RLPB 533. Advent Amidst Terror

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 533 | 18 Dec 2019
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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NOTE: This will be the last Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) for 2019. Unless there is a crisis requiring an urgent call to prayer, the next RLPB will be the January Update on 29 January 2020.

Please continue to watch and pray over the Christmas - New Year period. When watching, listening to or reading the news, think of how local Christians might be impacted by events, and pray for them.
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'Advent' is derived from the Latin word adventus, which is a translation of the Greek word parousia which means 'coming'.

ADVENT AMIDST TERROR
by Elizabeth Kendal

The risk of Islamic terror attack is elevated over Christmas as terrorists seek not merely to kill for political gain, but to make a statement about their intention to eliminate Christianity. Across the United Kingdom (UK), undercover SAS officers will be stationed at Christmas markets and other crowded places. The situation will be much the same in Germany, in France, in Belgium and across much of Western Europe and Scandinavia. Europe might have the most potential targets, but Christians in jihadist hot-spots still face the greatest risk.

INDONESIA: On Tuesday 17 December Indonesia's National Police spokesman Argo Yuwono told media that more than 192,000 police and military personnel will be deployed nationwide ahead of Christmas to guard against potential terror attacks. He said, 'Based on intelligence data, there are potential risks ... so we're taking preventative measures but we are also ready to take proactive action.' On 5 December police from the Densus 88 counter-terrorism squad raided a house in the Sentani district of Jayapura, the capital of PAPUA Province, arresting an alleged terrorist and seizing a cache of homemade explosives. While police denied that eight terrorist suspects with ties to the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) had also been arrested, Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) director, Sidney Jones, confirmed, 'The recent arrests are linked to members of JAD cells in Bekasi [West Java] and Lampung … .' Terrorism experts have cautioned Papuan authorities to remain vigilant. [Background: RLPB 523 (9 Oct 2019)]. Please pray.

AFRICA'S TERROR AXIS: In March this year, Kurdish-led anti-IS forces captured Islamic State's last stronghold of Baghouz in eastern Syria. As jihadists have left Syria, either to return home or find fresh fields in which to sow misery and death, jihadist terror has escalated across Africa's terror axis.

(1) SOMALIA-KENYA-ETHIOPIA

In northern Somalia's Puntland, Islamic State in Somalia (ISS) is training fighters and recruiting Ethiopians with Amharic-language propaganda that specifically targets churches and Christians [see RLPB 520 (18 Sep 2019)]. Meanwhile, in southern Somalia, al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab continues to inflict terror both inside Somalia and across the border in Kenya where Christians are its primary target.

KENYA: On Friday 6 December at 5pm al-Shabaab militants flagged down a bus in eastern Kenya's Wajir County. The bus - en-route from Nairobi to the north-eastern city of Mandera - was carrying 56 passengers. After ordering the passengers off the bus, the terrorists separated them into two groups: 'locals' (ethnic Somali Muslims) and 'non-locals' (Kenyan Christians). The 'locals' were ordered back onto the bus while the eleven 'non-locals' were executed. The dead included eight Kenyan police officers returning from leave in Nairobi, two teachers and a medical doctor. The teachers and doctor are known to have been active members of evangelical churches. The bus driver and conductor have been arrested, suspected of being al-Shabaab sympathisers who colluded with the terrorists in the planning and execution of the attack. The militants escaped back to neighbouring Somalia. Please pray for all Christians living and serving in eastern Kenya.

(2) NIGERIA - CAMEROON

Voice of America reports (12 Dec): 'Authorities in Cameroon say Boko Haram terrorists have been launching daily attacks on villages along the Nigerian border, killing at least 30 people and injuring scores in the past few months.' Christian aid group Barnabas Fund (BF) reports that in mid-November, Boko Haram militants conducted a raid in Tourou district, in Cameroon's Far North region, in which they hacked to death a 12-year-old Christian schoolboy who resisted their attempt to abduct him as a 'child soldier'. BF also reports that seven people were killed and 21 children and young adults were kidnapped when Boko Haram rampaged through mainly Christian villages in the Far North region in early December. After each attack, the militants escape back to their base in neighbouring Nigeria. [Background: RLPB 518 (4 Sep 2019).] Please pray.

(3) BURKINA FASO – MALI - NIGER

Violent events linked to ISGS between Jan 2018 - May 2019.
Africa Centre for Strategic Studies (10 June 2019)

On Sunday 1 December terrorists stormed a worship service in eastern BURKINA FASO (BF), near the border with Niger. They killed 14 of the 15 men present, leaving the women and children traumatised and destitute [see 'Urgent Update on Burkina Faso' in RLPB 531 (4 Dec 2019)]. In recent weeks, pastors in BF's East region have been threatened. Despite this, Bible colleges in the region still want to proceed with graduation ceremonies and churches still want to celebrate Christmas. Please Pray! 

I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. (Psalm 18:1-3 ESV)

NIGER: On 10 December well-armed terrorists from Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) - also known as Islamic State in West Africa (an off-shoot of Boko Haram) - launched the most deadly and sophisticated attack on a military base ever seen in Niger. Suicide car-bombers opened the way for militants armed with mortars and riding motorbikes to briefly over-run the Inates base in remote south-western Niger near the border with Mali. At least 71 Nigerien soldiers were killed and 30 remain unaccounted for. ISGS claims to have killed 100 soldiers, wounded dozens more, while capturing weapons, ammunition and 16 vehicles.

