RLPB 681. February Update incl. Nigeria, Artsakh, USA, D.R.Congo, Ghana, India, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Sudan

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 681 | Wed 22 Feb 2023
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FEBRUARY 2023 UPDATE & ROUNDUP
By Elizabeth Kendal

DURING FEBRUARY WE PRAYED CONCERNING

NIGERIA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

This Saturday, 25 February, Nigeria’s presidential election will be held amidst soaring ethno-religious tensions, gross insecurity and the threat of widespread election-related violence. Nigeria has a population of 220 million, around half of whom identify as Christian. Those most at risk are minority Christians in the Muslim North and all ethnic Igbo living outside the South East. [The Igbo are Nigeria’s most Christian (98 percent), most industrious and most widely dispersed tribe.] The Nigerian Church is one of the world’s leading missionary-sending Churches.

‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armour of God [described in vs13-17] … [and] keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication [earnest prayer] for all the saints.’ (From Ephesians 6:10-18 ESV)

RLPB 678. Nigerian Elections (1): The Candidates, 1 Feb 2023
RLPB 679. Nigerian Elections (2): Insecurity and the Igbo, 8 Feb 2023
RLPB 680. Nigerian Elections (3): Buhari’s Legacy, 15 Feb 2023

UPDATE: A Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll conducted over 10-12 February showed Labour’s Peter Obi – an ethnic Igbo Christian from the long-marginalised South East – well out in front. Excerpts from the R&WS poll results: ‘Peter Obi (Labour Party) 62 percent; Bola Tinubu (All Progressives Congress) 22 percent; Atiku Abubakar (Peoples Democratic Party) 12 percent; Rubi’u Musa Kwankwaso (New Nigeria People’s Party) 3 percent; another candidate, 1 percent. … While enthusiasm for Obi is said to be driven by younger voters, majorities of voters across all age groups say they intend to vote for Obi. … Peter Obi is the only major candidate in the upcoming election who is viewed favourably by a majority of Nigerian voters…’

However, Peter Obi’s campaign has not been without its challenges. In recent weeks several of the Labour Party’s Northern Muslim gubernatorial and state assembly candidates have abandoned Obi and Labour and defected to the APC and PDP, both of which are running Muslim candidates. The defecting candidates accuse Obi of running a ‘non-inclusive’ campaign and pandering to the Igbo, something his campaign and his supporters deny. Ndi Kato, a spokesperson for Obi’s campaign, told The Africa Report (15 Feb) that she does not believe the high-level political defections will have any impact on the polls. ‘Our foot soldiers are the people of Nigeria. They are volunteering … this election is between the people and the political class.’

Kato’s analysis hits the target! This is an election between the people (i.e. those who have been impoverished) and Nigeria’s political and military elites (i.e. those who profit from systemic corruption). However, it will also be fought between those advancing ethnic (e.g. Fulani) and/or Islamic hegemony, and those demanding religious freedom and tolerance, education and jobs, health, peace and prosperity in a ‘New Nigeria’. The battle is about to begin!

Nigeria is entering a very challenging and indeed pivotal period of its history. Please, keep alert and pray.

ROUNDUP: ALSO IN FEBRUARY

* AZERBAIJAN: ARMENIANS FACE ETHNIC CLEANSING

Armenians under siege.
Photos by Ani Balayan,
Armenian Weekly 15 Feb 2023

Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) – an ethnic-Armenian Christian enclave in Turkic Muslim Azerbaijan – has been in a state of siege since 12 December when Azerbaijani agents blockaded the Lachin Corridor (the road that links Artsakh to Armenia). On 15 February the Armenian Weekly warned: ‘It is beyond any doubt that the actions’ of these Azerbaijani agents ‘serve as a consistent tool for Azerbaijan’s hybrid warfare tactics and systematic policy of ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Artsakh. … Cut off from the outside world, the 120,000-strong population of Artsakh is inching closer to an inevitable humanitarian catastrophe every single day. There are extreme shortages of food, medicine and other basic necessities. There is a lack of proper heating in harsh winter conditions.’ Rich in ancient Armenian Christian architecture (which Azerbaijan doesn’t want), Artsakh is also rich in minerals, in particular gold and copper. Complicating matters, Baku – Azerbaijan’s capital, located on the shore of the Caspian Sea – is rich in oil and gas. That gas – which is desperately needed in Europe – is now flowing through the Southern Gas Corridor. Consequently, we should not expect any Western government will challenge Baku – at least not with anything more than a few meaningless words! The situation is dire. Please pray.

‘It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes’ (Psalm 118:9 ESV).
Prayer for Artsakh – Psalm 118:5-17

Recommended: ‘Do you know what is happening in Armenia?’ by Craig Simonian, World Evangelical Alliance’s Peace & Reconciliation Network (PRN), 13 Feb 2023.

MEANWHILE: ARMENIANS IN BEVERLEY HILLS

Flyers posted around Beverly Hills,
28 Jan 2023.

