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Azerbaijan

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Christianity is growing in Azerbaijan
despite harsh restrictions

Once a Christian region, Azerbaijan is now 96% Muslim. The government gives preferential treatment to those religions considered “traditional” (Islam, Russian Orthodox Christianity and Judaism), while other forms of Christianity are actively restricted. 

Ever since the country’s independence in 1991, the government has repeatedly increased its restrictions on Christians. Christian groups that established a presence in the country only after 1991 and those operating without official registration are particularly vulnerable. Their church services are monitored and raided, Christian literature is confiscated, and their members are harassed and imprisoned. 

The country’s Religion Law, first adopted in 1992, has been amended 13 times. The latest amendment to the country’s Criminal and Administrative Code came into force on 12 December 2011; those caught producing or distributing unapproved Christian literature are now liable to be fined up to nearly nine years of the official minimum wage or sentenced to up to five years in jail. 

Hundreds of churches and Christian groups are waiting for approval of their registration applications after the government ruled in 2010 for the fifth time since 1992 that that all groups must re-register. The application process is burdensome, and some groups have been denied registration. 

In April 2012, Baku-based Greater Grace Protestant Church was stripped of its registration in a 15-minute court hearing held in the absence of any representative from the church. It was charged with failing to re-register with the government. Greater Grace appealed against the decision, but its case was thrown out in July. The church then took its legal challenge to the country’s Supreme Court, which upheld all previous rulings in an eight-minute hearing on 9 January.

An increasing number of Azerbaijanis are finding Christ. Many of the new Christians are converts from Islam and can meet with hostility from family, community and authorities.

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  • The Sudanese authorities have intensified their crackdown on Christian activities by targeting Christian-run schools. Two of these in the capital, Khartoum, have been ordered to close. One is a primary school that the authorities discovered was not teaching Islamic studies or separating boys and girls. The other provided English-language lessons for 500 adults; three of its staff had been arrested and interrogated over suspicions that they were evangelising Muslims. Pray that Christian work and witness in Sudan will continue despite the increasingly crippling restrictions being imposed upon them, and that the Gospel will spread there. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed 18 hours ago

  • An upsurge of arrests and deportations of Christians in Sudan has further unsettled the country’s vulnerable Christian minority. In January three Christians of South Sudanese origin were detained and then ordered to leave the country because of their involvement with churches and a Christian radio station. The following month a group of at least 55 Christians were detained without charge, falsely accused of receiving money from foreign countries. Dozens of expatriate Christians have also been deported. Pray that this frequent and severe harassment will stop, and that the churches of Sudan will be allowed to worship and serve the Lord in peace. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Sat, May 2013 00:00

  • “We have reached here with the help of God. We shall live well with God’s help in our land.” A Christian woman gave thanks as she arrived in South Sudan after escaping from discrimination and oppression in Muslim-majority Sudan, thanks to the Exodus project sponsored by Barnabas Fund. Give thanks to the Lord that more than 3,500 Christians have already reached the safety of the Christian-majority South by plane and bus. Pray for His blessing upon them as they settle into their new lives, and pray too that others will be able to join them soon. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Fri, May 2013 00:00

  • Pray for 14 Christians in Nghe An, Vietnam, who were sentenced in January to between three and 13 years in prison on charges of subversion against the state. Their lawyers complained that the Christians had been subjected to torture, including sleep deprivation, and coerced into confessing crimes that they had not committed. Some of them had apparently been detained by police at random, some at a church service. During the two-day trial, thousands of Christians staged a protest against the arbitrary and illegal arrest of innocent people. Pray that the sentences will be revoked and the Christians released, and that the authorities will stop harassing and bullying the Christian community. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Thu, May 2013 00:00

  • “The decree is intended to provide the tools to end the house-church movement entirely.” Nguyen Van Dai, a Christian lawyer in Vietnam, added his voice to a chorus of concern among church leaders about Decree 92, which provides new guidelines for regulating religious practice in the country. The decree imposes harsh and complex new criteria that churches must fulfil if they are to obtain legal status; these will make it almost impossible for unregistered groups such as house churches (which have not been recognised by the government since 1975) to do so. Even if a congregation manages to fulfil all the conditions, the minimum period it will have to wait for recognition is 23 years. Pray that the churches in Vietnam will withstand this attempt to stifle their witness and will not only survive but thrive. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Wed, May 2013 00:00

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