Despite being majority Muslim, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali are states with secular government and religious freedom - states where the Church has long been respected for its service which benefits all the people. Today, the tri-border region has become a key focal point for ISGS. Analysts fear that as terror escalates, Niger's overstretched military might opt to withdraw from this remote region to concentrate its forces around the more densely populated cities. This is precisely what has happened in Burkina Faso and Mali. Crisis Group explains, 'The zone is at risk of becoming a no-man's land under the custodianship of a rural [ISGS-infiltrated and backed] jihadist insurgency, with residents more or less held hostage.' The implications for churches, Bible colleges and long-established missions through the wider region are huge. Please pray!

Fulani (courtesy Samaritan's Purse)

ACROSS AFRICA, tribes and peoples with grievances - be they real, imagined or exaggerated - are embracing jihadists who come promising to empower, enrich, rescue and save, while actually harbouring intentions to exploit and enslave. Instead of securing liberty, equity and dignity, the aggrieved peoples are oppressed, abused and sacrificed as cannon-fodder and human shields. It would be better for them if they were to embrace the One who came preaching good news, offering life and liberty, and proclaiming the year of the Lord's favour (Luke 4:16-21). They need the Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray!

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ADVENT PRAYER

Dear God our Father

Please help us to fully comprehend and embrace what you have done through your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ whose birth the angels announced as 'good news of great joy that will be for all the people' (Luke 2:1-21). Empower us by your Holy Spirit to live in the light of this truth, energised with hope, conscious that because of Jesus a new day has dawned. Father, open our eyes, unblock our ears, put life in our legs. May we never grow tired of serving in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, we lift before you the Christians of Mesopotamia and the wider Middle East, as they celebrate Christmas in exile, or in hollowed-out churches ravaged by war, and amidst great insecurity. We lift before you the Christians of Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, indeed all believers who this Christmas will be missing loved ones killed in terror attacks, Islamic jihad and communal violence in the course of 2019. We lift before you Christians in prison in Iran, Pakistan, China, Eritrea and North Korea; as well as those held captive by jihadists in the Malian desert and Northern Nigeria. We lift before you the multitudes of believers across the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia who will celebrate Christmas despite crippling poverty (caused by discrimination) and violent persecution (encouraged by impunity). Oh Father, bless them and keep them safe. May reviving power from the life-giving and ever-present Holy Spirit flood their hearts with joy, hope and peace as they remember, embrace and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

In the name of Jesus,

AMEN

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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 389. Christmas Prayer

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 389 | Wed 21 Dec 2016

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CHRISTMAS PRAYER
by Elizabeth Kendal

Nobody should worry that remembering the persecuted over this busy and joyful Christmas - New Year season might cause joy to be subsumed in sorrow or anxiety. It is with a spirit of brotherly and sisterly love that we remember and lift up the persecuted at this time, confident that such prayers will bring comfort and encouragement to our brethren and will please the Lord who is 'Father' to us all.

CHRISTMAS PRAYER

Almighty God and gracious Father -- in you alone do we trust. For you alone are worthy, being supreme in power, authority, wisdom and understanding, glorious in majesty and perfect in love.  

The whole Body of Christ rejoices in your incarnation, that selfless act of unsurpassed humility through which you came and dwelt among us -- to live the life we could not live and die the death we should have died -- to redeem us for yourself. For this, the greatest gift born of the greatest love, we thank you. 

Grant us, Lord, in your mercy and grace, a fresh outpouring of your Holy Spirit to embolden us in our witness, work in us righteousness, encourage us on our path to the cross, sustain us in our trials, empower our testimony and bind us together. 

May those who are persecuted be palpably aware of the Spirit's eternal presence, Christ's sustaining love, and the Father's unsurpassed power and resolute faithfulness. Lord, we beseech you: fight for them, shield them, carry them and deliver them. To this end, we offer ourselves as your servants. 

And may all who see this recognise that Jesus Christ is Lord.

AMEN

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NEWS & UPDATES

NEWS: This will be the last Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) for 2016. While an urgent prayer alert or request will be issued should the need arise, the next formal RLPB will be the January Update on 25 January 2017.

UPDATES: Please do not be daunted by this non-exhaustive list. Feel free to just pick one nation, one situation or one person either from this list or beyond it and pray through this Christmas season as you feel led. Seek the Lord in this, and trust him to have everything and everyone covered.

NOTE: the high risk season includes Advent, Roman Catholic and Protestant Christmas (24-25 December), New Year, Greek Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christmas (6-7 January).

Last week we prayed concerning the 11 December Advent massacre in Cairo's St Peter and St Paul church, noting the elevated terror threat over the Christmas - New Year season. The terror threat is extreme in Egypt, Syria (particularly in western Aleppo and Damascus), Pakistan and Nigeria and high in Kenya, Indonesia and Europe. [See: RLPB 388 (14 Dec).] The updates below confirm this assessment.

EGYPT: The SITE Intelligence Group has provided a more accurate translation of the claim of Islamic State (IS) of responsibility for the Cairo church bombing. 'Let all the disbelievers and apostates in Egypt and everywhere know that our war on polytheism is ongoing, and that the State of the Caliphate -- with permission from Allah the Almighty -- will continue to spill their blood and grill their bodies, so that there is no sedition and the religion is all for Allah.' Because Islam views Trinitarian Christianity as polytheism, we can be sure that IS will be at war against Christianity until 'the religion is all for Allah'.

SYRIA: On Friday 16 December Islamic militants strapped an explosive belt to an 8-year-old girl and sent her into a police station in the Al-Midan neighbourhood of Damascus, before detonating the explosives remotely. The girl was the only fatality. The terror threat in Syria is extreme.