On Saturday 28 January police in Beverly Hills, California, USA, declared that flyers inciting a new Armenian genocide ‘fall within the protection of the First Amendment of the US Constitution’ (i.e. they are protected as free speech). The flyers, which read – ‘Azerbaijan + Turkey + Pakistan + Israel = 4 BROTHERS WILL WIPE Armenia OFF the MAP, Inshallah !!!!’ – had been posted throughout the city on 28 January, ahead of the Armenian Youth Federation Western United States’ March for Artsakh. [NOTE: Israel is a key ally and weapons supplier to Azerbaijan.] As Melody Seraydarian notes, ‘At a time when our homeland [Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic-Armenian Christian enclave in Turkic Muslim Azerbaijan] is undergoing a humanitarian crisis, this kind of rhetoric – especially at a protest intended to call national attention to the Artsakh blockade – is alarming.’ It might have taken a whole week, but on 7 February, Beverly Hills Police Department did remove their statement from social media. However, an anxious Armenian community is still waiting for an explanation. Please pray.

* DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC): TERROR IN NORTH-EAST

Islamic State Democratic Republic of Congo (ISDRC: the DRC chapter of Islamic State Central Africa Province) continues to consolidate and expand in the DRC’s north-east. This is the same group that on 15 January bombed a church baptism service in North Kivu Province, killing 14 worshippers and wounding around 70 [RLPB 677 (25 Jan 2023)]. Since then ISDRC [formerly known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)] has continued to wreak terror in DRC’s north-east. On Sunday night 22 January, ISDRC terrorists killed 23 civilians in Beni, North Kivu. Before dawn on Sunday 28 January, the group launched simultaneous attacks on three villages in neighbouring Ituri Province (north of North Kivu) leaving more than 20 dead. On Sunday 12 February and Monday 13 February, ISDRC terrorists killed at least 22 civilians and burned homes and medical facilities in two districts of Ituri Province. On Wednesday 15 February they killed five more civilians in Ituri. ISDRC is only one of several militias wreaking havoc in DRC’s north-east where some 6.8 million Congolese have been displaced [UNHCR, Feb 2023] and services – most of which are provided, not by the state but by the Church – have been disrupted. It is a full-blown Christian crisis. Please pray for DRC, for DRC President Felix Tshisekedi (described as a devout Christian), and for DRC’s suffering and imperilled Church.

* GHANA: BAWKU CONFLICT; OPPORTUNITY FOR JIHADISTS

Map showing location of Bawku.
(click on map to enlarge)

A high-risk situation has emerged in Ghana’s far north-east as conflict returns to Bawku. The conflict – between the non-Muslim, mostly-Christian indigenous ethnic Kusasi and the Muslim ethnic Mamprusi who migrated from Togo and established the town in the 18th Century – has ethnic, political and religious dimensions. Power struggles between the Mamprusi (who dominate the urban centre) and the Kusasi (who live on the periphery) are nothing new. However, while the groups used to fight with sticks, now they fight with automatic weapons, making this power struggle far more deadly. What’s more, the consolidation and expansion of jihadist terror groups in the Sahel makes any destabilisation far more dangerous.

After 13 years of peace, conflict erupted in Bawku in November 2021 after a rumour spread that the Mamprusi were ‘planning to install their own regent as chief, in a direct challenge to the current Kusasi ruler’. On 6 February Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were used in an attempt to blow up a bridge, causing alarm in the security forces as it was the first time an IED had been deployed in Ghana. On 15 February the Mamprusi did install a parallel king/chief in Bawku, an act the government in Accra condemned as ‘illegal and a threat to national security’. Fierce gun battles ensued, and the town is now totally polarised along ethnic and religious lines. The government has announced it will send an additional 5000 troops to Bawku to stem the escalating violence. According to Ghana’s defence minister, Dominic Nitiwul, ‘Unknown elements are sowing seeds of radicalisation in the area …’ Critically, security analysts report that ‘foreigners have infiltrated Bawku and they are being aided by the locals to kill’. These foreigners ‘are the agents of the locals’ who invite them in and give them sanctuary [The Africa Report, 15 Feb]. There is a huge risk that jihadist terror groups based in Burkina Faso and the wider Sahel might exploit the situation to get a foothold in northern Ghana. Please pray.

* INDIA: ARSON IN NARMADAPURAM, MADHYA PRADESH

On Sunday 12 February members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Narmadapuram district, in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, arrived for morning prayers only to find that Hindu nationalists had broken into their church and torched the interior. The furniture, carpets, appliances, musical instruments, Bibles and prayer books had been dowsed in flammable liquid and burned. The six-year-old church – which has a seating capacity of 1000 – had only recently been repainted. On 14 February, police arrested three suspected arsonists. While Pastor Mahesh Kumre thanked and praised the police for their prompt action, another Christian leader, Dennis Jonathan lamented that the arsonists will only be charged with ‘hurting religious sentiments’ which, unlike arson, only attracts a minor penalty. The police suspect the accused – who had a list of Christian and Muslim places of worship to target and claimed that they were only defending their religion – are also responsible for two other church arson attacks in Narmadapuram district in January. Christians make up a mere 0.29 percent of Madhya Pradesh’s 72 million population. Please pray for India, for the vulnerable Church in Madhya Pradesh, and that the accused arsonists (three young men in their early 20s) might ‘repent and believe the good news’ (Mark 1:15 NIV).

* NICARAGUA: FORCED EXILE AND IMPRISONMENT
- Church endures most severe crackdown in decades.

On 10 February Bishop Rolando José Álvarez (56) – who was arrested on 19 August 2022 [see RLPB 660 (31 Aug 2022)] – was stripped of his citizenship and sentenced to 26 years in prison after the court deemed him guilty of undermining the government, spreading false information, obstruction of functions and disobedience. A leading Catholic, Bishop Álvarez has been an outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega. It is the longest sentence given to a political prisoner in years.

