WELCOME to the intercessors who have joined the list this month.

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MAY 2010 UPDATE — During May we prayed concerning . . .

IRAQ, where the indigenous Assyrian-Chaldean Christian population is
besieged by escalating Muslim fundamentalism (that marginalises,
discriminates against and persecutes) and Islamic terrorism (that
kills). We prayed about the 2 May terrorist attack which targeted a
convoy of buses transporting Christian students to Mosul University.

* UPDATE: Two students died in the 2 May attack while around 70 were
injured, with 50 requiring hospitalisation. The most seriously
injured have been transferred to hospitals in Turkey. Subsequently
some 1000 Christian students dropped out of classes due to
insecurity. On 7 May, lecturers and Muslim students at Mosul
University staged a sit-in to protest the deadly attack. One Muslim
student activist said the protest will only end when Christian
students can return to their classes in security. This is an
awakening of conscience. Pray for the Holy Spirit to bring religious
awakening to the University of Mosul.

INDONESIA, where the politically driven, unconstitutional enactment of
Shari’a requirements by local authorities in West Java is causing
persecution to escalate, including the phenomenon of illegal forced
church closures. Militant Islamists realise that the state law has
no value and the reality on the ground is that Islam rules.

ERITREA, where some 3000 Christians of all ages are imprisoned for
their faith in the most cruel and inhumane conditions where torture
is rife. Pray for God’s direct intervention for the sake of his
Church. (Ephesians 1:19-23)

‘God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him
head over all things for the benefit of the church.’ (Ephesians 1:22
NLT.)

MAY 2010 ROUND-UP — also this month . . .

* IRAN: PRAISE GOD FOR MARYAM AND MARZIEH

Iranian believers Maryam Rostampour (28) and Marzieh Amirizadeh (31)
were arrested on 5 March 2009 and imprisoned in Tehran’s notorious Evin
Prison on charges of apostasy (leaving Islam). When they told the
Islamic judge who presided over the Revolutionary Court they would
never renounce their faith in Jesus Christ, they were returned to
prison to ‘think it over’. As the months passed their health
deteriorated but their faith and their faithfulness did not. On 22 May
2010, after being acquitted on all charges, Maryam and Marzieh fled
Iran after being warned by judicial authorities ‘that any future
Christian activity in Iran will be seriously dealt with’. While they
are now safe, they have escaped Iran with little more than their lives.
Leaving behind families, friends and belongings, they will now start a
new life with the freedom many of us take for granted. The women
attribute their endurance through trial to God who ‘kept and used us’
and ‘has chosen us. All the glory goes to him.’

* LAOS: EXPELLED CHRISTIANS SUFFERING

Forty-eight Laotian Christians were expelled at gunpoint from Katin
village, Saravan Province, on 18 January 2010 for refusing to renounce
their faith in Jesus Christ. The district head has said that he will
not tolerate the existence of Christianity in areas under his control.
After the Christians were driven out, their homes, papers, farms and
livestock were acquired by others. Locals have been warned not to have
any contact with the expelled Christians who have since made temporary
shelters in the jungle several kilometres from the village. Due to
prolonged lack of adequate food and clean water, one believer has since
died and two have been hospitalised. The others are wracked by
diarrhoea, dehydration, eye and skin infections, fainting and weakness.
Pray that God will intervene for these and other persecuted Laotian
Christians, providing all their needs and delivering comfort and
justice.

* MOROCCO: SECOND WAVE OF DEPORTATIONS

Twenty-six more foreign Christians have been expelled from Morocco,
bringing the total to 105 since early March. In violation of Moroccan
law, the expelled foreign Christians have had no right of appeal and
often no opportunity to inform their family or pack a bag. Reportedly
Muslim hardliners inside the government — specifically in the Ministry
of Interior — are pressuring the king to demonstrate his Islamic
credentials. A media campaign has been unleashed to demonise Christians
and turn the masses against them. Compass Direct News reports that some
7000 Muslim leaders signed a document describing the work of Christians
within Morocco as ‘moral rape’ and ‘religious terrorism’. At least two
Moroccan Christians have been beaten in recent days, while others have
reportedly been interrogated and harassed. This is a turning point for
Morocco. However, according to one deported European Christian, ‘it is
massively backfiring’, as many Moroccan Muslims impacted by the
deportations are shaken by the injustice, persecution and repression
being waged in the name of Islam against peaceful, servant-Christians.
Pray for religious awakening in Morocco.

* NIGERIA: CHURCHES DEMOLISHED IN KANO

Three Protestant churches and a pastor’s home were demolished in Kano
State in Northern Nigeria after a local Shari’a court consented to
their destruction. On 15 May a Baptist church in Banaka, Takai Local
Government Area (LGA), was destroyed. Then on 19 May, a mob of around
100 Muslim youths destroyed two church buildings and a pastor’s
residence all belonging to the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in
Kwasam, Kiru LGA. While no lives were lost, death threats have driven
the local ECWA pastor into hiding. The mob’s ringleaders were
reportedly Muslim converts from the Christian community. Pray for God’s
Holy Spirit to bring conviction of sin leading to repentance and faith.
May Kano hear a new testimony: of grace and sacrifice conquering hatred
and destruction.

* UZBEKISTAN: MEMBERS OF REGISTERED CHURCH FINED AND IMPRISONED

On Sunday 16 May Tashkent City Church of Christ, which has been legally
registered since 1999 and is one of the largest and most active
churches in the Uzbek capital, was raided by five government agencies:
the police, the National Security Service (NSS, secret police), the Tax
Inspectorate, the Fire Brigade and the Sanitary-Epidemiological
Service. The police arrived without a warrant, confiscated cash,
literature and property, and filmed everyone who was present, including
the children. They acquired the passport details and car number-plates
of the 500 adults present as well as the names and addresses of the
children. The police then officially closed and sealed the church while
the Fire Brigade cut off the electricity. Eight members were arrested
and tried in the Mirzo-Ulugbek district criminal court of Tashkent on
17 May. On 18 May, three members, including the assistant pastor, Artur
Avanesyan, were sentenced to 15 days administrative detention, while
five others were issued heavy fines. The government views Protestant
Christianity as a threat to social harmony.

* VIETNAM: VCP CRUELTY IN CENTRAL HIGHLANDS

The story of K’pa Lot exemplifies Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP)
cruelty to the Degar/Montagnard Christians indigenous to the Central
Highlands. K’pa Lot was arrested on 20 May 2007 for publicly expressing
his faith and refusing to worship in a VCP-built ‘official’ church. In
prison he was kept isolated and was always relocated just prior to
prison visits by human rights monitors such as the Red Cross. On 9
March 2010, K’pa Lot was released from prison and hospitalised so he
could die in hospital rather than in state custody. He was so swollen
from beatings and torture that his own family did not immediately
recognise him. After K’pa Lot (31) died from internal bleeding on 11
March 2010, his widow, H’Nguen, leaked this information to
international religious liberty advocates. On 3 May, H’Nguen and her
two children, H’Danh and Y-Ly, were forced into the Nhan Hoa Police
Station, where H’Nguen was ordered to sign her children over to
government custody. H’Nguen resisted for six hours and was eventually
permitted to leave with her children. K’pa Lot died for his beliefs.
Now his widow and children are at risk for leaking that information.
Such cruelty is not uncommon in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Pray
for the Church in Vietnam.

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This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious
Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international
religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC
team. Previous bulletins may be viewed at .

* For more information and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal’s blog
‘Religious Liberty Monitoring’ .

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