A Baptist woman in Mexico remains hospitalized in serious condition after being tied to a tree and beaten before Christmas.

Her pastor at Great Commission Baptist Church in Rancho Nuevo also was assaulted when he tried to intervene and was detained two hours by local authorities.

No arrests were made, even though complaints were filed with the Hidalgo State Human Rights Commission and the Hidalgo State Prosecutor’s Office.

‘Not an isolated incident’

Officials with Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a United Kingdom-based human rights organization, noted Rancho Nuevo—an indigenous Nahuatl-speaking community in Hidalgo State—has a documented history of violating the religious freedom of minority faith groups.

“This was not an isolated incident,” said Anna-Lee Stangl, joint head of advocacy for CSW. “The situation in her village, Rancho Nuevo, has been ongoing since 2015. Religious minority children in Rancho Nuevo have been blocked from attending school since 2018.

“CSW has documented 20 other similar cases in the state of Hidalgo and about 100 in different states across the country.”

Maria Concepcion Hernández Hernández was attacked Dec. 21 after she visited a plot of land she owns because a neighbor asked her to remove two trees. Since 2015, local authorities in Rancho Nuevo have prohibited Baptists from accessing or using their own land to cultivate crops.

A half dozen Roman Catholic men allegedly participated in the assault. CSW reported the local Catholic church rang its bells immediately prior to the attack—at a time when they typically are silent.

When Pastor Regelio Hernández Baltazar tried to stop the attack, he was assaulted and detained by local leaders who demanded he hand over the deeds to plots of land owned by his church members. When he refused, the authorities threatened to take the deeds by force and seize the property.

Governed under Law of Uses and Customs

Rancho Nuevo is governed under Mexico’s Law of Uses and Customs, which recognizes the right of indigenous communities to maintain their cultural and traditional local governance.

The law stipulates local authorities must govern in line with rights guaranteed in the Mexican constitution and international conventions. In practice, however, the state and federal government does little to protect minority rights in those areas, Stangl said.

“In Hidalgo, over the past six years and under the previous governor, the state government insisted that there were no cases of religious intolerance in the state, and we have documented cases where government officials responsible for protecting freedom of religion or belief pressured members of religious minorities to comply with the demands of the religious majority,” she said.

Elijah Brown, general secretary and CEO of the Baptist World Alliance, called for prayer.

“As we enter into this new year, we are reminded again that many around the world, including Baptists, face daily challenges as they live out their faith,” Brown said.

“Even as the BWA stands together with the Mexican Baptist Convention in providing support for this church and family, let us pray for the full recovery of Sister Maria, and renew our commitment to live in all circumstances with bold humility our faith in Jesus Christ.”

Maria Concepcion was listed in critical condition for two weeks, but her condition improved this past weekend.

“She was moved out of ICU and is able to receive visitors. She has also stopped vomiting blood and has been able to ingest some soft food. Her family and church community attribute this to all the prayer on her behalf and have asked people to continue to pray for her,” Stangl said.

“Aside from the improvement in Maria Concepcion’s condition, there have been no new developments in the case, and the Baptists in Rancho Nuevo remain in a very precarious situation, with ongoing threats of mass forced displacement.”

Report documents plight of women

Last March, CSW published a report, “Let her be heard: The untold stories of indigenous minority women in Mexico.” It focused on interviews and focus group discussions with indigenous women from religious minorities in the states of Hidalgo, Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco and Oaxaca.

 “Many local authorities of communities functioning under the Law of Uses and Customs mandate community uniformity in terms of religious practice and belief, compelling all members to participate in the religious activities of the majority or face punishment,” the report states.

Interviewed women reported religiously motivated attacks on property, gender-based violence and denial of access to basic services, including prenatal healthcare services.

CSW holds responsible authorities in the Hidalgo State, as well as local individuals directly involved in the assault on Maria Concepcion.

“We call on Governor Julio Ramón Menchaca Salazar to ensure that his administration takes swift action to bring to justice those responsible for this brutal attack and the ongoing threats against members of the religious minority in Rancho Nuevo,” Stangl said.

“We urge Governor Menchaca Salazar to work closely with the state human rights commission and federal religious affairs officials to put in place policies that recognize the existence of serious [freedom of religion or belief] violations in Hidalgo and develop effective and timely ways to address them in accordance with Mexico’s legal protections for human rights.”

Even before Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to observe a 36-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas, the European Baptist Federation and Ukrainian Baptists planned a Christmas Eve prayer vigil for peace.

The EBF invited Baptists worldwide to join in the Jan. 6 prayer vigil via Zoom. EBF President Stefan Gisiger was scheduled to host the Christmas Eve event, featuring music from Irpin Bible Church, where Igor Bandura, senior vice president of the Baptist Union of Ukraine, is pastor.

Orthodox Christians, who follow the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, typically celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, as do others in predominantly Orthodox countries.

While some Christians in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine observed a Christmas feast on Dec. 25 this season—in part to distinguish themselves from the Russian Orthodox church—many in the nation planned to observe traditional Christmas on Jan. 7 or recognize both Christmas observances.

Ukrainian Baptists continue ministry

In the same update in which the EBF announced the Jan. 6 prayer vigil for peace, the federation reported “continued shelling, even during Western Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve,” along with frequent energy blackouts across the country. Even so, Ukrainian Baptists continue to provide care for people in need.

The EBF update quoted a Ukrainian Baptist leader: “Churches of Ukrainians continue to minister with greater zeal and courage despite the difficult life circumstances. We are convinced that the snowdrifts, worsening or absence of mobile communication, Internet and electricity are not solid obstacles for the ministry to God and people.”

