PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN WORSHIP IN JEDDAH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JEDDAH 000346 SIPDIS SIPDIS RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP; DEPARTMENT FOR DRL/IRF - SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE JOHN HANFORD E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/06/2016 TAGS: KIRF PGOV PHUM SA SOCI SUBJECT: PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN WORSHIP IN JEDDAH REF: A. JEDDAH 00237 ¶B. JEDDAH 00308 ¶C. JEDDAH 00328 ¶D. JEDDAH 00333 Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. On May 6, as part of the Consulate's ongoing efforts to conduct a long-term inquiry into Christian worship in Jeddah, ConGenOff met with a Pakistani preacher who heads an all-Pakistani Evangelical church based in Jeddah. Their group has the support of the Consul General of Pakistan and worships both at the Pakistani ConGen and at private homes. The preacher admitted that, because there is lack of Bible study materials in the Kingdom, he encourages his congregation to smuggle said materials into Saudi Arabia. While he and his followers do not actively try to convert Muslims to Christianity, they do seek out other non-Christians or non-believers (Hindus specifically) and try to convert them. The preacher was not aware of any recent or new arrests of Christian worshipers in the Western province, but did claim that in the past year authorities in the Nejran province have detained over 200 Christians. Each was detained for no more than one day and released as part of a SAG-sponsored "scare tactic". When asked why there were so many arrests in that part of the Kingdom, the preacher replied, "They are tribal people who do not know anything about Christianity so they are scared by it." He and other Evangelical groups are prepared to utilize the "corrupt, underground" channels that exist within the Saudi law enforcement establishment to free anyone who may be arrested in the coming months. SR 15,000 will buy a detainee's freedom and a Yemeni passport with which he can flee the country. END SUMMARY. BIBLE SMUGGLING ¶2. (C) On May 6, ConGenOff met with a Pakistani preacher who is head of an all-Pakistani Evangelical church based in Jeddah. He began the conversation by telling ConGenOff that he knew of many fragmented Arab Christian worship groups in and around Jeddah. The groups' members hail from Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. Once a month, the groups' leaders meet in the outskirts of Jeddah to discuss how they can strengthen their Christian communities and how they can obtain Bible study materials. According to him, neither his ministry nor the Arab ministries with which he communicates regularly use Bibles during their worship. He admitted that he actively encourages his congregation to smuggle Bibles into the Kingdom whenever they return from vacation. ¶3. (C) The preacher recounted the story of a time when he and his young son returned to Jeddah from their vacation in Europe with a large box filled with Bibles. When the Saudi inspector scanned the box, he noticed that it was filled with books and asked the preacher about it. He recalled, "I just started telling him that they were all books for my other children who were at home with my wife in Jeddah. He asked me to open it and I said, 'Why, man? These books are for my children.' After a few minutes he let me go without opening it. I had twenty new Bibles." Not everyone is so lucky. The preacher's brother, who is opening his own Evangelical church in Jeddah, was caught smuggling a dozen Bibles at Jeddah airport earlier this year. The inspector let his brother go without filing a report. "Maybe this man (the inspector) wanted the Bibles for himself and so didn't want to report it...there are many Saudis who are secretly Christian, or maybe he wanted to sell them." ¶4. (C) When questioned by ConGenOff about the ease with which Bibles can be smuggled into the Kingdom, the preacher said that, with the advent of scanners at the airport, it is easier now than it used to be. In the past, he explained, every box and suitcase would be opened and hand-searched by inspectors. Now they just scan every item and do so haphazardly. "If it is not obvious to the machine, it is not obvious to them." Further, the preacher said that many of the baggage handlers at Jeddah airport are Pakistani and Bangladeshi Christians. The preacher claims that he and his followers know the baggage handlers with whom they can entrust their luggage and boxes filled with Christian worship JEDDAH 00000346 002 OF 003 materials, and that these particular handlers will help negotiate the movement of said baggage through the airport without inspection. NOTE. The preacher added that members of his congregation do not try to smuggle Bibles in through the mail because they believe that mail coming into Saudi Arabia is much more closely scrutinized for various prohibited items, including pornography and alcohol. END NOTE. PAKISTANI CG'S SUPPORT ¶5. (C) According to the preacher, the Consulate General of Pakistan in Jeddah and the Embassy of Pakistan in Riyadh provide on-site facilities for occasional Christian worship. While he knew less about the interaction between the Embassy and various all-Pakistani Evangelist ministries in Riyadh, the preacher claimed to have a close working relationship with the Pakistani CG in Jeddah. The Consul General, a graduate of a Christian secondary school, supports the preacher's activities, but regularly reminds him that there are serious risks involved with congregating at private homes in Jeddah. "He is very supportive," claimed the preacher. "He lets us use the big hall in the Consulate for Easter and Christmas every year, and whenever we have a special event, like a marriage, but he tells us it is not advisable to worship as a group outside of the Consulate where we are safe." CONVERTING NON-BELIEVERS: HINDUS WILL DO ¶6. (C) ConGenOff asked the Pakistani