Displaying items by tag: Asia

European and Arab leaders recently held their first summit in a bid to bolster cooperation and protect their traditional diplomatic, economic and security interests while China and Russia move to fill the vacuum left by the United States. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, who organises summits for EU countries, acknowledged that ‘there are differences between us’, but said neighbours had much at stake. ‘We need to cooperate and not leave it to global powers far from our region’, he told leaders from forty countries. He did not name those powers, but an EU source confirmed he meant China and Russia. A suspected Russian spy working in the Swedish high-tech industry was arrested in Stockholm on 26 February. He was ‘suspected of being recruited as a Russian agent working under diplomatic cover’. See

Tensions bubble on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount after the ‘Gate of Mercy’ structure near the Al-Aqsa mosque was certified as another mosque. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued an order to remove equipment from the site and disallow prayer there. The structure was recently fitted with rugs and other furnishings and renovations for it to be used as a permanent Muslim prayer area. The Waqf, which oversees Muslim holy sites, comprises officials from Fatah, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Waqf breached the site two weeks ago and has appointed an imam for the ‘Gate of Mercy’ structure. Israeli police arrested its head and other leaders, following violent protests last week on the Temple Mount, but released them a short time later. After the Six-Day War there was just one mosque on the mount: if the trend continues there will soon be five mosques there. Before 2005 the compound didn’t function as a mosque, and people normally didn’t use it for worship.

Persecutions of Christians in India rose last year. A report by the Evangelical Fellowship of India recorded 325 incidents where Christians were targeted using violence, intimidation or harassment. However, more disturbing was the sudden spurt of violence in districts of Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous province, and in Tamil Nadu in the extreme south of the subcontinent. The report acknowledged that its data were not exhaustive, as it relied on voluntary reporting and civil society investigations. 'Most cases go unreported either because the victim and witnesses are terrified, or the police just turn a blind eye and refuse to record the mandatory First Information Report of the crime.’ The approaching general election in April/May has contributed to tensions. Politicians’ hate speeches are acting as a catalyst in dividing people. Christians are collateral victims. Also in the lead-up to elections the ‘cold war’ between India and Pakistan is heating up, with military from both sides launching attacks. See

Ever since the 1947 partition when Britain dismantled its Indian empire, India and Pakistan have been arch-rivals. The animosity, rooted in religion, is characterised by conflict over the state of Kashmir. Currently they are on the brink of major confrontation. Pakistan’s president Imran Khan has announced that Islamabad will release IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan, who was captured after an aerial combat that resulted from Indian bombing of alleged ‘terror’ targets inside Pakistan. Mr Khan urged the need for ‘better sense to prevail’, stating the need for the two nuclear-armed countries to remain cool-headed and work together against terrorism in disputed Kashmir. Pray that this latest altercation will prompt the international community to step in and bring the two historically opposing forces into agreement for a more peaceful co-existence.

Iran has a horrific track record of putting juvenile offenders to death, and Amnesty International has called on the authorities immediately to halt plans to execute three juveniles - Mohammad Kalhori, Barzan Nasrollahzadeh and Shayan Saeedpour. They were all convicted for separate crimes committed while they were under 18, and are now at risk of imminent execution. Mohammad Kalhori was only 15 when arrested. Iran is one of a handful of countries that execute young offenders, in flagrant violation of international law. In the past three years the authorities have stepped up such executions. Amnesty said there is an alarming pattern of scheduling juvenile executions at short notice to minimise interventions to save lives. More than ninety people are currently known to be on death row for crimes committed while a juvenile, though the real number is likely to be far higher.

Brother John and his friends met villagers playing music on a mountainside. John shared the hymn Amazing Grace with them and started talking about God’s grace, while a team member prayed silently. The team member said, ‘I think one of these older ladies has a painful knee’. One woman said, ‘Yes, I do, it’s terrible’, and her sister said, ‘Both my knees have problems.’ John said ‘The Creator God can heal those knees, can we touch them and ask Him to heal them? They agreed, and then John said, ‘In the name of Jesus, be well’. One elderly lady looked surprised and started doing deep knee bends. ‘What just happened? Is the pain gone?’ ‘Yes, the pain is gone!’ was the reply. The team prayed again and she was filled with the Spirit. Three ladies gave their lives to Jesus, received Bibles, and were taught how to study God’s word.

In 2014 Abu Jaber's al-Shaitat tribe stood up to challenge IS in their oil-rich lands. IS hunted 700 - 1,000 men, shot some and beheaded others, filming their slaughter as a lesson for others. The 90,000 members of the al-Shaitat tribe in villages along the Syria-Iraq border were defeated. IS was at its peak, holding an area the size of Britain. Abu Jaber went on the run. Now is the moment that he has waited for - he wants revenge. IS’s defeat is of great global significance. However, for the sons, nephews and cousins of the al-Shaitat men who were massacred, it is an intimate affair. The victory has levelled towns and villages, leaving hundreds of civilians dead. We can pray for God to send mission workers to the area to help with rebuilding homes and transforming the lives of communities; giving hope, healing wounded souls and creating spaces for healthy rebirths.

In January bold judgments in Philippine courts have been protecting children, and global collaboration is tackling a form of modern slavery that was unimaginable before the digital age. Trafficking convictions, secured in courts across the Philippines, held four Filipina women accountable for abusing and exploiting children, and sharing that abuse with predators around the world who were willing to pay. The Philippine government receives thousands of cybersex trafficking case referrals like these every month - cases in which paying customers around the world can easily connect online with an adult in the Philippines who has access to vulnerable children. With just an internet connection and a webcam or mobile device, these traffickers abuse boys and girls, or force them to perform sex acts, for the foreign customers who are paying to watch. The cases reaching court judgments last month represented over a dozen young survivors - the youngest only three years old.

On 16 February Saudi Arabia defended a mobile app that allows men in the kingdom to track female relatives after rights groups and a US lawmaker criticised tech giants for offering it. The Absher app provides services for ‘all members of the society - including women, the elderly, and people with special needs’, according to the interior ministry. It is currently free, allows users to renew passports and visas, and eases a variety of other electronic services. But critics said that the app enables abuse against women and girls by allowing men to track their movements. US senator Ron Wyden called on Apple and Google to remove the app, arguing that it promotes ‘abusive practices against women’. Saudi women must have consent from a husband or male relative to renew passports or leave the country.

The 2011 earthquake prompted new mission awareness in Japan’s churches. Churches reconsidered how to evangelise and develop the church. In northern Japan, people who previously showed no interest in the gospel became receptive and drawn to Christianity after seeing Christ in volunteers who, without demanding anything in return, kept coming to provide aid and support. By 2017 Christians had begun to be called Kirisuto-san or ‘Mr/Ms Christ’, with respect and appreciation. Over time, people asked about the Bible, and doors opened for sharing testimonies. Operation World reports that Japanese missionaries are increasing, in Japanese and English. The Overseas Missions Association has a membership of over twenty agencies. YWAM Tokyo started ten years ago, with a handful of amazing people. Now they have forty staff, and outreaches all over the city. They need your prayers! See http://www.operationworld.org/country/japa/owtext.html