RLPB 326. Christian Crisis in the Middle East

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 326 | Wed 09 Sep 2015

CHRISTIAN CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
By Elizabeth Kendal

In any conflict, explains Australian author Denis Dragovic, the wealthy are the first to flee. Then, as life becomes intolerable, the middle class flee across borders into camps where they wait in hope that the fighting will end and they will be able to return to their homes and businesses. When the fighting doesn't end, they seek alternatives, including the services of people smugglers. 'In the case of Syria ... ,' says Dragovic, 'we are now in that last phase.' Lacking resources, the poor have little choice but to stay and watch their children grow up traumatised, brutalised and without stable education. When peace comes, says Dragovic, the fighters are rewarded with top jobs while the traumatised poor have little to offer, making reconstruction virtually impossible. At this point the protagonists -- neo-Ottoman Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, al-Qaeda and ISIS -- will doubtless fight to fill the void.

Like many analysts, Dragovic maintains that a more sustainable solution is to 'better resource the front-line countries, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, while putting pressure on Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to accept asylum applications'.

[Despite fuelling the conflict, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab states have taken in ZERO Syrian (Arab Sunni Muslim) refugees.]

political cartoon by Carlos Latuff

A Europe struggling with demographic decline might hope to benefit from an influx of skilled migrants. However, the mass inflow of an alien culture brings with it huge risks. Parallel societies will consolidate and racial-religious tensions will escalate. This will most certainly end badly. Muslims (generally) are aware of Muhammad's alleged prophesy that Islam would first conquer Constantinople, the capital of eastern/Byzantine Europe, (which it did in 1453) and then Rome (the capital of western/Latin Europe). Islamic fundamentalist ideologues and militants are certainly aware of it and doubtless are deliberately hastening it.

Australia has promised to take more refugees, specifically family groups belonging to 'persecuted minorities in camps'. On one hand, it is very exciting to hear it finally acknowledged that Christians are facing an existential threat. Muslim, human rights and Opposition groups are rejecting the policy as 'discriminatory', which is untenable as Arab Muslims are clearly not facing elimination. The policy is needs-based. On the other hand, the Australian and UK commitment to only take refugees from camps is problematic, for, as Lord Carey recently pointed out, the Christians are generally not in the camps. This has long been the case -- the camps are simply too dangerous for religious minorities. Consequently Christians seek refuge in monasteries, churches and Christian schools. From there, most either share rental properties or are billeted out to local Christian families. Thus the local church carries the burden, not the UN. The global Church needs to share this load and send aid to the churches that are caring for refugees, but only through recognised Christian agencies.

Whilst multitudes of Christian youths and families are understandably desperate to leave the Middle East, their pastors and priests are understandably desperate for them to stay. 'The almost communal wave of youth emigration, especially in Syria, but also in Lebanon and Iraq breaks my heart, wounding me deeply and dealing me a deadly blow,' laments Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III. 'Given this tsunami of emigration ... what future is left for the Church? What will become of our homeland? What will become of our parishes and institutions?' he asks as he appeals to Christians to stay. Many Christian leaders believe the temptation to flee must be resisted, as the Christian exodus only serves to facilitate the Islamic agenda of a total religious cleansing of the Middle East. But Christians will only stay if they are secure.

In Syria, Christians are only secure in the 20 percent of the country still under government control. Instead of taking directions from regional powers Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran -- all state sponsors of terror -- the West should prioritise protecting minorities and working in their interests, so that Christians might be safe in Christianity's historic heartland. To do that, the West might need to swallow its pride and talk to Assad and to Russia. Ever since the Crimean War (in the 1850s) the Islamic powers of the Middle East have exploited their geo-strategic position and played the West off against the East to advance their own ends. Ever since the Crimean War the West has backed Muslims at the expense of persecuted Christians. Surely the time has come for the West to be astute, identify the real enemy and put an end to this ruse, for the sake of imperilled Christians.

The Christian crisis in the Middle East is existential. Of course Christian families should be rescued, but the greatest need of all is for a safe haven in the Middle East where Christians can preserve their heritage and culture and worship freely while educating their children in liberty and security. Around the time of World War One, as the Ottoman Empire unravelled, Assyrians sought to establish an independent free Assyria. [This story is now being told through the film, 'A Man Before his Time: The Unsung Story of Freydun Atouraya.'] More recently the appeal has been for an autonomous region in the ancient Assyrian homeland of the Nineveh Plain. Each appeal has triggered a massacre and today most Western politicians dismiss the prospect of an autonomous Assyrian province in northern Iraq as impossible. But the Assyrian hope lives on, fuelled by faith and rooted in the promise of God as found in Isaiah 19:23-25. As God is faithful, it will come to pass! And in that day, the Lord of hosts will say, 'Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance' (v25 ESV).


PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT

* the Lord of Hosts will intervene on behalf of each imperilled believer in the Middle East -- may those requiring rescue be rescued and those who want to stay in their homeland have sanctuary.

* God will intervene personally on behalf of each monastery and church sheltering and caring for Christian refugees; may the Lord raise all the necessary funds and give a voice to the voiceless.

* the Lord Almighty will secure justice and liberty for his precious people and the Lord of Hosts be their defence.

* the Holy Spirit will flood the hearts of all pastors, priests and Christian religious workers across the Middle East that they will know his love, grace and comfort; may their faith remain strong and their hope not fade; may the Lord bless them for their faithful service.

* our faithful God will intervene to establish 'the work of [his] hands' -- an autonomous Assyrian province in northern Iraq. And may all the glory go to him.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN WHOLE ARTICLE
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CHRISTIAN CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

A mass migration is under way as Syrians stream into Europe via Turkey. This is lessening Syria's prospects for reconstruction and is devastating its Church. Whilst multitudes of Christian youths and families are understandably desperate to leave the Middle East, their pastors and priests are understandably desperate for them to stay -- something they will not do without security. While some Christian families do need to be rescued, it is critical that a safe haven be established in the historic Christian heartland. Assyrians have sought this since World War One. Though most Western politicians dismiss this as impossible, the Assyrian hope lives on, fuelled by faith and rooted in the promise of God as found in Isaiah 19:23-25. May Christ intervene for his people and build his Church.

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

Her second book, 'After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East,' will be published by Resource Publications (an imprint of Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA) in early-mid 2016.

RLPB 290. Towards 2015: the world has changed.

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 290 | Wed 10 Dec 2014

TOWARDS 2015: THE WORLD HAS CHANGED
-- and the Church must rise to meet the challenge.
By Elizabeth Kendal

* DISPLACED & TRAUMATISED
As we head into 2015, hundreds of thousands of Christians are struggling to survive as refugees or IDPs (internally displaced peoples).

source

Driven from their historic homeland in Upper Mesopotamia, hundreds of thousands of Assyrian Christians are struggling in camps and shared accommodation across Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. Having lost everything, they are dependent on Christian aid groups and local churches for their day-to-day survival. Around 150,000 Assyrian IDPs are in Iraqi Kurdistan (and some in Baghdad) being sheltered in churches, schools, shopping centres and by local believers. Arriving with only the clothes on their backs, they too are dependent on the generosity of others. In Sudan, many thousands of Christians have been driven from their homes in South Kordofan state by the genocidal regime in Khartoum. Tens of thousands have fled to camps in South Sudan. Tens of thousands seek shelter in caves and trenches in the Nuba Mountains awaiting Khartoum's threatened Final Solution. The number of Christians displaced by Islamic militants in Nigeria, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo is quite enormous. Of course their needs are beyond the material, for these refugees and IDPs have been traumatised by war, with most having lost loved ones. Understandably, their faith is sorely tested.

As we head into 2015, will we commit to living simply and supporting a Christian aid group so our brothers and sisters might simply live? As we head into 2015, will we commit to pray for the displaced?

