Lebanon: Syrian Christians fleeing to Lebanon
1,000 Syrians are now fleeing the country daily for Lebanon. Pontifical Mission Societies in Lebanon expressed the Church’s response, ‘We have Christian families who have fled Syria from violence or the oppression of the regime. There are families who have relatives in Lebanon who have fled here and want to change their lives looking for work. The Church's response in Lebanon has been hospitality and care of these people. We host them in parishes, provide food and clothing, assist them at an economic level and insert them into the social fabric. As a Church we reiterate that we are against violence, we want to promote peace and encourage dialogue. As for the Christians, the danger that looms is a scenario like Iraq, where Christians are forced to flee the country. The risk is that a dictatorial regime is replaced with an Islamist type which imposes the Sharia.’
Pray: God’s provision for those in desperate fear, leaving behind everything as they look for new beginnings. (Jos.1:9)
More: http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=13580
Afghanistan: Update
A believer writes, ‘Demonstrations and bombs sparked by the burning of Holy Books continue. Please pray no more people will be killed or injured. Pray for the families of those who have been killed. Pray for the recovery of those who have been injured. Pray for understanding on both sides so this kind of incident will not happen again. Many foreigners live, work and serve the people of the land distributing food and clothing, teaching classes, training medical workers and leaders, drilling wells, providing medical care and much more to improve the lives of the people. They live and work in difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions and must fight against greed and corruption to help the people who are truly needy. Their lives are difficult, they continue because it is what God has called them to do. Pray for Christian workers and their families to be protected in dangerous situations.
Pray: that they will receive the support and finances they need to continue, and for their lives to be a demonstration of God’s love to the people they serve. (Deut.31:6)
Dear Friends, please join us in observing the Global Day of Prayer for Burma: March 11, 2012. The Day of Prayer magazine is now available to be downloaded in English, Russian, Danish, and Thai languages. For more information, please go to www.prayforburma.org.
Christians Concerned for Burma
The “Two Nations Locking Arms against Human Trafficking Plan” is moving along. I am heavily involved with the Administration in Florida to put on a State-wide Human Trafficking Summit this year. My goal is to move across the Border States and do the same thing. Please pray for me as I seek representatives from each state to form a National Human Trafficking Task Force. This will be for the purpose of sharing information, rescuing and restoring the victims, and working together to bring an end to human trafficking.
If you ever need a Speaker or Child Advocate for future events here or abroad, please do not hesitate to ask me. God is doing amazing things in the U.S. for bringing more awareness to the Children who are abused, neglected, abandoned, and enslaved in human trafficking.
Please pray for the forthcoming IMA NATIONAL SUMMIT on CHURCH & MISSION to be held from the 7th to 9th March 2012 at IMA Vision City, Hyderabad. Please pray for the National Church Leaders taking part in this Summit and for each session, plenary, workshop, group study, and more so that each talk, discussion, and decision be to the glory of God and for the transformation of India. We must dream nationally and work locally. www.imaindia.org
We certainly appreciate your sincere intercession for this historic gathering of National Church & Mission leaders.
Ask the Lord for His will and his way to be clear as it relates to all of the healthcare in America, and that this would be clear to the justices, their clerks, the lawyers, and the providers, and legislators in how they should respond. Ask for God’s justice in America’s legal system and healthcare system.
In just over a month, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments over the 2010 healthcare law commonly referred to as Obamacare. The headliner is the individual mandate. There is also the employer mandate. Conscience rights could come up as well. With the argument just weeks away, briefs are being written and filed with the Supreme Court, and preparations are well under way for this historic week of arguments.
Pray that the Lord will place in our national leaders' hearts a deep understanding of the preciousness of the freedoms that our U.S. Constitution grants to all of its citizens. May this current administration's action with their healthcare legislation continue to stir outrage in all Americans who cherish the blessings of freedom and liberty that are granted to us by our Constitution. Pray that the Church will awaken to take a stand and begin to reverse the nationwide effort to silence God's people!
The State of Religious Freedom in America
The state of religious freedom is at the forefront of national conversation as people across America attempt to process the stunning actions recently taken by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that pit religious freedom against compliance with a federal healthcare mandate, forcing people of faith to make a decision that infringes upon the religious freedom that our Founding Fathers robustly protected from our very beginning. Unfortunately, the HHS mandate is not an isolated incident; it is more of the same. Members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, a bipartisan group of 103 Members of the House of Representatives dedicated to preserving religious freedom in America, will continue standing up against burdens on these inherent freedoms.
In August 2011, HHS issued a mandate requiring that all health plans cover abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives, and sterilization at no cost to the patient, despite the fact that scores of people have religious and moral objections to these services. The mandate included an extremely narrow exemption for churches, but offered no protection to religious hospitals, schools, and charities, with the reason being that these entities often serve and employ individuals that do not share the groups' religious beliefs. "A long time ago, the Catholic Church received a mandate from a higher authority . . . It is the mandate of Jesus Christ. . . . Catholic ministries for the needy are as blind to race, creed, class, and gender as Jesus Christ, their founder. That any one of them, much less all of them, should be forced to choose between the Gospel mandate and the U.S. government's healthcare mandate strikes at the very heart of the right to religious liberty on which our country was founded.”
