Displaying items by tag: Asia

Christians in a predominantly Muslim region of Central Asia risk almost daily harassment for sharing the Gospel. In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the growth of Islamic extremism helped make 2016 the worst year ever for Christian persecution. Artur (not his real name) said, ‘If you are a Christian living in any of the five former Soviet Republics of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan or Turkmenistan, you are intimidated, harassed, or - worse - jail time, for telling others about their faith. When the authorities discover someone has converted to Christianity, they will gather relatives, friends and family of the accused and bring him or her before an Islamic council of elders. The convert then stands before the group and has to decide between faith or family.’ Twenty-five years after the Soviet Union disappeared and these republics gained their independence, the five 'Stan States' have become repressive and hostile towards people of faith.

Even though the incumbent governor of Jakarta, ‘Ahok’ Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian, is awaiting trial for blasphemy, he is still in the running in the current elections for his post. In the first poll, on Wednesday, he was ahead, but did not have enough of a lead to take immediate victory. More than a thousand supporters flocked to the campaign headquarters of Ahok and Djarot (his running mate) to welcome the two candidates and watch the most recent quick count results. ‘We wanted to secure a one-round victory. But still, we should thank God for this result’, Ahok added. Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno, their opponents, are close behind, while the third contestant has conceded defeat. This means that there will be a second round between the two remaining pairs of candidates - scheduled for 19 April.

Pakistan’s religious affairs minister has announced that there will be no change to the country’s ‘blasphemy’ laws. Previous attempts to amend the harsh legislation have been blocked, and those proposing changes have faced threats and intimidation. Although the majority charged under the laws are Muslims, Christians and other minorities are disproportionately targeted, and blasphemy accusations are often made to settle personal grudges. Those convicted can face the death penalty for 'defiling the name' of Muhammad: however, to date no one has been executed, although several Christians are among those on death row. On 1 February Adnan Prince, a Christian from Lahore, was granted bail after three years behind bars; despite several charges being dropped, he remains accused of insulting Muhammad.

Last week, after more than three years in jail, a Christian facing the death penalty on charges of blasphemy was granted bail by the Supreme Court in Lahore. Adnan Prince had been imprisoned in Lahore’s district jail since November 2013 after he was accused by a work colleague of insulting Islam, the Qur’an and Islam’s prophet. The three-man bench ordered the release of Prince, with bail set at Rs 300,000 (around £2,300). According to Mr Prince’s lead counsel, the case against her client should have been decided within two years. This did not take place due to lawyers’ strikes and delaying tactics by the prosecution, she said. She also explained that legal formalities were not fulfilled; guidelines passed by the Supreme Court say that a police officer of at least the rank of superintendent should have conducted the investigation. She added that there were no direct eyewitnesses and that all forensic evidence failed to link the accused. Although earlier bail applications had been dismissed by both a district judge and the Lahore High Court, the Supreme Court granted Prince bail and ordered his release. Similar cases have been known to take as long as seven years to reach trial.

On 5 January a church in Karuwalagaswewa was attacked and burned by a mob. Threats had previously been made to the church’s pastor, who informed the police. When the police inspector met with the pastor and a local Buddhist monk, he promised to maintain law and order. However, that very night the church was destroyed by a Buddhist mob of over 200. Sri Lanka’s constitution declares that Buddhism, the religion of the island’s ethnic Sinhalese majority, shall have ‘the foremost place’. Christians, who comprise 8% of the population, are commonly harassed and have been victims of violence, with Buddhists claiming that churches need to be registered, even though it is not actually a legal requirement. The church’s congregation have continued to meet, in the open air, despite further threats.

Officials say that six Afghan Red Cross workers have been killed by suspected IS group gunmen in the province of Jowzjan. Two others are unaccounted for, feared abducted by the gunmen. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed the deaths, but said it did not know who was to blame. The ICRC said it is putting its work in Afghanistan on temporary hold. ‘We need to understand more clearly what happened; this is one of the most critical humanitarian contexts, and we will definitely do everything to continue our operations there,’ said ICRC director of operations Dominik Stillhart. IS has been operating in Afghanistan since 2015, claiming responsibility for attacks in Kabul and the east. But there has been no immediate claim for the attack in Jowzjan.

Trafficked from Bangladesh and sold into a brothel in Mumbai, Babli started learning Hindi last year at the shelter where she was put up after being rescued. She can now read, write and speak the language fluently, thanks to Hindi classes that help girls identify their trafficking routes and record more accurate testimony. ‘I was brought to Kolkata from Bangladesh, but I couldn't read the names of train stations that I crossed on my way to Mumbai’, Babli said. Two northern Hindi-speaking towns of Varanasi and Gorakhpur have been identified as hubs in the trafficking routes towards the major cities. Activists say that identifying routes is important - not only to step up police vigilance in these areas, but also to protect the girls who go back home after a court case and are once again exposed to trafficking risks. An inadvertent outcome of these lessons at the shelter is that some of the girls have obtained places in regular schools this year.

