2nd October 2006

AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

* PRESSURE ON MULTI FAITH MALAYSIA

* PARENT’S FORGIVENESS BRINGS PRODIGAL SON TO JESUS

* WHO WILL SUCCEED KOFI ANNAN AS UN SECRETARY

* POPE CHALLENGES ISLAM ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

* PEOPLE FLOCK TO CHURCH IN ZIMBABWE AS INFLATION TOPS 1000 PERCENT

* TEEN BIRTHS DOWN IN USA AS HALF PRACTICE ABSTINENCE

———————————————–

PRESSURE ON MULTI FAITH MALAYSIA

Malaysia is considering its multi-cultural credentials after events in recent months have caused religious minorities to question the seeming erosion of their rights.

Such questioning arises from recent incidents including one in Selangor State where local authorities in the ethnic Malay-Muslim dominated city of Shah Alam have sought to demolish a 107-year-old Hindu temple. Earlier, another 19th-Century temple was demolished in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. The authorities said in both cases the temples’ founders did not have permission to build them. But the demolitions are surprising because Malaysia has forged for itself a reputation as a successful multicultural society.

There have been only two serious outbreaks of inter-communal violence in living memory, in 1946 and 1969. But lately, non-Muslims in Malaysia have expressed fears that the delicate balance between themselves and the majority may be shifting. Malaysia is one of Asia’s great melting pots. Situated at the crossroads of the continent, trade and migration have given the country a rich mix of races, cultures and religions.

It is a secular democracy where Islam is the official religion. Just over half the population is ethnic Malay and, by law Muslim, while the rest is a mix of ethnic Chinese, Indian and indigenous peoples who are mostly Christians, Hindus, Taoists, Buddhists, Sikhs and animists. The country has a far better record of multicultural harmony than most of its neighbours.

The recent demolitions are not without precedent. Last year the compound of a cult known as the Sky Kingdom was levelled by the authorities, weeks after an attack by a Muslim mob. Many of the cultists are now on trial. And just before Christmas a newly completed church of an indigenous community near Skudai in Johor state was reduced to rubble, closely monitored by Islamic department officials and the police. In all cases the Muslim-dominated local authorities say the buildings were illegal. Many such buildings are deemed as such because they pre-date land records. Others are put up illegally because some local authorities seem reluctant to grant permission for temples and churches, but worshippers build them regardless. In contrast, the issue of illegally built mosques rarely arises because many local governments are generous with both land and money for their construction.

The demolitions are not non-Muslims’ only cause for concern. The police recently ordered non-Muslim policewomen to wear Muslim headscarves for their annual parade, something that many non-Muslims felt set a worrying precedent. And then there have been moves by some local authorities to ban or restrict dog ownership – conservative Muslims see dogs as unclean – and prosecute couples for holding hands or kissing in public.

“During our parents’ time there was no problem when you hold hands in the park,” says Fong Po Kuan, a non-Muslim opposition MP. “There’s a creeping Islamicisation in our society which isn’t appropriate in our multi-religious, multi-racial country.”

That Islamicisation partly stems from the 1980s and 90s when government and opposition both tried to play up their Islamic credentials to win the battle for the Malay vote. But now even some Malay Muslims are starting to look at events with concern.”Many of these issues that have generated controversy were not handled in a way that was thoroughly thought out,” says Dr Mazeni Alwi, Chairman of the very conservative Muslim Professionals Forum. He suspects that those responsible may come from backgrounds where they’ve rarely mixed with people from outside their own community and so suffer from “a lack of empathy and of understanding of other people’s needs for their religion”.

Teras, a vociferous Malay rights – and by definition, Muslim – group, has called for more understanding. “There should be a discussion and we should approach things sensitively,” says its president, Mohamad Azmi. Another prominent Malay leader, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, thinks that local government and religious officers have been given too much freedom and not been held to account. “There’s been a failure of leadership,” he says.

One senior state religious officer suggested off the record that the issue was not necessarily about faith at all. “Some people see Malays and Muslims as one and the same thing. Some Malays feel they’re much worse off economically than the other communities and want us to take their side on everything,” he says. Several sources suggest that it is indeed less an issue of Muslim intolerance and more one of right wing Malay ethno-nationalism.

