* EGYPT - CHRISTIAN BEHEADED AND TWO OTHERS INJURED IN STABBINGS

* CHINA - CHURCH DEMOLISHED AND CHRISTIANS BEATEN UNCONSCIOUS

* BANGLADESH - WIFE AND DAUGHTER BEATEN BY FATHER FOR BECOMING CHRISTIANS

* SUDAN - ABDUCTIONS SPREAD FEAR AMONG CHRISTIANS

* EGYPT - GIRL ABDUCTED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

* EGYPT - MUSLIMS CELEBRATE AS CHURCH SET ABLAZE

* KOSOVO - CONCERNS OVER RISE OF ISLAMIC RADICALS

EGYPT - CHRISTIAN BEHEADED AND TWO OTHERS INJURED IN STABBINGS

Shopkeeper George Abdu, 63, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen by a Muslim on 16 September in al-Bagur town, northern Egypt. As George fell to the ground, the killer, 35-year-old Galal Nasr el-Dradiri, continued his attack by beheading his victim. El-Dradiri then resumed his spree of violence; he drove to nearby Bamahai and stabbed Bolis Eid Messiha, then on to another village to attack a third Christian, Hany Barsom Soliman. Messiha was hospitalised and had to be operated on five times, while Soliman suffered lacerations but managed to fight off his attacker. Dradiri was arrested on 17 September in Cairo and has been charged with murder.

Angered by the attacks, Egyptian Christians gathered in protest of what seems to be orchestrated violence. Protestors carried signs that read "Where are you, government? The terrorists are going to kill us." Sources confirm that Egyptian police have been monitoring local Christians and even tracking telephone conversations of clergy members. According to a leading member of the church in Egypt, "There is anger among the Christians because they feel their blood has been made cheap."

/• Pray for those who mourn George Abdu and for the other victims and their families, that they will know the comfort and healing hand of the Lord Jesus at this time.

• Pray that the Egyptian police and authorities will bring Dradiri to justice, and that they will uphold laws that are in place to protect Christians from such violence./

CHINA - CHURCH DEMOLISHED AND CHRISTIANS BEATEN UNCONSCIOUS

At least ten Christians have been left severely injured after a mob of 400 people dressed as police stormed a Christian factory in Linfin City, Shanxi Province, China on Sunday 13 September. At 3:00am, a mob descended on the site, where a new church was being built. Mechanical diggers were used to demolish the buildings on the church compound, including a factory, while members of the mob, armed with bricks and other blunt instruments, attacked church members who were sleeping at the construction site.

The Christians were driven out of the factory and watched in horror as the attackers smashed windows and doors, destroyed the building's foundations and used bricks and other implements to attack people. The factory's business licence was stolen in the attack and one worshipper reported, "The mob also stole money and mobile phones from inside our bags."

Men and women were beaten unconscious but when they were taken to hospital, the local emergency room was instructed to withhold treatment and prohibit blood transfusions. Power, water and phone signals to the factory were cut off, guards were stationed to monitor all the supply lines running to the factory and members of the church are still being watched by the authorities, having been forbidden from leaving home since the attack.

Christians recognised some of their attackers as local government officials and police and it has been reported that they deliberately disposed of the evidence and cleaned up some of the mess to hide their involvement. Following the attack, thousands of church members gathered at the site in grief and shock at the scale of the devastation.

/• Please join with the Christian workers and community members to pray that the authorities will bring to justice those responsible for the violence. Pray that the Chinese government will take action to guarantee the religious freedom of its citizens.

• Pray that those injured in the attack will continue to receive medical treatment and will feel the Lord's hand of healing over them./

BANGLADESH - WIFE AND DAUGHTER BEATEN BY FATHER FOR BECOMING CHRISTIANS

A Bangladeshi woman, Khainur, and her daughter Arifa have been brutally beaten by her husband following their conversion to Christianity. The beatings began when it emerged that their son, Jahirul, had became a Christian. Jahirul had moved to Sydney, Australia, in 2006 to attend university. In June 2009, his father started to pressure him to marry a Muslim woman, a plan the son rejected because of his Christian faith.

When the husband heard this, he became very angry and began to beat Khainur, accusing her of allowing their son to study abroad. She was also forbidden to talk to their son. Neither her relatives nor the police would help her, but Jahirul urged his mother to contact the Bangladeshi pastor who had first set him on the path to knowing Christ. The pastor became her only support. Before long, Khainur and her eldest daughter Arifa had also "found the love of Christ".

In September, Khainur told her husband that she too had converted to Christianity. Enraged, he tied his wife and daughter up and brutally beat them in front of the younger daughters. He also burned a copy of the Bible, threatening to give them "similar treatment". Arifa says, "We pray regularly that one day my father might find the love of Christ. I forgive him even if he beat me like a dog. I am not afraid to be burnt by my father as he did with the Bible."

/• Pray that the Lord will sustain Khainur, Arifa and Jahirul as they endure this cruel treatment for following the Lord Jesus.

• Pray that Aminul, the father, and his other children would come to know Christ./

SUDAN - ABDUCTIONS SPREAD FEAR AMONG CHRISTIANS

In September, 20,000 Christians walked bare foot for two miles in sacrificial prayer as a sign of protest of the government's inability to protect the region, following a month of abductions and bloodshed.

