RLPB 457. May Update, incl. Chechnya, Egypt, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Turkey, Zanzibar.

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 457 | Wed 30 May 2018

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

MAY 2018 UPDATE -- this month we prayed concerning ...

* BURMA (Myanmar) (RLPB 453), where a campaign of ethnic-religious cleansing is underway in the north. Using aerial bombardment and ground forces, the Burmese Army is driving the Christian Kachin from Kachin State's most resource-rich regions. More than 15,000 Christian Kachin have been displaced since the beginning of this year. They join the more than 100,000 Kachin displaced since 2011. Pray for the Kachin and that God will intervene to bring peace to Burma.

* CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR) (RLPBs 454 & 456), where Islamic militias continue to threaten this mostly Christian nation. In mid-April, UN peacekeepers moved against Islamic criminal gangs in the capital, Bangui. Islamic militias vowed revenge. On 1 May heavily-armed rioting Muslims attacked Bangui's Catholic Cathedral, killing 24 and wounding over 100 (RLPB 454). On 13 May two French fighter jets conducted a show of force over the rebel-held front-line town of Kaga Bandoro to deter the Islamic militias which are regrouping there and threatening to 'march on Bangui' (RLPB 456). The state is on high alert. Pray for the Church in CAR and that God will intervene to bring peace.

* RAMADAN (RLPB 455), in particular that Christians will be safe and that Muslims will be saved.

‘The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son . . .’ (Deuteronomy 1:30-31 ESV)

MAY 2018 ROUND-UP -- also this month ...

* CHECHNYA, (South Russia): ISLAMIC STATE (IS) CLAIMS CHURCH ATTACK

On Saturday 18 May four militants armed with guns, knives, axes and explosives and shouting 'Allahu Akbar' attempted to storm the Archangel Michael Russian Orthodox Church in central Grozny. Inside, some 15 believers were engaged in evening worship, while outside, the priest's young children were playing happily in the garden. The church, which was established in the late 1800s, is located in the main tourist precinct, surrounded by shopping malls and cafes. Consequently, Chechen police were quickly on the scene. They shot and killed the four militants and rescued the church-goers and children. Unfortunately the militants had seized two hostages from the church before it was barricaded shut. One believer was killed in the attack and the other was critically wounded. Two police officers were killed and two wounded. IS has claimed responsibility. Pray for the Church in Chechnya and the wider North Caucasus region.

* EGYPT: 'RECONCILIATION' LEADS TO CHURCH CLOSURE

On 14 April Muslims rioted in Beni Meinin, torching Coptic property and attacking the church. This eruption of Islamic resistance was in response to the government's proposal to legalise the village church. Police arrested 11 Muslims and 9 Christians before demanding the village hold a 'reconciliation' session to end the matter [RLPB 452 (25 April)]. With their youths in prison (essentially as hostages), Muslim and Coptic clergy, village elders, local politicians and security officials from the village participated in a 'reconciliation' session. It was agreed that all 20 arrested residents would relinquish their legal rights (meaning none can seek legal redress for arson, looting, assault and suchlike) and the church will remain closed until it is legalised. Subsequently, on 22 May the arrested Muslims and Christians were acquitted and released. Such 'reconciliation' only serves to guarantee impunity, escalate insecurity and perpetuate violent persecution.

* INDIA: ANTI-CONVERSION LAW AS WEAPON

Uttarakhand state in northern India has become the seventh Indian state to approve an 'anti-conversion law'. Governor Krishna Kant Paul signed the ironically named 'Freedom of Religion' Bill into law on 18 April. The law will come into force as soon as the state government finalises the Bill's rules.

(From left) Rajni Pradhan and
couple Sarah and Subash Kumar,
after appearing in court.
See Morning Star News: India

On Sunday 29 April some 50 Christians were worshipping together in a house church in Danapur, Bihar State, when a mob of some 60 Hindu nationalists surrounded the house. The mob harassed, intimidated and threatened the believers while hurling foul abuse. They also called the police and accused the Christians of running a 'conversion racket'. The police arrested several of the Christians, of whom Rajni Pradhan and a couple, Subash and Sarah Kumar, remain incarcerated, accused of 'forcibly converting people'. At a hearing on 8 May, a judge rejected their plea for bail. Also on Sunday 29 April, Hindu militants attacked the Full Gospel Pentecostal Church in Baburia Khera, Uttar Pradesh State. They beat worshippers and threatened to kill the pastor, Kamlesh Kumar. To save her husband, Kumar's wife hid him in a locked room. Church member Ram Prasad (55) was beaten unconscious as he tried to shield other believers. A church member called police, but when they arrived the police berated the believers and advised them to 'flee from the church'; no arrests were made. Pray for the Church in India.

* NEPAL: CHURCHES ATTACKED, 'EVANGELISTS' ARRESTED

St Joseph's in better days.

Five churches were attacked in Nepal during May. St Joseph's Catholic Church in Kohalpur, in Nepal's western Banke District, was torched in the early hours of 5 May; the interior was 'entirely destroyed'. On the night of 9 May Hebron Church in Hilihang Rural Municipality, in the eastern district of Panchthar, was partly damaged after being set on fire. On the night of 10 May Emmanuel Church in Doti, in the country's far west, was set on fire; the church sustained significant damage. On 11 May Emmanuel Church in Kanchanpur was set on fire, resulting in significant structural damage. Then on the evening of 13 May Mahima Church in Dhangadhi city, western Nepal, was partly destroyed when an unidentified assailant threw an improvised explosive device through a window.  Fortunately, nobody was killed in the attacks. Police seem determined to blame Maoists, even though Christians have been receiving threats from a Hindu nationalist group. The geographically dispersed attacks were so similar that analysts suspect the perpetrators were part of a Hindu nationalist online community and that the attacks arose from online incitement.

Furthermore, two Nepali believers were arrested on 9 May for singing Christian songs in public. Four others were subsequently arrested from their homes. Charged with evangelism (prohibited in Nepal since 2015), the six faced court on 17 May where they were remanded to spend a further seven days in prison. Pray for the Church in Nepal.