* CAPTIVE & ENSLAVED
As we head into 2015, people are slowly becoming aware that slavery is alive and flourishing in the 21st Century and growing at an alarming rate. The victims are commonly from poor and marginalised communities; many are persecuted Christians. Today thousands of Christians exist as bonded labourers in Pakistan and as trapped labourers in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.

source

Today thousands of Christian suffer as sex slaves to Islamic jihadists in Northern Nigeria, Cameroon and 'Islamic State', and as chattel slaves of Sudanese and Gulf Arabs. Christians fleeing persecution in the Horn of Africa are snatched from camps and trafficked into the Sinai where they are tortured to extort ransom payments. Committed Christian abolitionists and anti-trafficking activists are getting busier, rescuing captives and redeeming slaves with full knowledge that nothing will change until the culture changes through spiritual transformation.

As we head into 2015, will we commit to supporting the spread of the Gospel, for the witness of the Word and the Spirit? As we head into 2015, will we commit to pray for the captives?

'IN RETURNING and in rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' Isaiah 30:15 has long been a favourite verse for many. It is easy to see why -- it is a beautiful verse, almost poetic. Yes, it rolls off the tongue so easily. Yet one look at the context and the verse becomes much more challenging. God spoke these words to his people at a time when they faced invasion, conquest, destruction, displacement, massacre and captivity. As their powerful enemy bore down on them, the Lord's people looked everywhere for help -- except to the Lord. Meanwhile, they did everything in their strength (busy, busy, busy) -- except pray (Isaiah 22:8b-11). As the storm clouds loomed the Lord God said: 'In returning and in rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' But they were 'unwilling', preferring to do things their way (v16). So the Lord waited (refrained from acting), for the promised salvation would only come by grace through faith, which is the Lord's paradigm. No wonder the passage concludes: 'blessed are those who wait for [trust in] him' (v18). [Isaiah 30:15-18]

As we head into 2015, will we commit to serious faith-building so we might reach out in faith to seek grace from the Lord?

'Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord ...' (from Exodus 14:10-14).

* THE WORLD HAS CHANGED
We have entered an age where mission and persecution must be seen as inseparable; where the needs of the Body are so enormous they simply must be shared globally; where faith-building is imperative for the purpose of survival; and where worship must have room for indignation, lament and the very serious business of intercessory prayer.

As we head into 2015, will we commit to this?


DEAR FATHER WE PRAY
that we might have an insight into your heart, which grieves over the suffering Body of Christ. May the Holy Spirit work in us, that we might weep with those who weep while serving the persecuted as comforters and advocates. May the Holy Spirit change us that we will give of our time, our funds, our energy and our possessions willingly for the benefit of believers in desperate need (Acts 2:42-47). Please Lord, fan our flickering faith into flame, that we might truly believe that Jesus Christ is 'able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us' (Ephesians 3:20).  May 2015 be a year of awakening, transformation and sanctification, for the sake of those who suffer for Christ, and for the glory of God. 
Amen.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS 
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TOWARDS 2015

Heading into 2015, we need to accept that the world has changed. The number of Christians displaced by war, threatened by terrorism, destroyed by violent persecution, crushed by crippling discrimination and even held captive as slaves is growing at an alarming rate. We have entered an age where mission and persecution must be seen as inseparable; where the needs of the Body are so enormous they simply must be shared globally; where faith-building is imperative for the purpose of survival; and where worship must have room for indignation, lament and the very serious business of intercessory prayer. As we head into 2015, will we commit to this? Pray for the persecuted, and for the Lord to revive his Church. For salvation comes from the Lord, by grace through faith.

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

RLPB 277. Lebanon: conflict looms, Christians threatened

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 277 | Wed 10 Sep 2014

LEBANON: CONFLICT LOOMS, CHRISTIANS THREATENED
By Elizabeth Kendal

Lebanon hosts more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees. Though most are Sunnis (many of whom support the rebel cause) quite a number are Christians. On 5 June 2013 the situation in Syria pivoted dramatically when the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), supported by fighters from Hezballah (Lebanon), Iraq and Iran, liberated the strategic city of Al-Qusayr near the border with Lebanon, changing the balance of power on the ground.

North Lebanon (click to enlarge)
 source (whole map)

Subsequently, thousands of rebel fighters retreated into Lebanon where they have become isolated, cut off from the main theatres of jihad. Most have settled into camps for Syrian refugees and at least 1,500 fighters moved into the refugee camps on the barren plains of Arsal just 40km south-west of Al-Qusayr, off the main highway in the hills overlooking the Bekaa Valley. Up to 25,000 Christians live in the Bekaa Valley villages of al-Qaa, al-Fakha and Ras Baalbek. A group calling itself the Ahrar al-Sunnah Brigade -- which has reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) 'caliph' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi -- has been threatening to attack churches and Christians, even threatening to 'purge the Islamic emirate of Bekaa'. Tensions are soaring and the fear is palpable.

On 2 August 2014, clashes broke out in Arsal between Lebanese security personnel and fighters from al-Nusra and IS after police arrested al-Nusra commander Emad Jumaa. [While IS and al-Nusra (which is allied to the Free Syrian Army) are fighting each other in northern Syria, they are allies (for the moment) in Lebanon.] A truce was brokered on 7 August, but not before some 20 Lebanese soldiers had been killed and 42 Lebanese security personnel -- 22 from the army and 20 from the Internal Security Forces -- had been taken hostage. Under the terms of the truce, the jihadists lost their ground, having to retreat out of Arsal into the barren lands beyond, but retained their captives. They remain inside Lebanon as Syria will not permit them back on Syrian soil. Hezballah has laid siege to the area.

In early September the rebels issued their first demand, insisting the Lebanese government release some 400 Islamists being held in Lebanese prisons. To show they were serious they beheaded a soldier -- a Sunni named Ali al-Sayed -- and threatened to behead another should the government fail to comply. Shi'ite clans made it clear that if any Shi'ite were harmed they would retaliate against Syrian refugees. On 4 September the Lebanese government rejected the terrorists' demand so on 6 September the jihadists beheaded another soldier -- Abbas Medlej, a Shi'ite -- while threatening to behead more Shi'ites should Hezballah or its backers harm any Syrian refugee. [Presumably though, al-Nusra and IS would only care only about Sunni refugees.]  Shi'ite clans have retaliated by issuing Syrian refugees with written ultimatums to leave Lebanon.

In recent days churches in the northern port city of Tripoli have been marked with Arabic graffiti. Messages have included, 'The Islamic State will break the cross,' and 'We came to slaughter you, you worshippers of the cross.' The Lebanese army has deployed extra forces to the area.

Hezballah regards the recent clash in Arsal as the beginning of a new conflict, predicting that the Bekaa Valley and the Sunni stronghold of Tripoli are likely to be the next battle grounds of IS. Christians are taking up arms to defend themselves. A Christian youth explained why he joined the local protection committee: 'What has happened in Mosul has been a message to all Christians of the East that the world will not protect them and that they need to rely on themselves to defend their existence.' Umm Milad fled Mosul (in Nineveh, Iraq) in June after ISIS marked her home with a ﮞ (an Arabic 'n' for 'Nasrani' / Christian) and ordered the family out. Now Umm, her husband and children are refugees. She weeps as she collects aid from a Chaldean church in Beirut. 'We are scared,' she says. 'We don't want to go back.'

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT --

* Christians in Lebanon -- whether they are armed or not -- will inquire of the Lord, look to him and put their trust first and foremost in him -- not in armies or militias or weapons or 'the world' or themselves. [This was the call of the prophet Isaiah when Judea was existentially threatened. See: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today.]

* the Lord of grace and peace will grant Lebanon's leaders great wisdom as they seek to tackle the refugee crisis, particularly the threat to national security caused by displaced jihadis.

* our heavenly Father will protect, guide and provide for the thousands of Christian refugees from Syria and Iraq now caught up in Lebanon's refugee crisis.

Regarding the fact that the enemies of Christ and Israel, i.e. al-Nusra, IS and Hezballah (and their state sponsors) are coming face to face in the region, read 2 Chronicles 20:1-30, where by grace, through faith, the Lord had his enemies destroy one another (v23).

