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Pray for Leah Sharibu #FreeLeah January 4, 2020
4 Muslims Kidnap, Beat and Rob Christian Preacher in Norway, Demanding He Convert to Islam or Die
December 4, 2019 8:22 am / 1 Comment on 4 Muslims Kidnap, Beat and Rob Christian Preacher in Norway, Demanding He Convert to Islam or Die
Roar Fløttum. (Image credit: Roar Fløttum/Facebook)
(CBN) Four Muslim men attacked a street preacher after they lured him away while he was preaching and praying for the sick on a street in Trondheim, Norway last week.
According to the website Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, Roar Fløttum was approached by the men when one of them asked him to come with them to pray for a friend who had injured his foot. Instead, they took him to a nearby backyard where the men allegedly pushed him down a cellar staircase, beat him, robbed him and threatened to kill him if he did not convert to Islam.
"They told me to give them my bank card and certificate, codes, mobile, and Apple ID. They held me hostage there for an hour as they withdrew from the card," Fløttum told Norway Today. They made about 10,000 kroner. (a little more than $1,000 in US dollars) While they kept me there, they threatened me and said they would kill me if I did not convert to Islam."
"They wanted me to say a few words in Arabic," he continued. "I was scared and actually thought they were going to kill me because they said they had a knife and didn't want witnesses." full report
Fløttum asked on his Facebook for his friends to pray for his attackers.
British Court Upholds Right of Christians to Freely Express Their Faith – Felix Ngole
July 11, 2019 8:06 am / 1 Comment on British Court Upholds Right of Christians to Freely Express Their Faith – Felix Ngole
After four years, a Christian student won his appeal in a UK appeals court after he was expelled from college for expressing his faith on sexual ethics in a debate on social media, according to CBN News.
Felix Ngole was dismissed from the University of Sheffield in 2016 where he was studying to become a social worker.
He was expelled for his participation in a 2015 Facebook discussion opposing same-sex-marriage. Being a devout Christian, he quoted biblical verses confirming the traditional Christian views on marriage.
A complaint was filed against Ngole by an anonymous source several months after the Facebook discussion. He was told by the university that he "lacked insight' into the effect of his Facebook posts. The expression of his Christian views was found to be unacceptable by the university, and he was required to stay silent on the subject while attending the school.
Ngole was also told not to express his Christian views in public, including a church. He could never express his viewpoint in a work situation even if directly asked.
In their decision, the Court of Appeals rebuked the university saying that people should not live in fear when expressing their views. The court said, "The mere expression of religious views about sin does not necessarily connote discrimination."
Ngole was represented by religious rights attorney, Paul Diamond, who objected to the university's disciplinary process of silencing speech.
The student took to Facebook and expressed gratitude for his victory, writing:
"You say something that your employer doesn't like and they expel you. And we know that type of thing that you would say that would lead to that. Most of it is just expressing your faith which as a Christian country we should be able to do that." Read More
Notre Dame fire: spire and roof destroyed but main structure saved
April 15, 2019 8:21 pm / Leave a comment
What a tragedy. Praying for the firemen on the scene.
Below links from The Guardian Live news feed on the Cathedral
17m ago French billionaire pledges €100m to rebuilding efforts
2h ago The "worst has been avoided", says Macron
2h ago Fire started accidentally – preliminary investigation
2h ago Two towers saved, but fireman seriously injured – reports
2h ago Main structure "saved and preserved
4h ago Macron arrives at the scene
4h ago Next hour and a half is "crucial" says Paris fire department
See more updates here
VOP NOTE: France has had several weeks of escalating vandalism and arson attacks on churches. Compared to the 1st quarter of 2018, France has seen a 53% rise in anti-Christian acts during the 1st quarter of 2019. Please keep France in your prayers.
Home Office withdraws refusal of asylum seeker after criticising the Bible in rejection letter
March 25, 2019 8:15 am / 1 Comment on Home Office withdraws refusal of asylum seeker after criticising the Bible in rejection letter
(Premiere) By Cara Bentley
The Home Office has agreed to reconsider an asylum application after rejecting the Iranian by using Bible verses out of context to argue that Christianity is not a peaceful religion.
The Iranian who is trying to claim asylum in the UK on the grounds of Christian conversion received a letter this week saying his argument that he converted to Christianity after discovering it was a peaceful religion must be false due to various passages from the Bible with violent imagery, which the letter quotes.
The letter contains quotes from Matthew, Revelation and Exodus to argue that the claimant had made an error in assuming Christianity was : "about peace, forgiveness and kindness". Read more
Persecution: Why is the Western Church silent
November 20, 2018 5:37 pm / 5 Comments on Persecution: Why is the Western Church silent
(Voice of the Persecuted) Recently I received an invitation to go on a conference call and pray for repentance concerning the wildfires in California. One of the prayer points concerning repentance is that America has not stood with Israel. I find this interesting since according to PM Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu and many Israelis, President Trump is the best friend Israel ever had.
In my experience of praying on conference calls, I've found that Israel has more intercessors than tortured, imprisoned and endangered believers in Christ. I facilitate Persecution Watch, one of the few, likely the only conference call in North American that specifically prays for the persecuted church. By God's grace we have labored for over 8 years in his mandate to intercede for those in the shadow of the cross, and that with a faithful, few intercessors.
I continually hear and am told that we must pray for Israel, the apple of God's eye. At the risk of being construed as Anti-Semitic, I must ask what about the persecuted bride of Christ? Who intercedes for them as He intercedes for us? Given their experience of persecution, even Jewish people wonder why the West doesn't have more concern for Christians facing extreme abuses, even death.
I do believe that Israel will play a prophetic role in the end times, but I leave that for the experts to work out. I must ask again who stands with persecuted believers, our own family in faith?
The writer of Hebrews tells us, Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and they mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily. Hebrews 13:3
We are to remember our persecuted family, at least in our prayers, because we are members of one body. Indeed Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 that if one member of the body suffers we all suffer. So how is it that we can easily ignore the wounded part of the Body in Christ?
I find the passages in Matthew 25 regarding the sheep and the goats to be quite sobering. Many of us know these passages found in chapter 25 verses 31-46. Let's look at how is He's judging the sheep and the goats. He's not assessing them on the doctrine they held or their performance of signs and wonders, but if they fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, showed hospitality to the stranger, clothed the naked, took care of the sick, and visited those in prison. He's judging the sheep and the goats as to whether they practiced the second great commandment, or what is called the royal law. Love your neighbor as yourself. I believe the persecuted bride of Christ is being considered here.
Many cry out for Israel and I respect those who do. Countless churches are active in meaningful outreach programs which I believe demonstrate goodwill and the love expected in our faith. But how often do we hear our pastors leading even a short prayer for the critical numbers suffering for their faith, today? Once a week, once a month, a year, never? To encourage all pastors, we have not met one believer who hasn't confirmed they would like to hear more about the persecuted in church and to pray with the congregation for them. We thank those of you who are engaging their congregations and lifting up the suffering. We pray more consider to join you.
Will we continue to be silent, or will we speak out and pray for the persecuted? Below is a song written a few years ago at the height of the ISIS persecution of the believers in Iraq. It challenges us to not be silent for our persecuted family.
We stand with our persecuted brothers and sisters who are in the shadow of the cross. I must continue to cry out even though at times I feel as a lone voice in the wilderness.
Your brother at the foot of the cross,
Blaine and the VOP team
Blaine Scogin serves as Prayer Director of Persecution Watch and Voice of the Persecuted.
The Persecution Watch conference call meets 3 times a week, Tuesday, Thursday and Sundays. If you are interested in joining the Prayer Team on the call, we invite and welcome your presence to intercede for our brothers and sisters with us. It means more to the persecuted than you can imagine. MEET YOU ON THE CALL!
(Please check your time zones)
9 p.m. Eastern
8 p.m. Central
7 p.m. Mountain
6 p.m. Pacific
Germany charges Palestinian with murder of Christians over Temple Mount Tensions
November 14, 2017 3:58 pm / Leave a comment
The Jerusalem Post reports the prosecutor's office said, according to the indictment, that a Palestinian man, Ahmad A., 26, wanted "to kill as many German nationals of the Christian faith as possible." His reasoning behind the act was because of the "escalating conflict between Muslim believers and Israel security forces at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He wanted his actions "to be viewed in the context of an Islamic attack, and understood as a contribution to worldwide jihad."
On July 28 at a supermarket in Hamburg, Ahmad allegedly murdered one man, aged 50, with a 20-cm. (approx. 8″) knife and wounded an additional six people. On Friday, Germany's federal prosecution charged the Palestinian with murder and six counts of attempted murder.
