AUSTRALAIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

* SRI LANKAN CHRISTIANS CRY FOR HELP AS VIOLENCE INCREASES

* SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BILL PASSED IN SOUTH AFRICA

* BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION DECLARES OPPOSITION TO EUTHANASIA

* PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS ON THE RISE

* MAYOR PERSONALLY THANKS CHURCH FOR ITS IMPACT IN CITY

* KASHMIR EARTHQUAKE UPDATE – ONE YEAR ON

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SRI LANKAN CHRISTIANS CRY FOR HELP AS VIOLENCE INCREASES

In a worsening climate of impunity as Sri Lanka falls into civil war, Buddhist militants have continued their campaign against Christianity, attacking churches and threatening Christian schools. Christians in Sri Lanka are calling for help from the international community following a rapid deterioration of law and order in the past week.

The plea follows an attack by the Sri Lankan armed forces on refugees sheltered at a school in Kathiraveli, a coastal town inthe eastern district of Batticaloa. Protestant and Roman Catholic schools in the Colombo area have received letters demanding that they cancel all Christmas programs, and a mob of around 50 people led by four Buddhist monks arrived at an Assembly of God church in Yakkala, Gampaha, and demanded that the pastor cease the service and all future ones.

Last month a church worker and his family at the Vineyard Community Church in the city of Gonawela, Sri Lanka were attacked by five men claiming to be police officers. The family was guarding the church building when five men approached at approximately midnight. The five men threatened the family, beat the man with clubs and aggressively shook a child. They also stole a woman’s gold necklace, damaged the building’s electricity supply and smashed pots and vases. The beaten man sustained serious injuries; he is passing blood with his urine and suffering from severe pain in his lower abdomen.

A week later, the Vineyard Community Church was again attacked, this time by a group of ten men. They unsuccessfully tried to set the building on fire. No one was injured in this attack. In another attack the same day, the pastor of Calvary Chapel of Lanka in Polhen was accosted by a group of local men. Two or three men beat him while the others looked on. He has been hospitalized for arm injuries.

Source: National Christian Evangelical Alliance

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SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BILL PASSED IN SOUTH AFRICA

South African lawmakers have passed legislation recognizing homosexual marriages despite criticism from traditionalists and homosexual activists. The National Assembly passed the bill 230-41. The bill, unprecedented on a continent where homosexuality is taboo, was decried by homosexuals activists for not going far enough and by opponents who warned it “was provoking God’s anger.” Homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana and most other sub-Saharan countries. Some countries are debating constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriages.

In 1989 Denmark became the first country to legislate for same-sex partnerships and several other European Union members have followed suit – Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Canada. In the U.S., only the state of Massachusetts allows gay marriage, Vermont and Connecticut permit civil unions, and more than a dozen states grant lesser legal rights to homosexual couples. Activists in Europe hailed South Africa as a shining example and homosexual couples in the country have started making wedding plans.

Kenneth Meshoe, leader of the African Christian Democratic Party, called it “the saddest day of the 12 years of our democratic parliament. Adultery, sexual immorality and homosexuality are grave sins in God’s sight since they are a transgression of His law and are defiling a marriage relationship between a man and a woman,” Meshoe said. “With this bill, the ruling party and all those who support it are inviting serious trouble on themselves without even considering the impact this bill will have on future generations.”

Source: Intercessors for America

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BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION DECLARES OPPOSITION TO EUTHANASIA

The British Medical Association (BMA), has changed their stance on assisted suicide, from a neutral position, to one of opposition. Last year’s position was overturned after 65% of the 500 doctors voted against it. A press release on the Care NOT Killing website stated: The British Medical Association has voted overwhelmingly to oppose the legalisation of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Commenting on this result, the campaign director of Care NOT Killing, Dr Peter Saunders, said: “This is a fantastic result for the many organisations campaigning against euthanasia. It is a very important result in terms of political and public opinion. It means that the medical profession in the UK is now firmly united in its opposition to any form of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide. This sends a very clear message to the public and to MPs – doctors who care for dying patients understand the serious dangers that would arise from legalising euthanasia. There has come a clear conclusion that legalised killing would create more problems than it would solve.

“Their verdict – that we need better palliative care for the terminally ill – sends a clear message that what we need to do is to kill the pain and not the patient. The argument that decided this vote and the similar vote in the House of Lords last month is a simple one. For sick and vulnerable patients the danger is that the right to die could become a duty to die as they feel pressure, whether real or imaginary, from family, careers and society at large to request early death. The BMA vote has rescued patients from embarking upon the slippery slope towards full blown euthanasia in the UK”.

Source: Christian Medical Fellowship

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PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS ON THE RISE

The number of persecuted Christians is on the rise worldwide, according to Professor Thomas Schirrmacher, director of theReligious Liberty Commission of the German Evangelical Alliance. Three in four cases of severe persecution are targeted at Christians, said Schirrmacher in a lecture at a gathering of the Protestant Association of the Christian Democratic Union in Dresden.

According to Schirrmacher at least 55,000 Christians are killed each year for religious reasons. Christians in India, Indonesia and Pakistan run the highest risk of losing their lives. Schirrmacher encouraged politicians to increase their efforts for religious freedom. They were often reluctant to address the persecution and discrimination of Christians in Islamic countries in case this may jeopardize religious dialog.

Schirrmacher is convinced that interest in religion is rising worldwide: “The Communist atheistic realm has shrunk to small countries like North Korea”. Christianity is experiencing phenomenal growth outside the Western world. Many Chinese intellectuals, for instance, regard the Christian faith as “trendy”, said Schirrmacher. The number of worshippers in China exceeds the Sunday service attendance in Europe. Since 1970 the number of Christians has tripled in Africa and Asia and doubled in Latin America.

