Faith schools will be shut down if they teach intolerance
Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference David Cameron announced plans to force all religious schools to register and be inspected. ‘If an institution is teaching children intensively then, whatever its religion, we will, like any other school, make it register so that it can be inspected - and, be in no doubt, if you're teaching intolerance, we will shut you down.’ he said. He promised the country that it was his duty to keep Britain safe and that it was time to ‘really confront extremism’. David Landrum, director of advocacy at the Evangelical Alliance, said, ‘It is right that we actively rebuild Britain as an even greater country and take stringent measures to eradicate extremist ideology. However, it is vital that committed Christians are not labelled as extremists by those who may disagree with aspects of their faith.’
Watchman Intercessors – a word in season
Steve Botham, Director at the World Prayer Centre writes, ‘This is a time of many warnings - of danger from terrorists, of severe economic collapse, of God’s judgement on nations and situations. We can become very concerned, but all watchmen are subject to God - He is the ultimate watchman. Psalm 121 tells us ‘He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep’. God has called forth watchmen at this time – but ultimately it is up to all of us to weigh up the warnings and ask - is this God’s voice to us at this time? He warns us for a serious purpose - to lead to repentance, prayer, practical action.’ Watchmen and intercessors serve out of love for their community and church. God is looking for a servant attitude.
Migrant crisis will reveal Europe’s true colours
As hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war, repression and poverty cross Europe’s borders, the continent is struggling to cope. There is growing consensus that the EU’s legal framework and individual member states are poorly equipped to confront the problem. Politicians will have to act fast if they want to avoid a humanitarian emergency this winter. They should also be aware that quick solutions will not make the bigger issue go away. The migrant crisis is, in fact, about Europe’s identity. The coming weeks and months will be a test of European unity in the hardest times, with nationalist and extremist voices gaining ground and EU leaders strengthening border controls. So Europe's open door is soon to be closed in face of the tide that has overwhelmed Italy, Greece, Macedonia, Hungary, Serbia and Croatia and created problems throughout Europe.
Germany: Netanyahu cancels Germany trip amid terror wave
Thursday’s meeting to strengthen diplomatic progress between Angela Merkel and Benjamin Netanyahu has been postponed due to a surge in Palestinian terror attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank. (see this week’s Prayer-Alert world article) Prayer is needed for a strengthening of Israel’s relationships with Germany. In the middle of his address to the UN General Assembly Benjamin Netanyahu stood silently for 44 seconds and glared at all the representatives assembled as a protest against an absence of criticism of threats against Israel. Thursday’s cancelled consultation meeting took on a special significance. In 2008 Chancellor Merkel’s speech to the Knesset said that ‘the historical responsibility for Israel’s security is part of our raison d’état’. It would remain unchanged and continue to be one of the foundations of Germany’s foreign policy.
Witness of Christian workers in Syria
The sorrow of the ministry team leader who lost 11 workers and one of their children last month has been deep, but he takes heart that their faithfulness could help change the hearts of persecutors. ‘They kept on praying loudly and sharing Jesus until their last breath,’ he said. ‘They did this in front of the villagers as a testimony for others.’ He asked for prayer for surviving family members and for himself.
‘These things have been very hard on me,’ he said. ‘What wrong did those people do to deserve to die? However, what is happening is more and more people are being saved. The ministry is growing and growing. In the past we used to pray to have one person from a Muslim background come to the Lord. Now there are so many we can barely handle all the work among them.’
Christian refugees left out in cold
About 350,000 Syrian Christians have been forced to flee their homes. Many have been killed, sold into sex slavery, or forced into hiding. They are not going to U.N. refugee camps, where they often face further persecution, sources tell WND.
As U.S. and European leaders reach out with open arms to tens of thousands of Muslim refugees flooding into Europe, the groans of persecuted Christians in Syria, Iraq and Pakistan are increasingly drowned out.
President Obama announced Thursday that the U.S. will accept an additional 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year, on top of the 1,600 that have already arrived. The Syrian arrivals coming from United Nations refugee camps to date have been 95 percent Muslim.
When it comes to the plight of Christians, most of the voices of concern for "refugees" – whether they come from the EU, the White House, the Congress or in the media – fall silent, says a spokesman for the International Christian Concern.
The ICC posted an alert on its website Thursday that an estimated 30,000 Pakistani Christians have been forced to flee their homeland due to persecution from the Muslim majority in Pakistan. They are living in crude conditions in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia with little help from the United Nations or various international aid agencies. Christians in Pakistan are often jailed for their beliefs, their churches are bombed and their pastors killed. The president of Pakistan Christian Congress has urged the European Union, the United States, Australia, Canada and other countries to open doors to the persecuted Pakistani Christians. Nazir Bhatti, who launched the Pakistan Christian Congress in 1985 and was forced to flee Pakistan in 1998 after he challenged the nation's Islamic blasphemy laws, has written leaders of the E.U., U.K., U.S. and other European countries asking that they receive Pakistani Christian asylum seekers, reported the website Christians in Pakistan.
