PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH & WORLD AWARENESS (June 2008, Vol. 2) Items and issues to watch carefully in prayer and to ponder as to their implications in relation to the fellowship and increase in Christ.
Headlines NEPAL: SHORT REPORT CHINA: CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE OWNER STILL WITHOUT TRIAL BANGLADESH: MUSLIMS FIGHT TO KEEP CHURCH OUT OF VILLAGE SRI LANKA: LARGE ANTI-CHRISTIAN RALLY PLANNED INDIA: BIBLE DISTRIBUTION PLANS MOVING FORWARD N PUNJAB IRANIAN GOVERNMENT CRACKS DOWN ON BELIEVERS SYRIA – A WORKER‟S THOUGHTS ALGERIA: EVANGELIST SAYS POLICE, OTHERS TARGETING HIM BELARUS: HIGHEST FINE YET FOR BAPTISTS
During June we have prayed for….
For a President Who Will Be Lifted by God to Serve His Purposes in Our Nation
The Rest of the Story: NEPAL: SHORT REPORT Dear Praying Friends/Brothers, Sisters in Christ, Greetings and Christian love from Nepal in the precious name of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
We, me and my wife, recently visited the eastern side of Nepal. On the way we have to cross the long forest and were about to get kidnapped by the rebellion group there. We somehow managed to escape. Then we came in contact of police. At about 12 at night we reached a safe area in the police van. We were saved by the Lord in such a situation and we are really grateful to him for his mercy upon us.
The Terai part is really very sensitive these days. After that in a place called Kakarvitta, east border between Nepal and India, we gave baptism to 3 sisters in the river that separates the territory. Praise the Lord! During this trip to east Nepal God blessed us and we came back on 13th June to Kathmandu and today we have a wonderful worship service to have fellowship in the church with all brothers sisters, we prayed and gave thanks to the Lord. Keeping in prayer, Pastor Isu Jung Karki ------
CHINA: CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE OWNER STILL WITHOUT TRIAL „Model citizen‟ in Beijing illegally detained for three months. A hearing expected by relatives of Christian bookstore owner Shi Weihan, detained in a Chinese prison without charges, did not take place. Sources in China had said that a court date was expected June 16 marked the end of three months of his detention without charges. Public Security Bureau (PSB) forces are prohibited from holding Chinese citizens for more than two months without formal charges. Police initially arrested Shi on November 28, 2007, charging him with “illegal business practices,” but officials ordered his release on January 4, citing insufficient evidence. He was arrested again on March 19 and police have held him virtually incommunicado, denying all but one visit from his lawyer, and refusing family visits. “Despite having held Shi beyond the time legally allowed, absent formal charges or a court hearing, the PSB still refuses to allow his family or attorney to see him,” said a source close to Shi‟s lawyer. “Claiming an ongoing investigation in what they are calling „a complex case,‟ they have managed to hold the owner of a legally registered Christian bookstore in an undisclosed location without giving any assurances that he is receiving his needed diabetic medicine.” ------
BANGLADESH: MUSLIMS FIGHT TO KEEP CHURCH OUT OF VILLAGE Pastor threatened with death; Islamic fundamentalists file case to take control of land. Muslim fundamentalists in a village 192 kilometers (119 miles) north of the capital have threatened to kill a pastor as part of an effort to keep his church from constructing a church building, according to the head of the Isha-e-Jamat Bangladesh (Jesus‟ Church) denomination. Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, chairman of the Dhaka-based denomination, said the Muslims are trying to wrest land from the congregation in Lokmanpur village, Gaibandha district. The church planned to erect a worship building on the land, which the denomination purchased in January. “The local Muslims came to know that there would be a church inside the enclosure, so they demolished the boundary wall in February 11,” Chowdhury said. Upon learning of the damage, that same day 30- year-old pastor Rezaul Karim went to the site, where local Muslims and supporters of the country‟s largest Islamic political party, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, wounded him and several others and threatened to kill him if he pursued plans to build a church in the village, Chowdhury said. Karim told Compass, “They drew a dagger at my chest and threatened to kill me if they see me in this place again.” ------
