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)
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
RLPB 228. Egypt: settling into a deadly cycle
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 228 | Wed 18 Sep 2013
EGYPT: SETTLING INTO A DEADLY CYCLE
By Elizabeth Kendal
When the military ousted the government of President Morsi on 3 July, it triggered an explosion of violence against Copts (the Christian, indigenous people of Egypt) as Muslim Brotherhood (MB) elites and supporters blamed them for the coup (see RLPB 218, 10 July 2013). The situation then settled somewhat as the MB prepared to challenge the military head on. Two 'sit-ins' in Cairo drew thousands of MB supporters to camp in the streets for six weeks. On 14 August, the military moved in and dispersed the protesters, massacring over 900 Egyptians in four days and triggering another explosion of Islamic violence against Coptic Christians -- the worst anti-Christian violence Egypt has seen in contemporary times. A state of emergency was declared. (See RLPB 224, 21 Aug 2013.)
Whilst violence was recorded across the state [See Egypt: Mass Attacks on Churches, Human Rights Watch (22 Aug 2013)], Minya province in Upper Egypt was hardest hit and Delga, the town closest to the main highway, bore the brunt of the violence. [Delga / Delgia, mentioned in RLPB 218, is home to 20,000 Christians.] Samir Lamei Sakr, a prominent Christian lawyer, told The Guardian: 'As soon as the crackdown in Cairo started [14 August], all the loudspeakers at the main mosques in Delga issued calls for jihad.' Christian properties were marked. Sakr's home was attacked and he was hit with 13 shotgun pellets. Worse still, his cousin was killed by Islamists who then tied his body to a tractor and dragged it around the town. Bishop Macarius told The Guardian that though they called for help, 'no one answered. Not the police, not the army, not the fire service'. Even churches within sight of the provincial police headquarters were burnt. More than 100 forcibly displaced Christian families fled Delga with nothing and have nothing to return to.
On 5 September Egypt's Interior Minister narrowly escaped a serious assassination attempt in Cairo. On 12 September the state of emergency was extended by two months. On Monday 16 September heavily armed Egyptian troops stormed into Delga, arresting 56 and liberating the town from two months of Islamist control. According to Stratfor Intelligence (16 September), the military could have liberated Delga from as early as 22 August, but instead spread 'exaggerated rumours about the persecution of Copts to justify operations'. But as was flagged in RLPB 224, it is more probable that the military chose to exploit the very severe persecution (as distinct from exaggerate it), 'rather than prevent it, to legitimise military violence, military rule and requests for military aid'.
Though Christians are understandably relieved, Egyptian human rights lawyer, Ahmed Salah, believes the crackdown is less about protecting Christians and more about exploiting the state of emergency to take revenge on those who have attacked police and stolen their weapons. Officials from the Interior Ministry confirmed that the military action had nothing to do with protecting Christians. The New York Times (16 September) reports: 'Interior ministry officials said the [military] expedition was an attempt to capture a single fugitive Islamist, and it may depart soon. The overwhelming force, they said, was merely for self-protection [as] the surrounding province of Minya is still considered a bastion of Islamist support for Mr. Morsi.'
The violence in Egypt is settling into a deadly cycle: (1) The MB challenges the military (resisting the coup); (2) the military responds with force; (3) MB supporters react with violence against Coptic Christians (whom they blame for the coup). Then the cycle starts again. The military cares nothing for Christians and, with money coming from Saudi Arabia, it has no interest in protecting Christians but only in protecting itself and crushing the MB. The military would kill Christians without a second thought if it felt it were in its interests to do so, as it did in Maspero, October 2011. With the MB recruiting jihadis in Algeria and beyond, it can only be anticipated that terrorism against the State and genocidal violence against the Coptic Church will increase. Egypt's Christians need our prayers.
For more details: see Religious Liberty Monitoring 19 Sept 2013
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT --
* God, 'the hope of all the ends of the earth', will intervene in Egypt and 'still . . . the tumult of the peoples' (from Psalm 65).
* the Holy Spirit will move powerfully amongst Egyptian Christians, enabling them to stand firm in faith (Isaiah 7:9b) with confidence and assurance (Hebrews 10:35-39), so they might live radically counter-cultural lives, loving their enemies and praying for those who persecute them (Luke 6:27-36); not fearing what people fear, but honouring the Lord in all circumstances and knowing his presence according to his promise (Isaiah 8:11-15).
* the Holy Spirit will bring awakening to Egyptian Muslims, convicting multitudes of 'sin and righteousness and judgement' (from John 16:7-11); as Egypt is 'shaken' may Islam be brought down and the Lord exalted (Isaiah 2:7-21 and Hebrews 12:26-29).
