RLPB 162. Nigeria & Sudan: Jihad & Genocide (plus Tunisia)

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 162 | Wed 06 Jun 2012

NIGERIA & SUDAN: JIHAD AND GENOCIDE (Plus Tunisia)
By Elizabeth Kendal

NIGERIA: BOKO HARAM'S JIHAD

At least 15 people were killed and more than 40 seriously wounded on Sunday 3 June when a Boko Haram suicide bomber rammed his car into the checkpoint outside the Living Faith Church in the Yelwa Tudu area of Bauchi metropolis. The blast, that occurred around 9:20am, sent fire and shrapnel burning and slicing through believers who were chatting outside after the church's first worship service. The explosion also rocked Harvest Field Church 25m away  across the road, causing part of the building to collapse on worshippers. The death toll is likely to rise, as some believers are still unaccounted for and many of the wounded are severely burned. The Islamic jihadist sect, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility. The Pastor of Harvest Church, Mbamingo Godia, has asked Christians not to retaliate in any way but pray to God for peace.

Increasingly Christians in Northern Nigeria are attending worship behind barricades and checkpoints constantly reminding them that jihadists are plotting to eliminate them. Attending worship is done at great risk. A photo obtained by Compass Direct News shows a little girl lying on the ground, covered in blood. Furthermore Muslim mobs are persisting with organised night raids against Christian communities. By murdering Christians in their beds the Muslims aim to instil terror and trigger an exodus that will have the effect of ethnic-religious cleansing. Their primary aim, however, is to pressure the government into acquiescing to their demand for Sharia (Islamic) Law. The murderous night raids have Qur'anic precedent: '. . . Our punishment came to them at night or while they were sleeping at noon.' (Sura 7:4) The National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has declared Saturday 16 June a day of national prayer and fasting for the country.  (Add this date to your diary so we might all pray in solidarity.)

SUDAN: KHARTOUM'S NUBA GENOCIDE

Khartoum's genocide against the non-Arab, non-Muslims of the 'New South' (Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile) has been raging for over a year now and shows no sign of abating. Film footage obtained by Al-Jazeera in late March shows the governor of South Kordofan, the indicted war criminal Ahmed Harun, addressing his soldiers before deployment to Nuba territory. 'You must hand over the place clean,' he says. 'Swept, rubbed, crushed. Don't bring them back alive. We have no space for them.' An army commander standing near Harun then adds, 'Don't bring them back, eat them alive.' (Al-Jazeera, 1 April) This is clearly a call to genocide.

According to the medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres, up to 4,000 people are fleeing into South Sudan every day to escape fighting in Sudan's Blue Nile province, with around 100,000 refugees already in camps across the border in South Sudan's Upper Nile State.

Further to this, famine is starting to set in for the displaced Nuba of South Kordofan. Some 38,000 Nuba refugees have fled over the border into South Sudan's Unity State. Yida refugee camp, which already holds 35,000 refugees, is bracing for an influx as refugees desperately trying to cross the border before the rains make travel impossible. Meanwhile, Khartoum continues its aerial bombardment of refugees and its blockade of humanitarian aid. Reporting from the Nuba Mountains, Nicholas Kristoff says (2 June) that around 800,000 Nuba have completely run out of food in South Kordofan, while some 50,000 are attempting the trek to Yida. However, starvation is taking its toll, with many travellers simply too weak to complete the journey. Samaritan's Purse reports that at least ten percent of the children arriving at Yida are acutely malnourished. Amjuma Ali Kuku, a teacher, says the camp is presently caring for some 2,000 unaccompanied children.

Why is this genocide attracting no attention? Is it because this genocide is an openly declared Islamic jihad and talking about it would risk being politically incorrect? Well, a genocidal Islamic jihad it is! And while the world looks away, hundreds of thousands of predominantly Christian Africans are being deliberately starved to death by the racist, Arab supremacist, Islamic regime in Khartoum.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL --

• supernaturally draw the hearts of his people to him so that in their despair and desperation they might look to him for all things without losing heart, without losing faith; may he supply all their needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
   
• rupture all supply lines feeding weapons, funds and fighters into the various African jihads.
  ' . . . in the name of the LORD I cut them off!' (Psalm 118:10b,11b,12c)
   
• rise up in wrath and indignation, in justice and righteousness, against the wicked and arrogant regime of Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum. (Pray Psalm 10.)