Pray for great faith to arise, ' . . . for the battle is not yours but God's (v15).'


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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CONFLICT LOOMS IN LEBANON; CHRISTIANS THREATENED

In June 2013 the Syrian Arab Army liberated the strategic town of Al-Qusayr, changing the balance of power on the ground. Thousands of jihadis subsequently retreated into the mostly Sunni Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon. Tensions are soaring now as these displaced jihadis launch attacks inside Lebanon. Christians and churches have been threatened in the Sunni stronghold of Tripoli and in the Bekaa Valley. On 6 September Sunni jihadists beheaded a Shi'ite from the Lebanese security forces, causing sectarian tensions to erupt. A new conflict is looming. Lebanese Shi'ites are demanding that Syrian refugees leave Lebanon. This crisis could hit Christian refugees from Syria and Iraq hard -- where can they go? Please pray for Lebanon, for the Lebanese Church and for the Christian refugees caught up in this crisis.

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

RLPB 238. November Update, Incl. Central African Republic (CAR), the LRA, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan-Refugees, Somalia and Syria

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 238 | Wed 27 Nov 2013

By Elizabeth Kendal

' . . . These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.' (Revelation 3:7 NIV)

NOVEMBER 2013 UPDATE -- During November we prayed concerning . . . 

* ERITREA (RLPB 235), where persecution continues with more mass imprisonments and deaths in custody; and from where refugees are fleeing at the rate of some 3000 a month.

* BURMA (RLPB 236), where the regime continues to wage war against the Christian Kachin, despite peace talks.

* CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR) (RLPB 237), where sectarian violence is escalating, leading observers to warn of the possibility of genocide.

CAR UPDATE (1): MAY GOD OPEN THE WAY FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION.
Writing in The Guardian (23 November) David Smith tells of Muslim rebels slitting the throat of a four-year-old child, razing whole villages, bludgeoning a young mother to death before leaving her crying toddler on the side of the road, throwing one young man to the crocodiles and torturing others. A Christian father whose sons were tortured told Smith: 'The Seleka are criminals. In the beginning, the relations between Christians and Muslims were good here but the Muslims followed the Seleka and now things have changed. The Christians feel betrayed by the Muslims and are starting to feel vengeance in their hearts. This is a very big challenge for the Church.' This challenge must be an issue for prayer. CAR needs peace -- but there will be no lasting peace without truth, justice and reconciliation. May God grace CAR with godly peacemakers.

CAR UPDATE (2): MAY GOD CLOSE THE DOOR ON SUDAN AND IRAN.
According to terrorism analyst Yossef Bodansky, Iran is funnelling weapons into CAR via Sudan as part of a plot by those two states to dominate Central and West Africa and exploit its resources. [See: Central African Republic (CAR): Violence linked to Sudan and Iran. Religious Liberty Monitoring (RLM), 20 Nov 2013.] News of Sudan and Iran involvement in CAR bodes ill for CAR's Christians. Anyone seeking to intervene in CAR will face, not a band of disparate rebels, but jihadist forces backed by Khartoum and Tehran -- desperate regimes fighting to secure the minerals and resources necessary for regime survival. (Pray Psalm 10)

CAR UPDATE (3): MAY GOD CLOSE THE DOOR ON KONY AND THE LRA.
Reports are circulating that the spirit-medium Joseph Kony, the head of the infamous Ugandan terror group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), is on the verge of surrendering. These reports are without substance. To the contrary, like CAR's self-appointed president Michel Djotodia, Joseph Kony and the LRA are backed by Sudan. According to terrorism analyst Yossef Bodansky, Sudan intends to use the LRA as a proxy to destabilise CAR, South Sudan and Uganda so that Sudan's (and Iran's) interests in the region might be advanced (see above RLM link). UN special envoy Abou Moussa is deeply concerned that Djotodia has sent food, medicines and other supplies to LRA camps in CAR, supposedly in advance of an LRA surrender. Moussa advocates heightening pressure on Kony who is reportedly seriously ill. While many analysts presume Djotodia is being duped, it is not improbable that Djotodia is actually bolstering the LRA for use as a proxy to terrorise and kill Christians, destabilising CAR in pursuit of his own interests, as well as those of Islam, Sudan and Iran. Uganda's New Vision reports that while LRA attacks have recently been reported in South Sudan and Central African Republic, and while Kony is still widely feared, 'defections have increased while the number of attacks is down'. PLEASE PRAY for mass defections of LRA 'soldiers', who are almost all kidnapped children, and for God to close the door on Joseph Kony.


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

* EGYPT: MAY GOD CLOSE THE DOOR ON ISLAMIC CRIMINALITY

Morning Star News (MSN) reports that three months after the Egyptian Army liberated Delga from militant Muslims, Islamists and criminals are terrorising Christians there and across Upper Egypt. As was noted in RLPB 228 (17 Sep 2013) and the Religious Liberty Monitoring post of 18 September, the Egyptian Army's attack on Islamists in Delga (a Muslim Brotherhood stronghold) was a crackdown on Islamist dissent and it had nothing to do with protecting Christians. The Egyptian military serves its own interests! Today Muslim criminals are extorting and persecuting Christians, demanding jizya (protection money sanctioned by the Qur'an in Sura 9:29). The police and military are not concerned that Islamists are kidnapping Christians, torturing them and demanding massive ransoms. Islamic criminals are discovering they are free to extort and persecute Christians with impunity -- as long as they do not challenge military rule. Christians are facing the return of dhimmitude, their status of being without rights under Islam. Egypt's Christians need our prayers.

* IRAN: MAY GOD OPEN THE WAY TO THE TRANSFORMATION OF IRAN

On 3 November US citizen Pastor Saeed Abedini, whose wife and two young children are resident in the US, was transferred from Evin prison to Rajai Shahr Prison. Rajai Shahr houses Iran's most violent criminals and is a place where prisoners are routinely murdered by other prisoners. In mid-November, prison officials told Abedini's father that Saeed was not permitted any personal possessions, including blankets or prescription medications. At least 40 Iranian citizens are presently incarcerated because of their faith in Jesus or their Christian activities. One is the critically ill Pastor Behnam Irani (43), who also is married with two young children. On 22 November MSN reported the story of a young convert named Armin Davoodi. As a Muslim, Armin had repeatedly dreamed of a shepherd pointing him to the light. Eventually he shared this with a young female convert who explained his dream and introduced him to Jesus. Armin's witness led to imprisonment, torture and beatings. Though his parents paid a lot of money to have him released from prison, when he continued with his faith and witness, ultimately a relative betrayed him. Armin is now in hiding, where he reportedly continues to dream of the shepherd pointing to the light. Pray for Iran's suffering yet growing church.

* PAKISTANI REFUGEES: THE CASE OF RABEEL
 (Update to RLPB 226.)
MAY GOD OPEN DOORS FOR REFUGEES SEEKING SECURITY AND HEALING

As a high achieving university student from a high profile devout Christian family in Lahore, Rabeel (21) was targeted for forced conversion. In August 2012 Rabeel was betrayed by a Muslim friend who gave him into the hands of militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). They raped and tortured Rabeel over the course of three days before dumping him. They then pursued and threatened the whole family. Since fleeing Pakistan in January 2013, his family has been languishing in a refugee camp, waiting for the UNHCR to assess their claim. As time drags on it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain their finances. Pray that the UNHCR will deal with their claim before closing for the Christmas break. Pray for Christian refugees who, due to systematic discrimination and persecution, often do not have the documentation the UNHCR requires. May the LORD of justice and mercy intervene, be their advocate, and open the doors.

* SOMALIA: MAY GOD CLOSE THE DOOR ON AL-SHABAAB

Morning Star News (MSN) reported on 14 November that on 20 October gunmen carried out their threat to kill Abdikhani Hassan whom they accused of 'spreading wrong religion'. Hassan (35), a pharmacist in Dharkenley District, Mogadishu, was married with two young children. Al-Shabaab is suspected of being responsible. Pray that God will redeem the blood and suffering of Somalia's Christian martyrs. May hearts be softened and opened to receive the gospel.

