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• NIGERIAN ARMY SAID TO HAVE HELPED IN SLAUGHTER OF CHRISTIANS
• FIJI GOVERNMENT AGAIN CANCELS METHODIST CONFERENCE
• IRAN SEIZES THOUSANDS OF BIBLES IN BID TO STOP CONVERSIONS TO CHRISTIANITY
• CHRISTIAN LEADERS PUBLISH LETTER IN MAJOR U.K. NEWSPAPER CALLING BRITAIN TO CHRIST
• PRAY FOR THE LIBERATION OF NORTH KOREA
• COPTIC CHRISTIAN BILLIONAIRE SEEKS EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY
• ABORTION CLINICS CLOSING IN TEXAS

NIGERIAN ARMY SAID TO HAVE HELPED IN SLAUGHTER OF CHRISTIANS

Muslim extremists with the alleged help of Nigerian army personnel killed 24 Christians in central Nigeria ¢â‚¬â„¢s Plateau state, area sources said. The attacks started on August 11 in Ratsa Foron village, where assaults that day and on August 15 left six Christians dead; also on August 15 in Heipang village, Muslim extremists killed nine members of one Christian family along with another Christian, the sources said.  ¢â‚¬Å“They were in army uniform. I even know some of them; they came along with the Muslims to attack us, ¢â‚¬  said a tearful Nnaji John, who lost her family in the attack.  ¢â‚¬Å“I can swear to God Almighty that the attack was carried out with the support of the soldiers; I saw them. ¢â‚¬ 

Attacks on August 21 in three other villages killed six more Christians, said the sources, who added that Nigerian army soldiers participated in the assaults or at least accompanied the assailants. In the community of Chwelnyap in Jos on August 14, Muslim extremists killed two Christians and injured one woman, the area sources said. Chollom Gyang confirmed that the August 14 attack on his neighbourhood was carried out with the support or tacit approval of Muslims in the army ¢â‚¬â„¢s Special Task Force (STF), a unit designed to stop sectarian attacks.

 ¢â‚¬Å“The attackers were the very soldiers deployed to the area to ensure protection of the people, ¢â‚¬  Gyang said.  ¢â‚¬Å“One of the victims received a call from the STF men in the area to come out and assist, only to get gunned down by them as he stepped out from his house. ¢â‚¬  Gyang said area residents found identification cards of Muslim soldiers, berets and other pieces of their uniforms in the villages that were attacked. Plateau Governor Jonah Jang called for immediate withdrawal of the Nigerian army because, he said, Muslims in the army have taken sides with Islamist assailants.

 ¢â‚¬Å“I am convinced that the armed forces are being polluted with the religious crisis in the country, ¢â‚¬  Jang said.  ¢â‚¬Å“Before now, the military personnel used to stay in the barracks, but today the armed forces have started taking sides in this religious crisis, and if they are not called to order it will be dangerous for the country. ¢â‚¬  Bitrus Kaze, representative for Jos in Nigeria ¢â‚¬â„¢s National Assembly, said in a recent press conference that there have been other times that military ID cards and pieces of uniforms have been found at the scene of sectarian attacks.

 ¢â‚¬Å“It is a very sad testimony of the STF, ¢â‚¬  he said.  ¢â‚¬Å“And what worries me is that in spite of that grievous allegation, it appears to me that STF has not come out, at least to deny it. It is really very strange and worrisome to me that in a scene of such a heinous crime, where a family of nine was wiped out, and an allegation of this nature was levelled against the military, it says nothing about it. ¢â‚¬  Captain Charles Ekeocha, spokesman of the task force deployed to Heipang to stop the attacks, did not expressly address the allegations, but he confirmed the number killed in the attack and said,  ¢â‚¬Å“My troops went to the area to repel the attack. ¢â‚¬ 

Source: Compass Direct News

FIJI GOVERNMENT AGAIN CANCELS METHODIST CONFERENCE

The annual conference of Fiji’s Methodist Church, due to start on 23 August, was cancelled by Fiji’s military government for the third consecutive year after church leaders defied a government directive to step down from their positions. Fiji’s Land Force Commander Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga, also directed that no Methodist Church minister be allowed to leave the country, and banned permits under the Public Emergency Regulation for all official Methodist Church meetings. There are concerns that the ban will lead to the collapse of the Methodist church administration and severely affect funding.

