RLPB 721. November 2023 Update, incl. Nigeria, Mali, Middle East & South Caucasus, Nepal

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 721 | Wed 29 Nov 2023
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

View RLPB archives at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog.
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NOVEMBER 2023 UPDATE & ROUNDUP
By Elizabeth Kendal

ANNOUNCEMENT

Two separate health issues have meant that 2023 has been, for me, a very difficult year. Both issues will require attention into 2024.

I have come to accept that, after 24 years and roughly 1,250 religious liberty prayer bulletins, the time has come to retire the weekly Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) ministry. While I know I will continue to read, research, and remain engaged, I also know I need to stop writing – at least for a season (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

I will keep the www.ElizabethKendal.com website live, developing it and adding to it as I am able.

I will also keep my religiouslibertyprayer Instagram account live, using it to: (1) facilitate intercessory prayer for the persecuted Church; (2) share information that is relevant to suffering Church issues; (3) encourage and promote prayer as integral and indispensable to Christian and Church life; and (4) publish any personal announcements/news I might wish to make.

The RLPB and RLM archives will remain on-line for research purposes at:
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin
https://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com/
Religious Liberty Monitoring
https://elizabethkendal.blogspot.com/

Next week’s RLPB 722 (6 Dec 2023), will be the final RLPB.

Until then, every blessing to you
Elizabeth Kendal

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UPDATE: DURING NOVEMBER 2023 WE PRAYED CONCERNING

BURKINA FASO (RLPB 718, 8 Nov), as Islamic terrorists aligned with al-Qaeda and Islamic State retain control of around 40 percent of the country. The capital Ouagadougou is gradually being encircled, its critical transit routes imperilled and cut. At least 46 locations are totally besieged, leaving Christians trapped, persecuted and totally cut off from the outside world. Violence is escalating. Aid to the Church in Need’s interview with Fr Pierre Rouamba, the prior-general of Missionary Brothers of the Countryside (FMC), is a must-read! We must not forget our brothers and sisters in Burkina Faso. Please pray!

UGANDA (RLPB 719, 15 Nov), after recent convert Hajara Namwase (32) was dowsed in gasoline, and set alight as punishment (likely an attempted honour-killing) for leaving Islam. The perpetrator – her Muslim husband Musa Kalele (42) – fled to South Sudan, leaving their three young children in the care of his mother. Originally from Budaka in Eastern Region, Hajara is receiving specialised burns treatment in Kampala. Please pray!

NIGERIA (RLPB 720, 22 Nov), to praise and thank God that, after 28 months as a hostage to Muslim terrorists in Kaduna, Treasure Ayuba (now aged 14) had escaped from his captors and found his way home ‘in answer to the prayers of many’ (2 Corinthians 1:11). Treasure’s liberation inspires us to persevere in prayer for the 100 (of 276) ‘Chibok girls’ who, after being abducted in April 2014, remain missing to this day; and for Leah Sharibu (now aged 20). Abducted in February 2018, Islamic State jihadists retain Leah as a ‘slave’ precisely because she insists on remaining Christian. Lord have mercy! We also lamented the loss of two ECWA pastors slain by Muslim militants in mid-November. Please pray for the traumatised and imperilled Church in Northern Nigeria.

UPDATE to RLPB 717, Blasphemy in Bauchi, 1 Nov 2023
- Mrs Rhoda Jatau to remain in jail.

On Monday 27 November the Bauchi State High Court threw out the No-Case Submission put forward by advocates defending Christian healthcare worker, Rhoda Jatau; with bail denied, she remains incarcerated. Rhoda Jatau has been held in detention since May 2022 for forwarding a video in which a Ghanian Christian convert (from Islam) condemned the mob lynching of Christian student Deborah Emmanuel (triggered by a vexatious accusation of blasphemy). As noted in RLPB 717: ‘Human rights attorney Solomon Dalyop Mwantiri told TruthNigeria (17 Oct) that if, on 27 November, the No-Case Submission is successful, then Mrs Rhoda Jatau would be acquitted and released in what would be a great win for religious freedom in the country. However, if the submission is rejected, then Jatau could remain in jail indefinitely.’ The ruling bodes ill for Christians across Northern Nigeria. Please pray for Mrs Rhoda Jatau and her family; may the Spirit of God sustain and comfort them; may our sovereign Lord deliver justice.


NOVEMBER 2023 ROUND-UP – ALSO THIS MONTH

* MALI: ABDUCTED PRIEST IS RELEASED
Update to RLPB 704, Mali: Catholic Priest Abducted …seven and a half months missing, 2 Aug 2023.

Released: Father Ha-Jo
(via Aid to the Church in Need)

After twelve months in captivity, Reverend Hans-Joachim Lohre (66) is free! The German priest, affectionately known as Father Ha-Jo, had been abducted in Bamako on Sunday 20 November 2022. While circumstances of the release remain unclear, the release was reportedly negotiated directly by the German government. On Sunday 26 November 2023 the terrorists released Father Ha-Jo into the hands of Malian authorities, who delivered him into the custody of German representatives who immediately placed him on a special flight to Germany. [It is quite possible that the jihadists had demanded the priest’s removal from the country (after more than 30 years of ministry) as one of the conditions of his release.] Praise and thank God that Father Ha-Jo is now free. Pray for a breakthrough against jihadists in Mali. Pray for Mali’s imperilled Church.

* MIDDLE EAST AND SOUTH CAUCASUS
Update to RLPB 702, Christian Crisis in Azerbaijan and Iraq, 19 July 2023.

Webinar, 14 Nov 2023
Watch on YouTube

On 14 November, Melbourne School of Theology’s Arthur Jeffery Centre held a webinar on the topic: ‘How the Current Middle Eastern Conflicts Affect Local Christians’, with Dr Mark Durie and special guest Elizabeth Kendal. After Dr Durie spoke on the history of Muslim-Christian relations in the Middle East and the reality of dhimmitude (a state of subjugation under Islam – something everyone needs to understand) I was able to share my concerns for Christians across the wider region. I am particularly concerned that escalating conflict in the Palestinian Territories could trigger hostility against churches in Jordan and Egypt; and that, should war spread to Lebanon and Syria (as appears likely), it could spell the end of remnant Christian communities there.

