RLPB 370. Syria: Christians gravely imperilled in Aleppo

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 370 | Wed 10 Aug 2016

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

SYRIA: CHRISTIANS GRAVELY IMPERILLED IN ALEPPO
by Elizabeth Kendal

In 2012 Homs was a rebel stronghold. Its Christians and nominal or secular Muslims had either fled or been expelled. In June 2013 Syrian government and loyalist forces liberated the town of al-Qusayr, severing the rebels' supply-line into the city. The Syrian army also besieged the city, turning it into a 'pressure cooker', before opening humanitarian corridors and offering amnesty to 'moderate' Syrian fighters prepared to surrender to the government. At that point, there was little the Islamic jihadists based in Homs could do but watch their human shields melt away. By May 2014 Homs had been liberated. On 25 June 2016 the Syrian government launched the 'Castello Operation', the first phase of a campaign to liberate rebel-held eastern Aleppo using the same strategy.

Father Ibrahim Alsabagh
western Aleppo, July 2016 (ACN)

The war has turned Aleppo into a divided city. The west, where Aleppo's remnant 40,000 Christians live, is in government hands. The east meanwhile is held by the 'rebels', who are supplied via the Castello Road which runs through rebel-held territory north of the city en route to Turkey. Commencing 25 June Syrian forces advanced under Russian air cover, pressing toward the rebel supply-line from the north and from the south in a pincer manoeuvre. The fighting was furious. Not only was there much aerial bombardment close to Christian areas, but rebels fired rockets into Christian districts at a furious rate. On one day in mid-July, some 250 rebel rockets rained down on the mainly Christian quarter of government-held western Aleppo. Speaking through the Catholic charity 'Aid to the Church in Need', Franciscan friar Father Ibrahim Alsabagh appealed for the West to close the border from Turkey to Syria, 'through which the weapons, food and fighters' pass to support the rebels who, he maintained, are anything but 'moderate'.

On 26 July Syrian government and loyalist forces captured the Castello Road, severing the rebel supply-line. By 28 July rebel-held eastern Aleppo was besieged. On 28 July the Syrian government opened three humanitarian corridors, promising that four more would be opened very soon. Though dozens of families and fighters did leave, the rebels, not wanting to lose their human shields, convinced most to stay by declaring the humanitarian corridors to be a trap. The US too expressed concerns that the humanitarian corridors could actually be a ruse.

click on map to enlarge
Source: ISW

On 31 July the rebels launched a counter-offensive in south-western Aleppo and by 6 August had broken through the siege. Western media is cheering loudly for what the Institute for the Study of War has described as 'a major victory for al-Qaeda in Syria'. The rebels are fighting with Jaysh al-Fatah (Army of Conquest), a coalition dominated by al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (now known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham) and Ahrar al-Sham (a Salafist outfit modelled on the Taliban). Because Jaysh al-Fatah also includes several much smaller militias, some of which are US-backed, Jaysh al-Fatah profits from US weapons and US protection. To quote the Russian President, the 'terrorists' might be 'rough and cruel people, but they're in no way primitive or silly'! On 7 August the Jaysh al-Fatah Operations Room released a statement declaring its intention to take the jihad into western Aleppo so as to capture the entire city.

The battle for Aleppo is set to escalate. Iran is pouring in elite Shi'ite fighters who, like the Sunni jihadists, have no great love for Christians. Nor do the Shi'ites have much love for Alawites, who are often referred to as 'little Christians' because of all their many similarities -- in fact, the alliance is purely strategic. The weeks ahead could determine if Christians and Christianity will survive in Aleppo.


PLEASE PRAY THAT THE LORD OF HOSTS WILL 

* intervene in Aleppo, to 'frustrate the way of the wicked' (Psalm 146:9c NIV).

* shield and preserve all his faithful ones for, as heaven knows, Syria is going to need them.

'The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.' (Psalm 145:20 ESV)

* comfort and sustain Aleppo's gravely imperilled and deeply traumatised remnant Christians. By the power of the ever-present Holy Spirit, may they continue to walk by faith with their eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2) and may they experience the peace that comes from knowing they are in the sanctuary of the LORD.

['Sanctuary' -- Hebrew: miqdas (Isaiah 8:14) -- the place where God dwells.]


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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CHRISTIANS GRAVELY IMPERILLED IN ALEPPO, SYRIA 

The battle for Aleppo is about to escalate. In late July Syrian government and loyalist forces severed the supply-line into rebel-held eastern Aleppo. They besieged the rebel stronghold while opening humanitarian corridors so that civilians and surrendering fighters might leave. With rebels calling the escape routes a trap, most chose to stay. On 31 July the rebels launched a counter-offensive in south-western Aleppo and by 6 August had broken through the siege. Western media are applauding what is actually a major victory for al Qaeda in Syria. The rebels are fighting with the al-Qaeda-led Jaysh al-Fatah and are threatening to take their jihad into government-held western Aleppo and to capture the whole city. This is home to some 40,000 remnant Christians. Please pray for God's intervention in Aleppo.

