AUSTRALIAN   PRAYER   NETWORK   NEWSLETTER

• YOUNG PEOPLE MEET IN POWERHOUSES OF PRAYER ACROSS AFRICA
• U.K. POLL SUGGESTS WEAK LINK BETWEEN FAITH AND PRACTICE
• KASHMIRI CHRISTIANS FORCED TO REVERT TO ISLAM
• WILL THERE BE A GENOCIDE IN SYRIA?
• NORTH AFRICAN CHRISTIANS RISK EVERYTHING
• BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TO TAKE ACTION ON SCANDAL OF ALCOHOL ABUSE
• MILITANT SECULARISM TAKING HOLD IN BRITAIN

YOUNG PEOPLE MEET IN POWERHOUSES OF PRAYER ACROSS AFRICA

“Good news! From all over Africa stories of renewal, revival and transformation are beginning to be heard. The youth of Africa is spreading the word. A new generation is ready to stand in the gap and pay the price.”   Alfred Gcilitshana is clearly excited when the shares about the prayer movement that is stirring young people in Africa. They meet in so-called ‘powerhouses of prayer’, places dedicated to seeking God in   creative ways. “We come to the powerhouse because we are excited about Jesus and passionate about prayer,” he says. “We want to pray until we see God being glorified all over the world. In the powerhouse we can express ourselves in many different ways in prayer.”

A young woman who visits the ‘power house’ almost daily says: “I usually go to the ‘wall of personal prayer’. It’s the place where people write their requests for breakthrough, their heart ¢â‚¬â„¢s desires.” Another participant adds: “When I go to the powerhouse, I go straight to the ‘word watch’. It ¢â‚¬â„¢s where I sit down and read the word of God, so that I become more alert in my spirit.” During times of praying the word, young people encourage one another to intimacy with the Father. “The Bible tells us we should be builders of one another, to grow together in the love of God.”

God is at work and once in the powerhouse no-one wants to leave. As men and women stand before the ‘wailing wall’, they cry out to the Lord for his salvation and forgiveness, and healing for the nations. “In Christianity you carry other people ¢â‚¬â„¢s needs, so intercession is a strong pillar,” shares a participant. “I realize there are a lot of people suffering, therefore a person needs to stand in the gap and take up their needs.” As prayer requests are placed in the ‘offering box’, passionate pleas of faith are offered and words of repentance break the bondage of sin. “Repentance ushers in the power of the Holy Spirit. At the ‘repentance wall’ we bring our troubles and inequities and transgressions.”

Another participant testifies: “The ‘solitude corner’ is my favourite place where I find intimacy with God. I also take communion by remembering his covenant that will never be changed for eternity.” As the prayer continues around various stations of the powerhouse, the youth attend to God and celebrate and worship. “Thanksgiving is very important and it blesses my heart, because if you understand who you are in the Lord, that you are a son or daughter of God, you enter his courts with thanksgiving and praise.” As minutes turns to hours, the worship continues. God is at work, it is here that their prayers join in the river of grace from every corner of the globe.

Source: Open Heaven Newsletter

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U.K. POLL SUGGESTS WEAK LINK BETWEEN FAITH AND PRACTICE

A recent poll found that only a minority of people who describe themselves as a Christian read the Bible and pray. The survey suggests that most people in Britain who describe themselves as Christians have only low levels of commitment when it comes to practising the faith. The poll found that only one in 10 Christians seeks moral guidance from religion. The poll was carried out in the week after the 2011 Census and focused on the beliefs, attitudes and practices of people in Britain who recorded themselves as Christians. When asked why they think of themselves as Christian, only 28% cited a personal belief in the teachings of Christianity.

According to the research, people were more likely to consider themselves a Christian because they were christened or baptised into the religion (72%) or because their parents were members of the religion (38%). When asked why they had been recorded as Christian in the 2011 Census, only 31% said it was because they genuinely try to follow the Christian religion, with 41% saying it was because they try to be a good person and associate that with Christianity. When asked where they seek most guidance in questions of right and wrong, only one in 10 said it was from religious teachings or beliefs, with 54% preferring to draw on their own inner moral sense.

Half those polled did not think of themselves as religious and only 30% claimed to have strong religious beliefs. Just 32% said they believed Jesus was physically resurrected. Only 18% admitted they did not believe in the resurrection even in a spiritual sense, while 49% said they did not think of Jesus as the Son of God, with 4% doubting he existed at all.   When asked what being a Christian meant to them personally, 40% chose  ¢â‚¬ËœI try to be a good person ¢â‚¬â„¢ and 26% chose  ¢â‚¬ËœIt ¢â‚¬â„¢s how I was brought up ¢â‚¬â„¢.   Sixteen per cent selected the statement  ¢â‚¬ËœI have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour ¢â‚¬â„¢ and 7% chose  ¢â‚¬ËœI believe in the teachings of Jesus ¢â‚¬â„¢.

