Author: Maxsons Import_User

  WND FAITH UNDER FIRE

Christian girls shot near church
Posted: November 9, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

Two 17-year-old Christian girls were shot yesterday in the second recent attack of its kind in Indonesia.

Washington, D.C.-based International Christian Concern said two armed men shot the girls – Siti Nuraini and another identified only as Ivon – at close range with pistols near a Pentecostal church in Poso, Central Sulawesi.

Both girls are in critical condition, in a coma.

The attacks followed the beheadings of three Christian high school students in the area late last month.

ICC said the new attack took place as 10 national police officials of the Muslim-majority nation were in Central Sulawesi probing the beheadings.

According to some reports, the perpetrators of the beheadings are in custody but have not been formally charged.

The Poso area, which has a relatively large Christian population, has seen at least 40 attacks recently against the Christian community, including shootings, killings and major bombings.

ICC says there have been no convictions or arrests in any of these attacks.

WND reported the story above today at http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47301. We need to remember to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who have to endure persecution like this.

 Although China allows "belief" in a religion, the Chinese constitution does not guarantee the right to practice that religion. Adults often face severe consequences for religious actions but generally are not required to deny their faith. However, officials attempt to weaken children's faith by encouraging them to deny Jesus altogether. According to Open Doors, Public Security Bureau officers recently burst into a Sunday school room and herded 30 children into a van. Despite the scary situation, one child started singing. The van soon was filled with song. Upon arrival at the police station, the children marched bravely into the interrogation room still singing to the Lord. Threatened with having to write "I do not believe in Jesus" 100 times before they would be released, the children instead wrote: "I believe in Jesus today. I will believe in Jesus tomorrow. I will believe in Jesus forever!" Exasperated, officials called the children's parents, some of whom denied Christ. When a widowed believer came to pick up her twin sons, she refused to deny Jesus. The officers threatened her: "If you do not deny Jesus, we will not release your sons!" The widow replied, "Well, I guess you will just have to keep them, because without Jesus, there would be no way for me to take care of them!" With no avenues left open to them, the officials said, "Take your sons and go!"

Give thanks and praise to God for the faithful witness of these children. Pray the light of their faith will brighten the spiritual darkness around them. Pray God will continue to strengthen them as they face the pressures of adulthood.

That was one of many things in the VOM Prayer Alert this week. Think about this brothers and sisters in America: what would you have done? What would your kida have done? Why? Christians in America need to get a backbone. We have a big God (well, we have the only true God) and we need to start acting like it!