Last week Prayer Alert readers prayed for Cabinet members to get behind Theresa May as she prepares to negotiate with EU members next week, hoping to deliver the best possible clean Brexit  for the UK.

At the time of writing, (2 July 2018) Theresa May’s cabinet is squabbling loudly and in public ahead of a ‘crunch’ meeting at Chequers on Friday - when the Prime Minister wants to unite her team to agree on the terms of a white paper that she will present to Brussels next week.

There are strong views being aired on both sides of the Brexit debate regarding the customs arrangement. Brexiteers do not want to compromise in any customs union plans, while former remainers do not want anything that will damage UK business.

Pray: for God to pour his oil of peace over cabinet members in the coming days and during Friday’s meeting.
Pray: Ask God to replace public political backbiting and media speculation with professional qualified comments. May He bring harmony into all of Friday’s debates.
Pray: for Friday’s meeting to determine a way forward according to God’s agenda for the future of the United Kingdom.
Pray: for God’s flawless direction to replace unedifying public debate.

Greetings!  We are pleased to bring our partners around the world the July edition of International Prayer Connections.   Amidst many challenging and needy situations, there are reasons to give thanks to our Heavenly Father… for breakthrough in the Korean Peninsula that even months ago we could not have imagined and early rains in Cape Town that have eased the potential drought situation, to name just two.

Each month, I meet with fellow network leaders around the globe, using online conferencing software. I cannot remember a time with so much happening to further the mobilising of prayer and mission.  We are seeing a number of initiatives that are focused on raising awareness and prayer for the unreached peoples’ groups.  The Children in Prayer Movement are doing some excellent work and are an example of great collaboration.  There are some encouraging developments across the middle east too. 

I am grateful to my colleague Brian Mills for writing our lead article this month on the topic of Praying for the Persecutors.   He has recently published a book entitled ‘Window on the Darkness’ that is timely and challenging. It is available in print or Kindle formats from Amazon USA |  Amazon UK .

May I draw your attention to the United Prayer Rising event taking place in Toronto, Canada August 8-11 2018.  This will be a significant event. Please see the article below.  More information and sign up here:www.uprisingcanada.com

International Prayer Connections is produced and distributed freely each month.  We are grateful to those who give generously to enable this to happen.   If you would like to make a gift towards our costs, please click here.

Best wishes, in Him

John D Robb

IPC Chairman

By Brian Mills, Senior Advisor to the IPC

In recent days and weeks the catalogue of stories about Christians being persecuted seems to have increased in momentum.

Last week it was Mozambique, where Heidi Baker described how people were being beheaded, women were being raped and villages were being burned to the ground as Islamist terrorists went on the rampage.  The week before it was about some churches in Indonesia being targetted by Islamist suicide bombers, with many deaths.

Last month it was about registered churches in Algeria being closed by the authorities, and followers of Jesus being restricted in what they are able to do.  Bombs going off in Afghanistan with the main targets being those who are NGO’s from other nations.  Many of the stories don’t get picked up by Western media.   But on a daily basis Christians are killed or put in prison for their faith somewhere in the world.

Ministry leaders are experiencing increasing difficulties for their NGO’s and those serving Christ to obtain visas to travel into some of the most needy countries.  Sometimes it is because of the dangers facing foreign workers, sometimes it is because foreign workers are not welcome.  Sometimes the visits of foreigners puts added stress on indigenous followers of Jesus, in addition to the dangers they face constantly.

North Korea, so much in the news recently, has for many years been the number one country for persecution in the world.  We are seeing how the situation there is beginning to change, and the hope is that this will help the thousands of Christians held in concentration camps there to find freedom.  The prayers of God’s children, both in S. Korea and also from many other nations, over many years, and the many prayer assignments conducted in the DMZ, have built up to the stage that now we are beginning to see an unprecedented change in the spiritual atmosphere.

One of our friends in a Middle Eastern country – a remarkable woman of faith and enterprise - faces daily death threats from those who don’t want to see Christians succeed in their task and mission to refugees and to people of the majority population.

