* INDONESIA ON THE FRONT LINE AGAINST RADICAL ISLAM
* IRISH AND ITALIAN WOMEN REJECTING ABORTION
* IRAQI CHRISTIANS LIVING IN FEAR OF FURTHER ATTACKS
* THE GOSPEL TRAIN TAKES AN EXTENDED STOP IN CUBA
* HOW THE BIBLE STILL SHAPES OUR LANGUAGE
* SUDAN: REFERENDUM ON INDEPENDENCE FOR THE
SOUTH
———————————————–
INDONESIA ON THE
FRONT LINE AGAINST RADICAL ISLAM
Some of the most dangerous international terrorist networks are using
Indonesia as a base to recruit, plan, and train for attacks on
Western targets. The Indonesian government is launching several
security operations aimed at crippling the terror activity. But the
fight against radical Islamists is far from over. Some 1,000 miles
from the capital of Jakarta lies the city of Banda Aceh. This city,
located on the north-western tip of the country, was almost wiped off
the map during the 2004 Indonesian tsunami.
Six years later, Banda Aceh has bounced back. It’s like a brand new
city: The economy is thriving, tourism is up, and foreign investments
are pouring in. But a group of Muslim radicals have also moved into
the area since the tsunami, setting up a base of operations. “These
radical groups came in the name of doing disaster relief and some
were able to set up bases which became conduits that later helped
jihadi groups set up,” explained Sidney Jones, an American terrorism
expert living in Indonesia.
One of those groups is known as al Qaeda in Aceh. More than a dozen
men were planning to assassinate people who were against implementing
Islamic, or sharia, law. “They were conducting military exercises,
practicing how to use weapons and combat training. It was all done in
preparation for planning to commit an act of terror,” said Edward
Aritonany, a general in the Indonesian police force. Authorities
raided the terrorist hideout, killing two and arresting several
alleged suspects.
Their deaths were the latest in a campaign that began when police
raided a secret military training camp in the jungle not too far from
the Indonesian capital. A few days later, police killed one of the
most widely sought terror suspects. Dulmatin, 39, was the key
operations man behind the 2002 attacks in Bali. More than 200 people
were killed in the attack, most of them foreigners. Dulmatin was
trained by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. “He had outstanding
capabilities,” said Bambang Danuri, an Indonesian police chief.