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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NIGERIA & SUDAN: JIHAD AND GENOCIDE

At least 15 people were killed and more than 40 seriously wounded on Sunday 3 June when a Boko Haram suicide bomber rammed his car into the checkpoint outside Living Faith Church in Bauchi city. The blast also rocked Harvest Field Church opposite, causing part of the building to collapse on worshippers. Also Christians are still being murdered by Muslim mobs in night raids throughout Northern Nigeria. In Sudan, meanwhile, the genocidal Islamic jihad being waged by the regime in Khartoum against the non-Arab, non-Muslim citizens of its 'New South' (Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile) advances unchallenged by the international community. Hundreds of thousands of predominantly Christian African Sudanese have flooded into South Sudan while hundreds of thousands more await death by forced starvation. Please pray for God to intervene.

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BREAKING NEWS: TUNISIA.

Not too long ago Tunisia was regarded as the most open, free and progressive of all Arab states. Yet recently released graphic footage filmed in Tunisia and aired on 'Egypt Today', shows a young male convert to Christianity being beheaded by Islamic militants. The militants recite the Qur'an and chant Islamic slogans and curses in Arabic while the 'apostate' -- who has refused to recant and is resigned to his fate -- remains still, quietly mouthing a prayer. Pray for those who have to live with the results of the 'Arab Spring'. (Middle East Forum, 4 June)

