The people of Chin State in Myanmar (Burma), are calling for a day of prayer on January 30 for the persecuted Christians in their state. The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) is also calling for protests at embassies around the world. The Chin people are predominantly Christian and have experienced numerous incidents of persecution from Myanmar's military regime.
In a recent act of opposition to the presence of Christianity in Myanmar, government forces defaced and then destroyed a fifty-foot concrete cross on a hilltop on Matupi Township of southern Chin State on January 3. A cross had been in that location for two decades as a testimony to their faith in Christ. Since the mid-1990's, the government forces have destroyed at least half a dozen crosses and several churches in Chin State. In many cases, these have been replaced with Buddhist pagodas. It is rumoured that this is also planned in the latest incident. The CHRO believes that "the destruction of crosses, church buildings and persecution of Christian religious leaders are evidently designed to crush the will and psychology of Chin Christians to preserve and defend their religious, cultural and ethnic identity."
Pray for the Chin people as they stand firm in the face of opposition from this brutal regime. We encourage Christians around the world to write their government leaders as well as Myanmar embassies to protest the persecution of the Chin people and other Christians in Myanmar.
For more information on the persecution of Christians in Myanmar, click here.