Michael King, World Church Relationships Team Leader for the Methodist Church in Britain, said the ban was a “massive setback” in church/state relations, given that it seemed that relationships had improved and the political situation had eased.  ¢â‚¬Å“If the conference had been allowed to go ahead, there would have been a normal and constitutional change in church leadership and a sense of returning to normality,” he commented in a news release on the British church’s website. About 1,000 delegates who had already arrived in Fiji were told to go home.

Tikoitoga said that church President Ame Tugauwe and General Secretary Tuikilakila Waqairatu should have resigned from their positions ahead of the conference as they were charged earlier with breaching emergency laws. “They refused to accept that explanation,   maintaining that a person is innocent until proven guilty,” Tikoitoga said. He added that a meeting with church officials “ended with no clear direction so we cancelled the conference altogether.” Church members were charged with attending an unauthorized meeting in April 2009. In September last year, the Fijian Government dropped most of the charges against church leaders.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, lifted a ban on the conference until 2014, on the condition that each conference would be no longer than three days, and the two leaders would not speak. Church executives attempted to meet government officials to decide who would chair conference meetings, but no government official attended so the executives decided that Tugauwe would chair meetings. The Methodist Church is the main faith for indigenous Fijians, and was aligned to the government overthrown in the 2006 coup. Since the coup, Fiji has suspended the constitution, detained opponents and suppressed freedom of speech.

Source: Ecumenical News International

IRAN SEIZES THOUSANDS OF BIBLES IN BID TO STOP CONVERSIONS TO CHRISTIANITY

Iranian authorities have seized 6,500 Bibles in their latest efforts to block the spread of the Gospel in the strongly Islamic country. Announcing the seizure, a parliamentary advisor said that Christian missionaries were trying to deceive people, especially Iranian youth. He added:  ¢â‚¬Å“They have begun a campaign by spending huge sums and false propaganda for deviating the public.   The important point in this issue that should be considered by intelligence, judicial and religious agencies is that all religions are strengthening their power to confront Islam, otherwise what does this huge number of Bibles mean? ¢â‚¬ 

Last November, police officers and revolutionary guards seized 300 Bibles from a bus before setting the books on fire. The large volume of Bibles entering Iran is the government ¢â‚¬â„¢s greatest concern, according to Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat News. It said,  ¢â‚¬Å“There have always been major concerns among Islamic republic officials about conversions to Christianity among the people. ¢â‚¬  Indeed, the authorities have been waging a propaganda campaign through Iranian state media to attack and discredit Christianity in response to continuing mass conversions to Christianity.

Mohabat News said the Iranian authorities had  ¢â‚¬Å“resorted to slander and insults against the Christian community ¢â‚¬ . It said that  ¢â‚¬Å“such behaviour reflects the failure of the current Islamic regime in presenting its Islamic ideology ¢â‚¬ . Last month, offensive caricatures depicting Christ and Christians were published in the magazine Javan, which is a mouthpiece of the Guardian Militia. One of the pictures is of a hopeless Christian pastor who has become tired of preaching the Gospel. The caption claims that the work of Christian ministers in Iran has lost its  ¢â‚¬Å“lustre and momentum ¢â‚¬ .

Reports coming from inside Iran however indicate that more people than ever before, especially within the younger generation, are leaving Islam and turning to Christianity. False and insulting stories about Christians have also appeared in government media. One such article that was published on the website Youth Online alleged that women evangelists were going into stores, using shopping as a pretext to enter into conversation with staff, and then suggesting sexual liaisons and insulting Islam.

Source: Barnabus Fund

CHRISTIAN LEADERS PUBLISH LETTER IN MAJOR U.K. NEWSPAPER CALLING BRITAIN TO CHRIST

Following the recent riots in several towns and cities in England that shocked the world, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali (former Bishop of Rochester), Pastor Ade Omooba (founder and director of Christian Concern) and other church leaders have had a letter published in London’s Sunday Telegraph concerning the disturbances. Five people died and at least 16 others were injured as a direct result of related violent acts. An estimated  £200 million worth of property damage was incurred, and local economic activity was significantly compromised.

The full text of the letter is reproduced below:

SIR  ¢â‚¬“ We write as senior church leaders whose congregations have been affected by the recent violence on our streets. What made Britain great was a sense of responsibility, of accountability to one another and, ultimately, to God. It is the loss of this moral framework that has led to the plunge into the new barbarism. We must take steps immediately to strengthen the family as a place for moral and spiritual formation where our children first learn about boundaries. The churches are also committed to the task of supporting schools in their work of instilling the young with values derived from the timeless life-enhancing principles of the Bible.

