AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER  

AFRICA SENDS OUT MISSIONARIES BY THE THOUSANDS

CHRISTIANS TARGETED IN PROGRAM OF ETHNIC CLEANSING IN SUDAN

WHY THE DEATH OF COPTIC POPE SHENOUDA IS IMPORTANT TO EGYPTIAN PROTESTANTS

TURNING A BLIND EYE TO THE WAR ON CHRISTIANS IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD

CHRISTIAN PERSECTION – PRAY NOW!!

BOKO HARAM THREATENS TO KIDNAP CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN NIGERIA

AFRICA SENDS OUT MISSIONARIES BY THE THOUSANDS

An Ethiopian tells that when he landed on Indian soil as a missionary in 1998 it surprised him as much as anyone else. He thought only white people could be missionaries. The venture changed his worldview. After all, he had gone out from Africa, which for generations had been known as the mission field. But God had prepared the way. Soon after arriving, one of his team members shared the gospel with a woman. She stopped him. “I had a dream last week,” she said. “Fire was consuming the village. Two people were praying. Then a cross came between the fire and the village.” She concluded, “You were the people.” In the following 3 months 1,357 people gave their lives to Christ. After their initial success, his home church in Ethiopia sent 20 more missionaries to India and Pakistan.

In Nigeria, missions have been gaining momentum since the mid-70s. The Nigerian Evangelical Mission Agency (NEMA) now has 5,200 missionaries serving around the world. Thousands of Africans are embarking on cross-cultural missionary adventure. In some areas, the church has been doing it for a while; in other places it’s just getting started. A church in one of South Africa’s townships has been sending out short-term missionaries for seven years. Just two years ago they sent their first long termers. Church members are enthusiastic about their missionaries who are working in other countries, and are committed to support them. Nigerian Pastor Dr.Rev.Nicholas Asamayan explains that in God’s prophetic timetable, the time has come for an Afro-centric approach to missions.

Missions must be defined in the African context, for writing materials and coming up with creative ideas. African missionaries are moving to some of earth’s most difficult unreached communities. What motivates them to go into villages with bad water, disease and a fearful relationship with local gods? Or to venture out into Europe, Asia and South America? Each country has its own story. In Nigeria, it began with students going to the villages for their year of national service, they saw parts of their nation they had not seen before, and were moved to action. They began planting churches, but they also caught a vision for missions, leading to the birth of three mission agencies, Calvary Ministries, Christian Mission Foundation, and EMS, the missions branch of the Evangelical Church of West Africa.

Then, in the early 80s, NEMA was born. They have an exciting support group  ¢â‚¬“the Mission Supporters League (MSL), an innovation rarely found even in more prosperous countries. It includes 100 chapters of professionals, who raise money for supporting and sponsoring missionaries. In Zimbabwe 10,000 churches were planted in the ’90s. As persecution came, they went abroad preaching the gospel. “Our church planting model,” says Dr. Shana, “is described in Acts 8 and 9:’ When they were persecuted, they went abroad preaching the gospel.’ ” Shana’s congregation has planted 3,500 churches all over the world, with a missional vision to affect the community around them in every sphere of life. But Zimbabwe’s missionary movement, said Dr. Shana, came out of troubled times.

It started in the ’90’s when 10,000 churches were planted. But soon after, the country fell into economic and political turmoil. As Zimbabweans left the country to settle in new places, they took their faith with them. In their new homes, they missed the church they had in Zimbabwe, so they begin to meet in groups, and talk to their communities. Dr Shana said  ¢â‚¬Å“A little group starts, which we support and we watch over for a period of time, then we start a church.” In Ethiopia over 3,000 missionaries have moved from one culture to the other to share Jesus Christ. “The gospel has been in Ethiopia for 1,670 years,” said Pastor Langana. “But even though we were a Christian nation, we never reached the rest of Africa. “Things changed in 1990. God brought a missionary and used him as a key person. ¢â‚¬ 

He told us, it was time for Ethiopia to go to the unreached people. Now, over 3,000 missionaries in Ethiopia have moved out to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ghana has sent people to places such as China, Ukraine, Brazil and India. Inspired by the Nigerian missions movement, it continues to be motivated by the strategy of influencing: ‘Jerusalem’, your own home town, ‘Judea’, the next closest region, ‘Samaria’, even farther out, and then ‘the ends of the earth’. From the day of conversion, believers are commissioned, equipped and engaged in Kingdom advance. Ghana’s major denominations have international mission boards. The Ghana Evangelical Missions Association connects them all. Africans are a key part of today’s missionary task force committed to fulfilling the Great Commission.