So how should the church around the world respond?  What difference can ordinary Christians make?

There are three main ways in which agencies devoted to helping the persecuted church operate.

1. Advocacy. These make representations to governments, the UN and the world’s media on behalf of some of the worse cases of those who are discriminated against or are in prison, sometimes on trumped-up charges, because of their Christian faith. Some cases grab the headlines.  Many more are kept out of the limelight because of the sensitivities.  They need prayer.
2. Aid. These agencies seek to raise money and other resources to help impoverished churches and Christians function in the face of adversity. In many countries followers of Christ are unable to get jobs and face daily discrimination. Some are in refugee camps, and some are reaching out to those in refugee camps who are fleeing conflicts. The aid given is many faceted – from food to medical supplies, to finance for micro-businesses, to educational supplies for children, and for the supply of Bibles. They need prayer.
3. Advance. These are the agencies that through personnel, resources and training help and equip indigenous leaders and believers in Christ to reach out with the Gospel, develop disciple-making movements and plant churches. Some of the most exciting stories of the growth of the church are coming from countries where persecution has been intense. In several Moslem countries the atrocities committed by Moslem against fellow Moslems is causing many thousands to turn away from Islam. The door is opening wider for the Gospel to be shared – but the spiritual climate is at least uncertain, and sometimes extremely dangerous.  They all need prayer also.

So when we pray, what do we pray for?   Most Christians seem to pray out of a sense of solidarity with those who are going through the fires of persecution.  We are moved by the latest stories to hit the headlines.  We pray for those who are suffering.   We pray for those who are in danger or who are in prison, because of their faith. We pray for those seeking to reach out, despite the difficulties.   Some of the stories of those who against all odds are doing this are deeply challenging to those in non- persecuted parts of the church globally.   Some of us pray for Christians to escape persecution, or to survive despite persecution.  But is that the right prayer?   Some pray that those we know will be kept safe – is that it?

Followers of Jesus in countries where persecution is rife accept being persecuted as part of the normal Christian life. They know that Jesus said “If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15.20). Many of them are praying for weak Christians in the West, who don’t get persecuted, nor live in danger, but where faith is compromised in many dishonouring and not so subtle ways.

However, let me ask - do we pray as Jesus instructed us to pray?  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5.44-45). Paul picked this up in Romans 12.14, when he wrote “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse”.

What a difference would be made if the church around the world started blessing the persecutors – be they Governments, adherents of Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism, or Islamist or any other kind of terrorists?  The example of Egyptian believers  - when a number of Arab followers of Jesus were publicly be-headed by ISIS followers - is an outstanding example of this.  Instead of bemoaning their plight, they started forgiving their persecutors and blessing them in word and song. The results are being seen in a rich harvest of souls in Egypt today.

Instead of being fearful of persecution, let’s focus on those doing the persecution, whatever their motivation may be.

By all means let us continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in general who are persecuted for their faith, but let’s also re-focus our praying on those mainly responsible for the persecution, that God would open their eyes and give them encounters with Him.  He once did it with someone called Saul of Tarsus!   And He can do this again and again in many situations around the world.

Brian Mills, Senior Advisor to the IPC

The Korean Christians have for decades mourned, wept and prayed with great travail for the ending of the conflict between North and South Korea and for reunification of their long-divided nation. Several other prayer initiatives in more recent years have been held at the DMZ, the armed border separating the two Koreas, and in other parts of South Korea. In some of these initiatives, the IPC has been deeply engaged with our Korean brothers and sisters who serve in the prayer movement there. God uses such united, combined prayer byHis people wherever they are to change history, even bringing about great transformations that are beyond human belief and comprehension. “With God all things are possible,” Jesus said. Let us, therefore, give Him thanks, praise and all the glory for what happened on June 12^th in Singapore!

