Burma: CSW reports 'grave' human rights violations
There are reports of ‘grave’ human rights violations in the largely Christian Kachin area of Burma. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) heard first-hand accounts of the killing of unarmed civilians by the Burmese army and instances of torture and abuse. The report was based on interviews with internally displaced people from Kachin State and northern Shah State. It follows a three-week fact-finding visit to Rangoon and Kachin State on the China-Burma border. Witnesses also told of rape and the destruction of homes, churches and villages. CSW concludes in the report that while ‘a window of opportunity for change in Burma after decades of oppression and conflict may have now opened’, the situation in Kachin and northern Shan States illustrate that ‘there is still a very long way to go’. It goes on to outline the measures that need to be taken to ensure a lasting peace process, including a ‘genuine inclusive political process’ involving all ethnic nationalities, the democracy movement and the government.
Pray: for the pressure for real change in Burma to grow and that the political and religious minorities will be kept safe. (Ps.12:7)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/csw.reports.grave.human.rights.violations.in.burma/29312.htm
Israel: Rockets and bombs continue
Late on Friday rockets were fired from Gaza at a southern Israeli farming region landing between two residential homes. The rocket attack came after ‘an Islamic Jihad terrorist’ was wounded by Israel Defense Force fire in the northern Gaza Strip earlier that night. Last week at least eight rockets were fired from Gaza, exploding in open fields in the northern Negev region. In Thailand two Iranians were charged over a bomb plot against Israeli diplomats. Tehran is accused of mounting a terror campaign against Israel and tensions between the arch-foes have risen sharply following three bomb incidents in world capitals in less than 24 hours. On Monday bombers targeted Israeli Embassy staff in India and Georgia. In Bangkok two Iranians were detained over three blasts that rattled the Thai capital on Tuesday. Bangkok officials cannot say yet it’s terrorist activity but it's similar to the assassination attempt against India’s diplomat. It is believed an Iranian assassination team has targeted Israeli diplomats.
Pray: For God's protection to envelop the people of Israel and Gaza, and for the thwarting of all violent schemes. (Ps.5:11)
More: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8419570/israel-blames-iran-for-bangkok-blast
Syria: Homs update
Besieged residents of Homs have resorted to carrier pigeons to communicate with each other. One message attached to a pigeon’s leg read, ‘please tell us what you need in terms of supplies, medicine and food. God willing we will deliver them to you.’ The city has been under a barrage of heavy machine-gun fire, tank shells, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades since February 4th. The UN reported 300+ people dead in Homs, which has the second largest Christian population in Syria. Last week Reuters reported, ‘Rising violence is forcing hundreds out of Homs’ Two weeks ago a refugee fled with his family and nothing but the clothes they stood up in after being trapped inside for days. Since then, heavy bombardment has killed hundreds more and levelled dozens of buildings in a matter of days. Cold weather has slowed the flow of refugees into Turkey.
Pray: for those struggling to escape to be able to dodge Syrian military patrols, and for God’s protection on those who stay. (Ps.7:10)
Egypt: A difficult path to change
Parliament spent its first week with riots taking place just outside the main chambers. The Muslim Brotherhood will reveal the names of a coalition government when it forms a new leadership. That move is causing Christians concern. The optimistic view of what the new Egypt will look like for Christians has changed. The General Assembly of the Parliament wears full beards and Christians are saying, ‘For the first time in Egypt we see Muslim Prayers in the Assembly. Because of this, we know that lots of suffering will come, especially because the leadership says they will begin using Sharia law to rule the country. In Egypt at the moment there are many poor people who steal to eat. They can't cut the hands off of millions of people, so they said that when we recover economically, they will implement Sharia.’
Pray: for community development groups that are noted for their open Gospel content to be protected throughout these times of change. (Ps.17:8)
More: http://www.mnnonline.org/article/16825
USA: Chinese blocked religious freedom envoy
Chinese officials denied a visa to a top US State Department envoy and refused to meet with her to discuss issues of religious freedom days before this week’s high-profile visit to Washington by China’s vice president. The U. ambassador for international religious freedom (who previously was a New York Police Department chaplain) was scheduled to travel to China on Feb 8th but as the date drew near Chinese leaders refused to grant her meetings with government officials. The disclosure comes one day into the diplomatically sensitive visit by Xi Jinping (China’s presumptive next president) to the United States. During the visit the Obama administration hopes to ease tense in US-China relations.
