RLPB 477. Assyrian Crisis in Iraq and Syria

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 477 | Wed 17 Oct 2018

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)

----------------------------------------------------
International Day of Prayer (IDOP) for the Persecuted Church
IDOP 2018: Sunday 4 or 11 November.
See: Critical Prayer Requests (CPR) for states where Christians are persecuted and/or where religious liberty is threatened.
-----------------------------------------------------

ASSYRIAN CRISIS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA
-- plus update from Nigeria
by Elizabeth Kendal

As noted in RLPB 470 (29 Aug 2018), the Assyrian nation [the indigenous Christian nation of Mesopotamia (Syria-Iraq)] is in a struggle for its survival. While jihadist activity remains a problem, of greater concern is the less overt but more insidious threat posed by Kurdish nationalism. While there is no chance of a Kurdish state materialising any time soon, that is not stopping Kurdish nationalists from making every effort to change realities on the ground through 'divide and rule' (sowing division among the Assyrians), colonisation (occupying the lands of displaced Assyrians) and hegemony (dominance/control over Assyrians). Making things easy for the Kurds is the sad and shameful fact that their backers in the US-led West care little for the region's remnant Christians and, consequently, seem happy to turn a blind eye.

ASSYRIAN CRISIS IN NINEVEH, IRAQ

Ft Toma visits Iraq: Interview (Oct 2018)

Los Angeles-based Father Athanasis Toma, an Archbishop in the ancient Assyrian Church of the East, recently returned from a visit to Iraq. He warns of a deteriorating situation in which Assyrians face immense challenges including: gross insecurity, systematic discrimination, political marginalisation and land seizures. According to Fr Toma, Assyrian villages lack basic amenities, and most humanitarian aid organisations have left. Many youths and young families have lost hope and are looking to emigrate. Reports have emerged of Kurdish authorities blocking roads from the Kurdish provincial capitals of Dohuk and Erbil into the Nineveh Plains. This not only prevents displaced Assyrians from returning to their homes and lands, it also prevents Assyrians in the Nineveh Plains from gaining access to medical care or other services in Dohuk and Erbil, forcing them to make hard decisions. Many are convinced that a systematic, quiet yet aggressive campaign of immense pressure is being applied to drive Assyrians from their ancestral lands precisely so Kurds might colonise and eventually annex the Nineveh Plains into a future Kurdish state.

Asked if he thought Assyrians and Christians had any future in Iraq, Fr Toma replied: 'If we are not united and if conditions continue as they are, I believe we will diminish and soon not many will be left. Our lands, language, history and traditions will be all gone.'

ASSYRIAN CRISIS IN HASAKAH, SYRIA

Christians in Qamishli protest closure
of church-run school (28 Aug).

Syria's north-east province of Hasakah is under the self-declared rule of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian wing of the Turkish Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). While the situation in Hasakah is relatively calm, Kurdish hegemony is deepening. The PYD is insisting that all schools in areas under its control teach the Kurdish curriculum which is aimed at facilitating a Kurdish nationalist agenda. This is unacceptable (even offensive) to Armenians and Assyrians. Because the Kurdish curriculum is not accredited in Syria, many Kurdish and Arab Muslims choose to send their children to the Assyrian church-run schools. These schools, which have existed since 1935, teach the Syrian curriculum which is recognised internationally and allows freedom for the teaching of religion, culture and language.

On 7 August the PYD forcibly closed two Assyrian church-run schools that were refusing to teach the Kurdish curriculum [RLPB 470 (29 Aug)]. On 28 August, amidst protests, the PYD forcibly closed an Assyrian church-run school in Qamishli (on the border with Turkey). The next day the PYD issued a statement, in English, accusing the church-run schools of spreading 'lies' and serving the 'Syrian regime'. On 22 September Isa Rashid, who directs the church-run schools in Qamishli, was beaten outside his home just days after a meeting with Kurdish officials in which he refused to implement the PYD's curriculum; Rashid had to be hospitalised.