Here is a word about one of those most recent prayer initiatives. In an interview with CBN, Pastor Jerome Ocampo who is one of our IPC leadership team told the story of the UPRISING youth prayer gathering at the DMZ separating North and South Korea in 2016:

“Pastor Jerome Ocampo recounts the South Korea Uprising Prayer Conference in 2016 where young leaders of churches from different nations gathered near the border of North Korea. They cried out to God for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

Although, human rights and religious freedom were not the focus of the Singapore Summit, Pastor Jerome believes denuclearization can pave the way to a greater purpose. He said people should also pray for reunification, liberation, and freedom for North Korean believers to practice their faith. 

Spiritual revival took place in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in 1907. Ironically today, North Korea is a place where Christians suffer the world’s worst persecution. In the book by missionary Kwang Choi, It’s Fine Should I Die, North Koreans testify how they were brainwashed from childhood into believing that “Christianity is a tool of invasion of small and weak nations by the imperialist United States of America and its agent, South Korea’s puppet government," Choi wrote. "Christians in North Korea were already purged in prison camps even before the Korean War began in 1950."

This is one reason why some Christians believe a US president coming face-to-face with a North Korean leader was nothing short of miraculous. Pastor Jerome shared a dream he had about Kim Jong Un just two weeks before the 2016 Uprising conference. He said, “I dreamt of Kim Jong Un, he had a dream. And he was waking up in the morning. And there was this voice that goes like this, 'Will you be remembered as the Korean who destroys North Korea, or would you like to be remembered to be the Korean who unites North and South Korea?' He made a choice, 'I will be the Korean who will unite North and South Korea.'"

And this is why Pastor Jerome is rallying Christians to pray for Kim Jong Un. 

He said that what God has shown through the events that transpired is that he has access to Kim Jong Un’s heart and therefore God can do more.“We cannot erase what he has done in the past. The whole history of the regime will always be there. But as a millennial, he is the most flexible in all the regime to bring change," the pastor said. "And we’re gonna pray for change. God can bring that change. We will see one day one Korea. We will see one day Pyongyang will welcome believers and we will see God manifesting His glory again probably in a new way of revival all over Korea," he said.

Meanwhile, prayers for North Korean peace are taking place all around the world. Johnnie Moore, the unofficial spokesman for President Trump's evangelical advisers, says he met with a North Korean leader to pray and believe for healing for Korea.

"Today, in Switzerland, I met & prayed together with the leader of North Korea's 'Korean Christian Federation' - from Pyongyang," Moore tweeted."I asked if he had a message for American Christians & he said: 'We are brothers & we are all children of God whom God has called to peace,'" Moore said.”

'We Will See God Manifesting His Glory' in N Korea: Why These Praying Christians Are Confident

Excerpted from Cbn.com 06-17-2018 Lucille Talusan

Open Doors International which works on behalf of persecuted Christians around the world and to help those in North Korea, the number one persecutor of believers, issued this call to prayer before the Singapore summit. These prayer concerns are still vital for us to pray for the nation after the breakthrough summit:

PRAYING AND FASTING FOR A COUNTRY RULED BY ISOLATION AND FEAR

For the last 17 consecutive years, North Korea has ranked as the #1 most dangerous country for Christians on the World Watch List. The country has become infamously known for its human rights violations of North Koreans and harsh treatment of North Korean Christians.

In the East Asian country, the Kim regime uses isolation and fear to rule the country–keeping the 25.4 million people living there uninformed and immersed in propaganda. North Koreans must worship the ruling family–nothing else–and Christianity is illegal and will be punished. The discovery of faith results in imprisonment in the country’s notorious prison camps and even death for not only the individual or family but also three generations of that family.

