Displaying items by tag: Asia

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he is 'appalled' at the ongoing persecution of Christians.

One of the countries clamping down is China. Churches continue to be closed, and Christians have been arrested because of their faith.

That is because the country is officially an atheist state, with freedom of religion guaranteed in the constitution. Sky's Tom Cheshire explains.

Watch the SKYNEWS video on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZE4y4PSjCw

Pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in China.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has appointed a new chief commander of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), just days after the United States designated the paramilitary force as a foreign terrorist organization.

Iranian state media reported on April 21 that Khamenei appointed General Hossein Salami as the new head of the IRGC, replacing Mohammad Ali Jafari, who had been in charge for more than 11 years.

Salami, 59, had been serving as a deputy commander in the IRGC. State media gave no reason for Khamenei’s decision to replace the IRGC commander.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on April 8 designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization in an unprecedented move that drew Iranian condemnation.

Tehran responded by designating the U.S. military's Central Command as a terrorist organization.

The estimated 100,000-strong IRGC is a branch of the military that also plays a major role in Iran’s economy.

It is in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs and runs its own intelligence operations.

The IRGC has been involved in enforcing Islamic codes and crushing dissent at home, experts say, while taking part in covert operations, arms smuggling, and other efforts aimed at expanding Iran's influence abroad. It answers directly to Khamenei.

The United States has already blacklisted dozens of entities and people for affiliations with the IRGC, but not the organization as a whole.

More:https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-s-supreme-leader-appoints-new-chief-of-revolutionary-guards/29894970.html?ltflags=mailer

Pray that the devious and manipulative actions of the IRGC will be thwarted
Pray for the people of Iran, who yearn for freedom of speech and true democracy

Elections in Israel were yesterday.  This afternoon (Wednesday) with some 97% of votes counted, the Likud with Benjamin Netanyahu and the Blue and White party with Benny Gantz were tied, each having received 35 seats each in the new Knesset. 

However, because the two religious parties, the Sephardic Shas and the Ashkenazy United Torah Judaism, received an astounding eight seats each, and have vowed to join a Netanyahu government—and there are still several other right-wing parties expected to do the same,

Netanyahu is being seen as winner (President Rivlin will almost certainly give him the task of forming a coalition after the final military and write-in votes are counted tomorrow).  This will be Netanyahu’s fifth term.  It means that Israel will go into this next season with a proven, strong defense stance against the threat from Iran.  It will continue with a leader whose prowess as a statesman is respected (if not always loved) in the international community.  There should continue to be a government with strong feelings for Israel’s right to a presence in the Covenant Land of the Mountains of Israel—Judea & Samaria—the West Bank.  And, extremely important for the present time, the relationship forged between Prime Minister Netanyahu and U.S. President Trump continues in a realm of mutual favour no new Israeli leader could hope to imitate.

On the other hand, a coalition so strongly impressed with the religious parties means one which will likely continue with a “double standard” related to religious and civil responsibilities of citizens (most ultra-Orthodox demand to be allowed to study Biblical commentaries of rabbis rather than to fulfill those responsibilities).  And the Shas party will almost certainly demand to maintain control of the Ministry of the Interior and other offices related to immigration—thus deciding who is considered a “Jew”, and discriminating against Messianic Jews and others it considers not lining up with its narrow religious views. 

In general, a far-right government is far less concerned with civil rights of Israeli citizens.  Any overtures the government might wish to take, for example, towards allowing other streams of Judaism to have access to their own portion of the Western Wall, can (as happened two years ago) be nipped off at the bud by a threat from one of the religious parties to leave and bring down the government.

Another question mark relates to the “Deal of the Century” for solving the Israel/Palestinian questions, which President Trump is due to release within a few weeks after the new government is on its feet.  Will it “allow” Israel to annex portions of the Mountains of Israel, and for Jerusalem to remain undivided?  Will the present relationship with Mr. Trump and America be able to remain close if there are tenets of the plan which Israel finds impossible to accept?

The Prime Minister Elect will have a month to put together a coalition; if that fails, he may ask for one short extension.  That failing, the country goes again to new elections.

PLEASE PRAY:

• That the God of Israel will watch over and guard the building of the new government. That none will be allowed to be formed which would restrict His path of mercy for his covenant land and people during the coming season.
• That grace will rest upon Mr. Netanyahu—a grace which leads to humility, and to seeking heavenly counsel for his governance during this term.
• That no occult powers would be able to influence the forming of the new coalition.
• That the most recent Shas leader (a convicted felon) will not be allowed to again hold the office of Ministry of the Interior. That the anti-Messiah spirit would not be allowed to reign over that office.