Read the full report here
"We Are Going to Burn You Alive!" Muslim Persecution of Christians, June 2017
November 6, 2017 8:00 am / Leave a comment
Jesuit Father Henri Boulad, an Islamic scholar of the Egyptian Greek Melkite rite, held no punches in an interview concerning the motives of Islamic terror and Western responses to it. "Islam is an open-ended declaration of war against non-Muslims," declared the priest, and those who carry out acts of violence and intolerance are only doing what their creed requires. The report continues:
Those who fail to recognize the real threat posed by Islam are naïve and ignorant of history, he said, and unfortunately many in the Church fall into this category. Citing a letter he wrote last August to Pope Francis, Father Boulad said that "on the pretext of openness, tolerance and Christian charity — the Catholic Church has fallen into the trap of the liberal left ideology which is destroying the West." "Anything that does not espouse this ideology is immediately stigmatized in the name of 'political correctness,'" he said. The priest went so far as to chastise Pope Francis himself—a fellow Jesuit—suggesting that he has fallen into this trap as well. "Many think that a certain number of your positions are aligned with this ideology and that, from complacency, you go from concessions to concessions and compromises in compromises at the expense of the truth," the priest wrote to Francis. Christians in the West and in the East, he wrote the Pope, "are expecting something from you other than vague and harmless declarations that may obscure reality." "It is high time to emerge from a shameful and embarrassed silence in the face of this Islamism that attacks the West and the rest of the world. A systematically conciliatory attitude is interpreted by the majority of Muslims as a sign of fear and weakness," he said. "If Jesus said to us: Blessed are the peacemakers, he did not say to us: Blessed are the pacifists. Peace is peace at any cost, at any price. Such an attitude is a pure and simple betrayal of truth," he said. The priest also stated his belief that the West is in an ethical and moral debacle, and its defense of Islam is a denial of truth. "By defending at all costs Islam and seeking to exonerate it from the horrors committed every day in its name, one ends up betraying the truth," he wrote.
June's roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Muslim Attacks on and Desecration of Christian Churches
Philippines: On June 21 in the village of Malagakit, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF)—which earlier pledged allegiance to the Islamic State—vandalized a Catholic church. Describing the desecration as "wicked," the chief police inspector said the "crucifix and images of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ were destroyed while the sacred hosts were thrown all over the floor." Cardinal Quevedo, who condemned the sacrilege in the strongest terms possible, challenged the leaders of the BIFF to punish its men who desecrated the chapel: "If the BIFF wants to have an image as a respecter of all religions, it must punish its members who perpetrated the odious desecration and educate all its members in strictly respecting other religions," said the prelate. "Last month, terrorist gunmen also desecrated St. Mary's Cathedral in Marawi, some 150 kilometers from Cotabato," notes the report. "The gunmen were seen on a video [here] destroying religious images and burning the cathedral."
Egypt: An Islamic terror cell consisting of six members, two of whom were described as "suicide bombers, was planning on bombing yet another Coptic Christian church in Alexandria, but was exposed and arrested by police before they could launch their attack. According to a statement from the Egyptian Interior Ministry, "one attacker had planned to detonate an explosive vest inside the church and the other to blow himself up when police arrived to the scene." Several similar and successful attacks on Christian churches in Egypt in the months before had left about 100 church goers dead and hundreds more severely wounded.
Separately, authorities raided a church-owned building that was being used by the local Coptic Christian community for worship; after police removed furniture, Christian iconography and other items from the building, they chained down the doors to prevent Christians from accessing the building. Christians had for some time tried to have the building legally recognized as a church, only to face a backlash from both local Muslims and authorities. According to a local Christian, "During the early hours of Friday, June 16, we [Christians] were surprised to find the furniture, rugs, icons, pictures, and worship utensils … had been thrown outside and the building closed down with seals and chains. We took the belongings into our homes. We don't know why the police did that." When dozens of church leaders met with the local governor insisting that they need a place to worship, he responded by telling them that the building they were using had been found to be in a state of disrepair and need to be demolished.
Algeria: On 9 June, the state oversaw the demolition of the Catholic church located in Sidi Moussa, 15 miles from Algiers. According to Kamel Abderrahmani, an Arab journalist who covered the incident, "Algerian authorities found a very shallow argument to justify this anti-Christian act. According to the authorities concerned, the church was listed in the red category by the technical inspection services. The legitimate question that arises from this is, since the building was deemed in danger of collapse, why was it not restored and listed as part of the national heritage? The statement of the mayor was of unprecedented clarity. He had announced the construction of a mosque and a Quranic school on the same site. Such statements caused outrage, as many saw the demolition as an act of vandalism." Kamel also noted how the Algerian government had demolished other churches on other pretexts, and concluded by calling Muslim governments and activists "hypocrites": "If the mayor of Paris or Rome had destroyed a mosque to build a church, what would have happened? Sunni Muslims would have shouted scandal and Islamophobia! This question shows the hypocrisy of Islamists and their double standards. They defend freedom of worship in the West in order to ban it in their homeland. They fight to build mosques in someone else's homeland whilst destroying churches and synagogues where they have power."
Iraq: In June 2015, when Mosul was under the Islamic State's control, the group had announced it was converting St. Ephraim Church into a "mosque of the mujahedeen." The cross from the dome was accordingly broken off, and all Christian symbols were purged from within the house of worship. Now, months after Mosul was liberated, the occupied church was exposed as being used as a sex-slave chamber where approximately 200 Yazidi girls and women were abused by the Islamic State. A report recounts "ISIS' depravity towards Yazidi women and girls. On the floor of the iconic house of worship lie tiny pieces of pink and yellow underwear and flower headbands belonging to the very young Yazidi sex slaves the barbaric terrorist group took captive." The June 14 report also notes that "Last week, according to local activists, ISIS publicly caged and burned alive 19 Yazidi girls for refusing to have sex with ISIS fighters, according to local activists. Yazidi leaders last year showed Fox News photographs of the Islamic jihadists burning babies to death on a slab of sheet metal, photos that show tiny, roasted bodies side by side as flames engulfed them….The butchered Christian building and its Yazidi remnants serve as chilling reminders of the genocide experienced by the two religious minorities."
Spain: A Muslim man stormed a Christian church during a marriage ceremony, started shouting "Allahu Akbar"—"Allah is greater"—and "tried to throw liturgical objects around him to attack the priest and churchgoers," says a report. A number of wedding attendants managed to apprehend the 22-year-old Moroccan and hand him over to police, who reportedly charged him with "disturbing public order, crime against religious feelings and threats." Police also investigated the church for potential explosives before permitting the wedding ceremony to resume. According to the officiating priest, the incident began when a "group of young troublemakers" started making offensive noises at the back of the church. "Suddenly, someone started to shout and charged at the altar. A lot of people, including the bride's mother, were crying, and there were people who had already jumped out of the pews because we did not know whether this person came alone or not, or if he was armed."
Turkey: The Erdogan government seized at least 50 Syriac churches, monasteries, and Christian cemeteries, many of which were still active, in the Mardin province, and declared them state property. According to the report, "The Syriacs have appealed to the Court for the cancellation of the decision." The Chairman of Mor Gabriel Monastery Foundation—a 1,600 year-old monastery that was still in use and also seized—said "We started to file lawsuits and in the meantime our enquiries continued."
The Muslim Slaughter of Christians
Pakistan: A Chinese Christian couple—Lee Zing Yang, 24, and his wife Meng Lisi, 26—were abducted in Quetta and executed on the accusation that they were preaching Christ to Muslims; the Islamic State claimed responsibility for their killing and released "video footage showing the bloodied body of the Chinese man, Lee Zing Yang, taking his last breaths," says a report. The Pakistani government cited the murdered couple's "misuse of the terms of a business visa" as playing a major role in their deaths: "instead of engaging in any business activity they went to Quetta and under the garb of learning Urdu language … were actually engaged in preaching."
Kenya: Armed Muslims connected to neighboring Somalia's Islamic terrorist group, Al Shabaab, walked into an elementary school compound in Garissa and shot a Christian teacher to death. When a Muslim teacher interfered with their attempts to abduct another Christian teacher, "Al Shabaab got angry," reported another anonymous teacher, "and told the teacher, 'We are going to teach you a lesson for protecting the infidels,' and immediately the two were carried away to unknown destination"—but not before the Somali militants proceeded to "beat Muslims of Somali descent at the school for housing Kenyan Christians."
