Displaying items by tag: Asia

On 9 December, Iraqi forces recaptured the last areas still under IS control along the Syrian border and secured the western desert. This ended the war against the militants, three years after they had captured about a third of Iraq’s territory. The following day a military parade in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone celebrated the final victory, with prime minister Abadi looking on as troops marched in formation, their bodies spelling ‘victory day’ in Arabic. He announced that 10 December would be an annual national holiday. However In his victory speech he did not mention the Peshmerga, who played a big part in the fight against IS. Instead he hailed the Iranian-trained and backed PMF Shiite militias, many of whom are loyal to Iran.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s court case, at which she was expected to have her jail sentence extended, was postponed following the Foreign Secretary’s visit to Iran. Boris Johnson has said he held ‘worthwhile’ meetings in Tehran over the case of the jailed British-Iranian woman, but warned that he did not wish ‘to raise false hopes’ for her release. He believed his messages had been understood by senior Iranian figures, but admitted it was too early to be confident of the outcome, casting doubt on her family’s hopes that she might be released in time for Christmas.

In October Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte declared Marawi city liberated from the terrorists led by Malaysian Mahmud bin Ahmad. Marawi is now battle-scarred and broken, after two months of fierce fighting destroyed half of the homes and killed more than 1,000 people. Countless Muslims like Alayssa Macabaya were forced to flee after their homes were destroyed. Now, he lives 2 hours away in the predominantly Christian city of Cagayan de Oro. He and other Muslim refugees receive food, shelter, and basic necessities from the Christians who live there. ‘We are not driving them from the city. They can stay as long as they want,’ said Mayor Oscar Moreno. ‘Who knows, maybe some will settle down here.’ However, not everyone is happy about the mayor's decision. The city's social welfare officer said that he has received numerous security concerns from residents.

President Putin told representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church: ‘Over the past few years the Russian state, alongside the Russian Orthodox Church and other religious organisations, has provided humanitarian aid to Syria. It is very important that peaceful life is re-established as soon as possible, so that people can return and begin rebuilding churches and temples.’ Putin also stressed that most of the historically Christian areas have been liberated. Syria’s Christian community, one of the oldest in the world, has shrunk from 30% to an estimated 10% of the population, after being driven from their homes or forced to convert to Islam. Syrian Christians lived in Syria for centuries before Assad, but only reached the highest levels of government when Syria was democratic. Despite being a minority they have long belonged to Syria's elite, and joined prominent political groups.

In September we reported that 122,500 people had been evacuated to locations outside a 7.5-mile exclusion area around Bali's Mount Agung volcano as magma rose during hundreds of daily tremors (see ). On 25 November thousands were evacuating an area within 8-10 kilometres from the peak as lava began to appear. The next day most people had fled but some have remained, despite plumes of smoke and visible lava. They are too frail or sick to move. If Agung erupts again, they will die when fire and rocks rain down and boiling lava flows. Many of the people forced to evacuate their homes are the poorest in Bali. Farmers and construction workers will find it hard to earn money while living in the camps to which they have been evacuated. No one knows when they will be able to return to their villages; financial pressures may force some to go home before the danger has passed.

Aid agencies are appealing for food, medicine, and construction materials for shelters as the latest round of violence against Rohingyas continues. One agency writes, ‘The situation constantly changes; we are delivering long-term aid within Myanmar for the Rohingya community. We also have teams in neighbouring Bangladesh to support those fleeing violence.’ Pope Francis, on a four-day visit to Myanmar, did not publicly mention the plight of the Rohingya by name. Khin Maung Myint, a Rohingya activist, said he was disappointed: ‘not in Pope Francis, but in the advisers who have dissuaded him from bringing up the plight of the Rohingya people.’ The Pope talked about forgiveness and ignoring the desire for revenge, without mentioning the violence, gang-rape, massacres and arson against the Rohingya.

