The Great Separation

On the Eve (Halloween) of All Saints Day.

While the secular world today celebrates a holiday founded in the fear of death, tomorrow marks a day (All Saints Day) that Christians can honor in remembering those who did not fear death to point of giving their lives for Christ.

The following is a list of some of those over the last year who counted the cost, ran the race, and won the Crown of Life.

Country	Account
Saudi Arabia	...According to Diaspora-based Lebanese sources, among the injured from the attacks about 90 victims were Lebanese. Five Lebanese nationals were burned to death, including two children, Jad and Raya Mezher. Another newly married woman Nina Joubran was also massacred. A pregnant woman, Houry Haytaya and her husband Dany Ibrahim, were also killed. Another family, the Haidar, were murdered as well. The list of casualties is growing by the days, many persons were not found yet. But one fact is certified: The massacre of the Muhayya compound was directed at the Lebanese Christian community living in Saudi Arabia. - Source: Jihadwatch.com, reported 2003.11.15.
Kenya	Pastor Paul Arnold, on mission work in Kenya was gunned down by robbers armed to the teeth with AK-47's. Reported on 2003.01.01.
Egypt	Kirilos Daoud killed and seven others injured when Egyptian soldiers assaulted the Patmos Christian Center. Reported 2004.01.09.
China	House Church leader Zhang Hongmei, 33, murdered by Chinese police after her arrest on Oct. 29, 2003.
Iraq	Pastor John Kelley, 48, gunned down in Iraq while with other Christians helping an Iraqi man to start a church. Reported 2004.02.19.
Pakistan	Irfan Khokar, 33, kidnaped then murdered. His father believes the killing was carried out by militant Muslims who are intolerant of Christianity. Reported 2004.03.01.
Nigeria	"Forty-eight people have been hacked to death in Yelwa, Nigeria, by armed Muslims, many during a church meeting, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)." Reported 2004.03.10. From persecution.org.
Sudan	WorldNetDaily™ reports that two weeks ago militant Islamists raided the village Tawila in Sudan and raped over one hundred woman. The Islamists killed 75 men, women, and children and then carried off 150 woman and 200 children. Reported 2004.03.22.
Uganda	Missionary couple, Warren & Donna Pett, and a native student in a Christian agricultural training center were shot and murdered by seven "unidentified gunman" in military garb last Thursday (2004.03.17). Both were 49 years-old. Reported 2004.03.22.
Indonesia	Nuci, 40 mother of two, hacked to death by four men on a public street in Maranatha. The attackers proceeded to attack and wound five others. A witness who arrived after the murderous attack said Nuci was crawling towards her baby before she died. Reported 2004.03.23.
Indonesia	Pastor in Sulawesi province gunned down by attackers in front of his wife. The third Christian to be gunned down in this region of Indonesia in a week's time. Reported 2004.04.01.
Vietnam	400,000 Christians reportedly held peaceful demonstrations over the Easter weekend in the Central Highlands of Vietnam throughout a number of cities in an effort to protest for freedom of to follow Christ. The Montagnard Foundation said. "The Christians were shot at, beaten with electric batons and bombarded with rocks and stones. Hundreds were killed and many others have suffered broken bones." The estimated number dead is 400. Reported 2004.04.15.
Nigeria	CharismaNOW reports that in the northern areas of Plateau and Nasarawa where 173 churches were destroyed and where 8 pastors and 1,500 Christian Brothers & Sisters where killed. Christian Association of Nigeria questions, "How can anyone explain the reason for invading a church where women, children and men were worshiping, asking them to surrender and lie face down and then proceed to machete and axe them to death in their house of worship?" Reported 2004.04.22.
Egypt	Police officer arrests 5 Christians then drives the truck carrying his bound prisoners into the Ibrahimiya Canal where 3 of them drown: Father Ibrahim Mikhaeil, Mahrous, and Nasef. Reported 2004.05.07.
Nigeria	Over the weekend that the Christian Association of Nigeria is making it known that last week an estimated 600 Christians were violently murdered by Muslims in Nigeria. WorldNetDaily reported the Barnabas Fund story, "Hundreds of people were killed," said Christian leader Mark Amani. "Some corpses were burned in wells. Even little children were killed. The bodies of pregnant women were ripped open and their bodies burned," he said. In days following the estimate would reach 3,000 lives in the Kano region of northern Nigeria. Reported 2004.05.17 & 2004.05.24.