I am also concerned that war in the Middle East could act as a smokescreen for ethnic cleansing elsewhere: specifically of Assyrians in Iraq and of Armenians in Transcaucasia (the South Caucasus). From the west and the east, Turkey and Azerbaijan have their eyes on Armenia’s southernmost province of Syunik. Turkey’s President Erdogan dreams of creating a pan-Turkic Middle Corridor as part of China’s Belt & Road Initiative. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev claims Syunik – and much of Armenian territory – is historically Azerbaijani, referring to it as ‘Western Azerbaijan’. In September we witnessed the ethnic cleansing of Armenians out of Nagorno-Karabakh (land they have inhabited for millennia) [RLPB 712 (27 Sep)]; will Syunik be next? [See ElizabethKendal.com / Global Persecution / Transcaucasia.] 

Even more existential is the threat in Iraq, where a final solution to drive the Assyrian remnant out of the Nineveh Plains (the historic Assyrian heartland) is well underway. In recent weeks Iran-backed Shi’ite militias have escalated their attacks against US military bases and forces. If war returns to Iraq, only God himself will be able save Iraq’s remnant indigenous Assyrian Christians. [See RLPB label/Iraq.] Please pray!

* NEPAL: THE BATTLE FOR NEPAL HEATS UP
Update to RLPB 710, The Battle for Nepal, 13 Sep 2023

Pro-monarchy rally, Kathmandu, 23 Nov 2033
Free Press Kashmir (25 Nov)

On Thursday 23 November tens of thousands of Nepalis marched through Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, demanding the restoration of the Hindu monarchy and Nepal’s status as a Hindu state. They clashed with opposition Communists who, while also demanding the removal of the government, are totally opposed to a return of the bad-old-days of Hindu monarchy. They also clashed with police who were forced to resort to batons and tear gas to restore order. The pro-Hindu monarchy sentiment is driven by mass disaffection with the political process which has resulted in political paralysis, devastating corruption, soaring unemployment and galloping inflation. Furthermore, Hindu nationalists are desperate to arrest the rapid growth of Christianity in the country. On Friday 24 November tens of thousands of Nepalis thronged the streets of Jhapa in Nepal’s far southeast to see King Gyanendra unveil a statue of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal. With more events and protests planned in which violence is anticipated, security is being ramped up across the country.

Pastor Keshab Raj Acharya with his wife, Junu.
via ADF International

The popular shift towards Hindu monarchy and Hindu nationalism bodes ill for the Church in Nepal; we must expect persecution to escalate. In this context, the precedent set by a recent court decision further elevates the risk the Church faces. On 30 November 2021 a court deemed Pastor Keshab Raj Acharya (35) guilty of proselytising and sentenced him to two years in prison and a fine (reduced on appeal to one year in prison). On 6 October 2023 the Supreme Court dismissed Pastor Acharya’s second appeal without affording it any consideration. He now awaits a call to present himself to prison. 

Many fear the imprisonment of Pastor Acharya could trigger a flood of accusations of ‘proselytism’ or ‘forced conversion’ – without evidence. In Pastor Acharya’s case, witnesses told the court that the pastor did not ask them to convert, but only gave them tracts, which they read and discarded. Pastor Acharya and his wife Junu lead the 250-member Abundant Harvest Church in Pokhara, Nepal’s second largest city after Kathmandu, 200 km to the east.  Junu, dreads the day her husband is summoned to prison. She lamented to Morning Star News (15 Nov): ‘What can I do when that day comes, except pray? I must take care of the church as well as my children and provide for them.’ Fortunately, we do know that God hears, loves and has power to save. Please pray for Pastor Keshab Acharya and his family, and for the Church in Nepal.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) is a donor funded ministry. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 674. Syria & Iraq: Christian Crisis in Mesopotamia

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 674 | Wed 07 Dec 2022
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Sign up for the RLPB at www.ElizabethKendal.com 
View RLPB archives at Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog.
For bite-size: follow religiouslibertyprayer on Instagram.

SYRIA & IRAQ: CHRISTIAN CRISIS IN MESOPOTAMIA
By Elizabeth Kendal

According to a recent report by the Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the number of Christians living in Syria has dropped from 1.5 million or 10 percent of the population before 2011, to roughly 300,000 or two percent of the population today. Most Christians in Syria are ethnic Assyrian (the indigenous nation of the Fertile Crescent), Armenian and Greek. The situation is much the same in Iraq, where the Assyrian population has declined from 1.4 million (1987 census) to about 200,000 in 2016, to maybe as few as 100,000 today. According to Iraqi Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of Iraq’s Chaldean Church (Nov 2022), half of Iraqi Christians have emigrated in the last five years and many others are ‘on the waiting list’; indeed, they are leaving ‘at a rate of around 20 families a month’. It is an existential crisis about which the West – who, over the course of at least 170 years, has repeatedly betrayed Christians into the hands of Muslims – prefers to remain silent.

Map source (July 2020)

SYRIA: Most Syrian Christians live with good, albeit fragile, religious security and liberty in government-controlled regions along the north-south Damascus to Aleppo axis, in the Alawite heartland of coastal Latakia, and in the Kurdish-controlled north-east. Very few (if any) Christians remain in Idlib Province in Syria’s far north-west which is controlled by al-Qaeda, infested with jihadists and protected by Turkey.

In government-held areas the greatest threat to the Christian presence is crippling poverty, lack of healthcare and the near total absence of any opportunity to work, rebuild or flourish. This is almost exclusively due to US sanctions, specifically the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act which essentially places all government-controlled areas of Syria in a state of economic siege [see RLPB 580, Loving Syria’s Christians, 16 December 2020]. In June 2020 Joseph Tobji, the Maronite Archbishop of Aleppo, lamented that the US government was ‘willing to do anything, even to sacrifice millions of people, poor people, families’ in pursuit of its goals (e.g. regime change in Damascus). As Melkite Archbishop of Aleppo, Georges Masri, recently confirmed (ACN, 7 Nov), it is due to sanctions that many Syrians now die for lack of medication.

