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CHRISTIANS FACE UNCERTAINTIES AS AFGHAN REFUGEES FORCED TO LEAVE TAJIKISTAN

Authorities in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan have just announced that Afghan refugees have to leave within 15 days or face deportation back to Afghanistan. Unofficial estimates suggest that there are 10,000-13,000 Afghan refugees living in Tajikistan, many of whom fled after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. For Afghans who oppose the Taliban or who belong to minorities oppressed by the Taliban, this is devastating news. And Christians, who are one of the groups targeted by the Taliban, are among the people who will be affected. The Taliban previously said they would kill any Christians living in the country and even went door-to-door to track down believers. Afghan church leaders were specifically targeted; many have disappeared, while others have been beaten, tortured, and killed.
According to multiple sources, over 150 Afghans were rounded up from local markets and public areas in recent weeks and deported from the country; many of these Afghans have official refugee status from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A few Christians were among those deported, while other believers were able to flee to a safer area. Families have been separated, with children being deported while their parents remain in Tajikistan; or spouses removed while their partners and children are left behind. The abrupt and aggressive nature of the deportations has caused widespread distress among the Afghan refugee community
For Christians especially, this repatriation could put their lives at serious risk, as the Taliban is violently opposed to the existence of any believers in Afghanistan.” [Source: Open Doors]

CHRISTIANS WHO CHOSE TO REMAIN IN GAZA CAUGHT IN SAME CRISES
Gaza (MNN) — Tom Doyle, president of Uncharted Ministries (UM), talks with Christians on both sides of the war. Here are their perspectives: “We hear of Israeli Defense soldiers praying for people in Gaza.‘We want to get rid of Hamas,’ they say, ‘not the innocent people,’” said Doyle. “That’s a story you wouldn’t see on the news, but it’s real.” Doyle said many areas of Gaza have plenty of food, but many others have no food getting to them. UM works with the Baptist Church in Gaza, which is distributing aid. But even for those who are able to receive provisions, it’s not so simple. “As one of the Muslim-background believers told us: ‘We have two enemies. The first is Hamas, and the second is everybody outside of our tent, because people are stealing our food,’” said Doyle.
Palestinian believers have chosen a different goal: “Some of them had a chance to leave during this war, and they chose to stay to spread the gospel,” said Doyle. “Can you imagine having a family and choosing to stay when you have young kids in the midst of the war? We’re praying for the believers there through all of this, that they survive. They’re caught in the middle of it. ”
 PRAY for the safety and well-being of the Palestinian people, especially the children, and for the believers in Gaza to endure the difficult circumstances. Pray for the spread of the Gospel in Gaza, and for the believers who have chosen to stay and minister to their fellow Palestinians.

CHRISTIAN-MAJORITY NATIONS IN DECLINE, NEW STUDY FINDS
The number of countries where Christians make up more than half the population has dropped, according to a new report from the Pew Research Centre. Between 2010 and 2020, four countries, including the UK, Australia and France, lost their Christian-majority status, as more people in those countries now identify as having no religion. In the UK and France, no religious group now holds a majority. Uruguay, the Netherlands and New Zealand have become majority non-religious nations. Christianity remained the largest religion in 120 out of 201 countries and territories as of 2020, but that’s down from 124 a decade earlier.
The drop is linked mostly to people leaving the Christian faith and an increase in those identifying as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”. Speaking to Premier Christian Radio, Yunping Tong, senior researcher at the Pew Research Center, said: “Only two categories grew as a share of the global population: Muslims and the religiously unaffiliated. But the reasons for their growth are quite different.” She added: “Muslims grew fast because they tend to be younger and have more children. The unaffiliated group, however, isn’t growing through birthrates but through people, especially people who claimed to be Christians, leaving the religion they were raised in.” [Source: Premier Christian News]

CHRISTIANS FACE MORE HARASSMENT AS UK BECOMES MORE SECULAR
Police have been criticised after an incident in which Muslims allegedly intimidated and assaulted a Christian preacher who was discussing Islam. It is alleged that the police threatened to arrest the preacher rather than those he said were threatening him. The incident occurred in Bristol when Pastor Dia Moodley was preaching in the city centre. Moodley was talking about the differences between Islam and Christianity and was holding a Quran as he did so. In response, he says a Muslim bystander threatened to stab him, while another tried to punch his wife. Moodley said he was then pinned to the ground by the Muslims, and that they tried to steal his Quran on the grounds that it was their book rather than his. Eventually the incident was defused when a senior inspector arrived at the scene and told Moodley that he would not be arrested. Moodley has filed a complaint against Avon and Somerset Police over the incident. [Source: Premier Christian News]

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS THE APPOINTMENT OF THE NEW ARCHBISHOP OF WALES
Cherry Vann has been entrusted with the spiritual leadership of a Church while publicly rejecting the moral standards it is called to uphold. “The announcement that Cherry Vann is to become Archbishop of Wales marks a new and disturbing chapter in the story of the Church in Wales,” says Christian Concern’s Andrea Williams. Williams continued: “Vann is openly living in a same-sex civil partnership with another woman, a lifestyle in direct defiance of the Bible’s teaching on sexuality and marriage. That she has now been elevated to the highest ecclesiastical office in Wales reveals the full extent to which the Church of Wales  has abandoned the gospel it once preached. The Bible is not ambiguous on matters of sexual ethics. From Genesis to Revelation, scripture affirms that marriage is a sacred, covenantal union between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4–6). This is not a matter of interpretation. It is the plain and historic teaching of the Church, grounded in God’s Word and reaffirmed throughout the centuries. By contrast, Cherry Vann is living openly in a way that the Bible describes as sinful. And more than that, she has been entrusted with the spiritual leadership of a Church while publicly rejecting the moral standards it is called to uphold.” After her appointment, Bishop Vann, who became the first female and LGBTQ+ leader of the church in Wales, told the BBC the church should represent “the diversity that is in our communities”.
Despite the controversial appointment, the Church in Wales has said it will not respond to criticism of Cherry Vann’s sexuality following her election as Archbishop of Wales. The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has publicly rejected her election as the new Archbishop of Wales. The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Gafcon), which represents conservative views, described her appointment as “another painful nail in the coffin of Anglican orthodoxy”. [Sources: Premier Christian News, BBC News and Anglican Communion]

– complied by Guido Kettniss