* SYRIA: MAY GOD CLOSE THE DOOR ON ISLAMIC EXPANSION

Sadad is a Christian village in a desert region of Syria some 100km north-east of Damascus. A coalition of rebel forces invaded and occupied the town on 21 October, seizing control in an orgy of  violence that can only be understood in the context of intensive religious hatred. Survivors told Human Rights Watch that the jihadists would not permit Christians to flee. Some 2,500 families managed to escape before the militants used the remaining 1,500 families as human shields and hostages. Jihadists even held individual Christians as human shields while fighting. According to the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan of Homs and Hama, Mor Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh, in addition to the 46 residents killed, 30 were injured and 10 are missing. Numerous mutilated bodies were dumped in wells. He says the whole village was completely looted and even the ancient manuscripts have gone from the churches. The Syrian Arab Army liberated the village on 28 October. The rebel operation -- in which a battalion of the Free Syria Army joined forces with al-Qaeda-linked groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) -- was labelled: the 'Battle of God’s Doors Do Not Shut'. Indeed, God's open doors do not shut, but God does shut doors (Revelation 3:7) Pray that God will shut the door on all Islamic jihadists.

* SYRIA: MAY GOD CLOSE THE DOOR ON AL-QAEDA

Stratfor Intelligence reported on 23 November that al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels had seized the al-Omar oil field, the largest in eastern Syria. According to Stratfor, this would cut off Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's access to almost all local crude reserves and put nearly all of Syria's usable reserves in the hands of the al-Nusra Front and other Islamist units. Please bring this critical situation to the Lord our God, 'who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens' (Revelation 3:7 ESV).

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

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

RLPB 235. Eritrea: persecution fills prisons, fuels refugee crisis

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 235 | Wed 06 Nov 2013

ERITREA: PERSECUTION FILLS PRISONS, FUELS REFUGEE CRISIS
Plus -- tensions high in Egypt and Pakistan
By Elizabeth Kendal

In 2001 the Eritrean government cancelled elections, arrested political opponents and closed down independent media. Determined to eliminate anything that could threaten national cohesion, the regime extended the repression in May 2002 to 'foreign' and 'non-traditional' religious groups. That meant all except the state-sanctioned Muslim, Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran denominations were banned. Since then, many thousands of mostly evangelical Christians have suffered severely at the hands of a regime known for its human rights abuses, appalling prison conditions and widespread use of torture. Even teenagers are not spared and must complete military service in military training camps before they can graduate from school. Separated from their parents, religious persecution in these camps is systematic and severe. (See RLPB 221, Eritrea: systematic persecution of Protestant youths, 30 July 2013).

World Watch Monitor reports that during the week of 14 October, Wehazit Berhane Debesai, an Eritrean Christian woman in her 30s, died in custody after a year of harsh imprisonment. Wehazit died of pneumonia after being denied medical treatment because she refused to deny her faith. On 28 October Eritrean security forces raided a prayer meeting in Maitemenai, a suburb north of the capital Asmara. They arrested between 70 Christians (as reported by Open Doors) and 185 Christians (according to Release International). Where they are is not yet confirmed. The total number of Eritrean believers currently incarcerated for their faith is estimated at 1500.

On 24 October the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Sheila B Keetharuth, raised the issue of Eritrea's human rights in the UN General Assembly. She noted that serious human rights abuses are behind the flight of up to 3000 Eritreans each month. 'The current human rights picture is desperately bleak,' she told journalists. 'People feel trapped in a long hopeless situation.' Later, several NGOs jointly hosted  a side meeting on Eritrea at which five Eritrean victims gave their personal testimonies. Elsa Chyrum, Director of Human Rights Concern Eritrea, noted: 'Although the human rights situation is extremely alarming in Eritrea, this is the first time that it has been brought to the attention of the General Assembly by the UN-appointed Special Rapporteur. It is clear the recent Lampedusa tragedy which resulted in the loss of over 350 lives, the vast majority of whom were Eritreans, has had an impact on the consciences of many state governments, leading to questions being asked relating to the root causes of those who were fleeing.' Indeed, not only were most of the refugees involved in the Lampedusa tragedy Eritreans, but according to Father Mussie Zerai, Chairman of the Habeshia Agency which works on behalf of these migrants, the majority of those Eritreans were Christians.

According to a recently published report from the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA, those fleeing Eritrea usually employ people smugglers to take them north through Sudan to Libya before they embark on the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean to the EU. Alternatively they may go north through eastern Sudan and Egypt to Israel, or south into Ethiopia, South Sudan and beyond. The route through eastern Sudan is especially high risk. Increasingly Bedouin traffickers are kidnapping Eritrean refugees straight out of Sudanese refugee camps. The Eritreans are then taken to concrete bunker torture chambers in the Sinai (Egypt) where they are tortured while money is extorted from their relatives via mobile phone. A Catholic nun who serves the Eritrean community in Israel says they recently heard that 'with God's help, 150 people escaped from the torture camps, as a result of the chaotic situation prevailing in the Sinai following the attacks by the Egyptian army. But the escapees have disappeared; we do not know what has happened to them.'

The trafficking of Eritrean refugees has become an extremely lucrative business. As noted in RLPB 205 -- Egypt: evil thrives in lawless Sinai (10 April 2013) -- the corruption trail stretches right back to Eritrea where the regime is busy not only creating refugees but in profiting from their misery.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL --

* break the arm (the mechanism of action) of the wicked (Psalm 10:15) who profit from misery. Lord, eliminate the demand by destroying the Bedouin trafficking rings and Sinai torture chambers. Lord, eliminate the corruption by heaping consequences on those who profit from human suffering. Lord, eliminate the supply by bringing radical change to Eritrea so that the flow of refugees might cease at its source. 

* break the arm of the wicked who inflict violence and torture on the Lord's beloved. Lord, convict them of sin, soften their hearts, restrain or remove them.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    call his wickedness to account till you find none. (Psalm 10:15 ESV)

* protect, sustain and comfort his suffering people, providing them with all their needs.

* bring revival to Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran state-sanctioned churches, so that disunity will dissolve and believers will love, care for and cover one another; may the Lord so work in the Eritrean Church that she is refined as pure silver for future ministry and for the glory of God.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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ERITREAN PERSECUTION FILLS PRISONS, FUELS REFUGEE CRISIS

Up to 3000 Eritreans flee persecution every month. Their extreme danger was shown by the recent Lampedusa tragedy. The vast majority of over 350 lives lost were Eritreans, most of whom were Christians. Those fleeing for asylum via Israel risk falling into the hands of Bedouin traffickers in eastern Sudan. These victims of the Bedouin are tortured so as to extort money from their relatives. Despite the risks, the situation in Eritrea is so horrendous that the flow continues. Some 1500 Christians are currently incarcerated in Eritrea purely because of their faith. On 14 October another young Christian died in captivity. On 28 October a prayer meeting was raided and over 70 believers were arrested. Please pray for God to intervene in Eritrea.

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Also, TENSIONS ARE HIGH IN:

* Egypt, where the trial of Mohamed Morsi has began. Minutes into the first session (3 November) the trial was adjourned to 8 January 2014, due to courtroom chaos. Pray that God will surround his people and protect Christian churches, schools, hospitals and other property from reprisal attacks by Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

* Pakistan, after the 1 November drone assassination of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the emir of the al Qaeda-linked Tehreek-e-Taliban.  Pray that God will surround his people and protect Christian churches, schools, hospitals and other property from Taliban reprisal attacks.

