Nigeria: Update
10 Jun 2014Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff said, ‘We know where the girls are but we cannot tell you military secrets. Just leave us alone. We are working. We will get the girls back.’ Nigeria has ruled out forceful rescue attempts. Pentagon officials have not confirmed claims that the girls have been located. On Monday Nigerian children across the state embarked on prayers for divine intervention to bring back Chibok’s schoolgirls. They also wrote letters to Boko Haram and President Goodluck Jonathan. More than 470 people have been killed since the girls were abducted. Meanwhile Cameroon has deployed 1,000 troops to its border with Nigeria to fight the growing threat of Boko Haram. The troops will carry out reconnaissance missions and return fire if necessary. Boko Haram killed 11 soldiers and 13 police officers in the north-eastern state of Yobe. Yobe is currently under a state of emergency. See: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05//children-write-jonahtan-boko-haram-chibok-schoolgirls/#sthash.ekxTMSor.dpuf
On June 8, there will be an opportunity for believers around the world to cover the Internet with the Gospel. #goeverywhere is an online movement presented by the team at yesHEis, for Christians to answer the commission Jesus left us to ‘go into the entire world’. An event called the #goeverywhere Thunderclap will see the start of something that has the potential to reach millions on a single day. By signing up to the Thunderclap, people will give permission for a post or tweet to be automatically sent out to all their friends and followers sharing a short 2 minute gospel video, creating a wave around the world. The post will say, ‘This is why I believe. #Jesus #goeverywhere’.
On Tuesday Reuters reported, ‘three Muslim youths were killed and mutilated by 'Christian' militia in CAR. They were travelling to a reconciliation soccer game between Muslim and Christian youths that was set up to forge a peace between mostly Muslim Seleka rebels who seized power last year and the rival anti-balaka militia. Meanwhile on Tuesday a Christian worker reported, ‘Yesterday there was more gunfire in Bangui. A vehicle carrying its full capacity of armed Muslims pulled up at a Muslim-controlled area and deposited them there, causing the onlookers to flee. It was in response to preparations being made by the anti-balaka for further attacks. These ‘anti-balaka’ are criminals, whose sole aim is to drive out the inhabitants and plunder their houses and shops. They had their base in our Christian part of town for a good while, before they finally cleared off. It is a constant, intolerable threat. Please pray for our protection.'
Eritrea is ruled by President Isaias Afewerki, who won independence from Ethiopia in 1991. He became a dictator, repressing soldiers then turning on religious dissenters and critics within the party. Today the Eritrean regime tolerates no dissent of any kind. There is no free media, no university, and even the ruling party - renamed the People’s Front for Freedom and Democracy - has not held a party conference for years. Tens of thousands of young Eritreans have fled the country, escaping across the border to Ethiopia or Sudan to face a difficult and uncertain future. Others have attempted to reach Europe, some of them drowning in the Mediterranean Sea on smuggler ships. Eritrea’s 6 million people live under a regime that has earned a reputation as the most repressive in Africa. Exiled human-rights group, Release Eritrea, reports that 1,000+ Christians are currently in detention. The group bases its tally on phone calls to friends and colleagues in the country.
Decklen was born at 22 weeks in California. He was just 10 inches long and weighed 14 ounces. His parents had to choose whether or not to have an emergency operation. They wanted to give Decklen a chance. ‘If he’s a fighter, you know, we want him to fight and make his own decisions,’ his dad said. His words forced journalists in the secular, pro-abortion media to acknowledge Decklen’s value. Meanwhile doctors in Australia have criticised another couple’s decision to allow their conjoined twin girls a chance at life. The girls, born six weeks early, have diprosopus. They share everything and when
the condition appeared on an ultrasound at 19 weeks doctors said, ‘None of the 35 other children born with diprosopus in recorded history is alive today’. But the parents refused an abortion and named the girls Faith and Hope. Doctors now say if the girls can continue progressing for five weeks, they have a good chance of survival.
Afghanistan: Thousands of US troops to stay
10 Jun 2014US President Barack Obama has announced a pull-out plan for Afghanistan that will leave 9,800 troops in the country after 2014, overriding previous plans of a complete withdrawal by the end of the year. He has been insistent that at the beginning of 2015, the war in Afghanistan will officially be over, but leaving almost 10,000 there after 2014 may make it difficult to realise that distinction on the ground. US troops will still be armed and conducting ‘counter-terrorism’ missions. With this announcement the president is reinvesting in his strategy, giving the military what it says it needs but also giving them a timeline. The president says by 2017 the US will only provide the normal numbers that are needed to secure an embassy.
Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi's Tuesday appeal hearing on her death sentence for blasphemy was again cancelled - for the fifth time. No new hearing date has been set. Bibi's four previous hearings were also cancelled at the last minute by the court. Bibi, a mother of five, has been in prison since being sentenced to death for blasphemy in 2010. The accusation followed a heated dispute with Muslim colleagues. Blasphemy is a serious crime in Muslim-majority Pakistan and carries the death sentence, but human rights groups say the charges are often trumped up as a means of settling personal scores and vendettas. Anyone accused of blasphemy in Pakistan faces threats to their life from extremists. Relatives often have to go into hiding to escape the same fate, and being behind bars doesn't make the accused any safer. Sometimes extremists march into their prison cell and kill them while the guards turn a blind eye.
Sudan: Christian awaiting death sentence
09 Jun 2014A pregnant Christian Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death last Thursday has been spending her days shackled in prison. Meriam Ibrahim, from a Muslim background, was raised a Christian and married a Christian. Meriam was arrested and charged with adultery and apostasy (The government doesn’t recognise the couple's marriage, hence the adultery charge). Her American husband is of South Sudanese origin. The court in Khartoum has delayed carrying out the ruling of death by hanging until Meriam gives birth and nurses her newborn. Her attorney is working on an appeal and a statement from several attorneys associated with the Sudanese high court called for a repeal of the death sentence. Muslims are punished by death if they convert to other religions. Muslim women are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims. ‘I was never a Muslim,’ she told the Sudanese high court: 'I was raised a Christian from the start.’ See also: http://www.meconcern.org/index.php/en/prayer-requests/755-sudan-update-on-believer-sentenced-to-death