AUSTRALIAN   PRAYER   NETWORK   NEWSLETTER

* SYRIAN CHRISTIANS VULNERABLE AS STRUGGLE FOR BALANCE OF
POWER ESCALATES

* A CALL TO PRAY FOR THE IVORY COAST

* REVIVAL MOVEMENT SWEEPS BRAZIL

* FRANCE MAY MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO PAY FOR SEX

* MONGOLIA: CHRISTIANITY EXPANDING INSPITE OF OPPOSITION

* ETHIOPIA: CHRISTIANS ATTACKED BY MUSLIM
RADICALS

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SYRIAN CHRISTIANS
VULNERABLE AS STRUGGLE FOR BALANCE OF POWER
ESCALATES

Archbishop Karim, of the Orthodox Church of Antioch said  ¢â‚¬Å“If the
current regime falls, the Salafis and the Muslim Brotherhood will
seize power in Syria and that will be  bad news for us. ¢â‚¬  When
US-allied dictators fell in Tunisia and Egypt, the Shiite regime in
Iran scoffed while the US-allied House of Saud trembled. Everything
changed when Bahrain, with tacit approval of the US, crushed
the  protests in their country. In Bahrain the protesters were
Shiites, supporters of Iran.  But Sunni power crushed Shiite dissent
and heralded  a struggle for the regional balance of power.   
For decades, the US-Sunni Arab axis has prevailed. Now Syria  is
pivotal in the power play being worked out. Whilst Syria is majority
Sunni Arab, it is  integral to both the  Iran-Hezbollah axis and
central  to the “Shiite Crescent”. The fate of Syria’s minority
Christians is tied to the  fate of Syria’s ruling minority Alawites.
Syria’s history is more aligned to the  struggle between the Sunnis
and minority groups than a clear Sunni-Shiite divide. The Alawites
are frequently categorized as Shiite Muslims but in fact  have many
things in common with Christians.   
Whilst revering the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin Ali, the
Alawites  reject many  common Islamic practices, including the call to
prayer, going to the mosque for worship, making pilgrimages to Mecca
and intolerance for alcohol. Alawites  celebrate many Christian
holidays and revere Christian saints.”  They comprise about 13% of the
population, Christians 10% and Druze 3%.  The Alawites are divided
along tribal lines. Between 1920-1946, France encouraged
the  Alawites, to take up posts in the military, police and in
intelligence as a counterweight to Sunni power.   
Gen. Hafiz al-Assad (father of the current president Bashar al-Assad)
came to power in 1970. He consolidated the Alawite tribes, built
strong ties with the Druze and Christian minorities, co-opted the
secular Sunni elite, repressed Salafi Sunni fundamentalism, and
ruthlessly crushed all dissent. Yet the Sunnis were still the
majority. Needing  allies, President  al-Assad forged close bonds with
Musa al-Sadr, the most prominent Shiite leader in Lebanon. His
efforts were rewarded  when al-Sadr issued a fatwa recognising
Lebanon’s Alawites as Shiites.     
Though less than 1% Shiite, Syria  was brought into the Shiite fold.
This provided  the Alawites with allies and was also a massive coup
for the region’s Shiites, for without Syria there would be no “Shiite
Crescent”. In 1980 the Assad regime formed a strategic alliance with
Iran which has only grown stronger since Bashar al-Assad came to
power. Since then, Iranian Revolutionary Guards have served alongside
the all-Alawite Syrian Republican Guards, protecting the Assad
regime. Hundreds of thousands of Iranian and Iraqi Shiites have since
been naturalised as Syrian citizens.   
Syria’s Sunni were drawn to the Iran-Hezbollah axis by Hezbollah’s
2006 war against Israel. While Israel, the US and the Saudis
don’t  want to see the Assad regime fall, they would love to prise
Syria out of the Iran-Hezbollah axis. Meanwhile, Iran and Hezbollah
cannot afford to lose Syria  for then Hezbollah, the anti-Semitic
Iranian  terrorist organisation that dominates Lebanon, would lose its
supply lines and its strategic depth. Therefore Iranian forces are
aiding the Assad regime while Salafi jihadists from Saudi Arabia are
aiding the Syrian opposition.   
Thus Syria risks being torn apart by  sectarian violence over the
regional balance of power. In Syria,  Christians have enjoyed  greater
religious freedom than those in other Muslim states. Under the Assad
dynasty, Syrian Christians have swelled the ranks of the middle and
upper class, enjoying secure lives while accounting for only
one-tenth of the population. Most Syrian Christians are concerned
that if the regime loses control, they will suffer immensely in the
resultant chaos.  Syrian Christians are therefore maintaining a very
low-key approach both politically and religiously.   
The Patriarch of Antioch noted that the riots were not as yet
sectarian but  cautions there are now  fundamentalist Muslims calling
for jihad.  As demonstrations against the government intensify,
Christians are being pressured to join the uprising, or leave. This
is  making life extremely difficult for the Christians.  Most
tragically Archbishop Karim is forced to lament:  ¢â‚¬Å“I don ¢â‚¬â„¢t feel the
west is really concerned for Christians in the Middle East. They
listen, they show interest, but there are no tangible signs they  want
to do anything to help them. There is just not much sympathy. ¢â‚¬ 