136. Nov. Update; Incl. Burma, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, India, Nepal, Vietnam.

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 136 | Wed 30 Nov 2011 By Elizabeth Kendal We must understand the times in which we live (Luke 12:54-56): persecution is escalating at an alarming rate. So: 'Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.' (Ephesians 6:18b NLT) NOVEMBER 2011 UPDATE -- During November we prayed concerning . . . BURMA (RLPB 132), where ethnic Kachin Christians are being driven from their lands behind a smokescreen of mini-'reforms'. UPDATE: KACHIN IMPERILED; BURMA REWARDED. Ten people were killed (all children) and 27 were injured on Sunday evening 13 November when a parcel bomb was thrown into an orphanage in Myitkyinar, Kachin State, during a study. The owner-manager of the orphanage, Dayaung Tangoon, was away travelling with Christian pastors at the time. Though Tangoon, a leader in the Kachin community, lost a son, a daughter and grandchild in the attack, he was arrested. Meanwhile the 27 wounded, including Tangoon's wife, are in hospital, barred from receiving visitors. Furthermore, the regime is deploying chemical weapons against the Kachin. Residents of Mai Ja Yang village recently fled their homes reporting toxic and caustic 'yellow rain'. Likewise, residents fleeing Prang Ngawn village in western Kachin also reported that a plane had delivered 'yellow rain' to their village. On 17 November the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced that Myanmar (Burma) will chair ASEAN in 2014. Pray for the besieged Christian Kachin of northern Burma. NIGERIA (RLPB 133), where the al-Qaeda-linked terror group Boko Haram, which wants Nigeria run as an Islamic State, is escalating its campaign of terror against Christian, educational and democratic institutions across the north. UPDATE 1: BOKO HARAM STRIKES IN YOBE STATE. On Saturday 26 November Boko Haram unleashed another wave of terror, this time targeting Geidam Local Government Area, Yobe State (north-east Nigeria). Armed with Kalashnikov rifles and explosives, the militants bombed Geidam police station, freeing suspects and looting the armoury before rampaging through the town, robbing a bank and looting a shopping complex. They torched numerous businesses, an abandoned beer parlour, a court, the local government secretariat and at least eight churches. Four police were killed. When claiming responsibility for terrorising Geidam -- -- the hometown of the Yobe state governor Ibrahim Geidam -- Boko Haram warned: 'Until all our members in detention are released and the Yobe state government stops intimidating and harassing our members we will continue carrying out attacks in the state.' UPDATE 2: MUSLIMS MASSACRE CHRISTIANS IN PLATEAU STATE. Compass Direct News reports that Fulani Muslim herdsmen, backed by Muslim soldiers, recently killed 45 ethnic Berom Christians around the town of Barkin Ladi in Plateau State. After accusing the Berom Christians of stealing cattle, the Fulani Muslims started randomly killing Christians: three on 20 November, two on 21st and another beheaded on 22nd. On Wednesday 23rd the Muslims attacked a church in Barkin Ladi, killing four Christians. The next day, straight after the morning call to prayer, hundreds of armed Muslims joined forces in a major assault. Chanting 'Allahu akbar' (Allah is great) they massacred nine Christians in Barkin Ladi and 26 Christians in nearby Kwok village. Please pray for the Church in Nigeria. SUDAN (RPLB 134), where genocidal ethnic cleansing continues in the north (in South Kordofan and Blue Nile) while an oil war looms over South Sudan, threatening to engulf not only the whole nation but the wider region. UGANDA (RLPB 135), which is launching a fresh offensive against the LRA, assisted by 100 US Special Forces troops. It is urgent that we pray for a spiritual breakthrough so that multitudes of the LRA -- most of whom are just kidnapped, traumatised, brainwashed children -- might be spiritually and physically freed to leave the LRA for rehabilitation. Pray for the religious leaders who are working to this end, especially for the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative. Pray that Ugandan Christians will unite across tribal lines to address historic injustices and inequity, for the sake of long-lasting peace and for the glory of God. NOVEMBER 2011 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . . 'ARAB SPRING': ISLAMIST POWER RISES ACROSS NORTH AFRICA 1) TUNISIA: EVIDENCE OF RADICAL IDEOLOGY SLIPS OUT Last month, Tunisia's Islamist, long-banned Ennahda party emerged victorious winning 89 of 217 assembly seats in the first election of the 'Arab Spring'. Ennahda has been striving to present itself as 'moderate'. Yet on 13 November Tunisia's new Prime Minister, Ennahda's Hamadi Jebali, told a rally, 'My brothers, you are at a historic moment in a new cycle of civilisation, God willing. We are in a sixth caliphate, God willing.' With a Hamas MP by his side, Jebali declared that 'the liberation of Tunisia will, God willing, bring about the liberation of Jerusalem'. When this upset his prospective coalition partners, Jabali simply said his words had been misunderstood and taken out of context.('Moderate' and jihadist Islamists have the same radical goal and differ only regarding tactics.) Pray for the Church in Tunisia. 2) MOROCCO: ISLAMISTS WIN ELECTIONS Last week Morocco's Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) emerged victorious, winning 107 of 395 assembly seats in the second election of the 'Arab Spring'. Though being lauded in the West as 'moderate', the PJD is the political wing of the Uniqueness and Reform movement which represents the Muslim Brotherhood in Morocco. Earlier this year, as the Middle East simmered in discontent, Morocco's ruling elite lessened the risk of mass revolt by enacting constitutional 'reforms'. According to the new constitution, Morocco is no longer a 'unitary sovereign state', but a 'Muslim sovereign state'. And whilst clause three of the preamble was amended to include the goal of 'deepening the sense of belonging to the Arab-Islamic umma [nation/community]', clause two of article 25 that guaranteed the 'freedom of conscience' was dropped entirely. Of the Moroccans who voted, 98.5 percent approved the constitutional amendments. Pray for the Church in Morocco. 3) EGYPT: MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD RISING Egyptians are now voting in what is the third election of the 'Arab Spring'. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood's long-banned Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is widely expected to do well in a three-stage legislative election that began on Monday 28 November and concludes in January. There have been numerous reports of vote-buying and religious sloganeering. Christians are mostly voting for the Egyptian Bloc list headed by the liberal Free Egyptians Party, which is strongly opposed to the FJP. They are anxious about the future. If Islamist power rises in Egypt, the Copts will be in a very vulnerable situation indeed. Even now the media, the army, the Salafists and masses of radicalised 'loyal' Muslims are ready to subjugate the Copts as dhimmis under Islam. According to Islam, any resistance to dhimmitude may be met with jihad (slaughter). Pray for the Church in Egypt. --------------- * INDIA: PERSECUTION RAMPANT IN KARNATAKA (south-west India) Since coming under the rule of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2008, persecution of Christians has escalated in Karnataka. On Saturday 26 November members of the Bethel Ministry Church were praying together in a home on the outskirts of Kushalnagar village, Karnataka, when a mob of Hindu militants burst in. After accusing the Christians of engaging in forced conversions, the militants called the police who came and arrested a Mrs Janakiyamma, taking her to Madikeri Prison. This is the 41st case of anti-Christian persecution officially registered in Karnataka this year. Two other church groups were attacked in Karnataka during the month, both in the district of Hassan. On 12 November six members of the Ministry of Bethel Church were attacked as they waited for a bus after attending a prayer service. The militants beat the believers and marched them off to the police station where they were subsequently placed under arrest. After an intervention by the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) three women and a child were released but the men are still imprisoned. The next day Pastor Nagaraj, of the Church of Immanuel Prarthanalaya in Arkalgud, had just started the Sunday service when a mob of Hindu militants stormed the church and began tearing up Bibles. When the police arrived they arrested the pastor and three believers who are still in prison. This is India! Pray for the Church in India. * NEPAL: RELIGIOUS LIBERTY UNDER ATTACK A crude bomb exploded in Thapathali, Kathmandu, on 22 November, outside the offices of United Mission in Nepal (UMN), a Christian non-governmental organisation (NGO) that has been working to relieve poverty in Nepal since 1954. A second bomb was disarmed. No one was injured. Police found leaflets at the site from the Nepal Defense Army (NDA), a militant Hindu nationalist group that has targeted Christians previously. The leaflets accused the UMN of converting Hindus to Christianity. Then on the following Sunday, 27 November, a suspicious parcel was discovered outside the Assemblies of God Navajiwan Church in central Kathmandu. The police bomb squad who defused the bomb said it contained three powerful explosives that would have done considerable damage had the bomb exploded. Meanwhile, on 22 Nov, two Christian brothers, Panchman Tamang and Buddhiman, were violently assaulted and expelled from their predominantly Buddhist village in Sindhupalchowk district, north of Kathmandu near the border with Tibet. On Instead of defending religious liberty, the government is appeasing the belligerent by drafting anti-conversion laws. Pray for the Church in Nepal. * VIETNAM: EXTREME VIOLENCE WITH IMPUNITY Leaders of the 2200-member Agape Baptist Church (ABC) -- a house church network near Hanoi -- were violently assaulted on Sunday 13 November, Compass Direct News reports. They were meeting in Lai Tao village, Bot Xuyen commune, My Duc district at the home of evangelist Nguyen Thi Lan, a former Communist Party (female) official who recently converted to Christianity. Unhappy about conversions in the village, the gang of over a dozen local thugs (including plain-clothed police) burst in savagely beating the leaders while looting and ransacking the home. Nine pastors and other church leaders along with several of their teenage children sustained serious injuries. Most critically injured was Pastor Nguyen Danh Chau who was unconscious for several hours. When ABC head Nguyen Cong Thanh visited on 15 November he said, 'All they could do was weep, and I also could not prevent my tears from flowing.' With local hospitals proving reluctant to aid the pastors, ABC eventually evacuated the most critically wounded to a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Nguyen Thi Lan and Pastor Nguyen Danh Chau have suffered potentially crippling injuries. No one has been arrested and the gang is threatening to kill Nguyen Thi Lan if she ever returns. The impunity granted to the persecutors guarantees that persecution will only escalate. Pray for the Church in Vietnam. ----------------------------- To subscribe to the RLPB mailing list, send a blank email to join-rlpb@hub.xc.org

