Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 146 | Wed 15 Feb 2012
By Elizabeth Kendal
The ‘Arab Spring’ opened the door for long-repressed Sunni Muslim
Brotherhood and Salafi forces to rise up and seize power locally and
challenge the balance of power regionally. Faced with escalating
persecution and decreasing security, Christians are increasingly opting
for flight. The alternative is to exist as dhimmis: subjugated second-
class citizens forced to live with crippling inequality and profound
insecurity under Islamic domination. In Egypt, Iraq and Syria — homes to
the region’s largest and most ancient Christian communities — the
security situation is critical. Furthermore, the conflict in Syria has the
potential to inflame sectarian tensions in neighbouring volatile Lebanon,
which is also home to several large and ancient Christian communities.
Egypt, which once gave refuge to the Christ-child, is today a tinderbox
where anti-Christian hostility is rising to incendiary levels. Not only do
those who violently persecute and terrorise Christians do so with absolute
impunity, but Islamic ad hoc ‘courts’ and ‘reconciliation sessions’ then
compound that persecution. The victims are denied compensation, expelled
from their homes and dispossessed, or they are charged with offending
Islam or threatening social cohesion. In Iraq, where the Assyrian Church
of the East — the world’s first Christian denomination — was
established, Christians are today the victims of violent Islamic jihad and
ethnic cleansing. Over recent years the Christian population of Iraq has
halved. In Syria, where followers of Jesus were first called ‘Christians’,
radical Sunni Arab fundamentalists are fighting for control of Syria and
the regional balance of power. Not only is the Syrian Church imperilled,
but so too are the Assyrian-Chaldean Christian refugees who fled the
genocide in Iraq for refuge in Syria.
Persecution is escalating in Iran. On Wednesday 8 February, plain-clothed
security officers raided a house church gathered for prayer and worship in
the southern city of Shiraz, arresting all ten believers present. One of
those arrested, the convert Mojtaba Hosseini, had been arrested previously
in May 2008 when aged only 21. Iranian sources think the authorities have
had Mojtaba under surveillance for some time. The whereabouts of these
believers are unknown. Several other believers incarcerated over Christmas
remain in prison. Regarded as traitors, spies and sources of ‘fitna’
(anything that could threaten the faith of a Muslim), all Iran’s Christian
prisoners are subjected to harsh conditions and cruel treatment.
Western powers pursuing economic and geo-strategic gain seem to regard the
Christians of the Middle East as inconvenient peoples who may be
sacrificed for greater ends such as oil and power. Needless to say, God
does not see his imperilled children that way. Indeed, he suffers with
them. ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my
brothers, you did it to me. . . . Truly, I say to you, as you did not do
it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ (From Matthew
25:40,45 ESV) The Church must stand up for the Middle East’s imperilled
Christians.
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL —
* use this catastrophe to draw all Christians closer to him and to each
other; as conflict and terror abound, may the LORD deliver to that
‘faintly burning wick’ — the besieged Church — fresh oxygen not only
for life, strength and hope, but for revival. (Isaiah 42:3)
* intervene on behalf of his precious people (Isaiah 59:14-19) that they
might see and know his hand of wise guidance and arm of loving
provision and protection. (Isaiah 40:10,11)
PRAY ALSO for the NUBA of SUDAN, half a million of whom will soon be dying
en masse as the Government of Sudan’s engineered famine explodes as a
‘weapon of mass destruction’ to effect the genocide of these non-Muslim,
non-Arab, predominantly Christian peoples. [See prayer requests in RLPB
145 http://rlprayerbulletin.
christian-refugees.html
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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
——————————
MIDDLE EASTERN CHRISTIANS FACE BLEAK FUTURE
The so-called ‘Arab Spring’ opened the door for long-repressed Islamist
forces to rise up and seize power locally and challenge the balance of
power regionally. In Egypt, Iraq and Syria — homes to some of the
region’s largest and most ancient Christian communities — persecution is
escalating and the threat of genocide is real. Furthermore, the conflict
in Syria has the potential to inflame sectarian tensions in neighbouring
Lebanon, which is also home to several large and ancient Christian
communities. Whilst poor socio-economic conditions and escalating
discrimination and persecution have been driving Christians to emigrate
from the Middle East for decades, the deteriorating security situation is
giving rise to effectively a Christian exodus. There is much fear. Please
pray for the Church in the Middle East.
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We suggest that churches and fellowships using the above Summary might
also provide a copy of the listed prayer points to be used in their
worship by people who are leading in prayer.
For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal’s
blog ‘Religious Liberty Monitoring’ <http://elizabethkendal.
Previous RLPBs may be viewed at <http://rlprayerbulletin.
This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious
Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international
religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC team.
If this bulletin was forwarded to you, you may receive future weekly
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