An airstrike by the US-led coalition last Thursday killed Sanafi al-Nasr, a Saudi citizen and the leader of an al-Qaeda offshoot called the Khorasan Group. The Pentagon commented, ‘Al-Nasr was a longtime jihadist, experienced in funnelling money and fighters for al-Qaeda, and moving funds from donors in the Gulf region to al-Qaeda leaders from Pakistan to Syria. He was the fifth senior Khorasan Group leader to be killed in the last four months, and this operation deals a significant blow to the this group's plans to attack the United States and their allies.’
Nigeria: ‘She Is in the hands of God’
23 Oct 2015
Twelve fathers of the 200+ schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram from Chibok spoke out about the dangers their families face on a daily basis, and shared their pain of not knowing what has happened to their daughters. They are refusing to give up hope that one day they will return to them. One of the fathers, when asked, 'Where do you think your daughter might be?' said, 'She is in the hands of God'. It was a sentiment echoed by all the parents. They are not going to think about any other reality. Despite the media attention on Chibok, the whole region remains under heavy threat by the Islamic militants. Some of the fathers sneak out at night to be the first line of defence against Boko Haram and to protect their families. The challenge to international organisations is that Chibok is incredibly dangerous to reach. Earlier this month it was reported that one of the schoolgirls was pregnant and carrying diseases by Boko Haram terrorists. See: http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-chibok-schoolgirls-alive-pregnant-boko-haram-terrorists-diseases-147662/
General elections with global repercussions
23 Oct 2015
On 19 October Canadians chose Justin Trudeau to be their new prime minister as Liberals returned to power. A Liberal government will change Canadian politics and be felt on the world stage as Canada ends its participation in the coalition against IS, refocuses military efforts on training local forces and humanitarian efforts, and launches a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women. On 17 October Guinea's president won re-election but the opposition leader is calling for protests against fraud. On 25 October three elections will be held. One is in Côte d'Ivoire, where the incumbent will be seeking a second term to promote stability. The Tanzanian general election on the same day could be controversial, while Poland’s election results will have repercussions beyond Warsaw - from the role Poland will play in Europe’s refugee crisis to David Cameron’s chances of success in renegotiating Britain’s status in the EU before holding an in/out referendum.
Turkey: Kurdish refugees suffer and Jesus saves
23 Oct 2015
The escalation in Turkey's fight with Kurdish rebels has made life harder for Kurdish refugees from Syria, and indigenous Christians are working with them. Kurdish refugee families find that the Turkish government is unwilling to help them when officials discover they are from a predominantly Kurdish area of Syria. Now they have another problem because Kurds are fighting against Turkey in the southeast of the country. These families have nowhere to go and do not know what to do. In one refugee camp most of those who have fled the terrorist advances of IS are Kurdish. IS had terrorised them in the name of God. But now Christians are ministering to them with clothes, food and vitamins for their health, saying, 'Here I am. Jesus sent me to you.’ A grandmother said in Arabic, ‘Thank you! So many wounds. Tell Jesus to save us.'
Lebanon
23 Oct 2015
Embroiled this year in mounting discontent, Lebanon’s protesting population has called for government replacement due to ‘political garbage’. At least 1.5 million refugees from war-ravaged countries like Syria constitute nearly 25% of the population. They have overburdened Lebanon's severely deficient water and power infrastructure. Pray for Christians in Lebanon as they continue to reach out to refugees. They are putting on children’s clubs and doing food distribution. Praise God that Christian leaders in Lebanon are being challenged and encouraged in transformational ministry; there is a willingness to train and build healthy leaders. Pray for the continued ministry to Muslims. May they come to know the Lord, and may He draw more Lebanese to Himself. For a prayer guide to help you pray for Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Jordan click the ‘more’ button.
Another wave of Syrian refugees have started their hazardous journey to safety as forces loyal to President al-Assad moved in on Aleppo last Friday, backed by Russian warplanes, Iranian ground troops and militia fighters. An estimated 70,000 fled the southern Aleppo countryside as a result of an assault moving in on three sides of the shattered rebel-held city. ‘People are scared to death, everyone is on the move,’ said the head of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organisations, as he returned from the area. ‘People are sleeping in the streets and the fields, but there is nowhere for them to go.’ The Syrian Network for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said there had been ‘massive displacement’ in recent days. An aid worker in southern Aleppo said that several villages stood almost empty. ‘The strong travel on foot, pushing the elderly in wheelbarrows; those left behind face severe medical shortages.’
Recently twenty Palestinian and Israeli women met in a small village in the north of Israel. This village is not well known - there is not even a sign from the main road pointing in its direction - but Al-Jadeida has been in the news lately because of the violence there. Whole groups of people have been relocated there from low-income neighbourhoods in Acco and Gaza. Al-Jadeida is 97% Muslim and 3% Christian. Organised crime has taken hold, and the local municipality has all but stopped the city services. For the evangelical families and local Catholic and Orthodox churches, this is unacceptable. This has been the subject of prayer for some time now. As a result intercessors met to pray with the local women’s group. They had no physical weapons of protection, but went armed with hope, faith and boldness, walking through neighbourhoods in two groups and praying that the municipality will be cleansed and that any who won’t bend the knee to God will be changed.
Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, has said that the Church must be ‘vision-led, not problem-led’ in the post-denominational phase we are now entering, seeking street-level co-operation between the Anglican Church and the wider Church body. The key to growth, according to Chartres, is ‘refusing to see the many divisions in Church life, between High Church and Low Church, between Catholic and Protestant tradition. There is only one division that truly matters, and that is the division between dead church and live church. That can embrace almost any expression of Christian faith.’ Strong ecclesial identity is now history, according to Chartres. Rather, we are in a post-denominational phase. ‘Very few of the hundreds of thousands of students studying in London arrived with any clear ecclesial identity. They are looking for churches and congregations of varied and contrasting styles that are living and not dead,’ he said.