In mailboxes this week!

Look for the March issue of The Voice of the Martyrs newsletter in your mailbox this week!

In this issue:

• No God for the Malays: Malaysia is often upheld as the ideal model of a moderate Islamic society, abounding in cultural and religious tolerance. But the appearance of tolerance vanishes when ethnic Malays decide to convert from Islam to another religion. Read about several Malays who have faced the consequences for turning to Christ.

• Secret visit: The Malaysian government has called them places for Muslims to strengthen their faith, but for Christians who have left Islam, their experience is entirely different. Gary Lane brings you a short update on these Islamic Purification Centres with a special video link to view his report.

• Bibles for difficult situations: From William Tyndale’s small “pirate” edition Bible to a tiny Russian New Testament, printing methods have changed to accommodate getting Bibles into difficult areas, especially those hostile to the gospel. Read what VOM offices are doing to support such projects.

• Update on Somchi: You read her story in our Special Edition, now learn how Somchi of Laos is doing since her Bible was blamed for making her mother sick.

• Save the Date! Don’t miss the launch of VOM’s youth initiative Thirteen Three on Friday, April 13th and our Standing in the Fire prayer conference on Saturday, April 14th—both in Calgary, Alberta.

The Voice of the Martyrs newsletter is the flagship publication of The Voice of the Martyrs in Canada. Published monthly, it is available free of charge to anyone in Canada who requests it.

You can subscribe online here.

Chinese Bible exhibition called 'propaganda' by house church leaders

A deceptive exhibit in the United States that displays Chinese Bibles is causing North Americans to believe there is religious freedom in China, say three former Chinese house church leaders.

According to VOM partner, ChinaAid, the Christian leaders – who were all imprisoned in China for their beliefs – voiced their disdain for the display while visiting the exhibition "Thy Word is Truth" on the campus of Dallas Theological Seminary. The exhibition has already been viewed in Washington, D.C. and Chicago.

On November 1, a forum regarding the exhibition was held at Northwest Bible Church in Dallas. The participants – representatives of China's government-controlled church and two professors from Dallas Theological Seminary – strongly supported the notion that China respects religious freedom and that scriptures are readily available to all believers. However, this is simply not the case.

Despite the government-run Amity Press' reports that millions of Bibles have been published in China, about two-thirds of them are exported, leaving many Christians without a Bible (for more on the need for Bibles in China, click here).

Please pray along with ChinaAid's founder and president, Bob Fu: "We hope and pray to our Lord Jesus Christ that China's house churches can soon be legally recognized, that all our brothers and sisters who are in prison for the sake of their faith would be quickly released, and that the Bible in China could be freely printed and transported."

To learn more, watch this four-minute interview with the Chinese house church leaders. For more information on persecution in China, visit our China Country Report.

Imported Bibles seized by Iranian government

The Iranian government is expressing great concern over the large volume of Bibles entering the country, reports Mohabat News.

Authorities reportedly seized 6,500 Bibles in transit between the cities of Zanjan and Abhar in northwest Iran.

An Iranian official recently stated that “missionaries with reliance on huge money and propaganda are trying to deviate our youth.” He also expressed his concern that “religions are strengthening their power to confront Islam.”

Prior to this, in November 2010, police officers and revolutionary guards seized 300 Bibles and burned them.

Please pray with us!

• Pray the Word of the Lord will continue to go forth in Iran and that many will come to embrace Christ as their Saviour.
• Pray Iranian believers will never be ashamed of the gospel because, through its power, God brings salvation (Romans 1:16).
• Pray for strength and insight for all those involved in ministry in Iran.

The need for Bibles in China

A woman reads a Bible at a home-church meeting.

Back in April, we printed a story in our monthly newsletter by Paul Hattaway with Asia Harvest, asking “Are Bibles Still Needed in China?”

There has long been much conflicting information revolving around:

1. the number of Bibles printed in China,
2. their accessibility to believers in both government-sanctioned churches and house churches, and
3. the need for outside organizations to provide more Bibles.

On Friday, our partner mission China Aid Association, published a recent interview with Paul. If you’ve been wondering about the need for Bibles in China, please take a few moments to read this interview. It’s worth your time.

CLICK HERE to read “An Emergency in China: Interview with Paul Hattaway on the Shortage of Bibles in China Today.”

Be blessed!

Canadian kids raise funds for Bibles in China

Kids from Wetaskiwin, Alberta, raised money
to print and deliver Bibles in China.