Commitment to Christian practices such as prayer and Bible reading was also patchy among the respondents. Sixty per cent said they had not read any part of the Bible for at least a year, while 37% said they had never or almost never prayed outside a church service. Almost 64% could not identify Matthew from a choice of four as the first book of the New Testament. Only 26% said they completely believed in the power of prayer. One in five said they either do not really believe in it or do not believe in it at all. There was evidence of an openness to non-Christian beliefs, with 27% saying they believed in astrology and reincarnation. Half had not attended a church in the last 12 months.

Source: Christian Today

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KASHMIRI CHRISTIANS FORCED TO REVERT TO ISLAM

Kashmiri Christians are coming under pressure to return to Islam after Islamic clerics and scholars decided to crack down hard on anything that could shake the faith of a Muslim, and put an end to apostasy. The clerics established a Council for Protection of Faith after video footage emerged of seven young Kashmiri men being baptised in All Saints Church, Srinagar. According to Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), the atmosphere in Srinagar is increasingly tense. “The situation is precarious and unstable. Islamic fundamentalists have threatened to seize the properties of the families of the converts in order to have them go back to Islam.

Three of the seven converts have decided to leave Christianity. The Kashmir International Research Centre had posted an article giving further insight into the pressure Kashmiri Christians are facing. In the article the writer reports:   “A north Kashmir religious Madrassa is presently working on 115 Kashmiri Christian converts to bring them back to the Islamic fold. A spokesperson said the Madrassa has already brought back 150 converts over the past months. He said that there are reports of scores of other people who have converted to Christianity. ‘We are collecting details. We would try to catch them all and persuade them to revert to Islam’, he said. ”

Details also revealed that the conversions are voluntary, and are done for material benefits. One of the converts is reported to have converted for a paltry sum of Rs.5000. He changed religion in the hope of getting financial aid from the Christian Missionary to pay off a bank loan his father had taken.” The article lamented that “press statements, street protests, in-house meetings, seminars and routine condemnations was all that religious leaders offered. It said it would like to see the religious leadership acting more, so they might actually become “the embodiment of what they say” in their sermons. The article did not elaborate on what this would mean in practice.

In another article Randeep Singh Nandal comments that the recent conversions have opened the door “for further pressure on the 400-odd Christians in the Valley. The two missionary schools in Srinagar are now facing calls to include Islamic prayers as part of the curriculum and prove they do not promote Christianity. “The few foreign nationals who live here are harassed,” Nandal writes, quoting one foreigner who told him: “I got a call around midnight, and this man on the phone asked me how many Bibles I had, how my ‘real motive’ was known to him.” “Local converts are worse off,” notes Nandal.

Source: Religious Liberty Monitoring

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WILL THERE BE A GENOCIDE IN SYRIA?

The U.N. human rights chief has urged that Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad be referred to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, according to NBC news. Dozens of nations have called for Assad to end violence or to step down. As violence continues to rattle Syria, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that a transition away from Assad’s regime will need to be made, one way or another.   “We can’t see the future to know how this transition is going to take place–although it does seem inevitable that there will be some sort of transition at some point,” agrees Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs.

But what will such a transition mean for Christians? Throughout the rebellion in Syria, Mission Network News has reported repeatedly on the relative peace Christians have experienced. As violence has been redirected to others, Christians have not been so hunted. Most cannot support Assad’s regime but are fearful of what will happen when he falls, says Tom Doyle with E3 Partners. “What our contacts in Syria are saying is that they are concerned about a potential of a backlash against the church and against Christians, in particular, if an Islamic-leaning group becomes the head of the country,” explains Nettleton. “They worry what that will mean for religious freedom.”

Catholic bishops have suggested that an all-out genocide could take place, reports the New American. Why the backlash against Christians? “They are seen by the masses as having been aligned with Assad, maybe even protected by Assad,” Nettleton explains. “So, anger at the Assad regime becomes anger at Christians.” Nettleton says the word “genocide” may be too strong for what may take place. He says the response toward Syrian Christians depends largely on the outcome of the Assad regime. If it’s a violent end where extremists take over, says Nettleton, it doesn’t bode well for Christians. If it’s a more peaceful transition, Christians may stand a chance at relative freedom.

With so much of the future unknown, Christians are going about their lives responding to God’s call. The Syrian church has breached denominational lines in unity throughout this conflict, says Nettleton, which has helped sustain the nation’s massive hunger for the Gospel. “One of the statements that our contact made was,  ¢â‚¬ËœHey, you can start a house church in a day if you just go out and start talking to people and presenting the Gospel.’ There’s so much openness to the Gospel message right now.” Pray for hearts to remain open no matter what lies ahead.

Source: Mission Network News

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NORTH AFRICAN CHRISTIANS RISK EVERYTHING

The persecution of believers in North Africa seems unending. An Africa Inland Mission (AIM) worker visited one North African country recently, bringing back a host of unsettling stories. One group of women (who refer to each other as  ¢â‚¬Å“Workers ¢â‚¬ ) has had an especially hard time as Christians in a mostly-Muslim nation. It is expected that anyone who is born a Muslim will stay a Muslim. One Muslim man in the country explained that anyone who was a Christian simply  ¢â‚¬Å“would never come ¢â‚¬  to their country. This hostility toward believers perhaps explains why working underground is so dangerous.