The Jesus mandate vs. Obama’s mandate (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/the-jesus-mandate-vs-obamas-mandate/2012/01/27/gIQAJ5jpVQ_blog.html) Washington Post, January 27, 2012.
More of the Same: Hostility Towards People of Faith and Religious Institutions
In recent years, there have been numerous examples of a recurring hostility towards people wishing to exercise their constitutionally-protected religious freedoms. The HHS mandate is not an isolated incident; it is more of the same. The very existence of these occurrences, regardless of whether they are successfully reversed, shows a troubling pattern that has a chilling effect on people of faith, leaving them uncertain about exercising their religious freedoms.
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings, be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
On March 25, Hong Kong will elect a new Chief Executive. We believe that as Christians we are called to seek the peace and prosperity of the city in which God has placed us and to pray for it. The Lord says, “…if the city prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7). We are calling for all who love our city and committed Christian intercessors to pray:
1. Pray for the CE election (5 minutes) – (Scriptural ref.: Isaiah 11:2-5; Psalm 33: 8-12)
• For God’s choice to be elected
• For campaigns to be conducted with transparency and integrity
• For fruitful dialogue with the public by all candidates
• For God’s choice for the team supporting the CE elect: Chief Secretary, Secretary for Justice, Financial Secretary, and all Bureau Chiefs
• For the current government to effectively govern HK during the transition period
• For smooth transition of power and God’s protection of HK during the process
2. Pray for current election issues in HK (5 minutes) – (Scriptural ref.: Habakkuk 2:14; Psalm 24). Pray that constructive ideas will be generated through debates and discussions during the CE election campaign process. Items may include but are not limited to the following:
• Housing and land use policies
• Population and immigration policies
• Widening wealth gap – poverty issues
• Policies regarding pregnant mainland mothers giving birth in HK
• Education policies
• Healthcare policies
• Environmental issues
• Solution to increasing tension between mainlanders and HK peoplea
Catholic leader rallies Church to oppose gay marriage plans
The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales is to call upon churchgoers to take a stand against the Government’s plans to legalise gay marriage. Archbishop Vincent Nichols has outlined his opposition in a pastoral letter to be read out during mass this Sunday. It warns that the proposal ‘threatens the true meaning of a sacred union’ and signals a ‘profoundly radical step’ that will strip marriage of its ‘distinctive nature’. The letter is co-signed by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Rev Peter Smith. It argues that marriage as a union between a man and a woman should remain the ‘foundation of our society’. The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, was more scathing in his attack on the Government’s plans at the weekend. He said it was clear that the proposal was ‘not
about rights but rather is an attempt to redefine marriage at the behest of a small minority of activists’. See ‘Coalition for Marriage’ petition http://c4m.org.uk/ and last week’s Prayer Alert.
Pray: that this pastoral letter will challenge its church members to take a stand and pray that the wider church will also take up the challenge. (Heb.13:4)
Crematorium cross set to be dumped, despite no complaints
A local council is set to remove a cross from a crematorium window to make it more ‘inclusive’ – even though no one appears to have ever complained about the Christian symbol. The plan, at Haycombe Crematorium in Bath, has prompted concern from residents with one warning of ‘creeping secularisation’. One of the locals who has expressed disquiet at the proposed move is Hugh Mackay, who lives near the crematorium. He said: ‘It seems there is a determined secular campaign to try and obliterate our religious heritage in our country. The council says it is not to upset people of all faiths but I’ve talked to Hindus, Muslims and Jews and none of them have ever complained. They all respect the cross as a symbol of the Christian faith. Some of us feel very trongly that this is a deliberate attempt by the council to downplay our Christian heritage.’
Pray: for the council in this case to rethink their misguided political correctness. (Ps.105:1)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/crematorium-cross-set-to-be-dumped-despite-no-complaints/
Medics suggest legalising infanticide
In an article in the British Medical Journal two medical ethicists said doctors should be allowed to kill disabled or even unwanted newborn babies because they are ‘not actual persons’. They argue that parents should have the choice to end the lives of their children shortly after they are born because, at this stage, they are morally irrelevant’ and have ‘no moral right to life.’ And, ‘Infanticide is no different morally to abortion since both a foetus and a newborn baby were only ‘potential persons’. Rev Joanna Jepson said the article highlights ‘false ethical assumption made by many pro-choice groups, that abortion was morally justified because the child was still in the womb.’ Lord Alton said it is profoundly shocking to see how opinion-formers within the medical profession have ditched the professional belief of the healer to uphold the sanctity of human life for this impoverished and inhumane defence of child destruction.
Pray: for people to recognise the distorted thinking in the justification of post-natal abortion and to reject it completely. (Mt.19:14)
More: http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/article/christians.reject.afterbirth.abortion/29416.htm