GERMANY: On 16 December police arrested a 12-year-old boy accused of twice attempting to detonate a home-made, nail-filled, Improvised Explosive Device in his home town of Ludwigshafen, western Germany. On 30 November the boy, who was born in Germany to Muslim Iraqi immigrant parents, tried to bomb a Christmas market. Then on 2 December he left a bomb outside a high-rise complex comprising City Hall and a shopping mall. Fortunately, both bombs failed to detonate. However, on the evening of 19 December, 12 died and some 50 were wounded when a  presumed Islamic terrorist drove a 7-tonne truck at high speed into one of Berlin's largest Christmas night-markets, the Breitscheidplatz Christmas market, beside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Kaiser Wilhelm ruled Germany from 1888 to 1918. An ardent Islamophile (lover of Islam), he maintained close ties to the Ottoman Sultan / Caliph and believed Germany's future lay in a strategic alliance with Islam.
This year Germany, France, Belgium, England and much of Europe will celebrate Christmas under unprecedented security. For more information on the threat to Europe see:
Christmas Shoppers in Jihadist Crosshairs,
by George Igler, Gatestone Institute, 18 December 2016


INDONESIA: The blasphemy trial of Jakarta's ethnic Chinese Christian Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama [RLPB 383 (9 Nov)] commenced on 13 December. Ethnic and religious tensions are soaring. On 14 December the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued a fatwa (religious ruling) forbidding Muslims from participating in Christmas festivities, particularly the wearing of Christmas-themed accessories. The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) has been out in force, visiting shopping malls and spreading the word as police watch on, refusing to intervene.

Link includes video

The police also failed to intervene on 6 December to stop the Ahlus Sunnah Defenders (PAS) from forcing the closure of a Carol Service in Bandung, West Java, even though all permit requirements to hold the service had been fulfilled. Without police support, pastor Stephen Tong had little choice but to comply, so the congregation closed with one hymn and a prayer and went home.

RUSSIA: It was indeed an oversight to have left Russia off the list of places where churches face an elevated terror threat over Christmas - New Year. [It was included last year, RLPB 228 (1 Dec 2015).] On 19 December Andrei Karlov (62), a career diplomat and Russia's Ambassador to Turkey, was assassinated while speaking at an art exhibition in Ankara. The assassin (now dead) was a policeman. After shooting the Ambassador he shouted 'Allahu akbar' and (in Arabic), 'We are the descendants of those who supported the Prophet Muhammad, for jihad,' and (in Turkish), 'Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!' This appalling assassination is a reminder of how much Sunni fundamentalist anger is directed at Russia.

PRISONERS: A significant number of Christians will spend the Christmas season as prisoners, many in truly appalling conditions, none more so than the many thousands of believers detained in North Korea and Eritrea. Some Christians have been in prison for years, such as Asia Bibi in Pakistan, and others in Iran and Laos. Some are more recent prisoners, like those we have been praying for this year in Algeria, China, Iran, Sudan and Vietnam. They are Christian lawyers who defend human rights and religious freedom. They are Christian aid workers who serve the poor and needy. They are pastors devoted to feeding and leading Christ's flock. They are missionaries who risk their lives to 'make disciples of all nations ...' (Matthew 28:19-20a).  They are converts who have chosen to follow Jesus -- no turning back. They are faithful, courageous believers and we are not to be ashamed of their chains (1Timothy 1:15-18).

Norine Brunson overlooks the
Harmandanli Detention Centre
World Watch Monitor

The newest prisoner is Rev. Andrew Brunson, the American Protestant pastor of the Dirilis (Resurrection) Church in Izmir, TURKEY. Brunson (48) and his wife Norine were arrested on 7 October, deemed a threat to national security. Norine was subsequently released, but Brunson was transferred to the Harmandanli Detention Centre where he is being held incommunicado. He faced court on 9 December accused of 'terrorism' and links with the Gulen Movement. The Erdogan government blames the Gulen Movement for July's failed coup attempt and maintains that the US was complicit. Fethullah Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in the USA since 1999. Turkey is demanding his extradition (so maybe they wanted a bargaining chip). The Brunsons, who have three children studying in the US, have lived in Turkey for the past 23 years. Andrew Brunson's situation is dire.

'Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body' (Hebrews 13:3 ESV).

MISTREATED: Not to be forgotten are captives such as Dr Ken Elliot and Beatrice Stockly [RLPB 341 (27 Jan)] and Father Tom Uzhunnalil [RLPB 368 (27 July)] hostages of Islamic militants in Mali and Yemen respectively. Nor must we forget those forced into hiding in North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other places where an expression of faith will cost believers their lives. Also not to be overlooked are the millions of believers who are now displaced, homeless, destitute and grieving -- across Mesopotamia (Syria-Iraq), Burma, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Sudan, South Sudan and elsewhere.

BE ENCOURAGED: For the God of creation, incarnation, resurrection and redemption -- 'nothing will be impossible'. (Luke 1:26-38)

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Elizabeth Kendal is 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 388. Egypt, and the Christmas-New Year terror threat

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 388 | Wed 14 Dec 2016

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)


EGYPT, AND THE CHRISTMAS-NEW YEAR TERROR THREAT
by Elizabeth Kendal

TERROR IN EGYPT

On Sunday 11 December the Egyptian Christians worshipping inside Cairo's St Peter and St Paul church (El-Botroseya) were doubtless aware of the elevated terror threat. After all, Christians have been targeted over the Christmas-New Year period before.  On 7 January 2010, seven Coptic youths and one Muslim guard were gunned down as they emerged from a Christmas Eve midnight mass in Nag Hammadi. In the early hours of 1 January 2011, 23 mostly Coptic Christians were killed when an Islamic suicide terrorist detonated his explosive-laden car outside a Coptic church in Alexandria during a midnight service to welcome in the New Year. Consequently, the worshippers inside El-Botroseya last Sunday -- men seated on the left, women and children seated on the right (as is Coptic tradition) -- were doubtless grateful for the armed guards stationed at the door.

