Delegates at International Conference Challenged to Speak Up for the Persecuted
About 1,000 delegates attended the recent 2004 International Christian Human Rights Conference sponsored by Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Premier Christian Radio and Release International
About 1,000 delegates at the 2004 International Christian Human Rights Conference were challenged not to stand in silence after hearing powerful accounts from speakers from the persecuted church. The conference, sponsored by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Premier Christian Radio and Release International, was held on Saturday, Nov. 6 at Buckingham Gate’s Westminster Chapel in London.
Entitled ‘Don’t Stand in Silence’, the 15th Annual International Christian Human Rights Conference represented “a unique opportunity for people in the UK to hear authentic, first hand evidence from the members of the persecuted Church,” said CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas prior to the conference.
Delegates heard speakers from China, Colombia, Eritrea and Sri Lanka tell them about the work they do and the persecution they endure.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
From China, Peter Xu, who founded a church in China that today runs into the millions, claimed the church in China had grown from some 800,000 in the 1940s to an estimated 150 million today. Xu, the ‘father in faith’ of Brother Yun who authored the best-selling book ‘Heavenly Man,’ spent more then seven years in prison, having been arrested five times. On one occasion Xu was beaten by a martial arts expert, and then tied by his arms to an iron gate for four hours so his feet were lifted from the ground, making it hard for him to breathe. Having remained silent up to that point, Xu told authorities “I can’t sell out my Lord or my friends” as he was taken down.
Despite his arms being puffed and black, Xu said he felt so much love for them at the time that when his interrogator got out his book to record his confession, he simply told him “I thank you.” When his interrogator heard that, he did not question him again, but sentenced him to four years in prison.
Astrid Zuluaga from Colombia, who works as a regional coordinator for the Colombian Commission for Restoration, Life, and Peace (CRVP), said that very often women were the ones who suffered the consequences of violence against the church, which had seen 80 pastors and church leaders assassinated during 2002-2003.
“We have many widows, wives of pastors who have been killed,” Zuluaga said. “Some of them have lost their husbands who have been kidnapped and taken to other places and disappeared. Women have seen their children taken away and forced to join the armed groups. Women who still cry out because they don’t know where their sons and husbands are.”
Dr. Berhane Asmelash of Eritrea, who moved to the UK for theological training, said he is now unable to return to Eritrea, as it would almost certainly result in his imprisonment and probable torture.
Asmelash, who used his medical skills to serve his church in Eritrea before moving to the UK, explained how some Christians are tortured in prison and others exposed to malaria-carrying mosquitoes and locked in shipping containers in soaring temperatures. Since an edict in May 2002 banned all but three Christian denominations, some 400 people are imprisoned for their faith in Eritrea.
“People are only released if they agree to renounce their faith,” Asmelash told the delgates. “Please pray for the government to reverse the edict and reopen places of worship. Please also pray for those in prison. We need to pray for people to speak out and not just to ignore the situation – they can make a difference.”
Reporting on the persecution in Sri Lanka, General Secretary of the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka, Godfrey Yogarajah said that last year, 140 churches had been closed down. Yogarajah also highlighted the danger posed to religious freedom by proposed anti-conversion legislation and constitutional reforms to make Buddhism the state religion.
“You are our voice and your prayers and your voice have been an inspiration to us and we thank you for your burden for your persecuted brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka,” Yogarajah said.
Delegates also heard from Ben Rogers, author of A Land Without Evil and Advocacy Officer on South Asia for CSW, who spoke on religious persecution in Burma and Pakistan. Mark Butler of Release International and Dr. Khataza Gondwe of CSW also spoke about the religious violence in Nigeria.
Rev. Rob Frost concluded the day by encouraging delegates to respond with action to the persecuted church. The delegates were challenged to respond to the needs of the persecuted church by saying together the pledge: “I pray that, as a follower of Christ, I will seek to comfort the persecuted and those who mourn. I will remember those in prison as if I were in prison and those who suffer for their faith as if I suffer. I will work for justice and truth. I will not stand in silence. I will tell someone else.”
After the conclusion of the conference, chief executives of CSW, Release International, and Premier Christian Radio gave the following comments on the conference:
“My desire is to see Christians throughout this nation refusing to stand in silence at the incredible injustices being faced by the worldwide persecuted Church. I believe that on Saturday we made a big step to seeing Christians in the UK providing a loud voice in support of those in our family who have had their voices taken away.”
- Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW
“We want to resource you to speak out for the persecuted church, a church that is growing in these seriously embattled situations. I have said before that I have a problem with the phrase a silent majority. We want you to go from here as a seriously noisy majority.”
- Eddie Lyle, Chief Executive Officer of Release International
"It is a great privilege to work with CSW and Release International to draw attention to the plight of so many in the persecuted church. My prayer is that we will motivate Christians around the UK to take positive action to help all they can. We can do so much but we can't stand in silence."
- Peter Kerridge, Chief Executive of Premier Christian Radio
According to CSW, the three organizations will also be holding regional conferences scheduled to take place on Nov. 13 at Findlay Memorial Church in Glasgow and on Nov. 20 at City Temple in Cardiff.
