Uzbekistan: Pastor urgently needs prayer
06 Oct 2012Protestant churches in Karakalpakstan are illegal. Pastor Makhset is a housechurch leader and has been to court six times, his family’s apartment was raided in 2007 and they fled to Kazakhstan where they initiated the process of seeking asylum through the United Nations. The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees determined the family to be refugees who would face prosecution in Uzbekistan because of their Christian faith. - The Kazakh government disagreed and ruled against Makhset. His case now rests before the country’s highest court, which has yet to set a date for his extradition hearing. On September 2nd Kazakh authorities arrested Makhset, prosecutors are responding to Uzbekistan’s request to return him to face charges. Open doors are asking for Christians to send a message to the Kazakh Ambassador to the United States, asking that the Kazakh government may not forcibly return Makhset to Uzbekistan! We are asked to pray.
Pray: that Makhset, his pregnant wife Aigul and their four children will not be repatriated and that Makhset will be free to preach and practice his faith. (Acts14:22)
More: http://members.opendoorsusa.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=59821.0&dlv_id=85841
The Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance - representing over 400 million Christians worldwide - expressed concerns about police raids on Protestant congregations in Uzbekistan and the detention of several Christians. A particular concern was a recent police raid on The Church of Christ in Tashkent, one of the largest Protestant churches in the capital. Police without a warrant detained eight church members, seized properties and imprisoned three church members for 15 days on charges including the violation of strict religious regulations of the former Soviet nation. Five other church members received heavy fines with three of them forced to pay about eighty times the average monthly minimum wage. The troubles began during a May 16 Sunday worship service attended by 500 people, which was interrupted by police, the secret police, tax inspectorate, fire Inspectors and the sanitary-epidemiological service.
Pray: for Christians in Uzbekistan, and for justice and equality for the church in Central Asia. (Ro.8:34-35)
More: http://www.worthynews.com/8236-evangelical-group-condemns-uzbekistan-crackdown-on-churches
Uzbekistan: Crackdown on Christians worsens
24 Jul 2010
Several unjust rulings have been made against Christians since the start of 2010. The homes of numerous Christians as well as churches have been raided, and many Christians have been fined for sharing their faith, holding religious services, and illegally distributing Christian literature, according to Forum 18 News. Within the last three months, however, pressure has increased to the point of unlawful imprisonment. ‘In the last several months, 10 Christians have been sentenced to administrative detention for their Christian activities--that can mean something as simple as holding a Bible study in their home,’ says Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA. ‘This is four times the amount of detentions that we saw last year.’ It's unclear as to exactly why the crackdown has become so much worse so quickly. Moeller confirms, however, that the Uzbek government favours uniformity, not diversity. A rise in numbers of any group could be considered social and political dissension. Pray: for the Church in Uzbekistan that the authorities would cease its persecution. (2Th.1:4)
Uzbekistan: Churches banned from evangelism
18 Dec 2011Authorities warned churches not to allow youngsters and children to attend worship services and not to carry out missionary activities. Deputy Head of Administration met officials of the Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Presbyterian, Seventh-day Adventist and Baptist churches in Angren city telling them, ‘All unregistered religious activity is a criminal offense, in defiance of the international human rights agreements Uzbekistan is a party to.’ He demanded the churches provide him with lists of members (a move resembling the time when Uzbekistan was still part of the Soviet Union). Church leaders refused to give names amid concerns authorities could pressure individuals. These developments came after a Baptist Christian, was fined 80 times the minimum monthly wage when police broke up a meeting of Baptists on holiday together. Also, two schoolgirls stopped attending church after police threatened they ‘will be in police records and thrown out of school’.
Pray: that fanatical religious persecution will not re-emerge in the region. (Ps.37:11)
More: http://www.worthynews.com/11112-uzbekistan-churches-banned-from-evangelism-youth-worship
Two Protestant Christian churches in and near Tashkent were subjected to raids within two days of each other in mid-April. The first raid targeted a youth conference and the second - where the police were accompanied by television journalists - targeted a feeding programme for the homeless. In addition an ‘anti-terror’ raid in Tashkent targeted ten Protestant women gathering for a birthday party in a private home, eight of them pensioners. They were all given massive fines. No officials in Tashkent have been prepared to explain why peaceful religious believers should face such punishments. Protestants in north-western Uzbekistan have complained of mounting raids, threats, fines, literature confiscations and court-ordered destruction of religious literature. State-imposed restrictions on all faiths are tight and the latest raids, fines, threats and literature confiscations come as religious believers of a variety of faiths face criminal trials for peaceful activity.
Pray: for God to turn this situation around and for the Christians in Uzbekistan to be treated fairly. (Ps.9:13-14)
More: http://www.forum18.org/
Uzbekistan: Christians face fines and abuse
08 Sep 2011Uzbekistan's authorities continue to punish peaceful religious believers with fines, physical abuse and court-ordered destruction of religious literature. According to a story by Forum 18 police in eastern Fergana Region police raided the home of a Protestant couple. The police inspector who led the raid said that police found and confiscated ‘banned’ religious literature. Asked what literature found in their home was banned, he identified the Bible and the New Testament. Also courts in the capital of Tashkent and eastern Syrdarya Region have handed down fines of up to one hundred times the minimum monthly wage to ten Protestants to punish them for unregistered activity. In both cases, Forum 18 said, the courts ordered that confiscated Christian literature - including Bibles and New Testaments - be destroyed. Another court in central Samarkand Region fined a member of an officially registered Baptist Church for ‘illegal’ religious teaching.
Pray: for the Church in Uzbekistan the God will be their ever present help in times of trouble. (Ps.9:9)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.face.fines.and.abuse.in.uzbekistan/28566.htm
New US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel met with Ehud Barak for two hours on Tuesday, expressing strong support for Israeli missile and rocket defence systems despite fiscal uncertainty caused by across-the-board spending cuts. ‘Secretary Hagel is committed to working with members of Congress to ensure that there is no interruption of funding for Iron Dome, Arrow, and David's Sling rocket and missile defence systems,’ a US defence official said. During the talks, Barak stressed the importance of continuing to develop the special relations between the Israeli defence community and the Pentagon.
Pray: that God will bless security issues facing the Middle East today, foremost among them, Iran. (2Sa.22:4)
More: http://www.worthynews.com/top/jpost-com-LandedPages-PrintArticle-aspx-id-305409/
USA: TV ad shows God a key theme for Presidents
27 Feb 2012A new television commercial airing Presidents Day weekend reminds Americans how God and religion are foundational to the country. The minute-long spot highlights quotes from Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy and Reagan – each focused on the foundational role that God and religion play in American rights and government. The spot is running on national cable networks between Feb. 18 and 20. It is also running in regional markets from Connecticut to California.
Pray: that during the months preceding the Presidential election for the values of Christianity to function in the nation's public life. (Deut.30:16)
More: http://www.earnedmedia.org/kofc0220.htm