Assyrian writer Souleman Yusph

On Sunday 30 September at 9pm, a convoy of three vans arrived at the Qamishli home of Assyrian journalist Souleman Yusph (61). At least ten pro-PYD Assyrian policemen then seized Yusph and took him away. The next day the PYD issued a statement in which it denounced citizens who 'overstepped' their right to free speech in order to spread 'lies' that 'undermine democracy'. As far as Monsignor Jacques Behnan Hindo is concerned, Yusph was 'arrested for telling the truth'. Mgr Hindo notes that Syrian Kurds are not the problem; rather it is Turkish and Iraqi Kurds who want to occupy the area. Yusph was released on 4 October after he had been threatened and intimidated into silence.

Concerning the situation in Syria, Juliana Taimoorazy, the Founder and President of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council says: 'If the US continues to fail the Christians of the Middle East with [its] policies, I guarantee, in the next 20 to 30 years, it will be empty of Assyrians, the indigenous people of Iraq. If this policy of backing the Kurds blindly, blindly continues, we will not have any choice but to leave the land.'


PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:

* heal, comfort and encourage Assyrians who have been beaten, intimidated, threatened and terrorised not only by jihadists but by US-allied Kurdish nationalists. Lord, draw them close, give them peace and bolster their faith. 'Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' (Matthew 11:28 ESV).

* intervene in this world for the benefit of the Assyrian nation -- raise up allies, mobilise support, facilitate provision of aid, magnify voices, sharpen consciences and stir up prayer.

* protect, sustain, unify, bless and encourage the Assyrians of Iraq and Syria, as he fulfils all his promises to their great nation, to 'Assyria, the work of my hands' (Isaiah 19: 23-25).


UPDATE FROM NIGERIA: DEADLINE ARRIVES

On 16 October, one month after it executed midwife Saifure Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa [RLPB 474 (26 Sep)] Boko Haram executed Hauwa Mohammed Liman, the other Muslim midwife it was holding. Khorsa (25) and Liman (24) were executed as murtads, apostates/traitors to Islam (for working for the Red Cross). In its statement Boko Haram said, 'If we see them [aid workers] we will kill the apostates among them, men or women, and choose to kill or keep the infidels as slaves, men or women. ... From today [Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu (15) and Christian nurse Alice Loksha Ngaddah (24, mother of two small children)] 'are now our slaves. Based on our doctrines, it is now lawful for us to do whatever we want to do with them.' Please pray.

'Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows' (Jesus, in Matthew 10:29-31 ESV).


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
-------------------------------------------------------
ASSYRIAN CRISIS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA

Assyrians are Christians and the indigenous nation of Mesopotamia (Syria-Iraq). While jihadist activity remains a problem, the threat posed by Kurdish nationalism is growing. The Assyrian remnant in northern Iraq's Nineveh Plains is struggling to rebuild amidst gross insecurity, systematic discrimination, political marginalisation and land seizures. Meanwhile, the Assyrian remnant in north-east Syria's Hasakah Province is struggling to retain its autonomy and culture as Kurdish authorities move to control the education sector. In both Iraq and Syria, Assyrian educators, writers and political figures who resist or criticise the Kurdish authorities are beaten, arrested and intimidated into silence. Kurdish nationalists aim to drive Assyrians from their ancestral lands so Kurds might colonise and eventually annex these lands into a future Kurdish state. Please pray for the Assyrian nation (Isaiah 19: 23-25).

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

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF), and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: 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 476 of 1000. Prayer for the Persecuted; plus updates on Burma, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 476 | Wed 10 Oct 2018

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)

----------------------------------------------
International Day of Prayer (IDOP) for the Persecuted Church
IDOP 2018: Sunday 4 or 11 November.
----------------------------------------------

RLPB 1000: PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
-- plus four urgent updates on Burma, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan

by Elizabeth Kendal

The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin exists to facilitate strategic intercessory prayer for the persecuted Church. Initially a ministry of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Religious Liberty Commission (RLC), it commenced operations as an independent ministry in April 2009. Prior to that date, 524 Religious Liberty Prayer (RLP) bulletins were published under the banner of WEA. Consequently, today's Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 476 is the 1000th religious liberty prayer bulletin, the culmination of (roughly) 20 years of service to the Church of Jesus Christ.