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

RLPB 229. Sept Update, Incl. Pakistan, Refugees, Central African Republic, Kazakhstan, Laos, Morocco

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 229 | Wed 25 Sep 2013

By Elizabeth Kendal

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN: 'LET TEARS STREAM DOWN' (Lamentations 2:18)

On Sunday 22 September, as some 600 worshippers were mingling at the close of the service, two Islamic militants armed with automatic rifles and grenades stormed All Saint's Church, Peshawar. After slaughtering many, they detonated their explosive vests, triggering two huge explosions that blasted shrapnel through the believers. The death toll, presently 89, continues to rise; more than 150 were wounded, many critically. The internet images are shocking and deeply moving.

Two different wings of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have claimed responsibility. A spokesman from TTP Jundullah claimed: 'They [Christians] are the enemies of Islam, therefore we target them. We will continue our attacks on non-Muslims on Pakistani land.' Later a spokesman from Junood ul-Hifsa claimed the attack was in response to US drone strikes. This was the most deadly terrorist attack on Pakistan's Christian community in modern history.

CONTEXT: The church massacre comes as the government is reportedly trying to broker peace with the Taliban. The Taliban opposes peace with the government on principle. Meanwhile, senior military figures see peace, which will involve a military withdrawal and the release of militant prisoners, as akin to surrender. It has also been mooted that the peace talks are a farce, designed to demonstrate the futility of peace talks. It is quite possible that Peshawar's Christians may have been sacrificed  -- the attack was permitted -- to legitimise military action and requests for military aid. Pray for the Lord of Hosts to encircle his Church.

In a short BBC news video a grieving father stands over the coffin of his 11-year-old daughter talking with the BBC reporter, who tells us, 'somehow he manages to talk of forgiveness'.

'My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, "My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD." . . . But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mecies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."' (Lamentations 3:17,18,21-24 ESV)

Indeed, our hope must be in him.

[Six Bible Studies on the book of Lamentations can be found on Elizabeth Kendal's website.]

SEPTEMBER 2013 UPDATE -- During September we prayed concerning . . . 

* REFUGEES & PAKISTAN (RLPB 226), when prayer was requested for Rabeel, a Christian university student from Punjab, Pakistan, who had been betrayed by a trusted Muslim friend into the hands of Lashkar e-Toiba militants who tortured him mercilessly for three days. The family fled in January 2013 and has since been languishing in a refugee camp. Like most persecuted Christians, they have not been able to get police reports or medical reports to substantiate their case. [We thank God for the ministry of the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) and pray God's blessing upon them.] We also prayed for all persecuted Christians who struggle to get asylum for the same reasons. Christian Faith and Freedom (in Australia, where Rabeel's family has relatives) is lobbying to have this case expedited so Rabeel can receive the medical care he urgently requires. Please pray that God will expedite this case.

[Rabeel's relatives in Australia also had five relatives wounded in the Peshawar church bombing; one critically. In this global age, the pain of persecution is felt right around the world.]

* CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (RLPB 227), where a humanitarian crisis has been unfolding in this French-speaking predominantly Christian nation since its fall to Arabic-speaking Islamic militants in March 2013.

UPDATE: CAR's Evangelical Alliance has expressed concern that sectarian Muslim-Christian violence could increase. On 8 September pro-Bozize (deposed president) gunmen attacked and killed Muslim civilians in Bossangoa, northern CAR. Seleka, the ruling Islamic rebel coalition, then despatched troops who retaliated by attacking Christians, causing many casualties. This clash left some 100 dead, more injured and over 4500 displaced. Two unexploded grenades were subsequently found in Bossangoa's Catholic Cathedral. The president of the Alliance of Evangelical Churches in CAR, Pastor Nicolas Guerékoyamé, has appealed to all communities of the CAR 'not to yield to the temptation of interfaith divide'. Human Rights Watch has released a new report on CAR: 'I Can Still Smell the Dead', (18 September 2013). Pray for peace in CAR, as well as for justice and liberty.

* EGYPT (RLPB 228), where a cycle of violence is emerging: the Muslim Brotherhood militants attack the military government; the military cracks down with deadly force; Muslim Brotherhood supporters react against Coptic Christians. [For a more detailed report see Religious Liberty Monitoring (18 Sept 2013).] Pray for the Church in Egypt.


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

* KAZAKHSTAN (updating RLPB 223).  Pastor Bakhytzhan Kashkumbaev of Astana's Grace Church (Presbyterian) was arrested on 17 May on charges of 'harming health' (essentially for praying over the sick). He was subsequently removed to the Almaty City Psychological-Psychiatric Assessment Centre with his detention extended until 17 September (RLPB 225). According to Forum 18, Pastor Kashkumbayev was transferred in early September, presumably back to Almaty's Investigation Prison, with his detention extended again to 17 October. Pastor Kashkumbaev's family and his congregation remain extremely anxious as nobody has any information as to his actual whereabouts or condition. Pray for Pastor Kashkumbaev and for the Church in Kazakhstan.

* LAOS: FAMILIES EXPELLED FROM VILLAGE OVER CHRISTIAN FAITH

Laotians who practise Asian traditional religion believe Christians anger the ancestral spirits, while the Laos government regards Christianity as a foreign religion that threatens social cohesion and national security and as such must be eliminated. On 30 August, village officials in Nongdaeng village, Borikhamsai Province summoned 11 Christian families (50 individuals) to recant their faith and return to traditional religion. The families all refused and on Sunday 1 Sept, they bravely worshipped together as usual, as is their constitutional right. This group has grown from 3 families to 11 families in six months, despite persecution. On 21 Sept, village officials in Huay village, Savannakhet province ruled that village Christians must renounce their faith or face expulsion. These Christians too have rejected the order and are claiming their constitutional right. Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) is urging the Laos government to respect the constitution and punish officials who illegally issue Christians with eviction orders. Pray for the Church in Laos, and that God will bless the HRWLRF's advocacy. [Constitution of the Lao People's Democratic Republic]

* MOROCCO: EVANGELIST IMPRISONED FOR HIS WITNESS

On 3 September a court in Taounate, northern Morocco, found Mohamed El Baladi (33), a Christian for seven years, guilty of 'proselytising' and sentenced him to 30 months in prison. Morning Star News reports that Mohamed had been arrested only one week earlier and had not had time even to find legal representation. Under interrogation, Mohamed gave up names of other converts from Islam who are in no doubt Mohamed was tortured. His friends have since found a lawyer, Aababou Aderrazzak, who has launched an appeal and is pressing to have the appeal heard in Fez where it will be more difficult for local authorities to dominate and influence proceedings. Please PRAY about this. Since 2011 the government has been dominated by the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) which controls not only higher education and foreign affairs, but justice. Pray that God will overrule.

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

RLPB 226. Christian refugees and the case of Rabeel from Pakistan

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 226 | Wed 04 Sep 2013

CHRISTIAN REFUGEES AND THE CASE OF RABEEL FROM PAKISTAN

-- plus UPDATE on SYRIA

By Elizabeth Kendal

All genuine rescue operations are discriminatory, with the weakest and most vulnerable being rescued first. A refugee policy that is 'non-discriminatory' is a policy that has been corrupted with populist politics and political correctness. Non-discriminatory refugee policies actually compound the discrimination already being suffered by the weakest, most vulnerable, marginalised and persecuted peoples in the world. Imagine if a non-discriminatory policy were imposed on a rescue service: the strong would jostle for position while the weak would die waiting. No civilised state would accept such a scenario. Yet this is exactly what a non-discriminatory refugee policy produces.

Rabeel (21) is the eldest of five children of Christian parents. A bright, dedicated scholar and strong Christian, he was studying Veterinary Medicine at Jhang University in Lahore, Pakistan, when on 26 August 2012, he travelled to Lahore to submit his application for a renewal of his Merit Scholarship. He travelled with his trusted friend, fellow student Hammad-ul-Rahman, a Muslim. When her son did not return or contact home after two days, Rabeel's mother grew concerned.

