AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER September 29 2007

* MYANMAR – A BACKGROUND BRIEFING

* PAPUAN GENOCIDE TARGETS THE CHURCH

* WINS FOR TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE INDICATE A POSSIBLE TURNING OF THE TIDE

* SPREADING GOD’S WORD TO CHINA’S FOOTBALL FANS

* TEXAS TERRORISM TRIAL REVEALS ISLAMIC PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA

* U.S CITIES PRAY AND FAST TO END ABORTION

———————————————–

MYANMAR – A BACKGROUND BRIEFING

Editors note: With events unfolding at a rapid rate we cannot, and do not propose to, compete with the world media in relation to advising the latest developments in Myanmar. Instead, in this article we seek to give some background information to the current situation that may be of assistance to those praying into the uprising in Myanmar.In a growing campaign against decades of military rule in Myanmar, thousands of Buddhist monks are doing nothing – literally – and the generals are getting worried.In more and more monasteries across the former Burma, maroon-robed monks are invoking a 2,500-year-old Buddhist rite and refusing to accept alms from members of the military and their families or perform any religious duties for them. The boycott is taken very seriously in the deeply devout Buddhist country, as the spurned alms-giver is denied one of the main routes to the merit that will eventually help him or her to achieve nirvana, or release from the cycle of rebirth.The boycott is similar to the Catholic notion of excommunication, although can be reversed at any point if the perceived wrong-doers mend their ways. “Only under the most compelling moral circumstances will a monk refuse the alms that have been offered, as to do so is to refuse to acknowledge the alms-giver as a part of the religious community,” the Asian Human Rights Commission said. “However, the view of monks in Burma today is that such an extraordinary moment has arrived.” The involvement of large numbers of monks has increased the challenge to the government in a nation where the Buddhist clergy is highly revered and is the most organized group apart from the military.The boycott has gathered momentum since its launch. Word has quickly spread from town to town. The current protests began after the government raised fuel prices on Aug. 15 without warning or explanation by as much as 500 percent. At first, former student leaders and pro-democracy activists took the lead. But most have been arrested or are in hiding, and the protests appeared to be waning before the monks and monasteries became involved. The Monks were angered over being manhandled at a Sept. 5 demonstration in Pakokku in north central Myanmar. They threatened to take to the streets unless the junta apologized. The regime remained silent, so they launched protests around the country that have been steadily growing. The involvement of the monks is a significant escalation. It shows that the frustration has increased, a political frustration as well as an economic frustration.” Observers note that the demonstrations appeared to involve younger monks rather than the hierarchy of the country’s religious establishment.The Asian Human Rights Commission has released what it said was a transcript of a public statement by monks in Yangon. The statement declares: “The clergy boycotts the violent, mean, cruel, ruthless, pitiless kings, the great thieves who live by stealing from the national treasury. The clergy hereby also refuses donations and preaching.” Monks have been at the forefront of protests in Myanmar since colonial times, before the country, then known as Burma, won independence from Britain in 1948. They were prominent, along with students, in the nationwide uprising of 1988 that was crushed by the military with the loss of thousands of lives. In 1990, in a smaller failed uprising, thousands of monks joined demonstrations and refused to perform religious rites for soldiers or their families. Many hundreds were reportedly detained.The protests come at a time when Myanmar is attempting to present itself to the world as a democratizing nation, with the recent adoption of new constitutional guidelines. The technology of rapid communication is spreading film and photographs of the demonstrations both within and outside the country, and the junta can no longer operate in the shadows as it has in the past. The monks are thought to be seeking to protect the civilian population by taking sole responsibility for the protests. Despite this, if the monks are violently attacked en masse, it will be inevitable that the rest of the population will weigh in.State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) authorities have increased their efforts to curb local and foreign media coverage of the protests and their heavy-handed response against demonstrators. Authorities initially ordered a blackout on all local media of coverage of the protests. Pro-government thugs have been deployed to harass and intimidate local journalists and camera-carriers, some of whom have had their mobile-phone services cut. But the government is losing decidedly its most crucial censorship battle, over the Internet. Despite government bans, journalists and dissidents continue to send information and video clips of the protests over the Internet to foreign-based news organizations.