* NIGERIA: CHRISTIANS APPEAL -- 'END THE KILLINGS'

On 22 May a funeral was held in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, for 19 Christians (including two priests) who were massacred on 24 April by Fulani gunmen who surrounded their grass-roofed church in Aya Mbalom village and opened fire.  [Video report by Al-Jazeera.]

Christians rally for an
end to the killings (22 May).
Courtesy: Crux 

It was the second mass funeral for Christian victims of Fulani violence in Benue this year [see RLPB 442 (14 Feb 2018)]. According to Benue State Governor, Sam Ortom, 492 people have been killed in Benue State alone so far this year (which equates to 100 per month). On the day of the funeral, rallies were held in various Nigerian cities where Christians urged the government (in the words of Cardinal John Onaiyekan) to 'end the killings'. Bishops spoke of 'massacres', 'ethnic cleansing' and described people living in 'palpable fear'. Pressure is mounting on President Buhari, a Fulani Muslim from the north.

At 12:30am on Monday 28 May Fulani gunmen attacked Sacred Heart Minor Seminary in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba State. Students were wounded and cars destroyed. The rector, Father Emmanuel Atsue, told Catholic media: 'They shot and injured one of the priests, Father Cornelius Pobah, in the leg, [and] beat up Father Stephen Bakari.' It seems Father Pobah was targeted because he had refused to allow Fulani herdsmen to graze their cattle inside the seminary grounds. The fact that nobody was killed could imply that the Fulani were issuing a warning and that this is far from over. Please pray.

* PHILIPPINES: BOMB EXPLODES OUTSIDE MINDANAO CHURCH

On Sunday 29 April in Koronadal City in South Cotabato, Mindanao, two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were detonated in the city. The first IED exploded at noon, just outside the Christ the King Cathedral along Rizal Street, injuring three. The other IED was found in a trash can two kilometres away and detonated by police. Two suspects have since been arrested. Pray for the Church in the southern Philippines.

* TURKEY: PASTOR FACES COURT A SECOND TIME

Update to RLPB 452 (25 April): American hostage of the Turkish regime, Pastor Andrew Brunson returned to court on 7 May. His lawyer Cem Halavurt protested the use of 'secret witnesses', noting that their outlandish accusations were presented without a shred of evidence. At the close of the 10-hour hearing, Brunson (50) was led back to his cell in a maximum-security prison. The next hearing is set for 18 July. World Watch Monitor has a detailed report on the 7 May hearing, while an article by Mindy Belz in World Magazine provides further insight, including a powerful, encouraging and deeply moving account of how our merciful God intervened for Brunson in the courtroom in answer to specific prayer. Both articles are highly recommended. Please continue to pray that God will uphold Andrew Brunson and intervene for his release. Pray for the Church in rapidly-changing Turkey.

Also, for those who are interested: On 29 May 1453, Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine [Greek-speaking Christian] Empire fell to Ottoman forces. Now, every 29 May, the Turkish government celebrates 'Conquest Day'. This year President Erdogan released a short but grandiose film, rich in computer-generated imagery, which links the conquest of Constantinople with the defeat of the ANZACs at Gallipoli (1915) and the rise of neo-Ottoman, imperialist, 'Sultan' Erdogan today.

* ZANZIBAR, (Tanzania): CHURCH UNDER PRESSURE

Bishop Daniel Kwileba Kwiyeya.
(Morning Star News)

A church in Kisauni, in mostly-Muslim semi-autonomous Zanzibar, has been facing pressure from local Muslims unhappy about its presence. When Muslims lobbied for the church to be closed, local authorities complied and issued the church with a notice. The church, which belongs to the Pentecostal Evangelistic Fellowship of Africa, is resisting and worshipping as usual. On Sunday 6 May plain-clothed police officers walked into the morning worship service and arrested the preacher, Bishop Daniel Kwileba Kwiyeya. Believers tried to intervene, but to no avail. The bishop's distressed daughter also tried to intervene and was taken away with her father. The distressed believers returned to the sanctuary to pray for Bishop Kwiyeya and his daughter. The pair were released later that day; no charges were laid. Tensions remain; please pray.

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

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 444. Feb 2018 Update. Incl Nigeria, Dagestan (Russia), China, Indonesia, Iranian Refugees, Kenya, Pakistan, Turkey

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 444 | Wed 28 Feb 2018

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

'For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.' 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 ESV

FEBRUARY 2018 UPDATE -- this month we prayed concerning ...

* UGANDA (RLPB 441), in particular for severely persecuted Christians in the Muslim-dominated Eastern Region. We prayed specifically for Munabi Abudallah, Mulangira Ibrahim (a former sheikh) and the widow Nafamba Madina and her children. All are converts from Islam who are paying an extremely high price for their faith in Jesus. Please continue to lift them before the Lord.

* NIGERIA (RLPB 442), as the government deployed troops to the volatile Middle Belt, ostensibly to tackle the 'Fulani Crisis'. 

UPDATES
FULANI CRISIS: The most disturbing aspect of the 'Fulani Crisis' is the way in which it is inflaming Nigeria's ethnic-religious tensions. Despite this being a law-and-order issue pertaining to the right to private property, it is evolving into an ethno-religious conflict which is threatening Nigeria's unity. As noted in RLPB 442, Nigeria's Minister of Defence has publicly blamed Christians for the crisis, saying it stems from their refusal to accommodate their 'fellow Nigerians'. It is a claim being echoed by other Muslim leaders, including Prof. Ango Abdullahi, a former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, northern Kaduna. As spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum, Abdullahi justified the Fulani killings as pre-emptive killings committed in self defence. Totally ignoring the issue of private property, Abdullah asserted that if an Igbo can set up his business in the north, then a Fulani should be able to graze his cattle in the south. It is not difficult to see where such a claim could lead. Clearly, the suggestion is that if the Fulani [Muslims from the north] are not permitted to graze their cattle in the south, then the Igbo [mostly Christians from the southeast] should not be permitted to set up business in the north. Such language threatens to re-ignite the threat issued in the Kaduna Declaration of June 2017 [See RLPB 422 'Muslim Youths Beat Drums of War' (6 Sep 2017)]. Watch and pray.