China	Gu Xianggao, 28, was beaten to death by police for being a member of a underground House Church. Reported 2004.05.19.
Indonesia	Asia Pacific News reported that in the city Ambon during a period of three days that three bombs where planted and exploded. The latest bomb exploded in the market in the Christian sector of the city. One dead, thirteen injured and another bomb placed near a Maranatha church defused. Reported 2004.05.25.
Pakistan	Samuel Masih, 32, murdered by Pakistani police under Pakistan's blasphemy law after being arrested because someone accused him of throwing waste against the wall of the mosque. A Muslim leader first had him beaten bloody then he was handed over to the police. While in custody a police officer attacked and killed Samuel after declaring it was his Islamic duty. Reported 2004.06.01.
Afghanistan	5 "Doctors without Borders" Workers Killed in Afghanistan; Afghans Fasil Ahmad and Besmillah, Belgian Helene de Beir, Egil Tynaes of Norway, and Dutchman Willem Kwint. Reported 2004.06.04.
Ia Grai district, Vietnam	Puih Hy, at age 40, he was a preacher for the Degar Christians. Police arrested, beat him, and tortured him repeatedly until they broke his skull. He died on May 31, 2004. Reported 2004.06.10.
Iraq	South Korean, Kim Sun-il, was beheaded on 2004.06.22, in Fullujah. He was working in Iraq as a translator for a Korean firm and was an evangelical Christian. It was reported that one of his hopes was to do missionary work in the Arab world.
China	Jiang Zongxiu, 34, was arrested on June 18 for passing out Bibles in the Guizhou province. The police claim she was "spreading rumors and inciting to disturb social order" and so were planning on holding her for fifteen days, but she died in their custody on day one. Reported 2004.07.05.
Indonesia	Preacher Susianti Tinulele, 29, shot to death just after giving a sermon when 5 men, some heavily armed, burst into her church. Four others wounded, one shot in the eye and critically wounded. Reported 2004.07.19.
Sudan	BosNewsLife.com reported a massacre of Christians that took place during the month of May Reported 2004.07.21.
Iraq	Hani Matti Betti, Christian restuarant owner in Iraq, was murdered on July 19, 2004, by militants Islamists of the Wahhabbeen group. His Muslim business partner had his hands cut off for associating with Betti.
Chile	Servite Father Faustino Gazziero de Stefani, 68, was murdered by an assailant identified as 25-year-old Rodrigo Orias Gallardo. Another church member present said Gallardo knelt down after murdering Father Stefani and invoked the name of Satan. Reported 2004.07.28.
Iraq	2004.08.01., at least five Christian Churches bombed, killing more than a dozen and wounding scores.
USA	Lindsay Cutshall, 23, and her fiance Jason Allen, 26, shot while sleeping during a camp out in Sonoma County, California. Murder goes unsolved but there may be an element of a hate crime because of their beliefs. Case is similar to another slaying in Arizona where Brandon Rumbaugh and Lisa Gurrieri where murdered in a similar fashion. Lisa sang in her church choir. Reported 2004.08.23.
Pakistan	Nasir Masih arrested falsely for the suspicion of theft on August 14, 2004, and then brutally tortured over the course of several days by the police. He died in police custody in a jail hospital on August 19, 2004. Reported 2004.08.27.
Columbia	Marxist hooded gunmen entered the church in Puerto Asis during hymn singing and opened fire on the congregation murdering 3. Reported 2004.09.08.
China	AsiaNews reported, "Bishop John Gao Kexian, 76, a reserved and timid man, died in an unknown prison in northern China. His remains were sent to his relatives at the end of August without any explanations." 2004.09.13.
Afghanistan	5 Afghan Christians were stabbed, beaten, and executed by Taliban adherents because they said the Christians had abandoned Islam and were spreading the Gospel of Christ. Reported 2004.09.13.
Iraq	Munir Toma, murdered when gunman riddled he car with bullets. His sister says it was because he was a Christian. Reported 2004.09.17.
Haiti	Minister Jean-Moles Lovinksky Bertomieux, 43, murdered on his way to work where he gave a popular radio broadcast program called, "Morning Manna". Three men were arrested in connection to the murder. Reported 2004.10.04.
Indonesia	Yahya and Sakeus were walking down a street in the village of Jono Oge, Donggala district, Indonesia, when they were murdered by sword welding assailants. Reported 2004.10.14.
Iraq	7 Christians murdered and two injured when four men sprayed their minibus with Kalashnikov fire. Reported 2004.10.15.
North Korea	After becoming a Christian and trying to share his new found faith and hope with fellow soldiers, a North Korean army general was shot dead by another army officer in 2003. Reported 2004.10.15.