Meanwhile, in the Kurdish-dominated north and north-east, the greatest threat comes from Turkish aggression [see RLPB 654 (20 July 2022)]. On 22 and 23 November, Turkish airstrikes on the Al-Hol camp – which holds thousands of Islamic State (IS) fighters and families – killed eight security officers from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forces and enabled the escape of an unknown number of IS families. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the incident and spoke of ‘indescribable chaos’ in Al-Hol. Though Turkey is unlikely to launch a large-scale ground invasion deep into Syria’s north-east, it might settle for unleashing IS against the Kurds. The last thing Syria’s remnant Christians need is a return of IS terror. Meanwhile, Turkey might launch a limited ground invasion west of the Euphrates to seize control of Tel Rifaat (40km north of Aleppo) and Mambij in northern Aleppo Governorate – towns (along with Kobane) Turkey has identified as ‘sources of trouble’. The last thing Aleppo’s remnant Christians need is a return of Turkish forces and their murderous jihadist proxies. Lord have mercy!

Archbishop Bashar Warda 

IRAQ: In Iraq today most Assyrians live either as refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan or as persecuted believers struggling to rebuild their lives in the historic Assyrian heartland of the Nineveh Plains in Nineveh Province, Northern Iraq. Assyrians who return to the Nineveh Plains face enormous challenges, including political marginalisation and violent persecution from land-grabbing Kurds (Sunnis, backed by the Kurdish administration) and Shabaks (Shi’ites, backed by Baghdad and Tehran) [see RLPB 642 (27 April 2022)]. In August, the Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, Cardinal Raphael Louis Sako warned that in the absence of major systemic political, social and economic changes, Christians in Iraq are ‘heading towards disappearance’ [RLPB 660 (31 Aug 2022)]. At the 2-3 November G20 Religion forum (R20) in Bali, Indonesia, Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil addressed hundreds of religious leaders. He warned that after 1900 years of existing in the region, ‘we Christians of Iraq now find ourselves on the very edge of extinction’. [For more detail see: RLPB 545, Prayer for Assyria: ‘the Assyrian crisis is our crisis’, 15 Apr 2020.]


PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR MERCIFUL GOD WILL

* protect, sustain, guide and encourage Syria’s suffering and imperilled Christians who, having survived war and remained in their homeland, now find themselves languishing under ‘inhumane’ US sanctions and/or facing the prospect of renewed Islamic terror, foreign invasion and displacement. May the Lord intervene to bring the sanctions to an end. May the Lord intervene to establish peace in Syria. Lord have mercy!

* bless the numerous Christian churches and Christian ministries that are providing services and care to Syria’s poor, sick, hungry, threatened and displaced; may the Lord protect them and supply their every need. Lord have mercy!

* intervene in Iraq to protect, bless and build the Assyrian Church and nation according to his promise: 'The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance ' (Isaiah 19:25 ESV) (emphasis mine).


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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SYRIA & IRAQ: CHRISTIAN CRISIS IN MESOPOTAMIA

Most Christians in Syria and Iraq are ethnic Assyrian, Armenian and Greek. With their historic heartland in Nineveh, northern Iraq, the Assyrians are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia. The number of Christians living in Syria has declined from 1.5 million before 2011, to roughly 300,000 today. In Iraq, the Assyrian population has declined from 1.4 million (1987 census) to about 200,000 in 2016, to maybe as few as 100,000 today. In Syria the Christian presence is under threat due to ‘inhumane’ US sanctions, as well as Turkish aggression which risks reviving Islamic terror. In Iraq, the threat comes from crippling ethno-religious discrimination and persecution, and Muslim land-grabbing backed by powerful interests in ‘Kurdistan’, Baghdad and Tehran. Church leaders warn that Christians in Iraq are ‘on the very edge of extinction’. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) is a donor funded ministry; to support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com .

Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 555. June Update. Incl. Turkey, Syria, Hong Kong, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 555| Wed 24 Jun 2020

RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV) 

 

JUNE 2020 UPDATE

By Elizabeth Kendal

In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.  Psalm 18:6 (ESV)

JUNE 2020 UPDATE - during this period we prayed concerning

* TURKEY [RLPB 552 (3 June)], after a 'Conquest Day' spectacular in which neo-Ottoman and Islamist Turks celebrated the 567th anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople; a conquest which saw the city ransacked, the churches looted and the citizens raped, slaughtered and enslaved. This is how the now UNESCO world-heritage listed Greek Orthodox cathedral, the Church of Hagia Sophia (Church of Holy Wisdom), became the booty of imperialist Ottoman Islamic forces.

UPDATE: COUNCIL OF STATE TO RULE ON 2 JULY

Turkey's Council of State will rule on the status of Hagia Sophia on Thursday 2 July. In a poll run by pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak, 73.3 percent of 2,414 respondents answered 'Yes' to the question of whether Hagia Sophia should be converted into a functioning mosque. Bolstered by the poll, President Erdogan expects the Council of State will rule that the cabinet decree of 1934 - which saw Hagia Sophia converted from a mosque to a museum - be annulled. Expectation is high that Hagia Sophia will at least be open to Muslim prayers, even if it must retain its status as a museum (for now). Hagia Sophia's conversion to that of a functioning mosque would signify a great leap forward in the Turkish Islamist long march to reverse Ataturk's secularising reforms. The issue of Hagia Sophia's status serves as a barometer with which we can measure imperialist and supremacist, ethnic (Turkish) and religious (Islamic) pressure, now clearly rising in Turkey. The trend bodes ill for Turkey's remnant Greek, Assyrian and Armenian Christians (the descendants of genocide survivors), as well as for Turkey's growing cohort of Christian converts from Islam. Please pray for the Church in Turkey.

* INDONESIA [RLPB 553 (10 June)], after Indonesia's Communications and Information Ministry had a local language Bible app removed from the Google Play Store at the behest of the governor of West Sumatra. This further consolidates the terrible precedent already established in West Java (where local officials have even defied the Supreme Court) that governors are free to enforce Islamic norms depriving citizens of their liberty, contrary to the spirit of Pancasila and the religious freedom provisions guaranteed in Indonesia's constitution. Please pray.

* SYRIA [RLPB 554 (17 June)], after the US government's 'Caesar Act' came into force, essentially placing long-sanctioned, war-ravaged Syria in a state of economic siege.