The Ukrainian Baptist said “missiles and drones have damaged several hundreds of vital infrastructure objects.” Churches and individuals are trying to save electricity whenever possible, when it is available in short-term limited cycles, he reported.

“Power plants, enterprises, and residential buildings were hit. But we are still alive and can work with incredible gratefulness to the Lord for every day we have,” he wrote. “[God] still sits on his throne, and all the leadership, power and further history’s writing belong to him. He will not let Ukrainian people go through trials beyond our strength, so we entrust our current difficulties to him.”

The Baptist Union of Ukraine is providing workshops, training and “time of reflection” not only for pastors, but also for military chaplains, the EBF update noted.

“Outside of Ukraine, they are working with pastors and leaders who have had to flee who are now ministering to displaced peoples across Europe and Central Asia,” EBF reported.

Offer heat and hope in cold winter

Ukrainian Baptists declared they want to see every Baptist church in the country become a “center of heat and hope” during the brutal winter. So far, the Baptist Union of Ukraine has distributed 229 generators to churches and also are providing financial assistance to help them pay utility bills.

The damage to infrastructure is most severe in the recently liberated Kherson region, but churches there are using their limited resources to provide food and heat to affected neighbors.

“These people turn to the church for help,” one pastor wrote, as reported by EBF. “We try to feed them with what we have at the church. Their needs are huge, but we don’t have enough workers to minister to them.”

Baptists in Germany, Romania, Hungary and Poland continue to send aid to churches in Ukraine, and churches in Moldova, Romania and Poland are operating centers to house Ukrainian refugees throughout the winter.

EBF noted Baptists in Belarus established a network of safe stopover sites for refugees traveling through their country and are distributing information to protect refugees from human traffickers.

Baptists in Georgia also are seeking to care for displaced Ukrainians in their country.

“Baptist partners in the region will continue to be crucial in delivering aid as resources within Ukraine continue to diminish,” the EBF update stated.

Since the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar, about 1 million people—most of them members of religious and ethnic minorities—have been internally displaced, in addition to those seeking refuge in neighboring countries, a recent report revealed.

Continued violence by the Burmese military—known as the Tatmadaw—also has resulted in about 2,500 noncombatant deaths, according to a policy update on Burma from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

As of September, the military junta’s State Administrative Council directly has overseen the arrest of 14,000 citizens, torched more than 19,000 homes, internally displaced 700,000 people, and forced 60,000 refugees to flee to neighboring India and Thailand, the commission reported.

Those arrested include Hkalam Samson, past president and general secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Myanmar, who was detained earlier this month by the Burmese military and continues to be held in an undisclosed location in Kachin State.

“The unjust arrest of Dr. Samson, his detention in an unknown location, and the denial of his rights as a citizen both prior to his arrest and since his arrest jeopardize his life and are of grave concern,” Baptist World Alliance General Secretary Elijah Brown and Asia Pacific Baptist Federation General Secretary Vesekhoyi Tetseo wrote in a Dec. 8 letter.

“At a time when faith leaders can play an indispensable role in building just and lasting peace, far too many individuals continue to be imprisoned and communities of faith targeted and destroyed.”

Conditions deteriorate for Rohingya

Conditions for the country’s Rohingya Muslims—already targeted for at least a decade prior to the coup by the nation’s Buddhist majority—continued to deteriorate since the Tatmadaw seized control of the government, the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom report stated.

About 950,000 registered Rohingya refugees from Myanmar live in Bangladesh, where their freedom of movement is limited, hampering their ability to find legal employment.

After the commission sent a delegation to visit Rohingya refugees in the region last month, it called on the U.S. government to work with Bagladeshi authorities to support the Rohingya community and also engage with international organizations to provide for refugees.

The commission report also called on the U.S. to “prioritize religious freedom, including justice for Rohingya and voluntary repatriation, as core criteria for recognition of any pro-democracy opposition group within Burma.”

In Myanmar, the report noted, “ongoing clashes between the SAC, ethnic armies and pro-democracy forces have sparked new fears of another Rohingya exodus.”

In March, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced atrocities committed by the Burmese military against the Rohingya constituted “crimes against humanity and genocide.”

Christians suffer ‘violence and discrimination’

However, the Rohingya are not the only victims of systematic persecution by the Burmese military.

“Since the 2021 coup, Burma’s various Christian communities have suffered violence and discrimination in a magnitude that some have compared to what the Rohingya community has historically faced,” the commission report stated.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees documented an increase in more than 33,000 internally displaced individuals in Chin State and 4,100 in Kachin State, both areas where Christians constitute a majority. The U.N. documented 76,000 in Kayah State, where Christians are a significant minority.

Civil groups estimate the number of internally displaced people in Kayah State could be as many as 170,000, the report noted.

“Many Christian and other communities have fled to neighboring countries, including over 40,000 to Mizoram, India,” the report stated.

A commission delegation met last month with Christian refugees in Malaysia “who reported on dire conditions for their compatriots still within Burma,” the report continued.

“They also reported that their forced flight from Burma, which was in part a result of their religious identity, has deprived them of other rights—such as access to education and employment—due to an absence of laws in Malaysia that provide these rights for refugees and asylum seekers.

“Houses of worship remain particularly vulnerable targets of SAC violence within Burma as the military has bombed, mined and burned Catholic, Baptist and other Christian churches.”

Early last month, the Tatmadaw shelled the Kachin Bible School in northern Myanmar.

At its July meeting in Birmingham, Ala., the Baptist World Alliance general council approved a resolution condemning the coup in Myanmar and the Burmese military for waging “a campaign of terror and violence, particularly against minority religions.”

