Displaying items by tag: Asia

At least eight Westerners have been arrested in Afghanistan during different incidents in the last two months, marking a sharp escalation of Taliban actions against Westerners living in the country. No formal charges have been lodged against the six British citizens, one of whom is an American legal resident, and one US citizen. Afghanistan’s former vice-president tweeted that nine Westerners had been ‘kidnapped’ by the Taliban, naming journalists Andrew North, formerly of the BBC who was working for the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), and Peter Jouvenal, who has worked with the BBC and CNN. The reason for each of the specific detentions is unclear, and they are not thought to be related. Peter's family believe he is detained in error. He was working openly, having frequent meetings with Taliban officials to discuss investments in Afghanistan's mining industry. Peter suffers from high blood pressure and needs medication.

Heavy snowstorms have blasted northwest Syria since 18 January. On the 23rd a child froze to death in a refugee camp. By 5 February thousands of displaced residents in 72 camps had frozen water systems and collapsed shelters from blankets of snow, and there are no medical services. Pray for medical supplies, thermal blankets, tarpaulin sheeting, etc. to reach the camps on treacherously slippery, frozen roadways. On 9 February teams began building dirt mounds around the camps to prevent flooding now that it is raining and the snow melting. Nearly 3 million displaced people are living in tents and temporary shelters. Heavy rainfall damaged over 190 displacement sites, destroying and damaging over 10,000 tents. Pray for the freezing families, particularly the children and elderly. Pray for aid agencies distributing food, heaters and clothing while facing severe weather conditions.

Gao Zhisheng is a Christian human rights attorney in China who has dedicated his career toward those being persecuted by the government. While not always a Christian, Gao was a former member of the People’s Liberation Army and later of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, he tossed that identity aside and took up the fight for victims of persecution as China looked to rebrand its cruel identity. This made him a clear target for the CCP throughout his career, leading to many cycles of being abducted, tortured, and released. Today, his whereabouts are unknown to anyone but his most recent captors, who made Gao disappear in 2017. As Beijing cheers for the athletes fighting for glory, let us pray for those like Gao who have the courage to challenge the regime and fight for Beijing’s victims. Pray for an end to the ongoing human rights disaster in China.

Christians in Afghanistan are on the precipice of disaster. Women and children fear the utter brutality of Taliban rule. They are hiding in their homes for fear of what the Taliban will do to them. The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan in a catastrophe of epic proportions. The west is abandoning Afghan Christians, helpless women and children, and U.S. citizens. The Taliban are going door to door looking for Christians to kill and unmarried women to take captive. There are fears of the same genocidal persecution Christians suffered in Iraq and Syria. The American Centre for Law and Justice is mobilising to defend Christians' lives in Afghanistan. It is submitting reports for UN consideration and filing critical demands of the Biden administration (which will likely lead to a lawsuit). It wants international intervention to prevent needless bloodshed and human rights atrocities before it is too late.

China has been preparing for months to ensure that it puts on its best face for the Winter Olympic Games. Our TV screens will present beautiful images, majestic music, and inspiring athletic performances. They don’t want people to look behind the scenes at the totalitarian government oppressing and abusing its people, including our Christian brothers and sisters. Olympic coverage won’t include images of destroyed church buildings or interviews with imprisoned Christians. However, from 4 February the games can act as a daily reminder to pray for Christians in China. We can pray for pastors and church leaders to stand firmly for biblical truth in spite of government pressure to compromise. Pray for God's protection over Christians in prison, for their health and nutrition, and that they will have opportunities to witness for Christ to guards and fellow prisoners. China is also the biggest incarcerator of journalists; pray for protection over honest journalism.

Islamist extremists are gaining ground in sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso and Mali. Christians are bombed, killed, and kidnapped; schools are burnt. Jihadists have assaulted religious leaders and places of worship, and forced churches to close and meet in secret. The situation is set to grow worse as French troops withdraw from the area. Life for Christians in the Sahel region now resembles Nigeria, where Boko Haram terrorists, IS fighters and Fulani militants are active. For all three, Christian communities are their prime targets. Afghanistan and India are also countries of great concern. Since the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan, Christians have faced greater risks of violence and betrayal by family and neighbours. Major food shortages will increase pressure on them. Indian Hindu militants are attacking Christians, and some states have anti-conversion laws to prevent Christian outreach among the Dalits where many are turning to Christ.

Zafar Bhatti, a Pakistani Christian, was convicted of ‘blasphemy’ in 2017 and sentenced to life in jail. He has fought to clear his name since then, but an appeal court sentenced him to death on 3 January. It not only upheld his conviction but also ruled that the proper sentence for ‘blasphemy against Muhammad’ was death, not life imprisonment. The ruling was based on a 1991 constitutional court decision. Zafar’s legal representatives will appeal against both the death penalty and the original conviction. He was convicted of ‘blasphemy’ for allegedly sending texts insulting Muhammad on a phone that was not registered in his name. He has always denied the allegations. He has suffered a heart attack in prison, and there are serious concerns for his deteriorating physical and mental health. Pray for God to restore his mental and physical health.

A Bible using the idioms of North Korea in a side-by-side display with the form of Korean spoken in the south is ministering to the hearts of defectors and may be a tool God uses for the eventual reunification between north and south. It has been developed by Cornerstone Ministries, which spent eight years on the New Testament and 15 years on the entire Bible. The project began with a simple request: ‘North Korean believers who received and read the Korean Bible requested that we publish the Bible in Korean using idioms and phraseology they could easily understand.’ Cornerstone delivered the Bibles to 3,500 defectors in the South during the Christmas season. After one defector received a Bible and read it slowly he said, ‘The text was very nice and familiar. There are some parts of the revised Bible that we defectors had difficulty understanding. However, for me as a North Korean reading this translation the words “Yes” came out of my mouth.’

As the eyes of the world turn toward Beijing and the Olympic Winter Games, we are invited by Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) to join believers around the globe in praying for our Christian brothers and sisters suffering persecution by China’s Communist government. Though they are not considered Olympians, many Chinese Christians walk or bicycle great distances to deliver the gospel, lift countless boxes of Bibles for delivery to new believers, and endure great suffering for the name of Christ - even in Chinese prisons and concentration camps. VOM have suggested specific ways to pray for Chinese Christians during the Olympics: a) that pastors and church leaders will stand for biblical truth despite government pressure to compromise, and b) that Chinese believers will be encouraged, experiencing unity and fellowship as members of the body of Christ. For more ways to pray and to join Christians around the world who are committing to pray for China’s Christians during the Olympics, click here

January 2022 looks very different in contrasting corners of the Middle East and North Africa - from wealthy Gulf nations to countries in crisis like Afghanistan and Yemen. SAT7 analysts see hopeful signs of nations beating swords into ploughshares, but too few leaders are using their power, or lessening their grip on it, for the good of all. An important positive trend we will see continuing from 2021 is renewed diplomacy by key players and rivals in the region. The UAE reached out to Turkey with a $10 billion investment olive branch. Both countries are looking to de-escalate the tensions which have resulted, for example, from their military support for opposite sides in the Libyan conflict and their opposite policies towards the Muslim Brotherhood. Turkey has also sought to ease tensions with Egypt and began 2022 with a new rapprochement with Armenia. For the full briefing click the ‘More’ button.