Must Sign for Freedom

In September, the chief of B village in a southern province called a special community meeting to resolve the “problem” of eight resident Christian families who have refused to give up their faith. The meeting concluded with plans to expel all 55 Christians from the village.

Although all adult members of a village are usually invited to such meetings, on this occasion the Christians were deliberately excluded. Pastor S and two other believers from the village, C and K, remain in detention in the nearby district police detention cell. It was earlier reported that police have held the men in handcuffs and wooden foot stocks since their arrest on Aug. 3, causing numbness and infection in their legs and feet due to lack of blood circulation. Authorities have said they will release the three only if they renounce their faith.

• Remember those suffering for the sake of Jesus.