‘Nawaz Sharif has been ousted from government several times, but he has returned to Pakistan, leaving his wife in an English hospital dying of cancer. The High Court ousted him on corruption charges, and he is banned from taking any political office; but his party (the major party) have changed the parliament’s constitution so that Nawaz can become its president. They also passed a stricter Islamic law, making it much harder for Christians and other minorities. The present temporary prime minister has little backing. There is no control in the country. Terrorists are crossing back and forward across the border. When US secretary of state Rex Tillerson came to meet Pakistan’s military on the Afghan situation, he was undercut by Pakistan’s government who demanded that he speak to it only. The military is held in favour by much of the populace.’

“If you are a Christian leader, you would undoubtedly be blessed at this conference!

The deepening of the spiritual life, and it’s resulting vitality, is a keynote message that the Holy Spirit is trumpeting throughout the earth today.” - Edmund Chan Leadership Mentor, Covenant EFC, Singapore/Founder, Global Alliance of IDMC

Focus areas include:

* Abandoned Devotion to Jesus - The Key To Fulfilling The Great Commission

* Being Saturated with the Powerful Presence of God

* Pursuing the fullness of the Spirit: The Divine Factor in Mission

* The Surrendered Life: The Indispensable Factor in Mission

* Enjoyable Prayer To Fuel Mission

* Becoming Bible-Centered Leaders in The Great Commission

Speakers include:

Dr. ThuoMburu (Kenya)
Remo Paul (India)
Graham Wells (USA)
Joel Iyorwa (Nigeria)
Kelly Shaw (Thailand)
Ryan Shaw (Thailand)

Worship by Julio & Noemi Vallejos (Argentina)

Find all Conference info and register at www.svm2.net

Or contact Rita Chiu +66-99-371-5531 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Is a Door Opening for Christianity in Saudi Arabia?

(Worthy News) - Stunning political developments in Saudi Arabia have some wondering if the strict Muslim-ruled Kingdom could become more tolerant of Christianity.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has said he intends to return Saudi Arabia to "moderate Islam" and open the country to all faiths.

As part of his reform drive, dozens of officials – including 11 princes – have been arrested on corruption charges. The kingdom also says it has dismissed several thousand imams from mosques for spreading extremism.

The percentage of Saudi Arabian citizens who are Christians today is officially zero, because conversion from Islam to Christianity has long been punishable by death.

But it's estimated that between four and five percent of the population is Christian – mostly guest workers who are not allowed to worship openly.

Some are hopeful that change is coming.

"The days of a religious monopoly in Saudi Arabia are over," says Christian Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab to Christianity Today, "No more pushing Islam down every citizen's throat."

Andrea Zaki, president of the Protestant Churches of Egypt, said of the reform promises, "I hope it will lead Saudi Arabia and the region to a more open society."

But time will tell whether Prince Mohammed can bring real reform and religious pluralism to a nation that has known little to none of it since its founding.

More: http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2017/november/is-a-door-opening-for-christianity-in-saudi-arabia

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump accused Qatar of funding and promoting terrorism all over the world.

“Qatar has funded terrorism at a very high level,” he said, and it seems many in the White House shared his view.

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon had this to say about Qatar during a discussion at The Hudson Institute this week: “I don’t think it was just by happenstance that two weeks after the summit (in Riyadh) that we saw the blockade by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and Egypt and the king of Saudi Arabia on Qatar.”

Bannon also said repeatedly in his remarks that the Qatar situation was more important than the crisis in North Korea.

“I think the single most important thing that’s happening in the world is the situation in Qatar,” he said, expressing his support for the blockade.

Bannon was joined at the event by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and CIA Director Robert Petraeus, both of whom also expressed concern about Qatar’s ties to terrorism, terror financing, and some of the Islamic world’s hate preachers.

Exhibit A is Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the Egyptian-born cleric and religious leader who is now a Qatari citizen and has used Al-Jazeera, Qatar’s state-funded media outlet, to spread a message of hate across much of the Middle East.