At an underground Bible study hosted by one of the Workers, the decision to sing was debated. Such conduct could easily draw unwanted attention. The women decided the risk was worth taking, and they sang. A neighbour, however, seized this opportunity to expose the women ¢â‚¬â„¢s activity by recording the meeting and taking the recording to a radio station. After the recording aired, many of the women at the Bible study were forced from their homes and severely beaten. Police threatened to arrest any women attending the Bible study in the future. As if this were not enough of a blow to the underground church, the Workers continue to be mistreated for their faith in Christ.

One woman hardly blinked when someone spat in her face while talking with an AIM worker. Another smiled as a large rock just missed her, explaining that that sort of thing happens frequently. Amazingly, these women and other believers like them are not dismayed by such direct persecution. Instead, they maintain Christ-like hearts for those around them. They are saddened by the huge number of lost individuals but are overflowing with love for them. These workers are well aware of the risks. For these inspirational followers of Christ, their true rewards rest in heaven. In the meantime, they remain a beautiful example of strong faith in Jesus Christ.

Source: Intercessors Network

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BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TO TAKE ACTION ON SCANDAL OF ALCOHOL ABUSE

The Prime Minister has spoken of his determination to confront Britain ¢â‚¬â„¢s binge drinking culture. David Cameron said the increase in the number of excessive drinkers was  ¢â‚¬Å“frightening ¢â‚¬  as he said that alcohol abuse had become  ¢â‚¬Å“one of the scandals of our society ¢â‚¬ . Britain ¢â‚¬â„¢s heavy drinking culture is estimated to cost the NHS more than  £2.7bn each year. Mr Cameron plans to introduce US-style  ¢â‚¬Å“drunk tanks ¢â‚¬  to towns to provide a space for inebriated people to sober up. More police on patrol in hospital departments and  ¢â‚¬Å“booze buses ¢â‚¬  staffed by paramedics are some of the  ¢â‚¬Å“innovative solutions ¢â‚¬  Britain needs to deal with the problem, he said.

 ¢â‚¬Å“Every night, in town centres, hospitals and police stations across the country, people have to cope with the consequences of alcohol abuse. And the problem is getting worse, ¢â‚¬  he said.  ¢â‚¬Å“Over the last decade we ¢â‚¬â„¢ve seen a frightening growth in the number of people  ¢â‚¬“ many under-age  ¢â‚¬“ who think it ¢â‚¬â„¢s acceptable for people to get drunk in public in ways that wreck lives, spread fear and increase crime.  ¢â‚¬Å“This is one of the scandals of our society and I am determined to deal with it. ¢â‚¬  He called upon the drinks industry, supermarkets, pubs and clubs to work with the Government  ¢â‚¬Å“so that responsible drinking becomes a reality and not just a slogan ¢â‚¬ .

Churches wrote to the Prime Minister earlier calling on him to introduce a minimum price on alcohol units, saying it was a  ¢â‚¬Å“key determinant ¢â‚¬  in problem drinking.  ¢â‚¬Å“We have seen the effects of cheap, strong drink on our streets, in our hospitals and police stations, ¢â‚¬  they said.  ¢â‚¬Å“It is in local communities that the damage caused by alcohol misuse is felt most deeply, particularly disadvantaged communities, which continue to suffer disproportionately from alcohol-related harms. ¢â‚¬  A YouGov poll commissioned by the Methodist Church last November found widespread concern about drinking levels in Britain, with 61% of adults saying that excessive drinking was a problem in their neighbourhood.

Source: Christian Today

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MILITANT SECULARISM TAKING HOLD IN BRITAIN

British Cabinet minister Baroness Warsi, a Muslim has hit out at the way in which faith is being attacked by a rising tide of  ¢â‚¬Å“militant secularisation ¢â‚¬ . She spoke whilst leading a delegation of government ministers on a two-day visit to the Vatican. She said that one of the most worrying aspects of militant secularism was that  ¢â‚¬Å“in its instincts it is deeply intolerant ¢â‚¬ . She said Europe needed to be  ¢â‚¬Å“more confident and more comfortable in its Christianity ¢â‚¬  as she criticised the way in which Christianity had virtually been written out of the European Constitution. Faith, she said, had been  ¢â‚¬Å“neglected, undermined  ¢â‚¬“ and yes, even attacked  ¢â‚¬“ by governments” in recent years.

 ¢â‚¬Å“You should not extract these Christian foundations from our nations any more than you should erase the spires from our landscapes, ¢â‚¬  she said.  ¢â‚¬Å“My fear today is that a militant secularisation is taking hold of our societies. We see it in any number of things: when signs of religion cannot be displayed or worn in government buildings; when states won ¢â‚¬â„¢t fund faith schools; and where religion is sidelined, marginalised and downgraded in the public sphere.  ¢â‚¬Å“It seems astonishing to me that those who wrote the European Constitution made no mention of God or Christianity ¢â‚¬  Baroness Warsi spoke just days after the High Court ruled that it was unlawful for a council to say prayers during its meetings.

Source: Christian Today

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