Britain has a key role in the peace of Jerusalem. 100 years ago in late 1917, the British Army commanded by General Allenby entered Jerusalem and liberated it from the occupying Turkish and German forces. This then enabled the Balfour declaration issued earlier in the year to be implemented leading after many years to the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. Psalm 122 tells us “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem may those who love you be secure.” Having seen a significant change in the military struggles in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks, attention is now turning back to Israel.

President Trump is significantly more pro-Israel than his predecessor and is planning to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This would be highly symbolic as Jerusalem is in disputed territory whereas Tel Aviv is in the land allocated to Israel in 1948. Until 1967 the city was divided with East Jerusalem in Jordanian hands, but the city was reunited in the six day war. The UN and most nations do not recognise the legitimacy of Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem. For many Muslims the status of Jerusalem is more important than the issue of the Palestinians. Jerusalem is their holy city.

Jerusalem is an emotive and controversial issue. Any changes to its status will have consequences. There have been recent terrorist attacks on the city but with Muslim and US relations deteriorating, changes to Jerusalem could create many serious issues.

So we go back to the scripture - pray for Jerusalem. Pray for God’s sovereign purposes, for His will for this important city and pray for the city’s safety in these increasingly uncertain times.

Report on Day of Prayer January 6, 2017

   Although we were few in number, there was representation from a wide spectrum of the body of Messiah in the land; both from the Arabic speaking sector (Israeli Palestinian and West Bank Palestinian), and from the Hebrew speaking sector including Ethiopian and Russian background brothers and sisters. We experienced a strong sense of the unity of the body. This was foundational for us as we joined our hearts in corporate prayer.

   The day was very productive and we spent the majority of the time in prayer both for the Body of Messiah and the nation. We began with focused prayer based on the prayer points we had identified in our previous meeting. We sought the Lord for additional prayer points that we should be in prayer about.  After identifying further areas for prayer, we prayed into them.  (these additional points are attached)

     At the conclusion of the day, we corporately decided to continue with this initiative. Our desire is to widen the circle of those who come together in this initiative of transformative prayer. The participants were encouraged to recommend this initiative to others. We, the organizers will issue invitations to new participants.

 Evan Thomas and Lisa Loden

Prayer Points:

Prayer for ourselves and the Body of Christ

1. Need to return to our first love – Revelation 2:1-7
2. Imbalance between knowledge and obedience
3. For bridging the “generation gap” between pastors/leaders and the younger generation. (for greater sensitivity to the young people and their needs)
4. For greater sensitivity to the poverty that exists in the Body of the Messisah
5. For the congregations to be more relevant in the society
6. For recognition of the brokenness within the leadership community leading to healing and a willingness to pray with one another.
7. To identify the root causes if the young people’s disenchantment with the congregations.

Prayer for the nation

1. Pray into the issues of societal disorder, unhealthy hierarchies that leave the population oppressed or in despair
2. Pray into the issue of selfishness, sense of entitlement (particularly among young people) leading to rebellion against God.
3. Need for healthy alternative to media exposure of harmful values and ideologies
4. For God’s hand on those who inpositions of responsibility in government
5. To express radical love for government leaders
6. For the next generation
7. Romans 13:1

Lisa Loden, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thanks to Robert Maginnis who maintains a vigilant watch over world security issues, here are some serious, worrying situations that intercessors need to keep on the front-burner of our hearts in intercession. They come from his IRAQ-SYRIA UPDATE during this last month of January. Please do read and pray through these potential and developing threats to the security and peace of our world. The prayers of many provide a spiritual shield of protection over the nations:

Nuclear War Danger

Doomsday Clock advances closer to midnight.  The New York Times reports the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Thursday moved the clock 30 seconds closer to midnight.  It attributes that change to the global security landscape and especially to President Trump’s statements and actions it labels “unsettling.”  Specifically, the report sites Mr. Trump’s comments about expanding and even deploying the American nuclear arsenal and his alleged “propensity to discount or reject expert advice related to international security.”[i]   Note: I’m not surprised by the Times’ echoing this observation because it fits the paper’s anti-Trump agenda.  Fact is the clock can be moved closer to midnight because North Korea is on the cusp of having a credible nuclear-tipped ballistic missile; Iran continues to pursue a similar capability; China continues to invest in survivable nuclear systems and Russia, our primary nuclear adversary, has poured billions into new ballistic missiles systems and modernizing the world’s largest atomic arsenal.   Mr. Trump, unlike Obama, is not putting his head in the sand.  The world is far more dangerous today than any time sense the end of the Cold War and Mr. Trump sees this and intends to close the gap to make America safer.

