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China: Christians = Superstitious that Undermine the Law
December 21, 2008

XINJIANG, China, Dec. 15 /Christian Newswire/ -- Pastor Lou Yuanqi of Uygur Autonomous Region faced trial December 15, charged with "suspicion of utilizing superstition to undermine the law" because he met with house church Christians in his home.

Pastor Lou was first detained on May 17, 2008 at 1 p.m. in Qingshuihe town, Huocheng county of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. At 11:30 p.m. the same day, Pastor Lou was transferred to Huocheng County Detention Center. He was originally detained on "inciting secession of the state," which is a serious political charge. Sources told ChinaAid that the authorities made the charge very serious because they were angry that Pastor Lou had disclosed information about being beaten in prison.

During a previous arrest on Christmas Eve 2006, Pastor Lou was badly beaten during the night by inmates at the detention center. He was injured so severely, prison officials took him to the hospital for emergency treatment. After Pastor Lou's release, a government official, posing as a journalist, called and interviewed him about his time in prison. A short time later, police arrested Pastor Lou, saying that discussing his prison experience was a crime against the state.

The charge was eventually changed to "suspicion of utilizing superstition to undermine the law" and Pastor Lou's trial was scheduled for November 18, 2008. However, the trial was rescheduled suddenly after ChinaAid published his trial date. His attorney, Li Dunyong from Gong Xin Law Firm of Beijing, has regularly been refused meetings with Pastor Lou.

This is Pastor Lou's fourth time in prison for his faith: He was imprisoned September 9, 2001 for 15 days, in January 2006 for one month and in December 2007 for a month and one week. This is the first time Pastor Lou has been detained under criminal detention, and it is likely he will face a serious indictment in court. A long sentence could lead to significant health problems for Pastor Lou, because he suffers from hepatitis B.

Pastor Lou's wife, Wang Wenxiu, recently spoke with friends of ChinaAid. She said their two daughters and son are standing firm in their faith, despite the hardship. "In the beginning, they were not use to this shame. But now they realize their dad is not suffering for himself or any crime, but for the Lord Jesus Christ. One daughter is even in full-time ministry now."

Pastor Lou's family and church continue to meet despite Pastor Lou's imprisonment. When told that Christians around the world were praying for their family, Wang asked friends to pass on this message to the international community: "Please thank them for us because this [imprisonment of Pastor Lou] is God's best will. It is His promise. It is the grace of the Lord. How could we be worthy of awakening so many brothers and sisters' prayers for us? ... I am very joyful and full of gratitude for all of the prayer support. "


Archbishop Warns of Dangers of Economic Dogma
December 21, 2008

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams warned Monday that governments should not pursue dogmatic solutions to the financial crisis at the risk of the most vulnerable, saying that is what the Nazis did.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he said Hitler's movement was based on a system of principles that "worked quite consistently once you accepted that quite a lot of people that you might have thought mattered as human beings actually didn't".

Williams, the most senior cleric in the Church of England, said that in the current climate, "what looked like a principled defence of some of our economic assumptions... seems more ragged and vulnerable than it once did".

He questioned the human costs of measures to tackle the downturn.

"What about the unique concerns and crises of the pensioner whose savings have disappeared, the Woolworth's (bankrupt store) employee, the hopeful young executive, let alone the helpless producer of goods in some Third-world environment where prices are determined thousands of miles away?" he asked.

Williams added: "How we all work is vastly complicated -- no one is pretending it isn't. But without these anxieties about the specific costs, we've lost the essential moral compass."



India Brief: Orissa Update
December 20, 2008

By Mahruaii Sailo
Karnataka, December 19 (Compass Direct News)

Orissa – Orissa police on Nov. 22 arrested three Christians on false charges of “attempting to rape and murder” in Guntaput, Koraput district. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that the coordinator of Good Shepherd Community Church (GSCC), the Rev. Abiram Singh, said that a worker from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh identified only as Nanda filed a police complaint against three believers from GSCC, Rajat Kuldip, Saliman Kondhpan and Gokul Kondhpan, for “attempting to rape and murder” a tribal woman. The woman, Radha Pangi, told Rev. Singh she had not been attacked and had no idea why the Christians were accused. The Christians were released on bail on Nov. 28. Police are now searching for another three Christians from the GSCC for questioning, according to EFI. – MS


Bangladesh: Newly Converted Christians Held Captive by Buddhist Clerics
December 18, 2008

DHAKA, Bangladesh, December 18 (Compass Direct News) – Buddhist clerics and local council officials are holding 13 newly converted Christians captive in a pagoda in a southeastern mountainous district of Bangladesh in an attempt to forcibly return them to Buddhism. A spokesman for the Parbatta Adivasi (Hill Tract) Christian Church told Compass on condition of anonymity that local government council officials in Jorachuri sub-district in Rangamati district, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Dhaka, are helping the Buddhist monks to hold the Christians against their will. “The 13 tribal Christians were taken forcefully to a pagoda on Dec. 10 to accept Buddhism against their will,” he said. “They will be kept in a pagoda for 10 days to perform the rituals to be Buddhists – their heads were shaved, and they were given yellow saffron robes to dress in.” Fearing for their lives, the source said, some area Christians have gone into hiding. Mogdhan Union Council Chairman Arun Kanti Chakma, the source said, warned that Christian converts would be ostracized, beaten, or killed. “The chairman threatened to beat the Christians unless they change their faith to Buddhism,” he said. “The chairman also threatened, ‘If you become Christian again, we will not keep you alive.’”