Martin & Norma Sarvis

Jerusalem

The Situation in the North

In the weeks following the Hanoi Summit, the issue of North Korean denuclearization has been in the news a lot.  As evidence mounts that the North is rebuilding a major missile launching site that it had been dismantling, Trump has been warning against just that. The commander of U.S. forces in South Korea states that North Korea's activities are "insconsistent" with denuclearization.  While the U.S. also believes that North Korea wants to continue denuclearization talks, the North has threatened to discontinue them. In the meantime, the U.S. has been reaching out to China to help with the situation.  To be honest, I don't thing anyone really knows what will happen; however, the website, 38 North, has a number of very thoughtful articles on the whole denuclearization process.  I recommend taking a look.  There are some hopeful developments in Trump cancelling additional sanctions and the UN lowering sanction barriers for humnitarian work, specifically by the Mennonite Central Committee.  Pray for things to open up for other humanitarian organizations as well.

A few brief items.  Here's a story on how Russian technicians keep the North Korean leaders' bodies looking fresh.  North Koreans are managing to get outside media through new smartphone aps and as workers overseas.  Pray that they learn about the things that are really important and don't spend all their time on dramas...

Remembering Our Brothers in Prison 

We continue to pray for six South Koreans held in the North as well as Daily NK journalist, Choi Song Min (alias). Here's information on the pastors and others who have been detained and released.  Please remember them in your prayers.

Sri Lankan Christians fear more attacks are coming as the nation is still in mourning over the horrific bombings on Easter Sunday.

At least 253 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded. Thursday the number was decreased from 350 to 253, officials explaining that they initially thought many people had been killed due to unidentifiable body parts.

In two major cities in Sri Lanka it's very quiet as residents and office workers are staying indoors and shops are closed. There's concern that more attacks are on the way with the US embassy warning that terrorists could target places of worship again this weekend.

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe issued a stark warning Thursday saying, "Well, they've rounded up a lot of suspects but there are still some of the active people on the run. They may be having explosives with them, or they may have hidden the explosives so we have to find the suspects as well as the explosives. So that's still on."

Meanwhile, the military is actively seeking some 140 people suspected of having links to the Islamic State.

Last Sunday's bombings were one of the world's worst terrorist attacks since 9/11, but there's still a sense that Americans don't grasp that Christians around the world are so targeted. In fact, the New York Times ran an opinion piece this week asking "Are Christians Privileged or Persecuted?"

Doug Bandow, an analyst at the CATO Institute answers that question writing, "Christianity's dominant role in American culture has obscured the fact that it is the most persecuted faith globally."

And Emma Green, an Atlantic writer, says that Easter has become an "anniversary of death, "noting Easter attacks on Christians in Egypt and Nigeria in the last several years.

Religious freedom advocate Dr. Daniel Mark tells CBN New the attacks show how believers in the West need to be more aware of global persecution of Christians.

"I think Christians should -- Christians who of course are extremely charitable and extremely caring to people worldwide -- could even so take a lesson in this and make sure that on the top of their mind at all times is the persecuted church around the world which makes us appreciate what we have here, too, and makes us more mindful of what we need to protect what we have here."

Please take time to intercede for Sri Lanka using these guidelines supplied by Leslie Keegel, one of our senior leaders, who lives in the country:

• The death toll as of now is at 253 persons and people on the injured list is at 359. Attacks and attempts of attack are still in the air.
• Please pray for the public, fear, anxiety and hopelessness is high.
• For the government and rulers to be united and intentionally decisive to overcome enemy factions.
• It is discovered that ISIS is behind these attacks. They are looking for more opportunities to strike churches and Christians.
• Shops, offices, schools are closed, people who are dependent on daily wages are not finding work. Therefore, starvation and frustration is creeping in.
• Public demonstrations against the government are threatened.
• It is learnt that our decision makers do not see eye to eye with each other, therefore important decisions are not being made.
• There is leadership failure therefore there is economic, social and political instability in our nation.
• The forces of darkness in high places are raging against the Church and her leadership.
• The Church must receive strength and comfort to battle against the powers of darkness.
• Please pray that the support lines would be cut and resources would stop flowing to the ISIS leadership here.
• Pray for the Church to be United in Tragedy: The Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches stand together in solidarity with the Catholic Church during this time of tragedy and share their pain and sorrow as the whole Body of Christ is suffering.
• Pray that this unity will be a witness to the nation.
• Pray that the funeral services will be a powerful witness of forgiveness and reconciliation and also of the living Hope to other religious communities.
• Pray for the opportunity for the Church to reach out to the Moslem community as well.
• Pray for the Grieving Families: Sri Lanka had been through 30 year of war and seen immense suffering and bloodshed and also natural tragedies like the Tsunami. The Church has been both victims and instruments of God’s grace to bring relief and comfort to the suffering. We are working together to help with families with the funerals and provide ongoing emotional and other support.
• Pray for Christians to have courage and hope: This attack specifically targeting Christians and have resulted in the largest number of martyrs of the recent history. The Sri Lankan Church wants to honor their sacrifice and want the families to know that they have not died in vain.
• The Church must be strong in opposition and suffering because we believe that Sri Lanka is destined for Revival.

