Displaying items by tag: Refugees

Thursday, 11 April 2019 22:09

US / Mexico: Christians call for border reforms

An international Christian delegation went to the Mexico-US border and witnessed first-hand the situation being faced by those seeking asylum and refuge. They are now calling for the dismantling of walls, borders and facilities that contribute to dehumanisation, exclusion, isolation and victimisation of people. They want nations to enact laws that account for human dignity, human rights, righteousness and compassion. The delegates will take their message to Washington, where they will join other Christians at an ecumenical advocacy event. Meanwhile a group of Mexican churches, together with the Theological Community of Mexico, are providing pastoral and psychological support to the people who make a stop in Mexico City. Churches in the USA are providing legal counsel to those seeking sanctuary and asylum, and offering their houses of worship as sanctuaries. Pray for radical reforms that address the causes of migration and the way in which migrants are treated on their journey.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 01 February 2019 09:25

Migrants needing Christ’s compassion

Millions are fleeing tyranny of war, famine, and heartache in the largest movement of people in modern history since WWII. For most, Europe offers the only hope of safety, and many risk the very real threat of death on their journeys. Often these people are seen as a problem, and while our enemy can use people to kill, steal, and destroy, God sees each one as a unique and loved creation. Christian mission agencies working in refugee camps and across Europe want to introduce each refugee to the God who loves them. Meanwhile many European countries are rejecting them, the latest being the Dutch government who refused to accept 47 refugees currently on a ship run by a humanitarian group who rescued them off the Libyan coast over a week ago. Since then it has been sailing through high winds and seven metre-high waves.

Published in Europe
Friday, 01 February 2019 09:22

Nigeria: Boko Haram threat displaces 30,000

Fear of renewed attacks by Boko Haram is prompting the exodus of 30,000+ people from the town of Rann. UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva on 29 January that the town's population ‘seems to be panicking; they are on the run as a pre-emptive measure to save their lives.’ Rann, near the border with Cameroon in northern Borno state, has already seen an exodus of 9,000 people to Cameroon after a Boko Haram attack on 14 January, killing 14 people. Baloch said that Cameroon had sent back the 9,000 refugees, and initially deployed troops as part of a multinational task force to protect the town, but that task force has now left. A recent upsurge in violence in northeastern Nigeria has driven more than 80,000 civilians to seek refuge in already crowded camps or in towns in Borno state, ‘where they are surviving in tough living conditions’. The hostilities have strained humanitarian operations there and forced aid workers to pull out from some locations.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 17 January 2019 21:58

Greece: snow hardship for refugees

Winter makes life in an improvised refugee camp even harder than it already is for asylum seekers - especially for the most vulnerable. Pregnant women, new-born babies, and the elderly, sleeping in tents without heating, are among hundreds exposed to worsening weather. Hours after a 24-year-old man from Cameroon was found dead at Moria refugee camp in Lesbos, an Oxfam report stated that hundreds of vulnerable people, including survivors of torture, ‘are being abandoned’ in substandard conditions. Oxfam said its concern is that there could be more deaths with the recent freezing weather and the poor preparations for winter in the camps. Every year conditions in and around the camps deteriorate further with the onset of winter because they are not equipped for cold temperatures, heavy rain or snowfall. Pray for those living in muddy bogs, burning anything they can find to keep warm to receive suitable accommodation, and medical support. See also

Published in Europe
Thursday, 17 January 2019 21:36

Turkey: Muslim refugees and Christian aid

A Muslim man recently told a Turkish ministry leader, ‘In a few weeks I’m going to go down to the refugee camps. I have a friend who bought a young Syrian girl to be his second wife; I am going to go and pick one for myself.’ The leader replied, ‘I’m very sad that you would want to buy a little girl as a slave and take advantage of these poor people who are just trying to survive.’ It’s too dangerous for most Syrian refugees to return home, even if they have homes to return to after seven years of war. Mothers in refugee camps are grief-stricken when criminals steal and sell their daughters. The refugees are aware that it is Muslims who are buying their daughters, and that Christians are the ones bringing them compassionate aid of food and blankets. Recently a worker was asked by a Muslim refugee, ‘Please pray for us!’

Published in Worldwide
Saturday, 01 December 2018 11:28

Syria: 31 Days of Prayer - December 2018

Syria: 31 Days of Prayer - December 2018

It’s easy to master the art of ignoring other people’s pain when we don’t recognize their faces, and the chaos is not right IN our face. You didn’t ignore the pain of the Syrian people or the opportunity to join us, stepping into the gap 4 years ago this month with a 31 Day Prayer Focus.

