Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 075 | Wed 29 Sep 2010
SEPTEMBER 2010 UPDATE -- During September we prayed concerning . . .
USA, where a church in Florida had globally advertised an 'International Burn a Koran Day' for 9/11.
* UPDATE: We praise and thank God that the event did not go ahead, not because we regard the Qur'an as sacred (for in fact it underpins an ideologically and politically dangerous, false religion that must be refuted), but because it was to be a deliberately provocative act that would have impeded mission and needlessly imperilled the lives of multitudes of already traumatised Christians throughout the Muslim world. Now Randall Terry and other Christian activists plan to hold a 'Hear Muhammad Speak' event on 6&7 October, where they will read Qur'anic exhortations to violence before tearing up the texts as rubbish. They plan to do this outside Cordoba House (the proposed 'ground zero' mosque) and at various other sites around the US. Whilst we may affirm their aims -- to provoke debate, expose inconsistency and highlight persecution -- once again the method is highly questionable.
'In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you . . . ' (Matthew 7:12 NIV)
TURKMENISTAN, where persecution and repression of Christianity is escalating as President Berdimuhamedov becomes as totalitarian and cultish as his predecessor, Niyazov.
INDONESIA, where one Bekasi pastor was stabbed and another bludgeoned as Islamic intolerance escalates with impunity.
SOMALIA, where Christians continue to be martyred at the hands of Islamic militants intent on turning Somalia into a fully Islamised and Talibanised state and safe-haven for international terrorists. (They are not far from achieving that goal.)
SEPTEMBER 2010 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . .
* ALGERIA: CHRISTIANS FACE JAIL AS ISLAMISATION ADVANCES
In March 2006 only six months after it granted amnesty to some 10,000 condemned Islamists, the Algerian government passed a religion law that seriously represses Christianity. The law is doubtless part of a quid-pro-quo deal with the Islamists whereby Islam is advanced and Christianity is repressed in exchange for 'peace'. This Ramadan, a number of people were arrested for eating during daylight hours even though there is no law against it. Two of those charged are Christian construction workers Hocine Hocini and Fellak Salem. Further to this, Algerian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Ali Arhab, the Algeria-born, France-based director of Channel North Africa gospel satellite broadcasts. The warrant -- on bogus charges of 'swindling' -- prevents Mr Arhab (a dual national) from visiting family and friends in Algeria. Mr Arhab is doubtless being targeted because of his service to the Algerian Church. (For more details see Religious Liberty Monitoring)
* CHINA: PERSECUTION CONTINUES BEHIND WALL OF PROPAGANDA
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) still operates a Mao-era 'laogai' of nearly 1000 state-owned slave-labour camps. Anyone the local authorities deem a problem can be sent without charge or trial to the laogai for up to three years of 'administrative detention' in what is portrayed as a pre-emptive rather than punitive measure. (This is one reason why 'Made in China' is so cheap.) When their house church in Xuchang, Henan province, was raided by police in March, Liu Yunhua, Gao Jianli and others refused to pay 'fines' (i.e. bribes) and were consequently detained for 15 days. On 25 March Liu and Gao were sentenced to one year of 're-education through labour' in the laogai. They have appealed, claiming the authorities were acting illegally. On 20 September several of their relatives and supporters were arrested (including Pastor Zhang Mingxan) while attending their second hearing. Three of the Christians were issued with administrative orders for 15 days detention. While this is all very normal and routine for China, the CCP has been escalating its propaganda campaign, even inviting the BBC to tour and marvel at the CCP's 'commitment to supporting the development of Christianity', and the 'millions of dollars of government funding' for state-run churches which have 'substantial freedom'. The CCP is doubtless hoping to discredit the suffering of the persecuted house churches. (See Religious Liberty Monitoring)
* INDIA: PASTOR CHARGED WITH FORCED CONVERSIONS
On Sunday 26 September Hindu militants stormed the small, mostly tribal fellowship in Umachagi village, Karnataka, led by Pastor Shivanda Siddi (45) for the past five years. After interrupting prayers they tried to argue with Pastor Siddi while abusing the believers and taking their Bibles. For the next half hour they insulted, beat and stripped the pastor before telephoning the police and falsely accusing him of forced conversions. When the police arrived they arrested the pastor, seven women and two children. Whilst the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) was able to intervene to get the women and children released, Pastor Siddi was tried and charged under Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits 'forced' conversions. Pastor Siddi is being detained in Sirsi prison in Uttar Kananda. This represents the Hindu nationalists' preferred method of repression and persecution and is becoming all too common in 'secular' India. The Evangelical Fellowship of India has recorded 106 such major incidents in 16 states up to August this year, including 37 in Karnataka.