ODESSA, Ukraine (BP)—Light is scarce during scheduled electrical outages as Ukraine suffers a bombed-out power grid. Yet, women there are using their light this Christmas to crochet angel ornaments to send churches and other supporters in the United States.

“Now it’s difficult because cities stay without light sometimes 24 hours, sometimes more,” said Tanya Pyzh, daughter-in-law of Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary President Yaroslav “Slavik” Pyzh.

“It’s before Christmas, a really special time, and now they don’t have light. It’s like two or three hours a day they have light. And they’re working in those two or three hours because they need to see those small details,” Tanya said. “It’s precious. All of them were really ready and thankful to do this, because it means a lot. Right now, it means a lot.”

As many as 20 women near Odessa, in Lviv and a few other Ukrainian cities are paid a small fee to make the ornaments through a partnership of the Baptist seminary in Lviv and the Ukrainian Partnership Foundation in Chesterfield, Mo., said Penny Iannacone, donor engagement director of the partnership foundation.

The small fee supplements the income of women in Ukraine struggling to provide for their families during the war’s high inflation rate, with some of the women donating their earnings to the Ukrainian war effort, Iannacone said.

“The war’s probably been the hardest on the family, and because a man can be called to war if they’re between the ages of 18 to 60, a lot of the women have been left without the man in the home,” Iannacone said.

“I’m sure this has been a blessing for those ladies to not only have a little project to work on, but also to be able to earn a little money for however they used it, whether for their personal need or whether they donated it back to the war effort.”

Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary ships the ornaments to the foundation, which in turn distributes them with thank you cards to top givers among U.S. churches, individuals and groups. The Ukrainian Partnership Foundation will display and distribute ornaments at a Woman’s Missionary Union conference in January.

Send Relief, the Southern Baptist humanitarian program, has supported the Ukrainian Partnership Foundation through grants. Additionally, Send Relief’s humanitarian aid to Ukraine topped $10 million in the first three months of the war.

“They’re very popular. I’ve had several people ask if they could purchase them to give as Christmas gifts. We don’t have an endless supply,” Iannacone said of the ornaments. “We’ve asked (the women in Ukraine) to produce as many as possible during the next month, and they told us they thought they could get us 1,600 more.”

Each ornament is crafted with yarn in Ukraine’s national colors of blue and yellow and takes about two hours to crochet. The Ukrainian Partnership Foundation is not charging recipients for the ornaments, Iannacone said.

First Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., is among a handful of congregations that each received about 50 of the ornaments, Iannacone said.

‘Will be a treasured keepsake’

For Nashville First’s children, the ornaments are a reminder of the angel’s encouragement in Luke 2:10 to “fear not,” Nashville First Minister to Children Shannon Meadors said.

“Our children were overwhelmed that the women of Ukraine would send them a gift. With wide eyes, they held onto their angel ornaments so carefully, commenting on their beauty,” Meadors said.

“As parents arrived, the kids were so excited to show and tell all about their special gift.

“These handmade angel ornaments will be a treasured keepsake on their Christmas trees for years to come reminding our families of the strong people of Ukraine.”

The Ukrainian Partnership Foundation decided to ask the women of Ukraine to make the ornaments after Tanya’s mother purchased a couple at a humanitarian fundraising event near Odessa in August. Tanya lives in Missouri with her husband “Slavik,” the son of Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary President Slavik Pyzh.

“At this gathering, they had one lady who was doing those ornaments,” Tanya said. “And my mom bought some as a present to me and to give money to the army.”

Tanya in turn gifted an angel to Ukrainian Partnership Foundation President W. Joseph Privott, who gave Tanya and her husband a place to stay as they transitioned to St. Louis, Mo.

Privott conceived the continuing exchange to not only thank donors, but also help support Ukrainian families during the war. The nonprofit Ukrainian Partnership Foundation has supported Christian education in Ukraine, mainly through the Baptist seminary, since 2006.

Tanya’s mother recruited additional women to crochet the ornaments, creating a community among strangers now unified in the effort. Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary collects the ornaments and pays the women from donations the Ukrainian Partnership Foundation sends from donors.

The women appreciate the help, Tanya said.

“They’re just really excited about it, that somebody’s caring about them, and somebody wants to help them so they can help somebody else,” Tanya said. “It’s kind of like a win-win for everybody.”

AMMAN, Jordan (RNS)—Jordan has launched a $100 million master plan aimed at attracting 1 million Christian pilgrims in 2030 to celebrations of the second millennium of the baptism of Jesus.

The ambitious plan was unveiled by a not-for-profit foundation created by the Jordanian government to develop the “Bethany beyond the Jordan” area. That site, on the east bank of the Jordan River, long has been venerated as the place of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist.

Archaeological discoveries of an ancient monastery at Al-Maghtas, Jordan, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

Respect integrity of the site

Samir Murad, chair of the new foundation, told Religion News Service his group plans to provide Christians access to visit and worship at the site while respecting its integrity.

“We wanted to provide pilgrims a chance to be able to spend quality time at the location of the baptism, while respecting its spirituality and the UNESCO World Heritage Site conditions,” Murad said.

Murad’s team rejected proposals for five-star hotels and fine dining and chose instead down-to-earth accommodations.

“We decided on a biblical village theme that attempts to re-create a 2,000-year-old experience,” Murad said.

The theme will include “glamping”-style lodging—a version of camping typified by well-appointed tents with comfortable beds.

 “We will supply Arab-style tents and all sanitary services that will provide an authentic feeling,” Murad said. “This allows us to be in concert with the theme yet at the same time provide housing at reasonable costs for pilgrims who want to spend spiritual time at this sacred location.”