Bhatti's plea comes after the announcement from Prime Minister David Cameron that the U.K. will accept 20,000 Syrian refugees, while Germany is welcoming 800,000, Spain is taking 20,000 and France 24,000. President Obama has previously committed to taking 5,000 to 8,000 Syrians over the next year, but his administration announced today it is considering increasing that number by 10,000.
Refugees or migrants? Despite all of the attention being given to Syrians as "war refugees," data from the United Nations refugee agency indicates that the majority may actually be economic migrants rather than true war refugees. The UNCHR data shows, for instance, that 75 percent of the so-called refugees flooding into Europe this year are men, and that only 51 percent are Syrian.
Bhatti has petitioned the leaders of U.K., Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Romania, Hungry, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and other E.U. member states to give refuge to Pakistani Christian asylum seekers by allowing them easy entry into their countries.
Lord George Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, in a recent op-ed in the Telegraph, urged Britain to focus on taking Syrian Christians, saying they are the most vulnerable and repeatedly targeted victims of the Syrian civil war. While Carey said he welcomes Cameron's announcement to take in more Syrian refugees, the most targeted refugees are being left behind to face their Islamic killers. "But the frustration for those of us who have been calling for compassion for Syrian victims for many months is that the Christian community is yet again left at the bottom of the heap," Carey wrote.
Source: International Prayer Connect
Pakistan: asylum needed for Christians
The president of Pakistan’s Christian Congress has urged Western nations to open its doors to persecuted Pakistani Christians. According to the Daily Pakistan, Nazir Bhatti said Christians seeking asylum should be accommodated in the USA, the UK, and other European countries. Bhatti’s plea comes after the announcement that refugees from Syria will be welcomed by both the UK and Germany. Thousands of Pakistani Christian asylum-seekers are not economic immigrants but persecuted Christians who can’t afford to pay human traffickers to reach the shores of Europe, wrote Bhatti. Christian asylum-seekers in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand and other Southeastern Asian countries have been waiting years for word on their immigration cases, without any support from the UNHCR, IRC or other international NGOs.
Mexico: ‘Where are our boys?’ protest march
The parents of 43 missing college students have led a march of thousands of people in Mexico City, marking one year since the students’ disappearance. In January Mexico's government said the students had been handed over to a drug cartel by police and then killed and burned to ashes. Independent experts suggest they were killed because they unknowingly took control of a bus carrying illegal drugs and the government did nothing to protect them. Forensic teams said the government's conclusion is not supported by evidence. Protesters called the march ‘a day of indignation’, allowing people to show their anger over the handling of the students’ disappearance. They carried posters saying ‘No more disappearances and no more deaths’. ‘We came with a thirst for justice. Behind the 43 are thousands of disappeared’, student Sofia Rojas said. An anti-crime activist said the protest ‘sets an example for all Mexicans to wake up, and not be silent.’ See also: http://prayer-alert.net/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=4152:mexico-missing-students-mysterious-developments&Itemid=168
Afghanistan: can government keep Kunduz secure?
After losing control of Kunduz to the Taliban on Monday, the government says it has now reclaimed most of the city. Shockwaves of the Taliban's sudden seizure of this strategic hub on the main trade-route between the Afghan capital and Tajikistan continue to reverberate. On Thursday insurgents were still in various parts of Kunduz, and the Taliban insisted they had not yet finished fighting in the city. Questions remain about Afghan ability to protect Kunduz in future. To help you visualise the terror of residents in the area, the following is part of an email which Prayer Alert received on Monday. ‘Mobile service has been cut off. Reports of fierce battles with security forces. T*lbn forces broken into main Kunduz prison, freeing hundreds -1 hour ago. More than half of Kunduz seized -12 minutes ago - now marching on airport. This would be a major disaster for Afghanistan and the first district main city falling back into the hands of the T*lbn.’
Pakistan: floods, Taliban and prayer warfare
A Christian in Pakistan writes, ‘The greatest thing anyone can do for God and for man is to pray. It is not the only thing, but it is the chief thing.’ Some heavy flooding has taken place in the southern part of the Punjab as heavy monsoon rains have started again and India has let the water go in their own dams upriver. The government has helped many, but still hundreds of thousands are left desolate without homes, fields or livestock. PLEASE PRAY against Al-Qaeda as they have taken a new approach of offering help to people affected by the floods if the people will come and join them. A poor Pakistani without the money to go on Hajj can go to the central place of the ‘Prince of Death’, the central place of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan. They believe this will obtain the same merit; as many Pakistani people go to this stronghold as go to Mecca.