China

Chinese warn Trump not to end one China policy.  Reuters reports the state-run tabloid Global Times warned Mr. Trump that Beijing would “take revenge” if the new president reneges on the one-China policy.  Evidently Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met with senior U.S. Republican lawmakers during her stopover in Houston on Sunday en route to Central America.  China had asked the U.S. not to allow Tsai to enter or have formal government meetings under the one China policy.  Beijing considers self-governing Taiwan a renegade province ineligible for state-to-state relations.[i]  Note: Count on Beijing to quickly test the new president’s mettle either in the South China Sea or vis-à-vis North Korea.

Trump’s State nominee’s confirmation statement earns Chinese warning of war with the U.S.  The London Telegraph reports blocking Chinese access to islands in the South China Sea would require the U.S. to “wage war,” a Chinese state-run paper said on Friday in the wake of testimony by Mr. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State suggested such a strategy.  The escalation in harsh rhetoric comes after Beijing warned the president-elect not to welcome engagement with Taiwan’s leader, Tsai Ing-Wen.   Rex Tillerson, Mr. Trump’s nominee for State, told his confirmation hearing that he wanted to send a signal to China that their access to islands in the disputed South China Sea “is not going to be allowed.”  He continued that the U.S. would have to “wage a large-scale war” in the South China Sea to prevent Chinese access to the Islands.[ii]  Note: I predict in Future War that the next major world war will take place in the Asia arena and it will involve both the U.S. and China either as adversaries or parties that seek to find accommodation to prevent the spread of hostilities. 

North Korea

Trump threatens to down North Korean ICBM.  The Military Times reports President-elect Trump will face a defiant North Korea early in his administration.  North Korea is talking about launching a newly perfected intercontinental ballistic missile and unnamed U.S. officials in Washington indicate that if Pyongyang launches a missile that threatens American territory it will be shot down.  The exchange in the news suggests Pyongyang and the incoming U.S. administration are feeling each other out ahead of the 20 January inauguration.  What’s not in question is the fact the North Koreans have nuclear weapons and a growing ballistic missile capability. However, there is question among intelligence officials whether Pyongyang has mastered miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit atop ballistic missiles.[iii]

Trump foreign policy crisis on front burner: Pyongyang likely has enough for 10 plutonium bombs. North Korea is believed to have some 50 kg of weapons-grade plutonium, or enough to make 10 nuclear bombs, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry’s 2016 defense white paper, which was released Jan. 11, Yonhap reported. Seoul’s last defense white paper, released at the end of 2014, estimated that the North had around 40 kg of plutonium. Pyongyang has also made significant advancements in its ability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead, as well as its ability to enrich uranium, according to the paper.[i] Note: The regime also has enriched uranium, ballistic missiles and miniaturized warhead technology.  Expect Mr. Trump to face a crisis with Pyongyang early in his administration.

Middle East

Iraqi forces gain more ground in eastern Mosul.  Reuters reports Iraqi special forces made more advances against ISIS in Mosul, pushing the jihadi from another eastern district and edging closer to the city center. Meanwhile, Mosul residents trickled out of the hot zone while others returned to their homes as their areas were retaken from ISIS.  ISIS jihadists have fought fiercely with car bombs, snipers operating from a network of tunnels embedded in Mosul’s civil population.   The battle will likely continue for months in spite of recent progress.[vi]  

2016 bloody year for Iraq.  The Washington Post reports violence and military operations in Iraq last year claimed 16,000 civilian lives, making it one of the deadliest years since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.  A report by the London-based Iraq Body Count reported that 16,361 Iraqi civilians died in 2016 and a plurality were killed in the province of Nineveh, the home of Mosul which was captured in 2014 by ISIS.[iii]

Syrian dictator ready to talk.  Reuters reports even though the truce brokered by Russia and Turkey is showing significant strains, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claims he is ready to negotiate on “everything” at peace talks his Russian allies hope to convene in Kazakhstan, including his own position within the framework of the Syrian constitution.  However, Assad insisted any new constitution must be put to a referendum and it was up to Syrians to elect their president.[viii]

Syrian rebels participate in Russian, Turkish-backed peace talks in Kazakhstan.  Reuters reports Syrian rebel groups will attend peace talks backed by Russia and Turkey in Kazakhstan.  Moscow set the diplomatic effort in motion after Syrian rebels suffered a major defeat at the hands of regime forces.  The U.S., which led failed efforts to launch peace talks last year, has not been involved in the latest peace effort.[vii]

