Colombia: Pastors being assassinated
06 Oct 201220-30 Church leaders are assassinated each year in Columbia. The most recent murder was of pastor Henry Rodriguez, 44, who was shot dead as he left United Pentecostal Church in Bogota’s afternoon service on September 16th .The reasons behind the murder are unknown but it was carried out by what appeared to be professional hit men using a moped, a method commonly used in professional hits in Colombia. While the assassination of a pastor is extremely unusual in Bogota, countrywide church leaders are frequently targeted by illegal armed groups. The Colombian Council of Evangelical Churches Peace said leaders are targeted because of their refusal to cooperate or support the objectives of the illegal armed groups; however, the reasons behind the murder of Pastor Rodriguez are unclear, as he had not reported receiving any threats prior to Sunday. Rodriguez, who was on course to graduate from seminary in October, is survived by his wife and three children. CSW is calling for a full investigation.
Pray: that the Colombian authorities would carry out a full investigation into this and similar assassinations and for those responsible to be brought to justice. (Ps.45:3-5)
More: http://blog.godreports.com/2012/09/pastor-shot-dead-in-colombia-where-20-30-are-assassinated-each-year/#more-2209
Four months after guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) sent a murdered evangelist's wife their first demand to abandon her home in northeast Colombia's volatile Arauca department, the militants made good on their threats, report sources close to Open Doors, a ministry to persecuted Christians. On Monday, Jan 7th 2013, as the family's pastor finished an evening devotional in the home of widow Alicia Castilla, assassins entered the home and opened fire on her with pistols, killing her instantly in front of her three children and her father. An Open Door's worker who cannot be named for security reasons told World Watch Monitor that before leaving the home, the guerrillas told Castilla's son, 18-year-old Hernán, that the rest of the family had three days to leave the region. After that, the killers warned, they would return and one by one kill other family members.
Pray: for God’s people in Colombia that God will protect them and confuse the enemy. (Ps.12:7)
More: http://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/english/country/colombia/article_2006360.html
Christians need 'spiritual ambition'
18 Jun 2010
More than 1200 church leaders from 77 countries and 28 denominations attended Alpha International’s conference for leaders from Europe, the Middle East and Africa last week at Holy Trinity Brompton in London. The week aims to train, equip and encourage leaders who are heading up Alpha courses in their nations. The Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, opened the conference with an address in which he told delegates ‘The Christian movement throughout the entire world has really got to develop and increase in this century; proper spiritual ambition for the sake of Jesus Christ. This is a very turbulent world, a world where we’re facing huge promise and huge peril and unless the followers of Jesus Christ have spiritual ambition and a real burning zeal to present Jesus Christ as part of the truth that will bring to fulfilment the promise of the 21st century, then things will look dark indeed.'
Pray: for the Alpha movement that it will continue to bring many to Jesus with zeal and ambition. (Ro.12:11)
The negative and suspicious view of Afghanis towards Christian activities has caused Christian groups and individuals, including Christians with an Islamic background, to be targeted in this war-torn country. According to a story by the Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News, Christian evangelism has turned into a sensitive and complicated issue in the last 10 years. Muslims target Christians every day. They use the Islamic Sharia Law to charge Christians with blasphemy. The rate of growth of Christianity in Afghanistan has caused Afghani Muslim clerics to consider it a threat. Also according to reports by news services, Afghani Muslim clerics warned the country's government against the spread of Christianity. Mohabat News said the Islamic council of Afghanistan, comprised of Islamic seminary students and clerics from all around the country, called on Hamid Karzai to limit the number of aid-workers and Christian missionaries coming to Afghanistan, because they can cause Afghans to convert to Christianity.
Pray: for Muslim converts that they will be protected against those that wish to preach blasphemy against them. (Ps.40:11)
More: http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2012/s12090079.htm
China: Vanishing Bishop
20 Jul 2012The day after his ordination last Saturday Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin resigned and then mysteriously disappeared. His fellow bishops say he has vanished and it is not known if he is in hiding or something more sinister. The authorities arMexico gang attacks Christian youth campe outraged because of a speech he made after his ordination and a friend said he is in a forced time of reflection. Chinese Catholics number between 8-12 million, and are divided between a state-sanctioned church that has installed bishops without Vatican approval and an ‘underground’ wing long wary of associating with the Communist Party-run church. (see PA 2012-28)
Pray: for Ma’s release, and may God use this situation to highlight to the West the need for positive change in China’s attitude towards Christianity.
More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48132012/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/
China: Support for Chen Guangcheng
08 May 2012An open letter from Women's Rights Without Frontiers has been sent to President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton and Ambassador Locke, on Behalf of Chen Guangcheng stating, ‘The American people and the people of the world cry out for freedom for Chen Guangcheng. If you deliver him back into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, he will no doubt be imprisoned, tortured, possibly killed. Would you use this noble man as a bargaining chip in trade talks? To do so would be to sell the soul of our nation.’ Chen is an activist for the lives of women and babies in China; a man of inconceivable bravery. Poor, blind, beaten and detained, he stands alone against the crushing brutality of the communist regime’s One Child Policy. The women of China have suffered the torture of forced abortion and involuntary sterilization at the hands of the Chinese population control machine for thirty-two years.
Pray: as Secretary Clinton travels to Beijing next week - may she speak out on the world stage for Chen and women's rights. (Ps.12:5)
More: http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/index.php
China: Riots and persecution
16 Jun 2011
Pictures have been slow to emerge from the southern Chinese city of Xintang, where rioting factory workers enraged by the reported beating of a street vendor attacked police stations and torched vehicles over the weekend. Security forces are a constant presence on city streets, and residents have been told not to go out at night or transmit photos of the unrest online. However, a number of photographs taken by stringers working for Reuters and AFP have been made available over the past 24 hours. For images of this un-reported uprising click the more button, and pray as you view. Also according to ChinaAid sources two women ministers were beaten and detained for 24 hours last weekend after an outdoor praise and worship service attended by 100 house church Christians in Korla. See:
Pray: that all hidden violence and injustice be exposed and eradicated. (Ps.7:6)
China: Prayer for Christian rights lawyers
22 Feb 2011Two years after Beijing lawyer Gao Zhisheng was arrested there is still no news of his whereabouts or condition. There are many religious rights lawyers currently detained in China. Dr Fan Yafeng, head of the Chinese Christian Human Rights' Lawyers Association, was detained on December 9 and tortured repeatedly over several days – he is now under house arrest. Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports 'an increase in the Chinese authorities' use of house arrest in recent months to suppress human rights activists. The decision to award the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo is considered the trigger for this crackdown. China Aid reports a recent increase in 'physical attacks on lawyers' by court officials. They also report a well-known blind legal activist, Chen Guangcheng, and his wife, being severely beaten this week over a YouTube video about their house arrest. They were confined to their bed and denied medical treatment after the attack.
Pray: for detained Christians to be aware of Jesus presence in the midst of their suffering. (Jn.ll:35)
More: http://www.releaseinternational.org/pages/posts/china-call-for-prayer-for-persecuted-christian-rights-lawyers-805.php