131. Oct Update; incl. Papua (Eastern Indonesia), Libya, Malaysia, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Somalia, Sudan

By Elizabeth Kendal

OCTOBER 2011 UPDATE -- During October we prayed for . . .

IRAN (RLPB 128), where repression is escalating and Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who has been sentenced to death for apostasy, awaits the 'opinion' of the supreme leader Ayatolla Ali Khamenei. Please continue in prayer. Any resolution will be posted to Religious Liberty Monitoring.

RUSSIA (RLPB 129), where proposed amendments to the Law on the Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations (1997) threaten to impact non-Russian Orthodox denominations negatively and significantly restrict religious freedom.

EGYPT (RLPB 130), where Copts are reeling from the 9 October Maspero Massacre, when Egyptian security forces attacked Coptic Christians (and sympathetic Muslims) who were peacefully protesting against religious discrimination. Twenty-six people -- mostly Christians -- were killed and over 300 were wounded as the army beat, shot and drove armoured vehicles into the protesters whom they abused as 'infidels' and 'sons of dogs'. The military has assumed control of the investigation. The Copts are the indigenous people of Egypt and the descendants of the Pharaohs. The Copts have been Christian for 2000 years. A full report is available on Religious Liberty Monitoring.


OCTOBER 2011 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . .

* INDONESIA: DEATHS IN PAPUA (formerly Irian Jaya)

Some 5000 Papuans from across the Eastern Indonesian province gathered in Jayapura for the third Papuan Congress from 17 to19 October, its 50th anniversary. The Congress opened with prayers and included several church leaders amongst the speakers, including Rev Benny Giay, Rev Socrates S Yoman and Rev Yemima Krey. By 8am on 19 October the streets were lined with some 3100 military and police officers wearing full combat gear and holding assault rifles. Armoured vehicles and police trucks were also out in force. As in past Papuan Congresses (1961 & 2000), a declaration of independence was read and the Morning Star flag raised. The police responded by storming the Congress ostensibly to put down the 'coup'. More than 300 Papuans were arrested, dozens wounded and six killed. The Melanesian Christian Papuans seek an end to the racial-religious discrimination and persecution they suffer at the hands of Javanese Muslims and the Indonesian government. Please pray. (For extended reports, see Religious Liberty Monitoring: 26 Oct 2011 & 10 Nov 2011.)