Visitors will have a choice of different eateries serving local organic food, “centered on the wilderness and plants mentioned in the Bible,” Murad explained.

Electricity and Wi-Fi lines will be placed underground so as not to clutter the above-ground experience.

A businessman and former minister of labor, Murad said the initial phase of the project will cost about $15 million. He hopes it will be finished sometime in 2023.

A second phase, which will include a three-star hotel, restaurants, shopping area and a museum, a wellness center and “opportunities for pilgrims to have special quiet spiritual time,” will cost as much as $85 million.

“The idea is to create an atmosphere like that of the Old City of Jerusalem,” Murad told RNS. The second phase also will include botanical gardens and, since the site is on a bird migration path, a nature sanctuary.

Murad, who along with his team has been volunteering his time, is not sure how the project will be funded.

“Our initial goal is to raise the needs for the first phase so that people can see and feel what we plan to do,” he said.

BWA and Jordanian Baptists involved

Nine faith organizations have been officially granted the opportunity to build a place to welcome pilgrims to the baptism site.

One of the nine is the Baptist World Alliance, a network of Baptist churches around the world, which is partnering with the Jordanian Baptist Convention on constructing the Baptist outpost in Bethany beyond the Jordan.

Elijah Brown, secretary general of the BWA, was among 250 guests at a dinner marking the launch of the project, attended by Jordan’s King Abdullah II, his two sons and his prime minister.

Brown later told local Jordanian Baptists gathered at the Amman Baptist Church that the deadline for both phases “is set for 2029, to be ready for the 2,000-year anniversary of the baptism of Jesus at the River Jordan.”

Brown implored the Jordanian Baptist leaders to work closely with the Baptist World Alliance. “We want to do this in total partnership with your convention,” Brown told local Baptists. “We want to plan together, fundraise together and have custodianship together.”

Brown’s wife, Amy, told the assembled Baptists that her great-uncle, August Lovegren, who died in November at age 100, spent 36 years as a general surgeon in Jordan, at the Ajloun Eman Hospital, formerly the Ajloun Baptist Hospital.

She spoke warmly of Jordan’s royal family, recalling that Lovegren had a special relationship with the late King Hussein, “who honored him,” she said, “by making him an officer of the Order of Independence.”

“Our family, and the Baptist family, have a great appreciation and respect for Jordan, and we love going forward to continuing the legacy of Jordan in general and the personal legacy of our family and our larger family of faith by being part of the development to the site that Jesus was baptized in.”

Recalling her great-uncle, she said: “We are here in Jordan because of an archaeological project at the Jordanian baptismal site. We didn’t choose the timing, but the Lord was honoring my uncle by having us there for this occasion.”

WASHINGTON (RNS)—When David Holsten first heard missionary pilot Ryan Koher had been arrested in the city of Inhambane in southern Mozambique in early November, he was concerned but not too worried.

“We thought, ‘Oh, he’s going to have to spend the night in jail,’” said Holsten, president of Missionary Aviation Fellowship, a Christian ministry that has operated in Mozambique since the late 1990s. “Let’s see what we can do to help him.”

Six weeks later, Koher remains in jail, with no end to his imprisonment in sight.

Government officials have yet to charge the 31-year-old Koher, a pilot for Ambassador Aviation Limited, which partners with MAF, and two South African nationals who were arrested with him. Those officials, say MAF leaders, suspect the three were supporting an Islamic insurgent group in the northern part of the country.

Koher had flown to Inhambane in early November to pick up a load of over-the-counter medications, vitamins and other supplies. The plan was to fly those supplies to orphanages near Montepuez, Mozambique.

During a routine security screening, airport officials became suspicious and arrested the three men on Nov. 4, before the cargo could be loaded on the chartered flight.

The supplies and the plane Koher was piloting were seized.

Holsten said it is not uncommon for security officials to question pilots about their cargo. In the past, he said, MAF pilots have been detained, but that’s usually only been for a few hours.

Kohler’s case is something different, Holsten said. He said MAF staff, a local attorney and U.S. Embassy officials have been working with authorities in Mozambique to resolve Koher’s situation. But so far there has been little progress.

That surprised Holsten and other MAF staffers.

‘A real head-scratcher for us’

He said the missionary group has a good relationship with government officials in Mozambique, where Ambassador Aviation is registered as a commercial airline and follows the same rules as other airlines.

The group works mostly with Christian nonprofits and medical and humanitarian groups — providing much-needed transportation, especially in areas where the roads are unsafe or where travel on the ground might take too much time.

“This is a real head-scratcher for us. We’ve actually transported the president of Mozambique on our aircraft before,” said Holsten, whose group works in about three dozen countries. “There is no secret to what we’re doing, and they’ve relied on us before.”

Holsten said Koher had flown to a part of the country where MAF doesn’t usually operate—and believes officials at the Inhambane airport were unfamiliar with MAF’s work.

MAF has denied any wrongdoing on Koher’s part. Holsten said the pilot seems to have caught the eye of counterterrorism officials, who have more leeway in how they act. That’s made it harder to get any written charges against Koher, Holsten said, or any clarity about his case.

After Koher’s arrest, his wife and children were evacuated to the United States. The family had been in Mozambique since 2021. Annabel Koher told television station KTVB in Nampa, Idaho, that she hopes the family can return to that country.

“My 3-year-old considers it home,” she told KTVB. “He asked me if we can go back.”

