came to their shops. The Christians were told that they would be killed and their homes burned if they did not give up their faith. Read More>>

North Korea – Thousands Locked Up in Prison Camps
NORTH KOREA: The number of North Koreans who are imprisoned in concentration camps is much greater than previously assumed.

“It is not inconceivable that the number of prisoners has passed the one million mark,” said Simon, who is in charge of the work of Open Doors in North Korea. “Many camps are so large that they are not recognized as camps on satellite photos. They consist of entire villages.” For security reasons, Simon doesn’t reveal how the research was done. “There are many lives at stake,” he stated. Read More>>

Prayer Countdown!

Click here for the
China Prayer Countdown

SANTA ANA, CA – The eyes of the world will be on China in the year leading up to the Olympic Games which will be held Aug. 8-24, 2008, in Beijing.

It’s not too early for Christians in the West to blanket China in prayer while counting down to this historic event.

To help believers unite in prayer for their Chinese brothers and sisters in the faith, Open Doors USA is sponsoring a special prayer campaign called “One Minute/One Year/One Country.”

Pakistani Court Grants Custody of Girls to Kidnappers

A Pakistani couple has appealed a court decision to award custody of their two daughters, 10 and 13, to the children’s alleged kidnappers. The court based its custody decision on the girls’ conversion to Islam.
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Indian State Admits Few Complaints of 'Forced' Conversions

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party government in Gujarat state has disclosed that there were only three complaints of alleged “forcible” conversions in the state in the last 10 years, and only two of those concerned Christian conversions.
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Accuser in Algerian Blasphemy Case Linked to Islamists

Three Algerian Christians fighting a blasphemy sentence arrived at court in northwestern Algeria on Tuesday (July 15) to find that their hearing was postponed until October 21 because the presiding judge was on vacation.

Read More >>

Religious Tensions Rise in West Papua, Indonesia

Authorities in West Papua, Indonesia, must move fast to prevent tension between Christian and Muslim communities escalating into a Malukan-style conflict, according to a recent report by the International Crisis Group (ICG).
Read More >>

Girls in Pakistan Kidnapped, Allegedly Forced to Convert

A Christian father in Pakistan is in a legal battle with kidnappers for the custody of his pre-teen daughters, who allegedly have been forced to convert to Islam.
Read More >>

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