Canadian pastor held by North Korea

A Canadian pastor who went missing in North Korea is being held by the communist state’s authorities, his church and Canadian consular officials said Thursday. Reverend Hyeon Soo Lim, 60, has not been heard from since January 31, just after he arrived in North Korea via China. The Light Korean Presbyterian Church said his family “received notice from Canadian officials that the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has confirmed that Mr Hyeon Soo Lim is being held in North Korea.” A Canadian government official told AFP that Ottawa is aware of a Canadian citizen detained in North Korea and is trying to help them. But, the official added, Ottawa has no diplomatic relations with North Korea and so “the ability of Canadian officials to provide consular assistance is extremely limited.” Lim went missing while on a humanitarian mission, according to church officials. He had led many aid missions to North Korea in the past involving work with orphanages and nursing homes, they said. Lim’s lack of communication was initially attributed to the 21-day quarantine imposed on all foreign visitors to North Korea to prevent any outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. But that period would have ended on February 21, after which there was still no news, prompting Lim’s church to go public to try to determine his whereabouts. Reverend Chun Ki-Won, the director of Durihana, a South Korean Christian missionary organization helping North Korean refugees, said Lim was one of the most influential Christian missionaries operating in the North. Chun told AFP Lim had been asked to come to Pyongyang on January 31. He said this information came from other members of the close-knit circle of ethnic Korean missionaries in the United States and Canada who are involved in aid projects in the North. The reason for the invitation was unclear, but he said he feared it was political. Chun noted that some of the food-related projects Lim was involved in were linked to associates of Jang Song-Thaek, the purged uncle of leader Kim Jong-Un. Jang is known to have led many joint economic projects before he was dramatically arrested and executed for treason in December 2012. Ottawa advises its citizens against travel to North Korea. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson said, “This (case) underscores what the Canadian government has been saying: ‘Don’t go to North Korea.'” Although religious freedom is enshrined in the North Korean constitution, religious activity is severely restricted to officially-recognized groups linked to the government. Pyongyang views foreign missionaries with deep suspicion, although it allows access to some who undertake humanitarian work. However, anyone caught engaging in any unauthorized activities would be subject to immediate arrest. A number of missionaries — mostly US citizens — have been arrested in North Korea in the past with some of them allowed to return home after interventions by high-profile US figures.

Jerusalem church on Mount Zion torched

Suspected Jewish extremists set fire to a Greek Orthodox seminary building on Mount Zion in Jerusalem early Thursday, 24 hours after a mosque was torched in the West Bank. The vandals torched an annexe of the seminary just outside the walls of the Old City and scrawled “graffiti insulting Jesus”, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said, describing it as a “nationalist” attack. Police said the assailants set light to the toilet and shower block at the seminary, causing damage but no injuries. Outside, they daubed insulting slogans in Hebrew about Jesus. The attack took place just outside the Old City walls on Mount Zion, close to Dormition Abbey, a Roman Catholic institution which was targeted by an arson attack during a visit by Pope Francis last May. Following a police request, a gag order has been imposed on all details of the investigation which will remain in force until March 4. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat condemned the attack as “deplorable” and pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice. On Wednesday, a mosque near Bethlehem in the southern West Bank was set alight and anti-Arab slogans in Hebrew sprayed on a nearby wall. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat denounced the perpetrators of both incidents as “terrorists”, blaming Israel’s government for inciting the attacks by continuing its “illegal occupation and colonisation based on distorted religious claims.” The United Nations has warned such incidents could “inflame an already volatile environment.” Both incidents bore the hallmarks of so-called “price tag” attacks — a euphemism for nationalist-motivated hate crimes by Jewish extremists, which generally target Palestinians or Arab Israelis but have increasingly also hit Christian and Muslim places of worship

Edo CAN Denies Knowledge of N3m Jonathan Largesse to State Chapter

The Edo State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Peter Imasuen, on Monday denied any involvement in the sharing of N7 billion largesse allegedly given to the national leadership of the association by President Goodluck Jonathan in which the state chapter got N3 million. Imasuen, who is also the Bishop of Benin Diocese, Anglican Communion, stated this in Benin City, while reacting to the allegation raised by a Borno-based cleric, Pastor Kallam Musa-Dikwa, that the sum of N3 million, from the largesse, was disbursed to Edo State chairman of the association. Musa-Dikwa, had on February 16 claimed that CAN got the money on January 26, 2015 and distributed N3 million to each state chairman across the country to enable them support the re-election bid of President Jonathan. But Bishop Imasuen told newsmen in Benin City that he was not aware of the money, as he did not attend the last meeting of the Christian body and did collect any money, as a state chairman. “I am not a politician; what we owe the country is prayer. So, I don’t know anything about the money. “They didn’t give me any money and I was not even there when we had the last CAN meeting; at that time, we were having the standing committee at Ughelli (Delta State). So, how would they have given me money when I was not in the meeting?” Asked if he would have benefited from the alleged largesse if he had been present, Imasuen retorted: “Collected the money for what? What will I use the money for? We are men of God; we are to pray for the peace of the country. “At the time you now take money, how will God answer your prayer? I don’t run after riches. I run after blessing; riches come and go but blessings remain.” He noted that he was only interested in performing his responsibility as a cleric, rather than engaging in partisan politics. The cleric also described the allegation as one peddled by persons whom he described as “self-made pastors and bishops” who could say anything to cause disunity. “Even if you give me money, I would be afraid; I will not sleep because the politicians will be after you, everybody will be after you, the thieves will know that you have money. So, I will rather relax my mind and be okay with whatever God gives me. “There are many people who are self-made pastors or bishops; they can say anything. If you do something I don’t like, for instance, I can go back and do certain things to distabilise you. “I don’t belong to any party; once I know that you are a credible person, I can vote for you; vote for those that can stand and defend this country. We are praying God to give us a leader who will lead us and lead the youths,” he added.

Kumuyi tells Nigerians to take their destiny in their hands

Respected cleric and the General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Folorunsho Ikumuyiwa, has called on Nigerians to stop bothering themselves about the ongoing challenges facing the nation. He asked them to take their destiny in their hands by seeking God’s face for intervention. Kumuyi gave this charge during a two-day ministerial visit and campus crusade organised by the Campus Christian Mobilisation Committee of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State. The former university don while preaching to thousands of people at the new religious ground of the the OAU, said, “Nigerians should take their destiny in their hands. People should not be discouraged by whatever problems they are facing now, either as individuals or as a nation”. He noted that there were two different kinds of people in the world, saying while some saw themselves as “grasshoppers”, others equally looked themselves as “conquerors”. He said, “There is need to be like the biblical Caleb, who never allowed the towering, scary figure of the giants they saw to dissuade him from entering the land of Canaan. Caleb gave a positive account of what he saw and encouraged others to be optimistic. You are what you think you are.” He prayed for God’s wisdom for members of the university in the discharge of their responsibilities. Also speaking at the event, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Bamitale Omole, commended Kumuyi for accepting the invitation to minister on the campus. He said Kumuyi “is indeed one of the few remaining examples of the ideal Christian faith today”