9.6.16
In Islam, We Lived in Fear, But Christ is a God of Love
Muslim Refugees in Europe Embracing Christianity at Unprecedented Rate
The Guardian
reveals that over the past few months, an astounding number of Muslim
refugees in Europe are converting to Christianity according to churches,
which have conducted mass baptisms in some places.
"I've been looking all my life for peace and happiness, but
in Islam, I have not found it," Shima, an Iranian refugee, told Stern
magazine. "To be a Christian means happiness to me."
Last year alone some 1.8 million asylum-seekers entered the European Union, fleeing war and poverty in Middle-Eastern countries, according to data from the European Union border agency Frontex. Around 1.1 million refugees came to Germany in 2015.
In Austria, there have been at least 300 applications for
adult christenings in the first three months of 2016 alone, with up to
70 percent of those said to be refugees, the Guardian reported.
Berlin's Trinity church saw its congregation grow from 150
to almost 700, the newspaper said, and in Hamburg, more than 80 Muslim
refugees from Iran and Afghanistan converted to Christianity and were
baptized last week alone.
RT,
which conducted interviews with several converts, said that "among the
most popular reasons behind the conversion is faith in a new religion,
triggered by 'lack of freedom' in Islam, and gratitude to Christians
offering help to refugees fleeing war-torn countries."
"Since I became a Christian I fear no one," a young woman added.
While some have suggested
the mass conversions are simply a ploy to claim asylum, RT notes that
living in a mostly Muslim community can be incredibly difficult for a
Christian refugee.
"You can see clearly that conversions are not really taken
into consideration as an advantage for accepting an asylum case. We have
even seen many cases where Christians have been sent back even if they
were Christians already before they came to Europe. The risk is too
great for most of them to convert. Traditionally this is punished, at
least expulsion from the family up to beatings and even killings against
family members who convert," geopolitical analyst and consultant Rainer
Rothfuss told the outlet.
Persecution watchdog Open Doors USA
also released a report detailing how Christian refugees are being
psychologically abused, physically mistreated and denied food at
Muslim-dominated camps in Germany
Open Doors' study, based on interviews with 231 Christian
refugees conducted between February and April, found that at least 86
Christians reported to have been physically assaulted by Muslim refugees
or shelter security staff, and another 70 had received death threats
for their faith.
Open Doors, which has been calling for the international
community to offer more help for minority refugees, said it is
"alarming" that German authorities are doing little to protect
Christians.
"Despite increased reports about this problem by the media,
charities, human rights organizations, church leaders and Christian
organizations, German authorities and politicians have hardly ever
launched an investigation," the watchdog group said.
"Instead, we believe that incidents are deliberately
downplayed and even covered up. During confidential discussions with
researchers from Open Doors, it has become known that even in police
stations, religiously motivated attacks on Christian refugees are not
documented as such," it added.More
# posted by claus_kirche @ 17:11 