Today's RLPB is dedicated to all those believers who suffer and struggle due to the heavy burden of persecution, along with all those believers who, in love, willingly bear or share that burden (Galatians 6:2) as they faithfully engage in the serious business of intercessory prayer for the persecuted Church.

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

LOVE, UNITY AND PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

On 25 November 1975 delegates gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, for the 5th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) were confronted with the following headline in their Assembly newsletter: 'Two Russians appeal for WCC action on behalf of Persecuted Christians.' What followed was an open letter in which suspended and persecuted Russian Orthodox priest Father Gleb Yakunin (39) and layman Lev Regelson (36) lamented WCC silence in the face of violent Soviet persecution and implored the authoritative body to speak out on behalf of 'Christians who are victims of persecution anywhere in the world'. The letter was less a denunciation of Soviet persecution than it was a denunciation of WCC silence.

Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour,
demolished on Stalin's order,
5 December 1939.

The letter sent shockwaves through the Assembly and left the delegates profoundly divided. Many were deeply moved, even distressed, and eager to discuss how the WCC might respond for the benefit of their suffering brothers and sisters. Others, however, were irritated; being more interested in protecting the WCC's political channels, they moved into damage control. Having put their faith in politics, they were determined to pursue the path of 'quiet diplomacy' even if it required a betrayal of the persecuted. Even when the Soviet regime subsequently arrested and tried Yakunin and Regelson and condemned Father Gleb Yakunin to the Siberian gulag, the WCC remained silent. Naive and arrogant, the WCC failed to realise that the Soviets had played them into silence. Shallow and mistaken, the WCC's policy-makers thought that as long as the end they had in sight was honourable, then they could betray Christ's Church and still retain Christ's blessing. No! In God's economy, means matter. As Jesus explains, 'whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me'; and 'whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me' (from Matthew 25:31-46 NIV).

'We are aware,' wrote Yakunin and Regelson in 1975, 'that many Christians are deeply concerned about the suffering of their brethren and wish to help them with all their hearts, but often they do not know how to proceed.' They had hoped the WCC would 'initiate an international movement for the defence of the persecuted' and that Christians from all over the world would be invited 'to join in prayer for the suffering church'.

Unfortunately, the WCC of the 1970-80s was politically compromised and not up to the task. Fortunately, however, God was already raising up others who would speak out on behalf of persecuted Christians and rally believers to pray. Over the decades, as persecution has escalated and spread, God has been on the move. The number of organisations now committed to reporting on, publishing about, advocating on behalf of, delivering aid to, and facilitating prayer for the persecuted Church has grown exponentially. The number of individual believers, small groups and even whole churches now committed to praying faithfully for their persecuted brothers and sisters has grown phenomenally -- though we still have a long, long way to go.

God's work in this area is mysteriously circular: first he draws us to the Cross where he pours his love into our hearts so that we long to help our persecuted brothers and sisters. Then, as we do so, our love for our brethren just continues to grow in warmth, depth and breadth as we come to realise that they are our family and see the crucified Christ in them.

Aware of this, Yakunin and Regelson wrote in 1975 'that only at the foot of the Cross of Golgotha a passion of love may be born that can truly overcome the strife between individual denominations and their alienations and prepare Christian hearts for genuine unity'. They believed the Church's 'most imperative task' was to 'restore in the whole Christian community all over the world the spirit of the first Christians who revered the confessors of the faith; such a respect must be the most important ecumenical act and then the hearts' warmth could melt away any denominational alienation.'

Prayer for the persecuted church generates love and unity in the Body of Christ in a way that little else can. Indeed, it seems God is knitting our increasingly global Church together using chords of love forged in the flames of persecution.

All who commit to the ministry of intercessory prayer for the persecuted Church will doubtless testify that this ministry is life-changing. It turns our focus outwards and displaces our burdens, replacing them with love and purpose. And if that were not enough, not only does this ministry change lives, it saves lives and even has the potential to change the world.

