Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 066 | Wed 28 Jul 2010
'. . . let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, . . . looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame . . .' (Hebrews 12:1,2 ESV)
JULY 2010 UPDATE -- During July we prayed concerning . . .
INDONESIA / WEST JAVA, where Islamic fundamentalists in the Bekasi Regency on the outskirts of Jakarta have called for Sharia law to be enacted; for apostasy to cease, specifically conversions to Christianity; and for Muslims to be mobilised ready for jihad.
* UPDATE: On Monday 19 July public order personnel supported by Bogor police officers demolished a house in a village in Limusnunggal village, Bogor Regency, on the southern outskirts of Jakarta, because the Narogong Pentecostal Church had been worshipping there without a permit. Ten Christians were arrested after clashes erupted between police and distressed church members seeking to defend their church. The church had began meeting there in 2006, with the acceptance of local Muslims. However, in 2008 a group calling itself the Forum of the Muslim Brotherhood of Limusnanggal started mounting opposition. Church leaders believe the police simply gave in to pressure from the group. The church plans to take legal action against the Bogor administration.
EGYPT, where religious discrimination and persecution of Christians is escalating against Egypt's indigenous Christian Copts and an increasingly visible and therefore undeniable presence of converts from Islam. The whereabouts of converts Nagla al-Imam and her children are still unknown.
INDONESIA / PUNCUK JAYA, PAPUA, where Indonesian forces are 'sweeping' the Puncuk Jaya region of the Central Highlands, hunting for 'separatists', leaving behind them a trail of razed villages, dead livestock, burned and confiscated churches, and displaced and tortured Papuans.
* UPDATE: On 22 July, US defence secretary Robert Gates announced that the US will restore ties with Kopassus, Indonesia's notorious special forces known to have committed gross human rights violations in Papua, including the November 2001 political assassination of Theys Eluay. Doubtless the US is doing this to prevent China gaining a foothold in the region, but it is a no-win situation for the Papuans. At a Pacific Islands Forum summit meeting due to be held in Port Vila, Vanuatu, on 3-6 August, Vanuatu will support the indigenous Papuans' right to self-determination. The bipartisan motion was put to Vanuatu's Parliament after a petition of the people of Vanuatu called for a clear foreign policy on Papua.
JULY 2010 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . .
* KENYA: 4 AUG REFERENDUM COULD SPLIT CHURCHES AND TRIGGER VIOLENCE
Kenyan churches are united in their support for constitutional reform, but not in their support for the draft constitution that will go to a referendum on 4 August. Most churches are advocating a 'NO' vote because the draft constitution makes abortion more accessible; it entrenches Kadhi (Islamic) courts; and it advances ethnic federalism which many fear could trigger ethnic violence. Six died and over 100 were wounded on 13 June when a church-run 'NO' rally in Nairobi was bombed (see RLPB 060, 16 June 2010). The Kenyan government (and the US government) want the constitution passed. Some senior church figures advocating a 'YES' vote have called for Christians to boycott churches that 'peddle lies'. Church leaders in the 'NO' camp have received phone threats. A renegade 'pastor', John Kamau, and two accomplices were arrested on 17 July and charged with possessing explosive materials and for plotting to bomb a 'NO' campaign rally in Mombasa.
* PAKISTAN: ESCALATING CRISIS
Compass Direct reports that on 13 July Dr Abdul Jabbar Meammon and five other men beat, tortured and gang-raped Christian trainee nurse Magdalene Ashraf before attempting to kill her by throwing her from a window of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center. Whilst Magdalene has spoken to police and the Christian Lawyers Foundation, she is in a critical, life-threatening condition. Sharia law discriminates against women and against non-Muslims, meaning violent crimes of religious hatred may be committed with impunity. Such is the phenomenally vulnerable state of dhimmis. Brothers Rev Rashid Emmanuel (32) and Sajid Emmanuel (30) were shot dead on 19 July by five masked gunmen outside the Faisalabad courthouse. Their bodies showed signs of having been tortured in police custody. The brothers had been deliberately framed by predatory Muslims and falsely accused of blasphemy. Reportedly it was widely expected they would be exonerated as the evidence was clearly in their favour. However, Muslims had been demonstrating and calling for the death penalty.