Part of a large Coptic Church compound, El-Botroseya is located adjacent to St Mark's Coptic Cathedral, the most significant Cathedral in the Coptic Church, the Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope. Inside El-Botroseya the believers were celebrating Advent -- a time when Christians look forward to the Nativity of Jesus. As it happened, it was also 'Mawlid', the day when Muslims celebrate the birth of Muhammad. As the service drew to a close, a man reportedly entered the church and walked in amongst the women and children where he detonated an explosive vest containing 12kg of TNT. In addition to the bomber, 24 worshippers were killed -- mostly women and children, including several infants -- making it the most deadly attack on Christians in recent years. A further 49 were wounded. Instead of guarding the entrance, the security guards were reportedly sitting in their car.

Among the dead: (L) Marina Helmy (20) & Ensaf  Kamel (37);
(C) Veronia Helmy (18);
(R) Aida Mikhail (60) & Regina Raafat (50)

CCTV footage of blast;
PLUS Yahoo News Photo Gallery: aftermath of Church bombing

The next day (Monday) Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi named Mahmoud Shafik Mohamed Mostafa (22, also known as Abu Dajjana al-Kanani) as the bomber. Three other men and one woman have been arrested over the attack. Doubtless embarrassed by the security lapse, President Al-Sisi rushed to exploit the funeral for photo opportunities. While Church and State officials were given passes to attend the State funeral, local Copts -- including the relatives of the slain -- were kept at a distance. It might have made good television propaganda, but Copts told Morning Star News that the funeral left them hurt and angry.

Al-Ahram Photo Gallery: funeral

On Wed 14 Dec, Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the bombing, vowing to 'continue its war against polytheism', [by which it means trinitarian Christians]. Islamic State (IS), which is primarily active in Sinai, is the inspiration behind Muslim Brotherhood-linked militant groups that have committed several attacks and attempted assassinations in Cairo over recent weeks. The threat facing Coptic Christians this Advent, New Year and Orthodox Christmas (6-7 January) is extreme.

CHRISTMAS-NEW YEAR TERROR THREAT

Egyptian Christians will not be the only believers facing an elevated terror threat this Christmas-New Year period. The risk will be elevated right across the Middle East, but nowhere more so than in SYRIA, where jihadist groups that are losing territory will be reverting to an angry terrorist insurgency. The liberation of eastern Aleppo might be all but over, but with tens of thousands flooding into western Aleppo [see excellent CNN report], the possibility that jihadists have infiltrated the masses means the terror threat facing western Aleppo must be regarded as extreme. Furthermore, with IS once again in control of the central oasis of Palmyra, the terror threat to Damascus, along with all the Assyrian villages located between Palmyra and Damascus, must be regarded as extreme.

Likewise in PAKISTAN, where the Taliban is ascendant and doubtless keen to make a statement before winter sets in and fighting dies down. In NIGERIA, where Boko Haram (now known as 'Islamic State West Africa Province') might also want to make a statement over Christmas, the terror threat must be regarded as extreme. Other high risk zones include KENYA (which is threatened by al-Shabaab), INDONESIA (where anti-Christian Islamic zeal is boiling) and possibly even EUROPE, where popular resistance to mass Muslim immigration is gaining momentum.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT: 

* 'the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction,' (2 Corinthians 1:3-4a ESV) will infuse by his Holy Spirit deep spiritual comfort into those now grieving the loss of loved ones so cruelly slaughtered in their place of worship.

* the LORD of Hosts (the commander of heaven's angelic armies) will shield and protect his people (Psalm 17:8-9) and bring the way of the wicked to ruin (Psalm 146:9).

* the Lord would redeem all suffering and every act of terror to awaken the world to truth: humanity needs God. 'Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.' (The Psalm of the King, Psalm 24:7 & 9 ESV)


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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EGYPT, AND THE CHRISTMAS-NEW YEAR TERROR THREAT 

On Sunday 11 December an Islamic terrorist blew himself up amongst Christians celebrating Advent in Cairo's St Peter and St Paul church. Specifically targeting the women and children, he killed 24,  making it the most deadly attack on Christians in recent years. A further 49 were wounded. With Islamic State (IS)-inspired Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated militants escalating their activity, the Christmas-New Year terror threat in Egypt must be regarded as extreme. Similarly, the terror threat is extreme in Syria (from IS and 'rebels'), Pakistan (from IS and Pakistani Taliban) and Nigeria (from Boko Haram). It is high in Kenya (from al-Shabaab), Indonesia and Europe. Pray that the Lord will shield and protect his people (Psalm 17:8-9) and bring the way of the wicked to ruin (Psalm 146:9). Amen.

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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 329. Sept. Update, Incl. China, Syria, Europe, India, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sudan, Tanzania

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 329 | Wed 30 Sep 2015

By Elizabeth Kendal

SEPTEMBER 2015 UPDATE -- During September we prayed concerning ... 

* CHINA (RLPB 325), after Christian attorney Zhang Kai (37) was taken by Chinese security officials and 'disappeared' into secret detention.