Holsten said the charter flight Ryan Koher was piloting was fairly typical for MAF. The group often ferries supplies for Christian groups and follows the same security rules as any other airline. He also said MAF is careful in choosing customers to work with. The group does not transport military personnel or insurgents. Holsten said MAF supports efforts of the government to address violence in the northern part of the country.

Fly in dangerous areas where needs exist

The orphanages where Koher was headed were in the region of Cabo Delgado, where more than 4,000 people have been killed since 2017, according to Christianity Today, which has reported on Koher’s case. Close to a million people have also been displaced.

Pilots from MAF have evacuated people fleeing from the region in the past, said Holsten, and has transported supplies for the government’s ministry of help, along with transporting medical personnel to the region.

He said MAF flies in dangerous parts of the world because it is needed there and because the Christian groups and other nongovernmental organizations it works with often can’t afford to pay for a commercial flight. He said donors cover most of the costs of MAF, including salaries for pilots and the cost of planes, meaning they can charge affordable rates. Still, there are risks, which Holsten says MAF tries hard to manage.

Missionaries have often found themselves drawn into armed conflicts in the past.

Groups such as the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, which has more than 3,500 missionaries in 118 countries, know their missionaries can be at risk in war zones and other dangerous situations.

That’s led them regularly to assess for risk by monitoring State Department public reports and news accounts and keeping in contact with staffers on the ground. The IMB believes fulfilling its mission can require being in dangerous places, but the agency has a “take no unnecessary risk” approach to ministry, said Julie McGowan, vice president of public relations.

“There are situations where we may withdraw from a location for a period of time to preserve the potential for long-term ministry or long-term personal relationships with our national partners,” she said.

Holsten said he hopes Koher’s situation will be resolved soon. He said MAF realizes government officials are trying to do their jobs in a difficult situation and MAF wants to stay on good terms with them.

Still, he said, he hopes the government will do the right thing and let Koher go.

“We are praying they will look at the evidence and see that these men were not trying to support insurgents,” he said. “In fact, to the contrary, they’re trying to support those who’ve been hurt by this insurgency.”

The past president and former general secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention in Myanmar was detained by the Burmese military junta and is being held in an undisclosed location in Myitkyina, Kachin State.

Radio Free Asia reported Hkalam Samson, now chair of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly, was taken into custody at Mandalay International Airport Dec. 4 before he could board a flight to Bangkok, Thailand, for medical treatment.

After holding Samson overnight, authorities reportedly released him the next day and put him on a plane back to Kachin State, where he subsequently was arrested again at Myitkyina Airport.

Samson’s family does not know exactly where he is being detained at this time, said Tu Laumg, executive minister with the Kachin American Baptist Association.

“At a time when faith leaders can play an indispensable role in building lasting and just peace, many continue to be targeted and imprisoned. I strongly advocate for the immediate release of Dr. Samson and for his free and full movement,” said Elijah Brown, general secretary and CEO of the Baptist World Alliance.

“We continue to echo a call for the military to honor the theological convictions of all people of all faiths, including that of the Baptists, and to work together with communities of faith in the establishment of peace for which they long.”

‘We fear for his safety and life’

The Burma Advocacy Group of the American Baptist Churches, USA, called for Samson’s immediate release.

“We fear for his safety and life while being unlawfully detained. This is now the most recent string of attacks directed against the people of Kachin State by the military junta,” reads the statement released by Roy Medley, convener of the advocacy group and general secretary emeritus of American Baptist Churches, USA.

The Burma Advocacy Group statement identified Samson as “a key religious leader in Burma” who worked “tirelessly with people of different faiths to promote religious liberty and tolerance.” The group also noted his role in providing humanitarian assistance to people affected by violence in Kachin State.

“We join our voices with those demanding his release and consider Dr. Samson to be in grave danger of torture. We call upon the international community to work for his release,” the advocacy group’s statement reads. “We stand united in prayer with the Kachin people in their suffering.”

In an email to the Baptist Standard, Medley referred to Samson as “one of the most fearless Baptist voices in Burma.”

“The attacks against the Kachin are mounting over the past several months,” Medley wrote. “And the Chin, Karen and others continue to endure ongoing attacks by the junta.”

‘A reign of terror’

Randel Everett, president of the 21Wilberforce human rights organization and former executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, said the military junta in Myanmar “has established a reign of terror” throughout the nation.

Everett noted the historic contributions of Baptists in Burma, beginning with pioneering American Baptist missionary Adoniram Judson 200 years ago.

Samson’s detention “is another glaring example of the disregard for Burmese history, religious freedom and basic human rights from current leadership in Myanmar,” Everett said. “Global Baptists should join others in demanding Dr. Samson’s release.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights organization based in the United Kingdom, likewise called for Samson’s immediate release.

“CSW is deeply troubled by the arrest of such a prominent and internationally respected religious leader in Myanmar and are very concerned for his well-being,” said Benedict Rogers, the organization’s senior analyst for East Asia.

“We call on the Myanmar authorities to release him immediately, and we urge the international community to demand his unconditional release and ensure his well-being.”

In July 2019, Samson traveled to Washington, D.C., for the U.S. State Department’s Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom and for an Oval Office visit with then-President Donald Trump. An officer in Myanmar’s Northern Military Command brought a lawsuit accusing Samson of defamation for comments he made during the White House visit, but he later dropped the suit.

In April 2021, two months after the military coup in Myanmar, Samson and Hpauyawng Tu Mai of the Kachin Baptist Convention issued a call for global prayer and advocacy on behalf of their country.

‘Campaign of terror and violence’

More recently, Samson officiated the funerals when more than 60 people were killed in October by a military airstrike while attending a pro-democracy concert.