It must be noted that the man who many non-Muslims put their faith in to protect their rights is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi; both a Malay and a devout Muslim. “I believe that the rights of non-Muslims are actually expanding under the Prime Minister’s liberal leadership,” says Reverend Wong Kim Kong, head of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship. While Mr Abdullah’s predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, maintained the balance between Malaysia’s communities with an iron fist, the consensual Mr Abdullah has avoided a showdown over these religious issues. Many who value Malaysia’s multiculturalism will be hoping that the soft spoken approach of a leader often dubbed “Mr Nice” won’t be taken for weakness.

Source: Intercessors Network

———————————————–

PARENT’S FORGIVENESS BRINGS PRODIGAL SON TO JESUS

Vince Linchlyter, front man for the Christian band, Jonah33, has a beautiful wife and a four-year-old son. Vince also has a powerful testimony of Divine healing and forgiveness that brought him back, almost from the dead. Linchlyter tells of the downward spiral that began at age 13, when his father caught him smoking pot. After being told by his dad, “It’s my way or the highway.” Linchlyter chose to leave, turning to a sordid existence of living with drug dealers, and their products of acid and crank.

After dropping in on his parents several times, and stealing from them to support his drug habit, Linchlyter eventually went to court and emancipated himself from his mother and father, burning all his bridges. He hit bottom after having his life threatened, and being left alone in a house with two weeks-worth of drugs and a gun. “I became really suicidal.” After putting the gun to his head several times, Linchlyter had a sudden desire to go home. He found his parents’ phone number and called.

“I remember telling my Dad that I needed to come home. He told me he would have to think about it and talk to his wife. I said, ‘What are you talking about. Your wife? Don’t you mean Mom?’ He stops for a second and says, ‘The fact is, Vince, you’ve abandoned our trust so many times. You’ve used us and walked on us. We just don’t know if we can open up our home to somebody who’s just going to abuse our trust again.’ He said he’d call me back and let me know.

“I thought, if he calls back and says no, I’m going to blow my head off. Then I thought, Man, I’ve really screwed up here. For me to call my parents and for them to say, ‘We have to think about it because of the way you’ve treated us in the past.’ That was the first time I’d had remorse for any of the decisions I’d made.”

Vince’s parents did call back and paid his air-fair to come home for Christmas. Vince had been high on crank for two weeks straight, so when he reached his parents’ house, he hugged his mother, and crashed on the bed. That was when God performed a miracle in his body. “When I crashed God totally detoxed me in my sleep. When I woke up, my sheets were stained yellow from the toxins I had sweated out of my body while I slept. From that point on, I never had another desire to do crank or acid again.”

When he finally awoke, Vince expected a huge confrontation with his parents, but what he found was another miracle. “I expected at any minute for them to totally get on me for the lifestyle that I lived. I walk into the kitchen, and Mom says, ‘Hey, you want some breakfast?’ I say, “Yeah, that would be great.’ So we just chit-chatted. Dad joined in. There was absolutely no yelling, no fighting, and no screaming. There never was ever. It never came back up.” Vince’s parents had become Christians and they saw his return as an opportunity to show what forgiveness really meant. “That was the first time I met Jesus, and I didn’t know it but I recognized it,” recalled Vince. “You know that difference that Jesus makes in people’s life? It was so bold that I was freaked out.”

Source: CBNMusic

———————————————–

WHO WILL SUCCEED KOFI ANNAN AS UN SECRETARY

Behind the scenes at the United Nations the manoeuvring over who will succeed Kofi Annan as secretary general at the end of this year is intensifying.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon has received fresh backing from the Security Council in his bid for the post. He came out on top in the second of the “straw polls” held to test support for the candidates. In fact, according to Council members, the order of the top three was the same as in the first straw poll which took place in July.

In second position is UN official Shashi Tharoor of India and third, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai. Fourth in the running now is Jordan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Prince Zeid al-Hussein – a new entrant and the only Muslim in the top five candidates – and in fifth place Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, a former head of the UN disarmament department.

It’s likely that soon one or more of the declared candidates will drop out and other, potentially stronger, candidates who have held back to watch the outcome of the straw polls could enter the race. The 192-member General Assembly elects the secretary-general – but on the recommendation of the Security Council. It has to be someone who will not be vetoed by any of the five permanent members of the Council. Asia has not had a secretary general since Burma’s U Thant completed his second term in 1971 and it has been generally accepted that it is Asia’s turn this time.

