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 n a departure from our usual pattern, in
this issue of Glimpses we take a look at a twentieth-century phenomenon
in Christian history that has urgent relevance for us today. More Christians
have died for their faith in this current century than all other centuries
of church history combined. To fill us in on this little known and shocking
holocaust we welcome guest contributor and journalist Dan Wooding who
has reported first hand from most of the present day lion's dens for Christians.
 order back issues of this story
When we finally met in Moscow, Alexander Ogorodnikov peered at me over
his "granny" reading glasses. "Thank you for caring!"
he said, his voice choking with emotion.
The Russian dissident, wearing a dark, pinstriped suit and sporting a
ponytail, had spent seven lonely years in the former Soviet prison system,
or Gulag. He had been convicted of running a Christian discussion group
for other students at the Moscow State University, where he was studying
film making.
I had first learned of his plight from a letter he had written to former
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The letter was published by Keston College,
a British-based organization that monitored persecution in the former
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In the letter, Ogorodnikov told Gorbachev
that he had been in prison for five years and had not received one letter
or a visit from any Christian.
"Have Me Executed"
"I know it is a sin to commit suicide, but I am so lonely that I
wish to ask you to have me executed by firing squad," he wrote.
After reading his appeal, I immediately organized a letter-writing and
prayer campaign on his behalf in the United States. Within weeks, thousands
of letters had arrived at his camp, and waves of prayer went up to heaven
on his behalf. Soon, his case came to the attention of then British Prime
Minister, Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher interceded with Gorbachev on Ogorodnikov's
behalf, and the prisoner was released. Now running a soup kitchen for
Moscow's homeless, Ogorodnikov told me, "You don't know what it was
like to discover that there were Christians who cared -- who wanted me
to live and who loved me."
Worldwide Persecution Continues
Now that freedom has come to the former Soviet Union, Ogorodnikov and
thousands of other Christian prisoners have been released and are free
to share their faith openly with others.
That is not the case in many other countries, such as Sudan. In six years,
more than 1.3 million Christians and other non-Muslim people have been
killed in this African nation -- more than Bosnia, Chechnya and Haiti
combined.
"Sudan is characterized by the total or near complete absence of
civil liberties," said Christian activist Nina Shea, during US Congressional
Human Rights Caucus hearings. "Individual Christians, including clergy,
have over the past few years . . . been assassinated, imprisoned, tortured
and flogged for their faith."
That pattern is being repeated in country after country around the world,
often in areas where Islam is strong. Christians in North America can
easily forget the daily danger in which their sisters and brothers overseas
live. We don't realize that our peaceful existence here isn't the standard
experience of Christians around the world.
This Is The Age of Martyrs
In a recent article, Justin D. Long emphasized the startling fact that
more people have died for their faith in the Twentieth Century than in
all of the previous centuries combined. “During this century, we
have documented cases in excess of 26 million martyrs. From AD 33 to 1900,
we have documented 14 million martyrs.”
He did add, however, that thankfully martyrdom has been on the decline
for the past decade. "The current rate is 159,000 martyrs per year
-- down from 330,000 per year at the height of the cold war. With the
demise of the Soviet Union and its sponsored communism, religious freedoms
have opened up. Although there are still numerous restrictions and some
persecution, martyrdom -- in the form of executions and assassinations
-- has been significantly curtailed."
Worst Genocide of the Century
Possibly the worst organized killings of Christians in this century took
part in Turkey. Paul Marshall in his book, Their Blood Cries Out,
co-authored with Lila Gilbert, wrote, "Although Turkey is now a country
with relatively few Christians, this was not always the case. Less than
one hundred years ago, Turkey, or rather its Ottoman predecessor, was
about 30 percent Christian. This situation changed when some two million
ethnic Armenian Christians were massacred between 1905 and 1918, a genocide
which the Turkish government still denies. Many of the remaining Christians
fled immediately. Others facing death threats, systemic harassment, and
discrimination, followed them later."
Uganda Holocaust
Much of the persecution in recent years has been taking place in predominately
Islamic nations. Idi Amin, the self-appointed President for Life, a Muslim,
seized power in Uganda in a coup in 1971 and soon he and his brutal followers
began to try to set up the Islamic State of Uganda with funds from Saudi
Arabia and Libya.
The problem they faced was that many of the population were devout Christians
and so they began a systematic killing that is almost beyond belief. .
. . By the end of his reign of terror in 1979 when he was toppled by Tanzanian
troops, some 500,000 Ugandans had been murdered, 300,000 of which were
believers.
China's Struggling Christians
China is a land where Christians, particularly those in the underground
church, are often under attack. China recently launched a campaign of
persecution against Christians who are not registered in the official
state church. According to Compass Direct News Service, the campaign stems
largely from government fear that the huge number of Christians in China
could be swiftly galvanized into a vast antigovernment movement.
Although estimates of the number of China's Christians begin as low as
10 million, those with access to China's unregistered house churches place
the total at 50 million. Some observers have estimated the number to be
as high as 90 million. Whatever the actual number, even if it is the lower
estimate, this represents an incredible saga of survival and growth of
the community of believers under sustained government hostility and opposition.
Chiapas
The Southern Mexico State of Chiapas has seen an incredible situation
for the Indians there who have accepted Christ. During the past 30 years,
30,000 have been driven from their homes and hundreds have been murdered.
David Tamez, Executive Director of Latin American Indian Ministries,
said, "Around 5,000 Indians have run away from their own communities
to save their lives and in search for a better and safe refuge for their
families. In 1997 we have seen one of the most difficult years for the
Chiapas people, where over 60% are evangelicals, because at least 500
people were killed in different villages for the 'crime' of embracing
the Christian faith."
We Can Make a Difference
In an editorial in Christianity Today, David Neff points out that
American Christians do not lead typical Christian lives. "The typical
Christian lives in a developing country, speaks a non-European language,
and exists under the constant threat of persecution -- of murder, imprisonment,
torture, or rape," he says.
"The persecutor's sword dangles by a hair over Christians in the
still-communist countries and in lands where the rising tide of Islamism
overwhelms political efforts at fairness, tolerance, and due process."
("Our Extended Persecuted Family," April 29, 1996).
The persecution of Christians did not end with the collapse of the Roman
or even the Russian empire. It's still alive around the world. Like Alexander
Ogorodnikov, our persecuted brothers and sisters need to know that the
world holds other Christians who care and who love them.
Is there anything we can do for persecuted Christians? Yes. We can pray.
And we can support ministries that work to bring these Christians liberty.
Help for Persecuted Christians
If you would like more information on how you can help persecuted Christians,
contact the following organizations, which specialize in helping persecuted
believers:
Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times (ASSIST)
PO Box 2126
Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126
(714) 530-6598
Open Doors
PO Box 27001
Santa Ana, CA 92799
(714) 752-6600
For up-to-date information online, see http://www.newsroom.org. This
is a resource for journalists giving background stories from around the
world, many on religious persecution.
The writer of this issue, Dan Wooding, is an award-winning
British journalist now living in Southern California, where he is
the founder and international director of ASSIST. He is also the author
of 35 books, the latest of which is Blind Faith, which he co-authored
with his 88-year-old mother about her life as a pioneer missionary
in Nigeria. Wooding is a commentator on the UPI Radio Network in Washington,
DC. |