Philippines: More news and revelations concerning the jihadi uprising that began in late May in the Islamic City of Marawi appeared in June. The eight or nine Christians originally reported as being tied together and shot dead, execution style, had apparently been first ordered to recite the Islamic confession of faith, which they refused, leading to their execution. "Their bodies were reportedly thrown into the ditch, and a signboard was placed beside them reading 'Munafik,' which means traitor or liar," says a report. "The assailants also asked Police Senior Inspector Freddie Solar to recite the Muslim creed, and as a non-Muslim [Christian] he too declined and was killed." Seventeen otherswere found ritually decapitated or butchered by the Islamic State-affiliated militants. A priest and 13 parishioners from the St. Mary Cathedral were also kidnapped; the priest "appeared in a propaganda video on Tuesday (May 30) pleading for his life."
Egypt: More eyewitness details concerning the Islamic State massacre of 29 Christian pilgrimstraveling to a Coptic monastery in the Egyptian desert in May 2017 emerged. One ten-year old boy, who witnessed the slaughter of his father, recounted how "We [he and his 14-year-old brother] saw dead people, just dumped on the ground. They asked my father for identification then told him to recite the Muslim profession of faith. He refused, said he was Christian. They shot him and everyone else with us in the car…. Every time they shot someone they would yell God is great [Allahu Akbar]." Although President Sisi had depicted the terrorists as "foreigners," the ten-year-old said that the fifteen assailants "had Egyptian accents like us and they were all masked except for two of them … They looked like us and did not have beards." The same report states that, a month after the massacre, the Egyptian government had failed to provide adequate security for the residents of Dayr Jarnous, a Christian village that was home to seven of those killed, "and has done nothing to help the victims' families."
Muslim Attacks on Christian Religious Freedom
Pakistan: A new blasphemy case was registered against yet another Christian. After Mohammad Irfan refused to pay a repair bill to Ishfaq Masih, a Christian who fixed his bicycle, the Muslim denounced the Christian of blaspheming against Islamic prophet Muhammad, leading to the Christian's arrest. According to Masih's cousin, "During the argument, Irfan said that he obeys only one master, Prophet Muhammad, to which Ishfaq said that he was a Christian and his faith ends at Christ. Upon hearing this, Irfan raised a clamor that Ishfaq had blasphemed against Muhammad. Soon a mob gathered at the spot, and someone called the police, who took Ishfaq into custody." Mohammad Irfan also rallied a number of other Muslims—including Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Naveed, and Mohammad Tahir—who claimed that they "heard Ishfaq Masih say derogatory words against the Muslim prophet." According to the Christian's lawyer, only one of the four "witnesses" was even present during the altercation. Instead, "Irfan had gathered the other men, including the complainant Mohammad Ishfaq, and they then concocted the allegation against Ishfaq Masih and got him arrested…. The FIR [First Information Report] is quite weak, as it does not contain any specific blasphemous words that my client may have allegedly said…. It also shows that the police did not even bother to investigate the charge before registering a case against the poor man. This is the routine practice of the police in blasphemy cases, and it's a shame that nothing is being done to stop it."
Separately, after a Christian couple was slaughtered for preaching Christ among Muslims (see Slaughter section), a South Korean Christian was arrested for allegedly also engaging in "illegal preaching activities." Authorities revoked his visa and ordered him to leave the Muslim nation.
Philippines: A Muslim teacher in the Muslim majority island of Mindanao forced Jen-Jen, a young Christian schoolgirl apparently of Islamic origins, to pray Islamic prayers in class or else fail the class. According to the report, "Despite being uncomfortable, Jen-Jen learned the words of the prayer to recite to the teacher. But rather than asking Jen-Jen to say the words in an oral test, the teacher later announced students would be required to go to a mosque and pray the prayer aloud." When the girl and another Christian classmate told the teacher that praying in a mosque contradicts their faith in Christ, the Muslim teacher "ignored the request and told them to turn away from Christ," adding: "You must comply or else you will fail in this subject. You should revert to your Islamic faith." The girl was then "forced to complete the long walk to the mosque while wearing a traditional Muslim dress and veil covering, despite burning up with a fever." She "got so sick, however, that she lost consciousness and blacked out. Even as she came back to, the teacher refused to excuse her from listening to the entirety of the Muslim imam's message. Since the day at the Mosque, Jen-Jen has been pressured to conform to many other Muslim practices, such as fasting during the month of Ramadan…. [O]ther students have also teased and bullied Jen-Jen because of her faith, sometimes bombarding her as she walked to and from school and pushing her or insulting her."
Malaysia: The Centre for Human Rights Research and Advocacy—the statement of purpose of which is to define and promote "Human rights from the Muslim perspective"—asserted that all forms of Christian evangelicalism should be banned. According to the CEO of the Centre, Azril Mohd Amin, "It is a fact that the groups that are spreading Christian propaganda to Malaysians, especially Muslims, will keep up their efforts as they believe that there is no effective law that can stop them." Jo-Anna Henley Rampas, a leading member of a more progressive and inclusive party, responded by saying this move is "reflective of the erosion of religious freedom in the country" thanks to the "federal government's failure to instil [sic] proper understanding, tolerance and harmony among citizens."
Muslim Contempt for and Abuse of Christians
Pakistan: A Christian sanitary worker died after pious Muslim doctors who were fasting for Ramadan refused to touch the "unclean" infidel's body. Thirty-year-old Irfan Masih had fallen unconscious along with three other sanitary staff while cleaning a manhole on June 1. He was rushed to a governmental hospital where the doctors refused to treat him; he died hours later. "The doctors refused to treat him because they were fasting and said my son was napaak [unclean]," said the mother of the deceased. A few weeks later, a court, responding to complaints from hospital officials accusing the family and friends of Irfan of terrorizing the hospital, ordered police to register a complaint against them. "The hospital has levied a false charge against us in order to save themselves," explained a cousin of the deceased, who also works in sanitation. "The doctors were responsible for Irfan's death, because he would have been alive today had they not refused to treat him immediately. Our outburst against the doctors was natural, but we did not damage or steal anything from the hospital. It is a lie, and even the police know it." A senior police official admitted that "we believe that the hospital is making frivolous accusation against these people….. The hospital is ostensibly trying to pressure the family to withdraw their case."
Egypt: Suzan Ashraf Rawy, a 22-year-old Christian woman, was reportedly kidnapped on the morning of June 5 while walking to the Coptic Orthodox church she worked at. "When she did not return home that evening, her mother called the church," an area Christian leader explained. "That is when she discovered Suzan did not arrive at the church in the morning. It is expected that she has been abducted." She is the third Christian woman in the area of Al Khosous, a predominantly Christian town on the outskirts of Cairo, to disappear since May 30, when a Copt accidentally shot and killed a Muslim bystander during a quarrel with someone else. "Since then, the Muslims started to wage revenge attacks on the Christian community living there, especially the women," the Christian leader said. According to the report, "Two other young Coptic Christian women disappeared without a trace after the May 30 incident. The families of the women suspected to have been kidnapped have received no communication from alleged kidnappers, the sources said. Area Muslims have long disfigured Christian women for not wearing veils by throwing acid on them, but there has been a surge in such attacks in the past few weeks, sources said…. Fear has seized Coptic Christians in the area, with women afraid to leave their homes. One of the church women's meetings, which Rawy attended, has been suspended until further notice out of fear for the safety of the participants."
Bangladesh: Three Muslim men sexually assaulted a 20-year-old Catholic girl in the village of Madarpur on June 18. Her loud cries drew the attention of village locals who came to her rescue, prompting the rapists to flee. After her parents filed a complaint, they began to receive threatening messages to withdraw it or else. "Last year her family was involved in a land dispute," adds the report. "The violence – a premeditated attack – was also witnessed by the police, deployed by the Muslims who wanted to expropriate the land. The young woman, along with her parents, was forced to leave the house and live in a slum."
Pakistan: The home of a journalist who extensively covers the plight of religious minorities in the Muslim nation was vandalized. When Rana Tanveer, chief reporter of The Express Tribune, went to the police, they failed to register a formal complaint. Days later, an unidentified vehicle intentionally ran over Tanveer, while he was riding his motorcycle in Lahore on Friday, June 9. According to the report: "Tanveer underwent surgery for a fracture in his pelvic bone on Saturday. His recovery may take months and he has expressed fears for his safety as well as that of his family…. Tanveer says that his work on exposing the poor treatment meted out to the country's religious minorities like the Ahmadis and the Christians has made him a target of extremists."