* LIBYA: SHARIA TO RULE NEW LIBYA

On Monday 24 October, National Transitional Council leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil declared Libya to be 'liberated'. Operating free of any democratic constraints, Jalil also declared that the law against polygamy will be repealed (bad news for women), Islamic banking will be adopted (bad news for the economy) and Sharia (Islamic) Law will form the basis for all Libyan law (bad news for all who desire religious liberty). As has happened in Iraq and Afghanistan, any concession to religious freedom will be rendered void by the supremacy of Sharia which prohibits fitna (anything that could shake the faith of a Muslim), especially proselytism (Christian witness), blasphemy (criticising Islam) and apostasy (leaving Islam). Please pray for the Church in Libya.

* MALAYSIA: ISLAMISTS DEMAND END TO APOSTASY

On 3 August Islamic religious leaders and police raided the church of Pastor Daniel Ho, ostensibly to prevent 'apostasy'. Whilst Muslims were present, the meeting was actually a dinner for people involved in the church's welfare programmes, including single mothers and HIV/AIDS victims. The raid caused a stir in Malaysia. On Saturday 22 October an Islamist non-government organisation, with permission from the ruling Umno and police, held an anti-apostasy rally in Shah Alam on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. An estimated 5000 slogan-chanting Muslims attended, though the organisers had hoped for a million. BN-Umno (which rules, but with a greatly reduced majority) doubtless supported the event hoping to dragnet the Muslim vote. This can only embolden Malaysia's intolerant Islamist forces.

* TUNISIA: ISLAMISTS EMERGE VICTORIOUS

Tunisia's once-banned Islamist 'Ennahda' party has claimed victory in the first democratic elections of the 'Arab Spring'. Ennahda party officials have said they are prepared to form an alliance with two left-wing secularist parties, the Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol. Early results indicate that Ennahda will win more than 40 percent of the 217 seats. The anti-Islamist Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) will lead the opposition. Ennahda leader, Rachid Ghannouchi, recently returned from 22 years in exile in the UK. Prior to the elections, the formerly-banned party opened offices across the nation and flooded it with fliers, though where the funding came from is unclear. The Ennahda-dominated national assembly will have one year to draft a new constitution. Pray for tolerance and religious freedom to survive in the new Tunisia.

ALSO --

* KAZAKHSTAN: On 13 October President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed into law two amendments that will effectively repress all non-officially sanctioned expression of religion. The new laws came in to force on 24 October. (See RLPB 127, 29 Sep 2011).

* MALDIVES: Any lingering hopes for reform may be discarded as Maldivian authorities expel an Indian teacher accused of spreading Christianity after he was found with a Bible in his house. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs is signalling its intention to enforce fully the Protection of Religious Unity Act (1994) which bans the promotion of any religion other than Islam or any opinion that disagrees with Islamic scholars. This is the result when reformists hold power only by means of alliances with Islamists as it gives Islamists the balance of power, the most powerful position.

* SOMALIA: It was recently reported that Guled Jama Muktar, a 17-year-old Somali Christian, was kidnapped from his home and beheaded by al-Shabaab militants in Hudur City in south-western Somalia last month. After quickly burying their son, Guled's parents, also Christians, fled for their lives. Nobody has heard from them.

* SUDAN: On 12 October the president of Sudan, Omar el-Bashir, announced that Sudan will go ahead with plans to adopt an entirely Islamic constitution and strengthen Islamic law. Meanwhile authorities in Omdurman, on the Nile River opposite Khartoum, have threatened to demolish three churches in the Madinat al Fath area if they continue to conduct worship services. One Christian leader told Compass Direct News he fears that 'evil plans' are being directed against the churches and against Christianity in Sudan. The Islamic jihad continues in South Kordofan and Blue Nile where the SPLM-North is fighting for the survival of the Christians and non-Arabs of Sudan's 'new south'. Humanitarian corridors remain closed.

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Please join with multitudes around the world for International Day of Prayer (IDOP) for the Persecuted Church on 13 November 2011 .

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
(Psalm 121:1,2 ESV)

096. February Update. Incl. Afghanistan, Indonesia, Macedonia

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 096 | Wed 23 Feb 2011

By Elizabeth Kendal

Let those who fear the LORD say, 'His steadfast love endures forever.' (Psalm 118: 4 ESV)

FEBRUARY 2011 UPDATE -- During February we prayed for . . .

ARAB STREET, where minority Christians wait to see what will emerge out of the chaos.