UPDATE: 'A DIABOLICAL ACT'

Archbishop Joseph Tobji of Aleppo

Maronite Archbishop Joseph Tobji (49) of Aleppo recently spoke to the Vatican's Fides news agency concerning the US Caesar Act, which elevates sanctions against Syria to the level of an economic siege. The Archbishop told Fides that the US claim that the sanctions are 'targeted' is a lie 'that not even a child would believe'. The Archbishop insists the sanctions are designed 'to increase the suffering of the population to fuel popular discontent and thus produce regime-change. But,' he adds, 'this way of acting is criminal. Putting an entire people in distress at a time like this, where there is also the spectre of the pandemic around the world, is inhuman.' Archbishop Tobji laments that the US government is willing to go to any lengths to pursue its goals, 'even to sacrificing millions of people, poor people and families'. He condemns this as 'a diabolical act'. [More on this next month.] Please pray for the Church in Syria. [See: RLPB 554 (17 June) for prayer points.]

JUNE 2020 ROUND-UP - also this month

* HONG KONG, CHINA: AUTONOMOUS NO MORE

On 22 May China's Premier Li Keqiang announced that the National People's Congress would write national security legislation into Hong Kong (HK) law, bypassing HK's legislative council [see RLPB 551 (26 May 2020)]. A three-day legislative session was held in Beijing over 18-20 June, in which senior Chinese lawmakers reviewed the draft legislation for the first time. Another three-day session will commence on 28 June, during which many believe the new national security law will be passed in time for the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule on 1 July. According to reports, Beijing will set up a dedicated central government office in Hong Kong to manage national-security affairs; provisions in the new national-security law will supersede existing Hong Kong legislation; and China's legislature will be empowered to issue judicial interpretations on the law, meaning Beijing will have the final say over how the law will be implemented. As RLPB has warned repeatedly, the impact this will have on the Church in HK - and indeed on the Chinese Church long served by the Church in a free and autonomous HK - will be devastating. Please pray: may the Lord grant divine wisdom to the Church in China.

* IRAQ: TURKEY BOMBS NORTHERN BORDER REGIONS

In August 2014, ISIS ethnically cleansed Northern Iraq's Nineveh Plains of its indigenous Assyrian Christian inhabitants. While some 70,000 Assyrians fled east to Erbil, some 60,000 headed north to Dohuk Governorate, historically an Assyrian region. On 20 and 21 June, Turkish jets bombed the area around Dohuk's Zakho district. Close to the Turkish border, Zakho is home to almost 200,000 mostly Kurdish and Assyrian civilians. While NATO-member Turkey claims to be fighting 'PKK terrorists', anxious Christians are preparing to flee yet again. On 20 June bombs fell close to the Christian village of Bersev, home to some 300 minority families. Civilian casualties and property damage have been reported. Please pray for Iraq's betrayed, abandoned and gravely imperilled indigenous Assyrian Christians.

* NORTH KOREA: HOPES FADE AS TENSIONS SOAR

On 16 June the Kim regime in Pyongyang blew up the inter-Korean liaison office at Kaesong, North Korea. The next day it announced that it would deploy troops to the demilitarised zone (DMZ), particularly to the Kaesong Industrial Complex and the Mount Kumgang Resort. Located in the currently defunct Kaesong Industrial Zone, the inter-Korean liaison office was opened in 2018 as a venue in which officials from the two Koreas could meet and work through the details of various projects aimed at reducing tensions and facilitating rapprochement. The sensational demolition sends a clear message: co-operation is over. Pyongyang claims to be retaliating against North Korean defectors and activists in the South who regularly launch balloons carrying anti-regime leaflets and other 'unauthorised materials' into the North. However, the reality is more complex. In January, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NK closed its only active border, its border with China. The border closure has served to compound the difficulties caused by US sanctions; the result is a serious shortage of food and medicines throughout the state. The Kim regime is frustrated and growing increasingly desperate. On Thursday 25 June, the Koreas will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. Activists on both sides of the border are preparing to launch propaganda leaflets (hopefully that will be all that is launched!). Tensions are soaring. Please pray.

Once the centre of Korean Christianity [CBN video], Pyongyang under the Soviet-appointed Kim Il-sung sank to become one of the world's most severe human rights abusers and persecutors of Christians. 'There can be little doubt that an intensive and furious spiritual battle is underway over North Korea, and over its integration into East Asia (the spiritual powerhouse of the future!)' [RLPB 490 (20 Feb 2019)]. Please pray that the unprecedented steps taken in 2018 and 2019 will not have been in vain. Please pray that this extraordinary opportunity for positive change will not be lost. Please pray for the long-suffering, severely persecuted Church in North Korea ... may the Lord deliver her.

Background: (in chronological order)

North Korea: Reasons for Hope (RLM, 13 March 2018)

RLPB 446, A Step in the Right Direction (14 March 2018) 

RLPB 458, US-NK Summit (Singapore) (6 June 2018)

RLPB 471, A Stalemate in need of a breakthrough (5 Sept 2018) 

RLPB 490, US-NK Summit (Hanoi) (20 Feb 2019)

* PAKISTAN (1): WAITING FOR JUSTICE

Imran Masih 
(Aid to the Church in Need)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan's courts face a massive backlog of cases. Unfortunately, appeals against blasphemy convictions are not on the court's priority list. Having spent six years on death row, Shafqat Emmanuel Masih (who is paralysed) and his wife, Shagufta Kausar (who worked as a caretaker in a Christian school), were due to have their appeal heard by the Lahore Court of Appeal on 8 April [RLPB 539 (4 March)]. The Christian couple from Gojra, Punjab, were tortured and sentenced to death in 2014 for allegedly sending blasphemous text messages to an Islamic cleric, despite being illiterate. Their appeal has been delayed without a new date being announced. Please pray. Christian grocer, Imran Masih of Faisalabad, received a life sentence for blasphemy in July 2009. He was cleaning out his shop and burning off the rubbish when he was accused of burning pages that allegedly contained Arabic-language verses from the Quran. According to his lawyer Khalil Tahir Sandhu, Imran's appeal has been postponed almost 70 times over the course of nearly eleven years. Imran Masih's next hearing date at Lahore High Court has been set for Monday 6 July. Please pray.

