Li Ying, China: A Chinese court sentenced Christian Journalist Li Ying to 15 years in prison for her role in the publication of an underground church magazine in China. Only the state-controlled TSPM church can legally produce a magazine. All other Christian publications are illegal. Li Ying was arrested in April 2001 along with 16 others and was originally sentenced to death in December 2001. After a retrial, ordered by the Hubei Provincial Supreme Court in October 2002, her sentence was reduced to the current 15-year term. Arrest and imprisonment are not new to Li Ying, who is only in here early thirties. She has been arrested many times and spent a year in prison in 1996. Li Ying cannot have a Bible and is forced to work 15 hours a day. Prison officials, stunned by the thousands of letters she receives at the prison, ask her, "How many overseas relatives do you have?" Please pray that this young woman will persevere in faith during her imprisonment.
Please send an encouraging letter to:
Li Ying
No. 2 Division, Section 3
Wuhan Female Prison
Wuhan City
Hubei Province, 430032
Peoples Republic of China
Asia Bibi, Pakistan: Asia Bibi, a 37-year old Pakistani woman from the village of Ittanwali, was arrested in June 2009 after telling a group of Muslim women, "Our Christ is the true prophet of God, and yours is not true." The woman had been pressuring Asia to convert to Islam, but she held to her Christian faith. Christians there urged the police not to file blasphemy charged, but police claimed that they must go forward due to pressure from local Muslim leaders. On Nov. 8, 2010, a judge sentenced Asia to death. At press time, her attorney was preparing an appeal.
Please send an encouraging letter to:
Asia Bibi
District Jail
Sheikhupura
Punjab
Pakistan
Dmitry Shestakov, Uzbekistan: On Jan 21, 2007, Pastor Dmitry Shestakov was arrested during a raid on his Full Gospel Church in Andijan, Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan's Religious Affairs Committee claims that Shestakov, an evangelical pastor affiliated with the registered Full Gospel Church, is not an authorized leader of an officially recognized religious organization in Uzbekistan. They describe him as an "imposter" who leads an underground group of "charismatic Pentecostals" engaged in proselytizing. Pastor Shestakov is appealing his four-year labor camp sentence.
Please send an encouraging letter to:
Dmitry Shestakov
Ispravitelnoye Uchrezhdeniye 64/29
Novoyiskaya Oblast
Uzbekistan
(from Voice of the Martyrs newsletter, January 2011)
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