* IRAN: NINE MORE CHRISTIANS ARRESTED
According to the Farsi Christian News Network, authorities in Hamedan arrested nine Christians who have since been charged with carrying out evangelism. This was announced on 10 September by a member of the Iranian Security services via Iran's Fars news agency, which is connected to the Revolutionary Guard. The accused were described as 'Christian Zionists' and 'evangelicals', two of whom were allegedly being sponsored from outside Iran while the other seven were Iranian co-conspirators. Please pray for the Church in Iran.
* LEBANON: HEZBALLAH DEPLOYS 3500 MILITANTS TO CHRISTIAN AREAS
The Special Tribunal on Lebanon, set up to investigate the February 2005 assassination of PM Rafiq Hariri, will soon hand down its ruling. It is widely expected the tribunal will indict Hezballah, Syria and Lebanese intelligence heads. Reports and local evidence indicate that Hezballah is preparing to stage a violent policy-reversing coup (similar to the one it achieved in May 2008) to prevent the tribunal from fulfilling its mandate. Hezballah has reportedly deployed some 3500 militants deep inside the Christian areas north of Beirut. Having taken up residence in homes purchased through their Christian allies in the Free Patriotic Movement, the militants are positioned to besiege the homes of Hezballah's Christian opponents. In the event of conflict, Hezballah's Christian allies will be pitted against Hezballah's Christian opponents in an act of Hezballah-sponsored Christian self-destruction. Please pray that all Lebanese Christians will seek the Lord. (See Religious Liberty Monitoring)
* PAKISTAN: TRAUMA FROM EAST TO WEST
EAST: On 3 September Tariq Gill, in the Christian colony of Mohalla Kalupura, Gujrat district, Punjab, was cleared of charges of blasphemy. Outraged Islamic fundamentalists have attacked the colony more than 10 times since. A mob of some 40 Islamic fundamentalists (including several MPs) armed with guns, axes and clubs attacked the colony on 23 September. Gill's mother was stripped and dragged naked through the streets. Those critically wounded were hospitalised. A local bishop and several pastors have been threatened with death.
WEST: On Sunday morning 12 September, a bomb exploded at the entrance of St Paul's Lutheran Church in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North West Frontier Province). St Paul's belongs to the Church of Pakistan, a Protestant union. Whilst two Christians were injured in the blast, the situation would have been much worse had the timer been set a little later. Locals view the bombing as an act of intimidation aimed at subjugating or driving out the Christian minority. Please pray for Pakistan's besieged Church.
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.
Selah (Psalm 62:5-8 ESV)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
074. Somalia: Islamic terror surges
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 074 | Wed 22 Sep 2010
SOMALIA: ISLAMIC TERROR SURGES
Civil war erupted in Somalia in February 2006. The 'Islamic Courts Union' (ICU), an alliance of Sharia-enforcers linked to Mogadishu's clan-based Sharia courts, rose up against the 'Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Anti-Terrorism', clan warlords who had been guarding the UN-backed, US-funded Transitional Federal Government (TFG). When Mogadishu fell to the ICU in June 2006, the TFG fled to the regional town Baidoa near the Ethiopian border. After Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a designated terrorist and the former head of al-Qaeda-linked al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, was subsequently appointed head of the then ICU's Sura Council (parliament) he announced: 'He who does not perform [Islamic] prayer will be considered as infidel and our Sharia Law orders that person to be killed.' Also, Aweys not only threatened Somalis, but as a Somali irredentist (one who seeks a 'Greater Somalia') and an Islamic jihadist, Aweys and his regime were a threat to Ethiopia's national security.
On 20 July 2006 US-backed Ethiopian forces entered Somalia to defend the besieged TFG and oust the ICU. The Islamists responded by declaring jihad. By December 2006 Ethiopia (a vastly superior military force) had ousted the ICU. However, as the US has found in Afghanistan and Iraq, 'victory' simply marks the beginning of a bloody insurgency. Ethiopia's conventional army, burdened with rules of engagement and long supply-lines, never stood a chance against the never-ending supply of well-armed, well-supplied, trained and indoctrinated Somali and international Islamic jihadists. Of all the insurgent groups, al-Shabab is the most radical and aggressive. An offshoot of the ICU, this youthful, al-Qaeda-backed group seeks to establish a Taliban-style Islamic state. Over the next two years, the jihadists regained control over much of southern Somalia.
