“I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan 's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not
denied my faith…” - Rev 2:13
Christians have
traditionally faced intense challenge with evangelism in places like North
Korea, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, etc. The sobering news is that more nations
are joining in the endtime gang-up against sharing of the Gospel.
A new penal code in Bolivia now proscribes evangelism
and puts Christians in a perilous position in the country. Evangelicals have therefore resorted to mass
prayer and fasting, together with a peaceful march (on January 21st)
to seek amendments to the code.
Similarly, in October last
year, Nepal began enforcement of a
law designed to restrict Christian worship and evangelism. The new Nepalese penal
code with a penalty of 5 years of imprisonment, warns
that "No one should involve in or encourage conversion of religion"
and that "No one should convert a person from one religion to another
religion or profess their own religion and belief with similar intention by
using or not using any means of attraction and by disturbing religion or belief
of any ethnic groups or community from that being practiced since ancient
times." This is a direct confrontation against the Great Commission
of the Lord in Mathew 28!
Apart from nation-wide persecutions, there are several
local hotspots of persecution against Christian evangelism in otherwise
peaceful nations. For instance the Zanzibar
region in Tanzania. Also in India,
though the central constitution allows free practice of religion, a string of
states have passed strict anti-conversion laws.
The list includes the states of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat. Please read more on this report at http://prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=2010#GUd2RbjAjVeCoLSM.99
Nevertheless, amidst all these desperate moves by the
devil, other countries are seeing the light and reviewing their stance (even if
not formally) on the Gospel. Renowned
evangelist David Hathaway, speaking to ministers at the last Holy Ghost
Congress at the Redemption Camp, described heart-warming confessions by
erstwhile communist chieftains in Russia and Ukraine of effectiveness of the
Christian gospel in producing lasting changes in communities, compared with
communist doctrines. The latest of such acknowledgement
is the widely reported
statement by Victor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister describing ‘Christianity as
Europe’s Last Hope’. In his 20th annual State of the Nation’s
address, Orban lamented the continued infiltration of Europe by radical
Islamists and related spates of terrorists attacks. See details here.
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