Christians Killed in Pakistan, 'Make Me Your Voice' & more

Christians Killed in Pakistan, 'Make Me Your Voice' & more

In Today's Edition:

  • More Christians Killed in Pakistan
  • China: Conspiracy or Compassion?
  • Make Me Your Voice Seeks To Highlight Persecution Of Sudanese Christians
  • Memphis Minister Shot and Killed in New Orleans


More Christians Killed in Pakistan ... Three nurses were killed and over 20 other people were injured in a grenade attack on a Christian hospital in Taxila, near Islamabad, on Aug. 9, reported CNS, BFS and others. One of the assailants also was killed after blowing himself up. The attack took place at approximately 7:45 am, local time, as hospital staff were leaving the hospital chapel.

According to Barnabas Fund News Service (BFS), there were three attackers who are believed to be Islamic extremists, possibly with links to Al-Qaeda. Having managed to escape from Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda activists are now thought to be targeting western and non-Muslim interests in Pakistan. The Taxila hospital does receive support from western Christian sources for its work. It specializes in treating eye diseases common among poor Pakistanis. However, all the victims were Pakistanis and according to hospital administrator, Clement Bakhshi, with the exception of one Swedish nurse who was on leave at the time of the attack, there were no foreign staff or patients at the hospital.

This latest attack comes less than a week after six people were killed in an attack by Islamic extremists on Murree Christian School. Although the school has mainly foreign pupils and staff, all six of those killed were local Pakistanis. According to local police, the perpetrators of this attack subsequently blew themselves up after escaping from a police checkpoint in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Before killing themselves they had warned of other attacks and were reported to have said, "We have no enmity with Muslims. Our targets are only Americans and non-believers."

According to BFS, there are fears that Islamic extremists are increasingly targeting Pakistani Christians and Christian institutions. Dr Samuel Azariah, the presiding Bishop of the Church of Pakistan, said after this latest outrage, "It appears that a spate of attacks on Christian institutions is gaining momentum."


China: Conspiracy or Compassion?  ...  According to a report from Compass Direct, hundreds of thousands of North Korean refugees are in hiding in northeast China, "living in fear of deportation back to a country gripped by a grotesque dictatorship and a famine that may have claimed 2 million lives." The Chinese government has taken drastic action to stem the flood of desperate refugees seeking asylum in foreign embassies in Beijing. Sensational headlines have accused overseas hostile forces, and in particular Christians, of being involved in a "conspiracy" to destabilize the North Korean regime.

The Chinese-language newspaper Youth Reference on June 19 claimed that a "South Korean body with links to the Christian church" had masterminded a recent asylum incident. The result: South Korean evangelism and discipleship ministries in China are at risk in the atmosphere of surveillance and paranoia.


Make Me Your Voice Seeks To Highlight Persecution Of Sudanese Christians ... From ASSIST News Service (ANS) - "Make Me Your Voice" is a 501(C)3 organization dedicated to making high quality music CD's and using the proceeds to help the Persecuted Church as well as church mission departments and faith-based organizations. "Make Me Your Voice" took two years to produce and includes the work of Andrae Crouch, Charlie Peacock and the nation's largest church's worship leaders.

About three years ago, Christian Solidarity Worldwide with Lady Caroline Cox came to speak at music and film producer Ken Tamplin's church. "It was there I learned about the wholesale slaughter of Christians in Sudan. Over 2 million people have been killed at the hand of the Islamic extremist government of Sudan," Tamplin told ASSIST News Service (ANS). "I felt that God had directed me to that presentation. As a music producer, I felt God wanted me to make a CD and donate 100 hundred percent of all the artist and producer royalties to go toward Sudan aid. So I did. That CD is 'Make Me Your Voice,' " Tamplin said.

"If you do the math, you will notice that the kind of carnage that has taken place in Sudan would equal one World Trade Center episode per week for 13 years! Because of what happened to us on 9/11, we now can identify with that and for the most part, the world would be behind us if we 'Stood in the gap,' for Sudan. It's important because right now is a perfect window of opportunity," Tamplin said.

Tamplin said that "Make Me Your Voice II" is a more modern approach to Praise and Worship music juxtaposed to the Middle America approach on the first volume. It will be available Aug. 25 on www.makemeyourvoice.com and includes several of the artists from the first volume, such as Habib Bardowell, Stacey Robbins, Philip Bardowell and Tamplin himself.


Memphis Minister Shot and Killed in New Orleans ... The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that a prominent Memphis minister was murdered in New Orleans on Aug. 5. The Rev. Alfred DeWayne Hill, pastor of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, was found shot to death in his car. According to the report, police don't yet have clues in the case. A coroner's office investigator attributed the cause of death to multiple gunshot wounds. Because Hill still had "money and belongings in the car" after he was shot, said the Times-Picayune, detectives are considering other motives for the murder.

"News of Hill's murder stunned the Memphis community, where the minister was revered not only by church members but by the public at large," according to the report. When other pastors moved out of South Memphis to outlying areas, Hill remained and rebuilt Pilgrim Rest Church, which serves 1,100 members. "Known as an excellent preacher and Bible scholar," Hill ministered to the Pilgrim Rest congregation for 26 years and served on a community panel that examined the South Memphis Police Department's use of force after two people were shot and killed by officers in 1995.

Christians Killed in Pakistan, 'Make Me Your Voice' & more