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
------------------------------------------------------------------
EGYPT SETTLING INTO A DEADLY CYCLE
The violence in Egypt is settling into a deadly cycle: (1) The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) challenges the military; (2) the military responds with force; (3) MB supporters react with violence against Coptic Christians (whom they blame for the coup). Then the cycle starts again. The military is exploiting sectarian violence for its own ends and cares nothing for Christians. With money coming from Saudi Arabia, it has no interest in protecting Christians but only in protecting itself. The military would kill Christians readily if it felt it were in its interests to do so. With the MB recruiting jihadis in Algeria and beyond, it has to be anticipated that terrorism against the State and genocidal violence against the Coptic Church will increase. Egypt and its Christians need our prayers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah speaks to Christians today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
EGYPT: SETTLING INTO A DEADLY CYCLE
By Elizabeth Kendal
When the military ousted the government of President Morsi on 3 July, it triggered an explosion of violence against Copts (the Christian, indigenous people of Egypt) as Muslim Brotherhood (MB) elites and supporters blamed them for the coup (see RLPB 218, 10 July 2013). The situation then settled somewhat as the MB prepared to challenge the military head on. Two 'sit-ins' in Cairo drew thousands of MB supporters to camp in the streets for six weeks. On 14 August, the military moved in and dispersed the protesters, massacring over 900 Egyptians in four days and triggering another explosion of Islamic violence against Coptic Christians -- the worst anti-Christian violence Egypt has seen in contemporary times. A state of emergency was declared. (See RLPB 224, 21 Aug 2013.)
Whilst violence was recorded across the state [See Egypt: Mass Attacks on Churches, Human Rights Watch (22 Aug 2013)], Minya province in Upper Egypt was hardest hit and Delga, the town closest to the main highway, bore the brunt of the violence. [Delga / Delgia, mentioned in RLPB 218, is home to 20,000 Christians.] Samir Lamei Sakr, a prominent Christian lawyer, told The Guardian: 'As soon as the crackdown in Cairo started [14 August], all the loudspeakers at the main mosques in Delga issued calls for jihad.' Christian properties were marked. Sakr's home was attacked and he was hit with 13 shotgun pellets. Worse still, his cousin was killed by Islamists who then tied his body to a tractor and dragged it around the town. Bishop Macarius told The Guardian that though they called for help, 'no one answered. Not the police, not the army, not the fire service'. Even churches within sight of the provincial police headquarters were burnt. More than 100 forcibly displaced Christian families fled Delga with nothing and have nothing to return to.
On 5 September Egypt's Interior Minister narrowly escaped a serious assassination attempt in Cairo. On 12 September the state of emergency was extended by two months. On Monday 16 September heavily armed Egyptian troops stormed into Delga, arresting 56 and liberating the town from two months of Islamist control. According to Stratfor Intelligence (16 September), the military could have liberated Delga from as early as 22 August, but instead spread 'exaggerated rumours about the persecution of Copts to justify operations'. But as was flagged in RLPB 224, it is more probable that the military chose to exploit the very severe persecution (as distinct from exaggerate it), 'rather than prevent it, to legitimise military violence, military rule and requests for military aid'.
Though Christians are understandably relieved, Egyptian human rights lawyer, Ahmed Salah, believes the crackdown is less about protecting Christians and more about exploiting the state of emergency to take revenge on those who have attacked police and stolen their weapons. Officials from the Interior Ministry confirmed that the military action had nothing to do with protecting Christians. The New York Times (16 September) reports: 'Interior ministry officials said the [military] expedition was an attempt to capture a single fugitive Islamist, and it may depart soon. The overwhelming force, they said, was merely for self-protection [as] the surrounding province of Minya is still considered a bastion of Islamist support for Mr. Morsi.'
The violence in Egypt is settling into a deadly cycle: (1) The MB challenges the military (resisting the coup); (2) the military responds with force; (3) MB supporters react with violence against Coptic Christians (whom they blame for the coup). Then the cycle starts again. The military cares nothing for Christians and, with money coming from Saudi Arabia, it has no interest in protecting Christians but only in protecting itself and crushing the MB. The military would kill Christians without a second thought if it felt it were in its interests to do so, as it did in Maspero, October 2011. With the MB recruiting jihadis in Algeria and beyond, it can only be anticipated that terrorism against the State and genocidal violence against the Coptic Church will increase. Egypt's Christians need our prayers.
For more details: see Religious Liberty Monitoring 19 Sept 2013
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT --
* God, 'the hope of all the ends of the earth', will intervene in Egypt and 'still . . . the tumult of the peoples' (from Psalm 65).
* the Holy Spirit will move powerfully amongst Egyptian Christians, enabling them to stand firm in faith (Isaiah 7:9b) with confidence and assurance (Hebrews 10:35-39), so they might live radically counter-cultural lives, loving their enemies and praying for those who persecute them (Luke 6:27-36); not fearing what people fear, but honouring the Lord in all circumstances and knowing his presence according to his promise (Isaiah 8:11-15).
* the Holy Spirit will bring awakening to Egyptian Muslims, convicting multitudes of 'sin and righteousness and judgement' (from John 16:7-11); as Egypt is 'shaken' may Islam be brought down and the Lord exalted (Isaiah 2:7-21 and Hebrews 12:26-29).
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
------------------------------------------------------------------
EGYPT SETTLING INTO A DEADLY CYCLE
The violence in Egypt is settling into a deadly cycle: (1) The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) challenges the military; (2) the military responds with force; (3) MB supporters react with violence against Coptic Christians (whom they blame for the coup). Then the cycle starts again. The military is exploiting sectarian violence for its own ends and cares nothing for Christians. With money coming from Saudi Arabia, it has no interest in protecting Christians but only in protecting itself. The military would kill Christians readily if it felt it were in its interests to do so. With the MB recruiting jihadis in Algeria and beyond, it has to be anticipated that terrorism against the State and genocidal violence against the Coptic Church will increase. Egypt and its Christians need our prayers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah speaks to Christians today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
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