Sudan: A court in El Gedaref fined a number of Christians for selling food and tea during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting: "This is a clear discrimination against Christians and contrary to the slogans of religious coexistence launched by the Sudan Government for the international community," contended one defense layer. About a dozen people were each fined $2,000 Sudanese dollars ($298 USD).
Iraq: "[T]roubling issues related to discrimination and even violence targeting ethnic and religious minorities" are widespread in Kurdish-ruled territories, one report found, adding, "Christian citizens of the KRI [Kurdish Region of Iraq] have issued complaints and held protests against Kurdish residents for attacking and seizing their land and villages in the provinces of Dohuk and Erbil…. Some Assyrian Christians accuse Kurdish government and party officials of taking lands for personal use or financial gain. These Christians believe they are specifically targeted as part of a policy to Kurdify historically Christian areas…. Minorities continue to fear growing extremism in the majority population, which they believe could threaten them in the long term." Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims.
Nigeria: A presidential order replaced Christian education with Islamic Studies in Secondary Schools. While the subject, "Christian Religious Knowledge" no longer exists, Islamic, Arab, and French studies have been introduced in the new curriculum. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which protested the new changes in front of the presidential palace, currently filled by a Muslim, described the change as "a time-bomb, obnoxious, divisive and ungodly…. To us in CAN, its introduction is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good for so many reasons." According to the report, "The end result [of these changes] is that a Christian student will be left with no option than to settle for Islamic Arabic Studies since French teachers are more or less non-existent in secondary schools," all of which "will deprive pupils of moral trainings which CRK [Christian Religious Knowledge] offers." The Christian Association of Nigeria further denounced this move "to force Islamic studies down the throats of non-adherents of the religion," as being an "agenda deliberately crafted towards Islamization."
Separately, a Christian priest and his companions who were abducted by Islamic militants in April told of their experiences in June, when they were released. Fr. Sam Okwuidegbe identified his "kidnappers as Fulani herdsmen, an Islamic radical group that has killed thousands of people in Nigeria, including many Christians, in the past couple of decades" notes the report. That he was unable to recall any phone numbers for the Islamic terrorists to call to negotiate a ransom for his release "triggered a series of beatings," says Fr. Sam; "they huddled me up, hands and feet tied to the back with a rope like a goat before a kill. They removed my cassock, then my shirt, threw me into the dirt on the ground, and began to beat me with the back of their guns, they'd kick me hard on my sides, slap across my face, push and pull me hard across the ground … one of them said 'We are going to burn you alive!'" Another man in captivity did manage to recall a phone number, a ransom was set, and the men were eventually released.
Due to the ongoing bleeding of Nigeria's Christian population—increasingly at the hands of Muslim Fulani herdsmen and not just the Islamic terror group, Boko Haram—a number of leading Nigerian churches issued a statement calling on the government "not to abdicate its responsibility of protecting all Nigerian citizens." According to the communique: "We are worried that the murderous activities of Fulani herdsmen have continued unabated and unchecked. The recurring and orchestrated killings of Christians in Southern Kaduna, mass killings in parts of Benue State and others across the country have increased suspicion that the so-called herdsmen are an extension of terrorist groups carrying out an evil agenda of ethnic and religious cleansing. Characteristically, these mindless attacks are often unprovoked." Earlier in January, Bishop Diamond Emuobor, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, said that, because Christians are facing increasing dangers at the hands of extremists, so "Christians should defend themselves and he who has no sword, should sell his coat and buy one to defend himself. We are all human beings, nobody should catch you like a snail and slaughter because you believe in Jesus Christ."
The persecution of Christians in the Islamic world has become endemic. Accordingly, "Muslim Persecution of Christians" was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month. It serves two purposes:
1) To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, persecution of Christians.
2) To show that such persecution is not "random," but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Islamic Sharia.
Accordingly, whatever the anecdote of persecution, it typically fits under a specific theme, including hatred for churches and other Christian symbols; apostasy, blasphemy, and proselytism laws that criminalize and sometimes punish with death those who "offend" Islam; sexual abuse of Christian women; forced conversions to Islam; theft and plunder in lieu of jizya (financial tribute expected from non-Muslims); overall expectations for Christians to behave like cowed dhimmis, or third-class, "tolerated" citizens; and simple violence and murder. Sometimes it is a combination thereof.
Because these accounts of persecution span different ethnicities, languages, and locales—from Morocco in the West, to Indonesia in the East—it should be clear that one thing alone binds them: Islam—whether the strict application of Islamic Sharia law, or the supremacist culture born of it.
by Raymond Ibrahim cross posted on Gatestone Institute
"Our Lives Have Turned into Hell"
October 15, 2017 4:19 pm / 2 Comments on "Our Lives Have Turned into Hell"
Report Series: Muslim Persecution of Christians, May 2017 by Raymond Ibrahim (Gatestone Institute)
Long touted as a beacon of Muslim tolerance and moderation, Indonesia joined other repressive Muslim nations in May when it sentenced the Christian governor of Jakarta, known as "Ahok," to a two-year prison term on the charge that he committed "blasphemy" against Islam.
The blasphemy accusation is based on a video that Ahok made, in which he told voters that they were being deceived if they believed that Koran 5:51, as his opposition said, requires Muslims not to vote for a non-Muslim when there are Muslim candidates available. The Koran passage states: "O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you — then indeed, he is one of them."
"Morocco's 2011 constitution allows for freedom of religion. The authorities claim to practice only a moderate form of Islam that leaves room for religious tolerance. Yet, in reality, Moroccan Christians still suffer from persecution." Mustafa said: "I was shunned at work. My children were bullied at school."
One month after Islamic militants bombed two Egyptian churches during Palm Sunday and killed nearly 50 people in April 2017, several SUVs, on May 26, stopped two buses transporting dozens of Christians to the ancient Coptic Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor in the desert south of Cairo. According to initial reports, approximately ten Islamic militants, heavily armed and dressed in military fatigues, "demanded that the passengers recite the Muslim profession of faith" — which is tantamount to converting to Islam. When they refused, the jihadis opened fire on them, killing 29 Christians, at least ten of whom were young children. Two girls were aged 2 and 4. Also killed was Mohsen Morkous, an American citizen described as "a simple man" whom "everyone loved," his two sons, and his two grandsons.
According to eyewitness accounts, the terrorists ordered the passengers to exit the bus in groups:
"As each pilgrim came off the bus they were asked to renounce their Christian faith and profess belief in Islam, but all of them—even the children—refused. Each was killed in cold blood with a gunshot to the head or the throat.
"By the time they killed half of the people, the terrorists saw cars coming in the distance and we think that that is what saved the rest," said one source. "They did not have time to kill them all. They just shot at them randomly and then fled."
According to another report:
"The dead and dying lay in the desert sand amid Islamic leaflets left by the assailants extoling the virtues of fasting during Ramadan and forgiveness granted to those who abstain from eating during the Islamic ritual. Ramadan … is often seen as the worst time for persecution of Christians who live in the Middle East."
A video of the immediate aftermath "showed at least four or five bodies of adult men lying on the desert sand next to the bus; women and other men screamed and cried as they stood or squatted next to the bodies." According to a man who spoke to hospitalized relatives, "authorities took somewhere from two to three hours to arrive at the scene." The man "questioned whether his uncle and others might have lived had the response been quicker."
The attack occurred in the middle of a three-month state of emergency that began 47 days earlier, on Sunday, April 9, when twin attacks on Coptic Christian churches left some 49 Christians slaughtered. The December before that, 29 other Christians were killed during another set of twin attacks on churches. Both before and after the monastery attack, dozens of Christians, mostly in Sinai, but some in Egypt proper, were killed in cold blood, often decapitated or burned alive. According to a May 9 report, "A [Christian] father and his two sons were recently kidnapped by ISIS and their bodies were finally found over the weekend."
Days before the latest attack on Middle Eastern Christians, Fox News journalist Shannon Bream announced a forthcoming television segment on the growth of Christian persecution around the world. In response, Matthew Dowd of ABC News tweeted , "Maybe you can talk about the bigger problem which is persecution of Muslims in America and around the globe. Bigger issue…. Muslims are threatened every day in America, by right wing Christian extremists." Christians, however, are currently the world's most persecuted religion: 90,000 died for their faith in 2016. And 12 of the 14 worst nations in which Christians are persecuted are Islamic. (The two that are not are North Korea and Eritrea.)
The rest of May's roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Muslim Slaughter of Christians
Mexico: On May 15, a knife-wielding Muslim attacked and tried to behead a Catholic priest while he officiated at the altar of the nation's largest cathedral, the Metropolitan Church of Our Lady of the Assumption. The assailant, apparently named John Rene Rockschiil and possibly of French origin, managed to plunge the knife into the neck of Fr. Miguel Angel Machorro, 55, before being restrained by parishioners. Fr. Miguel later died of his wounds.