One day earlier, on 9 February, the Nicaraguan government forcibly exiled 222 political prisoners, stripping them of their citizenship and putting them on a flight to the USA without informing their families. The CSW press release of 10 February lists the church leaders forcibly exiled: they include numerous Catholics and one Protestant pastor. Bishop Álvarez was supposed to be among them. However, as the US Commission on International Religious Freedom noted in its condemnation of the bishop’s 26-year sentence: ‘Authorities reportedly gave Bishop Álvarez the opportunity to join the exiled prisoners, but he chose to stay in his native country to be with the Catholic community under repression by the Ortega regime.’ Lord have mercy! Please pray.

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

* PAKISTAN: RELENTLESS PERSECUTION

Sunita Masih after acid attack.
(Morning Star News,
courtesy of family)

KARACHI: On 1 February a Christian girl named Sunita Masih (19) left home to go to work. While at the bus station, a Muslim neighbour, Kamran Allah Bux threw acid over her, burning her face, eyes, arms and legs. Sunita, who belongs to the local Salvation Army church, will be permanently scared, physically and emotionally. Bux (who is married) had long been harassing Sunita, pressuring her to convert to Islam and marry him – advances she repeatedly rejected. Bux has been arrested and police have registered a case against him.

PUNJAB: On 4 February police in Faisalabad finally registered a case against Rana Tayyab, a 60-year-old Muslim man who had, on 15 December, kidnapped a 15-year-old Christian girl named Sitara Arif (also known as Saira). Saira’s father, Arif Gill had spent nearly two months trying in vain to get the police to register a case. On 3 February, when attorney Akmal Bhatti – Gill’s lawyer and chairman of the Minorities Alliance Pakistan – learned of Gill’s plight, he intervened and demanded immediate action from the police. By now Saira will have been forcibly converted to Islam and forcibly married to Tayyab who is rumoured to have taken Saira to Islamabad. Lord have mercy!  

On 6 February a Muslim landowner accused Christian labourer Emmanuel Masih (48) of stealing oranges from his orchard. He, along with five Muslim labourers, then beat Masih to death as he pleaded his innocence. Masih leaves behind a wife and six children; no-one expects to see justice. Lord have mercy! Please pray for the Church in Pakistan.

* SUDAN: ASSASSINATION AND PERSECUTION

On 23 January Ibrahim Kander (or Gebeira) – a pastor with the Sudan Church of Christ – was assassinated in a drive-by shooting by suspected members of Sudan’s State Intelligence. Pastor Ibrahim – a US citizen from Grand Island (a city in Nebraska, USA) – was with his wife, Nafisa Awad Toto, and son, Luis Ibrahim Kander (3) visiting family in the Nuba Mountains when he was shot and killed. While Pastor Ibrahim’s wife and son survived the attack, three of his nephews who were also present did not. Please pray.

On 9 February, Ahmad Adam Mohamad (49) of North Darfur in western Sudan, fled into hiding after his extended Muslim family – who had accused him apostasy – sent Muslim militants to kill him. Mohamad, who has been a follower of Jesus for 10 years now, told Morning Star News: ‘The situation is extremely difficult – I am not safe at all. I urge all the brothers to pray and help me get out from this area to a safer place.’ On Friday 17 February authorities in Sudan’s south-eastern Blue Nile State arrested Yousif Ayoub Hussein Ali for preaching to Muslims at an open-air worship event. Preacher Ali had not violated any Sudanese law and no-one is suggesting that the Muslims were not there of their own free will. Please pray for these our brothers: Ahmad Adam Mohamad and Yousif Ayoub Hussein Ali.

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

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

For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 580. The Fog of 2020, and SYRIA: Loving Syria's Christians.

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 580 | Wed 16 DEC 2020
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely and encourage others to sign up to “Follow by email” on the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) blog.  ‘For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds’ (2 Corinthians 10:4 ESV). 

(1) THE FOG OF 2020
(2) SYRIA: LOVING SYRIA'S CHRISTIANS
By Elizabeth Kendal

THE FOG OF 2020

In winter, it often happens that as water vapour rises from the earth it cools and condenses into water droplets leaving valleys covered in a blanket of fog, which greatly reduces visibility. Co-opting that imagery, the term 'fog of war' refers to the chaos and confusion that commonly envelopes conflict zones, greatly diminishing clarity. Similarly, we could say the year 2020 has been blanketed in a 'fog' created by the (mainly Western) world's reactionary panic (as distinct from reasoned response) and blind obsession with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the all-consuming drama of the US Presidential Election. Indeed, mainstream media has had little time for much else! Two regimes have exploited the 'fog of 2020' to advance their nefarious agendas: China's ruling Communist Party (CCP) under President Xi Jinping, and Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Exploiting the fog of 2020, China accelerated its campaign of Sinicisation - that is, its brutal campaign of political and religious repression, re-education and cultural genocide - designed to force all its citizens into a monolithic 'united front'. Armed with millions of surveillance cameras loaded with world-leading facial recognition software, a gulag of brand-new re-education facilities and a People's Armed Police (PAP) force comprising more than one million soldiers tasked with crushing internal dissent and enforcing compliance, the ruling Communist Party's advances have been breathtaking. It leaves in its wake a trail of demolished churches, monasteries, mosques and temples; imprisoned pastors, imams, monks and human rights advocates; a de-Christianised skyline and a persecuted Church increasingly anxious about its future.