Hassan and Dafup (centre)
more images, see Viewpoint Nigeria

CONVERSION CRISIS: On 11 January Nigeria's Department of State Security Services (DSS) arrested Simput Dafup (engineer) and Daniel Hassan (driver) in relation to the alleged 'forced conversion' of Miss Nabila Sanda (19), the daughter of a powerful Muslim elder in Borno State. After being interrogated in the DSS office in Jos, Dafup and Hassan were transferred to Abuja where they were detained on charges of 'forced conversion' [see RLPB 439 (24 Jan)]. Viewpoint Nigeria reports that the leadership of CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) worked with the president of ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All), the Reverend Jeremiah Gado, to pressure the DSS. Eventually, on 27 January, Dafup and Hassan were released into the custody of Rev Yakubu Pam, the CAN Northern Chairman, one of the sureties for Dafup's bail. The men travelled immediately to ECWA headquarters in Jos, where they were welcomed and prayed for. Legal battles loom. The plight of convert Nabila Sanda is unknown; presumably she was forcibly returned to her father's custody. Please pray.

* DAGESTAN, SOUTH RUSSIA (RLPB 443), after Islamic State claimed responsibility for a terror attack on Kizlyar's Orthodox St George's Cathedral, which claimed the lives of five women.

UPDATE
KIDNAP AND KILL CHRISTIANS IN 'RUSSIAN-OCCUPIED MUSLIM AREAS' 

Though three Muslims have been arrested in connection to the 18 February terror attack on the Orthodox church in Kizlyar, Dagestan, South Russia, the terror threat remains elevated. On Thursday 22 February Site Intelligence Group published a letter purportedly by Islamic State (IS). Entitled 'Strike Their Necks and Strike Each One of Their Sons', the letter glorifies the killer as an 'extraordinary mujtahid' and urges IS supporters in 'Russian-occupied Muslim areas' to kidnap and kill Christians. [The order 'strike their necks' comes from the Quran, Sura 47:4.] IS said it hopes that the Kizlyar church attack will 'be the spark for more bloody attacks' and that many Christians 'will be killed as a punishment for their disbelief in Allah the Great, and it will plant fear and horror inside the hearts of hundreds of thousands of their brothers and make them flee with fear'. Pray for the Church in Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia and Russia's other Muslim-majority regions.


FEBRUARY 2018 ROUND-UP -- also this month ...

* CHINA: LAWYER DEAD AS PERSECUTION FLOODGATE OPENS

China's new Religious Affairs Regulations came into effect on 1 February [see: 'The Return of Mao Style Terror and Control', RLM, (Jan 2018)]. In the early weeks of February churches were warned that the crackdown would begin after the Chinese New Year festivities which commenced on 16 February and continue for 15 days. Churches without official government permits will be fined or demolished. Crosses are to be dismantled (even indoors) and replaced with a Chinese flag; the national anthem is to be sung at services. Buddhists and Muslims are being subjected to the same repression. Pray for the Church in China.

On Monday 26 February well-known Chinese Christian human rights lawyer Li Baiguang (49) died suddenly, allegedly of liver failure, in No 81 People's Liberation Army Hospital. Human rights advocates regard the circumstances as highly suspicious; especially considering Li was known to be a non-drinking, non-smoking, healthy young man. According to the authorities, Li was admitted with a stomach ache; he died only hours later. As an outspoken advocate for religious freedom, Li had been in the Communist Party's sights. In October 2017 he was abducted, beaten-up and threatened with death by plain-clothed security agents. On 8 February he attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC with China Aid Association founder and president, Bob Fu. Pray for the Church in China, continuing to uphold Christian human rights lawyer and religious liberty advocate Gao Zhisheng, who is currently being held in secret detention, most probably in solitary confinement and in darkness.

* INDONESIA: 'AHOK' APPEALS HIS BLASPHEMY CONVICTION

In May 2017 the Christian, ethnic Chinese former Governor of Jakarta, Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama, was sentenced to two years in prison on a politically motivated charge of 'blasphemy'. [For background, see 'Ahok's Blasphemy', RLM, Nov 2016.] Hoping to clear his name, Ahok has petitioned the court to overturn his conviction. The first hearing was held in the North Jakarta District Court on Monday 26 February as hundreds of supporters and Islamists protested outside. A second hearing will be held next week, after which the case and dossier will be forwarded to the Supreme Court. Ahok is appealing on the grounds that Buni Yani, a communications professor from Jakarta, has since been found guilty of tampering with the allegedly blasphemous video. Prosecutors will maintain that, whilst Yani is indeed guilty of tampering, Ahok is still guilty of 'blasphemy' for questioning the interpretation of a verse of the Qur'an. The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) has called on the court to reject the appeal. The conviction must be overturned if Ahok is to re-enter Indonesian politics. Prospects are dim. Please pray, especially that God will sustain Ahok through his trials.

* IRANIAN REFUGEES: ABANDONED AND BETRAYED

SWEDEN: In August 2017 Sweden refused refugee status to Aideen Strandsson (37), an Iranian convert to Christianity. Aideen had travelled to Sweden on a work visa three years earlier, ostensibly to escape Islam and pursue truth in freedom. In Sweden in 2014 she was baptised as a Christian and took a Swedish surname. With her visa due to expire, Aideen applied for asylum on the grounds of religion. In rejecting her application for refugee status Swedish authorities told her, 'If you decided to become a Christian, it's your problem.' Fortunately for Aideen, Hungary stepped in and offered asylum, so if she is eventually forced to leave Sweden, then at least she will be able to go to a country that cares for persecuted Christians.

USA: Some 100 persecuted Iranians, mostly Christian religious minority believers, are currently facing deportation from Austria after the US reneged on its agreement. The asylum seekers, who had been vetted while still in Iran, travelled to Austria at the invitation of the US so they could apply to enter America as refugees under a law known as the Lautenberg Amendment. This process has been operating since 2004. Now the US has reneged, leaving some 100 Iranians facing the prospect of deportation back to Iran. On 21 February Austrian police raided an apartment building in Vienna where some of the Christian Iranians have been living, seizing their documents and passports and threatening them with deportation. Their situation is dire. Please pray.

[For the full story see 'Broken Faith', by Mindy Belz, World Magazine, 19 February 2018.]