In early November, the Burmese military shelled the Kachin Bible School in northern Myanmar.

The BWA general council at its July meeting in Birmingham, Ala., approved a resolution condemning the coup in Myanmar and singling out the Burmese military—known as the Tatmadaw—for waging “a campaign of terror and violence, particularly against minority religions.”

Sixty-four Christians currently in Thailand face deportation to China—which they fled to escape persecution—unless U.S. officials allow them to resettle in East Texas with the help of area churches.

The 21Wilberforce human rights organization is urging Texas Baptists and others to persuade Congress to intervene on behalf of the Chinese Christians.

Members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church—nicknamed the “Mayflower Church” for their commitment to seeking religious freedom—left China in 2019 after repeated threats and interrogation by Chinese police.

Initially, Pastor Pan Yongguang and members of the church relocated to South Korea’s Jeju Island on tourist visas but were denied asylum.

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission reports the Republic of Korea accepted 0.4 percent of refugee applications in 2020 and only 0.1 percent in 2021.

“From 2017 to 2021, a total of 5,225 Chinese nationals sought asylum in Korea. Only three were recognized as refugees,” a commission report stated.

Members of the Mayflower Church later moved to Bangkok, Thailand, where they filed for United Nations refugee status Sept. 5.

Recently, the Thai government refused to renew the church members’ tourist visas. They now face a forced return to China, where they fear severe persecution and possible imprisonment.

In the past three years, members of the church have been stalked, harassed and threatened by Chinese operatives, and family remaining in China have been interrogated and intimidated, the Associated Press reported.

Midland-based ChinaAid has been instrumental in advocating on behalf of the Mayflower Church and working with Freedom Seekers International to enlist sponsors for the church members’ resettlement.

A group of churches in Tyler have committed financially and materially to sponsor the asylum seekers’ resettlement in the United States, but resettlement requires governmental permission.

21Wilberforce is spearheading an effort to mobilize Texas Christians to contact Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Michael McCaul, D-Houston and senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

An online letter urges Granger and McCall to advocate for members of the Mayflower Church to be allowed to resettle in the United States. It encourages them to call on President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to work toward resettlement of the Mayflower Church members, including possibly granting them humanitarian parole.

“The consistent documented harassment, the threat of repatriation back to China, and the sponsorship of local communities point to Texas resettlement as the best option to offer refuge for the church members,” the letter states.

Those who have signed the letter include Elijah Brown, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance; Katie Frugé, director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission; Mark Heavener, director of intercultural ministries for Texas Baptists; and Stephen Reeves, executive director of Fellowship Southwest.

For more information and to sign the online letter, click here.

About one-fourth of nearly 200 nations studied by the Pew Research Center used force to prevent religious gatherings during the COVID pandemic.

A newly released Pew study of restrictions on religion around the world examined 198 countries and territories.

Authorities in 46 of those areas (23 percent) used physical means—including assault, detention, property damage or confiscation, displacement or death—to enforce pandemic-related restrictions on worship services and other religious gatherings. The total does not include countries that used less-stringent means of enforcement, such as fines for violations.

“In 40 of the 46 countries where force was reported to have been used, governments arrested and held worshippers or religious figures for gatherings that violated public health measures, or for other actions by religious groups relating to the pandemic,” the report states.

Authorities in at least 11 countries physically assaulted individuals who gathered for worship.

More than 300 Christians in China were arrested in February and March 2020 during pandemic-related home inspection and identification checks. Some were beaten and subjected to electric shocks, according to the U.S. State Department’s Report on International Religious Freedom.

Two Christians in India’s Tamil Nadu State died after they were beaten while in police custody for allegedly violating COVID curfews.

In 74 countries and territories (37 percent), the study found governments used force to limit religious gatherings, religious groups were blamed for the spread of the virus, or private actors engaged in pandemic-triggered violence or vandalism against religious groups.

They included 12 countries in the Americas, 20 in the Asia-Pacific region, 20 in Europe, seven in the Middle East and North Africa, and 15 in sub-Saharan Africa.

‘Used the pandemic to further existing discrimination’

Randel Everett, founding president of the 21Wilberforce human rights organization, pointed to a factsheet published in March 2020 by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The commission document called on governments to develop public health responses to the pandemic that avoided measures placing an undue burden on religious observance or stigmatizing religious groups.

“Pew’s latest research report brings to light many examples of governments and government officials that did just that,” Everett said. “They used the pandemic to further existing discrimination, marginalization and persecution of people of faith. A draconian example is the total lockdown in China.”

China—initially criticized for its early failure to address the spread of the coronavirus—instituted strict “zero-COVID” restrictions. In recent days, thousands have taken to the streets to protest oppressive lockdowns instituted by President Xi Jinping.

In 45 countries (23 percent), some religious groups asserted pandemic-related restrictions unfairly targeted them when compared to businesses and nonreligious institutions or when compared to other religious groups.

Religious groups in 18 countries said restaurants, other businesses and nonreligious gatherings were treated with more leniency than religious institutions. In the remaining 27 countries, the study noted reports that enforcement of restrictions favored some religious groups over others.

In Myanmar, leaders of religious minority groups asserted authorities enforced COVID-related health restrictions much more stringently against Christians and Muslims than against Buddhists.

For example, 12 Muslim men in Myanmar received three-month prison sentences for holding a religious gathering in a house, and a Christian pastor was sentenced to three months in prison for holding a prayer meeting. However, none of the 200 individuals who attended a Buddhist monk’s funeral were arrested, and organizers received fines.

Resistance, defiance or cooperation

In 54 countries (27 percent), religious groups either filed lawsuits or spoke out against restrictions—typically complaints against unequal treatment.

