Souce: Invictus Maneo

International Christian Concern has published its first ever “Hall of Shame,” an annual list of the ten nations with the worst records of persecution against Christians. The 2007 edition includes the following:

Number 10: Pakistan
 While the gospel first arrived in India with the Apostle Thomas, it seems to have missed arriving in Pakistan until the 18th century. Pakistan became a Muslim stronghold in A.D. 711, but Christianity gained a foothold with the Hindu “outcasts” between 1890 and 1930. Pakistan has adopted two sets of law that make life very difficult for Christians. The first is the Blasphemy Law, which makes it a crime to say or do anything deemed offensive to Islam. The second is the Hudood Ordinances, which declares women to be guilty of adultery if they have been raped and are unable to produce four male Muslim witnesses. These ordinances have resulted in making Christian women targets for rape and being converted forcibly to Islam.

Number 9: Vietnam
 Christians in Vietnam, especially the mostly-Christian ethnic groups in the Central Highland provinces, face brutal persecution. They face imprisonment, abduction, rape, and torture. Church buildings are burned, Bibles are confiscated, homes are raided, property is confiscated, and worship services are disturbed. The government often charges believers with “causing public disorder,” “disrupting the unity of the people,” or “anti-government activity” to mask its religious discrimination.

Number 8: China
 Christianity arrived in China during the seventh century. The Holy Bible was translated into Chinese by the order of the emperor and the gospel spread peacefully in the nation until A.D. 845. At that time, Emperor Wu-tsung initiated persecution against Christians. In A.D. 1368, the Ming Dynasty came to power and sought the extermination of Christianity in China. The first Protestant missionary to China, Robert Morrisoin, came to China in 1807, and many other missionaries followed him. Christianity began to spread rapidly again in China. When Communists seized power in 1949, tens of thousands of churches were eliminated. Pastors were tortured and/or put to death. The Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976 brought about one of the worst recorded persecutions of Christians in history. Christians in China still suffer persecution and are forced to worship in secret.
Number 7: Eritrea
 Evangelical congregations were banned by the Eritrean government in 2002. Lutheran, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches, approved previously by the government, have had their activities restricted. Abune Antonios, Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, was forced to abdicate his see last year and the government has since demanded that all of the Orthodox Church’s tithes and offerings be deposited directly into a federal account. Evangelical church buildings have been closed, property has been confiscated, and many Christians have been imprisoned and/or tortured. Approximately 2,000 Christians, including about fifty children, are currently imprisoned. Many Christians have been placed in metal shipping containers in the desert, facing extreme temperatures and starvation, as a way of bringing them to recant the faith.
Number 6: Iran
 According to Christian tradition, and early records, St. Peter and St. Thomas spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Parthians and others within Mesopotamia and Persia. By the end of the third century, approximately 360 churches existed in Persian territories. With the arrival of Islam, Christians lived under a state of subjection (dhimmitude). While able to worship Christ, they were forced to live under discriminatory laws and forced to pay a religious tax (jizya). Oppression has continued ever since, but the Ayatollah’s revolution in the 1970’s brought increased persecution. The 1990’s were especially turbulent for Christians as church buildings were seized and seven Christian leaders were murdered. Christians now face unremitting pressure from the Ministry of Islamic Guidance.