* KENYA: AL-SHABAAB RECRUITS LOCALS, KILLS CHRISTIANS

Somalia-based al-Qaeda affiliate, al-Shabaab has again targeted Christian school teachers in eastern Kenya. [For previous attack see RLPB 411 (21 Jun 2017)]. At 1a.m. on Friday 16 February suspected al-Shabaab gunmen raided the sleeping quarters of Qarsa Primary School in Wajir County (which borders Somalia). They shot dead Christian teachers Kevin Shari and Seth Oluoch Odada, who was killed with his wife, Caroline. Another Christian teacher was wounded. The insecurity is so great that the Teachers Service Commission is transferring non-local teachers from Wajir County to their home areas. As most teachers are Christians from outside the region, many schools are now facing closure. A local pastor told Morning Star News that area residents believe local Kenyans are joining al-Shabaab. 'I think these are the people who killed the three Christians,' he said. The Regional Commissioner said as much when he described the militants as 'our boys'. If al-Shabaab is recruiting local people to do their killings, the threat is dramatically increased as cross-border infiltration is no longer necessary. The same threat exists in the coastal south where al-Shabaab militants are known to be praying openly in local mosques and where Christians have been executed for their inability or refusal to recite the Islamic shahada (creed) [see RLPB 421 (30 Aug 2017)]. Please pray.

* PAKISTAN: BLASPHEMY LAW STRIKES AGAIN


Led by the new Barelvi party, Tehreek-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (LeT), [see RLPB 434 (29 Nov 2017)] hundreds of Muslims took to the streets of Lahore on Monday 19 February, threatening to burn the homes of Christians and demanding that police arrest Patras Masih (20), a Christian youth and resident of Dher Village in Shahdara Town area of Lahore, whom they accuse of posting a 'blasphemous' image to Facebook. As fear spread through the Christian community some 800 Christian families fled their homes. According to World Watch Monitor, the protesters dispersed only after the local police chief assured them that the accused had been arrested.

Protest in Karachi
video: World Watch Monitor

On Friday 23 February Patras' cousin, Sajid Masih (24) was summoned to the police station for questioning in relation to the case. During the interrogation, Sajid jumped out of the fourth floor window and sustained serious injuries including multiple fractures. Interviewed in hospital, Sajid claims the police beat him and Patras before trying to force him to commit a sex act on his cousin. To escape, Sajid jumped out of the window. The police claim Sajid jumped after the interrogators took his cell phone. They are charging him with the crime of attempting suicide. Whatever is the case, nobody jumps from a fourth floor window unless they are absolutely terrified and distressed beyond measure. Grave fears are held for the wellbeing of both Sajid and Patras Masih. Please pray.

* TURKEY: ISLAMO-TURKISH NATIONALISM BOILS

Turkish belligerence in northern Syria was matched this month by the Turkish government's threat to invade Greece, indeed to reclaim all the lands of the former Ottoman Empire. Fortunately though, while Turkey's President Erdogan might exude neo-Ottoman ambition and aggression, his depleted army cannot match his rhetoric. Whilst Turkey's neighbours need not fret, its ethnic and religious minorities have every reason to be anxious about the ever escalating Islamo-Turkish nationalism now threatening their continued existence. On 8 February Turkey's population registers were officially opened to the public via an online genealogy database. The demand was so great that the system quickly crashed and was not restored until 14 February. Many appealed for the database to remain closed for it threatens to reveal how many 'Turks' have European, Greek and even Armenian ancestry -- their ancestors having been forcibly Islamised and 'Turkified' before or during the Armenian Genocide. 'Pandora's Box' has been opened and, in this environment, it could prove explosive. Pray for the Church in Turkey.

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

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 443. Dagestan (Russia): terror strikes as tension boils

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 443 | Tue 20 Feb 2018

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) 

DAGESTAN (RUSSIA): TERROR STRIKES AS TENSION BOILS
by Elizabeth Kendal

click on map to enlarge

On Sunday evening 18 February local Christians gathered in Kizlyar's Russian Orthodox (RO) church to usher in the Eastern Orthodox Lent. The Sunday mass was the culmination of a week-long traditional pre-Lenten festival known as Maslenitsa. Then, terror struck. Father Pavel explains: 'We had finished the mass and were beginning to leave the church. A bearded man ran towards the church shouting "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is greatest) and killed four people. He was carrying a rifle and a knife.' To prevent the gunman getting inside, church members shut and barricaded the door. Police then shot the gunman dead. A fifth woman later died in hospital. A further four people were wounded, one seriously, including at least two policemen and one or two more Christian women. The gunman has been identified as Khalil Khalilov (22), a local Muslim from the Tarumovsky District of Dagestan.

Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility, identifying the gunman by his alleged 'nom de guerre', Khalil al-Dagestani and describing him as a 'soldier of the caliphate'. In a video subsequently released by pro-IS media, a man alleged to be the gunman appears dressed in what seems to be the same black vest and camouflage pants, his rifle and knife on display. Sitting cross-legged beside an IS flag, the masked man swears an oath of allegiance to IS.

Kizlyar (where the attack occurred) is located in Dagestan, a majority-Muslim republic in the volatile North Caucasus region of southern Russia. Whilst Dagestan is 90 percent Muslim, Kizlyar -- a town of some 50,000 people, located 170km northwest of Dagestan's capital, Makhachkala, near the border with Chechnya -- is around 40 percent ethnic Russian. In recent years multitudes of Chechnya's and Dagestan's unemployed and increasingly radicalised Muslim youths have travelled to Mesopotamia (Syria-Iraq) to engage in jihad. Known collectively as 'Chechens', jihadists from the North Caucasus are known for being especially fierce and highly skilled, many having been trained by former-Soviet military personnel. According to a recent study, some 3400 'Chechens' have fought with jihadist groups in Mesopotamia; of these, an estimated 400 have returned.

The North Caucasus region has long been a hive of jihadist activity. For decades, Russia has sought to pacify the region by delegating power to local authorities who are loyal to Moscow. This strategy has largely worked in Chechnya where, despite human rights abuses, overall security has improved and economic development has advanced. However, the strategy has failed in more ethnically diverse Dagestan where clan rivalries predominate over nationalism. In an effort to 'decriminalise' the republic and rein in its debt (caused mostly by embezzlement and fraud) Moscow has intervened, replacing clan heads with outsiders. Naturally, Dagestanis are split, with some protesting the intervention and others living in hope that it will ultimately work to improve security and facilitate development. One analyst comments that, since 5 February, Dagestan has come to resemble 'a disturbed anthill'. Doubtless purged officials, criminals and all who had profited from systemic corruption will furiously resist the intervention and be bent on revenge.

