Persecuted Church

Voice of the Martyrs reports that Christians in the Gojra section of Pakistan have been killed by radical Muslims. The Christians were alleged to have desecrates the Quran during a wedding. Eight Christians were killed, including women and children. More than 100 Christian homes were burned by a mob. The mob, which was estimated to be more than 20,000 people, also burned a church. Emergency personnel did not reach Gojra for more than five hours. Christians were forced to use vegetable carts to move their dead and wounded to the hospital. Responding to an international outcry, Pakistani government officials have now said no Quran was desecrated. The government promised to help rebuild the burned homes of Christian families. The incident took place August 1. Pray for the Persecuted Church.

Christian woman killed by Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan – Taliban gunmen on a motorbike killed a Christian aid worker in the Afghan capital on Monday, and the militant group said it had targeted the woman because she was proselytizing.

The woman, a British national, worked with handicapped Afghans and was killed in the western part of Kabul as she was walking alone around 8 a.m., police said. Najib Samsoor, a district police chief, originally said the woman was from South Africa, but the British government later said she was British.

The gunmen shot the victim in the body and leg with a pistol, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. Officials did not release her name.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the slaying, saying the woman was killed because she was spreading Christianity.

"This woman came to Afghanistan to teach Christianity to people of Afghanistan," Mujahid told the Associated Press. "Our (leaders) issued a decree to kill this woman. This morning our people killed her in Kabul."

(From various sources in today's news)

Persecuted Church - China

Word has come that the Chinese arrested Pastor Zhang "Bike" Mingxuan two days before the Olympics began. Voice of the Martyrs reports that Pastor "Bike" was the inspiration for the Olympic Prayer Bands many of us are wearing. So much for freedom of religion.