Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 170 | Wed 01 Aug 2012

SYRIA, SUDAN, BURMA: THE BATTLES RAGE

by Elizabeth Kendal

* SYRIA

On Sunday 29 July the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Jim Middleton
spoke to Prof. Vali Nasr about Syria’s prospects. Nasr confirmed that al
Qaeda was indeed gaining ground in Syria. He expressed concern that in the
event of regime collapse, it is not clear who would ‘prevent a massacre of
the Alawites and the Christians and those Sunnis who supported Assad’. He
also said it was not clear who would ‘prevent al-Qaeda from setting up
shop in various little emirates across Syria’. Furthermore, Nasr warned
that should the regime fall ‘in a bad way’ then the whole region –
especially Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan – will be massively impacted and
destabilised.

THE BATTLE FOR ALEPPO

The battle for Aleppo is a decisive one. With a population of 2.5 million,
Aleppo is Syria’s second largest city after Damascus, and its commercial
hub. Home to swaths of loyalist Sunni Arab and Kurdish business elite,
Christians make up some 10 percent of the population of the city. Around
half of them are Armenians, with the remainder belonging to the Syrian,
Greek Orthodox and Maronite churches. Jihadists are pouring in for the
battle. Syrian Sunni jihadists who have been fighting with al Qaeda
against US forces in Iraq are returning home in droves. The West called
them ‘terrorists’ in Iraq. In Syria it calls them ‘rebels’, ‘insurgents’
and ‘opposition’. Furthermore foreign jihadists are coming in from the
Caucasus, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Algeria and Gulf Arab
states as well as Europe, including Britain, Sweden and France. It is not
uncommon to see the Islamist black flag flying on rebel vehicles or
hoisted in rebel-held areas, yet Western journalists seem as oblivious to
this as they are to the Islamist beards, chants and overt threats. Still
holding out dreams of ‘democracy’ these journalists also seem oblivious to
the long-term global consequences of Islamist sanctuaries in Syria.

It is reported that Aleppo’s Armenian community has hunkered down for the
duration.   Other Christians are doubtless doing the same. Some Christians,
though, feel their only option is to take up arms to fight for the
survival of their family. The battle has not yet reached the Christian
quarters. However, a standard tactic in Islamist asymmetric warfare is to
use women and children – and Christians wherever possible – as human
shields and then exploit their deaths for propaganda in the West.
Therefore we can expect jihadists will attempt to deliberately infiltrate
Christian districts not only to kill Christians (whom they want to
eliminate anyway) but also to draw the regime’s return fire into those
districts. Indeed, only the LORD of hosts can prevent this.

* SUDAN and BURMA

Watching and listening to the news, one could be forgiven for thinking
that the Syrian conflict was the world’s only war. On the contrary,
regimes are waging war against predominantly Christian peoples in South
Kordofan, Sudan and in Kachin State, Burma. The difference is, whilst the
West is for regime change in Syria, it is against changing the brutal,
Islamist, racist, Arab-supremacist regime in Khartoum, Sudan and the
brutal, Buddhist-nationalist, racist Burman-supremacist regime in Burma.
In each case, the Christians are on the wrong side of Western economic and
geo-strategic interests! In each case, Christian peoples – children,
parents, the elderly – are suffering immensely with hunger, tears, spilt
blood and broken bones. However, this is being covered up continuously and
without discernment by lazy, conformist media – apparently ignorant of
historical and religious realities – who are echoing the official line.
Surely God is NOT pleased.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT THE LORD OF HOSTS WILL –

* by the power of the Holy Spirit draw his people close and increase
their faith so they will hope in him (Psalm 33:18) and see answers to
their prayers (Isaiah 30:19); may the devil have no victory over them.

* rise up to defend, shield and supply his precious people and vanquish
their enemies. (Isaiah 40:10,11)

* raise his right arm against all jihadists and jihadist-allied forces in
Syria, the regime of Omar el-Bashir in Khartoum, Sudan, and the Burmese
junta in Naypyidaw; may those who seek to annihilate God’s precious
children succeed only in securing God’s furious wrath. (Isaiah 31:4,5).

‘But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; leave
me not defenceless! Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me and
from the snares of evildoers! Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by safely. (Psalm 141:8-10 ESV)

With whole Christian communities facing existential threat, consider Psalm
33:8-19.

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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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THE BATTLES RAGE IN SYRIA, SUDAN and BURMA

The battle for Aleppo is decisive. Jihadists are pouring in from around
the world for this battle, fighting not for Syria, but for Islam. The
Christians, who comprise about 10 percent of Aleppo’s 2.5 million
population, are gravely imperilled. Whilst the fighting has not yet
reached the Christian quarters, the jihadists doubtless know the
propaganda coup they could score by drawing the regime’s fire into the
Christian districts. Please pray for God’s protection. Meanwhile, wars
continue to rage against Christian communities in South Kordofan, Sudan
and Kachin State, Burma. In all these cases, the Christians are finding
themselves on the wrong side of Western economic and geo-strategic
‘interests’. Please pray for God to rise up on behalf of his precious
people.

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