As journalist Anton Orech notes, lawless, out-of-control Dagestan has long been home to Russia's 'main Islamist cells' and the source of 'the biggest stream of people to ISIS'.  This is unsurprising, for it is well known that jihadist groups thrive in corrupt and lawless regions. Therefore, we should expect that jihadists too will furiously resist Moscow's intervention and seek to undermine it. It is quite possible that the terror attack on the RO church in Kizlyar was as much an attack on Moscow as on the Christian presence in Dagestan. It may also have been an attempt to trigger religious conflict around which IS could rally trans-national jihadists. Tensions are boiling and terror attacks may well escalate in direct proportion to Moscow's success at cleaning up the republic. 


PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR:

* the new administration installed in Dagestan; in particular for:

• Vladimir Vasilyev (68), the eminently qualified ethnic-Kazakh native Muscovite appointed by President Putin on 3 October to serve as Acting Head of Dagestan until elections can be held.
  
• Artem Vasilyev (39), the young former Minister of Economy of Tatarstan appointed by Vasilyev on 7 Feb to serve as Prime Minister over Dagestan's new government.  

May God be pleased to use the new administration to bring peace, justice, development and security to Dagestan so that the Gospel will advance and God will be glorified (see 1 Timothy 2:1-4); may resistance be minimal and may the way of the wicked come to ruin (Psalm 146:9).

* the Church in Dagestan -- Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant -- comprised of ethnic Russians and Muslim converts; in particular that:

• the Lord will pour out his grace on the church in Kizlyar, to bring comfort and peace to those who grieve and are fearful;
  
• Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts, will deploy his angelic forces to shield priests and churches (which are exposed) as well as lay-persons and house-churches throughout Dagestan as tensions escalate around them. 

'You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.' (Psalm 3:3 ESV)


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
-------------------------------------------------------
TERROR STRIKES AS TENSION BOILS IN DAGESTAN (RUSSIA)

On Sunday 18 February a local Islamic jihadi attacked Christians as they emerged from Kizlyar's Russian Orthodox church. They had been ushering in Lent when the gunman approached, cried 'Allahu Akbar' and opened fire. To keep the gunman outside, believers barricaded the church door while police shot the gunman dead. Four Christian women were killed instantly; a fifth died later in hospital. Four others were wounded. Islamic State claimed responsibility. More than 3400 Chechen and Dagestani Muslims have travelled to Syria for jihad; an estimated 400 have returned. The attack comes in the wake of an intervention from Moscow aimed at ending clan-based systemic corruption. One analyst likened Dagestan to 'a disturbed anthill'. A new administration has been installed; tensions are boiling. Please pray for Dagestan and its Church.

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

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 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.


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

RLPB 193. Chechnya (Russia): the long-suffering land

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 193 | Wed 16 Jan 2013

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CHECHNYA: THE LONG-SUFFERING LAND
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by guest writer, Anneta Vyssotskaia

Chechnya (or Chechen Republic) is part of the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation.  It is located in the Northern Caucasus mountains and borders several other Russian republics and regions: Ingushetia, Northern Ossetia, Dagestan and Stavropolskii. It borders Georgia on the south. The population of Chechnya is now about 1.4 million, over 95 percent of whom are Chechen. Its Russian population was almost 50 percent in 1960s but is now less than two percent. Chechnya became part of the Russian Empire in the mid-16th Century. By the early 19th Century a large community of Russian Cossacks had formed on the territory of modern Chechnya.

Since becoming part of the Russian Empire the Chechen people were almost constantly fighting for their independence, continuing into the Soviet period.  In 1944, by Stalin's decree, over half-a-million Chechen and Ingush people were deported forcefully from their land to Central Asia and Kazakhstan under most severe conditions and many perished during deportation. In 1957-58, during the time of Nikita Khrushchev, the Chechen people were allowed to return to their homeland. However, conflict started between the returning Chechen and the Russian population, especially in the area of the capital city, Grozny. Tensions grew after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This resulted in a series of armed conflicts and two wars, leaving behind multitudes of victims and refugees of different nationalities amongst the civilian population. In 2007 Ramzan Kadyrov became the President of the Chechen Republic with the support of the Russian government. In 2009 the Russian troops were withdrawn leaving Kadyrov in charge of Chechnya.

President Kadyrov supports traditional Sunni Islam, the main religion in Chechnya. This includes Sharia law, women wearing traditional Muslim clothes, polygamy and honour killings.  Starting in the early 1990s many Chechen people and especially the youth were influenced greatly by radical Islam.

During the Chechen wars many church buildings of different denominations were destroyed, the believers were kidnapped, killed, raped, beaten, tortured or had to flee the country for the sake of their lives. The Baptist church in Grozny once had 300 members but by 2001 there was only a tiny group of elderly widows, others who survived having left the country.

Amongst Chechens, Christianity is considered the religion of the Russian people. It is totally unacceptable for a Chechen to become a Christian or a follower of any other religion. If one family member chooses another religion it is a disgrace for the whole family and brings a lot of persecution on the new convert. Converts are considered to be 'murtad' or traitors of their own religion and people. There are some reports about Chechen people becoming Christians and even pastors and evangelists but they are mainly amongst those who live outside Chechnya. The individual Chechens who become Christians in Chechnya have to remain secret believers because of the threat to their lives.

It is very difficult to obtain reliable information on the overall number of believers and churches in Chechnya.  Information is available on the situation with Russian Orthodox churches of which there are several in Chechnya. During the last few years the Chechen government financed restoration of the Russian Orthodox churches destroyed during the Chechen wars. In 2011 the Russian Orthodox church performed a mass baptism of 35 people in the waters of the Terek River. In October 2012 there was a remarkable and significant event: the first full translation of the Bible into the Chechen language was presented to the participants of the Second Peacemaking conference in Grozny. This resulted from 15 years' translation work by the Institute of Bible Translation. Ominously, however, these advances are provoking escalating criticism and ruthless violence from radicalised Islamic extremists.

