Recent reports state that officials in the Islamic country of Saudi Arabia have passed a law that may impose the death penalty on Bible smugglers and any others distributing religious materials that are not of the Muslim religion.

“[T]he new law extends to the importing of all illegal drugs and ‘all publications that have a prejudice to any other religious beliefs other than Islam,’” Paul Washer’s HeartCry Missionary Society outlines in a post on their website. “In other words, anyone who attempts to bring Bibles or gospel literature into the country will have all materials confiscated and be imprisoned and sentenced to death.”

It points to an article on the Copts Today website, which notes that “indecent materials and publications” are also included in the customs prohibition.

Reporters have attempted to obtain confirmation of the report from Saudi Arabia’s U.S. Embassy press officer in Washington, but the information has neither been confirmed or denied.

“Sometimes they don’t want to say anything (to the media),” a representative named Cecelia told WND.

The United Nations has also declined to comment on whether or not the report is accurate.

As the HeartCry Missionary Society notes in pointing to a video on Prayercast, Saudi Arabia has a long history of hostility toward Christians, as it is illegal to convert to Christianity in the country, a crime considered to be apostasy against Islam and punishable by death…Read More

Source and Original Content by CNN

A Pakistani bishop says the church is “totally with the families of our Muslim brothers and sisters,” after the Taliban attacked a school in his province killing more than 120 people.

Most of those killed in the attack were children.

The Taliban say the attack was revenge, after Pakistani authorities killed their members.

At least six fighters entered the military-run school in the Pakistani province of Peshawar, while exams were taking place.

It’s thought the Muslim extremists fired indiscriminately.

The Anglican Bishop of Peshawar, Rt Revd Humphrey Peters, told Premier: “There’ll be three days mourning in the province… and then we have cancelled all our Christmas celebrations because it is very disturbing – very very disturbing.”

“We are totally with the families of our majority community Muslim brother and sisters. We are in solidarity with them.”

“I really can’t say it, but it’s become a conventional thing… Peshawar is so quiet now. Everyone is so sad.

“I will question the intelligence agencies. Where are they? Why can’t they pick it up? What are they there for?

“We need a lot of prayers. The church, being the marginalised and the minority and the poorest of the poor, we are worried about the security of our churches and our institutions.

“It is very very expensive to keep two or three guards. Security-wise we people are really weak.”

Source and Original Content by Premier Christian Radio

Commander Johan Cosar stands on the rooftop of an abandoned home in the Syriac Christian village of Gharduka, about 60 kilometers southwest of Malikiya in Syria’s northeastern corner. He points toward a vast field: “That’s where Islamic State is, one and half kilometers from here,” he says, referring to the organization that is also known as ISIS or ISIL.

The rundown building serves as a military base for the Syriac Military Council (also known as MFS), the Syrian-based military branch of the Mesopotamian National Council, an international organization founded to aid Syriac communities around the world. The soldiers, members of the oldest Christian community in the world, are fighting a battle to keep their identity alive and their homeland from falling into the hands of what they call foreign invaders. They work hand-in-hand with the community’s security force, Sutoro.

The violence and targeting of minorities by radical jihadist groups including Islamic State has led tens of thousands of Christians to flee their towns and villages in Iraq and Syria.

Cosar, an Italian-Swiss of Syriac origin, helped found MFS. In June 2012 the 32-year-old former club owner left Switzerland for Syria in order to better understand the civil war.

“At the time the north of Syria had not been touched by the violence of the war, but it was moving this way, so I said ‘We need to do something,” he explains.

Cosar took it upon himself to train young Syriac men who had taken up arms but had very little or no military experience: “The idea was to create an internal military force that could defend the territory and towns of our people and other civilians, there was a primary need to organize ourselves militarily,” Cosar says. The formation of the MFS combat units was officially announced on January 8, 2013.

The training is akin to what Cosar received in the Swiss Armed Forces. The men are trained in both light and heavy weaponry, including hand grenades, sniper rifles, Kalashnikov assault rifles and Russian-made “Dushka” heavy machine guns. Hundreds of youths have gone through it and while the majority of them are over 18, some appear to be younger.

“We’ve trained them on how to use arms safely, the weapon needs to be a part of you. You should have control of the weapon, not vice versa,” explains Cosar. He says there have not yet been any fatalities, but a few of his men have been injured in battle.

“As Christians we are not only fighting against the Islamic state, we are fighting against a state that hates us. Our situation is a bit more dangerous,” he adds, as plumes of black smoke from the Islamic State’s improvised oil refineries mushroom into the sky…Read More

Source and Original Content by BCNN1