PAKISTAN (2): THE LAW AS A WEAPON

Anwar Masih of Lahore was arrested on 2 June for insulting the Prophet Muhammad. In a case that may be the first of its kind in Pakistan, the complainants are the man's wife and daughter. It is alleged that Anwar's wife, Kausar Parveen, and daughter, Samreen, ran a beauty parlour in Lahore and that Kausar had an illicit affair with Akash Maqsood, a Muslim. She also secretly married him, converted to Islam and become pregnant with his child. When Anwar discovered the deception, he was understandably shocked and furious. In his anger he railed against his unfaithful wife and against Islam. The daughter filmed the outburst on her phone and presented it as evidence. The Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement UK is a Christian charity dedicated to helping persecuted Christians in Pakistan. Its director Nasir Saeed explains: 'This is another example of the misuse of the blasphemy law where a daughter gets rid of her father and a wife her husband, simply because he cannot accept what they have done. Masih will have to wait years and years to prove himself innocent and has no future.' Please pray.

Shagufta (l) and Shafqat (r)

[NOTE: In the case of Shafqat Emmanuel Masih and Shagufta Kausar (pictured right), it seems likely that a 'Christian' neighbour with whom the couple had a dispute may have framed them for the capital crime of blasphemy so as to punish or get rid of them. Lord have mercy!]

* IN BRIEF

* Violent persecution against Christians continues without relief across Hindu Nationalist India. See https://morningstarnews.org (South/Central Asia / India). Please pray.

* Islamic jihad in the form of farm invasions, ethnic cleansing, abductions and terror continue without relief throughout the north and volatile Middle Belt of President Muhammadu Buhari's Nigeria. Visit https://silentslaughternigeria.com and check the incident tracker; and https://morningstarnews.org (Sub-Saharan Africa / Nigeria). Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 545. Easter Devotion (3); plus Prayer for Assyria (Iraq)

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 545 | Wed 15 Apr 2020
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)


EASTER DEVOTION (3); plus PRAYER FOR ASSYRIA
By Elizabeth Kendal

While Catholic and Protestant Churches celebrated Easter over 10-12 April, Orthodox Churches will celebrate Easter this coming weekend, 17-19 April. Different calendars, different histories, different traditions, different understandings, but ultimately 'one flock, one shepherd' (John 10:16).

PRAYER FUEL: ASSURED OF GOD'S LOVE

Through Isaiah's 'servant songs', God's Servant - once hidden, as if behind a curtain - is gradually, progressively revealed. With each servant song the curtain is opened a little wider, so we might see more and learn more. The first servant song reveals God's Servant to be a chosen, quiet, resolute and compassionate healer and deliverer who will establish justice on the earth (Isaiah 42:1-9). The second servant song (49:1-7) sharpens the focus while expanding our view, adding that God will make his Servant - whose mouth, though quiet (42:2), is like a sharpened sword (49:2) - 'as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.' Wow! Consequently, we are shocked to discover that, far from being a national hero, God's Servant is 'deeply despised, abhorred by the nation' (v7) [RLPB 543 (1 April)]. The third servant song (50:4-9) opens the curtain wider still, revealing the Servant to be a faithful disciple and 'wonderful counsellor' (Isaiah 9:6), an obedient disciple who says 'Not my will but thine' (Luke 22:42) and submits to abuse and torture (v6), confident that God will both help and vindicate him … which he does. Consequently, now it is his adversaries who are defenceless, helpless in the face of the truth [RLPB 544 (8 April)].

The fourth servant song (Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12) is a poem comprising five stanzas of three lines each, structured as follows: A B(1) B(2) B(3) A. In the opening and closing stanzas (the two As) God makes declarations concerning his Servant, building again on what we have already learned. The three central stanzas (the three Bs; Isaiah 53:1-9) reveal in greater detail what God's Servant suffers. At the pinnacle of the poem, in verses 4 - 6, we are drawn to look not merely at the scene but through it, into the very heart of God, as we finally learn why God's Servant suffers. He suffers that he might bear our griefs and carry our sorrows, he is pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, chastised for our peace and wounded for our healing. Though we all rebelled and turned away, he - in amazing grace - surrenders his life to redeem us all.

Dear believer, are you suffering? Are you afraid, anxious, confused? Do your trials make you wonder if God really loves you? Read aloud this servant song - insert yourself into verses 4-6 - and hear God speak: 'This is how much I love you!' So, dear intercessor - brother, sister - pray with confidence, fully convinced that the one who rules over heaven and earth not only sees and hears you, but loves you with a love already demonstrated and proven on the cross (Romans 5:8 ESV); a love so immeasurably wide and long and high and deep that it surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:18,19); a love from which you can never be separated (Romans 8:31-39). God has desired you; Christ has redeemed you, and the Spirit has sealed you. So draw near to him and pray! 'Arise, cry out in the night ... pour out your heart like water ... lift your hands to him' (Lamentations 2:19) and watch (צָפָה tsâphâh) expectantly (Psalm 5:1-3).

All four studies (pdf): Prayer Fuel from the Servant Songs of Isaiah

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IRAQ: ASSYRIAN CRISIS IS OUR CRISIS

Iraq Control Map - January 2020
Political Geography Now

Four times in the last year Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) warned that an existential Christian crisis persists in Iraq. In June 2014, Islamic State (then known as ISIS) seized Mosul, the capital of northern Iraq's Nineveh/Ninawa Province, in a blitzkrieg. In August 2014, after consolidating in Mosul, IS ethnically cleansed the Nineveh Plains, the historic heartland of Iraq's indigenous Assyrian nation. When Mosul was liberated in July 2017, displaced Assyrian Christians began trickling back into the Nineveh Plains, eager to rebuild and re-establish themselves as a Christian nation within Iraq. However, not only are Kurds (Sunnis) and Shabaks (Shi'ites, backed by Baghdad and Tehran), devouring and colonising Assyrian lands, but Islamic State (hyper-intolerant, anti-Shi'ite Sunnis, backed by Turkey) has been re-grouping in the desert and in the Hamrin Mountains, preparing for a come-back. With so much against them and so little international support for them, Assyrian Christians are starting to wonder if their vision of re-establishing their Christian nation in the Nineveh Plains is nothing but a mirage [RLPB 541 (18 Mar 2020)].