PLEASE THANK GOD SPECIFICALLY FOR --

* people who continue to seek truth and become followers of Jesus Christ in Chechnya despite all the persecution, asking him to provide his miraculous protection and cover for all his people in Chechnya.

* the individual faithful believers in Chechnya, praying for complete restoration of his Church there.

* the full translation of the Bible into the Chechen language, praying that he will reveal himself to many people in Chechnya through the Bible.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY --

* for peace and restoration of the country and God's healing for all who have been wounded physically and emotionally and that feelings of hatred and revenge will give way to forgiveness and a desire to live in peace.

* that God will raise up a new generation of children and young people who will wish and be able to build a new foundation for all people to live in peace and harmony in Chechnya, and see the importance of religious freedom and respect for people of different nationalities and religious views.

'My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, for people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me . . . with words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause.' (Psalm 109:1-3 NIV)

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SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN WHOLE ARTICLE:     
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CHECHNYA, THE LONG-SUFFERING LAND

The people of Chechnya have a long history of fighting for   independence. The collapse of the Soviet Union was followed by several armed conflicts and wars. President Ramzan Kadyrov strongly supports Sunni Islam, the country's main religion. However, many younger people have been strongly radicalised by  violent Islamist extremists. Christianity is considered the religion for Russians and any Chechen becoming a Christian would be treated as 'murtad' -- a traitor of Islam and Chechnya who should be killed. However, despite threats and difficulties, there are Christians amongst Chechen people, mostly secret believers or living outside Chechnya. Significantly, the first full Chechen translation of the Bible was introduced at a conference in Grozny, the capital, in October 2012. Please pray for God's protection of believers and the growth of his Church.

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The author of this RLPB, Anneta Vyssotskaia, is a religious liberty advocate with a particular concern for and involvement in Russia and the former USSR.

066. July Update; Incl. Kenya, Pakistan, Russia (Nth Caucasus), USA

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 066 | Wed 28 Jul 2010

'. . . let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, . . . looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame . . .' (Hebrews 12:1,2 ESV)

JULY 2010 UPDATE -- During July we prayed concerning . . .

INDONESIA / WEST JAVA, where Islamic fundamentalists in the Bekasi Regency on the outskirts of Jakarta have called for Sharia law to be enacted; for apostasy to cease, specifically conversions to Christianity; and for Muslims to be mobilised ready for jihad.

* UPDATE: On Monday 19 July public order personnel supported by Bogor police officers demolished a house in a village in Limusnunggal village, Bogor Regency, on the southern outskirts of Jakarta, because the Narogong Pentecostal Church had been worshipping there without a permit. Ten Christians were arrested after clashes erupted between police and distressed church members seeking to defend their church. The church had began meeting there in 2006, with the acceptance of local Muslims. However, in 2008 a group calling itself the Forum of the Muslim Brotherhood of Limusnanggal started mounting opposition. Church leaders believe the police simply gave in to pressure from the group. The church plans to take legal action against the Bogor administration.

EGYPT, where religious discrimination and persecution of Christians is escalating against Egypt's indigenous Christian Copts and an increasingly visible and therefore undeniable presence of converts from Islam. The whereabouts of converts Nagla al-Imam and her children are still unknown.

INDONESIA / PUNCUK JAYA, PAPUA, where Indonesian forces are 'sweeping' the Puncuk Jaya region of the Central Highlands, hunting for 'separatists', leaving behind them a trail of razed villages, dead livestock, burned and confiscated churches, and displaced and tortured Papuans.

* UPDATE: On 22 July, US defence secretary Robert Gates announced that the US will restore ties with Kopassus, Indonesia's notorious special forces known to have committed gross human rights violations in Papua, including the November 2001 political assassination of Theys Eluay. Doubtless the US is doing this to prevent China gaining a foothold in the region, but it is a no-win situation for the Papuans. At a Pacific Islands Forum summit meeting due to be held in Port Vila, Vanuatu, on 3-6 August, Vanuatu will support the indigenous Papuans' right to self-determination. The bipartisan motion was put to Vanuatu's Parliament after a petition of the people of Vanuatu called for a clear foreign policy on Papua.


JULY 2010 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . .

* KENYA: 4 AUG REFERENDUM COULD SPLIT CHURCHES AND TRIGGER VIOLENCE

Kenyan churches are united in their support for constitutional reform, but not in their support for the draft constitution that will go to a referendum on 4 August. Most churches are advocating a 'NO' vote because the draft constitution makes abortion more accessible; it entrenches Kadhi (Islamic) courts; and it advances ethnic federalism which many fear could trigger ethnic violence. Six died and over 100 were wounded on 13 June when a church-run 'NO' rally in Nairobi was bombed (see RLPB 060, 16 June 2010). The Kenyan government (and the US government) want the constitution passed. Some senior church figures advocating a 'YES' vote have called for Christians to boycott churches that 'peddle lies'. Church leaders in the 'NO' camp have received phone threats. A renegade 'pastor', John Kamau, and two accomplices were arrested on 17 July and charged with possessing explosive materials and for plotting to bomb a 'NO' campaign rally in Mombasa.

* PAKISTAN: ESCALATING CRISIS

Compass Direct reports that on 13 July Dr Abdul Jabbar Meammon and five other men beat, tortured and gang-raped Christian trainee nurse Magdalene Ashraf before attempting to kill her by throwing her from a window of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center. Whilst Magdalene has spoken to police and the Christian Lawyers Foundation, she is in a critical, life-threatening condition. Sharia law discriminates against women and against non-Muslims, meaning violent crimes of religious hatred may be committed with impunity. Such is the phenomenally vulnerable state of dhimmis. Brothers Rev Rashid Emmanuel (32) and Sajid Emmanuel (30) were shot dead on 19 July by five masked gunmen outside the Faisalabad courthouse. Their bodies showed signs of having been tortured in police custody. The brothers had been deliberately framed by predatory Muslims and falsely accused of blasphemy. Reportedly it was widely expected they would be exonerated as the evidence was clearly in their favour. However, Muslims had been demonstrating and calling for the death penalty.

