Belarus: Persecution of Christians
03 Jul 2015
Open Doors reports Belarus as the last surviving dictatorship in Europe. The government allows almost no political opposition. The Orthodox Church is the only officially recognised denomination with unregistered religious activity resulting in imprisonment or heavy fines. Unregistered churches are monitored by the secret police and violent raids occur frequently. Please pray for the pastors whose churches are being monitored to have courage and perseverance and for a change in the government's attitude to Christianity. The law prohibits religious organisations from providing religious education for children and from carrying out religious activity beyond the vicinity where the organisation is registered. Church registration is a tedious, expensive, if not impossible process. Many churches have to wait several years to register.
Austria: Discrimination against Christians
03 Jul 2015
In a new report, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination expressed ‘serious concerns’ regarding the human rights situation in Austria for Christians. They found a ‘very high’ incidence of vandalism and burglary at Christian sites and denounced widespread anti-Christian discrimination and abuses against freedom of expression, assembly and conscientious objection. Dr. Gudrun Kugler, the director of the Observatory, told Breitbart News that in recent years there has been a shift both in public policy and the reigning popular mentality that has made life for Christians increasingly difficult. ‘Ever more restrictive laws are squeezing religious freedom, while society itself is growing more and more intolerant of biblical Christianity,’ she said. The many instances of desecration include destroying crucifixes, candle holders, paintings and statues; plus arson and burglary and graffiti such as ‘death to priests’ scrawled on walls. The Observatory criticised the use of Austria’s stalking laws to prevent prayer in front of abortion clinics, a move upheld by the state court of Graz, Styria.
Andorra: Dependency on tourism
03 Jul 2015
Long isolated and impoverished, mountainous Andorra has achieved considerable prosperity since World War II through its tourist industry. Many immigrants (legal and illegal) are attracted to the thriving economy with its lack of income taxes. A conference this week (29 June ) in Andorra organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organization said that as political turmoil continues to spread across North Africa and other parts of the Arab world, countries in Southern Europe are drawing more visitors and witnessing a rebound in tourism. A delegate stated, ‘The events in North Africa will accelerate a recovery that was already underway thanks to price cuts.’ However they were not to consider this period of improvement as evidence of what the future will look like because when countries become more democratic, they tend to get more tourist-friendly and next year could in fact see a reversal, when Egypt and others bounce back with aggressive approaches on pricing, and Andorra and other countries could then lose out. See also http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/andorra.htm
Albania and the banks operating in the country are not endangered if Greece goes bankrupt. This was the statement given by the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko. He said that there will be a decrease of remittances and trading exchanges, but the Albanian market has come across to these effects since the start of the Greek crisis. In addition, Sejko highlighted that the Greek banks operating in Albania are not in danger of any collapse, because they are not part of Greek banks.
This is your chance to stand in prayer for our nations. Online bookings are now closed but you can still book by phone on 0121 633 7393. Come and join with brothers and sisters in Christ at the ICC in Birmingham this Saturday, 4 July, and pray for revival. ARE YOU READY FOR REVIVAL? Revival has to start in our hearts first. As TRUMPET CALL 2015 approaches, the team at the World Prayer Centre have a growing sense of excitement and expectation. It will be a momentous day - a memorable meeting with God. Yesterday, they had a word about rain clouds on the mountains. Read more at http://www.worldprayer.org.uk/event-registration/?ee=15 and pray with us.
Travel info: allow plenty of time to park, walk to the ICC, find the venue and get yourself prepared for this time with God. Please be aware that access to the car parks around the ICC is more difficult than usual due to significant city centre roadworks. Find out more and where to park at the link below.
Iraq: Shiite expansion
03 Jul 2015
Arab Shiites cannot be ignored thanks to the rise of the Shiite political identity in Iraq, establishing a bridge between Iranian and Arab Shiites. The Gulf States are concerned about the growing influence of Shiites in neighbouring countries, expressing their fears of the relations established between the Shiites of Iran and Iraq and their own Shiite communities. Shiites have long-standing historical ties with Iran’s Shiites on one side, and with Arab Shiites in other Arab countries, such as Kuwait, Bahrain and Lebanon. The most important and oldest Shiite religious institution, the Najaf Seminary south of Baghdad, brings together Shiite clergy from the Indian subcontinent to Iran and the Arab world. This major force poses a challenge to the Sunni regimes in the Arab world, especially in countries neighbouring Iraq and Iran. The challenge is not only religious differences. The ‘Saudi Cables,’ made public on 19 June by WikiLeaks, revealed the Arab regimes’ concerns over the rise of Shiite identity in the region.
China: Abandoned children
03 Jul 2015
Four children were found dead last week in southern China. The police said they had been living alone and killed themselves by ingesting pesticides. Their tragic deaths lay bare the tough ordeal facing a third of children in the Chinese countryside, forced to fend for themselves when their parents leave to work in the cities. The four brothers and sisters, aged between 5 and 13 years, had been fending for themselves for several years. Their mother had abandoned them and their father had left their home to work in a city 1,400 kilometres away. In a goodbye letter, the eldest wrote that he could no longer stand the pressure of looking after his brothers and sisters while studying at the same time, as his dad had wanted. Currently six million children have been left to fend for themselves - that’s one-third of China’s rural child population.
Four months after he was taken captive by IS fighters in north-eastern Syria, 70-year-old François Sawa was safely released and is in good health. Meanwhile In Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, Christian families are fleeing their homes after horrific fighting killed at least ten people, most of them children, and injured a further 150 . A few days later, two Armenian Christian men were killed in a mortar explosion in Aleppo. One was a visiting pastor from Armenia who had arrived only two days earlier. ‘All our congregation members are in agony,’ said Barnabas Fund’s partner on the ground in Syria, as he relayed the news. With fighting coming from four fronts, thousands of Christians have fled the city in terror. There are between 45,000 and 90,000 Christians living in Aleppo, down from 465,000 in 2010. IS forces have again attacked the north-eastern city of Hassake as well as the northern city of Kobane on 25 June.