'I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.' (John 17:20-21 ESV, from Jesus' High Priestly Prayer).

Elizabeth Kendal
10 October 2018
On the occasion of the publication of the 1000th religious liberty prayer bulletin.

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

* BURMA (MYANMAR): UPDATE to RLPB 475 (3 Oct 2018)

In September the China-backed United Wa State Army (UWSA, an ethnic rebel army in Burma's north-east) detained hundreds of Christians, including more than 40 ethnic Wa Bible students. It also closed 52 churches, demolished at least three and removed crosses and Christian symbols from the Wa region. Radio Free Asia reports (5 Oct): around 100 ethnic Wa Christians were released on 5 October after they signed a document saying that they would pray only at home and not in churches. According to Rev Dr Lazarus, general secretary of the Lahu Baptist Convention, seven ethnic Wa pastors who refused to sign remain in UWSA custody. The ethnic Wa Bible students have been forcibly conscripted into the UWSA. The UWSA continues to hold more than 130 ethnic Lahu Christians, including 92 pastors who are undergoing interrogation to determine whether they are humanitarian workers or 'extremists' (evangelists). The persecution -- which has a distinctly Chinese flavour -- is aimed at bringing all religious activity under UWSA control and eliminating foreign missionaries. Pray for the Church in Burma.

* NIGERIA: UPDATE to RLPB 474 (September update)

As reported in RLPB 474, on 17 September the Islamic terror group Boko Haram executed a female aid worker to send a 'message of blood' to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. The message gave the government a deadline of one month to deliver ransom, otherwise the remaining two female aid workers and the Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu (15) would be executed. On 29 September Leah's mother, Rebecca, appeared on Nigerian television pleading with the government to secure the release of her daughter, who had refused to convert to Islam to secure her own freedom. Leah's father, Nathan, has also spoken of the family's trauma. The deadline is one week from today. Please pray.

* NORTH KOREA: UPDATE to RLPB 474 (September update)

During the recent 18-20 September Inter-Korean Summit in Pyongyang, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that he would 'ardently welcome the Pope if he visits Pyongyang'. Of course, the fact that Pope Francis recently handed Beijing the right to select China's Catholic bishops [see RLPB 474 (September Update)] undoubtedly makes him a little more attractive to a dictator who may want to retain control over religion. President Moon, a practising Catholic, is due to meet with Pope Francis on 18 October, at which point he will deliver an official invitation from Kim. As is now being widely reported in mainstream media, Pyongyang was once a centre of dynamic Christianity, earning it the title 'The Jerusalem of the East'. The parents of North Korea's 'Eternal President' Kim Il-sung were devout Christians; his grandfather was a Christian pastor. This history will prove hugely significant, especially if North Koreans ever do decide that they want to see a restoration of 'the years the locusts have eaten' (Joel 2:25). Please pray!

* PAKISTAN: ASIA BIBI WAITS . . .

On Monday 8 October Pakistan's Supreme Court in the capital Islamabad finally heard the long-delayed appeal of death-row inmate and Christian woman Asia Bibi. In June 2009 Asia fetched water for her fellow labourers who then refused to drink it because, as an infidel, Asia was unclean. Words were exchanged after which the Muslims accused Asia of blasphemy. In November 2010 the court found Asia guilty and sentenced her to death by hanging. The Supreme Court hearing on 8 October was her final chance for an acquittal. Her lawyer, the courageous Saif-ul-Malook, is supremely confident. The court has reserved its ruling, which might not be known for days or even weeks. Fundamentalist Muslims are threatening to riot if she is not hanged. The Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) political party is insisting the authorities not reverse the blasphemy verdict, warning, 'If there is any attempt to hand her [Bibi] over to a foreign country, there will be terrible consequences.' Prime Minister Imran Khan came to power vowing to uphold the blasphemy law. Tensions are soaring; these are very dangerous days, not only for Asia Bibi, her family and her lawyer, but for the whole Christian community. Please pray.

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

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF), and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: 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