Germany: A Muslim man and asylum-seeker stabbed and killed a Christian woman with a kitchen knife in front of her two children near a public market. Those who knew the slain woman, an Afghan who had converted to Christianity eight years earlier, said she was a successful "example of integration". "A religious motivation is being examined" said officials— apostasy from Islam does earn death — "although we cannot confirm this yet," police spokesman Stefan Sonntag said.
Philippines: In late May, a jihadi uprising of Philippine Muslim militants, including ISIS-linked Indonesians and Malaysians, erupted in the Islamic City of Marawi. In the initial carnage, Muslim militants stopped a bus, and when they discovered that nine passengers were Christian, they were tied together and shot dead, execution style. "I am pissed by those kinds of people," said a local. "They kill defenseless people. The militants also torched a school and a church. One official called the violence an "invasion by foreign terrorists, who heeded the call of Isis to go to the Philippines if they find difficulty in going to Iraq and Syria." It took more than three days for the military to quell the uprising; meanwhile, 15 members of the security forces and 31 militants were killed.
Kenya: On May 12, two militant Muslims shouting "Allahu Akbar" — and suspected of being connected to neighboring Somalia's Al Shabaab terrorist group — shot and killed two non-Muslims, one of whom was a member of a Pentecostal Church. According to the report, "Predominantly Christian workers from Kenya's interior have been targeted in a series of Al Shabaab attacks that have shaken Christian communities in Kenya's northeast". "These Al Shabbab militants," said a local Christian leader, "have made some of our Christians to be their scapegoats, as they see Kenya as a Christian country that is fighting to rid Al Shabaab from Somalia."
Muslim Attacks on Churches and Crosses
Sudan: On Sunday morning, May 7, as Christians were preparing to worship in the Sudanese Church of Christ in Khartoum, authorities arrived with bulldozers and demolished the church. The government, according to the report, claims the church was "built on land zoned for residential or other uses, or… on government land, but church leaders said it is part of wider crack-down on Christianity." A lawyer, Demas James, said that Sudan was in serious violation of constitutional and international conventions of human rights, and that the building being destroyed on a Sunday shows the government's lack of respect for Christian holy places: "You can see there is no place for worship left now for the believers to worship." The demolished church is one of 25 church buildings marked for demolition on the claim that the churches were illegally built. The government has yet to shut down or demolish a single mosque on the same claim.
Austria: Someone described as a "dark skinned immigrant" was videotaped by a bystander's phone camera throwing things and striking at the large cross in front of the St. Marein parish with a long pole, and causing 15,000 euros' worth of general damage. Police eventually subdued the "apparently insane man" and took him "to a hospital." There have been countess instances of Muslim refugees attacking churches and other Christian symbols — the cross, and statues and icons as well — in every European nation that has accepted Muslim migrants.
Bangladesh: The evening of May 10, a Muslim mob vandalized and invaded the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Khagrachhari district. According to the church's pastor, Stephen Tripura:
"They stormed into the church after kicking and smashing in the door. They attempted to rape my sister and niece who live there by tearing off their clothes. After hearing their cries, local Christians rushed over to help and the attackers fled. My sister and niece moved here to get an education but now they are traumatized…. We didn't file a case for fear of angering local Muslims further and inviting more violence."
Islamic Attacks on Christian Freedom
Indonesia: Long touted as a beacon of Muslim tolerance and moderation, Indonesia joined other repressive Muslim nations in May when it sentenced the Christian governor of Jakarta, known as "Ahok," to a two year prison term on the charge that he committed blasphemy against Islam. According to one report, "The blasphemy accusation was key in Ahok's defeat in a bid to be re-elected as governor of Jakarta," and "Islamic extremist groups opposed to having a non-Muslim lead the city organized massive demonstrations against Ahok." The blasphemy accusation is based on a video that Ahok made in which he told voters that they were being deceived if they believed that Koran 5:51, as his opposition said, requires Muslims not to vote for a non-Muslim when there are Muslim candidates available. The Koran passage states:
"O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you—then indeed, he is one of them."
Effigy used in recent protests against Jakarta's Christian Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama falsely accused of blasphey.
A five-judge panel concluded that Ahok was "convincingly proven guilty of blasphemy."
Pakistan: A Christian pastor who has been "tortured every day in prison" since July, 2012 when he was first incarcerated, was sentenced to life in prison in May. Zafar Bhatti, 51, was found guilty of sending "blasphemous"[1] text messages from his mobile phone, but human rights activists contend that the charge "was fabricated to remove him from his role as a Pastor." His wife, Nawab Bibi, says:
"Many Muslim people hated how quickly his church was growing; they have taken this action to undermine his work… I wish our persecutors would see that Christians are not evil creatures. We are human beings created by God the same God that created them although they do not know this yet… There have been numerous attempts to kill my husband — he is bullied everyday and he is not safe from inmates and prison staff alike."
In 2014, he "narrowly escaped assassination after a rogue prison officer," Muhammad Yousaf, went on a shooting spree "to kill all inmates accused of blasphemy against Islam." Bhatti is one of countless Christian minorities to suffer under Pakistan's blasphemy law, which has helped make that country the fourth-worst nation in the world, after North Korea, Somalia, and Afghanistan, in which to be Christian. Asia Bibi, a Christian wife and mother has been on death row since 2010 on the accusation that she insulted Muhammad.
As Bhatti was being sentenced to life in Pakistan, all charges against Noreen Leghari — a 20-year-old Muslim medical student who was arrested in connection to a planned suicide attack on a church packed for Easter celebrations — were dropped and she was set free. During a televised public statement, Major General Asif Ghafoor, voicing public concern and compassion for her, and indicated that it would be a shame to destroy her career. As Wilson Chowdhry, a human rights activist, remarked, however:
"How many of these same Pakistani citizens would be so forgiving had Miss Legahri planned to bomb a Muslim School?…. If it were Muslims that were targeted by Legahri I am certain many of the campaigners would find her crime too offensive for granting a pardon – Christian lives are ostensibly less valuable in Pakistan…. It is hard to believe the deep-rooted hatred that Miss Leghari had towards Christians that led to her becoming a suicide recruit, has simply vanished…. I asked several Pakistani Christians whether they would trust a doctor who had previously attempted to bomb a Church on Easter Day, to administer care for them. It was no surprise to me that the unanimous response was a resounding no."
Morocco: Converts to Christianity in the 99.6% Muslim majority nation are coming out of the closets, complaining of their treatment and "demand[ing] the right to give our children Christian names, to pray in churches, to be buried in Christian cemeteries and to marry according to our religion," said Mustapha, a convert since 1994, who, along with other converts, wrote a request to the official National Council of Human Rights to end the persecution of Christians in Morocco. According to the report, "even though the state religion is Islam, Morocco's 2011 Constitution allows for freedom of religion. The authorities claim to practice only a moderate form of Islam that leaves room for religious tolerance. Yet, in reality, Moroccan Christians still suffer from persecution." Accordingly, "[f]or two decades, Mustapha kept his faith in Christ secret." When he finally came out in public about his conversion less than two years ago, all his friends and family "turned their backs on me," he said: "I was shunned at work. My children were bullied at school."
Muslim Contempt and Hate for Christians
Iraq: One of the Shia-majority nation's leading Shia clerics, Sheikh Alaa Al-Mousawi — who heads the government body which maintains all of Iraq's Shia holy sites, including mosques and schools — described Christians in a video as "infidels and polytheists" and stressed the need for "jihad" against them.
Pakistan: Mian Mir Hospital, which is run by the City District Government of Lahore, was exposed as forcing Christian paramedics and staffers "to either recite verses from the Holy Quran at morning assembly or be marked absent for the day," says a report. This news came to light when the Medical-Superintendent, Dr. Muhammad Sarfraz, "slapped a Christian paramedical staffer for not attending the assembly." The act led to staff protests against Dr. Muhammad and other supervisors. "Experts said extremism was creeping into public hospitals and was a massive concern for law enforcement agencies," continues the report.
Separately, when a Christian girl in the Pakistani public school system sought "to study Ethics rather than Islamic Studies because of her Christian beliefs," says a report, her Muslim teacher informed her that "if she refused to take a class in Islamic studies, she must leave…. The teacher also ordered her Muslim students to avoid eating with the Christian girl because of her faith." According to the teenage Christian girl, Muqadas Sukhraj, her problems started in early April:
"… class teacher, Zahida Parveen unnecessarily began creating problems for me and expressing her displeasure with me because I chose Ethics. First, the teacher argued over the textbook of the Ethics class. Then she sent me out of the class as punishment. Later, she told me that if I could not study Islamic education, then why do I study in a Muslim school in the first place? She even told me, that, when she comes into the class, I must leave."