Below, we offer 15 powerful, informed and specific prayers of petition that we, as the Body of Christ, can bring to God—interceding for and standing with our North Korean brothers and sisters in Christ…

15 IMPORTANT, INFORMED PRAYERS…

• Pray that President Trump and Kim Jong-un’s historic meeting on June 12 will be the first in a series of actions thatsets Korea on a new course of religious freedom.
• Pray that Kim will be convinced torelease the more than 50,000-plus Christians unjustly held in detention centers and prison camps throughout the country.
• Pray that Kim willloosen age-old requirements that residents attend indoctrination classes and display and bow to Kim family portraits.
• Pray that Kim willlift information embargoes and allow his people greater access to radio shows, TV programs, and websites.
• Pray that Kim will allow for thecreation of new churches where North Koreans can freely worship outside of the one “show church” that currently exists.
• Pray that existing believers within North Korea would takecourage to lead a new revival of the Christian faith in North Korea.
• Pray that theunderground church In North Korea would grow in boldness and be ready for widespread evangelism efforts when the opportunity arises.
• Pray that extendedfamilies who have been separated across North and South Korea may be reunited.
• Pray that organizations likeOpen Doors will be allowed access to provide Christian training and resources to believers in North Korea.
• Pray that other relief andaid organizations would gain entrance to provide relief aid, trauma care, and other needed services.
• Pray that North Korea’s economic and social infrastructure will find reform—thatchildren will no longer be forced into labor, that preschoolers will no longer be indoctrinated, that roadways will be made safe.
• Pray that North Korea’sfood supply would be enriched through education and increased trade, so that the 2 in 5 who are currently undernourished will be provided with adequate nutrition.
• Pray that God will give North Korean peoplewisdom to sift through the many nationalistic and mythical storylines and propaganda they have been fed throughout their lives.
• Pray thatparents will ultimately be able to freely share their faith with their children and raise them to know Jesus.
• Pray that U.S. and other world leaders would put in place theright sanctions, pressures, encouragements and opportunities to restore peace and well-beingfor North Koreans and their neighbors.

June 6, 2018 by Lindy Lowry. https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/stories/leading-up-to-u-s-north-korea-summit-open-doors-calls-for-24-hour-prayer-fasting-on-june-11/

Please have a look at this video presented to Kim Jong Un at the Summit:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rzZpFlysy4

Let’s pray that Kim Jong Un and his government will opt for this new vision for their society rather than the alternative of nuclear war with the USA and other concerned allies.

Pray that they will rapidly follow through on the agreements made during the Singapore summit and denuclearize their nation.

Some of the harshest persecution of Christians is in Nigeria and other parts of especially Muslim-inhabited Africa. Here are two reportsfrom well-respected African leaders:

1. It was reported that on 4^thFebruary, 2017, the US Congress affirmed that the most dangerous nation on earth for anyone to be a Christian is Nigeria.
2. There are five notable Islamist terror groups worldwide. The 1^stmost terrible is Boko Haram and the 4^this Fulani herdsmen. Both 1^stand 4^th operate in Nigeria.
3. According to World Watch Monitor, over 60% of global Christian fatalities as a result of persecution are Nigerian Christians killed in Nigeria.
4. A research report by Arne Mulder affirms that as of December 2014, over 13,000 Church buildings have been destroyed and abandoned in northern Nigeria.
5. The current Federal Administration in Nigeria is openly pursuing an anti-Christian agenda that has resulted in countless murders of Christians all over the nation and destruction of vulnerable Christian communities. Just recently, Elder Statesman Gen. T. Y. Danjuma raised an alert that Christians should take steps to defend themselves.
6. Mass burial of Christian victims of Jihad is becoming a regular occurrence in Nigeria. The most recent one was done by the Catholic Church a few days ago.
7. Christians have been emasculated out of the security infrastructure in the country.

Reuben Ezemadu
International Director, CMF Inc
Continental Coordinator, MANI

E-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Section 38 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (as amended) states as follows:

“Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”

It is a Constitutional right for any Nigerian to choose any religion or any faith to practice. Any attempt to hinder this right in any manner amounts to a violation of the Constitution which is an act of treason. 

Unfortunately, a section of the country, based on misguided religious fervor and zeal, has developed the habit of murdering people of differing faith, particularly Christians. While Christians are not cowards, the doctrine of love and forgiveness in Christianity has over the years restrained them from taking the laws into their hands. Christians have relied on Government to fulfill its statutory obligation of maintaining law and order in the society. Sadly, again and again, Government has failed the nation and it has failed the Christians. 