Gao Zhisheng
(Photo: China Aid Association)

UPDATE: On Thursday 24 September China Aid Association reported that internationally acclaimed Christian attorney Gao Zhisheng (51) -- who has been under house arrest since his release from secret detention in August 2014 -- had been taken away by Chinese security officials just one day after talking to Associated Press [article and video]. Fortunately, China Aid was able to report the next day that Gao had been returned to his home detention. No further details are known and the situation is unclear. One can only assume he has been cautioned. Grave concerns are held for Gao Zhisheng (51) and Zhang Kai (37) and for religious freedom in China. Please pray.

* THE CHRISTIAN CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST (RLPB 326). At the time of writing, the  massive surge in migration into Europe was forcing a spotlight on the Syrian crisis.

UPDATE ON SYRIA CRISIS: After noting the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Syria, the Prayer Bulletin commented that if ethnic-religious minorities are to survive, 'the West might need to swallow its pride and talk to Assad and to Russia'. For its part, Russia was attempting to assemble an anti-ISIS coalition that would include the Syrian government. But with the US, the Arabs and Turkey all insisting, 'Assad must go!' Russian efforts were in vain. Increasingly though, many in the West were coming to realise that should the Syrian government fall, ISIS is poised to take power. By mid- September, Russia was on the ground in Syria, importing materiel -- including fighter jets, attack helicopters, tanks and missiles -- and establishing a base for forwards operations. This has forced the US to negotiate. Presidents Putin and Obama still hold to opposing views. Putin maintains that the Syrian war developed due to the West's support of radical Islamic elements committed to illegal regime change. Obama maintains that the war is Assad's fault because he used violence to put down supposedly 'peaceful pro-democracy' protests (as did, we must note, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Turkey and Egypt). The West still harbours ideas of 'good rebels', something Christian leaders have decried as 'naive' and pure 'fantasy'. Please continue to pray for the Church in Syria. 

UPDATE ON EUROPE'S MIGRANT CRISIS: Concerning the migrant influx, the Prayer Bulletin noted, 'This will most certainly end badly.' Reports are emerging that German and Swedish local governments have begun passing laws giving authorities the right to acquire vacant properties, such as holiday homes, caravans, resorts and offices, for the housing of migrants. In one German town, 150 students were given 24 hours to evacuate their school so migrants could be housed there. There are also reports of local governments evicting residents from state housing so migrants can be housed in state-owned complexes. There are also reports of landlords evicting tenants because they can earn considerably more from the government by housing migrants. Reports are also emerging of clashes, rapes, weapons and criminality and of local fear and anger at the sky-rocketing financial and social costs. Christians are called to be generous and hospitable, but governments have a mandate and duty to safeguard national security. By confusing the two, Europeans are creating a catastrophe. Pray for the Church in Europe.

* VIETNAM (RLPB 327), where the ruling communist party persecutes Degar Christians on ethnic-religious grounds, and CAMBODIA, which rejects Degar asylum seekers at Vietnam's request.

* SAUDI ARABIA & THE UN HRC (RLPB 328). We prayed for believers in Saudi Arabia, and in particular for Saudi Christians who are gravely imperilled no matter where they are in the world. We noted that the UN Human Rights Council has appointed Saudi Arabia -- one of the world's worst human rights abusers -- as Chair of the Consultative Group that appoints the experts who investigate and report on human rights all around the world. We prayed that Christians will realise their hope must be in God alone.

SEPTEMBER 2015 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . .

* INDIA: EXTREME VIOLENCE
On 4 September some 30 members of the Anugrah (Grace) Church met for prayer in Hututag Village, in the north-east state of Jharkhand. After a while, four Hindu women came and abused the Christians. Later, two men came and threatened the two pastors. Eventually a mob of some 15 militant Hindu nationalists arrived, armed with guns, axes, spades and clubs. Aware the militants were after their pastor, the believers forced him into the roof. When the militants could not find the pastor, they beat the Christians. Six were hospitalised with multiple broken bones and serious flesh and head wounds caused by shovels and axes. Other believers suffered cuts and bruising. 'Since April of this year we have been pressured to choose between Christ and our lives,' Pastor Bharti told Morning Star News. He said the Hindus want the Christians out. Unfortunately the village head is a Hindu nationalist who supports the militants. This sort of extreme violence with impunity is becoming increasingly common across India. Pray for the Church in India.

* LAOS: AUTHORITIES WANT TO REIN IN CHRISTIANITY
On 2 September a Christian leader, Mr Bounthung, and a fellow Christian Mr Neuy, accepted an invitation to spend time in fellowship and prayer with believers in Nong-hang Village, Khammouane Province. The group was enjoying a meal together when police stormed in and arrested the visitors, who have since been charged with spreading the Christian religion. Prison conditions in Laos are amongst the worst in the world. On the night of 8 September a prison guard named Wansi, along with four accomplices, entered the home of Pastor Singkeaw Wongkongpheng in Na-ang Village, Luang Prabang Province. When they grabbed his wife, Pastor Singkeaw asked the men if they were after money. They replied that they had come to kill the pastor on the orders of the secret police. The prison guard stabbed Pastor Singkeaw three times in the back before the pastor's son managed to chase the assailants out of the house. Pastor Singkeaw did not survive. He leaves behind a wife, six children and a church of 58 members. Pastor Singkeaw had been ignoring threats for years, insisting that Christ must be preached. Pray for his family and for the church in Na-ang Village. Please pray for Laos.  