Also exploiting the fog of 2020, Turkey has advanced its neo-Ottoman imperial ambitions by inserting itself into, or increasing its aggression in, Libya, Northern Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean (including Cyprus), and the South Caucuses (specifically the war/jihad against Armenians in Artsakh). Armed with tens of thousands of Syrian jihadists and cutting-edge drones (in particular the Turkish-made, tank-eliminating, Bayraktar TB2), Turkey's advances have been breath-taking. It leaves in its wake a trail of dead and displaced Libyans, Kurds, Assyrians and Armenians, along with a multitude of increasingly anxious Greek-speaking Christians.

Please pray: that the 'fog' will lift, that clarity will be restored, that the world will care (unlikely), and that the Church will rise in solidarity to speak-up (Proverbs 31:8-9), to give (James 2:15-16), and to pray for the persecuted Church (Ephesians 6:12-18). [See http://www.elizabethkendal.com/action/ ]

SYRIA: LOVING SYRIA'S CHRISTIANS

click on map to enlarge

1) TURKEY IN SYRIA: TARGETING TEL TAMER
UPDATE to RLPB 564, Syria: Turkey Weaponises Water, 26 Aug 2020.

Led by the Kurdish YPG (which Turkey deems a terrorist organisation), the anti-Islamist Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) incorporates Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and some Armenian militias. After years of fighting Islamic State in Hasakah, the SDF is now fighting to resist Turkish occupation. In late October, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch another military operation against the SDF in northern Syria. Today, with Turkey eager to change realities on the ground before a new administration can be set up in Washington, it appears that operation might be imminent.

Analysts surmise that Turkey may be planning to expand on two fronts: (1) in northern Aleppo Governorate, where it would seize the Kurdish border town of Kobani before possibly advancing as far south-west as Manbij; and (2) in northeast Hasakah Governorate, where Tel Tamer - an Assyrian town situated at the head of a string of some 30 Assyrian towns along the Khabur River - is already under sustained attack. Of Turkey's more than 800 ceasefire violations this year - violations which include armed conflict, shelling, drone strikes, looting and property destruction - more than 138 have targeted Tel Tamer alone. According to reports, the recent increase in violence corresponds directly with the return to Syria from Azerbaijan of Islamic militants recruited by Turkey for jihad against Artsakh's Armenians [see RLPB 575, 'Genocide Postponed? 11 Nov 2020]. Their task now, so it seems, will be jihad against Kurds and remnant Assyrian and Armenian Christians. Please pray.

2) US SANCTIONS: POVERTY AND HUNGER FOR CHRISTMAS
UPDATE to RLPB 554 Syria: Damascus Under Siege, 17 June 2020

The US administration's Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act essentially places all government-controlled areas of Syria in a state of economic siege. This happens to be most of the country and where most Christians live with religious freedom and security. (Note: areas controlled by Turkey-backed and US-shielded jihadists are exempt.) As with any siege, the Caesar Act is designed to escalate suffering as in a pressure-cooker in pursuit of regime-change. The Maronite Archbishop Joseph Tobji (49) of Aleppo has labelled it 'a diabolical Act' [see RLPB 555, 'A Diabolical Act', 24 June 2020]. Of course, sanctions rarely impact ruling regimes; on the contrary, it is the people who suffer. The Caesar Act's sanctions have halted reconstruction and devastated whole sectors, including small business and agriculture. Most concerning, Syria's once thriving health sector and pharmaceuticals industry have been totally crippled, leaving Syrians without medicines and treatments [see RLPB 556, 'Caesar's Inhumanity', 1 July 2020)].

Warning of a 'hunger pandemic', the Nobel Prize-winning World Food Program reports that in the first 6 months of 2020, around 1.4 million Syrians did not know where their next meal would come from, a shocking figure which has now climbed to 9.3 million. With more than 90 percent of Syrians now living below the poverty line, smuggling, drugs and crime are on the increase as citizens grow increasingly desperate. Bread is being rationed and the price for smuggled goods is exorbitant.

As noted in RLPB 556 (1 July), the Caesar Report - which forms the pretext for the Caesar Act - was commissioned by the pro-Muslim Brotherhood (MB) ruling family of Qatar, who are sworn enemies of the Alawite anti-MB Assad and integral to the regime-change alliance. The report is fraudulent (Human Rights Watch has debunked its claims) and the Act is entirely political and entirely punitive. Furthermore, it does nothing to advance US interests.

Christmas is normally a huge national event in Syria, one in which Christians, Alawites and liberal Sunnis all participate together. This year, however, Syrians will be sharing poverty and hunger for Christmas. In particular, hundreds of thousands of Syrian Christians will celebrate the incarnation of our Lord without food, medicines or heating - not due to war, but due primarily to US sanctions. If the situation does not change, many Syrian Christians will not survive 2021. Golda Meir - Israel's Prime Minister from March 1969 to June 1974, reportedly once said: 'Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.' We must pray for the day to come when American politicians will love Syria's Christians more than they hate Presidents Assad and Putin.

PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD OUR GRACIOUS FATHER WILL:

 * intervene to defend and protect Christians in northern Syria, whose lives and homelands are gravely imperilled because of Turkey and its jihadist proxies; may the LORD in his mercy 'frustrate the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success' (Job 5:12).

'As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number ... So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth [from Job 5:8-16 ESV].

* intervene to have the Caesar sanctions lifted so that Syria's Christians might be able to stay, rebuild, flourish and bless their nation.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield (Psalm 33:18-20 ESV). 

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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THREAT, POVERTY AND HUNGER IN SYRIA FOR CHRISTMAS

Turkey and its jihadist proxies may soon launch another military operation in northern Syria. Already under sustained attack is the Assyrian town of Tel Tamer. Please pray! Meanwhile, due to the US administration's Caesar Act sanctions (enacted June 2020), government-controlled Syria (i.e. most of the country where most Christians live) is in a state of economic siege. Reconstruction is halted and whole sectors are crippled, including business, agriculture, health and pharmaceuticals. Before the sanctions, the World Food Program estimated that some 1.4 million Syrians were food insecure; that number has now risen to 9.3 million! Christmas is normally a huge national event in Syria. This year, however, Syrian Christians will celebrate the Incarnation without food, medicines, and heating; not due to war, but due primarily to US sanctions. Please pray.

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

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

See www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 556. Syria and Lebanon: Church in Need

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 556 | Wed 01 Jul 2020
RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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

SYRIA AND LEBANON: CHURCH IN NEED

By Elizabeth Kendal

SYRIA: CAESAR'S INHUMANITY

On 17 June the US government enacted its Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act which mandates that any foreign entity (state, business or individual) found to be conducting business with the Syrian government or entering into contracts related to reconstruction in government-held areas (which is where most Christians live) will face US sanctions [see RLPB 554 (17 June)]. Lamenting the move as 'inhuman' and 'diabolical', Maronite Archbishop Joseph Tobji of Aleppo echoed RLPB's assessment, that the Caesar Act is designed 'to increase the suffering of the population to fuel popular discontent and thus produce regime change' [RLPB 555 (24 June)]. It is, as RLPB noted, siege warfare by other means. As Ziad Ghisn (a Syrian journalist who specialises in economics reporting) explains: 'Whenever sanctions have been enforced, whether by a unilateral decision or by the Security Council, it has always been the people who have paid the biggest price – indeed, they are often the sole victim.'

Ghisn's post on the London School of Economics' blog (April 2020) focuses on the devastating impact that years of Western sanctions have had on Syria's once thriving health sector. Syria's pharmaceutical industry too was once one of Syria's most successful, private sector-led industries. While it might be correct to say that Western sanctions do not directly target the health sector, this is a deception. In truth, Western sanctions have crippled Syria's health sector and pharmaceuticals industry by preventing access to raw materials for pharmaceuticals, medicine-enclosing and packaging materials (such as vials and ampules), hospital equipment, laboratory reagents and even repairs and spare parts for life-saving machines. Along with maternal and infant deaths, deaths from entirely treatable conditions have skyrocketed. In February 2019, Archbishop Tobji of Aleppo lamented that, while the bombs and terror had mostly ceased, the‘war of economics’ was hitting Syrians hard. The siege established by the Caesar Act ensures that the humanitarian crisis in government-held areas is set to escalate.

The human rights pretext for the Caesar Act comes from the more than 50,000 images, allegedly smuggled out of Syria by a defector code-named 'Caesar', purporting to show the bodies of Syrian civilians tortured to death in Assad's prisons. On this ground, the US declares, 'Assad must go!' It must be noted that the Caesar Report was commissioned by the pro-Muslim Brotherhood ruling family of Qatar, who are sworn enemies of Assad and integral to the regime-change-alliance. In December 2015, Human Rights Watch released a report titled 'If the Dead Could Speak', in which HRW concluded that these photos are simply unverified photos of dead people, nearly half of whom are Syrian soldiers and victims of rebel car bombs and other violence. So the pretext, too, is a deception! The US is acting on behalf of its human rights-abusing allies, Turkey and Saudi Arabia (who simply want to dominate Syria so they might run pipelines through its territory), and to spite Russia (which backed Assad) and China (which views Syria as integral to its Belt & Road Initiative). May the Lord have mercy on the Syrian people!

LEBANON: SECTARIAN TENSIONS IGNITE

Nationwide protests against Lebanon's political leaders erupted in October 2019, triggered by an unprecedented economic crisis which has since been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 6 June protests descended into sectarian violence as calls rang out for Hezbollah to disarm. As veteran Middle East correspondent Dale Gavlak reports, 'That demand ignited violent rage from supporters of the powerful Shi'ite paramilitary group backed by Iran ...'

Shi'ite agitators aligned with Hezbollah and its ally, Amal, deliberately provoked sectarian conflict. Shi'ite agitators on 'around 200 motorbikes' stormed Ain el-Remmaneh - a poor Christian suburb southeast of Beirut close to the so-called Green Line which divides the city into Muslim and Christian sectors. Ain el-Remmaneh - a hot-spot for Muslim-Christian violence during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) - is the birthplace of Samir Geagea, who leads the Christian party 'Lebanese Forces' and is an outspoken critic of Hezbollah. Clashes ensued and a tense stand-off persisted throughout the day. The Shi'ite agitators also provoked the Sunnis by chanting Shia sectarian slogans against Aisha, Muhammad's third and youngest wife who waged war against the fourth Caliph, Ali (Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law), a Shia. Sunnis regard this as akin to blasphemy!

