Fighting back
Even among fierce persecution the Gospel is still making inroads.
History was made on 11 November when the 200 millionth Chinese Union Version (CUV) of the Bible rolled off the printing press in China. Its production by the Amity Printing Company (APC) in Nanjing was celebrated at an official ceremony attended by leaders of the state-registered “three-self” church movement and representatives from the Chinese authorities.
Chairman of APC, Qiu Zhonghui, said, “Out of the 200 million Bibles printed, more than 85 million copies were printed and distributed for the churches in China, including braille Bibles and Bibles in eleven ethnic minority languages. Since 2003, APC began to grow their Bible printing for overseas distribution and to date, it has printed 115 million copies of Bible for more than 140 countries and territories.”
The CUV Bible, which was first published in April 1919, is sold only through “three-self” churches. Non-church bookstores are prohibited from selling the Bible, a ban that was extended to online sales in February 2018 when tighter new religious regulations came into force, increasing pressure on unofficial “house churches” in China.
Church registration increases in Uzbekistan could signal greater freedoms for Christians
Church registrations are increasing in Uzbekistan with three churches validated in September, and up to five more registrations expected to be finalised in October. The first church registration in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan, where penalties for Christian worship were previously harsher than in the rest of Uzbekistan, is expected within weeks.
The rise in registrations could signal greater religious freedoms for Christians under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who was elected into office in the Muslimmajority country in December 2016.
President Mirziyoyev is expected to introduce a new religious law soon, under which the membership requirement for church registration will be lowered from 100 members to 50.
A Barnabas contact said the long hoped for registration increase was “hard to believe”. He added that, in some cities, the authorities had even approached pastors to offer to help them navigate the process of proving church buildings meet strict registration requirements. The church registrations were even broadcast on national television in a report featuring an interview with a pastor and footage of a church service.
Before Mirziyoyev’s election, Uzbekistan was known for its harsh treatment of Christians. But within the first year of his leadership, the first 3,000 Uzbek Bibles, partly funded by Barnabas, were sold legally in the country and official celebrations were held to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Fines imposed on Christians by the courts were also lower.
However, the increasing numbers of foreign missionaries working in Uzbekistan prompted the Religious Affairs Committee to issue a statement on 16 October describing Christian missionary work as “one of the problematic issues of our time”. It pledged to look at measures to combat proselytism, which remains illegal in the country, at its next meeting. Under Article 240/3 of the Uzbek law, nonIslamic proselytism is punishable by a fine, compulsory community service of up to 360 hours or a maximum jail term of three years.
Slow but steady progress for church registrations in Egypt as 64 approvals granted in October
For the third consecutive month, Egyptian authorities are making steady, if slow, progress with the approval of a further 64 church and church-affiliated building licences announced on 22 October.
This eleventh batch of approvals brings the total number of building licences to 1,235 out of the original 3,730 that applied for registration before the committee began meeting in early 2017.
The tenth batch approved on 23 September granting 62 licences, was the fewest to be approved since March, which saw 156 validated. However, small batches of approvals now seem to be processed every month instead of larger ones with longer gaps between.
In April 2019, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli (pictured above) made clear to the committee that he wanted the process to speed up. Since its last meeting on 23 September, the committee has reviewed the civil defence requirements that church leaders had complained in August were too stringent but stressed that it is important to fulfil these in order to protect lives and property.
A total of 2,495 churches are still waiting approval under the Law for Building and Restoring Churches which was introduced in September 2016. A number of churches were already licensed before the new law was brought in. It is illegal to worship in an unlicensed church building, but until the new law was introduced in 2016 it was extremely difficult to gain such a licence.
Christian brings landmark case in Russia over right to worship in private homes
A Christian woman brought a landmark case in the Russian Constitutional Court in St Petersburg on 8 October when she challenged a fine of 10,000 rubles (£122; $155; €140) imposed by the authorities for allowing her house to be used by her Protestant church for worship services.
Olga Glamozdinova said the decision violated her right to freedom of conscience and religious confession, as well as her right to freely own and dispose of her property. Olga’s lawyer, Vladimir Riakhovsky, said he could show to the court at least a dozen similar cases, where land designation had been used to restrict the rights of Protestant Christians. If her case is successful, the ruling will have significant implications for religious freedom in Russia.
Riakhovsky said Olga’s case exposed a “legal ambiguity” that was being used to stifle freedom of conscience and religious associations. “The right of a religious organisation to conduct worship services in residential buildings is explicitly provided by the Federal Law,” he said.
In January 2017, Olga allowed her fellow church members to meet in the house she owns in the village of Veselyi, Rostov Oblast, once a week for a four-hour worship service. She also registered the church at the house, which is built on land designated for “private farming”. Nine months later, in September 2017, district officials fined her for “use of the land for unintended purposes”, a decision later upheld in two court hearings. The decision of the Constitutional Court, which is final and may not be appealed, is expected within one to two months.
Christian leaders in the Russian port city of Novorossiysk are also legally challenging the closure, in July 2019, of a local Baptist Church and say they are prepared to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. They described the shutdown as a “flagrant violation” of the 1997 Religion Law and the Russian Constitution as it “prevents believers from coming together to profess their faith”.
Legislative confusion combined with Protestant congregations finding it “practically impossible” to get permission to construct church buildings often means that there is no alternative but to meet in residential buildings. However, it is not permitted to register existing residential buildings as churches. This contradiction is placing individual churches under an increasing threat of closure from the authorities.
Barnabas education and training initiative for South Asia’s emerging Church launches in Bangkok
Representatives from more than 50 Bible colleges and theological institutions across South Asia gathered in Bangkok in October to review theological education needs in the region and launch a programme relevant to the needs of the emerging Church, especially in contexts of persecution. There were also delegates from the Former Soviet Union and Indonesia.
Discussion reviewed the troubling gaps in theological teaching provision and considered how online distance learning could help to meet training needs.
The conference, from 14-17 October, launched an initiative organised by Barnabas Fund’s Global Institute for Leadership Development (GILD), alongside the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life (OCRPL). A core focus was finalising the courses that will be used in theological education and grassroots training, and discussing how best to translate courses into local contexts.
College leaders and subject experts from six countries in South Asia have joined the new GILD network of theological institutions and will continue to work together on curriculum and online resources. New courses will also be developed on the intersection of Christianity with Hinduism, Buddhism, tribal religions, primal religions, Islam, and secular nationalism.
The GILD network is developing a new Bachelor of Ministry programme and a new grassroots level curriculum, called Shepherd’s Academy, which will deliver much-needed training for untrained pastors, Christian workers and church leaders working in areas where Christians are persecuted and marginalised.