Last month, we reported on the attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army in South Sudan, where thousands of Christians were forced to flee their villages. This month, more details of the horror of the attacks have emerged. In August, a gang from the LRA stormed a church in Yambio and desecrated the building before abducting 17 teenagers and young people. Of those who disappeared, one was found dead, tied to a tree and mutilated. Only three returned the next day; the rest remain unaccounted for. A week later, six Christians were ambushed in a forest and nailed to pieces of wood. It has been reported that those who found the bodies some days later "likened it to a grotesque crucifixion scene". There have since been reports of a further twelve people being abducted from another village.

The recent events have spread fear among the Christians in Sudan as it seems that the authorities are powerless to deal with the problem of the LRA. One church leader reports "what happened in August was such a huge shock to us...people kept coming to me with such suffering in their eyes begging me to do something about the situation - to get back their children and grandchildren who have disappeared."

/• Pray that the Lord Jesus will protect His people, and that those who have been kidnapped will return safely to their families.

• Pray for those who have lost family members in the recent violence in South Sudan and other African countries, and for the families of those who are still missing. Pray that they will remain strong in their faith and trust in Him.

• Ask the Lord Jesus to change the hearts of those who are carrying out the violence./

EGYPT - GIRL ABDUCTED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

19-year-old Amal Estephanos has been abducted in broad daylight by a group of Muslims on Saturday 12 September. Witnesses say that Amal was drugged and bundled into a pickup truck with the assistance of local villagers. She has been taken to Aswan City and will most likely be raped and forced to convert to Islam, as so often happens to Egyptian Christian girls who are kidnapped by Muslims.

On 15 July, Marian Bishay (15) was kidnapped on her way to collect dinner for her family from the local restaurant, 50m from her home in Giza, Egypt.

These are just two examples of the dozens of such cases every year in Egypt in which Christian girls are abducted and compelled to marry Muslims. The police will rarely do anything to assist, though in the case of Marian they eventually issued a missing person report after much pressure was put on them by her family.

/• Pray for Amal, that she will keep her faith in the Lord Jesus, despite any coercion she may face and that our Heavenly Father will keep her strong and faithful during this time.

• Please pray that Marian will be found and restored to her family. Pray for many other Egyptian Christian girls in the same situation./

EGYPT - MUSLIMS CELEBRATE AS CHURCH SET ABLAZE

A prominent Christian church has been gutted by fire in the town of Shebin el Kom, 60km northwest of Cairo. The blaze started in the afternoon, on 9 September, when the building was locked and empty. It began at the central entrance door and spread inside to damage the church's interior. People tried to get in to help, but the building was locked. No casualties were reported. One witness stated "It was very frustrating to see the church burning inside and fire tongues coming out of the windows. We just stood there helplessly watching."

By the time the fire brigade arrived, the church was completely gutted, with much of the interior reduced to ashes. Even though the electricity had been switched off before locking the church, police immediately blamed an electrical fault before carrying out an arson investigation. Many local people believe the fire was arson because Muslims had often threatened to firebomb the church.

The congregation have suffered constant harassment since the church re-opened after refurbishment a year ago. Christians have been pestered, insulted and threatened by local Muslims, dirty water has been thrown at them as they walked to church and Qur'an chanting has been played over loudspeakers during services.

As the church burned, Muslims nearby were elated and celebrated loudly. This is just the latest example of the terrible persecution that Christians are facing in Egypt, where anti-Christian violence has suddenly escalated, according to the number of reports received recently.

/• Pray for members of the church, that they may be able to find love and forgiveness for the perpetrators of this crime, and that this attitude will cause those who oppose the church to see Christians in a favourable light.

• Pray that Christians in this village will stand strong together and be able to find alternative places to meet together and encourage one another in the Lord./

KOSOVO - CONCERNS OVER RISE OF ISLAMIC RADICALS

Gjon Mehaj converted from Islam to Christianity in early August 2009, along with 20 members of his family. Before and after his act of faith, he received a number of anonymous threats from radical Muslim groups and on 20 August, his house was burnt to the ground.

This is just one illustration of the anti- Christian surge in Kosovo, where Islamic radicals are threatening a religious war against Albanian Christians, some of whom have left Islam for the Christian faith of their ancestors. Mehaj reports that a group called the "Islamic Defence Organisation of Kosovo" has declared that "as faithful Muslims we have managed to agree on some projects in order to defend our religion. This is aimed at stopping ... the conversion of families like that of Mehaj and others. Our project will be implemented very soon by activating our forces in the whole of Kosovo. Our jihad will be ready if anyone attacks Islam. If the Church thinks it can convert the Albanian Muslims to Christianity, then a religious war is to be expected between Christians and Muslims."

/• Pray for Mehaj and others like him, that the persecution directed towards them will not defeat their hearts or their faith.

• Pray that the authorities in Kosovo will protect the Christian minority and that the Lord Jesus will help them to stay strong in their faith./

International Website: http://www.barnabasfund.org

October 5 October 2009