President Michel Aoun labelled the unrest an 'alarm bell' and called a meeting for national unity, which most key stakeholders boycotted. Protesters hit the streets again on 11, 12, 13, 18, 25 and 30 June to protest the cost of living, which is soaring as the value of the Lebanese pound continues to plummet. Analysts agree that Lebanon is facing the biggest threat to its stability since the end of the country's civil war. The risk is that the unrest could turn sectarian, something a besieged Hezbollah might assess is in its interests.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL

* provide the Church in Syria with her every need, in particular with all the food, water, shelter, medicines and educational resources she requires, not only for herself and her own survival but also for her numerous and varied humanitarian and outreach ministries (see Matthew 6:31-33).

* intervene in Lebanon to subvert all plots to trigger sectarian conflict; may peace reign and those who plot evil fall into their own traps (see Psalm 7:14-16).

* provide Lebanon's Christian leaders - political, civic and religious - with all the wisdom, discernment, courage and grace they will need to lead their people through the storms that lie ahead.

* move by his Spirit in Syria and Lebanon to redeem all suffering, all grief and all anxiety and use it to draw those who are lost towards the Saviour, as well as those who are believers into a deeper relationship with their Saviour. May the Lord bring revival and spiritual unity to the churches of Syria and Lebanon.

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE

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SYRIA AND LEBANON - CHURCH IN NEED

In Syria's government-held areas (where most Christians live), military conflict may be over but a 'war of economics' continues to claim the lives of Syrian civilians, who now die because of Western sanctions. Whilst not directly targeting Syria's health sector, Western sanctions have crippled it by preventing access to raw materials for pharmaceuticals and medical equipment for life-saving treatments. The US Caesar Act sanctions, enacted on 17 June, will escalate this humanitarian crisis enormously. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Lebanon, anti-government protests launched in October last year risk turning sectarian. On 6 June pro-Hezbollah Shi'ite agitators on some 200 motorbikes stormed a Christian area, triggering clashes. Shi'ite agitators also provoked Sunnis with highly offensive sectarian slogans, triggering more clashes. Lebanon's peace is exceedingly fragile! Please pray for the Church in Syria and Lebanon.

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

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

See www.ElizabethKendal.com  

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

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

RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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

 

JUNE 2020 UPDATE

By Elizabeth Kendal

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

JUNE 2020 UPDATE - during this period we prayed concerning

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

UPDATE: COUNCIL OF STATE TO RULE ON 2 JULY

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

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

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

UPDATE: 'A DIABOLICAL ACT'

Archbishop Joseph Tobji of Aleppo

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

JUNE 2020 ROUND-UP - also this month

* HONG KONG, CHINA: AUTONOMOUS NO MORE

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

* IRAQ: TURKEY BOMBS NORTHERN BORDER REGIONS

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

* NORTH KOREA: HOPES FADE AS TENSIONS SOAR

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

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

Background: (in chronological order)

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

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

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

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

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

* PAKISTAN (1): WAITING FOR JUSTICE

Imran Masih 
(Aid to the Church in Need)

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

PAKISTAN (2): THE LAW AS A WEAPON

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

Shagufta (l) and Shafqat (r)

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

* IN BRIEF

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

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

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

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

See www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 554. Syria: Damascus Under Siege

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 554 | Wed 17 Jun 2020

RLPB is published weekly to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer.

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

 

SYRIA: DAMASCUS UNDER SIEGE

-- Christian Crisis Looms in Syria

By Elizabeth Kendal

click on map to enlarge

As a tactic, siege has been used repeatedly during the Syrian crisis, by both sides. From the outside, a village, town or district is surrounded and its supply-lines severed. On the inside, hardship, fear and anger mount as besieged locals watch their food, water and medical supplies run dry. The aim of a siege is to create a pressure-cooker environment so horrendous that it will ultimately culminate in a coup, a revolt or a surrender. The USA's Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act which takes effect today - 17 June - places Damascus in a state of economic siege. The Act mandates that any foreign entity found to be conducting business with the Syrian government or 'entering into contracts related to reconstruction' in areas controlled by the Syrian, Russian or Iranian governments will face US sanctions. Thus, the Act will not apply to business and reconstruction in the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), nor in Idlib - a jihadist sanctuary under the protection of Turkey - nor in the eastern oil fields of Deir ez Zor which are controlled by Islamic jihadists under US protection.

As in 2011, regime change efforts will doubtless fail for Syria's ethnic and religious minorities (including Assyrians and Armenians, Alawites and Christians), as well as her large cohort of largely secular, cosmopolitan, anti-Muslim Brotherhood (MB) Sunni Muslims who do not want to risk an Islamist takeover! While it is highly probable that the Syrian government will survive the sanctions, the same cannot be said for Syria's Christians, most of whom (including those displaced by war) live in areas controlled by the Syrian government, where they are both safe and free. Will the Hungarian government be sanctioned if it continues to assist persecuted Christians with reconstruction through its 'Hungary Helps' program? Will aid groups such as the Assyrian Aid Society, Open Doors, or Aid to the Church in Need, or Assyrians and Armenians in Syria's diaspora community, face sanctions for helping decimated and devastated Christian communities rebuild? Christians will suffer as their economic situation deteriorates to catastrophic. They will suffer as efforts at reconstruction grind to a halt. Also, most seriously, they will suffer unspeakably if the Syrian Army, now deprived of funds, is forced to pull back, leaving front-line Christian communities in the north and east vulnerable to genocide at the hands of Turkish military and Islamic jihadist forces.