As a Pakistani Christian, Rabeel was no stranger to persecution. However, as is commonly the case, the persecution escalated dramatically at university where, as a high achiever, he was under constant pressure to convert to Islam. Unbeknown to Rabeel, Hammad -- who had been a friend since High School days -- secretly had become actively involved with the Islamic terror group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. Instead of travelling to Lahore with Rabeel, Hammad handed him over to Lashkar-e-Taiba. Rabeel was in the terror group's custody for three days, during which time he was plied with drugs, beaten, electrocuted and pack-raped as the militants sought to convert him to Islam and use him in a terror attack against the West. On 29 August 2012 Gujranwala District Police Station informed Rabeel's parents that they had Rabeel in custody and that if the family did not collect him soon they would be sending him to a psychiatric facility as he was clearly out of his mind. Rabeel's family rushed to his aid.

After three local hospitals refused to treat him because he was a Christian and marked by Lashkar-e-Taiba, the family sought help from an expensive private hospital in Lahore. In its Intensive Care Unit, Rabeel slowly improved. Though he was discharged on 9 September 2012, Rabeel was still severely traumatised and his behaviour grew increasingly erratic. Eventually he stopped eating and began self-harming. By 18 October Rabeel was admitted to a public hospital. On 22 October two jeeps arrived at the hospital and a mob of Lashkar-e-Taiba militants stormed in, accompanied by police. Rabeel, his family and the hospital staff were threatened with death if they dared file charges or issue medical reports. Rabeel had to leave the hospital and the family went into hiding.  With the militants hunting them and using Rabeel's mobile SIM card to make threatening calls, the family fled abroad. They have been languishing in a refugee camp for some 10 months now with relatives in Australia providing aid. They are going through the official UNHCR channels and waiting. However, Rabeel is fading and is not eating.  If this family is not rescued soon, then Rabeel may well die waiting.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL --

* intervene and in grace and power expedite the rescue of this Christian family who have lost everything due to violent persecution.

* bring healing to Rabeel's body and mind and comfort and strength to the whole family.

* intervene on behalf of all Christian refugees whose lives are imminently imperilled but who struggle to make claims because they lack medical records and police reports (because as persecuted Christians they simply cannot get them).

'You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life. You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord; judge my cause.' (Lamentations 3:58-59 ESV)

* change the thinking of Western policy makers, so that they will recognise that, in these days of escalating sectarianism, Islamic radicalisation, religious persecution and impunity, persecuted religious minorities require priority consideration.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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CHRISTIAN REFUGEE FROM PAKISTAN NEEDS URGENT PRAYER

As a strong Christian, high achieving university student in Lahore, Rabeel (21) faced constant pressure to convert to Islam. As he resisted, persecution escalated. Eventually, a trusted Muslim friend betrayed Rabeel to the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Over three days, Rabeel was plied with drugs, beaten, electrocuted and pack-raped as the militants sought to convert him to Islam and use him in a terror attack against the West. When his family found him, Rabeel was horribly wounded and severely traumatised. As a Christian marked by Lashkar-e-Taiba, it proved not only difficult to get medical treatment but impossible to get medical reports and police support. Forced to flee, this family of seven has been languishing in a refugee camp for the past 10 months; Rabeel is fading. Please pray.

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UPDATE ON SYRIA

The only reason there are Christians surviving in Syria today is because they are being protected by the Syrian Arab Army in government-held areas. Because the rebels have surrounded and blockaded these areas, Western Christian aid groups have spent the last year or so funnelling in aid to help them survive. If the US attacks Syria, the protection provided by the Syrian Army will be greatly reduced, at least for a time. This could well open the floodgates for rebel invasions of Christian areas. On 3 September, the Deputy UN Envoy to Syria, Mokhtar Lamani, commented that sectarianism is now so serious that the risk of genocide is real. Please pray for God's intervention.

For prayer requests from a Syrian pastor: see here.

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

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

RLPB 205. Egypt: evil thrives in lawless Sinai

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 205 | Wed 10 Apr 2013

EGYPT: EVIL THRIVES IN LAWLESS SINAI

By Elizabeth Kendal

It was in the Sinai desert that the nation of Israel received God's law. Consequently we tend to think of the Sinai as a place of law-giving. Today, however, under Egyptian control, the Sinai  (particularly the north-east) is absolutely lawless -- a place of law-breaking. Not only has al-Qaeda established a presence, but Bedouin criminal gangs and human traffickers operate with impunity. The Egyptian government knows that the clusters of concrete buildings dotting the Sinai desert are being used as torture chambers by human traffickers. The traffickers relay their victims' agony to family members or diaspora groups via mobile phone to facilitate payment of ransom. Even when ransom is paid it is not uncommon to find that victims are subsequently sold on to other traffickers who repeat the process. Failure to pay will result in death by torture, including through the extraction of saleable organs. New York Times (NYT) estimates that some 7000 refugees have been abused this way in the past four years and that 4000 of them may have died.

The victims, mostly Eritrean (99 percent) as well as Somali and Sudanese refugees, include many Christians who have fled persecution in their homelands (see RLPBs 185 and 187, November 2012). Most of the victims have been kidnapped from the Shagarab refugee camps in eastern Sudan, home to tens of thousands of Eritrean refugees, and then transferred to the Sinai where they are sold to criminals. Eritrean opposition groups are demanding that Sudan improve security at the camps. Chairman of the Ethiopia-based Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA), Tewelde Gebresilase, says human trafficking is carried out by a highly organised network that stretches from Eritrea to the refugee camps in Sudan and to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. It is a highly lucrative business, not only for the Bedouin, but for the Eritrean, Sudanese and Egyptian officials who are involved either directly or indirectly through taking bribes. According to intelligence sources, it is a major form of revenue for the corrupt and wicked regime ruling Eritrea.

On 1 April Amnesty International (AI) released a report entitled 'EGYPT/SUDAN: refugees and asylum seekers face brutal treatment, kidnapping for ransom, and human trafficking'. (Index: AFR 04/001/2013). AI is appealing that Egypt and Sudan should 'make urgent and concerted efforts to stop asylum-seekers and refugees being kidnapped from camps in Sudan, forcibly transported to Egypt, and being severely abused in the Sinai desert'. Reporting on a typical case, AI writes, 'On 22 January 2013, two Eritrean women living in the Shagarab camps set out to go to church, but did not arrive at their destination. Camp residents believe they were kidnapped.'

Recently five Eritreans escaped from their captors during a fierce night storm. Whilst two perished en route, three made it to safety. Mhretab (27) is frail and heavily scarred. 'We had barely anything to eat or drink,' he explains. 'And we weren't allowed to sleep. If we did, they burned us. They scorched the skin on our arms or backs with burning plastic, or they burned us directly with lighters. They hung us from our feet and hit us. If we cried, they called our families and we had to beg them over the phone to pay for us.' By selling everything they owned and taking up a collection at church, Mhretab's family raised the ransom. But instead of releasing Mhretab, his kidnappers sold him on to other human traffickers. Lemlem (15) is totally traumatised. Wearing only a sweater, she asks the home owner if there is any underwear she can put on.

In another case, Ahlam (8) saw her 'parents' brutalised and other hostages murdered. On 12 March her captors put her on the phone to Swedish-Eritrean radio journalist Meron Estefanos. After recalling the horrors she had witnessed, Ahlam confirmed that the traffickers were threatening to take her from her 'parents' and sell her on to another gang. Fortunately for this family, they were released alive in late March after payment of ransom. Ahlam's uncle Adem, who had posed as Ahlam's father so he could stay with the women of the family to afford them some protection, has been hospitalised with serious torture injuries. Ahlam's father negotiated their release from Canada while claiming to be 'a distant relative in Saudi Arabia'. Ms Estefanos told NYT last year that Eritrean relatives sell land and possessions to raise ransoms. 'They borrow money from people, go from church to church,' she said.