* RUSSIA: PASTOR ASSASSINATED IN DAGESTAN, NORTH CAUCASUS
Pastor Artur Suleimanov (49), a convert from Islam, was assassinated on 15 July as he got into a car outside his Hosanna House of Prayer Church in Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan. He leaves behind a wife, Zina, five children, and one of the largest Protestant congregations in the Republic. It is not yet known whether Pastor Suleimanov was targeted by officials, Islamists or mafia, any of whom could have had issues with his Christian ministry. Dagestani authorities reportedly had recently become more hostile to the church's various humanitarian ministries. Meanwhile the Islamic insurgency continues to wreak havoc across the North Caucasus, with analysts commenting recently that Dagestan 'increasingly appears to be the new focal point of insurgent activity'. (The Jamestown Foundation, 18 June.)
* USA: TWO MORE CASES OF DISCRIMINATION SET PRECEDENTS
The University of Illinois sacked Professor Kenneth Howell on 9 July after he was accused of 'hate speech'. Professor Howell, a respected Christian who had been teaching at the university for nine years, offended a student from his class, 'Introduction to Catholicism and Modern Catholic Thought'. During the spring semester, he explained in an email to the student that according to Catholic doctrine, 'A homosexual orientation is not morally wrong just as no moral guilt can be assigned to any inclination that a person has. However, based on natural moral law, the Church believes that homosexual acts are contrary to human nature and therefore morally wrong.' The offended student complained and the professor was sacked. Meanwhile Jennifer Keeton (24), a graduate student pursuing a masters degree in school counselling at Augusta State University, has been told she will be dismissed from the program unless she is prepared to alter her 'central religious beliefs' concerning homosexuality. Miss Keeton, a Christian, has been ordered into a 'remediation' program and to undergo 'diversity training' where supposedly she will be 'sensitised'.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
065. Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), Indonesia: tensions high as military 'sweeps' Puncak Jaya.
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 065 | Wed 21 Jul 2010
PAPUA (formerly Irian Jaya), INDONESIA: TENSIONS HIGH AS MILITARY 'SWEEPS' PUNCAK JAYA.
Since late May TNI (Indonesian military) and BRIMOB (militarised police) forces have been conducting 'sweeping operations' in the central highlands Puncak Jaya region of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya). This was ostensibly to flush out the 'separatists' they blame (without evidence) for two recent attacks. Indonesia keeps Papua closed to international media and human rights organisations. However, news is leaked out at great personal risk and on 18 June the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) issued a report with details of the crisis in Puncak Jaya.
WPAT reports that during early June the BRIMOB seized a church in Kayogwebur district Tingginambut for use as a headquarters. In the district of Kampong Tinggineri Tingginambut, BRIMOB officers raped a pregnant Papuan woman. In Gwenggu Pilia twelve houses and two churches were burned by security forces. In several villages all the livestock have been killed. On 11 June the BRIMOB conducted a residential 'sweep' search of all houses on the road between Ilu and Mulia, detaining anyone without identification and taking them away on army trucks. (Most highland Papuans do not even speak Indonesian let alone carry Indonesian ID cards.) Papuans have reported being abused and tortured while in custody. Locals are now too afraid to leave their homes to harvest vegetable gardens or attend to business. Further to this, the TNI has been forcing local Papuans to undertake tasks for the military, such as building landing pads for military helicopters after first clearing the land of crops. Pacific Scoop (New Zealand) has an unconfirmed report of at least seven dead in the Jambi, Sinak Ilu and Tingginambut districts of Mulia.