In January 2009 battle-weary Ethiopia, frustrated by lack of international support, withdrew its forces, allowing the Islamists to flood back into Mogadishu where they continue the fight against the African Union-backed TFG forces. The TFG tried to broker peace by offering to implement Sharia Law, but this was not enough for the jihadists who are now running military training camps and recruiting internationally, including from amongst Somali refugee and emigrant communities, specifically disconnected Somali youths holding foreign passports.
In its campaign to eliminate 'vice', al-Shabab has stoned to death girls who have been raped, shot and killed boys caught watching football and executed many 'apostates'. In September 2008 Mansuur Mohammed (25) became the first Somali Christian to be martyred at the hands of al-Shabab. After being publically denounced as a 'murtid' (traitor to Islam), Mohammed rejected an offer to convert to Islam and be spared, submitting instead to a public beheading, a film of which was widely distributed. In February 2009 al-Shabab militants beheaded Musa Mohammed Yusuf's 11- and 13-year-old sons after he refused to divulge information about a local church leader. On 10 July 2009 seven Somalis were publically beheaded in Baidoa simply for being Christians. To date some 20 Somali Christians -- most of them church leaders -- are known to have been shot or beheaded as al-Shabab systematically targets the Somali Church for elimination.
On 21 July 2010 al-Shabab militants entered Osman Abdullah Fataho's home in Afgoi, 30km from Mogadishu, and shot him dead in front of his wife and children. A long-time Christian, Fataho was targeted because he was a convert from Islam and active in Somalia's underground church. After abducting Fataho's wife and four children, the militants released her but kept her four children aged 5 to 15 to be brainwashed and trained as jihadists.
Al-Shahab has local, regional and international ambitions. Despite some power struggles, al-Shabab remains allied to Aweys' Hizbul Islam. Last weekend they seized radio and TV outlets in Mogadishu. On Monday 20 September a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gates of the TFG Presidential Palace after being shot while attempting to gain entrance. The bomber was a former Interior Ministry security guard who had defected to al-Shabab. Now the jihadists are literally at the gate.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:
* surround Osman Abdullah Fataho's widow and all Somalia's grieving, traumatised Christians with his everlasting love and fill them with his peace.
* preserve, comfort and intervene to deliver Ali Daud Fataho (5), Fatuma Safia Fataho (7), Sharif Ahmed Fataho (10) and Nur Said Fataho (15) for the sake of the Church, the children, and their faithful parents -- one a martyr, the other a torn and grieving widow.
'When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her. . .' (Luke 7:13, when Jesus raises a widow's son. See also Philippians 2:27)
* intervene in Somalia's chaos to protect and deliver his Church; may the enemy know only confusion, frustration and failure, being splintered and mortally weakened; may Islam not escape scrutiny; and may the trauma, tears and disillusionment serve to prepare the ground for an awesome work of God.
'For nothing will be impossible with God.' (Luke 1:37 ESV)
~~~~
SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ISLAMIC TERROR IN SOMALIA
Having captured most of southern and central Somalia, Islamic jihadists are now fighting to control the capital Mogadishu. Al-Shabab, the most radical and aggressive of the insurgent groups, is systematically targeting the Church for elimination. Some 20 Christians, mostly church leaders, have been shot or beheaded by al-Shabab over the past two years. On 21 July al-Shabab militants shot dead long-time Christian, Osman Abdullah Fataho, in his home in front of his wife and children. Fataho was targeted because he was an apostate (convert from Islam) and active in Somalia's underground church. The jihadists abducted Fataho's family, later releasing his wife but keeping her four children aged 5 to 15 to be trained as jihadists. Please pray for this family and for the Church in Somalia.
SOMALIA: ISLAMIC TERROR SURGES
Civil war erupted in Somalia in February 2006. The 'Islamic Courts Union' (ICU), an alliance of Sharia-enforcers linked to Mogadishu's clan-based Sharia courts, rose up against the 'Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Anti-Terrorism', clan warlords who had been guarding the UN-backed, US-funded Transitional Federal Government (TFG). When Mogadishu fell to the ICU in June 2006, the TFG fled to the regional town Baidoa near the Ethiopian border. After Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, a designated terrorist and the former head of al-Qaeda-linked al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, was subsequently appointed head of the then ICU's Sura Council (parliament) he announced: 'He who does not perform [Islamic] prayer will be considered as infidel and our Sharia Law orders that person to be killed.' Also, Aweys not only threatened Somalis, but as a Somali irredentist (one who seeks a 'Greater Somalia') and an Islamic jihadist, Aweys and his regime were a threat to Ethiopia's national security.
