PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN WORSHIP IN JEDDAH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JEDDAH 000346

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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