AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER
SUDAN CHRISTIANS SUFFERING ETHNIC CLEANSING
Thousands of lives are still at risk as the Islamic regime of Sudan launches attacks in the Nuba Mountains. Armed forces of President Omar al-Bashir are terrorizing people of South Kordofan State. Humanitarian organizations are now speaking out, hoping to expose the ethnic cleansing of the Nuba people. The Nuba Mountains are home to one of Sudan’s largest Christian communities. Human rights groups say these believers are being tormented by daily air strikes and house-to-house raids from President Bashir’s armed forces. Bashir is an indicted war criminal for the genocide in Darfur.
At a recent Congressional hearing, Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf said it’s important the church stands up for the persecuted Christians. “I think the church in the West has to do a better job of advocating for the persecuted church,” he said. “If anything, hopefully, this hearing can not only motivate the administration, but also the church, leaders of all the denominations to come together to advocate for this,” he said. There have been reports of Bashir’s soldiers burning down churches. Bishop Andudu is the Anglican Bishop of Kadugli, the capital city of Sudan’s South Kordofan. He testified to the devastation that has happened to his diocese.
“My house was shot with guns and my chaplain was able to escape through the window,” Andudu recalled. “And also my offices and cyber caf ƒ © was burned down and capital as well.” Brad Phillips, founder of the Persecution Project Foundation, recently returned from the Nuba Mountains. He told U.S. congressional leaders that aid access to the region is limited. “There is a serious humanitarian crisis that is approaching,” Phillips warned. “There are 70 to 90,000 people that are probably going to die in the next month to two months, because the roads are shut down to the north and the flights are not coming into the Nuba Mountains,” he said.
But that didn’t stop a team from CBN’s Operation Blessing. After being notified of the extreme medicine shortages in Nubas, Operation Blessing president Bill Horan put together an emergency relief mission. “It was dangerous, but it was life saving,” he said. “We found a pilot willing to fly us into the Nuba Mountains,” Horan said. “We took off and flew most of the way under the cover of the clouds to avoid being spotted by the Northern war planes. We landed on this tiny dirt strip and then the scramble was on to unload the plane as fast as we could because we were told literally any minute the Antonov bombers could show up and start bombing the air strip,” he said.
Soldiers from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army drove the team several hours to the hideout of Lt. General Abdel Aziz. Aziz directs the liberation movement in the Nuba Mountains. “The National Congress Party of Khartoum have declared jihad, Islamic jihad on all the Nuba, whether you are Muslim, whether you are Christian,” he said. “Nuba did not go and attack Khartoum. Nuba did not go and take anything from Khartoum,” Aziz continued. “Instead, Khartoum is the one exploiting the area. They are taking the oil. This is the only oil producing state in the north, in the remaining part of the country,” he said.
The people of the Nuba Mountains enjoyed a 6 year period of relative peace after the signing of the North-South peace agreement in 2005. But that ended last June when the Northern government attacked Kadugli. Horan was shown some of the destruction, including a school that had been targeted by a government plane. “It’s a school that was filled with children in session. Two huge bombs. Thank God they missed but not by much,” he said. “It was close enough that some shrapnel fell and penetrated the walls of some of the school buildings,” Horan said. “One child was killed and a whole group of children were injured.” “Who in the world would target children?” he asked.
Operation Blessing delivered an emergency health kit containing enough medicine and supplies to establish a health clinic that will serve 10,000 Nubian people for 90 days. “Those medicines are now at this moment being used to treat the sick, the injured, the wounded in the clinics in the Nuba Mountains,” Horan said. “The people of the Nuba Mountains, no one can hear their voice. They’re suffering in silence. We need to be their voice,” he continued. “The United States and all the nations of the free world, the United Nations — they have to quit ignoring this and then they have to quit talking about it,” he said. “They have to take decisive action.”
Source: CBNnews.
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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN PACIFIC UNDERMINES REGION
Levels of violence against women in parts of the Pacific are ¢â‚¬Å“horrific ¢â‚¬ and must be addressed if development is to have any chance in the Pacific region, said an Australian aid agency head. Speaking from the Solomon Islands, CEO of Anglicord Misha Coleman said that over 60% of women in Solomon Islands report some kind of violence by an intimate partner. ¢â‚¬Å“Over half of the women in the Solomon Islands have been forced into sex against their will, ¢â‚¬ she said. Ms Coleman was responding to a campaign released by Amnesty International, ¢â‚¬Å“Change the Lights on Women ¢â‚¬â„¢s Rights ¢â‚¬ .
Ms Coleman said that women in many parts of the Pacific were especially vulnerable to gender based violence because few of the countries had effective laws specifically to tackle it, and those countries which do have legislation to prevent domestic violence don’t necessarily enforce them. ¢â‚¬Å“Development requires the ability of women to earn an income, care for their families, and enjoy the protection of the law, ¢â‚¬ said Ms Coleman. ¢â‚¬Å“The horrific levels of physical violence against women in our region are a manifestation of a systematic discrimination that prevents women from being able to fulfil their potential. ¢â‚¬
Ms Coleman urged the leaders of South Pacific nations to consider the issue. ¢â‚¬Å“The lack of women in the parliaments of the South Pacific is illustrative of the low priority given to the status of women, ¢â‚¬ she said. ¢â‚¬Å“Australia, as a Pacific nation, must show leadership on this issue and encourage the full participation of women in society in our neighbours ¢â‚¬â„¢ countries. We can do this by offering expertise, encouraging the empowerment of women, and setting a good example. ¢â‚¬ ¢â‚¬Å“Given that nearly 20% of women in Australia have suffered a sexual assault, and only 10% of executive managers in ASX200 companies are women, it is clear we have some work to do here in Australia, too, ¢â‚¬ she said.