This evil thrives because nobody is prepared to act against it. Egyptian President Morsi would say it is not in his interests to pick a fight with criminals who are hurting only non-Arabs and mostly non-Muslims anyway, posing no threat to him personally or politically. The Arab-supremacist, Islamist President Bashir in Khartoum, Sudan, would say the same. As for the Eritrean regime at the source of the problem, it is certainly not in its interests to see its refugees protected or its human trafficking revenues cut off. The whole situation would be totally hopeless were it not for the reality of the Lord of Hosts.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT THE LORD OF HOSTS --

* who demands 'Let my people go,' will shake the Sinai and break the arm (the mechanism of action) of the wicked (Psalm 10:15), that his people might be delivered and law and order restored to the desert.  

* will send his forces to guard the mostly Eritrean refugees --  many of whom are Christians -- in Sudan's Shagarab camps. 'The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.' (Psalm 34:7 ESV); may all the refugees look to him and put their hope in him.

* will intervene in Eritrea, the source of the problem, to liberate it from its corrupt, repressive and wicked regime.

Please pray Psalm 10 over Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt, '. . . so that man, who is of the earth, may strike terror no more' (v18b ESV).


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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EVIL THRIVES IN LAWLESS SINAI

Political and religious refugees fleeing repression and persecution in Eritrea often end up in eastern Sudan's Shagarab refugee camps. These camps are grossly insecure and refugees are routinely kidnapped and sold to Bedouin criminals in Egypt's lawless Sinai desert. Here they are tortured until ransom is paid. Some are released alive, but many traffickers take the ransom and then sell their victims on to other traffickers. It is estimated  some 7000, mostly Eritrean refugees, have been abused this way in the last four years and that around 4000 may have died. Amongst the victims are many Christians who have fled persecution. Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt have no interest in stopping what is for them a very lucrative business. Please pray for the Lord of Hosts to intervene.

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

RLPB 145. Sudan & Burma: Christian refugees in peril

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 145 | Wed 08 Feb 2012 SUDAN & BURMA: CHRISTIAN REFUGEES IN PERIL By Elizabeth Kendal SUDAN: NUBA GENOCIDE LOOMS When Khartoum began ethnic cleansing South Kordofan in June 2011, there were an estimated one million non-Arab, non-Muslim, predominantly Christian Nuba in the state. Today more than half that number have been either killed or displaced. To maximise casualties, the Arabist-Islamist regime of Sudan president Omar el-Bashir (an indicted war criminal) closed the region off to humanitarian aid so as to engineer famine. Now the UN estimates that by March up to 500,000 Nuba will be dying en masse due to famine. A coalition of Christian, Jewish and interfaith anti-genocide groups are urging the American government to intensify its efforts to convince Khartoum to open a corridor for the delivery of humanitarian aid. Aware this might fail, they are also urging the US administration to consider delivering aid without Khartoum's consent, an act they acknowledge would be fraught with risk. Khartoum insists it will never let aid organisations reward 'rebels'. Furthermore, without citing any evidence, it has accused the aid organisations of arming rebels. Khartoum would surely view any unsanctioned incursion as a hostile and provocative act and doubtless declare it to be a trigger for war. The situation is extremely delicate. Grave fears are held for some 200,000 starving Nuba refugees slowly making their way south through the Kauda Valley, headed for the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan which is already home to about 24,000 Nuba refugees. Digital Globe images made public by Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) show that the Government of Sudan has moved Sudan Armed Forces' tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and artillery into the southern end of the valley, creating a fortified 'choke-point' which is preventing refugees from escaping south. SSP images also reveal that the runway at nearby Talodi has recently been extended to handle Antonovs (used as bombers). Satellite images also show new elevated roads being built into the Nuba Mountains, capable of bearing heavy military vehicles in all weather conditions. Images also reveal that helicopter gunships have arrived at the renovated airbase in the capital, Kadugli. Observers believe the regime will want to complete any military offensive and genocide before the onset of the rainy season due in around 8 weeks. BURMA: KACHIN SITUATION IS DIRE Behind the regime's smokescreen of token reforms-of-convenience, Burma's ethnic-religious minorities are suffering more than ever. Zetty Brake of Burma Campaign Australia told Radio Australia on 6 February that the situation for these minorities is actually getting worse: conflict is increasing as are human rights abuses, whilst some 60,000 displaced Christian Kachin are still without humanitarian aid. Similarly, the UN estimates that about 55,000 Kachin IDPs (internally displaced persons) in two dozen IDP camps are struggling to survive without basic aid. People are dying of preventable illnesses caused by cold weather and unsanitary conditions. Most of the children suffer diarrhoea and stomach parasites due to dirty drinking water. There is fear that diseases will spread. Women are suffering miscarriages at an increased rate. The situation is dire. Ben Rogers of Christian Solidarity Worldwide recently returned from the Burma-China border saying he heard some of the worst stories of human rights violations that he had ever heard in his almost 15 years of involvement in Burma. Please pray for the Christian Kachin. Also, the Burma Day of Prayer on Saturday 17 March 2012 is a date for church calendars. See here for resources. PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT -- * the God who saved Israel from Pharaoh's army by enabling their escape through the supposedly impenetrable Red Sea, will save the Nuba from el-Bashir's genocidal schemes. 'The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.' (Moses, to the trapped and imminently imperilled Israelites on the shore of the Red Sea, Exodus 14:14 NIV) * the LORD of creation, who fed 5000 men and all the women and children present from five loaves and two fish, might magnify all efforts and multiply all provision so that the displaced Nuba and Kachin will not starve. (Matthew 14:15-21) 'I am with you always . . .' (Jesus' promise from Matthew 28:20) * Jesus Christ our LORD, who himself lived as a refugee in Egypt, might speak with empathy into the hearts of all his displaced children in Sudan, South Sudan and Burma, drawing them to him for healing, provision and empowerment. (Isaiah 40:27-31) SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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CHRISTIAN REFUGEES IMPERILLED IN SUDAN & BURMA The UN estimates 500,000 mostly Christian Nuba fleeing ethnic-religious cleansing in South Kordofan, Sudan, will be dying en masse from famine by March. Furthermore, some 200,000 Nuba are trapped in the Kauda Valley, unable to cross into South Sudan because their escape route is blocked by Sudan Armed Forces. Further to having engineered famine, the Arabist-Islamist regime in Khartoum appears to be preparing for a military offensive. It is extending runways, building roads and bringing in bombers, helicopter gunships, tanks and other military hardware. In Burma, an estimated 55,000 Christian Kachin refugees, driven from their homes by Burmese forces during seven months of war, remain without aid. Children are dying and women are miscarrying -- the situation is dire. These are God's children and our brothers and sisters. Please pray.

114. June 2011 Update; incl. Burma, Egypt, North Korea, Tajikistan.

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 114 | Wed 29 Jun 2011 

 By Elizabeth Kendal 

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [. . .] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7,11 ESV) 

JUNE 2011 UPDATE -- During June we prayed for . . . 

* ZIMBABWE (RLPBs 110 & 111), where churches (particularly Anglican churches) are facing escalating political violence ahead of elections. See Religious Liberty Monitoring for more information.

UPDATE: according to The Tablet, a Catholic weekly newsletter, President Mugabe has branded the Catholic Church an enemy of the State. With secret police masquerading as Mass-goers, Catholic priests are increasingly at risk of arrest and torture. One priest laments: '[we] don't have any freedom to preach the Word as we would want to even within the Church because you never know what kind of visit you may get after Mass. You know that the secret police are attending and the moment you finish, things happen.' Even just acknowledging the existence of hunger in the country is enough to get a priest into trouble. Phones are tapped and Internet lines are monitored. Priests wearing clerical garb are routinely arrested, interrogated and humiliated. 'If you are lucky,' the priest said, 'you are interviewed and let go; if you are not so lucky you are tortured a little bit.' Pray for the Church in Zimbabwe.

see: Fear in the pulpit Oppression in Zimbabwe Sarah Mac Donald,
The Tablet - 25 June 2011 

* REFUGEES (RLPB 112), as increasing numbers of Christians are being forced to flee war, Islamic jihad and violent religious persecution. 

