Dear Christian Friends,

Three days ago, ten Christian converts from Islam in Bangladesh were attacked by Muslims who beat them with bricks and wooden clubs and threatened to burn down their homes if they did not leave their village in 24 hours.

That deadline expired without incident but Muslim fanatics also issued death threats against two leaders of the new converts.

The attack came after 42 men and women from Muslim backgrounds were baptised in a local river on 12 June.

The mob tied men and women up in their homes and seriously wounded them. Several of them required hospital treatment, and one house was destroyed in the attack.

Police rejected the Christians' attempt to file a complaint, and instead threatened to arrest them for "converting Muslims"!

Now these believers feel helpless. They have no food to eat, and in the current situation it is dangerous for aid workers to take provisions to their homes.

Authorities at the mosque banned Christians from using the village well, so now they have to carry water almost half a mile.

A local lawyer reported: "None of them can go out to work for fear of attack. Some are still in hospital. They need food, medicine and protection. They don't know if they will be forced to leave.

"But incredibly, in spite of this pressure, they have not denied their faith."

You can read more details on our website.

Thank God for the faith and perseverance of these dear ones and please pray with us that:

• They will dwell in the shelter of their almighty Father, rest in His shadow and see Him provide for their every need – spiritually and physically

• They will know the comfort of their Lord's Presence so His love will cast out their fear

• They will be strengthened by His Spirit to triumph over their wounds and discouragements and to forgive and love their enemies

• Muslims involved in the attack will be given a gift of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.

And please pray for Muslim-background believers around the world, most of whom face isolation, threats and deprivation for their decision to follow Jesus.

Thank you for praying with us.

Every blessing

– John
Communications Team
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Taken from OpenDoors.uk, 29 July 2007

This is the kind of news that would make the headlines in Singapore. It will cause the internet forums to flood, people will demand justice, countries will be locked in conflict trying to solve such humanitarian problems.

But this happened in Bangladesh, where Christianity is a minority religion. This is the place where when such injustice happens, nobody cares.

Our Christian brothers and sisters are heavily persecuted, even denied the most basic of all human needs - food, water, shelter, safety. Yet they persevere so strongly in their faith, knowing that God alone is God, and there can be no other that they will bow to. Because He is worthy.

Psalms 73 perhaps speaks so painfully accurately about the plight of these believers, and perhaps about their cry to God in the midst of suffering and blatant injustice.

1 Surely God is good to Israel,
To those who are pure in heart!
2 But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps had almost slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains in their death,
And their body is fat.
5 They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
The garment of violence covers them.
7 Their eye bulges from fatness;
The imaginations of their heart run riot.
8 They mock and wickedly speak of oppression;
They speak from on high.
9 They have set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue parades through the earth.

10 Therefore his people return to this place,
And waters of abundance are drunk by them.
11 They say, "How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?"
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
And washed my hands in innocence;
14 For I have been stricken all day long
And chastened every morning.

15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.
16 When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight
17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.

18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.

21 When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within,
22 Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24 With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works.

Jess