Source: Great Commission Network

CHRISTIANS TARGETED IN PROGRAM OF ETHNIC CLEANSING IN SUDAN

The  ¢â‚¬Å“ethnic cleansing ¢â‚¬  that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has undertaken against those living in the Nuba Mountains is also aimed at ridding the area of Christianity, according to humanitarian workers. By targeting Christians living among adherents of Islam in the Nuba Mountains, military force helps the regime in Khartoum to portray the violence as  ¢â‚¬Å“jihad ¢â‚¬  to Muslims abroad and thus raise support from Islamic nations. In South Kordofan state  ¢â‚¬“ which lies on Sudan ¢â‚¬â„¢s border with the newly created nation of South Sudan but is home to sympathizers of the southern military that fought against the north during Sudan ¢â‚¬â„¢s long civil war  ¢â‚¬“ Bashir ¢â‚¬â„¢s military strikes are directed at Muslims as well as Christians, but churches and Christians are especially targeted, he said.

 ¢â‚¬Å“The ongoing war against Christians and African indigenous people is more of an  ¢â‚¬Ëœethnic cleansing ¢â‚¬â„¢ in that they kill all black people, including Muslims, but they give specific connotation to the war in targeting Christians to secure funding and support from the Arab and Islamic world by saying this war is a religious war, ¢â‚¬  he said.  ¢â‚¬Å“And in so doing, they get huge support from those countries. ¢â‚¬  The government in Khartoum is using Antonov airplanes to drop bombs,  ¢â‚¬Å“coupled with state- sponsored militia targeting churches and Christian families, ¢â‚¬  said the humanitarian worker.  ¢â‚¬Å“The brutal state-sponsored militias are moving from house to house searching for Christian and African indigenous homes as the government continues with air strikes, ¢â‚¬  he added.

The Satellite Sentinel Project has gathered evidence that Antonov aircraft have indiscriminately bombed civilian populations in South Kordofan, although after a recent crash the government has said it will no longer use the planes. In Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, at least four church buildings have been razed and more than 20 Christians killed, he said. The Islamic north sees Nuba Christians as infidels who need to be Islamised through Jihad.  ¢â‚¬Å“But the fact is this war is ethnic cleansing  ¢â‚¬“ a religious as well as political war. ¢â‚¬  Between June 2011 and March 2012, four church buildings belonging to the Episcopal Church of Sudan, the Roman Catholic Church, the Sudanese Church of Christ and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church have been destroyed.

Fighting in South Kordofan, a major battleground during Sudan ¢â‚¬â„¢s 1983-2005 civil war, broke out again in June 2011 as Khartoum moved to assert its authority against gunmen formerly allied to the now independent South Sudan. The conflict between Bashir ¢â‚¬â„¢s forces and the Sudan People ¢â‚¬â„¢s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) spread from South Kordofan to Sudan ¢â‚¬â„¢s Blue Nile state in September 2011. The United Nations estimates the conflict has displaced 400,000 people, with 300,000 in danger of starving within a month. Additionally, the U.N. Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are 185,000 refugees from South Kordofan and Blue Nile in South Sudan and Ethiopia.

