AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

* AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE AFGHAN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
* MUSLIMS CALL TO ARMS AGAINST INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS
* 450 GROOMS WED GIRLS UNDER TEN IN GAZA
* U.S.A. NOT IMMUNE FROM WESTERN RELIGIOUS LIBERTY TRENDS
* CHURCH MEMBERSHIP STATISTICS IN U.S.A.
* SAUDI ARABIA THE CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION CAPITAL OF THE
MIDDLE EAST

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AN OPEN LETTER
FROM THE AFGHAN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

Christians in Afghanistan have written an  ¢â‚¬ËœOpen Letter ¢â‚¬â„¢ to believers
around the world calling for help in defending those who are being
persecuted for their faith. The letter was written by Afghan
Christians currently living in exile from their beloved homeland
because they were forced to flee their country in order to save their
lives and the lives of their families, due to orders of execution
issued against them by the Afghan government for “choosing to convert
to Christianity. ¢â‚¬ 
The letter addresses recent events inside Afghanistan following
showing of an incendiary documentary showing photos and videos of
secret  ¢â‚¬Å“Afghan Christian Converts ¢â‚¬  aired on an independent TV station
based in Kabul. The documentary was the first of its kind to ever air
publicly on national TV in Afghanistan, a country that considers
itself to be 100 percent Muslim. The controversial content, revealing
names and faces of supposed Afghan Christian converts, sparked riots
and demonstrations throughout Afghanistan in the days that followed.

Demonstrators called on President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan
government to take strong and decisive actions against the Afghan
Christian converts by enforcing Islamic Sharia law, which clearly
calls for the arrest and public execution of anyone who leaves Islam
for another religion. Abdul Sattar Khawasi, deputy secretary of the
Afghan lower house, called for the execution of Christian converts
from Islam saying,  ¢â‚¬Å“those Afghans should be executed in public, the
house should order the Attorney General and the police to arrest
these Afghans and execute them. ¢â‚¬ 
In another reported statement, Qazi Nazir Ahmad, a lawmaker from
Herat, declared that killing a Muslim who converts to Christianity is
 ¢â‚¬Å“not a crime. ¢â‚¬  Reports from inside Afghanistan tell of many arrests
in recent days, frequent and ongoing searches of homes and
businesses, as well as claims of torture by those under arrest in an
effort to forcibly extract the names of other Afghan Christian
converts and the locations of secret Afghan Christian  ¢â‚¬Å“churches ¢â‚¬  and
underground fellowships.
The letter says:  ¢â‚¬Å“In light of all these events, and the perplexing
media silence on these atrocities occurring in plain view of the
international community, we are pleading with the Body of Christ
around the world to support our Afghan Christian brothers and sisters
during this critical time by taking a firm and vocal stand against
the severe and devastating wrongs being committed against them by
their own government! ¢â‚¬  The letter-writers say:  ¢â‚¬Å“We ask that you
please forward and share the enclosed  ¢â‚¬Å“open letter to the church ¢â‚¬ 
with your friends, churches and prayer groups.
We need everyone ¢â‚¬â„¢s help to make our voices heard!  ¢â‚¬Å“We must make
people aware that right now our Afghan Christian brothers and sisters
are being subjected to forcible arrest, intimidation, fear, torture
and certain public execution merely for choosing to be Christian! We
must raise up a standard against these egregious injustices and
blatant human rights violations by taking a strong and public stand
against these unconscionable actions being perpetrated and condoned
by the Afghan government from the parliament floor against its own
people! ¢â‚¬ 
Source: Assist
News

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MUSLIMS CALL TO
ARMS AGAINST INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS

A new move by hard-line Islamic groups to fight  ¢â‚¬Å“Christianization ¢â‚¬  is
increasing religious tension in Bekasi just east of Jakarta.
Following recent protests by about 60 hard-line Islamic
organizations, the Pondok Timur Indah Church was shut down  ¢â‚¬Å“because
the congregation held prayers where they were not supposed to. ¢â‚¬  A
Catholic school in Bekasi, was attacked by a group offended by a
student blog that reportedly defamed Islam. In February, members of
the Islam Defenders Front closed another Church in Bekasi,
alleging the congregation had been converting Muslims.
Pluralism advocates warn that the enforcement of one groups wishes
over anothers could provoke the disintegration of the community and
cause unwanted political tension. Speaking on behalf of the Wahid
Institute, Yenny Wahid demanded the government be more assertive
toward hard-line religious groups.  ¢â‚¬Å“Anarchism on behalf of religion
is increasing, and the government seems to fear any group that uses
Islam, ¢â‚¬  she said.  ¢â‚¬Å“We do not want to be like Afghanistan under the
Taliban. ¢â‚¬ 
Rev. Palti Panjaitan of the Filadelfia congregation in
Bekasi, agreed, saying that recently members of  ¢â‚¬Å“several groups have
become freer to do whatever they want. ¢â‚¬   ¢â‚¬Å“The current situation makes
me want to separate myself from Indonesia, ¢â‚¬  he said. Yenny said
support from government officials could be fuelling the situation.
The Islamic Congress, was held after Islamic organizations warned the
Bekasi Mayor of more demonstrations targeting his administration
should the congress not be allowed.
Palti said  ¢â‚¬Å“People are saying that our church is an effort at
Christianization. That ¢â‚¬â„¢s why they pressure the government not to
issue us a building permit for our church. The situation in Bekasi
cannot be tolerated.” Indonesia is a pluralistic country, so
enforcing Shariah law would violate the Pancasila and 1945
Constitution. Yenny said the Indonesian state was one based on the
supremacy of the law.  ¢â‚¬Å“This country does not punish those who would
change their religion, ¢â‚¬  she said.  ¢â‚¬Å“In fact, the freedom to worship is
enshrined in the 1945 Constitution.”
Source: Jakarta
Globe

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450 GROOMS WED
GIRLS UNDER TEN IN GAZA

A gala event has occurred in Gaza. Hamas sponsored a mass wedding for
four hundred and fifty couples. Most of the grooms were in their mid
to late twenties; most of brides were under ten. Muslim dignitaries
including Mahmud Zahar, a leader of Hamas, were on hand to
congratulate the Couples who took part in the carefully staged
celebration. We are saying to the world and to America that you
cannot deny us joy and happiness, Zahar told the grooms, all of whom
were dressed in identical black suits and hailed from the nearby
Jabalia refugee camp.
Each groom received a gift of 500 dollars from Hamas. The
pre-pubescent girls, dressed in white gowns and adorned with garish
make-up, received bridal bouquets.  ¢â‚¬Å“We are presenting this wedding as
a gift to our people who stood firm in the face of the siege and the
war, ¢â‚¬  Local Hamas strongman Ibrahim Salaf said in a speech. The
International Centre for Research on Women now estimates that there
are 51 million child brides now living on planet earth and almost all
are in Muslim countries.
Twenty-nine percent of these child brides are regularly beaten and
molested by their husbands in Egypt ; twenty six percent receive
similar abuse in Jordan . Every year, three million Muslim girls are
subjected to genital mutilation, according to UNICEF. The Islamic
practice of paedophilia dates back to the prophet Muhammad, who
amassed eleven wives and many concubines after the death of his first
wife Khadijah in 619 A.D. After Muhammads elderly wife, Khadijah,
died in 619 A.D., he amassed eleven wives.
Aisha was Muhammads favourite wife. As soon as Muhammad laid eyes on
Aisha, he fantasized having sex with her. But there was a problem.
Aisha, at that time, was a small child of four or five, while
Muhammad was a middle-aged man of fifty. When Aisha turned six,
Muhammad asked her father for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The
father consented and Muhammad took the little girl as his new
bride. The marriage was consummated when Aisha was nine, and the
Prophet fifty-three.
Source: The Last
Crusade

===>>> Update on this story:

CORRECTION
Last
week we published a story in good faith received from a respected
International Christian News Service headed “450 grooms wed girls
under 10 in Gaza”. Following a number of queries from suspicious
members, we went back to the originating source who confirmed that a
rogue email from 12 months ago had found its way into their editorial
system without detection for which they asked us to apologise to our
readers. Their enquiries reveal that the event actually did take
place and all aspects of the story have been confirmed as accurate
except for the most important one.
The girls referred to in the story were not the brides but their
attendants. Photographs seen by the News Service show the grooms
walking hand in hand with the young girls and a wrong assumption was
made by the reporter. Various statistics quoted in the report are
however correct, taken as they were from official sources. We have
also discussed this article with Muslim converts known to us who
confirm that child marriage is not uncommon in Islamic countries and
that statistics quoted are in line with their own personal experience
and knowledge from living in those countries.
The Australian Prayer Network does all in our power to ensure the
material we reproduce is accurate and reliable by only using articles
sent to us from respected and reputable international media, or
Christian News Service sources to which we subscribe. We never use
stories from emails that are circulated on the internet nor do we
take articles from websites. Unfortunately we have no way of
independently checking articles prior to publication and have to rely
solely on the integrity of the news sources we use. We apologise to
our readers and thank you for your understanding.
Source: Australian Prayer
Network