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Elizabeth Kendal is the author of Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and, After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).
See www.ElizabethKendal.com

RLPB 369. Islamic State magazine (DABIQ) Targets Christians and Christianity

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 369 | Wed 03 Aug 2016

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

ISLAMIC STATE MAGAZINE TARGETS CHRISTIANS & CHRISTIANITY
by Elizabeth Kendal

A key factor behind the popularity of Islamic State's Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (also known as Caliph Ibrahim) is that he champions a whole new narrative. Al-Qaeda has long fuelled its fighters on a narrative of victimhood. Baghdadi on the other hand, fuels his fighters on a narrative of strength and victory. While al-Qaeda offers its fighters the prospect of a long war against oppressors, Islamic State (IS) offers its fighters what Allah promised: success!

IS regularly publishes a glossy propaganda magazine called DABIQ, the principal aim of which is to recruit jihadists from the West. It is sophisticated, slick, beautifully produced and printed in several languages, including English. The Clarion Project is one of several groups to maintain a DABIQ archive. In keeping with the IS narrative, DABIQ magazine is filled with images of Islamic success. Images of sunny idyllic gardens hosting frolicking Muslim children and handsome young jihadis in military fatigues petting fluffy kittens are juxtaposed with pictures of the 'enemy' -- usually Western political and military figures -- and graphic images of obscene violence: burning 'apostates', beheaded infidels, rotting corpses and scenes of carnage from the battlefield. The overall message is that true Muslims are not victims, they are winners! So, to quote the Islamic call to prayer, 'hasten to success'.  By this means IS has recruited hundreds of thousands of global Muslims to its cause.

Until now, DABIQ has always targeted Muslims and focused on politics (for Islam is primarily and inherently political). However, the latest issue published on 31 July, targets Christians and focuses on Christianity.

DABIQ issue 15

First, it presents Allah as Creator and Islam (submission to Allah) as the natural religion of humanity. It then delves into a lengthy treatise on historic responses to Islam before asserting that the choice facing Christians remains the same: they can convert to Islam, surrender and accept subjugation and humiliation under Islam, or resist Islam and face war/jihad. It attacks Western civilisation, crediting its decline, not to a rejection of Christianity, but to Christianity itself which it decries as deviant, blasphemous and essentially pagan, incapable of discerning right from wrong. It also includes four articles by Muslim converts from Christianity, three of which are clearly aimed at drawing disillusioned nominal Christians and secular Westerners into Islam which, unlike Christianity, is presented as principled, pure and the path to peace.

While one 'face' of this magazine is seductive, the other is as savage as its title: Break the Cross. The Christian scriptures are denounced as corrupted, the Christian Church is slandered as pagan and Christians are identified as those to be hated and fought. A four-page article entitled 'Why We Hate You & Why We Fight You' should be required reading for all the West's 'progressive' elite. 'We hate you,' it says, equating all disbelieving Westerners with Christians, 'because you are unbelievers ... [and] because your secular, liberal societies permit the very things that Allah has prohibited while banning many of the things He has permitted ... We hate you for your crimes against Islam ... As long as your subjects continue to mock our faith, insult the prophets of Allah ... burn the Quran, and openly vilify the laws of the Shari'ah, we will continue to retaliate, not with slogans and placards, but with bullets and knives ...  The fact is, even if you were to stop bombing us, imprisoning us, torturing us, vilifying us, and usurping our lands, we would continue to hate you because our primary reason for hating you will not cease to exist until you embrace Islam ... We fight you in order to bring you out from the darkness of disbelief and into the light of Islam ... [so] accept reality and recognise that we will never stop hating you until you embrace Islam.'

The final article entitled 'By The Sword' includes a shocking, extremely graphic image. It affirms that Islam is to be spread by means of the sword, by means of jihad, by means of fighting and that this is 'an obligation found in the Quran'. This issue of DABIQ, which also spends six glossy pages glorifying IS's global terrorist operations, can be expected to trigger an escalation in attacks on churches and Christians everywhere.

PLEASE PRAY THAT GOD WILL 
redeem this situation and use it for his purposes:

* May evil be exposed, recognised as evil, and rejected. 'Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will recognise them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.  A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognise them by their fruits.' (Matthew 7:15-20 ESV).

* May minds be awakened to reality/truth and hearts made receptive to the Gospel. 'The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptised, and her household as well ...' (Conversion of Lydia, from Acts 16:13-15 ESV)

* May the Church be revived and sanctified: flooded with faith, bolstered with boldness and infused with urgency for prayer and mission. 'I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it' (Matthew 16:18 ESV).


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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ISLAMIC STATE MAGAZINE TARGETS CHRISTIANITY

Islamic State regularly publishes a glossy propaganda magazine called DABIQ, whose principal aim is to recruit jihadists from the West. It is sophisticated, beautifully produced and printed in several languages, including English. Previous issues have targeted Muslims and focused on politics, but the latest issue published on 31 July and entitled 'Break the Cross', targets Christians and focuses on Christianity. The Christian scriptures are denounced as corrupted, the Christian Church slandered as pagan and Christians identified as those to be hated and fought. This issue of DABIQ can be expected to trigger an escalation in attacks on churches and Christians everywhere. Please pray that God will redeem this situation and use it for his purposes. May evil be exposed and rejected and may the Church be revived and sanctified.

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

See www.ElizabethKendal.com