Sudan ¢â‚¬â„¢s Interim National Constitution holds up Sharia law as a source of legislation, and the laws and policies of the government favour Islam. Several times in the past year, Bashir has warned that Sudan ¢â‚¬â„¢s constitution will become more firmly entrenched in sharia. When the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005, the people of South Kordofan were to decide whether to join the North or the South, but the state governor, wanted for war crimes himself, suspended the process, and Khartoum instead decided to disarm the SPLM-N by force. The church and enfeebled women and children have become victims of this fight. We as the church have a moral and spiritual obligation to stand with our brothers and sisters who are suffering in the Nuba Mountains. ¢â‚¬ 

Source: Compass Direct News

WHY THE DEATH OF COPTIC POPE SHENOUDA IS IMPORTANT TO EGYPTIAN PROTESTANTS

Pope Shenouda, the controversial yet beloved head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, died recently after 40 years of leading and reforming the ancient Christian communion. His death complicates the uncertain position of Orthodox believers ¢â‚¬”who represent 90 percent of Egyptian Christians ¢â‚¬”now that Islamists have surged to leadership following Egypt’s revolution last year. Coptic Protestants respected and appreciated the pope. “Shenouda was a pope of the Bible,” said Ramez Atallah, head of the Bible Society of Egypt. “We are the fifth-largest Bible society in the world because he created a hunger for the Scriptures among Copts.”

Safwat el-Baiady, president of the Protestant Churches of Egypt, described Shenouda’s commitment to interdenominational understanding. “I have known him since before he was pope, and we served together on the Middle East Council of Churches. He would meet with us for hours and listen to our views.” Mina al-Badry, a young Protestant pastor in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya, admits tensions with the Orthodox Church but echoed praises of Shenouda. “He was a wise man who cared for the whole Egyptian church including Protestants and Catholics,” said al-Badry. “Yes, there were times of denominational fanaticism on both sides, but he was the celebrated picture of all of Egypt’s Christians.”

Shenouda was particularly appreciated for his handling of sectarian tensions, according to Ashraf Atta, a Pentecostal pastor and teacher of theology. “He had the wisdom to resolve conflict during times of persecution,” said Atta. “He was always willing to forgive and walk the second mile.” Yet the biggest challenge facing the church today is in the realm of politics. Shenouda provided leadership for Egypt’s Christians, representing them on the national level. “The choice of successor to Pope Shenouda is even more important than the choice of Egypt’s next president, because it affects the people’s faith,” said Emad Azmi, head of the Alexandria School of Theology.

Rifaat Fekry, a Protestant pastor in the heavily Christian Cairo neighbourhood of Shubra, agrees. “After the revolution, Egypt has been functioning in a fog,” he said. “Egypt is lost. We are searching for both a president and a pope ¢â‚¬”bringing an even bigger crisis to the church.” This crisis is also internal. Especially after the revolution, Shenouda faced criticism for assuming a political role throughout his reign. “The problem of Christians in Egypt is that they looked to the church to tell them who to vote for,” said Fekry. “But Christians have the right to enter any party and to vote for whoever they want. The church has no right to select the voice of the Copts. “We are not one bloc, nor should we be,” he said.

Sameh Saad, a youthful Coptic revolutionary activist, maintains a note of resignation despite his defence of the pope. “There was no one else who could represent the Copts, and there is still no one within the political or social arena,” said Saad. “In the coming years, Copts will enter politics and this will enable the church to return to its spiritual role. “I do not want the church to speak into politics, but this was not Shenouda’s choice,” he said. “It was forced upon him.” Knowing well the revolutionary frustrations that young Copts have with the church, the state, and Islamists, Saad is pessimistic. “We have lost Shenouda’s wisdom,” he said. “Many challenges will come our way, and I fear there will be no one to contain the Copts’ anger.”

Source: Christianity Today

TURNING A BLIND EYE TO THE WAR ON CHRISTIANS IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD

For the past year, Christians in northern Nigeria have been the victims of murder and ethnic cleansing by an al Qaeda-affiliated group named Boko Haram, whose name means  ¢â‚¬Å“book learning is forbidden. ¢â‚¬  They have pledged to kill every Nigerian Christian in an effort to impose sharia on Africa ¢â‚¬â„¢s most populous nation. Recent attacks on the group by Nigerian security forces dealt Boko Haram a deadly setback, but not before more than 500 Christians were killed by the group. These Christians joined countless of the brethren worldwide as victims of radical Islamic intolerance, which Western media seems uninterested in. That ¢â‚¬â„¢s what Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote in a recent cover story of Newsweek.