Much of this is in keeping with ongoing revelations, including a 2016 report by Pakistan's National Commission for Justice and Peace, which found that the government continues to issue textbooks that promote religious hatred for non-Muslims.
Also separately, after a fist fight broke out when a Muslim teenager snatched a Christian teenager's phone, a mob of armed Muslims responded by attacking Christians in Phul Nagar, District Kasur in Punjab Province. According to the report:
"The armed men pitilessly bashed every person who came in their sight on the streets. What is more they stormed into the houses of Christians and sta[r]ted beating the Christians. They also resorted to aerial firing, therefore, causing terrors and harassment in the entire neighborhood. The attackers did not spare Christian women, and beat them also."
Christians informed local police, who did not arrest any of the assailants, although they are known to police by name and face.
Uganda: Area Muslims continue to hound Pastor Christopher James Kalaja for having filed a court case against sword-waving, "Allahu Akbar"-screaming Muslims who earlier destroyed his farm, home, and church. "We just want to inform you that the battle is now on, and you risk losing the whole family," read one text message he received after formally filing a police case. According to his wife, who lives in hiding, he "makes a brief appearance at our current residence because the Muslims are trailing him. They can do anything to kill him, so as [to] stop the court case to proceed since he is the key witness." The couple's seven children are also "very fearful" and constantly asking "Why are we here? What have we done that we are undergoing such a great suffering?" "These are questions that I cannot answer," said the mother. "I only tell the children to pray."
Nigeria: Janet Habila, a 16-year-old Christian youth leader and daughter of "a devoted church leader with the United Mountain of Grace in Shundna village," was forced to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim man against her will. According to the report, the Christian girl "was enrolled in the tailoring institute in 2016 by her parents … but rather than learning the trade, the parents were shocked to receive a notification of her marriage through a Sharia court." According to sources, a Muslim man named Nasiru "craftily organized some Muslim men and women in the area to stand as the parents of Janet in court to enable the marriage to take place."
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by Muslims is growing. The report posits that such Muslim persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location.
Raymond Ibrahim is the author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians(published by Regnery with Gatestone Institute, April 2013).


Community banks are on a lending spree. They have been extending credit to commercial borrowers at a pace that exceeds that of bigger banks for at least the last year. The result has been a noticeable positive impact on community bank income, with community banks outperforming their bigger cousins.
But feasting on credit doesn't come risk-free. Indeed, regulators have taken notice of the increased lending taking place across the banking spectrum and have raised some caution flags about potential credit risk problems (as a result of lowered underwriting quality). This is an issue for all banks, but is of particular concern to community banks where the hunt for loans and yield has been most intense recently.
Regulators have been paying particular attention to commercial real estate (CRE) lending. They are particularly concerned where there is evidence of increased risk from lower quality underwriting, relaxed portfolio-level stress testing and less robust concentration risk management. Regulatory discussions as of late seem to point to less-restrictive covenants, extended maturities, longer interest-only payments, and limited guarantor requirements. While these changes make it easier for borrowers to obtain loans, risks seem to be increasing along with competition.
The potential for increasing credit risk isn't confined to CRE loans, however. Easing standards have also been detected by regulators in Commercial & Industrial (C&I) loans, and in indirect auto loans.
FDIC statistics indicate just how much bank lending has been growing. In the 12 months ending Q1, loan and lease balances grew 8.9% at community banks vs. 6.9% at non-community banks. In addition, nearly 80% of community banks increased their loan balances during the period. The biggest dollar increase was in nonfarm nonresidential loans which grew by $36.3B, or 9.4%, while the highest percentage growth was in CRE, up $14.5B, or 22.7%.
For the moment, the increased lending by community banks has been a positive for profitability. Here, the FDIC reports total net income of all FDIC-insured community banks reached $5.2B in Q1 vs. 7.4% from the same quarter one year ago. Over the previous 12 months, about 63% of community banks reported improved net income, according to the FDIC. By comparison, net income at non-community banks was down by about 2.7%.
So far the rush to extend credit has had little negative impact on community banks. However, larger banks have shown a worrisome rise in noncurrent loans and an increase in loan loss provisions. Most analysis at this point though points to the steep drop in energy prices more than anything else as the cause.
Overall noncurrent loan balances rose by 2.4% during the first three months of 2016, the first quarterly increase in 24 quarters. Noncurrent C&I loans rose 65.1%, the largest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 1987.
But this trend has been far more significant at big banks. For example, banks with >$10B saw noncurrent C&I loans rise by 82.1% in the quarter, while banks with <$10B saw just a 12% increase in noncurrent C&I balances.
Whether community banks will soon experience their own rise in nonconforming loans is hard to predict. For the moment though, regulators are keeping an eye on how banks big and small are managing all credit risks.
Yields slipped 4bp, as investor caution outweighed Fed comments that seemed to point to a rate hike later this year.
1) United Bankshares ($14.34B, WV) will acquire Cardinal Bank ($4.2B, VA) for about $912mm in equity or roughly 2.24x tangible book value. 2) Synovus Bank ($29B, GA) will acquire specialty financial services company Entaire Global Co for $30mm in cash and equity. Entaire provides loans to small business borrowers collateralized by cash value life insurance.
Regulatory rule changes related to the restructuring of money market mutual funds (happens in October), is reportedly a key catalyst that is moving Libor rates higher. As of last Friday, the Fed funds rate was 50bp vs. a 3 month Libor rate of 81bp (31bp spread). This compares to a Fed funds rate of 0.50% as of year-end 2015 vs. a 3 month Libor rate of only 61bp back then (11bp spread). As a result, banks that have assets tied to Libor have been able to pick up what amounts to almost another rate increase.
USBankLocations.com reports large banks that have closed the most branches since 2011 in percentage terms are Bank of America (-17%), Suntrust (-14%), PNC (-10%), Regions (-8%) and Fifth Third (-7%).
The FFIEC is seeking comment on a proposed new streamlined Call Report for financial institutions with assets <$1B. The proposal would take effect March 31, 2017 and reduce the length of the Call Report from 85 to 61 pages and remove about 40% of the nearly 2,400 data items currently included in the Call Report.
A KPMG survey of 100 executives at banks with assets between $1B and $20B finds strategic initiatives expected to consume most of senior management's time and energy are significant investment in organic growth (59%), significant cost reduction initiatives (52%), significant changes in business model (41%) and significant divestiture of current assets (33%).


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"I have a funny relationship with my governing board." "Funny haha, or funny strange? Wait...let me guess. A little bit of both." "It's great to talk about this in confidence with someone who's been there."
I'm a mid-career City Manager for a suburban community who has served in my current position for five years. I am a strong leader who is comfortable dealing with most aspects of my job, such as department oversight, budget, operational management, personnel and service delivery issues. However, I find it is becoming increasingly difficult to effectively respond to political conflict between certain City Council members; a few Council members who don't respect my role or want to micro-manage the organization; and new demands as our community becomes ethnically more diverse.
Over time, the Chief Executive role in local government seems to have become a much more difficult job. I don't just want to survive; I want to feel more effective in these turbulent times.
I still enjoy my job (most days) yet I could probably use some advice and guidance about new challenges. I must admit that I don't feel comfortable sharing some of my dissatisfaction with other senior managers in my organization or asking them for advice.
I know that our State Association has a coaching program for emerging leaders (and some of the up-and-comers in our organization participate). However, I don't know of any City and County Managers in our region who have engaged a coach of any kind.
What do you think? Would a savvy coach help me? If so, how do I get a coach and use one?
Why Don't City Managers Seek Coaches?
Either most State Associations don't have formal coaching programs for members or they are oriented to emerging leaders, not senior executives.
City and County Managers in their mid and late careers may feel that they have "arrived" at the top of their profession and may be complacent about their continued learning and development.
Some Chief Executives do not want to acknowledge that they may feel less than adequate given the increasing challenges and thus feel reluctant to seek advice and support.
The role of the City, County or Special District Manager may be fairly lonely. Inside our organizations, we may feel that others really don't understand the demands or pressures facing the Chief Executive, or it is showing weakness if we ask for help and advice.
In the local government sector (as opposed to the corporate or non-profit sectors), we don't have a tradition of coaching for Chief Executives.
