February 2nd official results from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s elections were disputed by international and local observers saying the election was flawed when President Joseph Kabila and his allies gained an outright parliamentary majority. These were the first elections since the end of the war in 2003 that left four million dead. When the results were stated veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi declared himself president and called for a boycott of parliament, and the Congolese Roman Catholic Church challenged the credibility of election results. The recent backlash to opposition has used a nun’s death, three priests arrested and two nuns being assaulted. Unease heightened after police violently broke up a peaceful march the church organized to demand truth about the November polls. Two weeks earlier, Sr Mary Lilliane Mapalayi had been killed at a school in western Kasai province where she served as a treasurer.’

Pray: that the truth about the November polls will be revealed peacefully.(Pr.25:15)

More: http://www.eni.ch/news/item.php?id=5481

As the humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo worsens, with thousands of people fleeing new fighting, Oxfam is stepping up its supply of aid to more than 80,000 people in and around Goma. Deliveries of vital clean water have been made to people in Lac Vert camp, on the edge of Goma, many of whom have fled violence in Sake over the past few days. Oxfam teams have constructed 40 new latrines for 8,000 people sheltering in squalid conditions at the Don Bosco site in Goma city. With tens of thousands of people descending on Goma this week, and a lack of power in the city, there are serious shortages of water and better sanitation is urgently needed to prevent the spread of cholera. Tariq Riebl,the development and aid agency's humanitarian coordinator, commented: ‘Conditions here are grim. Thousands of people are sheltering in schools and churches throughout the city, under plastic sheets hung from the walls.’ Rebel forces have set out conditions for their withdrawal from Goma which they captured last week.

Pray: that negotiations between the Government and rebel forces will lead to a solution to this conflict. (Pr.15:18)

More: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17482

‘I am a 24-year-old Canadian citizen living and working in Colombia with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) as an international human rights observer, striving for justice and peace in a country torn by a 50-year civil war. I want to tell you about Las Pavas, a farming community in rural Colombia, their displacement over the past ten years and the violations of their rights that continue to this day at the hands of palm oil company Aportes San Isidro. I want to tell you this because as Canada, now a ‘Free Trade’ partner with Colombia, imports millions of palm oil products, it perpetuates these crimes.’ The letter goes on to explain how hard-working farmers struggle to survive after the palm company knock down homes, threaten lives, rape the women and even shoot at farmers while they work. To read the whole document click on the more button.

Pray: for justice in this and similar situations where industry and profits outweigh human dignity and rights. (Ps.45:4)

More: http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2013/05/29/colombia-open-letter-prime-minister-canada

20-30 Church leaders are assassinated each year in Columbia. The most recent murder was of pastor Henry Rodriguez, 44, who was shot dead as he left United Pentecostal Church in Bogota’s afternoon service on September 16th .The reasons behind the murder are unknown but it was carried out by what appeared to be professional hit men using a moped, a method commonly used in professional hits in Colombia. While the assassination of a pastor is extremely unusual in Bogota, countrywide church leaders are frequently targeted by illegal armed groups. The Colombian Council of Evangelical Churches Peace said leaders are targeted because of their refusal to cooperate or support the objectives of the illegal armed groups; however, the reasons behind the murder of Pastor Rodriguez are unclear, as he had not reported receiving any threats prior to Sunday. Rodriguez, who was on course to graduate from seminary in October, is survived by his wife and three children. CSW is calling for a full investigation.

Pray: that the Colombian authorities would carry out a full investigation into this and similar assassinations and for those responsible to be brought to justice. (Ps.45:3-5)

More: http://blog.godreports.com/2012/09/pastor-shot-dead-in-colombia-where-20-30-are-assassinated-each-year/#more-2209

Four months after guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) sent a murdered evangelist's wife their first demand to abandon her home in northeast Colombia's volatile Arauca department, the militants made good on their threats, report sources close to Open Doors, a ministry to persecuted Christians. On Monday, Jan 7th 2013, as the family's pastor finished an evening devotional in the home of widow Alicia Castilla, assassins entered the home and opened fire on her with pistols, killing her instantly in front of her three children and her father. An Open Door's worker who cannot be named for security reasons told World Watch Monitor that before leaving the home, the guerrillas told Castilla's son, 18-year-old Hernán, that the rest of the family had three days to leave the region. After that, the killers warned, they would return and one by one kill other family members.

Pray: for God’s people in Colombia that God will protect them and confuse the enemy. (Ps.12:7)

More: http://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/english/country/colombia/article_2006360.html

The negative and suspicious view of Afghanis towards Christian activities has caused Christian groups and individuals, including Christians with an Islamic background, to be targeted in this war-torn country. According to a story by the Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News, Christian evangelism has turned into a sensitive and complicated issue in the last 10 years. Muslims target Christians every day. They use the Islamic Sharia Law to charge Christians with blasphemy. The rate of growth of Christianity in Afghanistan has caused Afghani Muslim clerics to consider it a threat. Also according to reports by news services, Afghani Muslim clerics warned the country's government against the spread of Christianity. Mohabat News said the Islamic council of Afghanistan, comprised of Islamic seminary students and clerics from all around the country, called on Hamid Karzai to limit the number of aid-workers and Christian missionaries coming to Afghanistan, because they can cause Afghans to convert to Christianity.

Pray: for Muslim converts that they will be protected against those that wish to preach blasphemy against them. (Ps.40:11)

More: http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2012/s12090079.htm

The day after his ordination last Saturday Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin resigned and then mysteriously disappeared. His fellow bishops say he has vanished and it is not known if he is in hiding or something more sinister. The authorities arMexico gang attacks Christian youth campe outraged because of a speech he made after his ordination and a friend said he is in a forced time of reflection. Chinese Catholics number between 8-12 million, and are divided between a state-sanctioned church that has installed bishops without Vatican approval and an ‘underground’ wing long wary of associating with the Communist Party-run church. (see PA 2012-28)

Pray: for Ma’s release, and may God use this situation to highlight to the West the need for positive change in China’s attitude towards Christianity.

More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48132012/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

An open letter from Women's Rights Without Frontiers has been sent to President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton and Ambassador Locke, on Behalf of Chen Guangcheng stating, ‘The American people and the people of the world cry out for freedom for Chen Guangcheng. If you deliver him back into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, he will no doubt be imprisoned, tortured, possibly killed. Would you use this noble man as a bargaining chip in trade talks? To do so would be to sell the soul of our nation.’ Chen is an activist for the lives of women and babies in China; a man of inconceivable bravery. Poor, blind, beaten and detained, he stands alone against the crushing brutality of the communist regime’s One Child Policy. The women of China have suffered the torture of forced abortion and involuntary sterilization at the hands of the Chinese population control machine for thirty-two years.

Pray: as Secretary Clinton travels to Beijing next week - may she speak out on the world stage for Chen and women's rights. (Ps.12:5)

More: http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/index.php