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Seven people have been killed and more than 70 wounded after fighting in northern Lebanon between two Muslim communities divided over Syria. Street battles between Sunnis and Alawites in the city of Tripoli continued for a second night running. Old rivalry between the two groups has been fuelled by conflicting loyalties in the conflict across the border. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, is battling largely Sunni opposition fighters. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, himself a Sunni, appealed to both sides to end the ‘absurd battle’ rocking Tripoli, a city of nearly 200,000 people and the country's second-largest. ‘We have repeatedly warned against being drawn into this blaze that has spread around Lebanon,’ he said, speaking of the violence in Syria. He urged Tripoli residents ‘not to allow anyone to transform you into ammunition for someone else's war’.
Pray: against further spread of this conflict. Seek God’s solution and peace for all people. (Pr.29:22)
Amid political upheavals, protests, and the radical religiosity, the Gospel is moving forward in the Middle East, thanks in no small part to one devoted church. The Free Evangelical Church of Beirut has been shining brighter and brighter light into the Arab world since pastor Joseph took a job there in 1994. The church's first mission was to establish a home for girls whose parents were either killed or unable to care for them as a result of the 15-year civil war in Lebanon. Pastor Joseph felt that God was calling him to move forward with the Gospel not just in Beirut, Lebanon, but throughout the Middle East. An African man was the first to leave the FECB in order to minister to another nation. He ventured back to his home country with the support of the church. Another church member relocated to a nearby nation to teach theology and evangelize non-believers. Further members followed the trend in becoming Church planters.
Pray: that the influence of FECB would continue and lead to many more church plants. (Ex.15:17)
More: http://www.mnnonline.org/article/15612
Authorities in Laos forcibly confiscated a church building in Savannakhet Province on Sept. 14th ‘because the church didn’t apply for a building permit'. The authorities generally ignore a lack of building permit if religious groups cause no problems. Officials posted soldiers on guard, moved in desks and chairs and converted the 212-member congregation’s building into a government school. Christians are no longer allowed onto the property. The confiscation of Dongpaiwan church came after officials in a neighbouring village evicted ten Christians from shelters they had built on their rice paddies. They could only return if they gave up their faith. Forced renunciations of faith along with detentions, surveillance, harassment and confiscation of property has kept Laos on the ‘watch list’ of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and clearly identified ethnic minority Protestants in Laos as the primary target of such violations.
Pray: for the Lord to strengthen Laotian Christians, show them the way forward and miraculously provide for their needs. (Is.33:2)
More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/laos/article_120877.html
Alarming religious freedom abuses contine in Laos. Believers are routinely expelled, forced to relocate, pressured to renounce their faith and arrested. Several Christians were recently attacked and killed in Xiengkhouang Province. Last month troops caught a group of Christians belonging to the Hmong community, an ethnic minority and confiscated their Bibles, they shot and killed four of the women after repeatedly raping two of them. Their husbands and children were beaten, tied up and forced to witness the gruesome killings. At last report,the whereabouts of the surviving believers is unknown. The absence of free press and lack of information infrastructure in this Communist state prevents news from reaching the outside world - including that of religious freedom. This incident and other recent reports indicate a disturbing increase of repression facing Christians in the country. Pray: protection for Protestant Christians and the Hmong Christians particularly who are as a threat to Comunisim. (Heb.10:35,36)
Laos is a communist state and one of East Asia's poorest countries. On January 4th police arrested Wanna and Yohan, pastors of two unregistered churches, and nine other Christians. Police released the nine detainees after they paid fines but Wanna and Yohan are still in prison. They were the principal breadwinners for their families, and their wives and families have no means of financial support. Several of Wanna’s children have since left school to find work. Pastor Wanna’s family say 'he has lost weight, is extremely weak and contracted an infection under the harsh prison conditions.’ Prison authorities have repeatedly told them they will ‘walk free’ when they sign documents renouncing their faith. Although there is less persecution of Christians recently, provincial authorities continue to violate freedom of religion or belief - particularly ethnic minority Protestants. The rights abuses include ‘detentions, surveillance, harassment, property confiscation, forced relocations and forced renunciations of faith'. Pray: for immediate release of the two pastors. (Ps.45:4) More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/laos/article_114762.html
Laos National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy states, ‘Poverty is the lack of ability to fulfil basic human needs such as food, adequate clothing, permanent housing, access to health, education and transportation services.’ However, a Christian working in Laos reported, ‘When a compassionate man tried to distribute clothing to the poor living in the bitter cold mountains of Laos the response from the village headman was, ‘Why? The poor are social parasites and useless.’ The Buddhist-Animist worldview in Laos believes people are poor, sick or come upon hard times because of bad 'karma' - they did something bad in this life or a previous life and are now reaping the consequences. Most tribal groups in Laos are animists - believing everything is controlled by good and bad spirits, so sickness or poverty results from offending the spirits and the answer is to make offerings to appease the spirits. Pray for Christians modelling a Biblical worldview as they unconditionally care for the poor.
