Christians who irritate religious or political tyrants routinely end up jailed, dead, or disappeared/missing. These are some cases of missing Christians.
Burma
A pastor and three elders were arrested at a church in Burma’s Chin State on Sunday 16 July 2023. Chin State has been under heavy aerial bombardment for months, with junta forces targeting villages, infrastructure, schools and churches.
With the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) soaring, the junta allowed the church in Mindat Township be used as shelter for IDPs. However, on Sunday 16 July, ‘drunken junta troops from Infantry Battalion 274 based in Mindat abducted the pastor and three church elders on the pretext that too many motorbikes were parked there (The Irrawaddy, 28 July).
When family members and church officials inquired of the military as to the whereabouts of the believers, they said they were still being interrogated. Tragically, residents living near the military base reported hearing the detainees being tortured.
On Wednesday 26 July, when the families inquired again, military officials denied having any knowledge of the detainees. Mindat Township administration suspects all four Christians have been tortured to death. When the families asked the military to return the bodies of their loved ones, the military again denied any knowledge of the detainees.
Indonesia
Coptic Orthodox theologian and apologist Gratia Pello was arrested and charged with blasphemy in Indonesia’s East Java on 6 December 2022. He taught theology at Nusantara Bible School in Malang, East Java. Nothing has been heard or seen of him since.
With a wealth of knowledge on Christian theology, eastern Christianity, Arabic language, Islam and the Arab world, Gratia Pello (also known as GP) had become known for his highly effective and growing apologetic ministry. In 2013 he established a YouTube channel – Inyo Manis – which now has 383 videos uploaded and 51,000 subscribers. In these videos Pello can been seen engaging in Muslim-Christian debates, critiquing Islam, answering questions, defending Christianity, promoting the Bible and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Mali
German Catholic priest ‘Father Ha-Jo’, who has served in Mali for more than 30 years, was abducted by Islamic jihadists in the Malian capital, Bamako, on Sunday 20 November 2022. He was preparing to go and celebrate Mass.
Father Ho-Jo served with the international Roman Catholic Missionary Society, ‘Missionaries of Africa’. His fate and whereabouts remain unknown.
Burkina Faso
Catholic priest Father Père Joël Yougbaré, a priest with the parish of Djibo in Burkina Faso’s Sahel Region, was abducted by gunmen, presumed to be Islamic jihadists, on Sunday 17 March 2019. The priest had travelled from Djibo to Bottogui to celebrate the Mass there, but never returned. There has been no news of him since.
China
An internationally acclaimed human rights lawyer and religious liberty champion, Gao Zhisheng is without a doubt China’s most severely persecuted Christian of this era.
Since 2006, Gao has been forcibly ‘disappeared’ numerous times, brutally beaten and horrifically tortured, held for extended periods in solitary confinement, isolated and denied access to medical care – all because he refuses to be silenced.
When Gao Zhisheng emerged from three years secret detention in August 2014 severely malnourished and traumatised, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) thought it had finally and irretrievably broken him.
But the CCP was mistaken. Despite being under house arrest in a remote location with no medical care, Gao rallied and secretly managed to write both a memoir and a 40-page human rights report. He also managed to have both documents smuggled out and published in Hong Kong in June 2016.
In August 2017 Gao escaped from his government minders with the assistance of two friends who were desperate to get him medical care. After 23 days on the run, Gao and his friends were found by police. His friends were arrested, and Gao was ‘disappeared’ into a secret prison in the northern province of Shaanxi. No-one has seen or heard from him since.
Let us pray
Lord, hear the cries of our Christian brothers and sisters who have been arrested or abducted yet remain alive, ‘disappeared’ into a nightmare of isolation and darkness. May the Lord intervene to protect, deliver and restore them; may his presence be palpable, to comfort, encourage and sustain them. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! (Psalm chapter 139 verses 7-8 ESV)
Lord, intervene to bring to light the truth concerning the fate and whereabouts of these missing believers to their families, friends and colleagues – be they dead or alive. The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm chapter 34 verse 18 ESV).
Lord, bring the gift of conviction of sin, fear of God, and transformative repentance to those who persecute Christians so cruelly. May those who resist the Spirit in this be held to account. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Hebrews chapter 4 verse 13, see also Psalm chapter 10 verses 12-14).