These acts of impunity and lawless killing of Nigerians on the basis of religious intolerance must stop. Those teaching hate and intolerance must be called to order.

Below is a short catalogue of some of the terrible evils that have befallen Nigeria as a result of religious intolerance.

• 1980 in Bulumkutu, Maduguri where over 5,000 died and 60,000 were displaced.
• Maitatsine riot in Jimeta, Yola and in February 1985, about 586 died
• Pagani ward of Gombe in April 1985 claimed another 165 souls.
• The Easter procession clashes in Ilorin in March 1986
• The clashes between Christian and Muslim students of the University of Ibadan in May 1986.
• Violence in Jos in 1987 and the Kafanchan crises in Southern Kaduna – thousands of people died in Kafanchan, Kano, Zamfara and Bauchi.
• 1988 crisis in Zaria and Kaduna where 107 students of the Ahmadu Bello University were seriously injured during the election of a Christian to the leadership of the Students' Union.
• Shiite uprising in Katsina in 1991 with dozens of lives lost.
• Another clash of Christians and Muslims in Bauchi April 21, 1991 claimed 200 lives and 700 places of worship were burnt.
• Reinhard Bonnke Riot of October 1991 in which hundreds died in Kano.
• Kafanchan crises of 1992 where, at least 60 people were killed in ZangoKataf.
• Several more lives were lost in Funtua, Katsina state during the Kalakato crises of February 1992.
• November 1993 to June 9, 1998, two occurrences of religious riots again in Jos April 1994 and April 1997 where, at least, 200 houses were burnt down and several persons killed.
• During the Obasanjo administration, the Kafanchan crises erupted again in 1999 and dozens were killed.
• There was also the Borno religious riot which left several persons injured in the same year.
• Sharia Law crises in Kaduna in February and May 2000 respectively where many, again, lost their lives.
• The Jos crises also erupted again in 2001 and 2004 while similar riots were seen in Kano and Gombe in 2001.
• Miss World Beauty Pageant riot in Kaduna 2002.
• There was resurgence of the Jos crises in November 2008, January 2010 and March 2010. Hundreds of lives were lost.
• According to Governor Shettima of Borno State, Boko Haram has murdered over 100,000 Nigerians.
• Boko Haram hit Abuja with attacks on the UN buildings on August 26, 2011.
• 7th March, 2010, 501 Nigerians, mostly Christians, were murdered as they slept in DogoNahawa, Jos, Plateau State by religious insurgents.
• From 1996 to 2006, about 121 people have lost their lives in Bauchi and Gombe States alone as a result of Fulani and Farmers clashes.
• 2002 and 2004 clashes in Yelwa Sani Gorowa area of Plateau State between Farmers and Fulani Herdsmen.
• 13th July, 2014, 10 persons were killed in clashes between Farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the Pilagani Street of Langtang, North Local Government of Plateau State.
• 14th July, 2014 over 50 people were reported to have been killed in Pilagani district of Marakun Local Government Area of Zamfara State in a clash again with Fulani herdsmen.
• May 2015, over 100 people died in villages and refugees camps located in Ikura, Benue State from attacks by suspected herdsmen.
• On Christmas day 2011, a coordinated bombing of churches resulted in 41 fatalities.
• January 23rd 2012 another three churches were attacked on the same date in Kaduna State.
• The orgy of death and destruction has reached every part of Nigeria, notably Nimbo in Enugu State, Aba, Port Harcourt, Onitsha and more recently in Ile – Ife, in Osun State, to mention but a few.

According to a research report by Anne Mulder, as of 2014, over 13,000 Christian Churches have been destroyed and abandoned in the northern parts of the country. This is in addition to hundreds of Christian communities that have been destroyed and sacked by the combination of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen.