Source: Intercessors Network and other media sources

———————————————–

PAPUAN GENOCIDE TARGETS THE CHURCH

By Elizabeth KendalOnes Keiya (31) was found dying beside a road in Nabire, West Papua, on the evening of 23 July 2007. He died in hospital hours later from injuries that included deep lacerations to his head, hands and feet as well as a smashed skull. Keiya was a local indigenous Papuan farmer and member of the Maranatha Kingmi Protestant Church. On 7 August, Matius Bunai (29), a youth worker with the Kingmi church, was also found dead with injuries the same as Keiya’s. He had been ambushed the night before on his way home from a church meeting. A church worker says the police are refusing to investigate the killings which the Papuan community is certain were committed by Indonesian security forces.Indonesia has closed West Papua to the outside world and murdered its nationalist leaders. Security is controlled by known abusers of human rights and killers such as Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian, indicted for crimes against humanity in East Timor. In the midst of this dangerous, volatile and repressive environment, courageous church leaders risk their lives and use their networks and international connections to keep getting news of the Papuan genocide out to the world.Rev Sofian Socratez Yoman is President of the Fellowship of West Papuan Baptist Churches. He is a courageous, outspoken critic of Indonesia’s genocidal policies and human rights abuses in the province. On Sunday evening 29 July, a group of Indonesian police, soldiers and intelligence officers harassed and threatened him at gunpoint outside the Baptist Church service in Jayapura. Paula Makabory of the Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights warns, ‘My organisation is very concerned about Sofian Yoman’s personal safety.’ According to Yoman, Indonesian military intelligence has infiltrated the church and is working to subvert and divide it. Since granting Special Autonomy to Papua in 2001 the Indonesian authorities have increased their repression and terrorisation of Papuans. The Indonesian military (TNI) frequently provoke clashes and fake incidents which they then cite to justify killings, massacres and ethnic cleansing. The Freeport killings at Timika in 2002 are one such example. Rev Ishak Onawame and two of his church workers, Esau Onawame and Yarius Kiwak are amongst seven Papuans languishing in Cipinang Prison, Jakarta, after being betrayed by the FBI (USA) and framed by the Indonesian courts to cover up TNI involvement in the killings (thus protecting Indonesian, TNI and US interests). The TNI has proposed that a third infantry division be sent to the province to monitor separatists and patrol borders. Furthermore, the Javanese Muslim immigrant population increases by some 5000 weekly. The Papuan genocide is essentially about greed, corruption and exploitation of Papuan resources. However, it is also about Islamic imperialism and Javanese Muslim religious and racial hatred of the predominantly Christian indigenous Papuans. Whilst the Papuan genocide is being perpetrated by Indonesian hands, Western democratic ‘Christian’ governments that promote liberty and rights are complicit. Though they once facilitated the evangelisation of the Papuans (one of the great mission stories of the 20th century) they are now by their silence supporting the Papuans’ annihilation, as economic and geo-strategic interests are deemed more important than human life or moral integrity.