Thank you very much for your partnership in prayer.

More: https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/2019/april/as-warning-emerges-of-new-sri-lanka-church-attacks-global-christian-persecution-still-obscured

By: Richard Pérez-Peña (New York Times, 4/9/2019)

Trying to reverse a stinging setback, Turkey’s ruling party on Tuesday demanded a redo of last week’s election for mayor of Istanbul, the country’s largest city and long a source of power and prestige for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The extraordinary stance came as it became increasingly clear that a days-long recounting of ballots would not change the result that Binali Yildirim, the candidate of Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, known as the A.K.P., had lost to the opposition candidate, EkremImamoglu, in the March 31 election.

Mr. Erdogan’s party had already demanded a recount of spoiled ballots in all of Istanbul and a full recount in some of the city’s districts. When that did not change the result, it called for a recount of the entire Istanbul vote, which the High Election Council refused.

The latest demand now puts the High Election Council squarely on the spot and threatens to precipitate a crisis for both Istanbul and the entire country, becoming the latest test of democratic institutions already groaning under the authoritarian strains of Mr. Erdogan’s 16 years in power.

“I find the chances extremely high that the election board will accept A.K.P.’s request to repeat the elections,’’ said SonerCagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

‘‘Far from being independent, the election board, like other institutions, has fallen under Erdogan’s power, and I would say the board has thus far taken steps to facilitate Erdogan’s each and every next move,’’ he added.

He noted that the council had already allowed a recount of invalid ballots, even though the A.K.P. presented no credible evidence, other than a narrow margin, that there had been irregularities.

That has not stopped the party or the president from alleging that the irregularities were systemic in Istanbul, where the candidates are separated by less than 0.3 percent of almost nine million votes cast.

“We will use the extraordinary appeal grounds and say we want to renew the elections in Istanbul,” Ali Ihsan Yavuz, the deputy head of the party, said at a televised news conference in Ankara, the capital. “Everywhere in Istanbul, organized acts were done. That is why we called it organized irregularity.”

Mr. Erdogan himself has cast doubt on the election and pressed the case for a do-over by citing examples of American elections where the margin was so narrow that the balloting was redone.

“Irregularities are not just a few, almost entirely it is irregular,” he said on Monday of the election in Istanbul, speaking at Ataturk Airport before leaving for a visit to Moscow.

Murat Yetkin, formerly the editor in chief of Hurriyet Daily News, wrote on his blog this week that even those in the president’s circle were divided about how far to push the challenge, with a small, determined group urging the president to “put his weight for renewing Istanbul elections.”

A second, larger group of more experienced politicians have argued to accept the results, because the challenge is actually benefiting Mr. Imamoglu by elevating his stature.

Judging by Mr. Erdogan’s statement this week, the hard-liners may be carrying the day, though it may also be a way for the president ‘‘to manage the trauma,’’ said OzgurUnluhisarcikli, the Ankara director of German Marshall Fund.

‘‘This looks like more to redefine the defeat in Istanbul as if it was actually won but stolen by illegitimate means,’’ said Mr. Unluhisarcikli, who noted that a new election would actually be quite risky for the president as the economy continues to deteriorate.

“I do not believe that Erdogan actually wants to renew the elections,’’ Mr. Unluhisarcikli said. ‘‘The economic realities do not allow this. It would be a huge gamble.’’

The result in Istanbul carries enormous weight, however, and there are clear incentives for the president and his party to fight a loss.

With 15 million people, most of them on the European side of the Bosporus, Istanbul is the most populous city on the Continent and Turkey’s economic capital. It is also Mr. Erdogan’s hometown and has long been a base of support for him.

Just as important, the opposition and some analysts say, the city has become a vital source of wealth in a network of cronyism and nepotism that has benefited from the awarding of municipal contracts and the distribution of city funds to charitable foundations with links to the president’s family.

Even before he has been officially declared the winner, Mr. Imamoglu, who ran for the opposition Republican People’s Party, has vowed to open the books of the city, which Mr. Erdogan and his party have controlled since 2002, to expose long-simmering accusations of corruption.

“The result of this election is clear,’’ Mr. Imamoglu said at a televised news conference on Tuesday, when he repeated his desire to take office and start working immediately. ‘‘The streets accepted the result. You can work hard and win five years later. We have won, admit it.”