Please pray for Brian O'Connor. He was recently (2004.10.26) sentenced to 300 lashes and ten months in a Saudi Arabian jail for spreading Christianity. I first reported about him on 2004.06.15, in the post titled Christian Hung Upside Down, Kicked, Beaten, Electrocuted.

Other Christians in need of prayer are Iraqi Christian women who have been targeted for death by Militant Islamic with this statement: "death to all Iraqi women who did not cover their heads”.

And:
Mr. Bouthao is the Pastor of a large house church based in the village of Saythamoung. He was arrested on the orders of the head of police for conducting worship services.

And:
Shootings of Christians Continue in Indonesia. A Christian was wounded when he was shot in the neck last Thursday on the grounds of the Bethany Church in Poso.

And:
300+ were Forced to Re-convert to Hinduism in India.

And:

In Iran, Pastor Pourmand was reborn into Christianity from Islam several years ago. He is the minister of an Assemblies of God church. On September 9th he was arrested with a number of other Christians who have since been released. However, Pastor Pourmand is still being held as a prisoner at an undisclosed location.

The Great Separation continues.

Must read!

Go. Read. NOW! - And then cry.

Some of My Favorite Posts.

For your reading pleasure/displeasure. - For those new to this blog and those that haven't noticed yet, I've added a drop down list to some of my favorite post since the first of the year.

Yeah, The Great Separation has been around since then. Actually it's more than a year old now.

I may add a favorite post or two from last year too. That's if I get the time to tip toe through the archives.

Anyway it's the last drop down list in the left column. It's the one that reads, "some of my favorite posts."

Uzbekistan Police Raid Baptist Church Service.

They hate you because of me - Igor Rotar, Forum 18 News Service's Central Asia Correspondent, has an article titled, "UZBEKISTAN: Government defies international human rights pressure.

Here is Rotar's summary of the article:

At the same time that Uzbekistan was being visited by a delegation from the official US Commission for International Religious Freedom, the police and NSS security police suddenly raided a worship service in a Baptist church which they have ignored for the past three years, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. The Pastor, Nikolai Shevchenko, was fined and warned that that, if he did not halt the activity of the church, criminal charges would be brought against him. The church's repeated attempts to gain state registration have been frustrated by the authorities, and Pastor Shevchenko suggested to Forum 18 that the raid "can scarcely be a coincidence. Tashkent is using this to try and demonstrate that it is not afraid of pressure from the international community and that it does not intend to observe international standards on the rights of believers."

Say a prayer for our brothers and sisters in Uzbekistan.

First Hand Report from Kidnaped Missionary.

