Faith leaders in Kenya called for calm after the International Criminal Court in The Hague committed to trial high-ranking politicians for crimes against humanity in connection with violence following elections in 2007. Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, fellow presidential candidate William Ruto, cabinet secretary Francis Muthaura and radio journalist Joshua Sang will be tried for an orchestrated campaign to displace, torture, and kill civilians. More than 1,200 people died and around 650,000 were left homeless in clashes in the Rift Valley, Nyanza, Nairobi and Central provinces. ‘We call for sobriety and restraint as Kenyans engage in discussion and interpretation of the decision and its ramifications,’ said the Rev Peter Karanja, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, in a statement on 23 January. The council in 2009 urged the court to investigate the violence, following failure by the government to establish a local justice system to deal with the causes.

Pray: for restraint as these politicians engage in discussion. Pray for peace and justice. (Job.34:17a)

More: http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5418

Kenyan Christian and Muslim leaders condemned attacks on two churches on 1 July in Garissa that left 17 people dead and 66 injured. Our Lady of Consolata Catholic Church and the evangelical Garissa African Inland Church were attacked simultaneously by masked gunmen. Troops often muster in Garissa for operations against al-Shabab insurgents in neighbouring Somalia, leading to speculation that the attacks were launched by the group or its allies. Rev Peter Karanja said, ‘We are deeply saddened Kenyans who were worshipping God were mercilessly murdered by criminals who hid their faces because they could not face up to their dastardly acts'. Police said the assailants want people to feel that Christians and Muslims are fighting. Cardinal John Njue said the Roman Catholic Church believed the country was not at a time of religious war. Muslim leaders said, ‘Any God-fearing person will not celebrate the death of innocent people who gather for the purpose of worship or any other course.’

Pray: against those instigating sectarian violence, and that the Kenyan constitution affirming freedom of religion would be maintained. (Ps.45:4)

More: http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5772

The Anglican Church of Kenya accused the government for failing to adequately address the famine and drought gripping the country, as the government allocated $109 million to combat drought in the north. The church blamed ‘poor planning and poor priorities’ and ‘massive underinvestment’ in agriculture, research and food security. The Kenyan government has not attained the African Union recommended target of 10% of budgeted expenditure being devoted to agriculture. The Church said the crisis reflected the government's ‘consistent failure to learn’ from previous food shortages. The Church also said, ‘This famine did not come as a surprise, the drought was predicted well in advance, but timely interventions were not made either with dams to harvest water or beefing up of strategic food reserves despite previous bumper harvests.’

Pray: for God to cause the government to make successful short and long term strategies that meet the needs of all. (Pr.16:2-3)

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/kenya.drought.church.says.lessons.havent.been.learned/28394.htm

A gun battle inside a shopping centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi has left at least 68 people dead and more than 150 wounded. Twenty-four hours later, an operation to secure the Westgate centre, one of the city's most exclusive shopping malls, was ongoing. The Somali group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, demanding that Kenya pull troops back from its neighbouring country, where al-Shabab is fighting against the government. Its full name is Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahideen - or the Movement of Jihadi Youth. It was formed in 2006 as an off-shoot of the Islamic Courts Union, a religious alliance which controlled large parts of Somalia, before being driven out. With as many as 9,000 fighters, al-Shabab has since fought a succession of foreign forces in Somalia from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. The attack in Nairobi

Pray: for all those who have lost loved ones and friends in this atrocious incident. (Pr.28:5)

More: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/09/20139236528364142.html

Kazakhstan has recently closed mosques, churches and prayer rooms in prisons, citing two laws restricting freedom of religion or belief. ‘Mosques and Russian Orthodox churches were built in prisons in violation of building regulations and the law. They are illegal - that's why they are being closed down.’ Kazakhstan has also started closing prayer rooms in social care institutions. ‘We're all in shock,’ Fr Vladimir Zavadich of the Orthodox Church said. ‘We didn't expect this from our government. Now we fear this will happen everywhere.’ Orthodox Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen stated that this took away ‘the last consolation from those people who, for health reasons, find themselves in a desperate, helpless situation’. He described calls to bar priests from such homes, hospices and old people's homes as ‘inhumane’.

Pray: that Christians might meet for worship without needing state permission. (Pr.21:15)

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The government of Kazakhstan is renewing its efforts to restrict religious freedom in the country under proposed changes to legislation that would require all religious groups to re-register with the state. President Nursultan Nazarbaev told Parliament that amendments to the religion law will be adopted in the current session, which ends in June 2012. The details have not yet been made public, but the head of the new state Agency of Religious Affairs, Kairat Lama Sharif, said that the law will require all currently registered religious organisations to re-register. The government previously tried to amend the religion law, in 2008, increasing the harshness of penalties for unregistered religious activities. But the move was blocked by the Constitutional Council the following year. Officials vowed that they would try again, and it is feared that the new amendments will be essentially the same.

Pray: that this fresh move by the Kazakh government would again be thwarted. (Is.8:10)

More: http://www.barnabasfund.org/Kazakh-government-bids-to-tighten-grip-on-religious-freedom.html

A missionary living in Jordan was stabbed to death by a teenager on Tuesday after she caught him stealing in her apartment, police said. The 17-year-old confessed to killing Cheryll Harvey, 55, in her apartment in Barha, the police told the Associated Press. As a minor, the assailant can't be named until he's sent to trial. Police said the suspect was paid by Harvey for grocery runs and other chores, but when she found him going through her purse and began to shout, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen, stabbing Harvey 10 times. A native of Sudan, Texas, Harvey earned an undergraduate and two master's degrees in Education before leaving for Jordan where she taught English for 24 years under the auspices of the Jordan Baptist Society. At press time, it was not determined as to whether Harvey would be buried in Jordan, or if her remains would be returned home.

Pray: for those God calls to the mission field that He will protect them from assault. (Jn.17:15)

More: http://www.worthynews.com/11720-missionary-killed-in-jordan