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U.S.A. NOT IMMUNE
FROM WESTERN RELIGIOUS LIBERTY TRENDS

Religious liberty in the West is disappearing as the traditional
foundations of Judeo-Christian culture are being excavated as part
of the social engineering process aimed at producing a
‘post-Christian’ culture. Most Christians do not comprehend the
implications of this strategic shift, and likely will not until the
new social order has been consolidated and direct persecution starts
to impact them personally. Christians in the West are losing the
right to criticise non-Christian religions, particularly Islam, and
witness to non-Christians, particularly Muslims.
They are also losing the right to conscientiously object to new
social norms being imposed upon them at the behest of radical
feminist and homosexual lobby groups. Western law-makers and
enforcers claim their interventions are necessary to maintain “peace
and harmony” and/or defend “equality” against “extremist
fundamentalists” Rattled by the resultant chaos and confusion,
Western governments are increasingly resorting to authoritarian
repression. They are opting for “peace” through appeasement, rather
than for justice.
Western governments are increasingly showing willingness to secure
“peace” and “harmony” at any cost, even if the price is liberty. As
soon as it appears that intolerant forces might protest, or divert
their collective vote elsewhere, weak and rudderless Western
democracies yield and appease, repressing “divisive” elements at the
behest of the most belligerent. The rights of Christians to speak
freely of their faith and to express their faith freely through the
wearing of religious symbols and in religious gatherings is being
steadily eroded. Now is the time to stand for our rights.
Source: Intercessors for
America

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CHURCH MEMBERSHIP
STATISTICS IN U.S.A.

A Yearbook published by the National Council of Churches in America,
lists movements in denominational membership over the previous
year. The Episcopal church actually reporting a sharp decrease of 4%.
The Presbyterian Church was slightly ahead with a 2.4%
decrease. Jehovah ¢â‚¬â„¢s Witnesses, at 1.06 million, showed the greatest
growth rate of 2.25% increase. Mormons had a growth rate of 1.56%
whilst the Roman Catholic Church, reported a 0.87% increase. The
Southern Baptist Convention, reported an increase of 0.22%.
The USA population growth rate was just 1%, so aside from Jehovah ¢â‚¬â„¢s
Witnesses and the Mormons, the other denominations are failing to
keep up with the rate of population increase. A survey by the Pew
Forum shows that Protestants, who 30 years ago made up two-thirds of
the population, are now just a slight majority of 51%. Those
identifying as having no religion has risen to just over 16%. Those
claiming some religious affiliation is now just 84%. The largest
single block are the Evangelicals at 26.4%, followed by the Roman
Catholics at 23.9%.
David Roozen, from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research,
remarked,  ¢â‚¬Å“Mainline Protestantism has been eroding for a while.We
have had 40 years of this. America is running away from its
Protestant roots.” In a separate UN survey in Britain approximately
two-thirds of British people now claim no religious affiliation. This
stands in stark contrast to the national census in 2001 which
reported that 72% of Britons were Christian. The survey went on to
call for disestablishing the Church of England because it no longer
represents  ¢â‚¬Å“the religious demography of the country. ¢â‚¬ 
Source: The Epoch
Commentary

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SAUDI ARABIA THE
CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION CAPITAL OF THE MIDDLE EAST

A Vatican expert on Islam has revealed the extent of persecution
Christians are facing in Saudi Arabia. At an event organised by Aid
to the Church in Need, Father Samir painted a picture of oppression
and appealed for action to safeguard the Church there. He said Saudi
is one of the worst countries in the Middle East for extremism
against Christians. John Pontifex from Aid to the Church said
believers in Saudi are very vulnerable. Father Samir indicated that
Saudi Arabia is in a category of its own in terms of being very,
very severe in its treatment of Christians.
Christians in Saudi Arabia cannot even meet in their houses to pray.
 ¢â‚¬Å“This is the worst situation in the Middle East. Human rights are
practically unknown. ¢â‚¬  Father Samir said Christians in Saudi have to
try and operate behind closed doors and their Christian identity must
be concealed from public view. It is unknown how many Christians
actually reside in Saudi Arabia, but some estimate there are a
million believers in the country. Both Father Samir and Aid to the
Church called for prayer for Saudi Arabian Christians.

Source: Premier
News

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