Source: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission

———————————————–

WINS FOR TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE INDICATE A POSSIBLE TURNING OF THE TIDE

Attempts to introduce homosexual marriage through legislative change against the will of the people is failing in the USA with moves in individual states to uphold the definition of marriage as being “the union of one man and one woman”. Recent results in the following States have buoyed those seek to uphold Christian values in what has and will continue to be a long and difficult battle. Maryland – The highest court in Maryland upheld the state’s law defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Finding that the state has a legitimate interest in promoting traditional marriage and the family, the court also exercised judicial restraint in not ordering the legislature to enact some sort of compromise measure for homosexual couples.California – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he will veto a bill passed by the radical state legislature redefining marriage as the union of “any two persons.” In announcing his decision to veto the bill, Gov. Schwarzenegger also warned liberal politicians that he would continue to veto similar legislation if they keep pressing the issue, because the people had already settled the question by overwhelmingly passing Proposition 22, which defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. “It would be wrong for the people to vote for something and for me to then overturn it,” Schwarzenegger said.Oregon – Concerned citizens in Oregon are mobilizing a signature petition effort to counteract a civil unions bill passed by the liberal legislature this year. They are taking this extraordinary step in defence of the state’s marriage protection amendment, which passed in 2004 by a vote of 57% to 43%. Yet, in spite of that overwhelming vote, the politicians in the legislature still caved to the demands of the militant homosexual movement and passed a law creating same- sex “marriage” in fact, if not in name.

Source: Intercessors for America

———————————————–

SPREADING GOD’S WORD TO CHINA’S FOOTBALL FANS

Many Chinese people pined their hopes on Han Duan to secure a strong performance for the national women’s football team in the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup. As one of the Christians among China’s leading female footballers, however, she is keen to let people know that she places both her successes and her failures in God’s hands alone.Han Duan uses her football encounters as an opportunity to share her Christian journey. Beginning her football career at the age of eight, she gained a place in China’s youth team at the age of 15. At 17, the age at which she was baptised, she joined the women’s national team and quickly became a key member. Through both success and failure, she has always built her career on her faith.”My Christian faith has influenced me greatly,” she says. “No matter where I go, I have my Bible with me. I love to read the Bible because there are important lessons to be learnt every day. Some people think that the Bible is boring, but I find that it is filled with wisdom and joy. It shows me how to live life meaningfully, in particular in terms of character building and spiritual cleansing. Every time I read the Bible, my heart finds peace. I pray every day and I can feel that God is constantly helping me. I pray for every match we compete in and I hope that more people will pray along with me, because I know that it is different when we pray. Many people have commented on my good attitude on the field. I attribute this to my faith.”God has given me many opportunities to tell people about his goodness. In 2006 I suffered a bad injury. The doctors said I would have to rest for a month. But many fellow Christians prayed for me and I recovered within 10 days. God loves me very much and is always there to help me.”

Source: Bible Society NSW

———————————————–

TEXAS TERRORISM TRIAL REVEALS ISLAMIC PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA

The Muslim Brotherhood in the United States has been enacting a plan since 1991 to unite all Islamic organizations in America into a comprehensive army that intends to eliminate and destroy America’s civilization from within through a grand “Civilization Jihadist” movement, according to documents submitted by the federal government as evidence in the Holy Land Foundation terrorist trial in Dallas, Texas.The documents obtained by investigators outline in chilling detail how Islam plans to destroy the United States, and even more alarming, that the plan initiated in May 1991 has already advanced through many of its strategic phases.The plan says that the Muslim Brotherhood “must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western Civilization from within and “sabotaging” its miserable house by their hands and the hands of believers so that it is eliminated and god’s religion [Islam] is made victorious over all religions.The plan called for Islamic takeover through the building of mosques, Islamic centres and schools, then unifying all U.S. Islamic movements. Over 29 organizations were listed in the document as part of the unification plan, many of them which already have become household names in America.

Source: Intercessors for America

———————————————–

U.S CITIES PRAY AND FAST TO END ABORTION

89 cities in 33 states across the United States have commenced a unique pro-life campaign called 40 Days for Life — an intensive effort designed to raise awareness, save lives, bring healing, and prepare America for the beginning of the end of abortion. The campaign is being conducted simultaneously in all locations from September 26 – November 4. The 40 Days is an intensive pro-life effort that will focus attention on prayer and fasting, as well as the 40 days of round-the-clock peaceful prayer vigils at abortion facilities. There also will be intensive community outreaches designed to draw more people into the effort to defeat abortion in America, which has cost by most estimates more than 40 million lives since it was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

Source: World News Daily

http://www.ausprayernet.org.au/