“…After they broke our church…”

Dear Friend, 

In a remote region of Bangladesh, a tiny church is under attack by their Buddhist community. 

The women and children were viciously beaten. The men face relentless death threats. Their church was demolished. They are not allowed to farm or find work. 

And it may get worse. A young man, Chakma, said, “Now they are more ferocious towards us. We are so frightened of them.” 

You will not read about this small church and their ordeal in the news media. They won’t make headlines. With all the tragedies in the world, theirs can be overlooked. 

But they need us. And we can directly help them. 

You can read the full story – and why they are reaching out to us for help – in our newsletter below.

Chakma called us because ever since the attacks, with your support, we are providing safe houses, food, school fees, encouragement, and training to raise up a pastor. 

What happened before was bad enough. Yet, despite our help and the Army’s intervention, the cruelty continues, and pressures pile on. 

They are isolated, yet your prayers and support are reaching them. 

“Without Christian Freedom International’s help we are not able to survive,” one lady said. “You are the only one who takes care of us.” 

With your support, we can keep providing for their basic needs. 

More importantly, we can help strengthen their faith. One way their faith can increase is seeing God answer our prayers for them. 

Please pray for protection from their persecutors. 

Pray for the freedom to work and provide for their families. 

Pray for their tormenters to believe in Jesus – and help rebuild their church! 

Since no pastor can travel to the area because it is too dangerous, they need to raise up their own leaders. Christian Freedom International is providing theological training to a future leader within their church. 

This young man said, “Christian Freedom International has stood by our side in happiness and sadness, helped us a lot in times of danger and difficult situations. Many thanks and gratitude from our church.” 

It costs only $290/month to help with food, school fees, and spiritual aid for this church. 

Thank you! 

Your prayers and support help not only this church but other persecuted Christians. 

They get overlooked by the world – but God sees them and gives us ways to help. 

May God encourage you just as you encourage them in their times of trouble. 

For Him, 

Wendy Wright President 

P.S. Following Christ is costly for these Christians. 

Will you stand with them and other persecuted Christians as they stand for Jesus?

 

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“…After they broke our Church…” 

Chakma called with an urgent message. 

“We are frightened because the Buddhist terrorists who vandalized our church got out of jail. They are threatening to kill us because we asked the authorities to put them in jail after they broke our Church.” 

“Now they are more ferocious towards us. We are so frightened of them.” 

Chakma lives in a beautiful, remote, and dangerous region of Bangladesh. The Christians in his village were viciously attacked and their small church destroyed. 

The Army set up a camp to keep the peace. Chakma said if the Army leaves, “we will be killed or forced to leave the village by those Buddhist terrorists. Pray for us.” 

What Happened? 

The believers in Chakma’s village left Buddhism to follow Christ. They built a small church. There was no trouble until a Buddhist monk said he “would not touch even his foot on the land,” of the village because the church made it “unholy.” 

That is when the community turned against the Christians. Militant Buddhists destroyed the church. Then they went after the Christians, telling the men, “Return to Buddhism or be killed.” 

Holding firm to Jesus, the men hid in the jungle. Furious that the Christians got away, the Buddhists broke into their homes at night and beat their wives and children. 

“They beat us so brutally,” a woman said. “While we were crying for pains of our wounds, they mocked, laughed at us.” The militants seized their cellphones and guarded the homes to keep the women and children from getting help. 

Our director sent a team to rescue the families and get them to a safe house. (You can read their testimonies here.) Thanks to God, we were able to shelter the families for several months. 

Army officials negotiated for the Christians to return. As part of the agreement, the Christians cannot rebuild their church, and Buddhists cannot build a new temple. 

“When we entered the demolished Church house our hearts were crying. We prayed and cried to the Lord to protect us, help us to rebuild the Church house,” said one man. The Christians cannot farm or find work because of the relentless death threats. They have no means to survive. They are isolated and desperate. 

Accused of Murder 

Several Christian women slipped out of the village. They told the terrifying news that three of the Christian men had been falsely accused of murder. The police threatened to execute the men on the spot. 

But God intervened! (Read our director’s letter below for the story. It shows the injustices that persecuted Christians face—and that God acts and answers prayers!) 

The Buddhists tell the Christians the cruelty will stop…if they return to Buddhism. 

“If I revert, all our sufferings will end, all the problems will be solved, my family and I can live in the village peacefully with our neighbors. But I won’t revert because there is no eternal life in Buddhism,” said one Christian. 

“I learnt from the Bible that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for my sin. He is the only Savior Lord. If anyone believes in Him, they will get eternal peace and life,” said another. “I can’t but believe in Jesus Christ and worship Him.” 

Christmas in a Broken Church 

Since the attacks, the families meet in their homes to worship. This Christmas, they gathered in their broken church to celebrate Jesus’ birth. 

What an amazing example of following Jesus…who humbly entered this broken world to bring His kingdom! 

A few weeks later—as the Army prepared to leave—Chakma learned that the attackers were released from jail and are seeking revenge. 

The Christians said, “Please keep praying for us, keep in touch with us, and don’t forget us.” 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

Greetings to you all in the most precious name of our Saviour Lord Jesus Christ. 

Christians of Naniarchar who were persecuted by the Buddhists still are captive. They are not free to go where they can find work to survive even though Bangladesh Army is providing protection from Buddhists who threaten their lives. 

They are in hardships that are indescribable. But the Christians who were brutally persecuted for their strong faith in Christ are committed to tell the truth of Salvation in Christ to their friends and neighbors. 

I wanted to meet everyone, but for security I cannot travel to their place. Three women came to meet me to share events which are frightening them. One of the dogmatic Buddhist men was found dead. The leaders complained to Army, “You guys are saving the bad people. They killed our man in his home.” 

They kept shouting to the Army to arrest and beat the Christian families. They also told the terrorist political party to punish the Christians. For their shouting the Army arrested a few Christian men, tied them up, and called the sibling of the dead man. 

The Army asked, “Tell us if these Christian men killed your brother. You don’t have to be afraid of telling the truth. We surely bring justice for you.” His brother kept silent. 

The Army commander shouted, “Tell us if these Christian men murdered your brother. We will bring justice for you by shooting them straight away.” The brother told the Army, “No, they didn’t kill my brother. I don’t know who killed my brother.” Then the Army set the Christian men free. 

Actually, he knew who killed his brother but was threatened to not reveal their names. The killers are members of the terrorist party who want to take the deceased’s land. 

The Christians were saved by a miraculous blessing over them. They believe that Christ worked in the brother’s heart. He didn’t lie to the Army, though he was pressured so the Army would shoot the Christians to death. But God helped us to escape death. 

I found tears in the eyes of the lady while telling this story to me. This very brave lady, a mother of three children, was not so frightened when she was beaten brutally. She smiled despite wounds while I interviewed her after they were tortured by the Buddhists. But this time I found her frightened. 

The Buddhists are trying every way to persecute the few Christian families. If they would affirm faith in Buddha, they would be out of danger. They could lead an easy and comfortable life and their neighbors would cooperate to survive in the deep rain forest. 

At the end of our conversation, the ladies told me, “Please keep praying for us, keep in touch with us, don’t forget us. We need your help. No Christian individuals or organization came to us, you are the only one who helps us.” 

“We thank CFI for helping us. Without CFI’s help we are not able to send our children to school and also to survive. Please come to visit us, pray with us, and pray for us.”