Together we answered the call to what we sensed God asking, “If not you, who, and if not now, when? What are YOU waiting for?” Together we took action because a more urgent and radical response to the situation was needed from Christ’s Church. We believed God had dislodged something in the hearts and minds of Syrians, and it was now time for them to hear the good news afresh, like no other time in history.

It’s still their time NOW, and we can’t miss it. The Church can’t miss it. Or, is it another tragedy of neglect and callousness toward God himself?

What God has done in the intervening years is another whole story. Within 2 weeks, over 1,000 people were praying from over 100 Nations. We’re not sure how all that happened so quickly. We can only attribute that to the more than 200 of you who said you would become a Circle Starter -- and gathered groups of friends and family to pray with you.

Several 1,000’s were activated through the prayer initiative to go work among the refugees in the harsh camps, tent settlements, and cities of Europe, Lebanon, Jordon and Turkey. Many have come to faith along the journey and in new host countries. Many dollars were given for relief, evangelism and church planting efforts, as well as training new believers to reach their own people.

We’re convinced there is a future story too. In some ways, a lot has changed, but many things have not.

What has changed? Many have come to faith and are now being discipled and discipling others.

These are estimates since the violence erupted:
• 500,000 have been killed (Total population in 2011 before the war was 21 million)
• 1.8 million have been injured
• 5.6+ million have fled the borders
• 6+ million are internally displaced
What has NOT changed?
• They have no guaranteed safety
• They’re still victims of other people’s wars.
• For most, they still haven’t been integrated into their host nations - many without jobs or warmth during winter, and some still hungry.
• Most children are still not being educated 7 years later.

Yet -- GOD is still drawing many to Himself in the midst of the loss, pain, and chaos. He’s not asleep, distracted or off duty.

Now is not the time to give up. Will we let the hope of future generations dissipate because we stopped praying? We must persevere and capture the lessons we’ve learned and press into the future with fervent prayer for the Syrian people and the region. We believe there is too much still at stake.

Will you prayer-push with us once again a few minutes each day this December?

There is no better time than when it’s no longer in the news, and many have forgotten! Fire up those “prayer circles” once again. We will send out revised and daily prayer prompts and also have available a downloadable 31-Day prayer guide.

31 - Day Prayer Guide and Flipboard Magazine

You can click on the link here to download a printable pdf of the guide.

We launched a Flipboard Magazine to curate articles on the crisis. Click on the link here 

The Syrian Circle Team

Saturday, 01 December 2018 03:38

Turkey – Prayer Requests

Muslim refugee had dream about God, found Him in Spain

Fearing for their lives, Achmed and his family left Syria’s raging civil war and managed to make their way to Madrid, Spain.  Before they left Syria, Achmed had a powerful dream that God told him He wanted to know Him. He couldn’t get the dream out of his mind, but he didn’t fully understand it, so he continued to ponder it in his heart, according to a report by Christian Aid Mission (CAM).

European Union and Spanish authorities sent the family to the province of Cadiz in southwestern Spain, where a Christian ministry was helping to integrate refugees into society.

The ministry proposed putting refugees in apartments rather than camps, with the government subsidizing part of the cost.

Achmed was stunned that Christians would give so much time and effort to total strangers. One day he approached the ministry director, Pablo, with a question: “Why are you helping us in so many ways?” he asked.

“We believe in God, who loves people and wants us to help other people,” Pablo replied. “Jesus Christ came to die for us, and He asks us to die for you.”

His reply prompted even great curiosity about the Christian God, and he asked Pablo to tell him more. They had several more conversations, and soon Achmed began to attend Sunday worship services and some other activities. He began to read the Bible online.

One day he told Pablo, “All I have read, I believe. The only problem I have is God having a child.”

Like many Muslims, he had trouble with the idea of God having a Son. But in spite of that difficulty, he confessed that he couldn’t save himself from the death and eternal punishment that sin brings.

He confessed to Pablo his need for Jesus Christ, put his faith in Him as his Lord and Savior, and was born again.

Then God reminded Achmed of the powerful dream.

“He said that he remembered having a dream in Syria in which God told him He wanted him to know Him, and now he knew what it meant,” Pablo said. “He became a believer three months ago.”

“Thousands of such Muslim refugees are streaming into Spain as other countries of Europe turn them away, and many are coming to Christ every month,” according to the report by CAM.