In its own words, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act has been enacted 'to halt the wholesale slaughter of the Syrian people, encourage a negotiated political settlement, and hold Syrian human rights abusers accountable for their crimes'. But by targeting the Syrian government alone, the Act perpetuates the false narrative that the Syrian conflict was a war between the evil President Assad and 'the [victimised] Syrian people'. On the contrary, the truth is that under the cover of 'Arab Spring' protests (which were led in Syria by the banned MB), neo-Ottoman, pro-MB, NATO-member Turkey, pro-MB Qatar and Wahhabist, US-allied Saudi Arabia moved to effect regime change in Damascus in pursuit of their dream to run oil and gas pipelines from Qatar to Turkey via Syria. A YouGov poll commissioned by Qatar in December 2011 showed that, while a majority of regional Arabs (Saudi, Qatari, Yemeni, Jordanian, Palestinian etc) supported regime-change in Damascus, 55 percent of Syrians did not! Furthermore, through 2012, as multitudes of well-armed foreign jihadists flooded into Syria across Turkish, Iraqi and Jordanian borders, Syrian support for the Syrian government grew exponentially.

From the outset, Syrian Christians had pleaded with the West not to support the up-ending of the secular order (as happened in Iraq) and not to arm Muslim 'rebels'. Alas, their cries and warnings were rejected. Had Russia not intervened in September 2015, al-Qaeda (based in Idlib) would have seized Latakia (the Alawite heartland in the north) and Islamic State (advancing from the Syrian desert) would have seized Damascus (the Syrian capital), at which point Syria would have descended into genocidal hell. The Western narrative is a false narrative. [See After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East, Elizabeth Kendal, (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016)].

The Caesar Act is supposedly motivated by a desire to see an end to impunity for human rights abusers. Yet the region's most repressive, vile and anti-Christian human rights abusers - NATO-member Turkey and US-allied Saudi Arabia - are not under scrutiny. Turkey, which stands accused of ethnic cleansing in northern Syria, is not even mentioned in the Act. Essentially, what Damascus' enemies (Turkey-Qatar-Saudi Arabia) have failed to achieve militarily (regime-change in Damascus), the US hopes to achieve by economic means, although Washington is doubtless motivated more by a desire to humiliate Russia (which backed Assad) and obstruct China (which sees Syria as an important node in its Belt and Road Initiative) than by any human rights issues it has with Assad.

Recommended: Charles Camosy interviews Robert Chelhod -- a Syrian living in Aleppo -- on the matter of sanctions. Crux Now, 2 May 2020

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL

* not allow Syria to collapse into chaos; may war-weary Syrians not be forced into further suffering and deeper poverty; may religious freedom be protected and may any scheme that would imperil Syria's Church be re-thought.

* provide Syria's suffering Church with her every need:

'As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.' (Psalm 103:13,14 ESV)

- may Jehovah Jireh (God our provider) supply the Syrian Church with all the food, water and medicines she requires, not only for herself but also for her numerous compassionate and outreach ministries;

- may our compassionate Heavenly Father help Christians seeking to rebuild their homes, districts, villages, churches, seminaries, schools and health clinics;

- most critically, may Yahweh Sabaoth (the Lord of hosts; the commander of heaven's angelic forces) protect Syrian Christians from the genocidal plots of Turkey and its jihadist proxies, as well as from a resurgent Islamic State.

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE

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CHRISTIAN CRISIS LOOMS IN SYRIA

The USA's Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act came into effect on 17 June. The Act essentially places Damascus in a state of economic siege. Any foreign entity (state, business or individual) found to be conducting business with the Syrian government or 'entering into contracts related to reconstruction' in areas controlled by the Syrian, Russian or Iranian governments will face US sanctions. Almost all Syria's Christians, including those displaced by war, live in areas controlled by the Syrian government, where they are both safe and free. The sanctions mean that hardship will escalate to catastrophic levels, reconstruction will grind to a halt and, most critically, if the Syrian Army is forced to pull back, security for Christian front-line communities in the north and east will deteriorate markedly. Please pray.

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

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

See www.ElizabethKendal.com  

RLPB 471. North Korea: A stalemate in need of a breakthrough

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 471 | Wed 05 Sep 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)

NORTH KOREA: A STALEMATE IN NEED OF A BREAKTHROUGH 
Also: Independence Day -- Sunday 9 September (9/9) -- 70 Years
by Elizabeth Kendal

On Sunday 9 September one of the world's most severe persecutors will celebrate its 70th birthday. In 1945 Soviet and US forces liberated the Korean Peninsula from Japanese occupation. The Peninsula was then divided along the 38th parallel with Soviets occupying the north and America occupying the south. In the north, a Soviet-backed regime was installed, headed by a Red Army-trained guerrilla fighter named Kim Il-sung. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was proclaimed on 9 September 1948, with Kim Il-sung as the Soviet-designated Premier. In 1950 North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel, invaded the South and triggered the Korean War. An armistice (cease-fire) was brokered in 1953. While this brought an end to the military conflict, the state of war continues to this day.