On 4th February, 2017, the US Congress officially declared that Nigeria is the most dangerous country on earth for anyone to be a Christian. Meanwhile, we have a Constitution that guarantees freedom of religious conviction. 

Why has the Government failed to defend the Constitution?

For us, as Christians, the deplorable state of insecurity in the nation is no longer acceptable. It does not matter whether it is a Sunni Muslim, Shiite Muslim, Traditionalist, Atheist, or Christian that is killed. Every life is sacred. Every life is supposed to be protected under the Constitution. No one has the right to terminate the life of another human being with impunity. 

Nigeria is a Sovereign state on the basis of its Constitution and not on the basis of any religion. Therefore, no one has the right to murder any citizen of Nigeria on the basis of differing religious belief.

In addition to our concern for the sanctity of life, we detect a grand plan to eradicate Christianity in Nigeria and compel people to adopt a religion that is not of their choice. We are Christians by choice and no one has the right to compel us to worship another god. This attitude of hate must stop and the perpetrators and the sponsors of religious insurgency must be prosecuted. None of them should go scot free.

While the Jihadists have conventional weapons to kill and destroy, Christians have two weapons that evil cannot overcome:

Truth and Exposure. This is why every Christian assembly must come out on 19th March, 2017 and stand in front of its place of worship and speak the Trust to expose the evils going on in Nigeria.

These killings and destructions must STOP. A land flowing with milk and honey shall not become a barren wasteland flowing with human blood and tears.

IT IS TIME TO SPEAK OUT.

Rev. Dr. Musa Asake, General Secretary
Christian Association of Nigeria,Abuja 

http://www.canng.org 

Let’s join with our Nigerian and African brethren to pray for the end of such horrendous attacks against believers and for the government of Nigeria to follow the constitution and protect them. Pray for believers to be encouraged and strengthened in the midst of such awful trials.

Pray also for the persecutors to turn to Jesus Christ, as that early persecutor of the early church, Saul of Tarsus, did after seeing the blinding light that struck him to the ground and made him probably the greatest apostle the world has ever known.

Excerpted from Free Burma Rangers about their recent ministry trip to Syria

13 June 2018

Afrin, Syria

A Burma medic, Joseph, treats Yezidi IDPs from Afrin.

Background

Syria is in its seventh year of civil war; 500,000 people have been killed and over 11 million displaced (over six million people internally and over five million refugees have fled the country). And the fighting escalates: Assad’s regime continues to pound rebel-held areas outside of Damascus, Idlib, and other resistance-held areas. The Russians, who are supporting the Assad regime and who had stationed troops in Afrin to block ISIS as well as Turkish ambitions, suddenly abandoned Afrin at the end of 2017.

In January 2018, the Turkish Army, along with elements of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), who in this area are composed of radical Muslim groups and some remnants of ISIS, launched an air and ground campaign from Turkey against the city and area of Afrin, one of the only peaceful areas of Syria. The Kurds had kept ISIS at bay all through the war and Afrin, which historically was 80% Kurdish with an ancient Christian and Yezidi population, had become a refuge for thousands of fleeing Kurds and Arabs of different groups and faiths. Turkey is now presiding over an ethnic cleansing of massive proportions in Afrin.

The Turkish government has led this onslaught in order to crush the YPG Kurds and block their access to the Mediterranean Sea. They consider the Kurds a threat to Turkish security and have no regard for the Christians or Yezidis there. The Turkish government also supports the FSA against the Syrian government and Afrin has become a base for the FSA. A new reign of terror has descended over Afrin.Joint Turkish and FSA attacks have swept over 200,000 Kurds, as well as 35,000 Yezidi and 3,000 Christians from their villages and towns. Their homes have been appropriated by thousands of radical Islamists brought from southern and western Syria, who have also been pushed out of their homes by Assad’s Syrian Army. The original Muslim inhabitants who did not submit themselves to Sharia law and the FSA have also had to flee. Based on interviews, the only church in Afrin city has been looted, burned inside, and then taken over by two militia factions.