* RUSSIA: PASTOR ASSASSINATED IN DAGESTAN, NORTH CAUCASUS

Pastor Artur Suleimanov (49), a convert from Islam, was assassinated on 15 July as he got into a car outside his Hosanna House of Prayer Church in Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan. He leaves behind a wife, Zina, five children, and one of the largest Protestant congregations in the Republic. It is not yet known whether Pastor Suleimanov was targeted by officials, Islamists or mafia, any of whom could have had issues with his Christian ministry. Dagestani authorities reportedly had recently become more hostile to the church's various humanitarian ministries. Meanwhile the Islamic insurgency continues to wreak havoc across the North Caucasus, with analysts commenting recently that Dagestan 'increasingly appears to be the new focal point of insurgent activity'. (The Jamestown Foundation, 18 June.)

* USA: TWO MORE CASES OF DISCRIMINATION SET PRECEDENTS

The University of Illinois sacked Professor Kenneth Howell on 9 July after he was accused of 'hate speech'. Professor Howell, a respected Christian who had been teaching at the university for nine years, offended a student from his class, 'Introduction to Catholicism and Modern Catholic Thought'. During the spring semester, he explained in an email to the student that according to Catholic doctrine, 'A homosexual orientation is not morally wrong just as no moral guilt can be assigned to any inclination that a person has. However, based on natural moral law, the Church believes that homosexual acts are contrary to human nature and therefore morally wrong.' The offended student complained and the professor was sacked. Meanwhile Jennifer Keeton (24), a graduate student pursuing a masters degree in school counselling at Augusta State University, has been told she will be dismissed from the program unless she is prepared to alter her 'central religious beliefs' concerning homosexuality. Miss Keeton, a Christian, has been ordered into a 'remediation' program and to undergo 'diversity training' where supposedly she will be 'sensitised'.

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 033 | Wed 02 Dec 2009

RUSSIA: JIHAD, TERROR, TENSIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Back in December 2001, al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri identified Afghanistan and Chechnya as key to the jihadist cause. Regarding Chechnya, he noted that control of the North Caucasus would give al-Qaeda's Sunni jihadists a 'mujahid Islamic belt' from the Mediterranean through Turkey and the pan-Turkic regions of the Black and Caspian Seas into Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as Xingjiang in western China.

Terrorism has surged across the North Caucasus this year, particularly in Ingushetia (see RLPB 030, 11 Nov 2009), doubtless being energised by the Taliban - al-Qaeda ascendency in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In May 2009 Dokka Abu Usman, the self-proclaimed 'Emir of Mujahideen of Caucasus Emirate', declared, 'This year will be our offensive year.' In August the pro-jihadist Kavkaz Centre published a letter from the 'Riyad-us-Saliheen Martyrs Battalion' citing the 'Mujahideen of Caucasus Emirate' decision at the start of the year to launch an 'economic war' involving 'industrial sabotage' inside Russia. Accordingly 'Riyad-us-Saliheen' was claiming responsibility for the 17 August 2009 'martyrdom operation in Nazran' against the Interior Ministry as well as a 'major subversive action in Russia, disabling the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydro-electric dam' the same day. The dam breach which flooded the machine room, killing 75 RusHydro workers and shutting down Russia's largest hydro-electric power station, was an accident due to ageing Soviet infrastructure, according to Moscow. However, the jihadists claimed to have sabotaged the dam using an anti-tank mine.

Russia has suffered numerous terrorist attacks on infrastructure this year. In late November, terrorists perpetrated a series of attacks on infrastructure in the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria (KB), including bombing an electricity substation. A plot to blow up KB's Aushiger Hydropower Plant fortunately was foiled as it would have inundated the villages of Aushiger, Urvan and possibly others (Eurasia Daily Monitor 19 Nov 09). On the night of 27 November terrorists sabotaged the busy railway line between Moscow and St Petersburg, derailing the luxury Nevsky Express, killing at least 26 and wounding around 100. The main suspect, Pavel Kosolapov, is a former Russian soldier who converted to Islam in the 1990s and joined the mujahideen. On 30 November an explosion in Dagestan tore apart the railway line between Baku (Azerbaijan) and the Siberian town of Tyumen (Russia). The on-coming train fortunately just skidded for 150 metres and nobody was hurt.

As reported in last week's RLPB 032, Russian Orthodox priest Rev Daniil Sysoyev (34) -- a courageous missionary to Muslims and well known public critic of Islam -- was assassinated in his church on 19 November. Religious tensions are rising. Some 23 million Muslims make up 16 percent of Russia's 144 million population, although only around one-third of them (7-8 million) are observant. However, with swelling Muslim immigration they are projected to be a majority by 2050. When the USSR broke up in 1991 the Russian Federation's borders dissolved, opening the region up to infiltration by Islamic fundamentalists and jihadists, including veterans of the Afghan jihad. Before then, Russia's Muslims were mostly secular and Russianised. Though the Islamic jihad is causing pain and religious tension, it is also causing widespread disillusionment amongst Muslims. On 1 November 2005 Interfax reported that whilst some 2000-5000 ethnic Russians had converted to Islam, about 2 million Russian Muslims had converted to Christianity. According to the report, the Muslims who convert to Christianity are mostly disillusioned with Islam and attracted to Russia's Orthodox Christian culture. According to Roman Silantyev of Russia's Inter-Religious Council, this process is 'accelerated due to extremist activities'. Silantyev notes the Beslan terror attack (September 2004) caused the Muslim population of North Osettia to decrease by at least 30 percent and to halve in Beslan itself. 'As even Muslim sources confirm,' Silantyev stated, 'after each terrorist action, thousands and maybe even dozens of thousands of ethnic Muslims adopt baptism.'

Map: Muslims of Russia

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:

* be a refuge and sanctuary for his people as terrorism escalates across the North Caucasus and into the Russian heartland; may multitudes focus their eyes on Jesus Christ and grow in faith and maturity (James 1:2-4).

* work mightily by his Spirit in the Russian Church for widespread reformation and revival, resulting in glowing holiness ('shining as lights', Philippians 2:15), courageous faith and spiritual unity.

* raise up and send out more workers for his Russian harvest. (Luke 10:2)

* turn the tide in Russia so that as the ethnic Muslim population grows so too will the rate at which Russian Muslims turn to Christ; may terrorism be an opportunity for witness rather than causing tension.