In recent months, several coalition members - including France and Britain - have withdrawn their troops and halted their training programs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-March, after engaging in a series of deadly tit-for-tat missile strikes with Iran-backed Shi'ite militias, the US opted to reposition its troops, leaving some bases while consolidating in others. However, pressure is mounting in Washington and Baghdad for a complete US withdrawal lest Iraq become the battlefield for a US-Iran proxy war. According to the US narrative, the war against Islamic State is over and Iraqi troops have been trained to deal with anything that might arise. Yet, according to most independent analysts, the Iraqi Army will struggle to contain a revived Islamic State without the air support and intelligence gathering that US and coalition forces provided.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic and plummeting oil prices have pushed Iraq's economy to the brink of collapse. The crisis will provide Islamic State with a perfect opportunity to advance its agenda. It is looking more likely that conflict could erupt between Islamic State (Sunnis, backed by Turkey) and Shi'ite troops and militias (backed by Baghdad and Tehran). Turkey has long desired unobstructed access to the vilayet/province of Mosul (formerly part of the Ottoman Empire). Similarly, throughout its history, Persia has desired unobstructed access to the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, everyone desires oil-rich Kirkuk! On 11 April, Islamic State claimed responsibility for a bombing in Kirkuk that killed two Peshmerga fighters (Kurdish military).

Assyrian Christians desperately need our prayers; their crisis is our crisis! Praise God, Christ is faithful: 'A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice' (Isaiah 42:3) and his salvation will reach to the end of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). As for Christ's adversaries, their days are numbered (Isaiah 50:9). All believers should pray in faith, with the energy that comes from hope, and assured of God's love (Isaiah 53:4-6) which remains forever true regardless of circumstances.


PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL

* intervene in Iraq to protect, bless and re-establish the Assyrian Church and nation according to his promise: 'The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance ' (Isaiah 19:25 NIV, emphasis mine).

* intervene internationally for the benefit of his people; may nations that have the ability - and even a responsibility - to assist the Assyrian people be roused to advocacy and action on their behalf; and may Christians around the world embrace their calling to love and pray for their gravely imperilled brothers and sisters that the battle might be turned back at the gate (Isaiah 28:5-6).

'Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness ... and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?' (from Isaiah 58)


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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ASSYRIAN CRISIS IN IRAQ IS OUR CRISIS

Assyrian Christians in northern Iraq desperately need our prayers. Multitudes remain in cramped camps, highly vulnerable to COVID-19. Meanwhile, the hopes of those who have dared to return to the Nineveh Plains (the historic Assyrian heartland) are fading fast as Kurds and Shabaks steal their lands and as Islamic State threatens a comeback. Britain and France have withdrawn their troops and the US might not be far behind. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic and plummeting oil prices have pushed Iraq's economy to the brink of collapse. The crisis is providing Islamic State with an opportunity to advance its agenda. A clash between Islamic State (backed by Turkey) and Shi'ite troops and militias (backed by Baghdad and Tehran) seems inevitable. Iraq's Christian crisis could soon get much worse. Please pray.

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Ramadan commences 23-24 April
RLPB recommends: 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World
https://www.30daysprayer.com/
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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 542. March 2020 Update, incl. Pakistan, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Finland, Nigeria, Turkey

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 542 | Wed 25 Mar 2020
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)

By Elizabeth Kendal

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing many Christians in the free world to experience - possibly for the first time in their lives - what many persecuted Christians in the non-free world experience every day of their lives: the menacing reality and uncomfortable closeness of suffering and death. The difference is that Christians in the free world who test positive for COVID-19 will have a supportive state doing everything it can to help them. On the other hand, Christians in the non-free world who are persecuted for their faith rarely receive any support from their state. Despised as infidels, rejected as untouchables, condemned as state enemies, they are routinely denied medical care, even when their lives depend on it. Furthermore, threatened Christian communities now face the prospect that hostile state and non-state actors will exploit security vacuums opened up by COVID-19 to advance their own agendas. As Christians in the free world (like myself) gain insight into what it is like to live under the shadow of suffering and death, may it help us to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters with genuine empathy and unifying, sanctifying love.

'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another' (John 13:34-35 ESV).

MARCH 2020 UPDATE - during this period we prayed concerning

* PAKISTAN [RLPB 539 (3 March)], where Christians continue to suffer crippling discrimination and severe persecution. Christian couple Shafqat Emmanuel Masih and his wife, Shagufta Kausar, were imprisoned for blasphemy in 2013 and sentenced to death in 2014. The couple was found guilty of sending a blasphemous text to an Islamic cleric, though they both are illiterate, and their confession was extracted under torture. After six years in jail, the couple - who have four young children - will finally have their appeal heard in the Lahore High Court on Wednesday 8 April. Please pray.

UPDATE ON THE CASE OF HUMA YOUNUS [RLPB 538 (26 Feb)]

Huma Younus

Huma Younus (14) of Karachi, Sindh, was abducted in October 2019, transported some 600 km north into Punjab, forcibly Islamised and married against her will to her Muslim abductor. In a desperate effort to get their daughter back, Huma's parents filed a petition with Sindh High Court seeking annulment of the marriage under the Child Marriage Restraint Act which forbids marriage under the age of 18 years. To their horror, the judge ignored the law of the land and on 3 February ruled the marriage valid on the basis of Islamic Sharia law. The case was adjourned until 4 March. On 4 March, as the case was adjourned yet again, the court ordered investigation officer, Akhtar Hussain to present Huma to the court at its next hearing on Sunday 29 March so that a medical examination can be conducted to determine her age. The family suspects that police are colluding with the abductors to circumvent justice. Please pray.


* SUDAN [RLPB 540 (11 March)], after a failed assassination attempt on new Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok exposed the simmering resistance to his government's ground-breaking reforms. The amount of hostility simmering below the surface cannot be underestimated.

UPDATE: SUDAN CONTINUES ON 'THE PATH OF CHANGE'

On 11 March Sudan's new Minister of Religious Affairs, Nasr al-Din Mufreh, signed an order abolishing the committees imposed on churches under former president Omar al-Bashir. 'All government-appointed committees are abolished as of today [11 March],' he announced. Sources told Morning Star News that, while further legal action will be needed to regain control over church properties lost under committees imposed on churches by the old regime, this is a good step forward on the path to restoration. On Friday 20 March Nasr al-Din Mufreh also confirmed that his ministry has formed a committee that will work with the relevant authorities to investigate reports of multiple attacks on the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) in Jabarona, on the outskirts of Khartoum. He said the government would take all necessary measures to protect the church and arrest all those found responsible, reaffirming his government's keenness to ensure and protect religious freedoms. Praise God! May the Lord protect and bless all the brave Sudanese who are working to bring peace, justice, racial-religious equity and religious liberty to Sudan. Please pray.


