Displaying items by tag: pressure

As thousands of protesters around the world took to the streets in a show of solidarity, a year after the killing of hijab protester Mahsa Zhina Amini, there are reports that Christians are coming under pressure from the authorities to boycott the protests. Those who participate have been arrested and face sexual assault in prison, according to a new report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Since the freedom protests began in Iran, the country has detained some 20,000 protesters and killed at least 530, by conservative estimates. It is claimed that seven protesters have been executed after ‘sham trials’ and dozens more have been sentenced to death. The women’s rights protests in Iran have turned into a movement pressing for greater freedom of religion or belief. For more information about the pressure on Christians in Iran, including many being jailed for their involvement with house churches, see 'More'.

When a pastor shared the gospel with a Nepali family, they eagerly placed their faith in Christ and began attending church regularly, walking eight miles each way to attend. But when the owner of the land they leased learned of their newfound faith in Christ, he kicked them off the land. As an extremely poor family struggling to survive, they had leased the land both to live on and to farm, giving half their crops to their landlord in payment. In addition to being evicted from the land, they were denied access to the village water tap. Our persecuted brothers and sisters in Nepal face great pressure from their communities to reject Christ or suffer the consequences of continuing harassment and beatings from nationalists who envisage Nepal becoming a ‘pure’ Hindu nation. Also the government has criminalised conversion to Christianity and declared that ‘those who change their religion should be expelled from Nepal.’

This pandemic has sparked a childcare crisis for 3.9 million UK working parents, stuck between the closure of formal childcare and the abrupt withdrawal of informal care provided by relatives and friends. For those fortunate enough to work from home, it means a child or two making an unexpected entrance during a crucial work call. Pray for peace to flow through the homes of families with children facing endless days of lockdown. Pray also for parents navigating a total redesign of working patterns while trying to care for children who are more likely to be anxious, unwell, or fed up with restrictions. Nurseries and day care centres are now closed. Pray for lone parents, or families with disabled children or children with special educational needs, now that they can no longer attend daytime care.

On 24 March India shut its £2.3 trillion economy, closing businesses and issuing strict stay-at-home orders to over a billion people. The lockdown, due to end on 14 April, has been extended as the virus spreads through dense communities and new clusters of infection are being reported daily. The sudden lockdown threw the lives of millions of children into chaos. Tens of thousands are calling helplines daily, and thousands are going to bed hungry. India has the largest child population in the world (472 million). The lockdown has impacted 40 million children from poor families. Everyone must stay home - but what about the street children? Where do they go? Officially Delhi has over 70,000 street children, but the real number is much higher. Pray for the millions of homeless children on streets, under flyovers, or narrow lanes and bylanes. See

Home secretary Sajid Javid is under increasing pressure to deal with the rising number of migrants crossing the Channel. As some MPs call on him to deploy the Royal Navy, he insists that there is ‘no easy answer’ to what he called a ‘major incident’ unfolding off the south coast. Over 220 people have attempted the crossing in small boats since November 2018. Many of them are university-educated Iranians or Syrians. People-smugglers tell migrants they must enter the UK before ‘borders shut properly’ after Brexit. One refugee group said that most of those trying to cross are Kurds: see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29702440 Kent Refugee Action Network said the Kurds could have genuine asylum claims, adding, ‘The Government needs to find a way to process their claims in France instead and then transfer them.’ Pray for UK and French authorities to share intelligence and work on a humane solution.