Gender based violence leaves women vulnerable to poverty, homelessness, trafficking and HIV and AIDS infection. Ms Coleman said that the growing presence of extractive industries, particularly commercial logging, contributed to the problem through commercial and unprotected sex, and forced marriage to foreign loggers. Ms Coleman was in the Solomon Islands for a meeting of the Anglican Alliance Pacific Consultation, a gathering of Anglican aid agencies from around the world. ¢â‚¬Å“The Churches are the backbone of society in the Pacific, and Anglican agencies are able to work with the people of the Pacific to effect real change around attitudes to women, ¢â‚¬ she said.
Source: Anglicord
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RESEARCH REVEALS BELIEVERS MAKE BETTER CITIZENS AND NEIGHBOURS
Robert Putnam, professor of public policy at Harvard and described by London’s Sunday Times as the most influential academic in the world today, is not a religious believer. He is best known for Bowling Alone, the book that made ”social capital” a key indicator of a healthy society. Putnam, with his co-author David Campbell (a Mormon), has waded into the debate about religion in the public square with his latest offering, American Grace: How Religion Unites and Divides Us. The book emerges out of two massive and comprehensive surveys into religion and public life in America.
The most controversial finding is that religious people make better citizens and neighbours. Putnam and Campbell write that ”for the most part, the evidence suggests that religiously observant Americans, are more generous, altruistic and more involved in civic life than their secular counterparts. They are more likely to give blood, money to a homeless person, financial aid to family or friends, a seat to a stranger and to spend time with someone who is ”a bit down”. Putnam and his team interviewed 3000 people twice over two years, asking a range of questions about their religious lives, civic involvement, social relationships, political beliefs, economic situation and demographic profile.
Putnam says in the church, just like any area of life, it’s a mixed bag of the good, the not so good and the, well, nutty. But this research is in stark contrast to claims by prominent authors such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. After reading their works, you’d swear that religion makes you immediately abandon rationality to become an inward-looking extremist. What Putnam’s book does at the very least is to bring a bit of balance into the conversation. What can’t be denied, according to Putnam and Campbell, is that there is something unique about a religious community, that has an impact on people for good.
Source: Centre for Public Christianity
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EXPLOSIVE CHURCH GROWTH IN NEPAL
The church in Nepal flourishes as a “remarkable indigenous movement” within a strongly Hindu culture. From the first Christian church formed in 1952, Nepal’s believers grew to 200,000 by 1990, during times of persecution, and to some 850,000 Christ-followers by last year. “Leadership training is possibly the most urgent need in the Church. Nepal has 10,000 churches, but most of them have no resources,” says Alan Ginn, Project Director for East Asia with Leadership Resources International (LRI). LRI workers encourage church leaders by using a “TNT” strategy ¢â‚¬” training national trainers. They mentor and teach a group who will then train a “second generation.”
Bill Walsh, Director of International Outreach for Desiring God, heard about Alan Ginn while attending a conference in Sacramento four years ago. He became excited about establishing a partnership with Ginn’s like-minded ministry of investing in the lives of indigenous church leaders. Ginn welcomes the needed resources and says, “The teachings of John Piper, with his shepherding heart, have helped in a significant way. Books like Don’t Waste Your Life and Brothers and We Are Not Professionals, resonate with the hearts of indigenous pastors. The issues are not just North American issues.”
Source: Operation Mobilisation
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COLOMBIAN GUERRILLA BECOMES A PASTOR
Wayne and Phyllys Wozniak are missionaries to Colombia, South America. They have shared the testimony of a pastor known only by the name of “Wilson.” According to the testimony, due in large part to the fact that Wilson’s father was a Colombian guerrilla, by the time Wilson was 10-years-old, he was also a guerrilla. He lived for violence, crime and murder. One day he [Wilson] was sent to kill two Christian ministers who had spoken out against the paramilitary’s atrocities. He found them, cornered them, and took careful aim. But before he could pull the trigger, he began to tremble uncontrollably. No matter how he tried, he could not pull the trigger.
The next several nights in dream she saw a group of Christians carrying their Bibles into a church. He thought to himself, ‘I would gladly lay down my arms for one of those Bibles.’ A few days later, while walking down the street, he came across another Christian. The Christian knew who he was and was frightened, yet he spoke to Wilson and said, ‘Jesus loves you.’ It was then that Wilson reportedly fell weeping to his knees and gave his life to Jesus Christ. Of course, the enemy wasn’t going to let Wilson off so easy. When two guerrilla hit men were sent to kill Wilson, they too were unable to carry out the murder and subsequently Wilson led them to the Lord. Praise be to God.
Source: Faith News Network
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SURGE IN BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS IN NEW YORK SINCE 9/11
A Barna Group study has revealed that New Yorkers are more “spiritually active” today than they were immediately following the attacks of 9/11. The new study says following an initial lapse, the faith of New Yorkers ¢â‚¬””faith” meaning going to church, reading the Bible, and praying, began to increase “significantly” after September 2004, three years after 9/11. Another interesting statistic coming out of the study shows that the percentage of New York residents who qualify as born again Christians surged from 20% in the late 1990s to 32% today. “The research shows that spiritual change can and does happen, even in large population centres like New York.” said Barna.
Source: The Christian Post
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