Last week, Mr. Imamoglu said that with its continuing challenges to the result of the election, Mr. Erdogan’s party was stalling for time so that it could erase City Hall records from computers before independent auditors could carry out the review he promises.

Such allegations have taken on more weight with voters as the Turkish economy falters, undercutting the president’s long record of nearly unbroken economic growth. Turkey entered recession this year, and the currency, the lira, has continued to slide amid increasing worry by investors and markets.

The opposition party also won a close mayoral election in Ankara, a result that the election council has finalized. The potential loss of Istanbul would place both the country’s political and financial capitals in opposition hands.

Taken together with rest of the results from the March 31 elections, the balloting reflected increasing discontent among voters with Mr. Erdogan, who has concentrated executive powers, carried out a sweeping purge of opponents after a failed 2016 coup, and brought a once-vibrant news media to heel.

The High Election Council must consider the request by Mr. Erdogan’s party for a new election, but the opposition party insisted that the result was legitimate and clear.

“Both legally and conscientiously, there is no obstacle to giving EkremImamoglu his mayoral certificate,” FaikOztrak, the opposition spokesman, said in televised remarks. “Mr. Imamoglu is right now the elected mayor of Istanbul, as he was on the morning of April 1.”

He pointed out that Mr. Erdogan’s A.K.P. party had won many districts in Istanbul as well as other towns across the country, results that were not being challenged.

“So when A.K.P. mayors are elected it is the national will, but when the votes go to Imamoglu, it is dubious,’’ Mr. Oztrak said. ‘‘Even crows laugh at that. They should leave the nation alone.”

Pray for Turkey government

• We continue to pray that current Turkey government would heed to the final result of March 31 election in Istanbul as well, not calling for new vote.
• Pray that Turkish people would have the final and decisive voice regarding all political matters and ruling their own country as a democracy.
• Pray that all peoples in Turkey would find the True and Eternal Hope in Jesus Christ and His Kingdom rather than any earthly government.

More:http://silkwavemission.com/board.php?board=english&command=body&no=1037

Easter bombings in three churches and seven hotels have killed 253, with the death toll expected to rise further because 500 are seriously injured. Over sixty suspects have been arrested so far. Domestic and international authorities are probing deeper into the bombings, with a nationwide alert for nine vehicles involved, possibly holding explosives. The situation remains tense. Security has been increased, with naval and air force officers patrolling the streets. Roadblocks have been set up throughout Colombo, and suspicious vehicles and individuals are being searched. All Catholic churches in Sri Lanka must stay closed until security improves. A picture is emerging of nine well-educated, home-grown suicide bombers, including a woman, who carried out the attacks. IS claimed responsibility, but authorities blamed local extremists NTJ, whose leader is known for incendiary speeches online. Sri Lanka's security ‘weaknesses’ led to the failure to prevent the bombings. Ask God to protect potential targets - tourist spots, markets, hotels, government offices, churches, and shopping malls.

Over 3,000 police will be deployed across Israel, with a focus on Jerusalem, in preparation for and during the Passover holiday, which begins on 19 April at sundown. A spokesman said that tens of thousands of people are expected to arrive in Jerusalem for the first day of the holiday, and another 100,000+ on the second day for the High Priest prayer service at the western wall. This mass priestly blessing only takes place twice a year, once during Sukkot and again on Passover. Attendees receive the historic blessing from hundreds of Jews of priestly lineage as they face the congregation, hands stretched forward, chanting in one voice. The increase in security, involving border police, undercover officers, and members of special patrol units, is necessary due to a history of increased risk during the holiday period.

Christians across the Middle East are now experiencing or preparing for Holy Week (those churches that follow the Eastern Christian calendar being a week behind the West). Streets and squares overflow with believers celebrating Palm Sunday in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Iraqi Christian towns in the Nineveh Plain, along with believers in Lebanon and the Holy Land. Thus they demonstrate the deep faith of the region’s Christians as they worship a Saviour who showed strength through love, service and sacrifice.

Malaysia’s human rights commission claims that both Pastor Raymond Koh (in 2017) and Amri Che Mat, a Muslim social activist (in 2016), were victims of state-sponsored enforced disappearances, carried out by a police unit. Church leaders are calling on the government to clarify and separate the jurisdictions of the religious authorities and the police, and for an immediate independent, impartial investigation into both cases, ‘free of conflict of interest’. Eyewitness accounts in both cases reported that the men were kidnapped as they travelled in cars which were boxed in by three other vehicles. A car owned by a Special Branch officer, who has now gone missing, was at the scene of both attacks. The two men are amongst many people who have ‘disappeared’ in recent years. The government’s 2018 general election manifesto promised to uphold the rule of law, stating that ‘all citizens will be treated equally before the law’.