The Camat from Bandung is a joke

 A radical group in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia refused to allow the HKBP Church (Huria Kristen Batak Protestant) Betania Rancaekek to worship at its shophouse March 23.  

In a video that has gone viral on social media, a group of radical Muslims surrounded the church and put up a banner that read: "Stop the illegal HKBP worship plan at the Maris Square shophouse!!! Or we will act.”   

HKBP Betania Rancaekek was established in April 1999. The church has struggled to obtain a building permit (IMB) from the government, a move many churches in Indonesia are familiar with. Without proper permits, churches cannot gather legally. Often, IMBs are denied without solid reasoning to prevent Christians from worshipping.   

“Too often, churches in Muslim-majority Indonesia are unfairly subjected to Indonesia’s religious harmony laws, which require several conditions be met to worship legally; these conditions are often subject to the consent of reluctant Muslim majorities,” said Gina Goh, International Christian Concern’s (ICC) regional manager for Southeast Asia. “Even if they manage to obtain the necessary IMB permit, the existence of such religious harmony laws empowers activists and extremists with legal tools to disrupt the social order and create a new challenge to one’s right to worship, as local governments are unwilling to risk public unrest. If Indonesia truly honors Pancasila, the nation’s core ideology to promote pluralism, Jakarta needs to ensure that one religion cannot strip the rights of another.” 

In 2015, the assembly and the committee began working on the IMB of the shophouse building in Maris Square as a place of worship. In the following years, the assembly approached residents and local authorities to receive their consent.   

Their efforts yielded positive results, as 85 residents signed a letter stating they did not object and supported the conversion of shophouses into HKBP worship buildings in late 2019. The local village chief also approved the plan.  

Yet, the church still faces resistance from the Camat (district leader) and the local Military District Command. They refused to sign the letter and the Camat issued a letter in January 2020 to seal the church. A hardline Islamic organization, Forkomi (previously called Islamic Defenders Front), then forcibly shut down the building so it could no longer be used for worship.  

Since then, HKBP Betania Rancaekek has continued to work with government agencies to resolve their differences. While taking care of the permit issue, the church planned to worship in the building on Sunday, March 27.  

But their plan was disrupted by the protesting Forkomi and hardline residents last Wednesday.  

A Christian lawyer familiar with the case told ICC, “The church now plans to resume their worship after the month of Ramadan. They will consult with [the] district leader before they send me a formal letter requesting legal assistance.” 

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The reason why Buhari should not be re-elected

 Armed gunmen attacked Kpachudu village in Nigeria on Monday night, killing at least five people, burning down homes, and destroying crops. 

“Four people were killed by the militants,” said a Christian source from the community told ICC. “[Another] one died in the hospital with machete cuts.

The source confirmed multiple people dead with several others in critical condition in the hospital.  

The attack comes just days after more than 30 Christians were killed by Fulani militants in Nigeria’s southern Kaduna State. In addition, militants abducted at least 46 Christians on March 17.

Last year, Nigeria earned the distinction of being the worst country for Christian persecution, named by ICC’s 2021 Persecutor of the Year Awards. Radicalized and armed Islamist Fulani militants have killed tens of thousands of Christians and left more than three million homeless in a 20-year genocide against them. 

“Christian communities in the Middle Belt of Nigeria have effectively suffered a 20-year genocide,” said ICC President Jeff King. “Where is any action? The Nigerian government gives these attacks lip service without any meaningful response. Where is the outcry? Where is effective action? In Nigeria, the military, the police, and the intelligence agencies are all controlled by Muslims. This coupled with a 20-year lack of response by these agencies should naturally lead to deeper questioning by the world community. Simply put, the time for cheap talk and platitudes is over. The world is waking up and starting to ask, ‘Is the Nigerian government complicit in these attacks?’ Time will tell, but for this long-time watcher, the decision is in.” 

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Here's why Buhari should not be re-elected

 Christian communities were under heavy attack in a Southern Kaduna city in Nigeria on Sunday night.

Community members had just finished their church worship when armed insurgents arrived with sophisticated weapons, an eyewitness reported.

"Agban Kagoro is under heavy gunshot attacks with sporadic gunshots, burning down of houses in Adan, Mararaba, and Tsonje," one witness told International Christian Concern (ICC). "Twenty-five people were killed and over 100 houses burnt." He added that the evening attack occurred from 7 to 10 p.m. without the intervention of the Nigerian army.