It was in this context (as a country at war with the US) that the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-il (1991-2011) watched the US-led interventions in the Middle East (commencing with Gulf War One, 1990-91), and in particular the 'regime-change' operations through which the US removed their unarmed enemy Saddam Hussein (2003) and their disarmed ally Muammar Gaddafi (2011). Consequently, no matter how keen Swiss-educated Kim Jong-un is to end North Korea's isolation and integrate the DPRK into the East Asian economic community, the regime will not denuclearise; it will not surrender its deterrent/'insurance'. Interestingly, the existence of nuclear weapons was not a stumbling block in the Reagan-Gorbachev US-Russia rapprochement of 1987, 70 years on from the Bolshevik coup. Similarly, the existence of nuclear weapons has not precluded an American alliance with nuclear-armed Islamic Pakistan. Yet the US insists that a nuclear-armed North Korea is something with which it simply cannot live.

This year both the DPRK and the US have taken steps towards detente. The DPRK has returned the remains of US war veterans and dismantled its underground nuclear test site. The US, meanwhile, has suspended its joint military exercises with South Korea. The DPRK wants the US to sign a peace treaty, after which step-for-step, tit-for-tat or synchronised confidence-building measures and concessions can proceed. What the US administration (but not necessarily President Trump) wants from the DPRK is, first and foremost, 'complete verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation'.


The stalemate exists primarily due to the absence of an agreed-upon roadmap. It hurts South Korea, particularly President Moon who is so personally invested in the peace process. But most of all it hurts North Koreans -- especially those who are poor, imprisoned and/or Christian -- by freezing them in a horrific and unhealthy status quo. One reason the situation is so profoundly complex is because it has been sidelined and covered over for decades, allowing it both to fester and advance. One reason the crisis seems so intractable is because many in the US administration would rather prolong North Korean suffering than soften any demand or allow any Trump initiative to succeed. Therefore, we have a stalemate in need of a breakthrough. Fortunately, our God is 'Baal-perazim', the God who breaks through (2 Samuel 5:17-21).


PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR EVER-CREATIVE GOD WILL:

* bind and restrain all evil forces who seek to sow chaos and sustain repression where God seeks to sow peace and deliver liberty. '[Jesus Christ] has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him' (1 Peter 3:22 ESV).

* intervene creatively in the Korean Peninsula, according to his perfect wisdom and in line with his boundless grace, to bring peace, transformation and liberty, to the glory of his holy name.

* break through the seemingly intractable stalemate that currently exists between the US administration and the North Korean regime, so the slow and difficult work of peace-making might resume.

* protect, sustain and richly bless the long-suffering and severely persecuted remnant Church in North Korea. On North Korea's 70th birthday we pray Psalm 70:1 for the Persecuted Church: 'Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me!'

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EXTRA: DPRK Independence Day -- Sunday 9 September (9/9) -- 70 Years
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As a citizen of North Korea, Jang Jin-sung (47) worked in the United Front Department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea writing poetry for use as propaganda. He was so good at it that in 1999 he became one of six poet laureates of North Korea permitted to write poems about Dear Leader, General Kim Jong-il. Forced to flee the North in early 2004, Jang is now a citizen of South Korea. According to Jang, Eternal Leader Kim Il-sung chose 9 September (9/9) as the day to declare DPRK independence precisely because he was deeply superstitious about the number nine, believing it to be auspicious. So convinced was Kim Il-sung that he spared no effort to ensure every significant date, project or office aligned with the number nine. For example, Kim's personal bodyguard corps was named Unit 963 [9, 6+3=9] in the belief that double nine was especially auspicious.

With this in mind, please consider setting aside 9 September (9/9, DPRK Independence Day) -- maybe even 9am of 9/9 -- to pray for North Korea and to proclaim aloud the 9 verses of Psalm 99. The current stalemate might seem intractable, but as Psalm 99 reminds us -- along with all 'cosmic powers' and 'spiritual forces of evil' (Ephesians 6:12) -- 'The Lord reigns' over the heavens and the earth. It reminds us that our sovereign reigning Lord loves justice and establishes equity; that he is personal, close and engaged; that he hears and answers prayers; and that he is faithful, holy and worthy of worship. An intense and furious spiritual battle is underway in what is destined to be the spiritual powerhouse of the future: The East. North Korea is the Lord's, as is the battle (1 Samuel 17:45-47).


For more information see:
RLPB 446, A Step in the Right Direction, 14 March 2018

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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NORTH KOREA: A STALEMATE IN NEED OF A BREAKTHROUGH

North Korea and America have taken steps to improve their relationship. However, a stalemate has set in which threatens to freeze millions of North Koreans -- especially those who are poor, imprisoned and/or Christian -- in an appalling status quo. North Korea wants America to sign a peace treaty, after which confidence-building measures and concessions can proceed. Meanwhile, the US is demanding, first and foremost, North Korea's 'complete verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation'; hence the stalemate needs a breakthrough. Fortunately, our God is 'Baal-perazim', the God who breaks through (2 Samuel 5:17-21). On Sunday 9 September North Koreans will celebrate the 70th anniversary of their Independence Day. Pray that our ever-creative God will break through the stalemate so the painstaking work of peacemaking can proceed. May God sustain his remnant Church in North Korea.

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

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

See www.ElizabethKendal.com