The study identified 69 countries (33 percent) where at least one religious group defied COVID-related public health restrictions.

On the other hand, researchers noted religious leaders or groups in 94 countries (47 percent) encouraged their followers to worship at home, promoted online alternatives or encouraged efforts to stop the spread of the virus, such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing.

In at least 55 countries (28 percent), government officials and religious leaders worked collaboratively to promote public safety and stem the spread of the COVID virus, including half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

“I don’t find it surprising that religious leaders and communities helped to shape the attitudes of people toward public health recommendations aimed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, whether it was relying on religious laws and theological views to support restrictions, placing value on human life and caring for the community,” Everett said.

For 13 years, the Pew Research Center has studied religious restrictions globally, analyzing changes in the Social Hostilities Index and Government Restrictions Index scores at global and regional levels.

The 10-point Social Hostilities Index measures hostile acts against religious groups by private individuals or organizations, while the 10-point Government Restrictions Index looks at law, policies and actions by the state to limit religious freedom.

The median score on the Government Restrictions Index showed a slight decrease, from 2.9 in 2019 to 2.8 in 2020, while the Social Hostilities Index rose from 1.7 in 2019 to 1.8 in 2020.

Looking at overall restrictions—not just those related to public health—the Pew Research Center found 77 countries (39 percent) with “high” or “very high” levels of government restrictions, social hostility or both. That is a slight increase from 75 countries (38 percent) the previous year, but it is below the peak of 85 countries (43 percent) in 2012.

Ukrainian Baptists in areas previously occupied by Russian troops report “unbelievable” atrocities and “extreme crisis,” the European Baptist Federation stated in a Nov. 22 update.

Even so, Baptists in Ukraine continue to minister to their neighbors and to give thanks for God’s sustaining grace while they prepare for a hard winter ahead, European Baptist Communications reported.

“As areas have been liberated, aid organizations, including the Baptists, have rushed in desperately needed supplies for those neglected and reeling from Russian occupation. The atrocities reported in these areas are unbelievable. Winter in these regions will be particularly difficult,” the EBF update stated.

Russian authorities seized “multiple churches” in recent weeks to use as barracks, the update continued.

“Numerous pastors have gone missing. Churches that used to stand as centers of refuge and ministry in their towns have been destroyed, left hollow by fire or missiles,” the report stated.

Leaders of the Baptist Union in Mykolaiv report “tragic news” from the city in southern Ukraine.

“People are pulled out from under the rubble, industrial and civilian objects are attacked, and the lives and livelihoods of our citizens are destroyed,” European Baptist Communications quoted Ukrainian Baptist Union leaders.

“Broken lives,” damaged infrastructure and “uncertainty about the future” are reality for Mykolaiv’s residents, the EBF report stated.

“Many people at this time found themselves in an extreme crisis,” the EBF update continued. “Those who had to fight for survival even before the war suffered the most. These are people with disabilities, families in difficult life circumstances and elderly people.”

‘This new normal’

Even beyond regions previously occupied by Russian military, Ukrainians in recent weeks have experienced “sporadic shelling across the country, with Russian troops increasingly targeting civilian areas and critical infrastructure,” the update stated.

“Baptists across the country are trying to adjust and live through this new normal, which includes frequent visits to bomb shelters and limited or restricted access to power.”

The EBF noted Igor Bandura, vice president of the Ukrainian Baptist Union, told a recent prayer gathering, “Over time comes the understanding that you should not wait for life to return to a peaceful course but live the life we have today.”

In the midst of turmoil, Ukrainian Baptists report giving thanks for new believers baptized, new pastors ordained, new churches started and “more than 20,000 new people attending church regularly.”

To a large degree, the growth has resulted from the care Ukrainian Baptists have demonstrated to neighbors over the past nine months.

“Since February, our churches have turned from meeting halls into dorms, canteens, train stations, heating points and places of spiritual renewal,” the EBF update quotes Baptist leaders. “Often, Christians responded to challenges faster than local administration and local governments. Now, hundreds of new people respect, love and join the church.”

Impact on Baptists in surrounding nations

In a YouTube video, EBF General Secretary Alan Donaldson said as the war in Ukraine continues, European Baptist churches in neighboring nations seek to balance longstanding ministries to their own communities with new ministries to Ukrainian refugees who are sheltered in their countries.

“The churches are undergoing an existential change that will last,” he said, noting there now may be more Ukrainian Baptists in Poland than Polish Baptists.

Donaldson also pointed to the unique challenges facing Russian Baptists. They suffer under the weight of sanctions from without and pressure from within their country, as well as the loss of young families who are migrating to Turkey, Georgia, Serbia, Armenia and other areas, he noted.

“They suffer financial loss, as well as the loss of relationships. They have chosen to be very cautious about what they are condemning publicly. But they have—in their latest public statement—restated their pacifist views in an act of resistance related to possible forced conscription,” he said.

As more nations are drawn into the Russian/Ukrainian conflict, the search for an appropriate response is on the agenda of nearly every Baptist union and convention, Donaldson said.

Pointing to the societal transformation taking place in Europe due to the influx of immigrants and refugees, the EBF and its member unions prayerfully are asking “what the Lord requires of us” in challenging days, he said.

EDITOR’S NOTE:The European Baptist Federation is the lead agency from the Baptist Forum for Aid and Development responding to the war in Ukraine. For more information about EBF and the ways Baptists in and around Ukraine are serving go to ebf.org.