What we instil in children today will determine in the future how they govern a nation, influence our policies and ultimately determine the quality of life in our communities. We each make choices and decisions based on our value systems. Godlessness has only produced selfishness and greed. The well-tried Christian faith has given us hope in the past and can do so again now. Signed

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, Former Bishop of Rochester and President of Oxtrad

Pastor Ade Omooba, Co-Founder, Christian Concern/Christian Legal Centre

Pastor Kofi Banful, Senior Pastor, Praise Chapel, Edgware, Middlesex

Rev Celia Apeagyei-Collins, Rehoboth Foundation, London E16

Rev Wale Hudson-Roberts, Founder African Development Forum, London

Pastor Lanre Sholola, Co-Founder, Christian Victory Group, London SW9

Source: Assist News

PRAY FOR THE LIBERATION OF NORTH KOREA

The Democratic People ¢â‚¬â„¢s Republic of Korea commonly known as North Korea occupies the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Many people in North Korea are dying of hunger and oppression every day. Several million have already perished under the regimes of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. The appalling human tragedies we see there have come about through the spirit of communism and idolization of egocentric leaders. These are the some of the ways the nation has been described in the media and by those who have been there as eyewitnesses:

 ¢â‚¬ ¢                   Largest prison camp in world

 ¢â‚¬ ¢                   Worst human rights violating country

 ¢â‚¬ ¢                   4 million North Koreans have died of starvation since 1995

 ¢â‚¬ ¢                   Famine again stalks the land

 ¢â‚¬ ¢                   500,000 fled to China for survival, mostly women and 80% of them raped and sexually trafficked

 ¢â‚¬ ¢                   1 million killed in concentration camps with cruel brutality

 ¢â‚¬ ¢                   Worst persecutor of Christians.   Nowhere in the world is Christian persecution so fierce. Christians have to hide their faith; Christian parents can ¢â‚¬â„¢t even share their beliefs with their children until they are old enough to understand the dangers. Owning a Bible could get you killed, or sent to a harsh labour camp. In 2010 hundreds of Christians were arrested. Some were murdered, others sentenced to labour camps. Despite the risks, the church is growing: there are an estimated 400,000 believers.

Please pray for:

 ¢â‚¬ ¢                   endurance for the 50,000 and 70,000 Christians in labour camps

 ¢â‚¬ ¢                   For parents who want to teach their children about Jesus

 ¢â‚¬ ¢                   In 2010 Kim Jong-Un was elevated to second in command. Pray that the situation will change for Christians when he becomes the new leader.

Source: Open Doors

COPTIC CHRISTIAN BILLIONAIRE SEEKS EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY

The Egyptian Revolution began on January 25th of this year, marked by President Hosni Mubarak stepping down on February 11th, and still continues as a new government is formed. One of those figures who has thrown his hat in the ring to be the new president is Naguib Sawiris, a “billionaire telecom scion and art patron”. Sawiris is also a Coptic Christian who has already founded a new political party known as the “Free Egyptian Party.” His goal is to establish a secular democratic government in Egypt. Money certainly won’t be an issue in his run for office; Sawiris is number two on the billionaire list in Egypt ¢â‚¬”his father is at the top spot ¢â‚¬”and listed as #310 of Forbes Billionaires.

Sawiris deeply appreciates cultural achievements and plans to build a national museum housing his own collection of contemporary and modern art. Coptic Christians in Egypt have suffered much violence and persecution especially in the last year, but Sawiris seems to be unafraid of the risks involved in seeking to be head of his country. Sawiris stated in an article cited by Art Newspaper that he “decided to be more focused on social and political work, aiming to play a role in the transformation of a post-revolution Egypt into a civil democracy.”

Source: Forbes Magazine

ABORTION CLINICS CLOSING IN TEXAS

After 18 years of prayer and intercession on behalf of the preborn in Dallas, many abortion clinics are reportedly closing. This has occurred after a decade of prayer vigils outside abortion clinics. Altogether 7 clinics, including the only late-term facility in Dallas have closed. “We thank God for the many lives that will be saved and mothers and fathers spared the agony and regret of abortion,” said a spokesperson for the Catholic Pro-Life Committee. “We mourn the tremendous loss of many thousands of innocent human lives, and we’ll continue to pray and work towards the day when Dallas is an abortion-free city and the blood of innocent unborn children is no longer shed here.”

Source: Intercessors Network

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