preacher if he and his Evangelical ministry actively try and convert Muslims to Christianity. He said that they do not. He added, however, that while they don't openly proselytize to Muslims, they do seek out other non-Christians or non-believers and try to convert them to Christianity. The preacher specifically spoke about Hindus in Saudi Arabia, explaining "they have not yet found the word of God...it is our job to help them find it." This year alone, he claims, his group has converted two Nepali men and one Bangladeshi man to Christianity. Later in the conversation, the preacher did admit that if a Saudi came to them seeking information about Christianity, a member of the congregation would counsel them about "what it means to be Christian" and why they should convert. He emphatically reiterated his earlier point, however, that they only speak to Muslims about Christianity when Muslims ask about it. They do not want to provoke "trouble" from the Saudi government for "spreading the word of God." ¶7. (C) The preacher recounted a story of a Saudi man who was sick in the hospital. A member of his congregation got word of this man's plight and went to the hospital with several other Pakistani Christians to pray for the Saudi man's recovery. After a week, the sick man who "was practically dead" made a sudden recovery. It was clearly a miracle. "The family realized that he got well because we prayed for him. They wanted to know all about Christianity. The man's daughter came to our church two times to share our Evangelical prayers. We taught her verses from the Bible and showed her how God works in her life. She is now a Christian." NEJRANIS ARE MORE SENSITIVE TO CHRISTIANITY ¶8. (C) ConGenOff asked the preacher what he knew about other Christian groups in the Western province. He said that he was most familiar with groups in and around Abha and Nejran in the southwest of Saudi Arabia. According to him, Christian Indians, Filipinos, Pakistanis, and Nigerians have developed small ministries there, but operate in a much more restrictive environment. Wary of drawing attention to themselves, the preacher said that these Christians can only meet in groups of two or three, as opposed to the fifty or sixty member groups that congregate in Jeddah. Over 200 Christians have been arrested in Nejran and Abha over the past year, claimed the preacher, but all were released within one day. "It's a scare tactic," he said. When asked how he knew about these arrests, the preacher said, "I get word of it from my Christian brothers and sisters." COMMENT. AmConGen Jeddah has no further evidence of this large number of detentions in the Nejran province. It is, to date, unconfirmed. END COMMENT. JEDDAH 00000346 003 OF 003 ¶9. (C) When asked why he believed there were so many Christian arrests in that part of the region, the preacher said, "It is because people from Nejran are more sensitive. They are not exposed to different things like in Jeddah. They are tribal people who do not know anything about Christianity so they are scared by it and sensitive about anyone worshipping our Lord Jesus Christ." The preacher added that Saudis living in the Nejran province are also suspicious of Christians because singing is a large part of their worship. "They think that because we sing we are performing magic and so they don't trust us." SR 15,000 BUYS FREEDOM AND A YEMENI PASSPORT ¶10. (C) The preacher said that he has never been arrested in Saudi Arabia for his faith. He claims that he was a "non-believer" when he came to Saudi Arabia over 20 years ago, and that when he first converted to Christianity he was scared of being persecuted in the Kingdom for his beiefs and actions. "But when I read the word of od, I was encouraged. If I have to go to jail, Ihave to go to jail. I will do it for Him." When sked if there were any new or recent arrest case with which he was familiar, the preacher said he id not know of any. However,he did state that his congregation and the network of Christian ministries in Jeddah are prepared to provide funds for the release of any Christians who are arrested in the Western province. He said he has a "feeling" that Saudi authorities are gearing up to crack-down on Christian worship in the Kingdom. When ConGenOff inquired about any specific threats, the preacher said that he did not know anything, but would keep AmConGen Jeddah abreast of the situation. ¶11. (C) The Pakistani preacher informed ConGenOff that he and his ministry have historically helped negotiate the timely release of "religious prisoners" in Saudi Arabia by utilizing the "underground" channels that exist in the Kingdom. He explained that for about SR 15,000 (USD 4,000) the Jeddah Evangelical church is able to pay-off local police to release someone who has been detained for practicing Christianity. Further, that SR 15,000 will buy a fraudulent Yemeni passport that the detainee can then use to depart the Kingdom through Yemen. He said the last time they had to use these "corrupt, underground" channels was in 2002, but he quickly remarked that they are prepared to use it again if they have to. The money is donated from various "churches" from throughout the Kingdom that take up collections at their services. "People are very generous when one of their brothers or sisters is arrested," declared the preacher. ¶12. (C) COMMENT. The preacher seemed proud that he and his fellow Evangelists were able to "work it out" with the Saudis by using these underground channels; the pride stemming from the fact that he understands how "everything in the Kingdom works". However, despite his boasting about his knowledge of the secret inner-workings of the Saudi law enforcement establishment, the preacher claimed that he did not know where the Yemeni passports came from. While he was very forthcoming and talkative during the entire conversation, he avoided answering ConGenOff's questions about who provided the passports. ConGenOff did not press the issue. END COMMENT. Gfoeller