SRI LANKA: LARGE ANTI-CHRISTIAN RALLY PLANNED Banners, posters claim Buddhists are in danger; Christian student beaten. Buddhist extremists have invited residents of Middeniya, a town in Hambanthota district, southern Sri Lanka, to attend a huge anti-Christian rally this Sunday (June 22), where they have promised to “expose the great [Christian] conspiracy.” Over the past week extremists have erected anti-Christian banners and posters and held four meetings inviting people to the rally. Christians attending the Assemblies of God (AOG) church in Middeniya fear the rally may lead to violence and discrimination against the town‟s small Christian minority. At previous rallies, extremists ordered shopkeepers not to sell food to Christians and encouraged taxi drivers not to accept them as passengers. As a result of such discrimination, the AOG pastor, his wife and three children are virtual prisoners in their own home, sources said. An anti-Christian meeting was held june 17 in the Middeniya Maha Vidyalaya, a public school, in which the principal encouraged students to attend the rally and warned them not to attend Christian gatherings. Afterward, students turned on a Christian classmate, pulling her hair and beating her. The child was traumatized and is now afraid to return to school. ------
INDIA: BIBLE DISTRIBUTION PLANS MOVING FORWARD N PUNJAB Bibles For The World‟s Mawii Pudaite says the ministry began a strategic outreach program in Punjab three years ago, amidst strong resistance to Christianity. The state is the birthplace of the Sikh religion and the only state of India with a Sikh majority. According to available statistics, only two of the state‟s 96 people groups are known to have any Christians in their communities. Pudaite says, “Every day in Chandigarh, north India, national missionaries working door-to-door distribute more than a thousand Gospels of John. Every day families come face to face with the Gospel, perhaps for the very first time.”
By 2006, missionaries were reporting an increasing number weekly cell groups that had begun meeting for Bible study and discipleship. Pudaite says one year for Christmas, new believers gave out 25,000 copies of the Gospel of John to their neighbors. Since the program began, missionaries have distributed 250,000 Gospels of John. That makes their objective clear. There are 66 sectors, each one home to over 5,000 households. Pudaite urges prayer support. To expedite their mission, the team started collecting funds last year to buy bicycles. The small team now has five bicycles. Pudaite is hopeful this growth trend continues. “This year, our goal is to distribute to 500,000 homes. With the bicycles to speed up their way, our national missionaries are very much challenged to undertake this task. ------
IRANIAN GOVERNMENT CRACKS DOWN ON BELIEVERS Iranian police have launched a more extensive crackdown on “social corruption” throughout the Islamic Republic. Voice of the Martyrs‟ Todd Nettleton says a religion law is causing them concern. “It makes the death penalty mandatory for people convicted of leaving Islam to follow another faith. That, obviously, is another piece of intimidation.” Authorities are rounding up church leaders. 44-year old Mohsen Namvar was among those arrested. “There has been, over the last 60 days, about a dozen Christians arrested. Most of them have been interrogated and held for a little while, and then released after paying a heavy bail. As far as we know, at this time, Mr. Namvar is still being held.” Why the focus on believers? Nettleton says, “The church is growing at an absolutely phenomenal rate in Iran. Muslims are coming to know Christ; they‟re getting involved with these house church groups. That is what has caused the concern of the government. That‟s why these arrests are happening.” ------
SYRIA – A WORKER’S THOUGHTS As I starred out the bus window I could feel the atmosphere surrounding me tighten and slowly morph into a type of supernatural oppression that was both heavy and draining. The further the bus I was on entered Syria the darker the spiritual hollowness seemed to grow.
Syria is a present day tyrannical nation firmly resting on millennia‟s of strongholds and spiritual domination of the enemy. Last week I spent 5 days in Syria exploring how God is at work in that callous land. Although, the Syrian people are kind and charming, the hold the enemy has on their nation is painfully evident.