Ali, a native of Somalia, is best known for the film  ¢â‚¬Å“Submission, ¢â‚¬  which denounced the mistreatment of women in Islamic societies. As a result, her collaborator, Theo Van Gogh, was murdered, and Ali went into hiding. While Ali is a controversial figure, nothing in her article should be. The level of suffering inflicted on Christians in the name of Islam is well-documented. In addition to what ¢â‚¬â„¢s going on Nigeria, Ali cites the genocidal war waged by the Sudanese government against the Christians of southern Sudan. Long before the world ever heard of Darfur, Sudanese Christians where brutally persecuted by the Islamic regime in Cartoon. In Egypt, the  ¢â‚¬Å“Arab Spring ¢â‚¬  has given way to a brutal winter for Coptic Christians.

We constantly hear reports of murderous violence against Egypt ¢â‚¬â„¢s Christian minority. Perpetrators are either Islamic radicals or the Egyptian army itself. But in both cases, the message is the same: the Copts, whose presence in Egypt long predates Islam, are no longer safe in the country. There are many other examples of what Newsweek calls the  ¢â‚¬Å“global war on Christians in the Islamic world. ¢â‚¬  Ali is right when she calls it  ¢â‚¬Å“a major and underreported problem. ¢â‚¬  The question is  ¢â‚¬Å“why is it so underreported. ¢â‚¬  Ali says that Christians in Muslim societies have  ¢â‚¬Å“lost the protection of their societies. ¢â‚¬  Why don ¢â‚¬â„¢t we then hear more about it in the Western media? After all, these outlets covered the  ¢â‚¬Å“Arab Spring ¢â‚¬  and its aftermath in depth. Why not the attacks on Christians?

Ali suggests that the  ¢â‚¬Å“reticence ¢â‚¬  is due in part to a fear of  ¢â‚¬Å“provoking additional violence, ¢â‚¬  which is perverse: It ¢â‚¬â„¢s like telling a person being mugged that you would like to help, but are afraid this may provoke his attacker to get even angrier. Another is a fear of being accused of  ¢â‚¬Å“Islamophobia. ¢â‚¬  We respect the majority of Muslims who want to live in peace, but what ¢â‚¬â„¢s at play here are radical groups spreading terror in the name of Islam. And Islamic nations should join in denouncing the violence. The sad fact is that the West has turned a blind eye to what is happening to Christian minorities in the Islamic world. Hirsi Ali and Newsweek have reminded us that what ¢â‚¬â„¢s going on here isn ¢â‚¬â„¢t reticence but the most shameful kind of submission that only creates more victims.

Source: Article written ty Chuck Colson

CHRISTIAN PERSECTION – PRAY NOW!!

In the nations of the 10/40 Window Christians are encountering fierce persecution. Believers must meet in secret for fear of being detected by the government, religious police, or terrorist groups. In Islamic states, where Sharia law is enforced, converts to Christianity often face the death penalty. Most of these countries prohibit evangelism of any kind. Christian expatriates who share their faith are arrested and deported. In recent years, terrorist groups have begun abducting Christians and either holding them for ransom or murdering them. Al-Shabaab (Somalia), al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Algeria), al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and Partisans of Sharia have all made a practice of targeting westerners and Christians.

PRAY FOR:

 ¢â‚¬ ¢ Christians in the 10/40 Window to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Pray for the Lord to strengthen and encourage those facing persecution. Pray for the Lord to be present with those who are being held captive and deliver them from harm. Pray for them to feel the love and presence of the Lord surrounding them. Pray for Lord to send His angels to do spiritual warfare and minister to those who are in dangerous situations and whose lives are at risk.

 ¢â‚¬ ¢ the Lord to give government leaders wisdom and strategies in dealing with persecution and with terrorism. Pray for these leaders to represent the interests of their citizens – including Christians.

