November 8 2004

Interviews may still be arranged with a number of the speakers below, including Peter Xu of China, Astrid Zuluaga of Colombia, Godfrey Yogarajah of Sri Lanka and Dr Asmelash of Eritrea.

Delegates at the International Christian Human Rights Conference were challenged not to stand in silence after hearing powerful accounts from speakers from the persecuted church.

About 1,000 people heard speakers from China, Colombia, Eritrea and Sri Lanka tell them about the work they do and the persecution they endure.

Peter Xu founded a church in China which today runs into the millions. He claimed the church in China had grown from some 800,000 in the 1940s to an estimated 150 million today. He was a fellow prisoner of Brother Yun, the author of the bestselling Heavenly Man book, who describes Peter as his 'father in the faith'.

He was arrrested five times, spending more than seven years in prison. On one occasion he was beaten by a martial arts expert, and then tied by his arms to an iron gate for four hours so his feet were lifted from the ground and it was hard for him to breathe. Having remained silent up to that point, he told them when he was taken down: "I can't sell out my Lord or my friends." He said he felt so much love for them at that time, despite his arms being puffed and black, that when his interrogator got out his book to record his confession, he simply told him: "I thank you." When his interrogator heard that, he did not question him again, but sentenced him to four years in prison.

Astrid Zuluaga works as a regional coordinator for the Colombian Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace (CRVP). She said that very often women were the ones who suffered the consequences of the violence against the church which had seen 80 pastors and church leaders assassinated during 2002-2003.

She said: "We have many widows, wives of pastors who have been killed. Some of them have lost their husbands who have been kidnapped and taken to other places and disappeared. Women have seen their children taken away and forced to join the armed groups. Women who still cry out because they don't know where their sons and husbands are."

Dr Berhane Asmelash of Eritrea used his medical skills to serve his church and his country and then later as a church leader came to the UK for theological training. Today he is unable to return to Eritrea as it would almost certainly result in his imprisonment and probable torture.

Some 400 people are imprisoned for their faith in Eritrea since an edict in May 2002 banned all but three Christian denominations; Orthodox, Lutheran Evangelical and Roman Catholics. He explained how some Christians are tortured in prison and others exposed to malaria-carrying mosquitos and locked in shipping containers in soaring temperatures.

He said: "People are only released if they agree to renounce their faith. Please pray for the government to reverse the edict and reopen places of worship. Please also pray for those in prison. We need to pray for people to speak out and not just to ignore the situation – they can make a difference."

Godfrey Yogarajah is General Secretary of the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka and said that in the last year, 140 churches had been closed down. He also highlighted the danger posed to religious freedom by proposed anti-conversion legislation and constitutional reforms to make Buddhism the state religion.

He said: "You are our voice and your prayers and your voice have been an inspiration to us and we thank you for your burden for your persecuted brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka."

The delegates were challenged to respond to the needs of the persecuted church by saying together the pledge: "I pray that, as a follower of Christ, I will seek to comfort the persecuted and those who mourn. I will remember those in prison as if I were in prison and those who suffer for their faith as if I suffer. I will work for justice and truth. I will not stand in silence. I will tell someone else."

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW said: "My desire is to see Christians throughout this nation refusing to stand in silence at the incredible injustices being faced by the worldwide persecuted Church. I believe that on Saturday we made a big step to seeing Christians in the UK providing a loud voice in support of those in our family who have had their voices taken away."

Eddie Lyle, Chief Executive Officer of Release International said: "We want to resource you to speak out for the persecuted church, a church that is growing in these seriously embattled situations. I have said before that I have a problem with the phrase a silent majority. We want you to go from here as a seriously noisy majority."

Peter Kerridge, Chief Executive of Premier Christian Radio, said: ''It is a great privilege to work with CSW and Release International to draw attention to the plight of so many in the persecuted church. My prayer is that we will motivate Christians around the UK to take positive action to help all they can. We can do so much but we can't stand in silence.''

CSW is a human rights charity working on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs. We also promote religious liberty for all. Release International serves persecuted Christians in 30 nations around the world, by supporting pastors and their families who are being victimised, supplying Christian literature and Bibles and working for justice.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Delegates also heard from Ben Rogers, author of A Land Without Evil and Advocacy Officer on South Asia for CSW. He spoke on religious persecution in Burma and Pakistan. Mark Butler of Release International and Dr Khataza Gondwe of CSW spoke about the religious violence in Nigeria.

Rev Greg Haslam, minister of Westminster Chapel, introduced the day and worship was led by David Hind of Nottingham Christian Centre. Rev Dr Rob Frost concluded the day by encouraging delegates to respond with action to the persecuted church.