Christian Freedom International

KATHMANDU, NEPAL (Christian Freedom International) -- Life in the brickyards often seems hopeless for those caught in its miserable trap—long days, grueling work, and minimal pay that doesn’t afford even the most basic of life’s necessities.

Young children work alongside their parents, struggling for years to repay family debts through the exhausting chore of making bricks. In the brickyards of Nepal, there is no access to education, medical care, or even enough food or decent housing for these suffering families.

But the approaching rainy season will force most laborers to temporarily leave the brickyards and relocate to nearby riverside or slum areas.

Many of the brick laborers are converts to Christianity and face harassment and persecution for their faith. Christian Freedom International helps new converts with food, medicine, medical care, Bibles, clothes, and shelter.

In a nation that was once called the world’s only “Hindu Kingdom,” Christianity has been growing at a remarkable rate. Nepal’s Christian population is estimated to be over 800,000, with approximately 170 churches in Kathmandu, the nation’s capital.

But Christians are still a minority in this isolated region of the world, and persecution is a grave reality for anyone of the Christian faith.

MAE SOT, THAILAND (Christian Freedom International) -- The military government of Burma has jailed two supporters of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for one and a half years for “insulting religion” after they prayed publicly for her release.

Chit Pe and Aung Soe Wei, members of the detained Nobel laureate’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party, were each sentenced last week, according to lawyer and NLD spokesman Nyan Win. “They were sentenced... under the act of insulting religion,” Nyan Win said. “We do not know the details about their arrest but they were detained on remand under the Explosives Act,” he said.

Chit Pe and Aung Soe Wei were arrested at their homes in April after they led a prayer service in Twante township, about 30 miles west of Rangoon, at which they offered prayers for their leader’s freedom. The two are charged under Section 295a which addresses “desecration of religious buildings and property.”

Aung Soe Wei’s wife Ma Lwin said the two were immediately taken to Rangoon’s Insein prison following the verdict and were barred from speaking to family members waiting outside the court. Lawyer Kyi Toe said that his requests to authorities to let him meet his clients to were denied.

“I made a request to the police station chief Myint Kyaw and also to the court, but was denied both times,” said Kyin Toe. “I was not given the right to freely talk to and discuss with my client from the start until the end of the case.”

The military government of Burma has kept Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for 13 of the past 19 years, after refusing to recognize the NLD’s landslide victory in the country’s last elections in 1990.

She is currently being held in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison on charges of breaching her house arrest rules in May, when an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside residence.

The Burmese junta has frequently enforced the law against “insulting religion” -- which carries a penalty of up to two years in prison.

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI (Christian Freedom International) -- In a June 2, interview with the BBC, President Obama said, “There are misapprehensions on the part of the West about the Muslim world, and obviously there are some big misapprehensions about the Muslim world when it comes to those of us in the West.”

Nowhere are these “big misapprehensions” more reinforced than in Saudi Arabia where women have few, if any, basic rights and non-Muslims, especially Christians, have none.

For example, women in the Kingdom are not allowed to study law and engineering. They cannot vote, travel without the explicit approval of their husband or a male guardian, drive, or work in most government offices. Even when hired in a private office, they are usually put in a separate room from men. They also most wear an “abaya” -- a neck-to-ankle black robe, and cover their hair with a black scarf.

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, residents were recently granted permission to see a movie. The Saudi-made comedy about a Bedouin who moves to the big city was the first film shown in the Saudi capital in 30 years. Naturally, no women were allowed into the performance.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Islamic theocratic monarchy in which Sunni Islam is the official religion; the law requires that all Saudi citizens be Muslims. Religious freedom is virtually non-existent. The Saudi government does not provide legal recognition or protection for freedom of religion, and it is severely restricted in practice.

Saudi Arabia allows Christians to enter the country as temporary workers, but does not allow them to practice their faith. Foreign Christians generally only worship in secret within private homes. Items and articles belonging to religions other than Islam are prohibited. These include Bibles, crucifixes, statues, carvings, items with religious symbols such as the Star of David, and others.

There are no official churches in Saudi Arabia. The small number Saudi Christians take enormous risks to meet in internet chat rooms and private meetings. If caught, they face severe consequences.

The Saudi Mutaween, or Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, i.e., the religious police, prohibits practice of the Christian religion.

Christianity is not only illegal, but the practice of Christianity -- even in secret -- is strictly forbidden and results in severe punishments if caught. Saudi Arabia stands out not only for its extremely harsh laws against all religion other than the Wahhabi branch of Islam, but also because it spends millions each year disseminating Islamic teachings around the world.

These religious literatures have been accused by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) of spreading intolerance among young Muslims by teaching them to hate “infidels,” or non-believers.

Saudi Arabia forbids missionary work by any religion other than Wahabi/Salafi Islam. “Freedom of religion does not exist,” the U.S. State Department's 1997 Human Rights Report on Saudi Arabia states. “Islam is the official religion, and all citizens must be Muslims. The government prohibits the public practice of other religions.”

To see more images click Here

As a result, more than 4,000 ethnic Karen villagers have fled into Thailand as Burmese troops shelled the camp causing one of the largest movements of refugees across the border into Thailand in more than a decade.

Christian Freedom International has supported schools and a clinic in Ler Per Her for more than five years. Earlier this year, CFI distributed rice to new arrivals in Ler Per Her village.

Those who have fled across the border are in urgent need of shelter, medical assistance, food, and clothing. Others are still trapped inside Burma, unable to reach even the limited safety of Thailand.

Christian Freedom International is supplying emergency medicine, shelter, clothes, food, rain ponchos, mosquito nets, and other assistance to the survivors of the raid.

The recent Burmese offensive is aimed at several ethnic Karen IDP camps. The Karen have been displaced by decades of war, resulting in the world’s longest civil war.

More than 100,000 mostly ethnic Karen refugees already shelter in camps in Thailand after fleeing military raids by the Burmese army, and more than half a million are displaced inside military-run Burma.

CFI has been assisting the persecuted Karen people of Burma for the past 10 years with medicine, backpack medic teams, medical clinics, schools, orphanages, and emergency aid.

How you can help: Click Here