* NEPAL:  ANTI-CONVERSION LAW ENSHRINED IN CONSTITUTION
On Sunday 13 September Nepali lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to pass Nepal's new constitution. While Christians are concerned about the retention of anti-conversion measures, Hindu nationalists are furious about the retention of the word 'secular' because they had been demanding Nepal be declared a Hindu state. [For background see RLPB 321, Nepal's Constitution: Religious Liberty at Risk (5 Aug 2015).]

If the retention of anti-conversion measures was intended to appease the Hindu nationalists, then so far it has failed. On Monday 14 September small bombs exploded in two churches in the far-eastern Jhapa District: Jyoti Church in Damak-10 and Emmanuel Church in Khajurgachi. Fortunately nobody was injured although the properties were damaged. Bombs were discovered in two other churches. One was successfully defused but the other was removed to a police station where it exploded, wounding three policemen, one critically. Pamphlets promoting 'Hindu Morcha Nepal' were found in all four sites. Three suspects have been arrested, although the suspected ringleader, Madhav Bhandari, remains at large. Hindu Morcha Nepal, a coalition of six Hindu nationalist groups, has said it intends to make Nepal 'a Christian-free Hindu nation.' It has warned Nepalese Christians either to return to Hinduism or leave Nepal.  Pray for the Church in Nepal.

* PAKISTAN: CHRISTIANS WARNED
In May, a Pakistani Taliban splinter group aligned to Islamic State (IS) ambushed a bus in Karachi which was headed for a Shi'ite community centre. The militants from 'Khorasan Province Islamic State,' killed 43 people on the bus and vowed to 'attack Ismailis, Shiites and Christians' in coming days. On 22 September Gatestone Institute reported the Pakistani government and military have warned Christians that a terrorist attack on a Christian school or church might be imminent. Most at risk are Christian institutions in the north-west Province of Khyber Paktunkhwa. Priests, nuns and pastors have been warned not to venture far from their churches and not to agree to any outside meetings unless they know the party well. Pray for the Church in Pakistan.

* PHILIPPINES: TERRORIST BOMBING IN CHRISTIAN CITY
Fierce debate continues over the proposal to create an Islamic sub-state in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. Meanwhile, terrorists from the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group are suspected of being responsible for bombing a passenger bus in the predominantly Christian city of Zamboanga on 18 September. A 14-year-old girl was killed in the attack and 33 others wounded, almost all Christians. Zamboanga Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco and a congressman representing the city, Celso Lobregat, are resisting efforts to have Zamboanga incorporated into any Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)-run Islamic sub-state.  President Benigno Aquino III wants 'peace' as his legacy but appeasing Islamic terrorists never works. Pray for the Church in Mindanao, Southern Philippines.

* SUDAN: VICTORY FOR CHURCH IN COURTS
Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church has suffered persistent persecution ever since the break-up of Sudan.  In November 2014 government contractors demolished part of the church property, causing great distress to church members. Subsequently, two South Sudanese pastors who supported the church were arrested and jailed: Rev Yat Michael (49) in December 2014 and Rev Peter Yein Reith (36) in January 2015. The men were charged with serious national security offences which could have attracted the death penalty. On 5 August the two pastors were acquitted of the serious charges and released. Initially they were not permitted to travel, but by 19 August the men were home in South Sudan with their families. Now Morning Star News reports that on 31 August Sudan's Administrative Court of Appeal ruled that the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments had illegally interfered with the church by imposing on it a committee to facilitate a Muslim takeover of the property. This ruling is significant on many levels -- praise God.

* TANZANIA: CHURCHES BURNED
On the night of 22 September three churches were torched in Bukoba Municipality, in Tanzania's far north-west Kagera Region. The Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) church in Buyekera Ward, and the Living Water International (LWI) and the Evangelical Assemblies of God (EAG) churches in Kibeta Ward were totally destroyed. Weeks earlier unknown people broke into a Roman Catholic Church in Kagondo Ward in Bukoba Municipality and burned numerous items including vestments, benches and Bibles. Tanzania Daily News reports, 'Within a spell of four weeks, unknown people have set on fire seven churches.' This is not the first time churches in Bukoba Municipality have been targeted in arson attacks. On 26 September Tanzania Daily News reported that seven suspects were 'helping police with investigations'. Morning Star News reports that pastors in the area have been receiving threats from radicalised Muslims who are demanding there be fewer churches in the area.

----------------------------------------------

Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012).

RLPB 195. Jan Update, Incl. Sudan, Chechnya, Burma, Egypt, Eritrea, UK & EU, Iran, Vietnam

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 195 | Wed 30 Jan 2013

By Elizabeth Kendal

'Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer . . . ' (Psalm 10:15a ESV), the 'arm' being the machinery of action that facilitates evil: military and economic supply lines; power structures, relationships and networks; forums that disseminate ideologies of death. Lord, break them all!

JANUARY 2013 UPDATE -- During January we prayed concerning . . . 

* SUDAN (RLPB 194), where the Nuba and other African tribes across the 'new south' (Abyei, Sth Kordfan and Blue Nile) are facing genocide at the hands of the Islamist and racist, Arab-supremacist regime in Khartoum. 

UPDATE: On Friday 25 January some 350 African Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) presented their appeal to the African Union (AU) for action concerning the 'war in South Kordofan and Blue Nile'. Meanwhile, senior leaders of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), including Yassir Arman and Malik Agar, met with the US envoy Princeton Lyman in Washington to appeal for action to prevent genocide. Lyman, however, merely exhorted them to renounce violence and lay down their arms, adding that the Obama administration leans towards a political resolution and believes 'the ongoing tracks are acceptable'. Well, God does not find the situation acceptable! So let us put our trust in God, not humanity, and pray Psalm 10, that HE will intervene in Sudan.

