Today’s Headlines:

ERITREAN POLICE JAIL COUPLE, 18 GUESTS AT PROTESTANT WEDDING

INDONESIAN BELIEVERS CALL FOR 2 WEEKS OF FASTING, PRAYER

MUSLIMS BURN DOWN MORE THAN 14 CHRISTIAN HOMES IN PALESTINE

Today’s Top Stories:

ERITREAN POLICE JAIL COUPLE, 18 GUESTS AT PROTESTANT WEDDING

Police in the East African nation of Eritrea arrested a bridal couple along with their 18 wedding guests the evening of Sunday, Sept. 4, dragging them to jail because they are Pentecostals, authorities said. The seven women and 13 men were attending a private wedding ceremony in the home of the bride when Asmara police raided the house. Breaking into the traditional wedding tent of the groom, the police took him into custody along with his bride and their best men and bridesmaids. Jailed at Police Station No. 5 in Asmara, the 20 prisoners included two key leaders of the Hallelujah Church as well as an evangelist in the Philadelphia Church. The church reportedly had taken careful precautions as there was no singing or overt Christian activities, but police learned about the wedding and arrived just as the ceremony was beginning. (Compass)

INDONESIAN BELIEVERS CALL FOR 2 WEEKS OF FASTING, PRAYER

Amid reports of growing persecution in Indonesia, local believers have begun 14 days of fasting and prayer Sept. 7-21. “More than 150 churches have been destroyed or closed down in Jakarta and throughout the island of Java over the last several years,” said one local contact. “In the last two months there have been 60 churches closed down, mainly in West Java.” Christians were also shocked when three Indonesian women were sentenced to three-year prison terms Thursday, Sept. 1, for leading a Sunday school program attended by both Christians and Muslims. The women plan to appeal, but observers are skeptical whether true justice is possible in the face of the intimidation that was clearly evident during their trial. (Christian Aid Mission/Voice of the Martyrs)

MUSLIMS BURN DOWN MORE THAN 14 CHRISTIAN HOMES IN PALESTINE

The homes of at least 14 Christian families in the village of Taybeh (northeast of Ramallah, Palestine, Israel) were torched by Muslims from the neighboring village of Dir Jarir on Sunday, Sept. 4. The Muslims also destroyed a store, a farm and a gas station and vandalized cars and beat the villagers as they fled their homes. The extent of the damage was exacerbated by problems coordinating the Palestinian security forces and the Israel Defense Forces which delayed their response by several hours. The violence began when a Muslim woman was killed by relatives after they suspected that she had been involved in a romantic relationship with a Christian man. When the family found out, they forced her to drink poison and then buried her without notifying the authorities. When the Palestinian Authority decided to investigate and planned to exhume the body, the family feared the relationship would be discovered. The attack was reportedly to avenge what they considered the dishonoring of the Muslim woman. (Voice of the Martyrs)