Pray: for a new positive relationship between USA and China, allowing religious freedom issues to be positively discussed and implemented. (Pr.2:6-8)
Secularists lobby to remove NHS chaplains
Bishops in the Church of England are resisting calls from a secular campaign group to ban the use of NHS money to fund hospital chaplains. The National Secular Society (NSS) argue that the NHS is spending ‘millions of pounds a year’ on chaplains, and that public funds could be better spent on alternative health care services which were ‘non-discriminatory’. However, in a debate at the church’s General Synod this week, Rt Rev Mike Hill, the Bishop of Bristol, said that ‘every effort’ must be made to preserve the role of chaplains in the NHS to ensure that ill patients were offered full, comprehensive care.
‘As with much in life, the true value of our chaplains might only be appreciated if they were no longer present,’ he said. ‘Every effort ought to be made, and is being made, to resist secularist calls for chaplains to be excluded from the NHS.’
Pray: for our church leaders to stand up against the secular and humanist organisations who are attacking our Christian values. (Jude.1:3-4)
More: http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/social/secularists-lobby-to-remove-nhs-chaplains
Archbishop decries possible legalization of euthanasia
Archbishop Rowan Williams has spoken out against assisted suicide saying it is un-Christian and dangerous for society. To make his point heard, the spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion drew comparisons between the legalization of abortion and the possible legalization of euthanasia. According to The Telegraph, Williams told the General Synod earlier this week, ‘The default position on abortion has shifted quite clearly over the past 40 years’ and he lamented the impact that has had. Directly after abortion was legalized in the United Kingdom, abortion rates rose significantly. Abortion rates have now risen to about 200,000 a year. Williams fears a similar rise will occur in assisted dying rates if euthanasia is legalized. He also believes a rise in euthanasia holds grave consequences, saying, ‘To seek a change in the default position on the sanctity of life would be a disaster.’
Pray: for God’s guidance for all those considering any change in legislation and that the voice of the Church will be heard. (Ecc.8:8a)
Bishop calls on Christian MPs to rebel over gay marriage
The Rt Rev Mark Davies, Bishop of Shrewsbury, urged politicians to help protect the ‘God-given meaning of marriage for the sake of all generations to come’. He also criticised the idea that ‘progress’ should mean a ‘continuous shifting’ of society away from its Christian foundations – just days after a landmark legal ruling against prayers being said at council meetings. The Bishop’s intervention comes just weeks after reports that more than 100 Conservative MPs could vote against David Cameron’s proposals on same-sex unions.The Bishop said that the ‘timeless institution of marriage’ was recognised as a key building block of society, including by non-Christians. For politicians of Christian conscience this will be a moment to resist the leadership of their own political parties together with every parliamentarian who recognises the Judeo-Christian foundations on which our society rests. (See also Prayer Alert 06-2012 & 05-2012)
Pray: that the Government will listen and respect the views of the Church and others who recognise the importance of marriage. (Ps.85:8)
Another Welfare Reform Bill defeat for the government
The Government has lost a record eighth vote in the House of Lords over its plans to severely cut and restructure the British welfare system. An amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill, overturning a move to cut payments to specific council tenants with one spare bedroom, was carried by ten votes. The bill is now due to go back before the House of Commons, with the Government defiant but a huge swathe of political popular and public opinion - including charities and others making up Mr Cameron's 'Big Society' - wishing to see significant changes. The latest amendment, tabled by crossbencher Lord Best, would limit the impact of a ‘bedroom tax’, so that disabled people, war widows and foster carers with more than one spare bedroom would be exempt from a proposed £14 cut in housing benefit. It passed by 236 votes to 226, reports the BBC.
Pray: for the Government that they would have wisdom in making just decisions for all those who are affected. (1Ki.3:9)
France: Evangelical churches attracting youth
The atmosphere is like a pop concert in the Montparnasse area of Paris. Hundreds of young people sing catchy songs, waving their arms in the air, while a group plays booming music on stage. This isn't a pop gig. The Australian-born Pentecostal church ‘Hillsong’ planted a Paris church in 2005 and its congregation’s grown from a few dozen people to around 900 at each of its two weekend services conducted in French and English. On a recent Sunday, the 1,000-seat Théâtre Bobino (where the church holds its main services) was nearly full. This youthful, enthusiastic, multi-ethnic crowd is in sharp contrast to the diminishing French Catholic churches and represents the rise of the evangelical movement as a whole in a country that is officially secular. Census figures report 600,000 French members of evangelical churches, with 460,000 regularly practicing their faith - a ten-fold increase from 1950.
Pray: God will reproduce His message of truth and life to the youth of Paris across all of France. (Ro.10:14)