If the Trump administration hopes to help end the ongoing blockade on Qatar, then it must pressure the Gulf nation to distance itself from hate preachers, especially Qaradawi, and allow him and others on the list to face consequences.

For many years Qaradawi’s talk show on Al Jazeera has condoned and encouraged suicide bombings especially against Israelis. The controversial preacher has endorsed Hitler and the attempted genocide of the Jewish people throughout history.

“The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them — even though they exaggerated this issue — he managed to put them in their place,” he has said. “This was divine punishment for them.”

Qaradawi has also suggested that homosexuals should be punished either by being burned or thrown off a building. The Islamic State group put his theories into practice when it chose to execute gay men in that very way.

Qaradawi’s views have resulted in bans on Qatari citizens entering several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Tunisia and France.

In many ways his personal fortunes reflect those of the emirate of Qatar which he now calls home. Not long ago he was respected across the globe; now he is an international pariah.

Qaradawi is also on a list created by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt of 59 people and 12 Qatari entities that are accused of promoting terror. Qatar has also repeatedly ignored extradition requests for Qaradawi from Egypt that began in 2015 when the cleric called for jihad in Egypt after the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Since the beginning of the crisis, Qatar has not backed down from its love for Qaradawi; he even attended a Ramadan dinner with Qatar’s ruling emir.

Qatar must also disavow Qaradawi and cast out such “religious leaders” if they want to once again be viewed as a reliable anti-terror partner. Qaradawi is not merely an example of Qatar’s support for terrorism; he is a reflection of what unchecked and unchallenged religious authority looks like, and his support for terrorists like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, his calls for violence, “resistance” and jihad must be opposed by all those who favor freedom, peace and justice.

Some of the demands on Qatar — such as shutting down Al-Jazeera — may be unrealistic but if Qatar really wants the rest of the world to believe it opposes terrorism, it could start by deporting one of its most fervent endorsers.

Lianne Hikind is a professional writer in Florida and small business owner. She has been previously published by the Media Research Center and the Times of Israel. She was formerly on the board of Great Things for Israel.

The views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website.

By: Lianne Hikind on October 31, 2017 at 3:35pm

CONTINUED FOCUSED PRAYER FOR CHRISTIANS IN QATAR

Christians in Qatar are requesting prayers for the current diplomatic crisis their country is in. A growing number of other Arab countries have cut all ties with Qatar. The future for Qatar and its hundreds of thousands of migrant workers – tens of thousands of those being Christian believers – is unclear.

Open Doors spoke to several Christian believers living in Qatar. All of them asked for prayers for the developing situation. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen and other smaller states have severed diplomatic ties with Qatar over its alleged support for Islamist groups. “Let’s just pray this problem will not escalate further… that they will be able to settle their differences,” one believer from an Asian country said.

Up until now, the diplomatic crisis is not the biggest problem for the Christians. “Life goes on, almost normal,” another Christian leader puts it. “For us believers, life is same as last week, but do pray for our safety. There are crowds in the supermarkets because people are scared and are buying food to stock up.”

This leader points out that there have been special prayer gatherings by Christians to intercede for the leaders in Qatar and its neighboring countries. “Because of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for the Muslims, most of the companies have cut the working hours by 50 percent. Also, Christian workers only have to work half days, so they have more time go to church and to pray.”

Another believer asked for prayers to be focused on peace, “That pride will not stand in the way of resolution; in essence: God’s will for the situation.”

An Open Doors worker expresses the hope that something good comes from this crisis: “Many Christians in Qatar already live with strict limitations to express their faith, and extra pressure on them is not what we want. But hopefully the current media attention on Qatar sparks people to pray for the country and the people living and working there.”

PRAY THAT ALL PARTNERS WILL WORK TOGETHER TOWARD COMMON SOLUTIONS THAT ENABLE SECURITY AND STABILITY IN THE REGION

More: https://www.westernjournalism.com/qatars-qaradawi-problem/