Displaying items by tag: Asia

Syrian refugees usually don’t see beyond their own needs, but Turkey’s missionaries have seen a change. When food trucks arrive at settlements, the predominantly Muslim Syrians clamour for distribution to begin. But recently women went straight to the director and said, ‘First we want prayer. This child is crippled, he’s an orphan, please pray for him. We don’t want food, just prayer.’ A great awakening has begun among camp refugees; they knew Jesus as a prophet, but now realise that he is the God of Christians and he heals and works miracles today.

On 31 August four million Indians could become stateless. In Bangladesh's war of independence from Pakistan fifty years ago, millions of Bengali Muslims fled to Hindu Assam, giving it the second largest Muslim population of any Indian state after Kashmir. Last year, the Assam government published a national registry of citizens, listing everyone who is legally resident. Four million Muslim people who have lived there for decades were not on the list. Unless they can prove a pre-1971 claim to residence, they will be deemed illegal. Bangladesh will not accept the deportation of millions of people who have lived in India since the 70s. Many of these people were born inside India after 1971. Should they be ‘returned’ to a country they have never known? The Assam authorities are building detention camps which could constitute a horrific human rights violation.

84% of Nepal’s people are Hindus, striving to attain freedom for their souls by good works. 90% remain untouched by the Gospel. Hinduism is not just a religion for these millions, it is their culture - their way of life. Christianity is seen as foreign and as a threat to their culture. Those who choose to follow Jesus often pay a high price, yet the Church is growing. Though it is a small portion of the population, there are now believers in nearly all peoples and castes, but the tragic reality remains that over 25 million Nepalese have never yet heard of Jesus, the only one who can bring true freedom. Please pray for him to be made known among unreached peoples in hard-to-access locations; for biblical training and Christlikeness for a rising generation of church leaders; and for the help they need to win the daily poverty battle.

In July at least eight people were injured outside a church by an IS car bomb, in an area held by the Kurdish YPG militia. On the same day in Afrin, on the border with Turkey, a bomb killed eleven civilians, including children, and injured others, some seriously. Homes were damaged in the explosion and subsequent fire. A few days earlier a retired Christian school teacher went missing from her home in a mainly-Christian village near Idlib. The next day her body was found nearby: she had been raped repeatedly, tortured, and stoned to death by Islamist militants linked to an rebel group in the area. Forensic investigation found that the barbaric ordeal had lasted for around nine hours before she finally died.

Please pray for resolution between Hong Kong's pro-democracy people and China’s government. After police firing as many rounds of tear gas in one day as during the entire months of June and July, a general strike, and days of disruptions at Hong Kong Airport, protesters are now being called terrorists and China’s ambassador to the UK has warned that troops will intervene to restore order if necessary. Videos show a massive number of Chinese military vehicles gathering along the border. Hong Kong has its own legal system, borders, and rights including freedom of assembly and free speech, which are all meant to be protected. But things are changing. Rights groups accuse China of meddling in Hong Kong with legal rulings that disqualify pro-democracy legislators; also, five Hong Kong booksellers and a tycoon disappeared, all eventually re-emerging in custody in China. Artists and writers are under increased pressure to self-censor.

Since IS was driven out of Iraq and Syria, it appears to have its sights set on Afghanistan. While the Afghan government is engaged in peace talks with the hard-line Taliban movement, radical Islamist groups are spreading their ideology at universities. Basira Akhtar, a 22-year-old student, was beaten up twice earlier this year, at her university in Kabul, when her headscarf slipped from her head. In both cases she was accused of promoting Christianity. An Open Doors analyst says, ‘The core of IS militants in Afghanistan consists of many disgruntled Taliban splinter groups and, reportedly, some returning fighters from Syria. They will try to attack in Afghanistan, just like the Indonesian couple who bombed a cathedral in the Philippines in January. For Christians, this basically means that they need to continue to keep their faith hidden as much as possible.’

Officials are harassing founders of religious communities, possibly trying to block applications to exist. In May police began harassing Oskemen's New Life Protestant Church as it sought re-registration after changing its name. Officers visited parishioners late at night, threatening one woman in her late 70s. People who give their names as founders of religious organisations applying for legal status continue to face harassment and intrusive questioning. Against international law, Kazakhstan bans all exercise of freedom of religion and belief without state permission. The UN Human Rights Committee states, ‘No one can be compelled to reveal his thoughts or adherence to a religion or belief.’ A church member said, ‘At present the founders do not think that their rights are being protected by the law or its representatives. We are being subjected to pressure, which cannot help but arouse concern about the right to freedom of conscience in Kazakhstan.’

A human-monkey hybrid was created in a Chinese laboratory by injecting human stem cells capable of creating any type of tissue into a monkey embryo. The experiment was stopped before the embryo was born. The scientists were Spanish but held the trial in China to evade a ban on such procedures in Spain. They said a human-monkey hybrid could have been born. The embryo was genetically modified to deactivate genes that control organ growth. Ethical concerns were raised over stem cells migrating to the brain. The scientists said mechanisms were in place for cells to self-destruct if that happened. Thomas Aquinas said that if when doing something morally good there is an unintended side-effect that’s OK as long as the side-effect was not the objective. We can pray for all countries to forbid crossing the physical and spiritual laws separating one species from another. What would happen to the hybrid’s soul, conscience, spirit?

Jammu and Kashmir (JK) is in militarised Kashmir, an Indian region dividing India and Pakistan. On 5 August Indian authorities revoked JK’s special status that had allowed them to make their own laws, and anticipating resistance they imposed an unprecedented clampdown - shutting down the internet, media and mobile phones, barring movement and jailing Kashmiri leaders. They argued that JK’s ‘special status’ hindered integration by their Muslim majority population with the rest of Hindu India. The disputed region has had two wars fought over it by India, Pakistan and China. Narendra Modi reached out to people of JK, in the five languages spoken there, trying to instil peace on the troubled streets of a new Kashmir; which has been stripped of its constitution, flag, and hereditary rights. A historical powder keg has been ignited. The US asked Pakistan to refrain from ‘retaliatory aggression’ as airspace corridors were closed and bilateral trade suspended. China’s foreign ministry voiced ‘serious concern’ over India’s contentious move over an area claimed by both countries. See

Voice of the Martyrs recently reported, ‘Afghan believers are boldly sharing the gospel in their country like never before in its history. In a nation that is 99 percent Muslim, the risks of such ministry are incredible. But many of these courageous followers of Christ have decided their countrymen must hear that God loves them, that Jesus Christ has paid for their sins, and that there is a guaranteed future for them with God through Jesus. Their witness is producing fruit: today there are Christians throughout the country of Afghanistan. Over the years, Afghan believers have often hidden their faith, but there are men and women willing to share the gospel courageously throughout Afghanistan and other Asian nations where Christians are persecuted for their faith.’