Day: October 16, 2019
SYRIA: A Horrifying Scene
Source: Open Doors, October 14, 2019
Last Tuesday [October 8], the heart of Qamishli, a city in northern Syria, was beating with life. Kids were in school, men and women were at work, shops were open, taxis were driving.
Explosions ended the peace in the town on Wednesday afternoon, October 9. Turkey had begun an offensive military action against Kurds in northern Syria. People rushed back to their houses, kids were dismissed from their classrooms, and the streets emptied. Life stopped.
George Moushi, the pastor of the [Evangelical Christian] Alliance Church in Qamishli, saw the need of the people in this situation. He went out to estimate the damage, to see what he could do for his people. Unfortunately, missiles don’t differentiate between a child or a grown up, between a terrorist or a mother.
Pastor George described the damage he saw on the ground. “Thankfully the bombs didn’t hit the center of the city where the majority of people are,” he says, “but, despite that, there were deaths and people injured.”
“Today I visited a Christian family whose house was hit by two missiles. Fadi Habsouna, the father of two children, was injured and lost his house and his shop. His wife was also severely injured in her spine and she is in a critical state. Doctors said she needs surgery and she might be paralyzed forever.”
» Read full story as well as Urgent: Christians in Syria Need Your Help which includes ways to pray and an opportunity to give.
» See also Turkey’s Syria Offensive Explained in Four Maps and read how neighboring Lebanon is calling for help as they experience their worst forest fires in decades, which have now spread into Syria (BBC). Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin just published a special edition on Syria. Look beyond the headlines and pray for this region.
NIGERIA: Violence Targets Pastors
Source: Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin, September 25, 2019
[It has been] reported that Baptist pastor Elisha Noma (abducted by Fulani herdsmen on August 14 had been “released unharmed” on August 31 upon payment of ransom. However, in a subsequent interview with Morning Star News (MSN) Pastor Noma revealed that he certainly was not released unharmed as reported in Nigerian media. To extract ransom, Pastor Noma’s Fulani captors phoned his family and then beat, cut, and burned their hostage in the hearing of his loved ones.
Since being released Pastor Noma has received medical treatment for cuts, burns, and a broken hand. MSN reports: “In August alone, more than 40 pastors in Nigeria were either kidnapped or suffered some form of violence from herdsmen or Boko Haram terrorists, according to figures obtained from [Christian Association of Nigeria].” Pastors are particularly vulnerable because of their profession and their distinctive clothing. Please pray.
» This episode of the Bulletin includes summaries and updates on situations in Papua, Ethiopia, Algeria, Burkina Faso, India, Iraq, and Nepal. A section on the website for critical prayer requests highlights the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, observed by most
SOUTH ASIA: Miraculous Escape
Source: International Mission Board, October 14, 2019
He was an Islamic leader of leaders in his city. Early in his career, he was sent to study Islam in Pakistan. After his studies, he returned to his home country and began to lead the Islamic gatherings. He was also tasked with teaching and preparing hundreds of other young men to become leaders in the mosque. He was a leader and trainer of Islam.
One day at home, he had an encounter with Jesus. He said, “It was the first time in my life that I ever felt peace in my heart. I knew Jesus was real.” He kept this decision to himself for a period, but he finally shared it with his wife. She panicked and reported him to his father and brothers. They immediately came to his location and demanded that he return to Islam. He kindly refused and explained that he had peace for the first time. They beat him severely. They also forced him to leave his home, his city, his wife, and his children. He was never to return unless he would deny Jesus and return to Islam.
[Later] a group of radical Muslims came to him at night, wearing masks, and beat him. They threw him into the trunk of the car and then drove him to a militant training camp outside of the city. After some initial beatings, they then informed him that he would be executed at sunrise…
AFGHANISTAN: Forgiving the Taliban
Source: SAT-7, October 3, 2019
“When the Taliban found out my brother was a Christian, they hung him upside down, broke his hands and fingers, and burned his face with cigarettes. They put that child of God through the most dreadful torment and killed him.”
Alborz [in Afghanistan] was devastated and felt unable to forgive his brother’s killers.
“Feelings of hate became my constant companion,” he admits. “The anguish and bitterness that filled my being took its toll and soon I found myself with no friends. Even at home I did not speak with kindness to those around me.”
Fathers in this part of the world are likely to encourage or even demand that a murdered child is avenged by his siblings, but Alborz’s father had been a believer in Jesus for more than thirty years.
“When my father told me that I must forgive my brother’s killers or it would destroy my life, I could not accept it.”
For three years Alborz struggled and had further conversations with his father. During this time he also read the New Testament, which deeply affected him.
“The words of Jesus about anger, revenge, and forgiveness had a huge impact on me,” he says. “Reading the Sermon on the Mount truly shook me. My tears flowed, my heart softened, and I finally forgave the Taliban. That moment the burden I had been carrying was lifted from me.
“For the last eight years I have been a genuine believer and I am now able to forgive. I have a great joy in my heart that God has placed there. …I’ve chosen to see beyond despair.”
UKRAINE: Every Day on Their Knees—for Five Years
Source: Baptist Press, October 11, 1019
In March of 2014 tanks and guns and men with masks appeared on the streets of Kharkov, Ukraine, throwing everything into upheaval and threatening the 23-year religious freedom that had nurtured this post-Communist generation. Nearby cities of Lugansk and Donetsk were also under attack by separatists, but those battling in Kharkov didn’t know what they were up against.
Pastors and evangelical leaders put out a call for prayer—seven o’clock every morning, in the city square, for anyone who wanted to fight the real battle taking place for their city—the spiritual battle. Within a week, 150-200 believers showed up to fight on their knees because they remembered the spiritual darkness that shadowed their land under Communism. This wasn’t a political battle, it was and is a spiritual battle of epic proportion as their freedom to worship, meet together as churches, pray publicly, and share their faith with others was all being threatened.
“This is the generation of the children whose fathers were killed for their faith, whose fathers spent most of their time in prison for their faith. We knew the real face of Communism, and it was trying to come back. We were standing on our knees, and we said, ‘Lord, we don’t know what to do. Our eyes are on you, Lord.’ The only hope was on the Lord,” said Pastor V., a Baptist pastor and one of the leading organizers of the prayer meeting.
“At this point, I’d be afraid not to pray,” said Pastor V. “We know what’s at stake.”
» Full story includes five lessons learned from these praying Ukrainians.