Ironically, the last three decades of anti-Western / anti-Christian propaganda has caused many Muslims to seek alternatives to Islam. Iranians are open to the gospel. Prior to the revolution there were approximately 500 Muslim background believes (MBB), but now there are between 4,000 and 20,000. There are also 222,000 to 250,000 ethnic and evangelical Christians in Iran despite the massive emigration of Christians from the nation. Despite the openness to the gospel and the growth of the Church, Christians in Iran face harassment, imprisonment, torture and murder.
Number 5: Somalia
 Somalia, which is 99.5% Muslim, is the worst persecutor of Christians on the Dark Continent. Confessing Christ openly results in death. Estimates reveal that at least 500 Christians have been murdered in this east African since United Nations and U. S. forces departed in 1995. Warlords have been battling each other for the last decade to establish their own authority in Mogadishu. Last year (June 2006) the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) gained control of the capital and began to establish and enforce Shari’ah law. Those not praying to Allah five times per day received capital punishment. Christians came under fierce persecution and murder, especially in the border refugee camps. Although an interim government has since been established, the UIC has threatened an insurgence and continues to attack believers.
Number 4: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia considers itself the guardian of Islam. It has a zero tolerance policy towards other religions within its borders, despite being a signatory of the United Nations Charter. Christians are persecuted severely. While being listed as a “Country of Particular Concern” by the U. S. State Department, leniency is granted to Saudi Arabia because it is the world’s largest oil exporter. The tremendous wealth flowing into Saudi Arabia is poured out across the globe to fund mosques, clerics, maddrassas and movements that center upon Wahabbi Islam.
Number 3: Ethiopia
Ethiopia is the second oldest Christian nation in the world, having the gospel brought to it during the first century by Queen Candace’s eunuch (Acts 8:26-39). Islamists view Ethiopia as the key to controlling Africa. In the past decade they have increased their efforts to dominate the nation. At least twenty new Jihad training centers have been built, though they are disguised as humanitarian service centers, schools, and orphanages. The centers are even active in the northern city of Gonder, which is almost exclusively Christian.

Violence against Christians has increased exponentially, particularly in southern and southwestern Ethiopia. During September of last year, Muslims approached Christian households in Jimma to force residents to convert to Islam. At least a dozen people were killed. 850 homes were burned, displacing 2,000 Christians. In Beshasha, located in the same region, a mob attacked a Christian worship service. The church building was burned and six Christians were murdered.

In Addis Ababa, the capital, where the population is 80% Christian and 17% Muslim, the ratio of churches to mosques is 120 to 150. Mosques are being built in front of churches to hide them from view. Islamists want to eradicate the idea that Ethiopia is a Christian nation by crippling the Christian leadership in local and central governments and by bringing Ethiopia into the Arab League.
Number 2: Iraq
The Apostle Thomas brought the gospel to Iraq in the first century. There has been a native Church within the nation since that time, the Assyrian Church of the East. The largest Christian group in Iraq is the Chaldean Church, which broke from the Assyrian Church of the East in order to reestablish communion with the Roman Catholic Church in 1553. Iraqi Christians have lived under Islamic rule since the seventh century.

The overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the Iraq War have resulted in Muslims associating Iraqi Christians with the “Christian” armies of the United States and Great Britain. This has led to an increase of persecution. Many clergy members have been targeted for kidnapping and decapitation and other Christians have faced murder as well. Iraqi Christians have fled as a result. In 1980 there were 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, but that number had decreased to 800,000 in 2003. Today there are only 250,000-500,000 Christians remaining.
Number 1: North Korea
Korea persecuted Christians aggressively from 1863 until 1881, when access was granted to Western nations. With permission, Protestant missionaries entered the country and were embraced warmly. North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, was nicknamed “Jerusalem of the East” because one-sixth of its citizens followed Christ Jesus.

Kim Il Sung, who ascended to power in 1948, demanded absolute loyalty. He commanded his fellow citizens to worship him and to bow at his statue. Those who refused to do so were sent to prison camps where they endured torture and often death. When Kim Il Sung died in 1994, he was succeeded by his son, Kim-Jong Il. Kim-Jong Il has continued to persecute and execute Christians, often having them tied to poles or attached to crucifixes before being shot to death.

Soon Ok Lee, a Christian who suffered in one of the prison camps, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in June 2002 that she witnessed the murder of Christians by prison guards:

“The cast iron factory was considered the most difficult place to work in the entire prison. Christians were usually sent there to work. I was carrying a work order to the cast iron factory in the male prison. Five or six elderly Christians were lined up and forced to deny their Christianity and accept the Juche Ideology of the State. The selected prisoners all remained silent at the repeated command for conversion. The security officers became furious by this and killed them by pouring molten iron on them one by one.”

June 7th, 2007