 ¢â‚¬ ¢ the Lord to raise up watchmen who are prayer warriors to beseech God on behalf of persecuted Christians. Pray for the church to rise up in its governmental authority – the highest authority on the face of the earth – and declare and decree the protection of our Brothers and Sisters. Pray for Christians to pray without ceasing for their persecuted Brothers and Sisters, as they would for one of their own relatives.

Source: Windows International Network

BOKO HARAM THREATENS TO KIDNAP CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN NIGERIA

Militant Islamist group Boko Haram has followed up its declaration of  ¢â‚¬Å“war ¢â‚¬  on Christians in Nigeria with a threat to kidnap Christian women as part of its latest  ¢â‚¬Å“campaign of terror ¢â‚¬ . The group said that they were planning coordinated attacks to  ¢â‚¬Å“eradicate Christians from certain parts of the country. We are going to put into action new efforts to strike fear into the Christians of the power of Islam by kidnapping their women ¢â‚¬ . He said that they would not harm or sexually assault the women but would  ¢â‚¬Å“demand as ransom that the families leave our Islamic areas ¢â‚¬ .

Boko Haram, which has been fighting to establish an Islamic state in Northern Nigeria since 2009, has stepped up since Christmas its efforts to drive Christians out of the region. The spokesman added: We will create so much effort to end the Christian presence in our push to have a proper Islamic state that the Christians won ¢â‚¬â„¢t be able to stay. The Christian community has been targeted in a series of church bombings and attacks on individuals this year; the violence is having the intended effect of driving Christians from the North. Many are heading to the mainly Christian South, while others are crossing the border into Cameroon.

Source: Barnabus Fund

Have you visited our Web site? Australian Prayer Network

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Update:

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 156 | Wed 25 Apr 2012

By Elizabeth Kendal

WELCOME to the intercessors who have joined the list this month.

‘. . . casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.’ (1

Peter 5:7 ESV)

APRIL 2012 UPDATE – During April we prayed concerning . . .

* SUDAN (RLPB 153), where some 700,000 ethnic ‘Southerners’ had until 8

April to register as citizens of the Islamic state or face loss of

citizenship and rights, purely on the grounds of their ethnicity.

UPDATING SUDAN:

(1) THE BATTLE FOR HEGLIG. From late March through to mid-April, South

Sudan’s army fought and repelled Sudanese forces that had been

launching attacks against South Sudan from the disputed region of

Heglig. (Heglig is south of the January 1956 border, but after oil was

discovered there in the 1970s Khartoum seized it, using Arab militias

to drive the Southerners out.) According to the Comprehensive Peace

Agreement some 20 percent of the border remains to be negotiated.

Khartoum’s reluctance to negotiate about Heglig is doubtless because it

is historically ‘Southern’. After Sudan retook control of Heglig on

Thursday 19 April, President Bashir addressed a rally where he vowed

never to negotiate with ‘insects’ that should be eliminated – the

language of genocide. ‘Heglig,’ Bashir told the cheering crowds, ‘is

not the end, but the beginning.’

(2) CHURCH TORCHED. On Saturday 21 April, in the wake of Sudan’s

re-conquest of Heglig, a mob of several hundred Muslims besieged and

torched a church, Bible school and dormitory complex in Khartoum’s

Al-Gerief (Al-Jiraif)district while shouting insults at ‘Southerners’.

This Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical church is attended mostly by Nuba.

The pogrom was reportedly incited by the Salafi imam of a local mosque

who called for the Muslims of Al-Gerief to rise up and purge the land

of ‘infidels’. It appears the police helped the mob gain access and did

nothing to stop them. Heavy machinery was brought in to aid the

destruction. The fire brigade said the fire could not be put out.

Furthermore, it has been reported that several other churches have

received orders from police to vacate their ‘illegal’ properties.

(3) SOUTHERNERS TRAPPED. Compass Direct News reports that ethnic

‘Southerners’ attempting to travel south have been unable to board

flights for Juba. Land routes have also been closed since 9 April. With

Khartoum mobilising for war, the regime may well have decided to stop

ethnic ‘Southerners’ from travelling to South Sudan where they might

bolster southern forces. Could Sudan’s Christians be facing internment

or genocide?