* IRAQ [RLPB 541 (18 March)], where tit-for-tat missile strikes between US troops and Iranian proxies were raising fears that Iraq could become a battlefield for a US-Iran proxy war. Conflict would raise the threat level for Northern Iraq's Assyrian Christians, because conflict would provide cover under which the genocide of the Assyrians could be completed. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic could also provide cover for a genocide to take place. One person's crisis can be another's opportunity; and Kurds (Sunnis) and Shabaks (Shi'ites, proxies of Baghdad and Tehran) will no doubt be eager to exploit any opportunity to complete their land grabbing in the Nineveh Plains (the Assyrian homeland for millennia). Please pray.

UPDATE: IRAN PROXY UPS THE ANTE IN IRAQ

On 17 March the newly formed Usbat al-Thayireen (League of the Revolutionaries) released a video in which it threatened US troops in Iraq. Having already claimed responsibility for the deadly 13 March attack on the US base in Taji, the League threatened to strike again, boasting it possessed 'long range weapons'. Everything indicates that the group is aligned with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC routinely creates front groups with new names when undertaking sensitive operations. That way, the front group can perpetrate terror, claim responsibility and issue threats, while the IRGC and its other proxy militias maintain plausible deniability. Iran may be poised to up the ante in Iraq convinced that the COVID-19 crisis presents it with an opportunity to advance its own agenda at reduced risk. Please pray for Iraq's gravely imperilled Christians.

'Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen' (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)

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FOR MORE on the subject of how the COVID-19 pandemic might impact the persecuted Church, please see: 'The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Persecuted Church,' Religious Liberty Monitoring (25 March 2020).
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MARCH 2020 ROUND-UP - also this month

* FINLAND: THREAT TO CHRISTIAN WITNESS

Alliance Defending Freedom 

In June 2019, after the board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) of Finland announced its official partnership with the LGBT event 'Pride 2019', evangelical church member Päivi Räsänen took to social media to question her church's decision. Her query - 'How can the church's doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of pride?' - would probably have gone unremarked except that Räsänen is a Member of Parliament and a former Minister of the Interior. To Räsänen's dismay, the police launched an investigation against her. On 4 November 2019 the Prosecutor-General announced that police would also investigate a pamphlet she had written in 2004 explaining the ELC's teaching on human sexuality. Then, on 5 March 2020, Räsänen was informed that the Prosecutor-General had opened two more investigations: one about comments she made on a TV show in 2018 in which she was asked about her personal beliefs; the other concerning comments she made during a radio interview on 20 December 2019. For her promotion of Biblical morality and wisdom, Räsänen stands accused of 'inciting hatred on the basis of sexuality' - a hate speech crime in Finland. This is a huge case for freedom of religious expression in Finland. Please pray.


* IRAN: PRISONERS RELEASED

The Iranian regime has granted temporary release to some 85,000 prisoners to curb the spread of COVID-19 through the prison system. About 10,000 of those prisoners will be pardoned and will not be required to return to prison. Those granted temporary release include 'security-related' (political) prisoners serving sentences of less than five years. In its persecution of Christians, the regime usually starts with intimidation (raids, fines and threats). If further deterrence is required, the regime will progress to short-term imprisonments. Repeat offenders - committed pastors and evangelists who refuse to be silenced and refuse to retreat underground - face long prison terms (10 years and more) on security-related offences. It is highly unlikely that Christian prisoners who remain incarcerated will receive treatment if they get infected with COVID-19. Please pray.

UPDATE ON MARY MOHAMMADI [RLPB 536 (12 Feb)]

In answer to the prayers of many, Fatemeh (Mary) Mohammadi - imprisoned for her faith in the notorious Qarchak Prison - was released on bail on 26 February, pending a court hearing scheduled for 2 March. On 3 March Middle East Concern reported that Mary's hearing was postponed, apparently due to the spread of Coronavirus. Taking to social media, Mary thanked all those who have been praying for her: 'I am grateful for all of you dear friends who have been concerned and followed my situation with concern.' Please pray.


* NIGERIA: DISSOLVING IN INSECURITY

(1) ADBUCTION FOR RANSOM

Bishop Idris Ado Zubairu
with his wife Saratu

On 10 March gunmen laid siege to the Christian community of Gidan Mato in Bari, Kano State, where the Anglican Cathedral and Bishop's Court are situated. They looted the church properties and much of the town. The Bishop of Bari Diocese, the Rt Reverend Idris Ado Zubairu, was visiting neighbouring Plateau State at the time. The bishop's wife, Mrs Saratu Zubairu, and a diocesan secretary identified as Deborah were abducted. A large ransom was demanded. On Friday 20 March the Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), The Most Rev. Nicholas D Okoh announced that both women had been freed. Kidnapping for ransom is out of control across Nigeria. Christians in the volatile Middle Belt and Islamic North are especially vulnerable. Please pray.

(2) ABDUCTION FOR ISLAMISATION

Sadiya with her mother
(HACFO)

In early January Fulani raiders abducted Sadiya Amos (15) from her home in northern Kaduna. Muslims then dragged her father, Amos Chindo, before a Sharia court and accused him of refusing to let his daughter convert to Islam. As Mr Amos reminded the court, his daughter is a minor and he is Christian, therefore not accountable to the Sharia court. The trial was adjourned until 14 January, at which time the judge announced that Sadiya was now a Muslim and married to her abductor. Despite all their efforts, the Hausa Christian Foundation (HACFO) was unable to secure Sadiya's release; there was nothing left to do but pray. On 12 March HACFO announced: 'While praying to God for open doors to speed up her freedom, the Power of our God went ahead and completed the work all to His glory.' As it turned out, the Fulani charged with guarding Sadiya had fallen asleep without locking the door, enabling her to escape and return to her parents. Praise God!

But as HACFO laments, the abduction of Christian girls for forced Islamisation is endemic in Northern Nigeria. HACFO regards it as 'another form of jihad'. HACFO thanked God for his divine intervention while exhorting believers to persevere in prayer because there are so many 'other Christian girls in Islamic captivity', including Leah Sharibu. 'This fight is becoming intense and the damages are overwhelming,' it said. 'May God have mercy on Nigeria and bring his perfect will to pass in Jesus' Name. Amen.' Please pray.