On 20 July 2006 US-backed Ethiopian forces entered Somalia to defend the besieged TFG and oust the ICU. The Islamists responded by declaring jihad. By December 2006 Ethiopia (a vastly superior military force) had ousted the ICU. However, as the US has found in Afghanistan and Iraq, 'victory' simply marks the beginning of a bloody insurgency. Ethiopia's conventional army, burdened with rules of engagement and long supply-lines, never stood a chance against the never-ending supply of well-armed, well-supplied, trained and indoctrinated Somali and international Islamic jihadists. Of all the insurgent groups, al-Shabab is the most radical and aggressive. An offshoot of the ICU, this youthful, al-Qaeda-backed group seeks to establish a Taliban-style Islamic state. Over the next two years, the jihadists regained control over much of southern Somalia.
In January 2009 battle-weary Ethiopia, frustrated by lack of international support, withdrew its forces, allowing the Islamists to flood back into Mogadishu where they continue the fight against the African Union-backed TFG forces. The TFG tried to broker peace by offering to implement Sharia Law, but this was not enough for the jihadists who are now running military training camps and recruiting internationally, including from amongst Somali refugee and emigrant communities, specifically disconnected Somali youths holding foreign passports.
In its campaign to eliminate 'vice', al-Shabab has stoned to death girls who have been raped, shot and killed boys caught watching football and executed many 'apostates'. In September 2008 Mansuur Mohammed (25) became the first Somali Christian to be martyred at the hands of al-Shabab. After being publically denounced as a 'murtid' (traitor to Islam), Mohammed rejected an offer to convert to Islam and be spared, submitting instead to a public beheading, a film of which was widely distributed. In February 2009 al-Shabab militants beheaded Musa Mohammed Yusuf's 11- and 13-year-old sons after he refused to divulge information about a local church leader. On 10 July 2009 seven Somalis were publically beheaded in Baidoa simply for being Christians. To date some 20 Somali Christians -- most of them church leaders -- are known to have been shot or beheaded as al-Shabab systematically targets the Somali Church for elimination.
On 21 July 2010 al-Shabab militants entered Osman Abdullah Fataho's home in Afgoi, 30km from Mogadishu, and shot him dead in front of his wife and children. A long-time Christian, Fataho was targeted because he was a convert from Islam and active in Somalia's underground church. After abducting Fataho's wife and four children, the militants released her but kept her four children aged 5 to 15 to be brainwashed and trained as jihadists.
Al-Shahab has local, regional and international ambitions. Despite some power struggles, al-Shabab remains allied to Aweys' Hizbul Islam. Last weekend they seized radio and TV outlets in Mogadishu. On Monday 20 September a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gates of the TFG Presidential Palace after being shot while attempting to gain entrance. The bomber was a former Interior Ministry security guard who had defected to al-Shabab. Now the jihadists are literally at the gate.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:
* surround Osman Abdullah Fataho's widow and all Somalia's grieving, traumatised Christians with his everlasting love and fill them with his peace.
* preserve, comfort and intervene to deliver Ali Daud Fataho (5), Fatuma Safia Fataho (7), Sharif Ahmed Fataho (10) and Nur Said Fataho (15) for the sake of the Church, the children, and their faithful parents -- one a martyr, the other a torn and grieving widow.
'When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her. . .' (Luke 7:13, when Jesus raises a widow's son. See also Philippians 2:27)
* intervene in Somalia's chaos to protect and deliver his Church; may the enemy know only confusion, frustration and failure, being splintered and mortally weakened; may Islam not escape scrutiny; and may the trauma, tears and disillusionment serve to prepare the ground for an awesome work of God.
'For nothing will be impossible with God.' (Luke 1:37 ESV)
~~~~
SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ISLAMIC TERROR IN SOMALIA
Having captured most of southern and central Somalia, Islamic jihadists are now fighting to control the capital Mogadishu. Al-Shabab, the most radical and aggressive of the insurgent groups, is systematically targeting the Church for elimination. Some 20 Christians, mostly church leaders, have been shot or beheaded by al-Shabab over the past two years. On 21 July al-Shabab militants shot dead long-time Christian, Osman Abdullah Fataho, in his home in front of his wife and children. Fataho was targeted because he was an apostate (convert from Islam) and active in Somalia's underground church. The jihadists abducted Fataho's family, later releasing his wife but keeping her four children aged 5 to 15 to be trained as jihadists. Please pray for this family and for the Church in Somalia.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)