From the 1950s MAF USA opened up the previously impenetrable mountainous inland of what was then Dutch New Guinea for courageous pioneer missionaries. Annexed by Indonesia in 1969 and occupied by Indonesian armed forces (predominantly Javanese Muslims), Papua is being purposefully and rapidly colonised by Javanese Muslims for political and geo-strategic purposes. The indigenous Papuans, who are ethnic Melanesians and predominantly Christian, are being marginalised and their land is being Islamised. Most Javanese Muslims despise the Papuans as racially and religiously inferior. TNI and BRIMOB officers routinely and freely express their racial and religious hatred for the Papuans in unrestrained violence. The TNI has vast economic interests in Papua, including protection services. Thus the TNI has incentives to provoke incidents that make Papuan 'terrorism' and 'separatism' look like real threats when in reality they are not. Papuan resistance is essentially resistance against racial and religious discrimination, persecution, exploitation, marginalisation, Islamisation and threat of genocide. In 2001 the Indonesian parliament granted the Papua Province a tokenistic 'Special Autonomy' which was never implemented. On 18 June many thousands of brave Papuans rallied in Jayapura, declaring 'Special Autonomy' a failure. They symbolically 'gave it back' to Indonesia and demanded a referendum on independence and renewed dialogue to be mediated by a neutral country. Tensions are extremely high.
Just like some other Christian peoples who have faced or are facing genocide, the Papuans have been betrayed and abandoned by Western human-rights-affirming nations intent on acquiring lucrative mining concessions, arms deals and other economic and political interests.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:
* give the Papuan Church and Christian leaders great wisdom, grace and authority as they lead their people through these dark days -- days where great restraint is required to continually resist provocation aimed at triggering conflict that would 'justify' a massacre.
'Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually.' (Psalm 140:1,2 ESV)
* provide the displaced Papuans of Pancuk Jaya with security, shelter, comfort and all their material and spiritual needs; may the Holy Spirit draw them into prayer and the presence/sanctuary (Isaiah 8:14a) of the Lord that their prayers might be answered, their faith strengthened, and the Lord glorified.
---------------
If anyone else has a sense of déjà vu, see: Religious Liberty Prayer bulletin | No. 417 | Wed 21 Feb 2007 . The story is virtually identical.
~~~~
SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TENSIONS HIGH IN PAPUA (IRIAN JAYA), INDONESIA
Papuans are ethnic Melanesians and predominantly Christian. Their land, which was annexed by Indonesia in 1969, is being strategically, purposefully and rapidly colonised by Javanese Muslims, resulting in Islamisation and marginalisation. TNI (Indonesian military) and BRIMOB (militarised police) forces are presently conducting 'sweeping operations' in the central highlands region of Puncak Jaya. Thousands have been mistreated and displaced as the Indonesian security forces hunt for 'separatists'. On 18 June many thousands of Papuans rallied in Jayapura to reject Indonesian 'Special Autonomy' status (which has failed) and to call for fresh dialogue. Tensions are high. The Papuans have been betrayed and abandoned by Western human-rights-affirming nations intent on acquiring lucrative mining concessions and other economic and political interests. Please pray for the Church in Papua.
PAPUA (formerly Irian Jaya), INDONESIA: TENSIONS HIGH AS MILITARY 'SWEEPS' PUNCAK JAYA.
Since late May TNI (Indonesian military) and BRIMOB (militarised police) forces have been conducting 'sweeping operations' in the central highlands Puncak Jaya region of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya). This was ostensibly to flush out the 'separatists' they blame (without evidence) for two recent attacks. Indonesia keeps Papua closed to international media and human rights organisations. However, news is leaked out at great personal risk and on 18 June the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) issued a report with details of the crisis in Puncak Jaya.