* CHECHNYA, SOUTH RUSSIA (RLPB 193), where remnant Christians live with considerable insecurity.

UPDATE: Two senior jihadist commanders from the 'Islamic Caucasus Emirate', brothers Khuseyn and Muslim Gakayev, were amongst eleven jihadists killed during a military operation in Chechnya on 24 January. The Gakayevs were complicit in numerous terrorist attacks and had been on Russia's proscribed terrorist list for eleven years. Pray for peace, with an end to jihad. Pray especially for God to grace Chechnya with a spirit of peace and that Muslim hearts might be open to receive the gospel.

* BURMA (Myanmar) (RLPB 192), where the Buddhist and racist, Burman-supremacist regime in Naypyidaw has launched a full-scale war against the Christian Kachin, deploying helicopter gunships and bomber jets against civilians in Laiza.

UPDATE: Guy Horton of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, says the fighting is unlike anything he has previously witnessed in Burma (see video interview). He writes from northern Kachin State: 'The churches are open on a 24-hour basis. The people pray for deliverance from a conflict where Kachin soldiers, with the support of tens of thousands of civilians, are fighting for survival against an army several times their number.' He notes that the Kachin people are 'bonded by their Christian faith', adding that they are targeted by the Burmese army precisely because of 'their religion and their ethnicity. The law of genocide thus applies.' Horton reports: 'Kachin fixed defensive positions protecting civilians are probably unsustainable. Confronted with jet bombers, artillery, heavy mortars and overwhelming numbers of ground troops, Kachin soldiers may be unable to protect their civilians in the long- or even medium-term.' He expects not a mere humanitarian disaster but 'appalling human rights violations' and regards the West's silence as 'complicity with evil'. (For more detail see Religious Liberty Monitoring.) Pray Psalm 10 for Burma.

JANUARY 2013 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . .

* EGYPT: WHOLE FAMILY SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS' JAIL FOR APOSTASY

The criminal court of Beni Suef (115km south of Cairo) has sentenced an entire family to prison for converting to Christianity. Nadia Mohamed Ali, who was born into a Christian family, converted to Islam when she married Mustafa Mohamed Abdel-Wahab 23 years ago. When Mustufa died in 1991 Nadia decided to return to Christianity, bringing her seven children with her. In 2004 the family decided to take Christian names and have their identity cards amended. Seven Registry Office officials facilitated this. Now Nadia and her seven children have been convicted of apostasy and sentenced to 15 years' jail, while the seven Registry Office officials have each received 5-year sentences. Pray that as Islam reveals its true nature, God will open many Muslim hearts to receive the gospel.

* ERITREA: REGIME'S GRIP IS FRAGILE (updating RLPB 185)

The regime of President Isaias Afewerki is one of the most cruel and repressive in the world. Since 2002 thousands of Christians have suffered imprisonment and torture simply because of their faith. Some have died in custody whilst others have perished in horrific circumstances while fleeing. But, as was noted in RLPB 185, change is looming! On 21 January 2013, up to 200 soldiers and officers seized control of the Ministry of Information building, which also houses the state television network. A newsreader read out their demands on live television, including the release of all political prisoners and the implementation of the 1997 constitution which calls for a democratically elected government. Troops loyal to Afewerki encircled the building and eventually put down the coup which was reportedly organised by several senior military figures, possibly even the Army and Air Force chiefs (both now reportedly dead). (Stratfor Intelligence, 22-23 Jan) See prayer points on RLPB 185. Pray Psalm 10 for Eritrea.

* EU: CHRISTIANS LOSE IN THE BATTLE OF THE RIGHTS

On 15 January 2013, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a landmark ruling against two British Christians who had been seeking redress for what they believed were unfair dismissals. Gary McFarlane, a Relate counsellor, had been sacked for seeking to be exempted from providing sexual therapy to homosexual couples, and Lillian Ladele, a marriage registrar, had been sacked for seeking to be exempted from solemnising same-sex relationships. Their employers deemed their conscientious objection to affirming homosexual lifestyle was in breach of Equality laws. The UK courts agreed. (See RLM, label 'UK'.)

So the pair appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, seeking 'reasonable accommodation' for their convictions. The court threw out the cases and it is now being widely acknowledged that those who cannot affirm homosexual sex and same-sex marriage may be lawfully excluded from many public sector jobs. Homosexual magazine queerty.com lampooned the pair as 'a couple of bigoted Brits'.  Pinknews.co.uk maintained it was a victory for freedom: Christians are totally free to keep their beliefs and totally free to go and get another job. As British barrister Paul Diamond observes: 'Tuesday's judgment in the European Court on cases affecting the rights of Christians in Britain is a Magna Carta moment. Its verdicts will have a profound impact on the civil and religious liberties of millions of people in the UK and beyond.' (See BBC News video clip)

* IRAN (continuing the updates from RLPBs 191 & 192)

Pastor Vruir Avanessian, arrested on 27 December 2012, was released on 10 January after posting $60,000 bail, using real estate as security. Avanessian requires regular dialysis. According to Middle East Concern, the date of his trial is not yet known and no formal charges have been brought against him.