* TURKEY: ABDUCTION FOR ELIMINATION

Şimoni (65) and Hourmouz (71) Diril 

Hourmouz (71) and Simoni (65) Diril were the only Assyrians living in the Assyrian village of Mehr in Turkey's south-eastern province of Sırnak. While the Turkish government wanted Mehr abandoned, it was the Dirils' intention and hope that Mehr might yet again be home to a thriving Assyrian community. When their son - Istanbul-based Assyrian priest Remzi Diril - visited Mehr on 12 January, his parents were nowhere to be found. An eyewitness claims to have seen the Dirils being led away from their home on 11 January [see: RLPB 534 (29 Jan)]. On Friday 20 March the body of Mrs Simoni Diril was found in a river not far from Mehr. Mr Hourmouz Diril remains missing. Please pray.


Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. (Isaiah 40:10 ESV)

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 541. Iraq: Christians facing increased risk

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 541 | 18 Mar 2020
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)

IRAQ: CHRISTIANS FACING INCREASED RISK
by Elizabeth Kendal

click here for video and transcripts.
Recommended:
testimony of Reine Hanna,
Assyrian Policy Institute.

Today, fewer than 200,000 Assyrians (the indigenous people of Mesopotamia) remain in Iraq; most are displaced and destitute [see: RLPB 507, Christian Crisis in Mesopotamia (19 Jun 2019) and RLPB 493, Decimation to Elimination (13 Mar 2019)]. On 26 September 2019 the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) held a hearing entitled Religious Minorities' Fight to Remain in Iraq. As USCIRF Vice-Chair Gayle Manchin noted in her appeal for international support, Christian 'communities are now questioning whether there is any genuine hope of returning to safety and security in their homeland'.

As ISIS was driven from the Nineveh Plains - the Assyrian heartland for millennia - the security vacuum was filled by armed Kurds (Sunni Muslims) and Shabaks (Shi'ite Muslims, backed by Baghdad and Tehran) who rapidly colonised what is now known as the 'disputed territories'. Today, Baghdeda/Qaraqosh - the largest Christian town in the Nineveh Plains - is completely surrounded by Iran-backed Shi'ite militias. Bartella, the second-largest town - previously 95 percent Christian - is now majority Shabak. Furthermore, while Shabaks control the local government, Shabak militias control 'security' and operate checkpoints. Christians are abused as second-class citizens while their businesses face extortion, boycotts and criminality committed with impunity.

Imam Khomeini school, Bartella

One Assyrian shopkeeper in Bartella told America Magazine (27 Feb 2020), 'Frankly speaking, if they [the Shabak] had the chance, they'd take everything from us. If they have the chance to attack, they'd do more damage than ISIS did.' This raises the question: What could provide the Kurds and the Shabak with that 'chance to attack'? Answer: total chaos! The Kurds and Shabak could complete the Assyrian genocide if provided the cover of total chaos. Today, as Iraq faces political paralysis from the largest anti-government protests in its history and the horrific prospect of becoming a battlefield for a US-Iran proxy war, the ultimate, but not inevitable, Christian crisis (genocide) looms larger than ever.

by Elizabeth Kendal

All three imperial nations surrounding Mesopotamia - Iran, Turkey and the Arabs - desire the elimination of 'the Fertile Crescent of Minorities' which has for 100 years served as a buffer zone limiting Persian, Turkish and Sunni Arab regional aspirations. If the West were truly interested in regional security, it would not support any of these imperial powers. Rather, it would support the consolidation of Mesopotamia as a safe place for ethnic and religious minorities. Russia (with its long history of Christian-Muslim relations) understands this; the West (which lacks experience and historical understanding) seems not to! If Iraq dissolves into chaos, the Sunni Kurds and Shi'ite Shabaks would have the cover they require to complete the genocide of the Assyrian people in Iraq.

While this looks inevitable, there are, however, two unknowns. (1) It is unknown how the COVID-19 pandemic will influence events: it could increase the likelihood of war (as failing tyrants employ conflict as distraction) or it could induce restraint. (2) It is also unknown how God might yet intervene, in answer to the prayers of many, to redeem all suffering and 'turn back the battle at the gate' (from Isaiah 28:5-6).


PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL

* intervene in the fragile, volatile and threatened nation of Iraq to bless, protect, sustain and preserve his precious Church; may all Christians living in Iraq - be they indigenous Assyrians or Muslim converts - draw ever closer to the Lord; may they trust him with their future and grow in grace and faith every day.

* thwart every evil plot to steal Assyrian land and even eliminate the Assyrian presence; may such an evil plan never come to pass and may the Lord intervene, in answer to prayer, to 'turn back the battle at the gate' (from Isaiah 28:5-6)

* redeem these days of serious hardship, political upheaval, geopolitical tensions, military threat and deep uncertainty to draw many hearts towards peace, and to prepare many hearts to receive the Gospel. 'For nothing will be impossible with God' (angel to Mary, Luke 1:37 ESV).

* reveal the plight of the four aid workers abducted in Baghdad on 20 January; no ransom demands have been made, and the whereabouts of the three French nationals and one Iraqi, who were serving with the French Christian charity SOS Chretiens d'Orient (SOS Christians of the Middle East), remain unknown to all but the Lord.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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CHRISTIANS FACING INCREASED RISK IN IRAQ

Today, fewer than 200,000 indigenous Christian Assyrians remain in Iraq, their future uncertain. While ISIS was being driven from the Assyrian heartland, Kurds and Shabaks were flooding in, exploiting the security vacuum. Throughout Northern Iraq's Nineveh Plains, Assyrian towns have been colonised and taken over either by Kurds (Sunnis) or by Shabaks (Shi'ites, supported by Baghdad and Tehran). Consequently, historic Assyrian towns are no longer safe for Assyrians. Meanwhile, Iraq is growing increasingly volatile. Late last year, Baghdad was rocked by the largest anti-government protests in Iraq's history. Tensions are soaring, especially now it also appears that Iraq could become the battleground for a US-Iran proxy war. Should that eventuate, the Kurds and Shabaks would doubtless move to complete the genocide of the Assyrian people under the cover of chaos. Please pray.

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF) and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com