The Power of Christ. - The Christian Post has the personal account from a Nepalese missionary who was abducted with other missionaries at gun point by Maoist insurgents.

It is a wonderful example of the power of our risen Savior.

It begins:

Thank you for your prayers and support for me and our team. We praise God for you and rejoice with you for the miracle of our release! Let me tell you briefly my experience.

Click over for the rest.

The New Episcopal USA Church Religion: Paganism.

Jezebel. - First it was the condoning and promoting of the sin of homosexuality, now it appears the Episcopal Church in the USA is seeking out other gods to worship.

Ted Olsen has a post on his weblog on ChristianityToday with the title, "Episcopal Church Officially Promotes Idol Worship."

Olsen begins:

Imagine for one moment that you're a leader in the Episcopal Church USA. You know that within the next few days, a global commission is going to release a report on how the global Anglican Communion should respond to your church, and is likely to be critical of the ordination of an actively homosexual man as bishop. You know, and have said yourself, that the debate isn't just about sexuality: It's about how one views the Bible. And you know that all eyes will be on your denomination over the next few weeks. What do you do?

What the real leaders of the Episcopal Church did was to take an action that makes ordaining a homosexual man as a bishop almost a non-issue. They started promoting the worship of pagan deities.

What's this about? It's about the Episcopal Church's Women's Ministry's resource website that offered a Woman's Eucharist not focusing on Christ but instead focused on the pagan deity, the Queen of Heaven.

Olsen notes that the Eucharist was taken almost in its entirety from a rite of the present day Druid clan - Tuatha de Brighid. Their rite is titled, "A Celebration of the Divine Feminine in A Eucharist to our Mother Goddess."

The ritual begins:

Halloween Question?

UPDATE:

Sorry about the broken link. I had to uninstall then re-install my word processor the other day and forgot to turn off the curly-cue quotes. That screwed up my html. Works now. guess, I better check passed posts too.

A carving we will go. - Here’s a serious question for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in light of the coming holiday.

What Christian values are found in Halloween?

Worth reading is Ambra’s post, "Halloween", she begins:

I've said it often and I'll say it again, American is more pagan than we care to admit. This Sunday, the last day of October will mark the annual celebration of what I believe to be one of the most disturbing and widely accepted holidays of the year: Halloween. I won't be celebrating, and I have my reasons.

Make sure your read her full post.

So will you be celebrating Halloween and what Christian values are found in this holiday?

Christian Carnival XXXXI

Come one, come all. - Hey folks, got an eMail this morning that Christian Carnival XXXXI (41) is up and running.

It’s being hosted this week at a wonderfully named blog: "From the Anchor Hold"

Stop on by to read the good stuff.

The Way Education Should be in Palestine.

Educating peaceful co-existence. - AsiaNews.it is running a report titled: A new day-care for Arab Christians and Muslims. It’s about a new day-care facility in the Holy Land that is in my estimation attempting to do something about the hatred in that area of the world by working with the youth.

Bethlehem (AsiaNews) – “We Franciscans in the Holy Land are happy because Bethlehem now has a beautiful, new and elegant building. In such difficult times, it is a sign of hope and courage,” Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custodian of the Holy Land, said. He and his fellow Franciscans are indeed pleased with the opening of the new day-care centre in Bethlehem’s Terra Sancta College. The building sports all the newest facilities in pre-school education for the expected 350 preschoolers, both Christian and Muslim, who will attend.

Cat Poop Coffee.

Not in my cup your not. - Okay, this is just gross.

Ananova™ reports:

A Dutch online shop is selling coffee made from cat droppings - for £14 [$26US] an ounce.

Kopi Luwak, or civet cat coffee, is produced by the civet cat in Sumatra, reports Dagblad van het Noorden.

It eats ripe coffee beans which are then hand-picked from its droppings by local people.

I’m a coffee lover, but I’m not crazy. Good grief!