LVIV, Ukraine (BP)—Russian missiles that have fallen closest to Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary President Yaroslav “Slavik” Pyzh’s home destroyed an electrical substation in Lviv as Russia revamps its war on Ukraine.

“What they’re doing for winter [is] they’re trying to freeze people,” said Pyzh, as Ukraine enters its coldest months of the year in the midst of war.

Pyzh describes Russia’s tactic, coupled with the nearly 7,000 civilian war deaths to date, as genocide.

“They’re purposefully destroying Ukrainians because they are Ukrainians,” Pyzh said. “That’s genocide, big time.”

Many global leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, have accused Russia of genocide in its latest war on Ukraine.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Nov. 14 calling for Russia to pay war reparations to Ukraine as compensation for loss, damage and injury, and to establish a registry to document evidence and claims for compensation.

But the U.N. has not officially charged Russia with meeting the requirements of genocide as defined in international law.

Pyzh points to mass graves found in such cities as Bucha and Kharhiv after Ukrainian troops retook the territory from Russia.

Since Feb. 24, Russia has killed at least 6,557 people and injured at least 10,704 in Ukraine, including 6,149 men and women, and 408 boys and girls, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights reported in its Nov. 15 civilian casualty update. Millions have fled Ukraine.

“They were just killing people for being Ukrainians,” Pyzh said, pointing out Russia denies Ukrainians’ existence. “And they do not believe that Ukraine exists, and they do not believe that Ukrainians exist. Officially, they’ve said it many times, there is no such nation as Ukraine. It’s all Russia.”

In one of its most intense missile strikes of the war, Russia spewed 85 missiles over urban areas including Lviv in a span of two hours Nov. 15, NPR reported, targeting energy infrastructure and leaving millions without power. Reports included a missile strike that killed two on a farm in Poland bordering Lviv.

Temperature dropping

With winter approaching, temperatures in Ukraine already are dipping into the teens. As recently as last month, Russia had already destroyed 30 percent of Ukraine’s electrical power grid, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Millions of Ukrainians will lack heat this winter.

“Millions of Ukrainians uprooted from their homes by the current war are facing winter in displacement or are living in damaged homes or in buildings ill-suited to protect them from the biting cold, with disrupted energy, heating and water supplies and lost livelihoods,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson Olga Sarrado said in a Nov. 11 press briefing.

Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary is responding to the crisis through six humanitarian We Care Centers where students and seminary graduates are among volunteers, Pyzh told Baptist Press during a recent trip to the United States. The seminary is working to get power generators to establish warming stations and phone charging sites.

“The big challenge, immediate challenge, is to go through the winter, because you don’t have electricity, you don’t have heating, you don’t have water, you don’t have anything,” Pyzh said.

We Care Centers are working to winterize homes that are too damaged to provide adequate shelter, restoring roofs, windows and doors. An additional seven centers are planned to be operational by January, the seminary reported.

Seminary expanding bomb shelter capacity

Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary, which resumed classes after spending the first months of the war as a humanitarian aid shelter, is renovating a garage into a bomb shelter, expanding bomb shelter capacity there.

Student enrollment is 2,000, Pyzh said, with most students attending classes onsite and living in Lviv. Dormitory space comfortably holds 70 students, he said, but they are filled beyond capacity.

“Sometimes we spend more time in bomb shelter than anywhere else,” Pyzh said. “It’s an underground garage, but we’re using it as a bomb shelter, because you cannot operate if you don’t have enough room for students in the bomb shelter.

“We do have a lot of air raid sirens now. After Oct. 10, we’ve been under attack quite often.”

Southern Baptist Send Relief, individual churches and other groups have sent donations to the seminary in support of humanitarian aid since the war began.

“Thank you for praying for us and helping us,” Pyzh has said. “Pray for God’s miracle, because it will take God’s miracle to stop the war.”

Leaders of the Baptist World Alliance and the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation condemned the shelling of Kachin Bible School by the Burmese military.

Elijah Brown, BWA general secretary and CEO, and Vesekhoyi Tetseo, general secretary of the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation, expressed their concern in a letter to leaders of the Myanmar Baptist Convention and the Kachin Baptist Convention.

International Christian Concern first reported  the Nov. 3 attack on the Kachin school in northern Myanmar by the military junta, known as the Tatmadaw.

Four young men in a dormitory were injured by shrapnel, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.

In the letter to Myanmar and Kachin Baptist leaders—dated Nov. 9 and released publicly Nov. 14—Brown and Tetseo express support for the families of the injured students and for Baptists in the region.

“We condemn the attack while we thank God that the students only suffered minor injuries,” they wrote. “The BWA and APBF families remain committed to religious freedom for all and lament with the many who remain impacted in Myanmar.”

‘Campaign of terror and violence’

The letter quotes a resolution the BWA general council approved at its July meeting in Birmingham, Ala., condemning the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar.

It particularly singled out the Tatmadaw for waging “a campaign of terror and violence, particularly against minority religions.”

The resolution called for “the establishment of a true democracy that respects the rights of religious and ethnic minorities,” and it pledged prayer for Christians ministering “in persecuted communities and among displaced persons.”

“We grieve for all who are suffering even as we note our special concern for those impacted by this bombing, call for the full restoration of the Kachin Bible School, urge the Tatmadaw to respect all churches, houses of worship and places of religious training, and pray for the establishment of true democracy and human rights for all,” the letter states.

The attack on the Kachin school occurred four days after shelling partially destroyed a Baptist church and hall in Momauk township, Kachin State.

Since the Tatmadaw staged a coup in February 2021, more than 2,400 people in Myanmar have been killed and at least 16,000 have been jailed by the junta, including many who have been tortured.