“The former Muslims face daunting pressures. Achmed’s wife sought to divorce him after he became a Christian, and only after many talks with native missionaries did she and her mother accept Achmed – and Christ.

“Now they also come to church, and God is working in their lives,” the ministry director said.

Pray: that God would continue to reveal Himself with the dreams and visions among refugees, as promised in Joel 2
Pray: that those refugees who came to faith in Jesus Christ would grow spiritually in a local fellowship(church)
Pray: that the local fellowships and churches would be established and planted among those refugee believers.  Send more workers to Your harvest field!

More:http://silkwavemission.com/board.php?board=english&command=body&no=1012

260,000 Syrians returned to ‘Euphrates Shield’ operation area: Turkish defense minister

A total of 260,000 Syrian nationals have returned to a swathe of land in northern Syria where Turkey carried out a cross-border operation dubbed “Euphrates Shield,” Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Nov. 1.

Turkey launched Euphrates Shield in 2016 to drive away ISIL and YPG militants from its border with Syria. Ankara regards the United States-backed YPG as a terrorist organization due to its ties with the illegal PKK. The operation ended in 2017.

Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees who fled the conflict in their homeland.

“As a result of the infrastructure work and the security and stability in the region provided by the Turkish Armed Forces, around 260,000 Syrian nationals have returned to the Euphrates Shield Operation area,” Akar told lawmakers at the planning and budget commission in parliament.

The defense minister also touched upon the Manbij deal between Turkey and the U.S., saying that “despite the promises” made for the YPG’s withdrawal from the city, the group was still deployed there.

“The terror group is digging ditches in Manbij as they have done in Afrin,” he said.

The YPG “should know it will be buried in the trenches it has dug,” Akar said.

The Manbij deal focuses on the withdrawal of YPG militants from the city to stabilize the region northeast of the Aleppo province in northern Syria.

Pray: that God would open ways for those 260,000 to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ even after they return to their home.

Pray: that the on-going conflicts between Turkey and PKK and other groups of Kurds would find a peaceful resolution, and ultimately end in peace.

Pray: that the Prince of Peace and His Kingdom would come in power in those areas.

More:http://silkwavemission.com/board.php?board=english&command=body&no=1013

SILK WAVE MISSION USA

www.silkwavemission.com

Friday, 30 November 2018 00:36

Iranian refugees entering UK

Many Iranian families settled in London after fleeing the former Shah and later fleeing his overthrower, Ayatollah Khomeini. 2001 brought fresh asylum movements of Farsi-speaking refugees, from Western Europe and Eurasia. Now there is a new wave of asylum seekers. In November, 78 of the 100+ refugees rescued in the English Channel were Iranian families. They were rescued by UK and French border force vessels from unsafe dinghies, or when entering the port of Dover on stolen French fishing boats. Some have been apprehended clambering up Folkestone’s rocks. The Home Office said, ‘We have stepped up deployments of our coastal patrol vessels along the south-east coast. However, this is not an issue that can be resolved by maritime resources alone.’ Iranian migrants in northern France said that they are determined to take whatever risks necessary to enter Britain. See 

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 22 November 2018 23:53

Central African Republic: Christian mission massacre

More than forty people were killed in a militia attack on a Christian mission in Alindao, around 180 miles east of CAR’s capital Bangui, on 15 November. The attackers torched a church and forced 20,000 displaced persons who were sheltering in an adjacent compound to flee. A local politician told journalists, 'We have counted 42 bodies so far, and we are still searching for others. The camp has been burned to the ground, and people fled into the bush.' Christian-majority CAR has been wracked by violence since 2012, when Seleka Islamists overthrew the government. The deployment of a UN international peace-keeping force and repeated negotiated ceasefires between the government and armed groups have had little impact on the ground.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 22 November 2018 23:49

Myanmar: refugee status lost

At least 28,000 ethnic Chin (mainly Christian) refugees in Malaysia and India have lost their refugee status and are faced with returning to Buddhist-majority Myanmar (Burma), where they risk discrimination and military attack. The status change is a result of a policy revision by the UNHCR, which has stated that 'the conditions that would normally produce refugees no longer exist' in Chin province. Most Christians in Myanmar come from ethnic minorities. Kachin Christians in northern Myanmar are already facing a genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing by the military. The thousands of Chin Christian refugees now face a terrible choice: risk returning to a place of conflict and persecution, or remain as illegal immigrants facing a life of poverty or potential imprisonment. To understand the situation better, see https://missionsbox.org/news/making-sense-myanmar-chin-kachin-shan-wa-states-uwsa/

Published in Worldwide