Page 4 - Voice of the Persecuted Christians - Jan-Mar 2022 - 121

Faith under fire
Christian leaders and police in central Laos’ Khammouane Province believe Pastor Seetoud (pictured), who went by a single name, was
killed for spreading the gospel amid rapid church growth in the country, reports Morning Star News.
Laos pastor ‘tortured and killed’
The body of a pastor with an officially recognised church in Laos was found in October with signs that he was tortured and killed for his faith, area sources said.
The pastor had been expected to meet with Christians in Thakhek, about 100 kilometres from his home, a journey of three and a half hours
on his motorbike. When he failed to arrive more than three hours after the start time for the meeting, more than 20 people searched for him on the mountain pass near Don Keo village and at a local hospital, without success.
A local resident later found the pastor’s body in a ditch off a mountainous jungle road near the village and uploaded photos of the scene to Facebook, enabling the search party to find his body.
Deacon martyred in Ukraine
Anatoliy Prokopchuk, a 52-year- old preacher and church
deacon, has been found dead in Ukraine, having been arrested for his church work, according to Release International partners.
Anatoliy was arrested in November in Nova Kakhovka,
a town that had been occupied by the Russian army for several months. His body was found outside the town four days later. There were signs he had been tortured.
A Release International partner said of his arrest: ‘The accusations were severe and absurd: “Your church has no right to exist, as
it’s got connections with America and other western countries.”
The same accusations were used in the old Soviet Union and for this “crime” many thousands of evangelical Christians were put in prisons and concentration camps for many years.’
Our partner asks for prayer for Anatoliy’s widow, Irina, and their six children.
Christian leaders said Pastor Seetoud’s body was severely disfigured and showed signs of torture. The search party found his Bible near his body and his motorcycle nearby. He leaves behind a wife and eight children, the youngest a one-year-old.
Pastor Seetoud led a congregation of the Lao Evangelical Church (LEC), one of three officially recognised denominations in Laos.
Christian leaders said provincial police have told them Pastor Seetoud was most likely killed because of his faith. Police officials at the provincial level suspect local officials at the district level killed him, according to LEC leaders.
‘No words can describe the pain that Seetoud’s family and the local churches are experiencing,’ a Laotian evangelical leader said.
Chinese prisoners released
Church minister An Yankui and co-worker Zhang Chenghao of Zion Reformed Church, who had been detained on suspicion of ‘crossing the national border illegally’ by Shanxi province’s Fenyang Municipal Bureau of Public Security in November 2021, were released after serving their sentence, reported Release International partner ChinaAid.
Yao Congya, An Yankui’s wife, disclosed that the two ministers could not return to their home and reunite with their wives due to the pandemic lockdown, so they went to their hometown first and waited there. An and Zhang were slimmer than before but seemed to be in high spirits. After going back to his hometown, the former communicated with his wife, son and daughter via video.
An Yankui, who wrote hymns and composed music during his imprisonment, had been sentenced to a year in prison and given a fine of 5,000 yuan (£580), while Zhang Chenghao received a similar sentence of a year and a fine of 4,000 yuan.
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