Source: Religious Liberty
Monitoring
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A CALL TO PRAY
FOR THE IVORY COAST
Ivory Coast (IC) is a nation on an ethnic-religious fault-line with a
predominantly  Muslim north and a predominantly Christian and animist
south. Newly installed President Alassane Ouattara is an ambitious
Northern Muslim who plays the race and religion cards for political
gain. This has fuelled tensions and aggravated divisions during
economically stressful times as IC has struggled under the weight of
decades of mass Muslim immigration. Ouattara has long sought the
naturalisation of all immigrants which would mean an immediate Muslim
majority in IC.   
Those who object to that outcome are labelled ‘Islamophobic’ and
‘racist’. Ouattara has the backing of Islamic states   because he is a
Muslim prepared to play the Muslim-as-victim card for political gain.
Ivory Coast (IC) went to the polls on 31 October 2010 even though the
northern rebels, in violation of all agreements, had not disarmed. In
IC, an electoral commission manages the mechanics of an election
whilst a constitutional council or court investigates complaints
before proclaiming the final result.   
On 2 December IC’s Electoral Commission, dominated by Ouattara
supporters by a margin of 20-2, illegally pre-empted the
Constitutional Council’s decision and broadcast via French TV  that
Ouattara had won the election. When the Constitutional Council, which
had been investigating irregularities, announced on 3 December that
Gbagbo was the winner, a political stalemate ensued. Fortunately for
Ouattara, numerous foreign powers covet access to IC’s immense
agricultural (coffee, cocoa) and mineral (diamonds, oil) wealth.

Because he is prepared to sell out IC’s sovereignty and wealth in
exchange for power, Ouattara has the backing of   resource-hungry
foreign powers, especially neo-colonialist France.  IC as a former
French colony is obliged to hand over 85% of all its foreign currency
reserves to the French treasury. This poverty-perpetuating
neo-colonialism is exactly what former President Laurent Gbagbo, a
staunch nationalist, had been fighting against. This is why France
supported regime change in IC sending attack helicopters against the
Presidential Palace and Ivorian military barracks.   
Virtually all state institutions, including the army, were loyal to
President Gbagbo, as is at least half the registered population, so
Abidjan did not submit willingly. The rebels would never have been
able to win power without Western support. Fortunately for them,
Islamic and Western ‘interests’ meet once again. Their goal: the
removal of a secular (in this case Christian) staunchly nationalist
president and replacing him with an ambitious, exploitable puppet who
will advance not IC’s interests but his own.
In 1913 William Harris of Liberia crossed into Ivory Coast preaching
the power of Christ over spirits. Dressed in white and carrying a
cross, a Bible and a bowl, he baptised thousands and permanently
rewrote the religious geography of the Ivory Coast. But permanence
can never be assumed. Good must be treasured and preserved. What
Harris achieved, greed and mass Muslim immigration have undone. Once
the most free and prosperous country in all West Africa, IC may never
recover. Religious liberty and Christian security, once
‘guaranteed’,  are now very  tenuous.
PLEASE PRAY: SPECIFICALLY FOR GOD TO:
* asking God to shield his Church and deliver her from evil that she
might continue to shine no matter how dark the situation becomes; may
faith increase as those who trust the Lord find their refuge in him.
‘You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee
to it from the bow.’  
* for God to bring a spirit of peace to the Ivory Coast. Pray
that  religious liberty and Christian security would  be preserved.   