His capture led to the arrest of several other suspects. The
Indonesian president has vowed to stay on the offensive. “We were
able to disrupt terrorist cells operating and training in Aceh and in
other places in Indonesia,” Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono said. “We will continue to hunt them down to prevent them
from harming our people.” Despite their successes, security experts
say that the threat is far from over. “The death of Dulmatin doesn’t
mean the end of terrorism,” one expert warned.
“The loss of one or two individuals is not the difference between
life and death for a terrorist movement.” The group al Qaeda in Aceh
is proof that Indonesia can’t afford to grow complacent. Authorities
were surprised to discover them operating in the jungles. Corruption
is one of the key factors that keep terrorists in business. In Aceh,
a police officer was involved in supplying them with weapons. In
another case, a top terror financier obtained a fake passport from
the country’s immigration office.
Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, most of
whom practice a moderate brand of Islam. In recent years, Islamic
terrorists have carried out a string of suicide bombings in an effort
to arouse anti-Western sentiment. “The government has done a good job
but they must do more to stop others from joining these groups,” said
one Jakarta resident. America is actively seeking the help of Muslims
in fighting Islamic extremism by strengthening U.S.- Indonesia
cooperation on counter terrorism.
Source:
CBNnews.com
———————————————–
IRISH AND ITALIAN
WOMEN REJECTING ABORTION
Abortion is losing ground in some countries of Europe, with numbers
of abortions falling in Italy among native Italians and among Irish
women who travel to Britain to abort. The number of women travelling
to the UK from Ireland for abortions has dropped 30 percent since
2002, government statistics show. Abortion remains illegal in Ireland
and Northern Ireland, although the law is under constant pressure
from foreign abortion activists.
Under the UK’s abortion Regulations 1991, doctors who commit
abortions must send details to Britain’s Chief Medical Officer. In
2002 those records showed that 7,913 abortions were committed on
women from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in hospitals
and clinics in England and Wales. By 2009, that number had fallen to
5545 ¢â‚¬”a drop of 29.9 percent. Abortions in England and Wales overall
have risen steadily since 1970, from approximately 5 per 1000
population aged 15-44, to 17.5 in 2009.
At the same time, a recently released report from the Italian
government shows that abortion rates have fallen significantly among
Italian women since the practice was legalized in 1978. The Italian
government’s 2009 report on abortion shows that abortion rates have
also dropped among Italian women. In that country, abortion rates
reached a peak of 234,801 in 1982. By 2009, that number had fallen to
116,933, less than half the peak-year number. The numbers have
declined steadily over the last five years.
At the same time, pro-abortion groups are reporting that doctors in
Italy are increasingly refusing to commit abortions. Seventy percent
of Italian doctors refuse, with that number growing to over 80
percent in the city of Rome. In 2009, the Italian abortion rate was
8.3 per 1,000 women aged 15-49, compared with 12.2 percent
in 2008. The 1982 ratio was 17.2 per 1,000. In 2008, the statistics
show that foreign women accounted for 33 percent of all abortions in
Italy, compared with 10 percent in 1998.
Andrew Pollard, a British business consultant and demographer who
lectures on issues surrounding contraception and abortion as it
relates to population decline, cautioned, however, that the abortion
stats may be skewed by the popularity of the RU-486 abortion drug,
commonly called “medical” abortion by advocates. Pollard told LSN,
“These numbers may reflect actual declines in surgical abortion but
not the rise in chemical abortion which may be replacing it.

Source:
LifeSiteNews.com
———————————————–
IRAQI CHRISTIANS
LIVING IN FEAR OF FURTHER ATTACKS
Christians in Iraq are living in a state of fear after a series
of blasts targeted Christian neighbourhoods. They follow a siege at a
Baghdad church 10 days earlier that left more than 50 people dead. In
the latest attacks at least four people were killed and around 25
injured when roadside bombs and mortar shells targeted homes and a
church in six predominantly Christian districts across Baghdad. An
interior ministry source said, “This latest operation came as a
continuation of the attack that targeted the church.”
Two days after the church siege, an Al-Qaeda front group that claimed
responsibility for the attack, threatened further violence, saying
that Christians everywhere were “legitimate targets.” A Baghdad
church leader said that Iraqi Christians were “panicked” and did not
know what to do. Archbishop Dawod, an Iraqi church leader in London,
warned of a pending “genocide” and urged Christians to flee the
country. However a senior cleric in Baghdad called for them to stay
and bear witness to the faith.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians have already been driven
from their homeland over the last 20 years because of attacks by
Muslim extremists. The exodus is expected to accelerate in light of
the latest violence. Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of
Barnabas Fund, said: “My heartfelt prayers go out to the Baghdad
Christian community, which is under siege by Islamist
militants wanting to rid the country of Christians. I fear these
latest attacks may precipitate the end of the Church in Iraq.

Please Pray
* For all who have lost loved ones in the attacks and that the Lord
will grant peace to those who are anxious about further violence.