(4) AERIAL BOMBARDMENT OF SOUTH SUDAN. Dozens were injured and one young

boy was killed on Monday 24 April when Sudanese planes dropped eight

bombs in South Sudan’s Unity State.

(5) LRA REVIVED. According to Ugandan intelligence, Khartoum has resumed

contacts with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) which has moved from its

hideout in the forests of Obo, Central African Republic, to an area

close to the Sudanese border, sparking fears that the LRA could be

returning to the conflict.

The ‘international community’ has essentially abandoned the South

Sudanese; the Church must not.

* MALI (RLPB 154), where al-Qaeda-linked jihadists, under the cover of a

devastatingly violent and destructive Tuareg rebellion, have seized

control of northern Mali. With their churches burnt, their charities

looted, at least one pastor and his family assassinated and Ansar Dine

jihadists enacting Sharia (Islamic) law, northern Mali’s traumatised

Christians have fled. Please pray for them.

* AFGHANISTAN (RLPB 155), where the infamous Pakistan-based Haqqani

network launched the Taliban’s Spring Offensive with co-ordinated

attacks inside Kabul’s most secure areas. Beneath the violence,

corruption and chaos, yet rising far above it, is a small but growing

Afghan Church that desperately needs our prayers.

APRIL 2012 ROUND-UP – also this month . . .

* BURMA: THE CHRISTIAN KACHIN ABANDONED

The European Union recently lifted its sanctions against Burma, retaining

only an arms embargo. This follows similar moves by the US and Australia.

The junta – which remains devoted to ethnic Burman and Buddhist supremacy –

is delighted, for it has been working to legitimise and perpetuate its

power. So too are those who are eager to invest in Burma, such as the

West, which has been working to secure access to Burma’s markets and

resources including timber, minerals and cheap labour. On the other hand,

most human rights monitors and exiled activists are unhappy that the

rewards are coming faster than the reforms with horrific human rights

abuses continuing in ethnic minority areas. According to reports from

KachinNews, Burmese troops are massing around Laiza for what is expected

to be a massive military assault on the Kachin Independence Organisation’s

de facto capital, home to more than 25,000 Christian Kachin refugees. The

West has essentially abandoned Burma’s ethnic-religious minorities; the

Church must not. Please pray.

* UPDATING ‘EGYPT: SLIDING INTO A DARK AGE’ (RLPB 152)

In Abu Al-Reesh village on 4 March, some 1500 armed Muslim villagers

rioted against the Notre Dame Language School, besieging two nuns in the

school’s guesthouse for some eight hours, threatening to burn them alive

while the property was being thoroughly ransacked. UPDATE: At a recent

‘reconciliation’ session, the Christians were told they could have peace

in exchange for signing over parcels of land that include the school

guesthouse. The school manager, Magdy Melad, refused the terms saying, ‘If

we give in to that, they will take everything.’ However, to end this

present spasm of violence, the school had to agree not to press charges

against any of the Muslim rioters, vandals and looters, nor against those

who besieged and terrorised the nuns or threatened the children. As the

school administration notes, such ‘reconciliation’ sessions are nothing

other than legalised extortion. So long as impunity is the order of the

day, violent persecution against Christians will only escalate. The

situation in Egypt is extremely dangerous. Please pray for Egypt’s

threatened Christians.

* INDIAN-ADMINISTERED KASHMIR: CHRISTIANS ARRESTED

Mafford Maharaj Singh (62) and his wife Kusum (60), a Christian couple

from New Delhi, have been arrested in northern Kashmir and charged with

‘promoting enmity’ – a criminal charge under Article 153A of the Ranbir

Penal Code. According to authorities the couple, along with a local girl,

were distributing leaflets about Christianity. However, the couple’s

family in New Delhi maintains that their parents travelled to Srinagar on

16 April to attend a wedding and were merely shopping in the Bandipora

market when Mr Singh got into a conversation with a vendor. When it

emerged that Mr Singh was a Christian, he was set upon, beaten up and then

arrested. If found guilty, the believers could face fines and from three

to five years in prison. Please pray for justice in Kashmir.

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