Assuming that you would benefit from a formal or informal coach, let's first define coaching. In this context, coaching provides feedback or advice or simply a listening ear from a trusted colleague or group of colleagues. Coaches listen, ask questions, provide different perspectives, suggest additional options or choices for action, challenge our thinking or attitudes, and prompt action. They encourage and support us. Effective coaches don't dole out answers. Instead, they help you find the answers that are right for you.
To effectively serve, a coach helps make it "safe" and comfortable to explore dilemmas and maintains confidences. Most importantly, a coach demonstrates that he or she cares about you as a leader and a person.
As a City Manager, How Do I Get Coaching?
City, County and Special District Managers can secure informal or formal coaching in a variety of ways. The following seven suggestions are listed in order of less formal to more formal approaches.
After any significant activity or experience, I suggest that you hold an informal debriefing session at your department head meeting. For example, in Palo Alto, California, where I served as City Manager, we debriefed every City Council meeting (we called it the "Good, the Bad and the Ugly") as well as any recent project or organizational or community initiative.
What did we learn for future practice or behavior?
Of course, it is critical that you as the leader are not defensive and demonstrate your openness to feedback (even if you don't agree with some of the comments). Otherwise, you won't get forthright feedback and suggestions for future action.
If you don't feel comfortable seeking this kind of peer advice from all the department heads, call together on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule a few trusted department directors or other senior colleagues in the organization and debrief significant events in a smaller circle.
The easiest approach to get some informal coaching is to invite on a regular basis a trusted City or County Manager to coffee, a drink or lunch. When I served as City Manager, I met informally with other Managers away from the office at least two or three times a month. Not only did I explore challenges and dilemmas in order to get feedback, but I got social support which was essential to my survival as a Chief Executive.
Please note that I didn't ask these colleagues to serve as my coach. I just asked them out for coffee or a drink. These "let's have coffee or a beer" get-togethers easily turned into sounding board sessions for me.
During these sessions, we swapped stories and personal experiences. I often learned more from the stories than any specific advice. (Stories are the most powerful way to teach and learn.) Not only did I get advice but I enjoyed the interaction.
Most Managers participate in Area Manager Group meetings. Area Manager Groups tend to be overly social (at one extreme) or very business-item oriented (at the other extreme). In any case, it is fairly easy to incorporate peer advice as a formal part of the monthly program for your Area Manager Group.
In the Bay Area of California, the Santa Clara County City/County Managers Association has incorporated a regular peer coaching element into our meetings. At the beginning of the monthly meeting, we hold a 45-minute "Mangers-Only" session called "Joys and Challenges." After we express gratitude and joy for recent organizational or personal successes and experiences, any member of our group can raise a challenge in a safe environment and get feedback and advice from other Managers. After the Managers-Only session, we invite Assistants or presenters to join us for the business meeting of the Association.
Why don't you suggest that this kind of confidential peer advice be included as part of the regular meetings of your Area Manager Group?
Currently, there are 15 State Associations that have joined the ICMA Coaching Program. All these State Associations participate in the Coaching Program webinars and distribute these Career Compass advice columns. Some have started (or are about to initiate) a one-to-one coaching service which offers at no-cost a respected senior leader as a coach for any emerging leader in the state. Typically, all the emerging leader has to do is go the State Association website, select a coach, send an email to the coach, and then start the coaching relationship. It can be a one-time or periodic conversation, or an ongoing relationship. Coaching conversations can be face-to-face or over the telephone.
In California, we have 90 plus coaches profiled on the "Coaches Gallery" on the Cal-ICMA website. Some who reach out to the Cal-ICMA coaches are in fact City Managers who wish feedback and advice.
If your State Association has a one-to-one coaching program, why don't you reach out to one of the coaches? Or contact one of the Cal-ICMA coaches listed on the "Coaches Gallery" at www.cal-icma.org/coaching.
If you don't feel comfortable asking a City Manager colleague from a neighboring jurisdiction to serve as an informal sounding board, ask an ICMA Senior Advisor or State Liaison to serve as a coach. Or, they can also serve as a "match-maker," recommending a respected City or County Manager (active or retired) whom you can contact in your State. They can even make the introduction for you.
Again, you don't have to ask for "coaching." Just mention that the Manager was recommended as a savvy professional with lots of experience and you'd like to get their feedback on a challenge or two. Then invite the Manager to coffee or schedule a phone call. This "coach" can be an active manager or an encore manager. As an encore manager, I personally do a lot of pro bono coaching for both emerging leaders and Chief Executives.
If you want a more formal arrangement, you should secure an Executive Coach. This can be an encore manager who is recently retired and now consults or is otherwise still engaged in some aspect of local government. For instance, there are several of us encore managers in California who do paid coaching for City Managers or other Senior Executives.
Another option is to seek a former CEO from the corporate world who has training as an Executive Coach. Your organization or you personally would pay an hourly rate or package fee for the formal coaching.
Typically, executive coaching consists of a scheduled series of structured discussions, with specific goals and expectations, with some preparation required of the Manager in advance of the session. The Manager and the coach may often identify specific actions or different behaviors for the Manager to try out or practice before the next coaching session.
The big advantage to using an Executive Coach is that you secure the committed time, attention and counsel of an experienced and often formally trained coach. Formal executive coaching also forces you to take the coaching process seriously, prepare for sessions and take some follow-up action.
The downside is the cost. Hourly rates for formal executive coaching range in the public sector from $150-$350 (costs are higher in the corporate sector). A package fee ranges from $500 to $2000 per month depending upon the frequency, depth, and extent of support you seek. While cost is a concern, consider the substantial value for the organization and the community as well as the Manager if the Chief Executive receives sage advice and support in his or her role. Also consider the organizational or personal costs if the Manager fails in his or her role.
To secure a formal executive coach, you can ask trusted colleagues or human resource professionals for recommendations or contact an organization like the International Coaching Federation, www.coachfederation.org, where you can make a confidential request for coaching.
Another formal option is to join a Chief Executive Peer Group. Most common in the corporate and non-profit sectors, these confidential monthly meetings for a selected cohort of chief executives are led by a professional consultant/coach. The consultant facilitates structured learning and discussions, engages participants in leadership style assessments and self-reflection, and promotes peer coaching and mutual support among the participants. Participants may also receive individual coaching. The emphasis is on personal development as well as support to address professional challenges.
In local government, I am aware of one example of this kind of formal peer support group for local government executives. Craig Rapp, a former City Manager, and Dr. James Lynn, a psychologist and organizational consultant, conduct "Compass Peer Groups" for City Managers in the Minneapolis and Chicago regions. To check out these Executive Peer Groups, go to www.compasspeergroup.com or www.craigrapp.com.
In order to get maximum value from informal peer advice or more formal executive coaching, we need to shift our mindset.
Focus on a "growth mindset." Instead of looking at our challenges as problems to minimize, we need to have a "growth mindset." Carol Dweck in her book Mindsets suggest that those with "fixed mindsets" try to avoid challenges and mistakes. They prefer to do the same kind of work that they have already mastered since it reinforces their sense of competency. With a "growth mindset," we look at challenges and experimenting and even mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow, and thereby expand our portfolio of behaviors, skills, and relationships and ultimately become more effective in a disruptive environment.
As part of a growth mindset, we want to try out and practice new behaviors to see if they work for us or improve problematic situations. As Herminia Ibarra suggests in the Harvard Business Review article (January-February 2015) entitled "The Paradox of Authenticity," you are not being a fake if you experiment with new behaviors; rather, you are just trying them out to see if they enhance who you are as a leader and thus over time become part of your authentic self.
Ask for help and feedback. As a strong leader, it may be difficult for you to ask for help and feedback. We often perceive asking for help as a sign of vulnerability and weakness (see Career Compass No. 32 : The Power of Vulnerability). We tend to think of strong leaders as very confident, all-knowing managers who have it all figured it out. The paradox is that it is only strong leaders who can ask for help and advice and coaching.
Be open to the conversation. It is important to not only share your challenges and dilemmas with a coach, but be open to the feedback and any suggestions on how to handle similar problems in the future.
Prepare for the conversation. Even if it's only a cup of coffee with a colleague, prepare for the opportunity. In advance of the get-together, identify the challenge you are facing; what actions you have taken; what have been the results to date; why you are frustrated; and how you'd like things to change.
Use the coach to promote self-reflection. Great leaders are self-reflective. Coaches can ask probing questions which promote reflection and self-critique and opportunities to make adjustments. After an informal or formal coaching conversation, reflect on what has been discussed and the implications for self-correction.
