Russians are closing evangelical Protestant churches claiming ‘only one faith would be tolerated - Orthodoxy’. They raided Grace Baptist Church while a worship service was being broadcast live. Viewers watched online while they halted the service, registered the names of all present, detained several ministers, and gave the pastor 48 hours to leave the city. They closed Melitopol’s largest Protestant charismatic church with a 1,000-seat auditorium. They tore down its cross and turned the building into a ‘cultural sports entertainment complex’. They are doing the same as they did when they seized and annexed Crimea: they raided places of worship, closed churches, banned missionary activity, fined people for leading worship meetings, seized religious literature, and forced religious communities to re-register with the state, refusing re-registration to the majority. Christians were also driven to the underground churches in the Soviet era, surviving seventy years of Soviet totalitarian rule - demonstrating that persecution can often strengthen the Church.
Ukraine: heavy shelling and NATO aid
13 Oct 2022
On 10 October Russian troops began launching a daily series of missile strikes, targeting civilians and energy facilities in populated regions to kill and create chaos. President Volodymyr Zelensky said, ‘They want to destroy our energy system. They are incorrigible. The second target is people. Such a time and such goals were specially chosen to cause as much damage as possible. We are dealing with terrorists trying to wipe us off the face of the earth.’ On 13 October Ukraine’s allies from fifty countries meeting at NATO headquarters announced deliveries to Kyiv of advanced air defence weapons, including missiles and radars. The USA earlier made a similar pledge. One high-tech system from Germany is already in Ukraine. Kyiv hailed the summit as ‘historic’. Hours later, while people slept, Russian shelling hit a five-storey residential building in Mykolaiv, destroying the upper two floors.
Haiti asks for military help to curb chaos
13 Oct 2022
Haiti is in such a bad political, economic and security crisis that the USA has urged its citizens to leave the country. The government authorised prime minister Henry to ask the world for military help to stop gangs paralysing the country and causing a major humanitarian disaster. Powerful gangs have blocked the country's main fuel terminal since September, crippling basic water and food supplies. It is not clear to whom the request for intervention has been sent, and in what form the help would be given. The UN said, ‘We remain extremely concerned about the security situation in Haiti and the impact it is having on the Haitian people and on our ability to do our work, especially in the humanitarian sphere.’ Eight people died recently from cholera, raising concerns of a potential health crisis. Pray for the USA to act on Haiti’s previous request for a humanitarian corridor to restore fuel distribution.
Iran: increasingly tense atmosphere
13 Oct 2022
Security forces have killed at least 201 people in unrest following the death in custody of a woman arrested for breaking strict hijab rules. Now people honk car horns supporting any women they see not covered up. Protests against the security forces are in the evening and afternoon in different locations. At night, those who do not leave their houses shout ‘down with the dictator’ out of their windows in big and smaller cities. The protests are not just about women wearing the hijab; that was just the spark. They have always been about basic human rights. Iranians have always wanted what westerners might take for granted as a normal life. A protester said, ‘We want life, liberty, justice, accountability, freedom of choice and assembly, a free press. We want access to our basic human rights and an inclusive government that is actually elected by the people through a proper election and that works for the people.’ See also
India: despised by men, loved by God
13 Oct 2022
Throughout the Bible we read of God's love and mercy toward those who suffer from the horrific disease of leprosy. Leprosy might seem like a tale from the ancient past, but in Asia the disease is alive and afflicting multitudes of new people every year. Each year in India 130,000 new cases (350 a day) are reported. The plight for lepers is extremely grim. Low-caste people in India are called ‘untouchables’. But even the untouchables consider lepers to be untouchable - lower than dogs on the social scale. As a result, they are forced out of society. Many commit suicide when they contract leprosy. It can strike anyone: accountants, housewives, rich, poor, young or old. They are despised and rejected by their fellow-men, their country, and their own families. Christian mission Asia Harvest is touching the lives of lepers with the love of Christ and the salvation he gives.
Kenya: food crisis
13 Oct 2022
‘Our efforts have been fruitless,’ said a Christian farmer in northern Kenya. ‘Wild animals are invading our farms and eating everything - hippos, elephants, buffaloes. Families have been struggling with nothing to eat.’ This is another problem added to the prolonged drought biting ever deeper. Crops fail, livestock perish, and the all-important water source, the Tana River, dwindles and dries up. Children in northern Kenya have already begun to die of hunger. Barnabas Aid is continuing to feed Christians in that area, where our fellow-believers are a minority and do not get help from the main aid agencies in the area. The rainy season, October to December, is forecast to be short and light across most of the country.
Bahamas: price controls on food staples
13 Oct 2022
Details have been outlined of temporary price control measures aimed at helping families to cope with mounting global inflation. The measures will affect 38 key staples such as eggs, bread, and sanitary towels. Prime minister Philip Davis announced the controls in a national address as part of broader measures to help the island nation, which imports many goods, to tackle the effects of rising price pressures globally. The controls, which limit price increases to 15% for wholesalers and 25% for retailers, will last six months, after which they will be subject to review. The prime minister remains confident that these additional measures will provide relief to Bahamian families. He also said the government would cut profit margins on price-controlled drugs and unveiled a $6 million investment in defence vessels, as they do not have the resources to deal with waves of undocumented migrants.
USA / Philippines / Japan: military drills
13 Oct 2022
2,500 US stealth fighters and Philippine marines have blasted imaginary enemies in combat drills, mock amphibious assaults, and other coastal tactics. These drills were the first joint large-scale military exercise under the newly elected president. His predecessor was an outspoken critic who threatened to cut ties with Washington and was against military exercises which could offend Beijing. Held simultaneously with these drills were exercises between US and Japanese forces around Hokkaido island, involving 3,000 military personnel. The USA said the drills ensured that it was ‘prepared to respond rapidly to crises throughout the Indo-Pacific’. Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force said they would strengthen response capabilities. These drills came as Washington and Beijing engage in heated rhetoric over the status of Taiwan and claims to islands and waters in the South China Sea. See the next article, Taiwan billionaire.