Few figures are more in the public eye than a United Nations secretary general but there is a common tendency to assume he has much more power to influence events than is usually the case.

Source: Intercessors Network

———————————————–

POPE CHALLENGES ISLAM ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Pope Benedict XVI has challenged Muslim leaders on religious freedom in Islamic countries and insisted that interreligious dialogue must be based on “reciprocity” and mutual respect.

Pope Benedict XVI said the Church has “a growing awareness that interreligious dialogue is part of her commitment to serve mankind in the modern world.” However, the faithful “are not renouncing” their commitment to spread the Gospel by entering into said discussions, the Pope said. Rather, they are hoping to overcome animosity. In an era of unprecedented migration, when believers of different faiths find themselves living in unfamiliar cultures, “Christians must open their hearts especially to the poorest and neediest. Obviously, we would hope that Christians who emigrate to countries with Muslim majorities will find a welcome there, and respect for their religious identity.”

Source: Catholic World News

———————————————–

PEOPLE FLOCK TO CHURCH IN ZIMBABWE AS INFLATION TOPS 1000 PERCENT

Each Sunday morning in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare, churches across the city are full of swaying, clapping congregations.

With the economy in its sixth year of recession and inflation climbing beyond 1,000 percent, religion has become a refuge for many Zimbabweans, bewildered by their ever-deepening impoverishment in what was once a thriving country.

Even top-ranking politicians in the ruling party, veterans of Zimbabwe’s liberation war and former Socialists, have turned to God. Vice-President Joseph Msika was recently ordained as a lay pastor in the Anglican church; second Vice-President Joyce Mujuru was promoted to captain in the Salvation Army, whilst two cabinet ministers have applied to train as priests.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former intelligence chief backed by many to succeed President Robert Mugabe, has announced he was ‘born again’. It is difficult to escape Zimbabwe’s new religious revival. The two songs topping the current music chart are gospel tunes; evangelical preachers are on TV daily; political rallies, and even military parades, are now enlivened with songs of praise.

“The number of new church members that we are getting is amazing” said Paul Mnyaka, an elder at New Ministries, a Pentecostal church in Harare. “The majority of our members are women and the youth. Their reasons for joining are varied, but they all have expectations, like being healed of illnesses, finding jobs, and other personal expectations like finding a potential life partner.”

With the extended family system buckling under the pressure of the economic crisis, churches have become sanctuaries. But the Rev Aspher Madziyire, president of the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe, one of the fastest growing churches, denies a link between material needs and new-found faith. “They go to church because they realise that there is a vacuum in their lives, which they need to fill with God,” he said. “It is written in the Bible that towards the end of the world, God would pour his Holy Spirit on his people, and even those people that you would not expect to repent have done so,” Madziyire said.

Source: UN Integrated Regional Information Network

———————————————–

TEEN BIRTHS DOWN IN USA AS HALF PRACTICE ABSTINENCE

A study done by the National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS) shows that teen births have declined in number every year since 1991, and over half of the teens of High School age report abstaining from sex. Not all the news was good, however, as the decline did slow this year, and the rate actually increased among teens under 15 years-of-age. There was also a rise in the amount of “repeat” teen births, and almost half of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) occur in young people between 15 and 24.

“Clearly, there is much to celebrate about the changing trends in teenage sexual behaviour, but there remains much cause for concern among those who care about teenage well-being,” said Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Senior Fellow of the Beverly LaHaye Institute (BLI). “It is encouraging to note that more than half of the female teens (53 percent) and 41 percent of the male teens talked with their parents or guardian about how to say no to sex,” added Crouse. “These numbers indicate that parents increasingly are involved in guiding their teens through the dangerous teenage years.

One of the warnings Crouse gave to parents was that “more than half of the new STDs among teens are the dangerous HPV virus, which causes 90 percent of the cases of cervical cancer and kills more than 5,000 women every year.”

Source: National Centre for Health Studies

Have you visited our Web Site? http://www.ausprayernet.org.au/

You can print this e-mail with formating at the following web-address: http://www.ausprayernet.org.au/newsletter/PrintNewsletter.php?e_id=00000001088