Iran ready to receive fresh shipment of natural uranium. Iran is preparing to receive a reported 116 metric tons of natural uranium from Russia as compensation for exports of heavy water, anonymous diplomats with knowledge of the upcoming shipment said, AP reported Jan. 9. The United States and five other major powers that reached a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015 agreed to the shipment, the first since the historic accord came into effect, according to the diplomats. Though Tehran has not explicitly outlined its plans for the delivery, the International Atomic Energy Agency will monitor any natural uranium shipments to Iran for 25 years after the start of the deal.[ix] 

South Asia

Pakistan test-fired first submarine-launched cruise missile. Pakistan's military test-fired the country's first submarine-launched cruise missile on Jan. 9, Reuters reported. With a reported range of 450 kilometers (280 miles), the Babur-3 missile represents a credible second-strike capability for Pakistan, a statement from the Pakistani military said. Test-firing the nuclear-capable missile is likely to ramp up tensions with neighboring India; the two adversaries are locked in a years-long arms race in which each country views military advances by the other as a direct threat to its security.[xi] 

Trump faces a central Asia conflict; India, Pakistan neck-and-neck in nuclear race.  The nuclear race between India and Pakistan is intensifying, thanks in large part to Islamabad's fear that its military is starting to lag behind New Delhi's. Over the past decade, Pakistan has become alarmed by the widening gap between its ability to wage conventional war and India's. Pakistan has turned to its nuclear inventory to level the playing field. But in doing so, Islamabad has spurred its nuclear competition with New Delhi forward even faster, a rivalry that culminated in Pakistan's Jan. 9 test-fire of the Babur-3 submarine-launched cruise missile. The test of the sea-based nuclear-capable weapon was the first of its kind in Pakistan, underscoring the country's investment in mitigating the threat looming on its eastern border. But as Islamabad takes steps to bolster its nuclear deterrent, New Delhi will almost certainly follow suit, each state engaging in a dangerous contest to stay one step ahead of the other.  Warning: Pakistan’s decision to rely on nuclear weapons to deter India increases the likelihood of nuclear war in South Asia.  Pakistan’s recent sea-based nuclear test demonstrates an alarming pattern of posturing between the two nuclear powers.

Pakistan’s North Waziristan “Epicenter” of global terrorism.  The Voice of America reports the US commander of international forces in Afghanistan recently visited Pakistan’s North Waziristan which many experts condemn as the “epicenter” of global terrorism.  General John Nicholson, commander of NATO’s Resolute Support mission on counterterrorism operations, visited the Pakistan region as part of his effort to work with Pakistan’s military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who promised cooperation to target al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the Haqqani Network which operate in the region.[vii]

Taliban kill more than 30 in Kabul.  Reuters reports a Taliban suicide attack near the Afghan parliament in Kabul killed at least 33 people and wounded another 70.  The Taliban spokesman said “We planned this attack for quite some time and the plan was target some senior officers of the intelligence agency.  We sent one suicide bomber to target a minibus that was carrying these officers,” the spokesman said.[viii] 

Taliban buy American arms from Afghan ally.  The Washington Free Beacon reports Taliban jihadi in Afghanistan have been purchasing U.S.-supplied weapons and ammunition from Afghan army and police forces.  A U.S. government report indicates just 63% of Afghanistan is under allied control, despite billions in military aid and meanwhile that country is experiencing an increase in violence.  Evidently, according to the report, Afghan security forces are selling their American-supplied weapons to their Taliban enemies.[viii]

Russia

Trump’s State and Defense nominees speak frankly about Russian threat.  The Guardian reports that Trump’s defense nominee retired Gen. James Mattis said at his confirmation hearing the West should recognize the reality that Russian President Putin is trying to break NATO and Trump’s State nominee, Mr. Rex Tillerson, described Russia’s annexation of Crimea “as an act of force” and said that when Russia flexed its muscles, the U.S. must mount “a proportional show of force.”  Of course in response to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe the U.S. and NATO allies have steadily increased air patrols and training exercises across the region.  At this time troops from the Third Armor Brigade Combat Team, 4^thInfantry Division, based in Fort Carson, Colorado, are moving from the U.S. to Germany and then railing to Poland with their 87 tanks and 144 other armored vehicles.  This move has the Russians’ attention and drew their criticism.[i] Note: The Obama administration began its eight year run with a Russian reset.  It would appear the Trump administration is setting the stage for a serious re-evaluation of our relationship with Russia that at this point appears more confrontational.

Robert Maginnis, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.