* UPDATE (1): POLISH PRIEST MURDERED IN TUNISIA. On Friday18 February Tunisia's caretaker government approved a general amnesty of political prisoners, some 2,500 of whom were convicted under the former regime's tough anti-terrorism laws. The same day Polish priest Father Marek Rybinski (34), missing for several days, was found dead in a garage at the Salesian school in the Manouba district of Tunisia where he had worked since 2007. No group has yet claimed responsibility and the government is reporting the slaying as a crime of 'fascist terrorists'. Motivated by the brutal murder of Father Rybinski, around 15,000 pro-secular Tunisians rallied in Tunis last Saturday 19 February. Waving banners bearing slogans such as 'Jews, Christians, Muslims: all Tunisians', they called for Tunisia to remain secular and tolerant. The battle for Tunisia has begun.

* UPDATE (2): UNRELENTING VIOLENCE AGAINST COPTS IN EGYPT. On 8 February in Elias Hanna, Minya Province, where there is no church for some 600 Copts, a mob of around 80 Muslims attacked a small group of Copts praying together in a house owned by the Diocese, injuring five. In Rafah (near Gaza) the Church of St George was torched on 16 February. Walls left standing bore graffiti saying, 'No to Christians in Muslim Land.' The next day Christians in El-Hathatah, Minya Province, huddled together inside Saint George's Church as Muslims surrounded and stoned the building. Police did not respond to calls for help, leaving Coptic youths to defend the property. On 18 February Islamic militants broke into the home of the Coptic building contractor who built St Mary and St Michael church in Talbiya. After scrawling 'Islam is the solution' and 'The Church has to be demolished' across the walls, they abducted his 18-year-old daughter, Nesma Sarwat.

ETHIOPIA, where the federal government, due to ethnic federalism, seems unwilling or unable to intervene as Christians living in majority Muslim autonomous regions suffer rising levels of Islamic intolerance, violence and imposition of Sharia Law.

INDIA, where the dangerous ideology of fascist Hindutva (radical, militant Hindu nationalism) advances unchallenged.

* UPDATE: HINDU NATIONALISTS REAP REWARDS IN MADHYA PRADESH. As reported in RLPB 095, the combined Hindu nationalist forces, the Sangh Parivar, held a social kumbh in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, over 10-12 February. Christianity was vilified and Christian 'missionaries' were portrayed as blood-sucking bed bugs that must be killed. Militant Hindu nationalism was proffered as the only path to equity, prosperity, harmony and national security, although these are the exact opposite of what Hinduva actually delivers. On Thursday 17 February by-elections were held for the Assembly seats of Kukshi and Sonkutch, two of Madhya Pradesh's long-time Congress strongholds. In a crushing blow for the Congress Party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrested both from it. State BJP president, Prabhat Jha, said the results showed that the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes were 'drifting away from the Congress', adding, 'This has given us enough fuel to work more vigorously towards the welfare of tribals and SCs in the state and associating them with the party in a major way.'


FEBRUARY 2011 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . .

* AFGHANISTAN: CHRISTIAN PRISONER APPEALS FOR PRAYER

According to reports, Said Musa (45), an Afghan Christian imprisoned in Kabul, will soon be executed for the 'crime' of apostasy (rejecting Islam). Musa was one of about 25 Christians arrested on 31 May 2010, after Noorin TV screened scenes of Afghan Christians worshipping the Lord and being baptised. Himself an amputee, Musa has spent the past 15 years working for the Red Cross, fitting amputees with prosthetic limbs. A father to six young children, Musa converted to Christianity eight years ago. He was arrested as he attempted to seek asylum at the German embassy. In jail he is being repeatedly mocked, beaten and sexually abused. No local lawyer will defend him and the government refuses entry to the country for any foreign lawyer who would. In a letter smuggled out of the prison, Musa appeals for believers to pray that he will be transferred to a safer prison and that he will be able to testify to his faith, encourage other believers, and honour Christ as he gives his life.

* INDONESIA: INTOLERANCE AND VIOLENCE ESCALATING

On 8 February hundreds of enraged Muslim fundamentalists rioted in Temanggung, Central Java, after Temanggung District Court ruled that Antonius Richmond Bawengan, a Christian man convicted of blasphemy, be imprisoned for five years. The mob was demanding he be handed over for execution. Enraged, the Muslims stoned police, stormed the courthouse, bashed a priest and torched two churches and a school. The riot came only two days after a Muslim mob attacked a home in Banten, West Java, where members of the Ahmadiyah Muslim sect were meeting. Sickening mobile phone footage shows three Ahmadiyah men being stripped naked and stoned, stabbed and bludgeoned to death while onlookers cheered and chanted 'infidel' and 'Allah akbar' (Allah is great). Police showed no sympathy, saying they had warned the Ahmadis not to provoke trouble by upsetting the locals. One MP even recommended that Ahmadiyah sect members be relocated to an uninhabited island 'for their own sake'. In Indonesia the Ahmadiyah are the 'canary in the mineshaft' -- it is first the Ahmadiyah, then the Christians. The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) is planning to hold a mass demonstration outside the State Palace on 1 March to call for an 'Islamic Revolution'.