Because of the decreasing numbers in Europe these developments are not very noticeable on a world scale. Christianity grows annually by 1.25 percent, roughly in line with the population growth of 1.22 percent.

Source: Assist News Service

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MAYOR PERSONALLY THANKS CHURCH FOR ITS IMPACT IN CITY

Speaking at Spreydon Baptist Church, Garry Moore, the mayor of Christchurch, New Zealand, personally thanked the church for their contribution to the social service fabric of the city.

Since the late 1980s Spreydon Church alone has developed a wide range of community ministries. At present, 20 ministries birthed by church members provide 40 services, with an annual expenditure of NZ$6 million. They employ 250 staff, with a further 600 volunteers, and come into contact with an estimated 3000 to 4000 people weekly. “As I move around the city, I constantly keep coming across people from the church who are becoming the builders and weavers of the tapestry of social services and support structures of our city,” Mr. Moore told the congregation.

Mr. Moore is quoted as saying when he did his early training in community development, a message was burned into his brain: “See an issue, judge it according to the Gospels, and act. I would always try to find a Christian group to build a project because I knew that when it got tough they would keep going. What people appreciate so much is that you hold the hands of those who need your help, you give them love without qualification, and that’s what Christ expects of us. On behalf of the city, to all of you practicing the Gospel. I’d like to say thank you very much.”

Source: Breaking Christian News

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KASHMIR EARTHQUAKE UPDATE – ONE YEAR ON

After helping victims of last years earthquake survive the harsh winter, Open Doors, through local partner organizations, is pursuing long-term efforts to assist recovery in the Pakistani-controlled administrative sub-region known as Azad Kashmir.

Collaborating with local Muslims, Christian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) plan to open a hospital and schools in Azad Kashmir. The NGOs anticipate that their efforts will help rebuild the community and eradicate commonly held stereotypes that cast Christians in a negative light in Islamic nations.

Run by Muslim extremists, Azad Kashmir has traditionally been closed to Christians. Christian missionaries were kicked out in the 1970s, and in recent years several local believers were martyred. Unable to buy property or build churches, the Christian community in the area has been forced to keep a low profile.

Last year’s earthquake provided Pakistani Christians with an opportunity to enter the region and help the victims rebuild their lives. One local Christian NGO leader shared how his organization made its long-term aims transparent to both the government and local communities from the start of its work. “Right in the beginning, we went to the top government officials, to share with them that the reason that we are going to Kashmir is because this is a national tragedy,” the NGO leader said. “We then went to the community leaders in Kashmir and shared with them that we wanted to come with a long-term plan to help rebuild the lives of the people,” the Christian leader continued. “They very openly welcomed that and gave us freedom for the first time to go freely into Kashmir.” In the wake of the earthquake that left 88,000 dead and over 100,000 injured, it was feared that last year’s mountain winter would bring a new wave of deaths to those without adequate shelter. Through its South Asia Christian partners, Open Doors provided 26 truck-loads of food and supplies to help earthquake victims survive the cold weather. The aid included hundreds of tents as well as corrugated steel sheets used by approximately 100 families to build new homes.

With the local government hospital in ruins, Christian NGOs also established a make-shift tent hospital that initially treated 100 patients each day. It is the only hospital serving at least 80,000 people in the area. Pakistani Christian volunteers helped construct shock-proof hospital buildings replacing the temporary hospital tents that had suffered during the harsh winter. Strong winds had ripped up the dispensary tent, and the doctors’ quarters had collapsed three times under the weight of snow. The new men’s and women’s wards, and a new operation theatre, dispensary and outpatient treatment centre opened in September.

Open Doors’ partners are now focusing efforts on building four schools in the earthquake-affected areas. More than 65 percent of government-run schools in Azad Kashmir were destroyed in the 7.6-magnitude earthquake. Christian NGOs hope to meet this need by establishing four elementary and middle schools. In mid-June NGO leaders began discussions with local communities in Azad Kashmir about founding two of the schools. At one elementary school last week, Christian volunteers distributed backpacks and school supplies to 70 children between the ages of five and 11. Christian NGOs have also promised to build two rooms for the school to replace the hot stuffy tent that the students have been meeting in since their building collapsed in the earthquake.

In the long run, the Christian NGOs envision graduates of their schools reinvesting in efforts to improve the community. They also believe the schools will help breed tolerance between religions. “The schools will bring interfaith harmony and remove the suspicion and doubt that usually is spread through extremism,” one Christian commented.

“We hope that when Muslims start living side by side they will understand who Christians are. And the Christians by the same token will be able to share the love and compassion of Christ by their presence in that area.” Interfaith efforts carry increasing importance as extremist Muslim relief organizations threaten to re-radicalize Kashmir. International monitors have expressed concern over the large number of outlawed terrorist organizations participating in the earthquake relief effort. Many of these have reportedly focused on building Islamic religious schools and have spoken out against non-Muslim NGO’s starting schools in the area.

Local Muslims, however, believe that Christian relief workers have been successful in breaking down negative stereotypes between religions. Sharing a meal with volunteer staff at the new hospital facility, one Muslim teacher expressed the change that has taken place in his community. “This is the first time that we have ever had Christians in this part of Kashmir,” the teacher commented. “It’s wonderful to see that they are not so different from us. Whether you’re a Christian or a Muslim, you are still human. “The important thing about being a human is having a heart for other humans, hurting for others when they hurt,” the teacher added, quoting loosely from Pakistani poet and philosopher Allam Mohammed Iqbal. “The Christians have come here and hurt for us. If, heaven-forbid, anything would ever happen to them, we would reach out and help them in return.”

Source: Open Doors USA

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