* for God to awaken the West to the destruction, suffering and death,
that greed and neo-colonialism produce.  Pray for a  voice be raised
against it, in the name of justice and righteousness.
Source: by Elizabeth Kendal, Religious Liberty
Monitoring
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REVIVAL MOVEMENT
SWEEPS BRAZIL
If the trend continues, half of all Brazilians (the population
currently counts 209 million citizens) could be evangelical
Christians by 2020. So many Brazilians have already been ‘born-again’
that they’ve influenced all areas of life. In Brazil it’s common for
tens of thousands to flock to a single church on Sundays, and
millions gather in the streets at massive worship events. When the
popular worship team Diante do Trono came to Brasilia, a city of 1.5
million, 1.2 million people showed up to worship with them.
The transformed believers have learned to use their vote as well as
their witness. Surveys show that born-again evangelicals tend to be
more politically active and have more unshakeable convictions on many
issues than their secular counterparts. This has led to changes in
some Brazilian cities, like the crime and divorce rates going down,
and government decisions being made that are beneficial for the
people of the city. Belo Horizonte is a city of some three million
located in Brazil’s interior. It’s called ‘The Manger of the
Revival’.   
“In 1998 we had  less than 5,000 members now we have more than 35,000”
said Pastor Marcio Valadao of Lagoinha Baptist.  Some 150 people come
to Christ every Sunday at our seven services. But it’s what the
church and its members are doing outside church walls that reveals
why the revival could come to affect an entire culture. Four years
ago, Lagoinha Baptist bought a local cable TV station and has now
turned it into a 24-hour broadcasting powerhouse to the entire
nation. “We try to take the message of the Gospel to every single
person,” Valadao said.
But not all researchers are optimistic. While the numbers are
growing, “there’s also an increase in superficiality, materialism and
individualism in the  Brazilian Church,” notes researcher Luis Andr ƒ ©
Brunet. In one case study, the city of Quinze de Novembro has about
80.4% evangelicals, while its neighbouring town of Alto Alegre has
only 0.28%. “The most evangelised city beside one of the least
evangelised cities,”  commented Brunet.  Brazil has “mostly unprepared
leadership that lacks direction in theology, ecclesiology and
missiology”.
Source: Intercessors
Network
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FRANCE MAY MAKE
IT ILLEGAL TO PAY FOR SEX
France is  considering making it illegal to pay for sex. A cross-party
group of French MPs has recommended that anyone who buys sex from a
prostitute should face prison and a fine. If a law is introduced,
France would join Sweden, Norway and Iceland  in legislating possible
prison for clients of sex workers. Supporters of the  legislation said
prostitution encouraged slavery and trafficking, which 80% of
sex-workers in France were victims of. Interior minister Claude
Gu ƒ ©ant, said it would be difficult to make buying sex a crime when
prostitution itself was not illegal.   
Social Affairs Minister Roselyne Bachelot,  said “There is no such
thing as freely chosen and consenting prostitution. In
prostitution  women’s bodies are made available for men, independently
of the wishes of those women.” In France prostitution is not illegal,
but associated activities are.  Brothels were outlawed in 1946.
Pimping is illegal, as is paying for sex from a minor.  It is
also  illegal to stand in a public place known for prostitution
dressed in revealing clothes. A study  published in 2004 found 41% of
male clients of sex workers said they were married and 57% were
fathers.
Source: The Guardian
Newspaper
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MONGOLIA:
CHRISTIANITY EXPANDING INSPITE OF OPPOSITION
Bibles for Mongolian Christians need to be imported because there is
no suitable printing  presses available in Mongolia. The  ¢â‚¬Å“communist
party ¢â‚¬  has never impeded Christianity, but whenever other parties get
in, there have been very serious problems. Whilst there is as yet no
State religion in Mongolia, there is some talk of making Buddhism the
State religion.  Mongolia, a country of 2.6 million people is steeped
in atheism, Buddhism and shamanism. In spite of that, today there are
more than 40,000 Christians and 400 churches in the country.   
Wind FM Director Bat Tuvshintsengel said this creates an obvious
challenge. ¢â‚¬Å“The church has been strong in evangelism, but lacking in
terms of discipleship and leadership ¢â‚¬  he explained.  ¢â‚¬Å“That ¢â‚¬â„¢s why the
churches have a goal to make 10% of our population disciples of Jesus
Christ by the year 2020. ¢â‚¬  Wind FM  plans to be on the air in all 21
provinces in Mongolia. But the vision doesn ¢â‚¬â„¢t end there. We have 6
million Mongolians living in China who have no chance of exposure to
the gospel, ¢â‚¬  Tuvshintsengel said.  ¢â‚¬Å“We also want to reach out to these
people via shortwave. ¢â‚¬ 
Source: Intercessors
Network
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ETHIOPIA:
CHRISTIANS ATTACKED BY MUSLIM RADICALS
Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs reports that a rumour that  a
Quran was defaced  inside of a church building has  resulted in Muslims
attacking a total of 69 Protestant Churches spread across nine
villages in  Ethopia, as well as displacing up to 10,000 Christians
from their homes.  The area where the attacks took place  is known
as  a  hotbed of radical Islam. There have however been reports  of many
conversions to Christianity in the area. Nettleton says pray for
Christians.  ¢â‚¬Å“Pray for their protection and that they will continue to
be  witnesses for Christ.”
Source: Intercessors
Network