One day I went to an important Shiite Mosque to pray and to make a spiritual evaluation of the area. While in the women‟s area of the Mosque my attention became specifically drawn to a particular woman. Crying softly as she waddled into the women‟s room of the Mosque, the older Shiite woman determinedly proceeded to the center of the room. Her tears became more intense as she pressed her body clad in a flowing black garment from her head to her toes against the shrine which the room encircled.
This extravagantly decorated shrine is seen by many Shiites as having supernatural importance because it is home to the body of a man who was revered as holy. Although he has been dead for centuries, his resting place is believed to house a great deal of power for those who pray at it. After resting against the colorful shrine for a while, the sobbing women suddenly crumbled to the floor. For minutes she laid next to the shrine, still grasping its exterior bars with both hands.
At first her tears were quiet, but gradually genuine outcries of despair followed. All of the sudden the women, still prostrate on the floor, began to illegibly yell and loudly cry out as her body convulsed.
Causing quite a scene, many of the other Shiite women in the room quickly abandoned their prayers and fellowship with others to encompass the space around the desperate woman.
Her piercing cries were not quenched for a long time. Many Shiite‟s are hurting and seeking peace. In recent history very few people are known to have expected Christ in Syria. Please ask in regards to Syria that: The blanket of darkness and deception that covers that land will be lifted. The spiritual bondage related to thousands of years of idol worship will be broken. More Believers will answer the call to come to share Christ in Syria. ------
ALGERIA: EVANGELIST SAYS POLICE, OTHERS TARGETING HIM Journalist denies making death threats; court postpones trial. A court yesterday postponed until next Wednesday (June 25) a hearing in west Algeria for a church leader on trial for evangelism. Already convicted of evangelism and blasphemy in two separate cases this year, Rachid Muhammad Essaghir, 37, believes he is being targeted for his work with Christians in Tiaret. The convert to Christianity, who regularly posts his telephone number on evangelistic Christian satellite TV programs, said that he has received death threats from Algerian journalist Haitham Rabani in recent months. A correspondent tracking Christianity in Algeria, Rabani told Compass that he did not threaten Essaghir but did send him text messages. At the same time, Rabani admitted threatening the host of an Al-Hayat Christian satellite talk show who is also named Rachid. “I told him, „If I capture you, I will kill you,‟” Rabani told Compass, saying that he had not actually meant to carry out the threat. ------
BELARUS: HIGHEST FINE YET FOR BAPTISTS Belarus has imposed a fine of more than two months‟ average wages on a Baptist who “organised choir singing and conducted conversations on religious topics” outside Ushachi public market. After a plain clothes policeman told a group of Baptists from outside the area to stop, Vladimir Burshtyn replied that they were not disturbing public order and cited religious freedom guarantees in Belarus‟ Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The fine is the highest yet imposed on Baptists for unregistered religious activity. Higher fines have been imposed on members of other communities. Olga Karchevskaya, an official who witnessed the incident, defended the state‟s response and the Religion Law‟s restrictions because “we need to know who‟s coming to us - they could be destructive or acting against people‟s interests.” In a separate incident, a Baptist congregation‟s worship in Osipovichi was interrupted by officials, and the congregation‟s deacon was fined about two week‟s average wages for leading an unregistered religious community. ------
DURING JUNE WE HAVE PRAYED FOR -- RUSSIA, where the government's desire to revive Russia's Orthodox Christian heritage is being exploited by the Russian Orthodox Church to curtail the activities of its 'competitors' (other denominations). Please pray for revival in the Russian Orthodox Church. Pray also for religious liberty to be advanced, because Russia will need all the light, love, help and hope its various churches together can offer if it is to recover from decades of violent, hopeless, atheistic Communism and return to glorious greatness on a Christian foundation.
VIETNAM, where ruling authorities are playing the diplomatic game of displaying a facade of religious liberty reforms so as to win economic concessions, whilst escalating their repression of grassroots Christianity behind the scenes. Please pray especially for God to sustain and encourage all those Vietnamese Christians falsely charged with political crimes and imprisoned in appalling conditions.
ALGERIA, where the government is cracking down hard on Protestant Christianity. Pray for Algeria's lively debate on religious liberty to flourish. May the grace, liberty and love offered by the churches stand in stark contrast to the intolerance and repression of orthodox Islam.
