Free to Believe - Helped make a Change (390 KB) 6th Apr, 2011
Open Doors' Free to Believe Campaign has played a part in demise of Defamtion of Religions concept. In march 2011, the UN Huam Rights Council adopted an important resolution, tabled by Pakistan, on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Open Doors welcomes these resolution changes as an important step forward due to the influence of the Free to Believe Campaign.
Defamations of Religions UN Resolution (144KB) 3rd Nov, 2010
"The major concern with this resolution is that it puts the rights of an ideal or religion above the rights of an individual. Once resolutions are set in place that protect groups of peoples or religions, the rights of individuals, especially those belonging to minority groups, are at risk of increased persecutions," Mr Rooke said.
Open Doors condemns Quaran burning (174KB) 8th Sep, 2010
Open Doors Australia CEO Pastor Nigel Rooke said, “the planned burning of the Quran is a disaster on two fronts: It violates the command of Jesus to love our neighbor and it would likely cause Christians worldwide to be more vilified and persecuted.”
Free to Believe - UN Resolution (258KB) 28th Jun, 2010
Open Doors is mounting a coordinated advocacy campaign - “Free to Believe”. We aim to raise awareness of the resolution raised by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) known as the ‘Defamation of Religious Resolution’ and to prevent it from being passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, this December in New York. The campaign includes:
• Organising a global petition to collect signatures from across the world in support of religious liberty and urging the rejection of the ‘Defamation of Religions Resolution’.
• Raising awareness of the issue through a media campaign.
• Working on advocacy at the United Nations to prevent the resolution being passed.
The voices of Christians around the world are vitally important to defeat the ‘Defamation of Religions Resolution’. To join the Open Doors advocacy, go to opendoors.org.au. Open Doors encourages you to sign the global petition to say YES to “Free to Believe” and NO to the ‘Defamation of Religions Resolution’.
World Watch List 2010 (242KB) 1st Mar, 2010
The World Watch List, started by the Open Doors Research Department in 1991, seeks to understand the unique persecution fingerprint of each country. This is to ensure effective intervention since Open Doors ministers to the persecuted church in more than 50 countries worldwide. The data is derived from a questionnaire containing 53 questions sent to Open Doors co-workers, key church leaders and recognized experts in 70 countries. The questionnaire examines every aspect of persecution, including the degree of legal restriction, state attitudes, how free the church is to organize itself, as well as noting incidents of persecution, such as church burnings, anti-Christian riots and even martyrdom. Open Doors is uniquely positioned to provide this research as it is the world’s largest mission agency working on behalf of the persecuted.
For more information, including a list of all 50 countries, go to www.worldwatchlist.com.au
Christianity Today: Brother Andrew reflects 50 years (136KB) 16th Jul, 2005
Friday, 15th July marks the 50th Anniversary of Open Doors, the oldest international ministry to support persecuted Christians. The founder Brother Andrew reflects on past, present and future of the ministry.
Time: Project Pearl - 1 million Bibles into China (113KB) 19th Oct, 1981
TIME has learned that the remarkable mission, dubbed Project Pearl and executed with military precision last June, was engineered by Open Doors with Brother Andrew International, a nondenominational, evangelical missionary organisation. The group has specialised in smuggling Bibles mostly into Communist countries for some two decades. The purpose of Project Pearl was to bring badly needed copies of the Scriptures to 5 million Chinese Protestants, who worship under the watchful eye of the Peking government in an estimated 50,000 "house churches."
Media Contact Information:
Roz Trestrail
Email: rozt@od.org
Ph: 02 9451 2999