Pray: for God to look down with compassion on the nation of Laos and give His wisdom to relief and community workers. (Ps.33:12)
On February 21 a group of officials travelled to Kengweng village and conducted a seminar entitled ‘Tricks of the Enemy.’ Officials and villagers of Kengweng were asked to join the seminar. At the end of the seminar on February 22 officials summarized the teaching sessions and ordered the confiscation of Kengweng church building and prohibited Christians from using it, which went into effect immediately. The officials banned Christians from any worship gathering anywhere in the village. Any future worship gathering must be approved by authorities. The confiscation of Kengweng church took place in less than two months after officials confiscated Nadaeng church in the same district. The church began in 1972 with two Christian Lao families. In 1975 Christians constructed the building and have used it for worship ever since. The village has 25 Christian families, consisting of 178 individual believers.
Pray: God’s protection for the thirty churches throughout Savannakhet province, pray also for religious freedom to continue to flourish according to the Lao constitution. (Ps.27:4)
More: http://www.hrwlrf.net/pages/Lao%20Officials-Unlawfully-Confiscated-37-Year-Old-Church-Building.html
Some 50 Christians in central Laos faced imminent expulsion from their homes Friday, September 6, for refusing to recant their faith in Christ, representatives told BosNewsLife. The Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) group said the chief of Nongdaeng village in Bolikhamsai province ‘summoned representatives’ of 11 Christian families to appear before an official meeting at local government headquarters where they were told to abandon Christianity or face deportation. ‘In the meeting, officials ordered all 11 families, consisting of 50 individuals, to recant of their Christian faith and return to their traditional animist religion,’ explained HRWLRF, which is in close contact with the believers. ‘They charged these Lao Christians with believing the religion of a foreign Western power which is considered destructive to the nation.’
Pray: for the believers in Laos that God will strengthen them and help them to stand firm. (Col.1:11)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/30247-laos-christian-villagers-face-deportation-for-faith
In an address to the UN General Assembly Uzbekistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister said ethnic tensions between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz will not be resolved until there is a full investigation into last year's clashes between the two sides and perpetrators of bloodshed are punished. A statement issued on Sept 26th said it was ‘a serious challenge to peace and stability in the Central Asian region, with no legal or political steps taken so far towards those who ordered, organised and perpetrated last year's violence.’ More than 400 people were killed in fighting between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in the Osh and Jalal-Abad regions of Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, while an estimated 375,000 were displaced from their homes. Most victims were ethnic Uzbeks.
Pray: for thorough investigations into the bloodshed, workable resolutions to ethnic conflict, and healing for the emotionally and spiritually wounded. (Ps.103:6)
More: http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyzstan_uzbekistan_ethnic_violence_un/24341036.html
Kyrgyz troops patrolled burnt-out streets of the city of Osh to maintain a fragile peace between ethnic groups following days of fierce fighting. Mainly Muslim Kyrgyzstan has been on edge since a revolt in April toppled the president of the ethnically divided Central Asian country and brought an interim government to power. Clashes between its main ethnic groups, Uzbeks and Kyrgyz, erupted in the south on June 10 and escalated into the deadliest violence in the former Soviet republic in 20 years. At least 179 people have been killed, mainly in Osh and nearby Jalalabad. The violence has subsided in past days but a constitutional referendum expected next week may reignite tensions. The son of the deposed president was arrested in Farnborough having flown from Kyrgyzstan to the UK in a private jet. The interim government is seeking his extradition, accusing him of funding this latest violence. STOP PRESS: Kyrgyz Christians are already risking extra hostility for protecting Uzbek believers in the midst of the violent ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan. This morning (16 June) a pastor in Kyrgyzstan told Barnabas Fund that threats are now being voiced against Christians - rather than simply against a particular ethnic group. Barnabusfund Pray: that the fragile peace in Kyrgyzstan would continue and that the referendum would bring stability. (Pr.29:4)