'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' (Isaiah 55:9 ESV)
OTHER ISSUES DURING JUNE ------* REFUGEES: PRAY FOR CHRISTIAN REFUGEES World Refugee Day was on 20 June. War and religious persecution force many Christians to flee their homes and become refugees. Unfortunately very few ever find the new life of peace and opportunity they are hoping for. Many who do find some refuge in neighbouring states are forced to live in fear and abject poverty, such as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christian refugees in Syria and Jordan. Meanwhile, in violation of the Refugee Convention, many other Christian refugees are forcibly returned to the lands they have fled. This is the case for Eritrean refugees being returned from Egypt; Hmong refugees being returned to Laos; North Korean refugees being returned from China; and even some Iranian and Chinese refugees who have been returned from the West. Please pray for God to gather up these suffering lambs in his arms (Isaiah 40:11), keep them safe and meet all their needs.
* INDONESIA: TALIBANISATION GROWS On 9 June the Indonesian government surrendered to hard- line and violent Islamic groups and issued a Ministerial Decree imposing severe restrictions and penalties on members of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam on the pretext that they deviate from orthodox Islam. In addition to thereby sending the message that violence works, the government has furthered not only the Islamisation of Indonesia but also its Talibanisation. Compass Direct reports that on 10 June officials in Jatimulya village, West Java, told the pastors of three congregations (totalling 500 members) that the buildings in the church compound they shared would be demolished. Then on 14 June local authorities accompanied by an Islamist mob tried to destroy the two buildings in the church compound. The demolition was stalled when a Public Order officer fell from the roof. Please pray for religious liberty in Indonesia.
* SUDAN: CHRISTIANS OF ABYEI NEED OUR PRAYERS The disputed oil-rich north-south border town of Abyei is home both to African, mostly Christian Ngok Dinka (southerners), and Muslim Misseriya Arabs (northerners, mainly herdsman). In May, a clash between Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) police (southerners) and Misseriya militiamen aligned with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) escalated into a major conflict between the SPLA and the government-controlled SAF. The SAF took over the town, destroyed it and ethnically cleansed it of some 90,000 Ngok Dinka. The status of Abyei (as part of the north or part of the south) is due to be decided by referendum in 2011. A peace deal was signed on 8 June, but while the return of displaced peoples is included in the 'roadmap', justice and the disarmament of the Misseriya militias are not. Furthermore the government of Sudan has a very poor record when it comes to implementing peace deals. Please pray for the Christians of Abyei.
* ZIMBABWE: GOVERNMENT ATTACKS ANGLICANS IN HARARE Rev Dr Nolbert Kunonga is a pro- Mugabe activist who has been implicated in extreme violence against Opposition supporters. In 2007 the Anglican Church dismissed him from his post as Bishop of Harare. In January 2008 they charged him with schism and replaced him with Bishop Sebastian Bukara, who has recently become a principal spokesman for Zimbabwe's civil opposition. Harare's High Court upheld the Church's right to dismiss Kunonga, but ruled that Kunonga and Bukara share the Cathedral. Mugabe's police then violently seized Harare's Anglican properties. On Sunday mornings the police admit Kunonga's few supporters while beating any other Anglicans who dare come near. Harare's numerous Anglicans then started worshipping outdoors. But in mid-May the government extended the ban on public gatherings to include prayer meetings. As violence escalates, meeting is becoming increasingly dangerous. Please pray for the Church in Zimbabwe.
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< For a President Who Will Be Lifted by God to Serve His Purposes in Our Nation No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, He exalts another. - -Psalm 75:6-7
Mighty God, You alone rule and judge what is right in our world. Even though our systems strive to lift up and exalt individuals, You are our judge, choosing those You want to lift up and bringing down those You want to debase.
I ask You, O God, to lift up and exalt the person You desire to serve our nation as president in the years to come. I pray for a godly and wise president who will honor You in all things, and I pray that the schemes of men will be defeated as we look to You for the person of Your choosing this year. Amen.