No griping. It is therapeutic to express some frustration but you want to quickly move on to request the coach's perspectives and constructive feedback.
Be forward looking. While you want a coach to assist you in debriefing recent experiences, the point is to explore what you have learned so that you can enhance your future practice and behavior.
Learn from the stories. Chief Executives love to tell war stories. Don't just enjoy the swapping of stories--probe for lessons that may be related to your dilemma or challenge.
Don't feel compelled to follow the advice. While you want a coach to offer different perspectives and additional options and prompt action, you don't have to accept or act on anything. It is your responsibility to weigh the advice and feedback and choose whatever you may do to become a more effective leader.
Enjoy the interaction. While you are certainly looking for feedback and advice, informal or even formal coaching offers an opportunity to form new relationships and get social support. The experience of meeting with colleagues and exchanging experiences and views is stimulating and fun.
Provide informal coaching for other chief executives. Since we all need coaching and support, actively seek opportunities to serve others in the same capacity. In your conversations with other Managers, look to create a safe and comfortable environment to explore the challenges faced by the other Manager, ask questions, suggest other perspectives and options, and offer encouragement.
Providing advice and support for others causes us to become more self-reflective of our own leadership. We also get a lot by giving a lot.
Often we think it is an added burden if we ask another City or County Manager to coach us or act as a sounding board. Not so!
Coaches love to coach. It is satisfying and fulfilling and gets us away from the more mundane aspects of our City Manager jobs.
You are doing a colleague a favor if you ask for advice and coaching.
You seem like a seasoned Manager and I congratulate you on your desire to enhance your capacity to lead and become more effective in difficult times.
You are right. It is not enough to survive, you want to thrive. Coaching can help.


text:
Q: ImportError: Could not import settings 'settings.py' (Is it on sys.path?): No module named py Shis is the error I am getting while I'm trying to import models from django.contrib.gis.db using following command
from django.contrib.gis.db import models

I want to do this to define geographic model.
I am getting the below mentioned error.
Guys plz help me out.
from django.contrib.gis.db import models
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/django/contrib/gis/db/models/__init__.py", line 2, in <module>
    from django.db.models import *
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/django/db/__init__.py", line 11, in <module>
    if DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS not in settings.DATABASES:
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/django/utils/functional.py", line 184, in inner
    self._setup()
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/django/conf/__init__.py", line 42, in _setup
    self._wrapped = Settings(settings_module)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/django/conf/__init__.py", line 95, in __init__
    raise ImportError("Could not import settings '%s' (Is it on sys.path?): %s" % (self.SETTINGS_MODULE, e))
ImportError: Could not import settings 'settings.py' (Is it on sys.path?): No module named py

This is the full traceback I'm getting in the terminal.

A: Somewhere you're doing import settings.py instead of import settings.

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The assessment of sufficient gravity has played a pivotal role in recent proceedings before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Under the ICC Statute, situations are investigated and individuals are prosecuted if a case is of a sufficient gravity. However, the ICC Statute nowhere defines gravity, nor are there any indications regarding the elements that are relevant in the assessment of sufficient gravity. The Appeals Chamber has not offered any interpretation of the gravity threshold, while the references provided by the ICC Pre-Trial and Trial Chambers have been scant and inconclusive. Accordingly, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has enjoyed great discretion on whether to open an investigation or to initiate proceedings on the basis of its assessment of the sufficient gravity threshold. For instance, in 2006 the OTP refused to open an investigation on alleged international crimes committed in Iraq due to a lack of sufficient gravity. Similarly, in 2014 the OTP refused to open an investigation regarding the boarding of the Mavi Marmara vessel by the Israeli Defense Force as the situation was not considered sufficiently grave: although this decision was reversed by the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber, on 29 November 2017 the Prosecution confirmed its assessment regarding the lack of sufficient gravity. The conference discusses the issue of sufficient gravity under the ICC Statute in a comprehensive manner. The conference brings together experts of international criminal law and of other areas of international law in order to answer some questions about gravity never explored before.


I, the undersigned Parent(s), Legal Guardian(s), or Participant, on my own behalf, and behalf of all others who are listed as Participants under this Agreement, including my unborn and/or minor children, and my and their personal representatives, assigns, successors, heirs, and next of kin, (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "Participants"), acknowledge and agree that the use of the facilities, services, equipment or premises of [Ojai Valley Athletic Club] (the "Club") by any of the Participants involves risk of injury to persons and property, and the Participants assume full responsibility for such risks for myself/themselves. The Participants agree and acknowledge that I/they have entered into the Agreement for use for use of the Club's facilities, services, equipment, or premises primarily for recreational purposes and not to use any specific piece of equipment or training or exercise methodology. In consideration of being permitted to enter the Club's facilities for any purpose, including, but not limited to, observation, use of facilities, services, or equipment, or participation in any way, the Participants agree to the following: the Participants are authorized to, and do hereby release and hold the Club, its and their shareholders, directors, officers, parents, subsidiaries, employees, members, managers, independent contractors, and agents harmless from all liability to all the Participants, and any of my/their personal representatives, assigns, heirs and next of kin for any loss or damage sustained by any of the Participants. The Participants hereby waive any claim or demands therefore based on, or on account of, any injury or death to any of the Participants and property damages sustained by any of the Participants, whether caused by the active or passive negligence of the Club or otherwise, while any of the Participants is in, upon, or about the Club's premises, or while using the Club's facilities, services, or equipment or while participating in any Club activity at any location.
This Express Assumption of Risk Agreement and Release of Liability and Indemnity Agreement (the "Release"), includes, but is not limited to, claims based on the following: the Club's improper maintenance of its equipment (mechanical or otherwise), grounds or facilities, negligent instruction or supervision, including personal training, or inadequate security or staffing, the Participants' use of the Club's facilities, services, or equipment, and/or slipping or tripping anywhere in or about the Club or any location in which the Club operates, including, but not limited to public facilities. Such facilities include, but are not limited to: exercise equipment, exercise rooms, weight rooms, locker rooms, sidewalks, parking lots, stairs, pool, whirlpool, spa, sauna, steam room, tennis/racquet/squash courts, or lobby area. Such risk of injury includes, but is not limited to injuries arising from the participation by any of the Participants, or others in supervised or unsupervised activities at the Club, injuries and medical disorders, including, but not limited to death, heart attacks, strokes, heat stress, sprains, broken bones, and injured muscles and ligaments, among others, arising from exercising, any recreational use of any of the Club's facilities, or otherwise, or while participating in any of Club's programs, classes, or activities, and accidental injuries occurring anywhere in or about the Club, including its dressing rooms, showers and other facilities.
The Participants also agree to indemnify and hold the Club harmless from any loss, liability, damage or cost that the Club may incur due to the presence of any of the Participants in, upon, or about the Club's premises or in any way observing or using any of the Club's facilities, services or equipment, whether caused by a Guest's negligence or otherwise. The Participants further expressly agree that the Release is intended to be as broad and as inclusive as permitted by the law of the state of California, and that if any portion of the foregoing Release is held invalid by a court of law, then that portion shall be deemed stricken and it is agreed that the remainder of the Release shall continue in full force and effect without the invalid portion.
On behalf of the Participants, I acknowledge that I have carefully read this Release and fully understand that it is a release of liability, and express assumption of risk and indemnity agreement. I am aware and agree that by executing this Release, I, and all of the Participants are giving up any rights I or any and all of the Participants may have to bring a legal action or assert a claim against the Club for its active or passive negligence, or for any defective product on its premises.
Pursuant to California Family Code §§ 6550 and 6910, I, a parent or legal guardian having legal custody of a minor child, hereby authorize [Ojai Valley Athletic Club] to consent to any x-ray examination, anesthetic, medical, or surgical diagnosis or treatment and hospital care to be rendered to the minor under the general or special supervision, and on the advice of a physician and surgeon licensed under the provisions of the Medical Practice Act, or to consent to any x-ray examination, anesthetic, dental, or surgical diagnosis or treatment and hospital care to be rendered to the minor by a dentist licensed under the provisions of the Dental Practice Act. I agree to pay any and all costs for the foregoing. I have no knowledge of any physical or mental impairment that would affect the Participant's ability to participate in this activity.


text:
Default – in informatica, termine che si riferisce allo stato di un sistema in assenza di interventi espliciti
Default – insolvenza finanziaria
Default – gruppo rock canadese
Default – canzone degli Atoms for Peace
Default – film del 2014 diretto da Simon Brand
Sistema della condizione di default – Neurobiologia, serie di aree cerebrali con attività intensa durante il riposo

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