WPAT reports that during early June the BRIMOB seized a church in Kayogwebur district Tingginambut for use as a headquarters. In the district of Kampong Tinggineri Tingginambut, BRIMOB officers raped a pregnant Papuan woman. In Gwenggu Pilia twelve houses and two churches were burned by security forces. In several villages all the livestock have been killed. On 11 June the BRIMOB conducted a residential 'sweep' search of all houses on the road between Ilu and Mulia, detaining anyone without identification and taking them away on army trucks. (Most highland Papuans do not even speak Indonesian let alone carry Indonesian ID cards.) Papuans have reported being abused and tortured while in custody. Locals are now too afraid to leave their homes to harvest vegetable gardens or attend to business. Further to this, the TNI has been forcing local Papuans to undertake tasks for the military, such as building landing pads for military helicopters after first clearing the land of crops. Pacific Scoop (New Zealand) has an unconfirmed report of at least seven dead in the Jambi, Sinak Ilu and Tingginambut districts of Mulia.
From the 1950s MAF USA opened up the previously impenetrable mountainous inland of what was then Dutch New Guinea for courageous pioneer missionaries. Annexed by Indonesia in 1969 and occupied by Indonesian armed forces (predominantly Javanese Muslims), Papua is being purposefully and rapidly colonised by Javanese Muslims for political and geo-strategic purposes. The indigenous Papuans, who are ethnic Melanesians and predominantly Christian, are being marginalised and their land is being Islamised. Most Javanese Muslims despise the Papuans as racially and religiously inferior. TNI and BRIMOB officers routinely and freely express their racial and religious hatred for the Papuans in unrestrained violence. The TNI has vast economic interests in Papua, including protection services. Thus the TNI has incentives to provoke incidents that make Papuan 'terrorism' and 'separatism' look like real threats when in reality they are not. Papuan resistance is essentially resistance against racial and religious discrimination, persecution, exploitation, marginalisation, Islamisation and threat of genocide. In 2001 the Indonesian parliament granted the Papua Province a tokenistic 'Special Autonomy' which was never implemented. On 18 June many thousands of brave Papuans rallied in Jayapura, declaring 'Special Autonomy' a failure. They symbolically 'gave it back' to Indonesia and demanded a referendum on independence and renewed dialogue to be mediated by a neutral country. Tensions are extremely high.
Just like some other Christian peoples who have faced or are facing genocide, the Papuans have been betrayed and abandoned by Western human-rights-affirming nations intent on acquiring lucrative mining concessions, arms deals and other economic and political interests.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:
* give the Papuan Church and Christian leaders great wisdom, grace and authority as they lead their people through these dark days -- days where great restraint is required to continually resist provocation aimed at triggering conflict that would 'justify' a massacre.
'Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually.' (Psalm 140:1,2 ESV)
* provide the displaced Papuans of Pancuk Jaya with security, shelter, comfort and all their material and spiritual needs; may the Holy Spirit draw them into prayer and the presence/sanctuary (Isaiah 8:14a) of the Lord that their prayers might be answered, their faith strengthened, and the Lord glorified.
---------------
If anyone else has a sense of déjà vu, see: Religious Liberty Prayer bulletin | No. 417 | Wed 21 Feb 2007 . The story is virtually identical.
~~~~
SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TENSIONS HIGH IN PAPUA (IRIAN JAYA), INDONESIA
Papuans are ethnic Melanesians and predominantly Christian. Their land, which was annexed by Indonesia in 1969, is being strategically, purposefully and rapidly colonised by Javanese Muslims, resulting in Islamisation and marginalisation. TNI (Indonesian military) and BRIMOB (militarised police) forces are presently conducting 'sweeping operations' in the central highlands region of Puncak Jaya. Thousands have been mistreated and displaced as the Indonesian security forces hunt for 'separatists'. On 18 June many thousands of Papuans rallied in Jayapura to reject Indonesian 'Special Autonomy' status (which has failed) and to call for fresh dialogue. Tensions are high. The Papuans have been betrayed and abandoned by Western human-rights-affirming nations intent on acquiring lucrative mining concessions and other economic and political interests. Please pray for the Church in Papua.
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