Photo: FSA militants on their position north of Menbij

Christians Who Fled Afrin

In Kobane and at a new Christian church of 20 believers, we met with two Christian families who fled Afrin when the FSA and Turkish Army invaded. After the worship service, we talked with the Christians from Afrin, a mother and her 18-year-old son, Baran, her son-in-law, and her pregnant daughter.

They had fled Afrin as the FSA and Turks assaulted the town and region, barely getting out with their lives. The mother told us that there were over 3,000 Christians who used to live in Afrin but now almost all had fled. She only knew of two people who remained: her husband who was too sick to make the walk out and another man who was wounded during attacks.

The Christian mother and her son, Baran, tell their story of fleeing Afrin.While holding back tears she said, “I am a Christian. My husband was too sick to walk out and escape [with us] and he is in hiding in Afrin now. I only have my son and daughter left with me and nothing else in the world. Can you help us? Thank you for coming to see us and for the help you have given. We pray with you for God’s answer and we trust Him.

The FSA and Turks had pushed into Afrin in a brutal series of infantry and armor attacks supported by artillery, helicopter gunships, and jet fighters. Hundreds of civilians were killed and homes destroyed. Many of the Kurd YPG forces were killed and the rest were forced to retreat. The FSA and Turks closed in, killing and looting. People tried to flee.

“Our worst fears were confirmed when Sharia law was installed, homes looted, and people who resisted killed. We Christians fled and most of the 35,000 Yezidi fled as well, fearing a similar annihilation that had occurred in Sinjar, Iraq,” continued the mother.

She went on to share how one woman was captured by the FSA, raped, and then murdered, a video being sent to the woman’s husband.

“My niece, a small child was killed as well,” she shared. “Her name was Riven KhandofanHamdoush and she was killed near us in the village of Kafarganeh. The village is located on the edge of the city of Afrin. On 27 April 2018, when the child was playing in the street, she was shot dead when the Islamic factions were quarreling with each other on the property. Here is her picture.”

The niece, Riven KhandofanHamdoush, shot dead by FSA militants.

“We are very sad and feel hopeless but keep close to Jesus and put our hope in Him. I used to be a Muslim myself but four years ago I got tired of it and asked Jesus to help me. Most of my family are still Muslim but that has not spared them from attack. My niece who was killed was Muslim with Muslim parents,” she said.

Her son, Baran, told us:

“I became a Christian recently when Jesus appeared to me in a dream. In Afrin I worked at a computer shop until the FSA and Turks invaded. It became impossible to stay as airstrikes and artillery hit us. Then the Turkish infantry joined the FSA and, supported by tanks, they destroyed anyone in their path as they advanced. We had to flee and we barely got out, going on foot day and night. I thank the Lord Jesus for helping us to meet with you and sharing our prayers with each other. When we see you, we feel we are humans standing together. I would like to tell you frankly that my mother and I would like to get out of here but there are obstacles that stand in the way. May the Lord take care of you, and that when you shall die it will be with a thousand good things.”

The Church of the Good Shepherd in Afrin

Photo: The church destroyed by an ISIS car bomb.

Baran went on to tell us about a church in Afrin:“The Church of the Good Shepherd was taken over by the FSA and the Turkish Army. The armed factions of the Turkish occupation fought with each other for control and confiscation of the church. The fighting that took place between the two factions of ‘Sultan Murad’ and the ‘Army of the East’ ended with a settlement between the two parties about sharing the church building and surrounding buildings as well as its assets.

They burned the inside of the church and wrote the names of their factions on the outside walls. Before the FSA and Turks arrived, more than 250 Christian families were still in the center of the city of Afrin and [surrounding] villages. Before Afrin was overrun, the priest of the church, Rev. Valentin Hanan, issued a statement of distress to the international community after the start of the Turkish attack on Afrin. He asked for the urgent international protection of the believers in Afrin and the cessation of Turkish bombardment. He said, ‘We are at this moment subjected to heavy shelling and Islamic factions vow to enter the region and we as a church ask the Lord first protection and then the brothers to pray and help.’