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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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JIHAD, TERROR, TENSIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN RUSSIA

With the Taliban - al-Qaeda ascendancy in Afghanistan-Pakistan, terrorism has recently escalated across the region. On 27 November 2009 the bombing of the Moscow - St Petersburg railway line, which derailed the Nevsky Express and killed dozens, brought terrorism back right into the Russian heartland. Before the USSR collapsed most of Russia's ethnic Muslims were secular and Russianised. But as the borders dissolved in 1991, jihadist fundamentalist Islam flooded in. However, ethnic Muslims are now reportedly converting to Christianity at a phenomenal rate, mostly due to their disillusionment with Islam and their preference for Russia's Orthodox Christian culture. As religious tensions rise because of increased terrorism, please pray for reformation and revival in the Church, that religious liberty will be preserved and that many more Muslims will turn to Christ.

030. Nth Caucasus (Sth Russia): church struggles amidst terror

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 030 | Wed 11 Nov 2009

NORTH CAUCASUS (southern Russia): CHURCH STRUGGLES AMIDST TERROR

The Caucasus Mountains stretch from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea. Running along the ridge is the western edge of Russia's southern border. To the south lie Azerbaijan and Iran on the Caspian Sea, as well as Georgia and Turkey on the Black Sea. The Russian republics north of the border are known as the North Caucasus. From east to west they are Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygea and have been part of the Russian Empire for more than 200 years. Historically they have been populated by various non-Slavic secular and 'folk'-Muslims, including Turkic, Indo-Iranian, Ingush, Chechens and Circassians.

The break up of the Soviet Union in 1991 was orchestrated by megalomaniacs promoting ethnic separatism for personal gain (i.e. by men wanting to be presidents). The Republic of Chechnya was fiercely contested. Whilst Chechnya failed to gain independence, it did gain the attention of the international Islamic jihadist movement which recognised it as an opportunity not to be missed! By 1998-99, al-Qaeda-linked jihadists had totally hijacked the separatist struggle, a common jihadi strategy. They aim to establish an Islamic state of high geo-strategic significance stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, through Abkhazia, an ethnically cleansed, Abkhaz Muslim, self-declared independent province in Georgia. The jihadists, many of them foreigners, not only dragged the Chechens and Dagestanis into a new war; they also set about Arabising and Islamising the Muslim population, most Slavs having already largely fled the earlier ethnic conflict. The locals were divided: whilst some were recruited to the fundamentalist jihadists' trans-national cause, anti-Wahhabist nationalists and others resisted and turned to Moscow for help. President Ramzan Kadyrov's heavy hand in Chechnya has forced the terrorists, now fighting under the black flag of the 'Caucasus Emirate', to shift the focus of their jihad from Chechnya to neighbouring Ingushetia.

In May 2009, Dokka Abu Usman, the 'Emir of Mujahideen of Caucasus Emirate', declared, 'This year will be our offensive year.' In just the northern summer of 2009 there were 462 violent incidents recorded in the North Caucasus compared with some 265 in the whole of 2008. A week does not go by in Ingushetia without civilians being killed and maimed in terror attacks and assassinations. On 17 August a popular Islamic preacher named Said Abu Saad al-Buryati drove his bomb-laden car into the police headquarters in Nazran, capital of Ingushetia, killing 25 and wounding up to 260. Said al-Buryati had a Christian mother and came from the Buddhist autonomous region of Buryat in eastern Siberia. He converted to Islam as a teenager and was later radicalised for jihad at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. He said he was in Ingushetia to kill 'apostates and infidels . . . who oppose Islam'.

Complicating the situation, the North Caucasus Moscow-backed administrations are not only riddled with corruption, their security forces are not too careful about how they deal with jihadists. This approach -- akin to tackling a cancer wishfully and wildly with a hammer rather than specifically and surgically with a scalpel -- is only adding to the pain, fear and anger already permeating the impoverished population. Furthermore, these Muslims belong to a warrior culture with a tradition of blood-feud. Their suffering at the hands of local authorities makes them ripe for picking by jihadist recruiters.

Amidst this escalating terror and threat is a church that needs our prayers. The remnant Russian Orthodox Church is ethnic and closely associated with Moscow and the Russian army. The Protestants are mostly Baptist and some Pentecostals. Protestant fellowships are missional, despite the risks, and ethnically mixed: mostly Russian, but also Caucasians, including some converts from Islam. In some places, particularly in Chechnya, jihadists have totally eliminated the Christian presence. There are few Protestants in North Ossetia, the only 'Christian' province in the North Caucasus, where the trauma of the Beslan terror attack in September 2004 still runs deep. The churches of the North Caucasus are generally very small, highly vulnerable, greatly at risk, and heavily burdened in a dark region too dangerous for foreign missionaries.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:

* bring revival to the Russian Orthodox Church so that she will truly be an instrument of light, grace and hope in the midst of darkness, hatred and trauma.

* empower, embolden, encourage and protect all who courageously preach the Good News in the North Caucasus, that their gospel message will be blessed with effectual saving power. 'Lord . . . enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. (Acts 4:29,30)'

* reveal himself to Russian Muslims across the nation and abroad, for Russia's hope is Christ. (Experts project that if trends continue Russia will be majority Muslim by 2050, and Russia's largely conscript Army will be majority Muslim by 2015.)

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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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CHURCH STRUGGLES AMIDST TERROR IN RUSSIA'S NORTH CAUCASUS

Struggling amidst all the terror and trauma of the Islamic jihad and the counter-insurgency in Russia's North Caucasus region (between the Caspian and Black Seas) is a church that is highly vulnerable and heavily burdened. As the jihad intensifies, the future of the North Caucasus, including its tenuous grip on religious freedom, is in the balance. The jihadists are al-Qaeda-linked, foreign-backed Wahhabists who include many foreigners. Fighting under the black flag of the 'Caucasus Emirate', they have escalated their war dramatically through the northern summer of 2009. In Ingushetia a week does not go by without civilians being killed and maimed in terrorist attacks. Unfortunately the counter-insurgency is just as indiscriminately bloody. Please pray for the churches of the North Caucasus.