As unrest tears through the land over one million people, many of them Christians in predominantly Muslim lands, have been displaced. Most have fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Winter is approaching. Refugees face temperatures of 35 to 55 degrees F. ‘It is already cold at nights and they have nowhere to go’ said the president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council. Meanwhile a representative of The Catholic Relief Services said, ‘Just weeks or months ago, they were middle-class with homes and careers. they were corporate professionals or barbers or teachers or college students. Now they’re in perilous conditions.’ The refugee camps already have fever and disease. International humanitarian organisations are working together to bring relief to thousands of Iraqi in Turkey; 850,000 Iraqi in Kurdistan, including 150,000 Christians; 200,000 Syrians in the Kurdish Region of Iraq. Thousands more arrive daily. See also 

Boko Haram laughed at the announcement of a ceasefire and release of abducted school girls. Two weeks ago Nigeria’s Foreign Minister said the schoolgirls would be released ‘in the very near future.’ However, a recent Boko Haram video showed Abubakar Shekau saying, ‘Don't you know the Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam? They have memorised two chapters of the Quran. We married them off.’ He also denied knowing the negotiator with whom the government claimed it had worked out a ceasefire deal. In the video, Shekau talked not of peace but of more violence - promising more ‘war, striking and killing with gun.’ On Saturday Boko Haram sent messages to Christians in hideouts in the hills telling them that non-Muslims would be killed. Many tried to escape to Cameroon in the night but were stopped. Boko Haram later attacked the area and killed many remaining in the hills. See:

A UN report issued on 2 November warned that unchecked climate change will increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. Ban Ki-moon said that if we maintain a ‘business as usual’ attitude about climate change the opportunity to keep temperature rise below the 2 degrees Celsius target ‘will slip away within the next decade.’ A recent assessment of climate change report confirms actual climate change being registered around the world and warming of climate systems that is unequivocal. The atmosphere and oceans have warmed, snow and ice has diminished, sea levels have risen and the concentration of carbon dioxide has increased to an unprecedented level. The report found the world very ill-prepared for the risks of a changing climate, especially the poor and most vulnerable who have contributed least to this problem. See also last week’s Prayer Alert ‘EU reaches deal on CO2 emissions cut’.

On Tuesday an enraged Muslim mob beat a Christian couple to death near Lahore and burnt their bodies in the brick kiln where they worked for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran. This is the latest example of mob violence against minorities accused of blasphemy. Pakistan’s brick-kiln workers are often subject to harsh practices, with an estimated 4.5 million being indentured labourers (Indian indenture system is a form of debt bondage). Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a three-member committee to fast track investigation of the killings and ordered police to beef up security in Christian neighbourhoods. Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, with allegations often prompting mob violence. A Christian woman has been on death row since November 2010 after she was found guilty of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed during an argument with a Muslim woman. Continue to pray for the repeal of the blasphemy laws which are often misused to persecute Christians and those of other minority faiths.