Displaying items by tag: Asia

Palestinians have resumed launching incendiary and explosive balloons towards Israel. Israel has responded by bombing Hamas military sites in the Gaza Strip, closed the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing, stopped all fuel imports into Gaza, and reduced the fishing zone off the Gaza Strip from 15 to 8 nautical miles. Pray for the safety of innocent Palestinians living in the vicinity of Hamas military bases, underground infrastructures, and observation posts that are being targeted. Hamas said the latest Israeli actions amount to ‘a dangerous act of aggression and an uncalculated step for which the occupation will not be able to bear the consequences.’ Many believe fire balloon tactics are a way to force Israel to implement truce understandings reached through Egyptian, Qatari and UN mediation in 2018.

In Beirut Said Deeb is a pastor working at a centre which runs children’s clubs and provides food to refugees. He doesn't know why he did it, but on the day of the explosion he told everyone to go home and get some rest because he was worried about coronavirus. There are normally 34 people and 240 children at the centre each day. He said, ‘I thank God no one was here; if there had been here they would be dead because the windows flew from the side, from one wall to another wall, and took everything in between - the curtains, the air conditioning, the tables, the computers, the televisions.’

A Japanese ship ran aground on a reef off Mauritius two weeks ago and has been leaking oil into the Indian Ocean. Although the oil spill has stopped, the prime minister said the nation must still prepare for ‘a worst-case scenario’ as at some point the ship will fall apart. The amount of spillage is relatively low compared to global spills in the past, but the damage it will do is huge and long-lasting; it took place near two environmentally protected marine ecosystems and a marine park reserve wetland of international importance. Conservationists are finding dead fish and seabirds covered in oil, despite a massive local clean-up operation. Pressure is mounting on the government to explain why more was not done in the two weeks since the vessel ran aground: see

Following the devastating explosion in Beirut last week, on 11 August prime minister Hassan Diab resigned. A professor of sociology has said, ‘Lebanon is facing the most dangerous moment in its history. The options are grim. If there isn't a serious will from the international community to create strong structural changes in Lebanon, we are going towards civil war. There is no alternative. It's very unfortunate to say that in this country we don't believe there is rock bottom any more.’ What a new Lebanon would look like nobody knows, but getting there will not be easy. The country is entering a period of political darkness. Protesters want root and branch reform. The state of emergency declared on 5 August brought the army onto the streets to prevent freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and freedom of the press. They also can now enter homes and arrest anyone deemed a security threat. Pray for corruption-free candidates to stand for selection in a completely safe and authentic change of leadership election.

The only Arabic Christian television broadcaster in Lebanon is airing special live programming, reassuring shell-shocked viewers after the huge Beirut explosion on 4 August. The next day, SAT-7 broadcast a special Arabic-language programme - the Pain and Hope. Local Christian leaders Rev Dr Hikmat Kashouh and Dr Nabil Costa offered reassurance to viewers, and prayed live on air for the families of those killed in the explosion, for those who are missing, and for the injured. Christian TV programmes will continue to provide a platform for grieving and traumatised viewers in Lebanon to find comfort and seek prayer in the disaster aftermath, while continuing to minister to a country beset by political strife, economic collapse, hunger, and social unrest. Lebanese people are looking for others to stand with them grief and in prayer in the wake of this catastrophe. Christian broadcasting offers genuine hope.

Beirut rescue operations continue following a massive explosion on 4 August, causing indescribable damage in a mostly Christian part of the city. The death toll is currently 137 with 5,000 injured. Totals are expected to rise. Ask God to disperse the trauma covering the area and for a spirit of healing to be released. Beirut is in a two-week state of emergency. Pray for God’s enabling strength for rescuers searching for hundreds of people still missing. May they find survivors, not bodies. Pray for comfort for those mourning the dead and for those still waiting for news of the missing. Pray for the 300,000 homeless people currently in shock with no shelter. May there be a united effort by the international community to organise medical supplies, food, shelter, beds, clothes, manpower and financial aid for structure repairs. Amnesty International called for international investigations into the blast that are ‘free from domestic political interference’, to ensure ‘truth, justice, and reparations for victims.’

Following the huge explosion in Beirut on 4 August, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is sending an emergency food package worth £226,000 from the UK. The Christian quarter of the city was the worst affected by deaths and damage, so the bishops, the clergy, and the lay faithful asked ACN for assistance. Christian communities, churches and other buildings are going to need a lot of repair. At least ten churches and immeasurable livelihoods were destroyed by the blast. In one second, more damage was done to this area of Beirut than throughout the long years of the civil war. It will have to be built again from the ground up. John Pontifex from ACN said, ‘We call on Jesus to bring healing and to bring a sense of reconciliation because in so many ways this particular explosion has drawn attention to the problems of government and accusations of neglect at the very least. There's a whole sense of healing needed at every level and a chance to rebuild. So literally, the call should be, Lord, help us rebuild, help us recover, help us find a new way to get through this terrible, terrible time.’

The explosion in Lebanon has reignited fears among Sydney residents where a huge chemical plant sits within three kilometres of the Sydney central business district (CBD). Residents have been demanding for years that the stockpile, four times larger than Beirut’s, should be moved away from the CBD and surrounding suburbs. Explosives expert Tony Richards said it is worth noting that plants used to produce and store ammonium nitrate and other explosive chemicals are not uncommon. There are thousands of facilities just like Beirut’s in Texas, Paris, and other places.

Dozens of foreign Christians in Turkey have been forced to leave the country or been banned from returning, in what appears to be government targeting of the Protestant Christian community. Many, like Carlos Madrigal of Spain, had been serving in Christian leadership roles in Turkey for decades, forming families and buying property. At the airport in November 2019, Carlos was given a stamp in his passport that would keep him from returning to Turkey, so he cancelled his trip and appealed the decision. He was told, ‘We must inform you that since 2019, it has been made increasingly difficult for foreign Protestant clergy serving in Turkey to be resident in our country’. An estimated 35 Christian workers received similar bans in 2019 and 16 more since the end of June. 10,000 Turkish Protestants attend 170 churches, many of them house churches. Turkey ‘officially’ allows freedom of religion, including conversion from Islam.

The authorities in Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan ordered the confiscation of the buildings of both Grace Presbyterian Church and Agape Pentecostal Church, which is building a place of worship on the same site. City authorities claim the land is needed for a new kindergarten. But officials refuse to explain why they cannot find another site for this, despite two possibly suitable other buildings being in the same Baikonur District of the capital. The move to confiscate both churches' property was initiated by the Construction and Residential Policy Department. It is unclear if corruption is a factor in the confiscation decision. Local media reported on 17 July that an unnamed former head of the Department is being investigated over the alleged embezzlement of 200 million Tenge (£363,733.80).