Of the estimated 3,000 Christians in the Afrin area, Rev. Hanan said there were 190 families in the city center of Afrin, 45 families in the area ofGendressa, and 15 families in the area of Maabtli. Now that the invasion is complete there are almost no Christians left at all.”

Praying in the church damaged by ISIS that now hosts Yezidis who fled Afrin.

For the rest of this moving report, go to FreeBurmaRangers.org and look for the post: “Syria Report, Part One: Ethnic Cleansing and the Persecution of Yezidis and Christians in Afrin, Northwestern Syria”.

Pray for the Syrian Christians and other innocent civilians to be protected and strengthened in the midst of unimaginable hardship and trial.

Pray that their persecutors and the governments involved in this horrific, ongoing conflict will repent and stop the carnage.

Pray especially for the Assad regime, Turkey, and the Russians in this regard and for a way to be found for the re-establishment of peace and the rebuilding of this ruined country.

Note: Pakistan has nukes and lots of radicals that would like to use them on other nations. As you pray for Pakistan, you are also praying for the security of your nation and the rest of the world!

From Pray4Pak, June 2018

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice inyou.”    Psa 5:11    

ELECTIONS

Elections are supposed to be held July 25.  There seems to be no one on the horizon whowould work for the common person; there is such a problem with corruption.  Would it be best for a military person to step in? Pakistan’s best leaders in the past who have helped the country often have been military leaders. Party after party is bringing court cases against each other to try and disqualify one another.  This is leaving the door open for very fanatical groups who are running for the first time and without court cases against them. 

PRAY for the right group to come into power.  The wrong group could make trouble forthe nation as well as the world.

PERSECUTION

In 2003 Pakistan was considered #79 in the persecution list.  Today it is #4.   Minorities are being targeted more and more with Christians in particular because of Al Khaidas great hatred for the infidels. Articles like the following are seen again and again even in the papers, but usually they are not reported because it gives Pakistan a bad name in the world scene. 

See the following article: Pakistan: Christians told they can’t have a church in Muslim-majority village

https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2018/06/pakistan-christians-told-they-cant-have-a-church-in-muslim-majority-village/ 

This is getting to be a very common thing across the country.  Christians in this area have been burned out several times. It is right next door to one of the most fanatical terrorist groups.

PRAY that Christians learn to stand strong and let God protect them. 

1).  Several years back a Christian colony with 350 homes in a large city in Pakistan had most of 300 homes burned down by fanatics simply because they were Christian. Then they came to the outside door of a man who had been working to plant prayer groups. When asked him what happened to his home.  He said, “I did exactly what we were told to do in the prayer seminars.  Know that you cannot stop them, but God gives you the authority and power to stop such people.  I stood in my courtyard on the opposite side of the door and began to pray and then called out ‘In the name of Jesus and in the power of His blood, leave.’”  He said there was deathly silence and he didn’t know what was going to happen. And then they turned around and left.  His home and those homes of one of our prayergroups were left untouched.

2). This is a testimony from a brother from the tribal areas.  He recalled, “During a very troubled time the governor and the head of police with about 15 other people came to the prayer leaders home. They were served tea and asked how they were doing. Then they were asked why they had come. They said they had come to take the prayer leader to a safer place to stay because of all the trouble in the city.”  The prayer leader began to tell them five or six very dangerous stories of God´s protection. He said, ‘I believe our Jesus will protect us again and we would like to stay right here.’ They discussed this among themselves and then replied, ‘We know your Jesus protects you, you may stay here.’” 

PRAY Christians may learn to trust God for their protection.

TRANSLATION OF THE MOVIE, “PAUL APOSTLE OF CHRIST”

Pray that the producers would consider producing this in the languages of Urdu and Hindi (spoken by more than a billion people).  This is right in the center of the world where persecution is at its height and where this movie is probably most needed to encourage God’s people.

Pray that Sony, who underwrote the project, would give clearance for such a project. 

P4Pak