* NUBA MOUNTAINS, SUDAN (RLPB 113): where as many as half-a-million mostly Christian Nuba -- some 50 African tribes indigenous to North Sudan's Nuba Mountains -- have been displaced by aerial bombardment and a violent ethnic cleansing campaign. Once again, as in the early 1990s, the Arab-Islamist regime in Khartoum has closed the Nuba Mountains off to all humanitarian aid as it seeks the genocide of the 'blacks' through the use of starvation as a weapon of mass destruction. See Religious Liberty Monitoring for more information. Please pray for God's intervention. 

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

* BURMA (Myanmar): CONFLICT ERUPTS IN KACHIN STATE 

 
As was noted in RLPB 080 (3 Nov 2010), the sole purpose of Burma's fraudulent November 2010 elections was to legitimise the regime and give it a mandate to impose its will. Because the ethnic-religious minorities do not have enough confidence in the junta to disarm, the regime has branded them 'separatist' and tensions have escalated. Conflict has erupted in devoutly Christian Kachin State which borders China to the north. The trigger has been China's building of two hydropower mega-dams in Kachin, against the will of the Kachin people who protest that social and environmental damage will be catastrophic. With China wanting to build at least seven more such mega-dams in Kachin State, the Burmese junta's interest in controlling Kachin lands will intensify. Thousands of Christian Kachin are on the run and at least 50 have been killed. Pray for the Christian Kachin. 

* EGYPT: VIOLENCE CONTINUES AGAINST COPTIC CHURCH 

On 23 June hundreds of fundamentalist Salafi Muslims attacked the Coptic Church of St George in the village of Bani Ahmed in Minya Province, Upper Egypt, during Mass. The Salafis demanded that the priest, Fr George Thabet, either leave the village or be handed over to be killed. For months now, the Salafis have been protesting development work done on the church. After a five-hour siege the Army intervened, quelling the rioting and escorting Fr Thabet out of the village. On 25 June a rumour spread through the village of Awlad Khalaf in Suhaj Province, Upper Egypt, that the home being built by a Coptic Christian, Wahib Halim Attia, was actually a church. Consequently, a mob of some 200 Muslims responded by attacking Mr Attia. After looting and bulldozing his home, they moved on to loot and torch another six Coptic-owned homes. Attia was subsequently arrested. Reportedly, local Muslims intervened to return many of the looted possessions. Pray for the Church in Egypt and that Egyptian Muslims will awaken to the fact that Islam is not the solution. 

* NORTH KOREA: MILITARY GOING HUNGRY 

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has obtained some very revealing film smuggled out of North Korea. The footage confirms: there is mass poverty, starvation and fear; there are scores of scavenging, homeless orphans whose parents have died either of starvation or in concentration camps; and work is being done by malnourished slave labourers. But the report also reveals something quite new: many uniformed soldiers are weak from hunger and malnutrition. This is significant because if the regime cannot sustain its 'military first' policy -- feeding its military to secure its loyalty -- then the regime's grip on power could be tenuous. Under the Kim regime, hundreds of thousands of Korean Christians suffer some of the most severe expressions of religious persecution known. See Religious Liberty Monitoring for more on North Korea. And please pray. 

* TAJIKISTAN: SEVERE RELIGIOUS RESTRICTIONS THREATENED 

On 15 June Tajikistan's Lower House of Parliament approved a controversial Parental Responsibility Law. An initiative of President Emomali Rahmon, the law obliges parents 'not to let children-teenagers participate in the activity of religious organisations [other than funerals], with the exception of those officially enrolled in [State-sanctioned] religious education'. Penalties will apply. Also on 15 June the Lower House approved amendments to the Criminal Code that will extend punishments for 'unapproved meetings' to unapproved religious meetings, and prescribe lengthy prison terms for those found participating in 'religious extremist' teaching. With the courts left to define 'extremist', observers fear that all unsanctioned religious education will be penalised. Before they can be enacted as law, the draft law and amendments need to be approved by the Upper House (Majlisi Milli) and signed by the President. Chair of the Lower House's Science, Education, Culture and Youth Policy Committee, Marhabo Jabborova, told Forum 18 she felt 'sure' the Parental Responsibility Law and the Criminal Code amendments would be adopted by the Upper House in July. Whilst Islamic sects considered to be dangerous are the target, Protestant Christians will be caught in the net, a detail the authorities will keenly exploit. Please pray for God's intervention.

112. Refugees: Christians take flight

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 112 | Wed 15 Jun 2011

REFUGEES: CHRISTIANS TAKE FLIGHT

By Elizabeth Kendal

According to the angel, the birth of Jesus -- 'a Saviour who is Christ the Lord' -- was an event of 'good news of great joy that will be for all the people' (Luke 2:8-14). Despite this, it would not be long before 'an angel of the Lord' would appear to Joseph to warn him of the threat to the child's life, and instruct him to gather up his family and flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13,14). And so Jesus became a refugee. This Jesus, however, has become our great high priest, and '[not] a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin'. And so the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews exhorts us, 'Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.' (Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV excerpts)

The number of Christians fleeing for their lives is skyrocketing. Those with financial means may emigrate or fly out and apply for refugee status in the West, an arduous enough process. However, poorer Christians seeking refuge in a neighbouring state must risk death traversing deserts, oceans and dangerous cities, while dodging bandits and people-traffickers. Lately, finding refuge is becoming increasingly difficult. Since 2003 Iraq's Assyrian-Chaldean Christians have been fleeing for their lives into Syria and Jordan. But today secular minority-ruled Syria is in turmoil and is at risk of falling into the hands of Sunni fundamentalists or erupting into a regional sectarian conflagration. Jordan is volatile. As the doors close, where will Iraq's threatened Christians go?

Christians fleeing repression and persecution in totalitarian Eritrea have normally headed for Egypt or Yemen, two states previously run by US-allied, politically secular dictators. Egypt and Yemen, however, are no longer 'safe'. Reaching Israel involves crossing the Sinai Desert which is not only perilous in itself, but ridden with unscrupulous people-traffickers. According to Barnabas Fund an estimated 500-600 Eritrean refugees are presently detained by authorities in Egypt, while an estimated 100-200 are in the hands of traffickers.

The greatest risk for North Korean refugees is that instead of finding the 'underground railroad' (safe passage organised by Christians) they will fall into the hands of Chinese security forces who return them to North Korea and certain incarceration or execution. Likewise, many Hmong, Montagnard and other Christians fleeing persecution in Laos and the Central Highlands of Vietnam do not always find refuge.

Hundreds of thousands of Ivorian Christians now live as refugees in Liberia, having fled ethnic-religious-political cleansing in Ivory Coast. Many more remain in Ivory Coast amidst terrible insecurity. As fighting intensifies on Sudan's North-South border, hundreds of thousands of predominantly Christian Southerners are being displaced, forced to flee as Khartoum bombs the oil-rich regions to clear and claim them. Where will they go? What of the Christians residing in North Sudan?

The time Jesus spent as a refugee was no accident, having been prophesied long beforehand: Jesus, Mary and Joseph had not slipped through God's fingers; they were not outside God's providence. Furthermore, the time Jesus spent as a refugee in Egypt predicated his coming 'out of Egypt': an event filled with theological significance and pointing to Jesus being the 'son' of God, for '. . . out of Egypt I called my son' (Hosea 11:1b; Matthew 2:15). We need to pray for the safety and refuge of Christians forced to take flight and that they might discover that 'they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles . . .' (Isaiah 40:31a).

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR ALL CHRISTIAN REFUGEES --

* that God the loving Father will keep them safe as they flee: hidden from wild animals, people-traffickers and criminals; sustaining them in oceans, deserts, dangerous cities and other hostile environments.

* that the Holy Spirit will sanctify them as they seek their place in the purposes of God, confidently looking to Jesus, their great high priest, as one who is well able to empathise with and meet their every need.

* particularly those who are currently in the hands of jailers or unscrupulous people-traffickers: may the God of all grace, mercy and justice draw these vulnerable believers into his presence, deliver them from violence and brutality and restore their liberty and security.