In early July, Calvary Baptist Church in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, hosted a VBS program in its community. One of the organizers, Tammy Issler, suggested the kids gain experience in missions work by raising funds to print and deliver Bibles in China.

Tammy learned about the opportunity to provide Bibles to Chinese Christians in VOM's April newsletter and quarterly children’s magazine, where we reported that Bibles are still in great need in China, despite misleading reports that state otherwise (to subscribe to these free resources, click here).

Tammy’s kids in the VBS program were excited to get involved! They did chores around the home in exchange for money to go towards the donation. Her son, age 11, dried the dishes, vacuumed, cleaned the basement, straightened his room and mowed their large backyard. Meanwhile, Tammy’s daughter, age 8, cleaned the bathroom, folded and hung up laundry, and cleaned up her sister’s bedroom.

Approximately 37 children attended the program. They, too, responded enthusiastically to the challenge to raise funds for Bibles in China. During the one-week program, $590 was donated while another $360 was raised at the VBS’s closing evening event. The church’s Christian Education board matched the donated amount, meaning $1,900 was raised! This money will provide Christians in China the opportunity to read and study God’s Word.

Is your church hosting a VBS program this summer? Consider how you could encourage the kids in your church to sacrifice their time or allowance money to make a difference in the lives of their persecuted family around the world!

Muslim clerics call for Bible ban in Pakistan

Bibles to be banned in Pakistan?

Radical clerics at a Lahore mosque have launched a campaign asking Pakistan’s Supreme Court to declare certain biblical passages blasphemous, reports CNS News. The lawyers say they will move for the Bible to be banned formally across the nation.

The campaigners claim particular passages of the Bible are blasphemous, because they depict Muslim-respected characters as flawed or immoral. Among biblical figures respected by Muslims as prophetic figures are characters such as David, who the Bible describes as being an adulterer and murderer.

The initiative is being spearheaded by Abdul Rauf Farooqi, leader of Islamist organization Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Sami-ul-Haq (JUI-S). Farooqi said the political action is in response to the Qur’an burning by Florida pastor Terry Jones in March 2011.

However, Asif Aqeel, director of the Lahore-based Community Development Initiative, said Pakistani society should understand that the Christian community should not be punished for the act of any international individual.

Aqeel said JUI-S needs to remember that not even Mohammed banned the Bible despite his knowledge of the Bible’s different viewpoint.

Naveed Walter, the president of Human Rights Focus Pakistan told CNS News that he was shocked to hear about the Islamists’ plan to attack Christians in this way. “They usually attack individuals, groups, churches and communities of Christians, by falsely accusing them of blasphemy,” he said. “But this time they are planning to ban even the Bible in Pakistan. The extremists have crossed all limitations of extremism.”

The Christian community of Pakistan is being encouraged to respond to this danger without fear, trusting God to protect His Word as He has for thousands of years.

You can read the full article here.

You can help by praying!

• Pray Pakistani Christians will remember that God has preserved His Word for centuries and will continue to do so.
• Pray they will remember that the sacred writings of the Bible “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).
• Pray that, as the apostle Paul, they would not be ashamed of the gospel, “for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

Detained Bibles released in Malaysia

A seized Bible is stamped with the inscription
"For Christians Only."

Two shipments totaling approximately 30,000 Bibles detained by Malaysian port authorities in January were recently released, reported VOM USA and AsiaNews.

Authorities seized the Bibles, which had been imported from Indonesia for distribution in schools, churches and longhouses, because they claimed they could cause a conflict with an ongoing court case involving use of the word "Allah" in a Catholic newspaper.

Most Christians, however, believe the government is worried that the Bibles will be distributed to Muslim Malays, and see the seizure as part of a systematic plan to deny access to the Bible in Malay. Authorities had taken similar action in March 2009, when they detained 5,100 copies of the Good News Bible in Malay in Port Klang.

The government's decision to release this recent shipment came with the condition that the books are stamped with a serial number and the inscription "For Christians Only" on the cover. Malaysian Christian leaders have refused these terms, fearing the government would use the serial numbers to track the Bibles and penalize those who accepted them.

At last report, the Malaysian Bible Society has rejected the restrictions placed on the Bibles and is refusing to collect them.

Praise God for the release of these Bibles. Pray Christians in Malaysia will remain faithful in spite of opposition from those in authority. Pray they will know that they are not alone, but part of the Body of Christ. Pray these Bibles will somehow get into the hands of those who long for the life and truth found through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).