* That Iraqi Christians will find comfort, hope and strength in the
Lord at this time.
* For wisdom and guidance for Christian families in Iraq as they
consider whether or not to stay in their homeland.
* That the Iraqi government, will exercise its authority over this
escalating security crisis.
Source: Barnabus
Fund
———————————————–
THE GOSPEL TRAIN
TAKES AN EXTENDED STOP IN CUBA
Cuba is seeing one of the fastest church growth rates in the world,
according to the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. It
says there just aren’t enough churches to hold all the believers. In
1960, Cuban Baptist churches numbered 210. This increased by only 28
over the next three decades. However, within the last 20 years, a
church-planting movement began sweeping the island nation. Today, the
number of Cuban Baptist traditional churches, missions, and house
churches exceeds 6,200.
Church growth is surpassing the speed of construction for houses of
worship, which leaves some of the congregations worshipping in
houses, garages, or in yards. A similar phenomenon in Asia revealed a
critical need for trained and Scripturally-grounded leaders for these
new Christians. Without the proper training, the risk of heresy
grows. The leaders also need tools to cope with the needs of their
burgeoning congregations.
Music is a big part of life in Cuba. An estimated one of every five
people is involved in music in some way. When the church-planting
movement gained steam, leaders saw many musicians coming to Christ.
It made sense to develop schools that would teach musicians to grow
as disciples and to use their skills in leading worship. As a result,
some 1,000 Cuban Baptists are trained to be worship leaders each
year. Please pray asking God to keep the pipeline full of church
leaders in the making.
Source: Intercessors
Network
———————————————–
HOW THE BIBLE
STILL SHAPES OUR LANGUAGE
It has long been acknowledged that biblical language, especially that
of the Authorized, or King James, version, published in 1611  ¢â‚¬” has
been immensely influential on the English language. In 2004 linguist
David Crystal wrote,  ¢â‚¬Å“The Bible has contributed far more to English
in the way of idiomatic or quasi-proverbial expressions than any
other literary source. ¢â‚¬  But just how much more? With the KJV about to
celebrate its 400th year, Crystal set out to explore and tabulate its
contributions to everyday language.
Now he has some answers. The short one is  ¢â‚¬Å“257 ¢â‚¬ , that ¢â‚¬â„¢s the number of
familiar idioms, from  ¢â‚¬Å“be fruitful and multiply ¢â‚¬  in Genesis, to the
“whore of Babylon” in Revelation, that he credits to the stature and
popularity of the King James Bible. This doesn ¢â‚¬â„¢t sound like a lot,
given some past claims that thousands of phrases are Bible-derived.
But Crystal is counting only idioms  ¢â‚¬” the expressions we use and
modify freely with no reference to their origins.
He excludes Bible words that are rarely borrowed for reuse in
non-religious contexts. And even that 257 beats Shakespeare, who has
fewer than 100 original phrases to his credit. Only a handful of our
257 familiar idioms,  ¢â‚¬Å“how the mighty are fallen, ¢â‚¬   ¢â‚¬Å“for everything
there is a season ¢â‚¬   ¢â‚¬” appear only in the KJV. Only the KJV, for
instance, has  ¢â‚¬Å“a thorn in the flesh ¢â‚¬ . The KJV asks if a leopard can
 ¢â‚¬Å“change its spots.”  ¢â‚¬Å“Cast thy bread upon the waters ¢â‚¬  is mysterious,
but we manage to use it anyway.
Source: Globe Newspaper
Company
———————————————–
SUDAN: REFERENDUM
ON INDEPENDENCE FOR THE SOUTH
(Editors note: Last week we alerted you to a worldwide day of prayer
for Sudan to be held on Sunday 5th December. This week we are being
asked to continue those prayers through until the 9th January when a
referendum will be held to decide the political fate of that nation.)

Sudanese Christians have asked for prayer for the referendum which
will decide whether Sudan continues as one country or divides into
two. The referendum is an outcome of a Peace Agreement signed in 2005
that sought to end a long-running conflict between north and south
Sudan. Christian leaders expect the referendum to have major
consequences for the Sudanese church whatever the outcome. They are
concerned the outcome may be disputed, and that internal conflict
within Sudan might rise significantly.
Please pray:
* Preparations for the referendum will be completed on time
* Discussions on post-referendum issues will produce clear
agreements on all aspects
* The outcome of the referendum will be respected by all parties
* The rights of all Christians, particularly those in Northern
Sudan, will be respected whatever the outcome of the referendum.
* There will be no increase in violence within Sudan before, during
or after the referendum
* Church leaders will be guided by the Spirit as they exercise their
ministries in this volatile political environment at this time.

Source: Intercessors
Network

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