Russians arrest Korean pastor
Open Doors
Russian authorities have arrested South Korean pastor, Baek Kwang-Soon, in Vladivostok on espionage charges, Russian press agency TASS reported.
Global Love Rice Sharing Foundation, Baek’s employer, states that the pastor was engaged in helping North Korean escapees, local Thai workers, and Russians struggling to make ends meet. Pastor Baek was also helping North Korean loggers and construction workers who required medical attention and sought support living in the province of Primorsky of Russia.
Pastor Baek’s arrest marks the beginning of a comprehensive crackdown by the Russian government on all missionary activities aimed at aiding North Koreans in Russia.
Two Pakistani Christians die
Mission Network News
Two Pakistani Christian sanitation workers died after being sent into a sewer in Faisalabad without any protective equipment. Cousins Shan Masih, 28, and Asif Masih, 25, suffocated on 17 March after inhaling poisonous gases while attempting to clear a blockage in the sewer. The cousins each leave a wife and three children. Marginalised Christians in Muslim-majority Pakistan often work the lowest-paid, dirtiest and most dangerous jobs, such as sanitation workers, often without proper protective equipment.
Human Rights Focus Pakistan President Naveed Walter stated that the men were “forced” to enter the sewer without being given protective gear, such as masks. This is despite a 2015 court order requiring local authorities to ensure such protection is provided.
“Such incidents involving sanitary workers are not new; they have been happening for years,” said Walter, who pointed out that Christians currently make up 90% of sanitation workers in Faisalabad. In 2021 two Christian sanitation workers died saving a Christian colleague tasked with clearing a sewer in Sargodha, Punjab province. None of the men was supplied with any protective equipment.
Laos house church reopens
Barnabas Aid
The small house church in southern Laos attacked by residents and village leaders in February is now reopening under the protection of district authorities.
On Sunday February 4 a mob of residents and village authorities tore down the house where Christians in Kaleum Vangke village in Savannakhet province’s Xonboury district were gathered and interrupted the worship service. The attackers also burned Bibles and other documents. Ministry of Public Security officials have since stepped in to protect the Christians’ right to worship, a resident of the village and church member stated at the end of February.
“[The officials] announced that from now on, our fellow Christians can resume worship,” he said. “So, starting this week, we’re rebuilding our place of worship. Right now, we’re putting wooden planks back up.” Another churchgoer added that while the building is being repaired, the church will still meet for worship.
“The village authorities and other non-Christian villagers are still threatening us, threatening to tear down our place of worship again,” he said. “But we are getting stronger now. We’re not afraid to get together at that house anymore.”
Many Fulani turning to Christ
Voice of the Martyrs
Fulanis are a tribal people found mostly in the neighbouring West African countries of Niger and Nigeria. The northern of the two countries, Niger, lies largely in the Sahara Desert, has a population of about 25 million and is 97% Muslim. Nigeria, to the south, has a population of around 200 million (by far the largest in Africa), of whom half identify as Christian and almost half as Muslim. But the aggression and brutality of many Fulani in Nigeria have given their tribe a bad name.
The so-called Fulani herdsmen are in reality an Islamic terrorist group who, in collaboration with Boko Haram, have overrun Christian regions across northern and central Nigeria, burning and murdering without any serious intervention from the national (Muslim-led) government.
In neighbouring Niger, however, growing numbers of Fulani are turning to Christ. About twenty years ago a vibrant outreach ministry began through the initiative of a man who first heard the gospel from foreign missionaries. When his own family and others of his tribal friends became Christians, they formed an evangelistic group that has moved around the country proclaiming the gospel with much apparent blessing. They estimate the number of converts to be in the thousands.
But whereas many of Niger’s Fulani are open to the gospel, large numbers of militants aggressively oppose the gospel. People who become followers of Christ know they will face opposition somewhere. Because literacy in Niger is low, local evangelists and pastors make extensive use of solar-powered audio Bibles in sharing the gospel and discipling believers.
– compiled by Barney Zwartz