Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin – No. 256 – Wed 28 Jan 2004

WELCOME to the 56 intercessors who have recently joined the list.

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‘For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Romans 8:38,39

DURING JANUARY WE HAVE PRAYED ABOUT –

SRI LANKA: The situation for the Church in Sri Lanka is deteriorating as the anti-Christian, Buddhist nationalist movement gathers momentum. Violent and destructive attacks against church property (and often Christians as well) are occurring on an almost daily basis. Protests have been held against non-Buddhist service groups, and urging immediate introduction of anti-conversion laws. Pray for the restoration of security and for an end to religious intolerance.

VIETNAM: As already reported, the 13 January trial against Rev. Bui Van Ba was postponed. Vietnamese and foreign Christian ‘activists’ had worked hard to expose the situation to media, diplomats and the worldwide Church, with calls for prayer and justice. Some 65,000 house-church Christians in Vietnam took part in a 3-day prayer and fasting vigil, supported by pray-ers worldwide. Many house-church Christians also participated in peaceful street demonstrations with their leaders. Only 24 hours before the trial, the court announced that it was postponed, giving the excuse that the prosecutor could not attend. The government is working out what to do in the face of all the embarrassing publicity!

Please pray for the spurious charges against pastor Ba to be completely dismissed, and instead, that the police who abused believers be charged and justice upheld. Continue to pray for God to protect the house-church Christians who, in spite of the great personal risk, courageously stood for religious liberty and justice. Pray for this incident to influence the religious liberty situation in Vietnam. (Compare with Joseph in Genesis 45:8 – ‘It was not you who sent me here, but God.’)

PAKISTAN: President Musharraf has done a deal with the MMA (Islamist coalition) in exchange for their support in parliament. This will lead to a reluctance to reform the jihadi madrassas or crack down seriously on domestic terrorism against Christians. Christian boys are often kidnapped by Islamists, taken to jihadi madrassas, forced to recite the Islamic creed, and sent to fight in the jihad in Kashmir. Christian teenager Zeeshan Gill (16) escaped from such a situation in December 2003. He and his mother are now in hiding. Other Christian boys have ended up in Kashmir and have never been heard of again. Please pray for God’s protection of the Christian children of Pakistan.

MORE ISSUES DURING JANUARY –

COLOMBIA: On 17 January, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported that Ricardo Esquivia Ballestas, vice-president of the Colombian Council of Evangelical Churches (Cedecol), was in danger of arrest. The government of Colombia accuses Richardo of being a member of the FARC guerrilla group because of his peace mediation work with FARC on behalf of Christians seeking to live in peace. The government is opposed to any mediation with FARC and wants to silence Richardo. However, he is at great risk from all sides as Colombian armed groups assassinated more than 40 pastors and church leaders in 2003. Please pray for protection and justice for Richardo, protection for pastors, and for God to grant the Evangelical Church success in its peace efforts.

TURKEY: On 14 January, a judge of the Orhangazi Criminal Court in northwestern Turkey released the two young nationalists who beat Christian evangelist Yakup Cindilli (32) almost to death in October 2003. The next hearing is set for 12 February. Please mark this date in your diary and pray for justice. Yakup has woken from his coma and is living with his parents. He is very gradually recovering from brain damage, although the doctors doubt that he will recover much further. He can say a few words incoherently and is learning to walk again. Please pray that God will grant him full recovery, and pray for his parents, who are not yet believers.

UGANDA: On 31 December, Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader and spirit medium, Joseph Kony, killed 21 of his wives and children as they tried to escape his LRA camp in Sudan because they were starving. Many rebels, who are mostly kidnapped children and have known no other life, have deserted the LRA ranks in response to a government amnesty. The UPDF (Ugandan army) recently killed the LRA’s chief army commander, Yadin Tolbert Nyeko, who ranked below only Vincent Otti and Joseph Kony. The army claims to have virtually defeated the LRA. However, Acholi Archbishop John Baptist Odama says, ‘The LRA presence in the north is still strong. They are still killing people in Lira, so I don’t know what the UPDF thinks it is doing claiming they have nearly defeated them.’ (22 January)

In May 2003 this RL Prayer ministry took up the Northern Ugandan situation as a persecution issue rooted in intense spiritual warfare. Having seen amazing answers to prayer in the past eight months, let’s persist to see this 17-year reign of evil defeated.

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The WEA Religious Liberty Commission sponsors this RL Prayer List to help individuals and groups pray specifically and regularly for religious liberty issues, and in particular to uphold the Church where it is suffering persecution.

RL Prayer is moderated by Ron Clough, a commissioner of the WEA RLC and convenor of the Australian EA RLC.

Elizabeth Kendal researched and authored this message.

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