* MACEDONIA: ALBANIAN MUSLIMS PROTEST ABOUT MUSEUM-CHURCH

Plans to build an archaeological museum in the style of a medieval church in Skopje's old Kale Fortress has led to ethnic-religious clashes between ethnic Macedonians, who are mostly Orthodox, and members of Macedonia's large ethnic Albanian minority, who are mostly Muslim. Balkan Insight reports: 'The museum was being constructed on the foundations of a recently excavated 14th-century Orthodox church in the old fortress . . . .' However, Albanian Muslims regard the church construction as an insult and accuse ethnic Macedonians of trying to gain a foothold on 'their' side of town. They said they would only support the project if a mosque were built beside the church, a request that was rejected as the site has no Islamic cultural heritage. On 11 February around 100 members and supporters of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) attacked and demolished the partially constructed museum-church and the authorities subsequently abandoned the project. (The DUI is Macedonia's largest ethnic Albanian political party, arising out of the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) which fought Macedonian Security Forces in 2001.) However, on 13 February clashes erupted between groups supporting and opposing the museum-church project. Because Albanians organised further protests for 19 February police have mobilised around the site to prevent further clashes. Tensions simmer.

092. January Update. Incl. Afghanistan, Eritrea, Laos, Lebanon, Somalia, Tunisia

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 092 | Wed 26 Jan 2011

By Elizabeth Kendal

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. (2 Corinthians 1:11 ESV)

JANUARY 2011 UPDATE -- During January we prayed for . . .

VICTIMS OF TERROR, after dozens of Christians were killed and well over 100 wounded in terror attacks targeting Christian districts and churches in Northern Nigeria, Iraq and Egypt over the Christmas - New Year period.

* UPDATE: Sectarian violence continues to plague Jos, Nigeria. Armed Muslim gangs have attacked Farin Lamba in Riyom Local Government Area and Fan in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, five times in the last two weeks. The death toll stands at 34. According to reports, some of the attackers have been dressed in military fatigues, including body armour. Meanwhile in Mosul, Northern Iraq, gunmen burst into the surgery of the prominent cardiologist Dr Nuyia Youssif Nuyia on 15 January and shot him at point blank range. Dr Nuyia, a devout Chaldean Catholic and father of four, survives with serious injuries. Violence also continues to plague Egypt. On 11 January a policeman shouted 'Allahu Akbar' before shooting six identifiable Coptic Christians travelling together on a train between Assiut and Cairo. In a move to reduce Coptic fears, the government has sentenced to death the perpetrator of the Nag Hammadi church massacre. Still, one Egyptian Christian described the environment like being in a room full of gas waiting for someone to light a match.

* PRAISE GOD: On 25 January Al Arabiya reported that Egyptian security forces had arrested 19 would-be suicide bombers who were ready to launch attacks on places of worship nationwide. Police also seized weapons and documents belonging to al-Qaeda, including plans and maps for places of worship in southern Egypt and Alexandria. Please thank the Lord and pray that he will continue to frustrate the ways of the wicked (Psalm 146:9).

IRAN, where at least 70 Christians, mostly converts from Islam, have been arrested in a government crackdown on apostasy and Protestant fellowships.

* UPDATE: The Ministry of Islamic Guidance arrested Pastor Vahik Abrahamian and his wife Sonia Keshish-Avanesian (both in their 40s) and Arash Kermanjani and his wife Arezo Teymouri (both new Christians in their early 30s) on 4 September 2010. Having been warned that any public statement would elicit severe consequences, their families initially kept quiet. However, since these couples have now suffered four months of imprisonment with 'intense physical abuse and psychological pressure', their families have decided to go public with an appeal for prayer. Please honour this courageous act of faith by praying for Iran's imprisoned Christians and for God to demonstrate his supremacy over the regime of President Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

CENTRAL ASIA, where harassment and persecution is escalating as authoritarian regimes repress anything that could threaten the status quo.

JANUARY 2011 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . .

* AFGHANISTAN: FORTHCOMING APOSTASY TRIAL

The trial of Said Musa, an Afghan Christian charged with apostasy (rejecting Islam), is expected to commence next week if the case against him can be finalised by then. According to Article 3 of Afghanistan's 2004 constitution (approved and lauded by the Islam-appeasing West), Sharia (Islamic) law is the supreme guide. According to Sharia, apostasy is punishable by death. Please be in prayer for Said Musa, for his testimony, and for all who will hear it. (Matthew 10:19,20)

* ERITREA: OVER 100 CHRISTIANS ARRESTED SINCE NEW YEAR'S EVE

International Christian Concern reports that Eritrean security officials have recently arrested more than 100 Christians. On New Year's Eve the entire 41-member congregation of Philadelphia Church in Asmara was taken into custody for questioning, with some reportedly being beaten. On 9 January, 35 worshippers were arrested as they prayed together. The regime of President Isaias Afewerki is one of the most violently abusive in the world. More than 3000, mostly Protestant Christians of all ages, are imprisoned for their faith in Eritrea. Conditions are inhumane and torture is routine.

* LAOS: THREE CHURCH LEADERS ARRESTED

On 4 January Lao officials arrested 11 Christians (including children) at gunpoint, accusing them of holding a 'secret meeting', a political crime. Compass Direct reports that eight have been released but three church leaders -- Pastor Wanna, Chanlai and Kan -- remain behind bars in Khammouan Provincial Prison. The 11 believers had gathered with permission from village authorities to celebrate Christmas together over a meal at Pastor Wanna's home. Prison conditions are inhumane and torture is routine.

* LEBANON: HEZBALLAH'S 'CREEPING COUP' COMPLETE

Hezballah established its military supremacy in May 2008 when it laid siege to Beirut in a violent blitzkrieg. After Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Sunni-dominated, US and Saudi-backed 'March 14 Forces' narrowly won the elections in June 2009, they appeased Hezballah by forming a National Unity government and awarding Hezballah key cabinet portfolios. When PM Hariri refused to disavow the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) investigating the February 2005 assassination of PM Rafik Hariri (his father), Hezballah and its allies walked out of the government on 12 January 2011, forcing its collapse. On 18 January, as the STL handed over its indictment (believed to implicate Hezballah), black-clad Hezballah militants fanned out across several Beirut neighbourhoods in a show of force. On 25 January the parliament voted to install the Hezballah-backed candidate, Najib Mikati, as Prime Minister. Hezballah's 'creeping coup' is complete. As noted by Michel Aoun, a Christian leader and key ally of Hezballah, 'The country is moving from one stage to another, from one approach to another.' Hariri supporters have rioted in the streets of Beirut and Lebanon is on the brink of internal warfare. Pray for the Church in Lebanon, particularly that Christians will seek security in Christ who is faithful and supreme, and not in the shade of treacherous powers that stand condemned.

* SOMALIA: CHRISTIAN MOTHER OF FOUR MARTYRED

Early on 6 January al Shabaab Islamic militants arrested Asha Mberwa (36), a Christian mother of four children aged 4-12, outside her home in Warbhigly village on the outskirts of Mogadishu. At 5:15 pm on 7 January, they executed her for apostasy (rejection of Islam), publically cutting her throat in front of village witnesses. Her husband, who was not at home at the time, has fled to an unknown location, while a 'good Samaritan' in Mogadishu is caring for their distraught and traumatised children. Please pray for Somalia's besieged and imperilled Christian community, and that God will demonstrate his supremacy over al-Shabaab.

* TUNISIA: POLITICAL LIBERTY OPENS THE DOOR FOR POLITICAL ISLAM

Just like all secular Arab dictators, Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali respected religious freedom and enforced secularism while brutally repressing all political opposition, especially fundamentalist political Islam. In 1989, when the Islamist party al-Nahada became the second largest political party in Tunisia with 17 percent of the vote, Ben Ali banned the group, jailed its followers and sent its leader, Sheikh Rashid Ghannouchi, into exile.

Whilst Islamists have in no way driven the recent popular uprising, they will certainly benefit from its effects. Salah Jourchi, a Tunisian expert on Islamic movements, comments, 'The Islamist movement was the most oppressed of all the opposition movements under Ben Ali. Its followers are also much greater in number than those of the secular opposition.' Sheikh Rashid Ghannouchi will return soon to Tunisia from London. According to the Arab daily, Asharq Alawsat, many other exiled Tunisian Islamists are likewise preparing to return. Furthermore, dozens of convicted Islamists have reportedly 'escaped' from Tunisian prisons since the overthrow of President Ben Ali. A battle for Tunisia may be about to begin. Pray for the Church in Tunisia, that religious liberty will survive and that free Tunisians will resist the dictators of Islam.