"We are now hiding, our church and houses burnt; we are sleeping outside tonight," another eyewitness told ICC, adding that the exact number of casualties was yet to be determined.

Southern Kaduna, like many areas throughout Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, is facing incessant attacks by insurgents, mostly identified as Fulani militants, Boko Haram, and its offshoot, Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP).

“Please pray for Kagoro right now,” said an ICC source. “Militant herdsmen have entered Kagoro near the seminary, killing and burning the houses. Even the soldiers have run away because the attackers’ guns are superior to theirs. We are very much concerned for Kagoro, the center of Christianity in Southern Kaduna.”

Nigeria earned the title of Worst Persecuting Country in ICC’s 2021 Persecutor of the Year Awards. Due to violent terrorist groups and government indifference, tens of thousands have been killed and millions have been displaced.

"The Nigerian government has done almost nothing to stop the violence against Nigerian Christians, leading to continued violent persecution, said ICC President Jeff King. "This is a one-sided war, with an unending river of victims. We ask that you join us in praying for our brothers and sisters left devastated by yesterday's attack."

Please also contact the Nigerian embassy in your country today, calling on them to address the persecution of Christians.

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Modi is at it again

 The BJP-led State Assembly in the state of Haryana has introduced an anti-conversion bill which if approved by the governor, would make Haryana the 11th state in India to introduce an anti-conversion law.  

The bill’s language prohibits religious conversions effected through misrepresentation or fraudulent means such as by force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or marriage. The law also mandates that individuals converting from one religion to another submit a statement that the conversion was not through any of the prohibited means. 

“We are increasingly concerned about India’s anti-conversion laws,” said ICC President Jeff King. “These laws are primarily used to suppress and persecute Christians. Such legislation only emboldens the Hindu nationalists to attack Christians and suppress the freedom of religion. The international community cannot ignore these draconian measures used to attack the Church and other religious minorities.” 

Similar laws exist in nine other states: Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakand, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh. Those state governments have not defined the terms "inducement," "coercion," "force," or "fraud" in the context of religious conversions. Because of this legal ambiguity, these laws have been widely abused by radical Hindu nationalist groups to harass and intimidate Christians while claiming to be under the auspices of state law. 

A local pastor in Haryana, who requested anonymity, told International Christian Concern (ICC), “There has been a gradual shutdown of house churches in the region where I live, through threats and violence. The new law will be one more step to validate what they have been doing to Christians. it is going to be difficult, not because of the content of the law, but how the law can be misused to target innocent Christians.” 

Dr. John Dayal, a prominent voice of the Christian community in India, said, “The bill in Haryana climbs a couple of steps higher than even the terrible Karnataka law that precipitated a massive civil society protest and grassroots movement.”

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Girl killed in Iraq for singing songs on TikTok

 The 20-year-old daughter of a Muslim Cleric who converted to Christianity was found murdered on March 7 in northern Iraq. The assassination of Iman Sami, who was known as Maria, is suspected to have been retaliation by her family following a TikTok video she posted where she was singing Christian spiritual songs.  

Jeff King, ICC’s President, shared his concern that “For someone born as a Muslim to be open about exploring Christianity is a tremendous act of bravery, as most Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) in the region face intense pressure from both their families and communities. Maria’s TikTok post should not have ended with her death. Iraq is just emerging from a very difficult time when Christians experienced a horrific genocide. It is an important step toward healing for Iraq to pursue an investigation of due process into issues related to freedom of speech and religion.”   

A Christian close to Maria said, “A member of my Bible study group gave her a Bible last month. Mostly she turned to Christianity, and her family knew because of this video she posted on TikTok.”  

Christian news site Ankawa Today published on Facebook, “Iman Sami, known as Maria, was found by the police last night. She suffered in her life because of her early marriage, where she drowned in marriage at the age of only 12 years. After separation from her husband, she lived alone. She was an activist in the field of women’s rights and a brave woman. She has videos on the TikTok app that reached hundreds of thousands of views. Her brother and uncle killed her yesterday!”   

The murder of Maria was discovered just one day after Iraq’s National Day of Coexistence and Tolerance, a day declared on the anniversary of Pope Francis’ visit last year. Iraq’s Christian community continues to suffer the severe consequences of the ISIS genocide, and Muslim Background Believers are specifically at a high risk of targeted violence because of their conversion to Christianity. The persecution faced by Iraq’s Christian community has forced most to flee the country.  

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