A Retarded Prodigy speaks out

Fellow brethren in trouble ...

Eight Protestant Christians, including two Indians, have been arrested in Saudi Arabia, the Rome-based religious news agency Asianews has reported.

The Saudi religious police, the Muttawa, arrested an evangelical Christian from India who was in Saudi Arabia on a tourist visa and seized a Bible and addresses, which led to the arrest of seven other members of an evangelical Protestant group, the institute said on Wednesday.

Also arrested were Vijay Kumar, 45, from India, an immigrant worker in Saudi Arabia since 1994 whose apartment was used for Christian meetings, said the Asianews web site, which is run by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions.

On April 23, the Muttawa arrested 40 Pakistani nationals for celebrating a Catholic mass in a private house.

All forms of non-Muslim worship are banned in Saudi Arabia, which is home to Islam's holiest shrines.

At moments like this, I worry about all those families in Saudi Arabia that meet on Sunday evenings at different homes. They have to quietly sing from the hymnals and pray softly. The person speaking from the scriptures would have to also speak softly. All this to avoid the neighbors (if they were hardcore orthodox muslims) from calling the cops and thus getting caught.

Sometimes we get up on Sunday mornings and grumble about having to get ready for church. Sometimes we are enthusiastic about church but we take for granted the place of worship & the ease with which we spend our time around the altar. We also take for granted those trips from home to the church & back, while others take risks to reach the church on their way to & fro.

My sister and her family are settled in Dammam too, but even I forget the risks that they take to gather in homes & worship the Lord sometimes more than twice a week!!

Today I got reminded of the same and if you are reading this, I ask that you pray for all our brethren who have been caught in Saudi and all the others who have difficulties in going to church on Sundays.

posted by bobbycalls @ 12:48 PM