On 27 January an Iranian Revolutionary Court sentenced US pastor Saeed Abedini (32) to eight years in prison on charges of endangering national security. The charges relate to house churches he founded after his conversion in 2000. In 2005 Abedini was arrested for his Christian work, but released after pledging never to work in the house church movement again. Abedini is now a US citizen with an American wife and two young children in Idaho. Whilst he returns to Iran regularly to visit relatives, he maintains he has always honoured his pledge. In detention since mid-2012, Abedini was not permitted to attend his own trial. His Iranian family tried to visit him during the week only to find he was missing, reportedly receiving medical treatment after being beaten and tortured. Abedini's wife, Nagmeh, is greatly distressed and confused by the US State Department's silence and inaction. Pray for this family and for all Iran's Christian prisoners. Pray that Iran, a strategic nation, might be freed from its captivity.

* VIETNAM: REPRESSING THE HOUSE CHURCHES

A new religious decree came into force in Vietnam on 1 January 2013. Replacing Decree 22/2005 ND-CP, Decree 92/2012 ND-CP will give a 'veneer of legality' to a policy of religious repression. Protestant human rights lawyer and religious liberty advocate Nguyen Van Dai maintains, 'the goal of Decree 92/2012 ND-CP is to completely abolish the organisational structure and religious operations of the Protestant denominations that were formed less than 20 years ago and have not been registered according to Decree 22/2005 ND-CP. This is a step backward in the right to freedoms of belief and religion in Vietnam.' Catholic leaders have decried the degree as a 'draconian' and 'backward' measure that violates the 'rights of citizens' by placing 'severe restrictions' on freedom of worship. The Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship, an umbrella organisation for about 25 house church organisations, issued a letter on 23 January calling for prayer and fasting, as Decree 92 effectively makes house churches illegal. Pray for wisdom, grace and divine protection.


--------------------------------------

Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)

RLPB 189. Christmas in the free West

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 189 | Wed 12 Dec 2012

CHRISTMAS IN THE FREE WEST
-- where repression looms as God is forgotten
By Elizabeth Kendal 

Secularism essentially mandates the separation of Church and State. It ensures that the Church does not rule over the State (as happened when Popes ruled over states in the Middle Ages) and the State does not rule over the Church (as happens in totalitarian states even today). Traditionally secularism mandates openness wherein all views can be explored and tested in liberty and with security. Movements that seek to eradicate Christianity from the public square are usually driven by cultural totalitarians seeking to remove something they despise and recognise as a threat. Religious repression in the West is mostly led by atheistic humanists who are embarrassed by, ashamed of, or in denial about the West's Christian foundations and heritage. The aggression and shrillness of this intolerant and repressive 'new secularism' leaves many Christians shocked and intimidated. What is required though is courage and conviction: not to cling to tradition; but to assert confidently the value of those Biblical truths that make Judaeo-Christian culture truly great.

In Sweden, whilst public schools are by law non-confessional, Advent services are part of the compulsory curriculum. In an effort to balance Sweden's Christian cultural tradition with the 'new secularism', the government has ruled that Advent services be held -- for the sake of tradition -- but without prayers or any mention of Jesus -- in deference to 'new secularism'.  Because there is as yet no law regulating what a pastor can say inside his own church, the school principal will bear the responsibility. Consequently, if the pastor will not consent to presenting a prayer-less and Christ-less Christmas, the principal must decide not to have the compulsory Advent service in the church.

Last year the Scottish government promoted a 'Winter Festival' program, highlighting the main events of the Scottish winter -- Christmas was not included. In January 2011 the European Union (EU) Commission issued three million secondary school diaries which detailed Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Chinese festivities and Europe Day, yet made no reference to Christmas or Easter. Responding to complaints, an EU Commission spokesman said that in the interests of political correctness, future school diaries would make no references to any religious festivals.

Unless there is a return to the Lord, Western civilisation as we know it will perish -- a consequence of forgetting the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:11-20). 'And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. (v19)' Actually, it would be good to see a spiritual struggle for Europe, for at present Europe is in fact surrendering, ashamed of its own Christian foundations and heritage. Should the West continue down this path, it will reap cultural collapse and chaos, to be countered through desperate totalitarianism and appeasement of the most belligerent. Indeed, the process has already begun. The West urgently needs revival. (See: Not Ashamed)

'For whoever is ashamed of me [Jesus Christ] and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.' (Luke 9:26 ESV)

'So everyone who acknowledges me [Jesus Christ] before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.' (Matthew 10:32,33 ESV)


PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL --

* use this Christmas season and even the 'new secularist' opposition to acknowledging Jesus Christ:

•  to impassion Western believers, infusing them with a fresh realisation of what they are celebrating, whom they are celebrating and why all this is worth celebrating.  
•  to awaken Westerners to what they will lose if they do not 'wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die . . .' (from Revelation 3:1-6 ESV)

* in his grace and mercy bless the West with revival, so that Christians might overflow with passion, zeal and boldness to declare, despite hostility and in the face of opposition, '. . . I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes . . .' (from Romans 1:16 ESV)

* accept as an offering the risky, counter-cultural gospel witness of his faithful ones, blessing it and using it as seed for revival and to bring many who are new to the West to faith in Jesus Christ.


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CHRISTMAS IN THE FREE WEST

Whilst public schools in Sweden are by law non-confessional, Advent services are part of the compulsory curriculum. This year, however, the government has ruled that, though the Advent services are still compulsory, in public schools they must be Christ-less and prayer-less, to try to balance Sweden's Christian cultural tradition with the 'new secularism'.  Last year the Scottish government promoted all Scotland's winter festivals except Christmas. This year the European Union Commission published three million secondary school diaries that detailed the feasts, festivals and holidays of all faiths except Christianity, even omitting Christmas and Easter. The West has forgotten the Lord. Revival and returning to him are urgent or else anti-Christian repression, intolerance and hostility will only escalate.  Please pray for a Christmas awakening in the West.