Officials have started moving asylum-seekers to a new migrant camp on the island of Samos, Zervou, despite activists complaining that access controls are too harsh. A double barbed-wire fence surrounds the camp with surveillance cameras, X-ray scanners and magnetic doors. During the 2015/16 migrant crisis the previous camp on Samos sheltered 7,000 asylum-seekers despite its capacity being just 680. Campaigners had long denounced conditions there as deplorable. On 20 September at Zervou’s entrance police lined up the first residents, checking for weapons or dangerous objects. Asylum personnel handed out bedsheets and showed the migrants how to use the gate's magnetic entry cards. The new Samos facility is the first of several such camps on five Greek islands created with EU funds. All the ‘closed controlled’ camps can only be entered via fingerprint scans and electronic badges. Gates will remain closed at night and disciplinary measures await those who return after 8 pm.
Brazil: Christian growth
23 Sep 2021
Brazil has one of the largest Christian populations in the world; 91% say they are a ‘Christian’ of some form. The Kingdom of God has exploded in Brazil since 1960 as the nation has been saturated with truth in and through Jesus Christ. Jesus said (Luke 12:48), ‘To whom much is given, from them much is required’, and Brazil has certainly been given much from God. The Church has become a strong mission-sending organisation in one generation. Today, God desires it to go to a new level of seeing mission mobilisation emphasised in every local ministry so that every believer contributes to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The Brazilian Church is known as a praying Church; pray for a massive prayer movement across the churches and denominations emphasising intercession for an explosion of church-planting, leading towards communal movements to Christ among all unreached people groups.
A turning point for humanity
23 Sep 2021
Boris Johnson, speaking to the UN, told them that it is time for humanity to grow up, and the COP26 summit leaders in November must be the turning point. He warned that global temperature rises were already inevitable, but called on his fellow leaders to commit to major changes to curb further warming in four areas - coal, cars, cash, and trees. He added, ‘Countries must take responsibility for the destruction we are inflicting, not just upon our planet but ourselves. It's time for humanity to grow up.’ Mr Johnson praised China’s pledge to stop building coal-fired energy plants abroad and called on them to also end domestic coal use (they produce 28% of global greenhouse gas emissions). The Prime Minister made a series of calls for action to his fellow leaders, adding, ‘We have the tools for a green industrial revolution, but time is desperately short.’
Iraq: resurgence of IS, Iranian Influence
23 Sep 2021
Many believe Iran and IS are ready to jump in and fill the void as Joe Biden withdraws troops from Iraq by the end of this year. They are emboldened because of the fall of Afghanistan. IS had apparently been absolutely defeated in Iraq, but it restarted in 2019. In the last three months they have been aggressively reorganising, setting up checkpoints and attacking Christians and others around the Kirkuk area. Iran is also showing its infiltration and its might against American interests inside Iraq. Meanwhile, the prime minister has encouraged over one million Christians who fled in recent years to return. Christians still in Iraq warn that there has not been sufficient change to guarantee safety. Open Doors questioned the wisdom of the government statement, saying, ‘How can Christians return to Iraq while many are still living in undignified conditions and facing persecution from Sunni and Shia fundamentalists?’ See
Iran: Christians request prayer
23 Sep 2021
On 5 September intelligence agents in Rasht arrested Christian converts Ayoub Morteza, Morteza Mashhoudkari and Ahmad Sarparast and interrogated them. Ayoub was able to contact his family from there. The prosecutor refused to grant them bail and Morteza and Ahmad were transferred to Lakan Prison on 18 September. Iranian intelligence said that Ayoub had also been taken to the prison, but Morteza and Ahmad said he was not there. Please pray that Ayoub’s present situation will quickly become known and that his family will no longer be worried about him. May God encourage and strengthen these men and grant them peace during their imprisonment. Pray also that engaging in Christian activities and meeting with fellow-Christians should no longer be considered a crime in Iran.
USA/Mexico border crisis escalates
23 Sep 2021
Flights carrying Haitian migrants from the US back to their homeland continue daily. The ongoing mass expulsion comes in response to a growing humanitarian crisis at the US/Mexico border. Over 12,000 migrants, mainly from Haiti, camped under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, after wading across the Rio Grande from Mexico. Activity at the border has increased significantly in recent years. Border agents stopped nearly 200,000 people last month, a significant increase from the 50,684 arrests in 2019. UN officials say almost a million people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras have fled to Mexico. Mexico may top 100,000 new asylum claims this year, breaking a new record. Recently a federal judge decided officials could not use Title 42 law to deport migrant families from the US to Mexico. Lawyers serving the Biden administration immediately appealed the ruling. Mission Cry is sending 25,000 Spanish Bibles to migrants all over Mexico and hope to reach 2 million people.
China: crackdown on Christians increasing
23 Sep 2021
For many years we have interceded for the persecuted Christians in China. A significant trend in the past year has been for even more church raids: according to an International Christian Concern report, ‘not only were churches shut down or demolished, but pastors and Christians are regularly arrested.’ Open Doors estimates that there are 97 million Christians in China, many of them in unregistered underground house churches and therefore considered to be ‘illegal’. Christians are not the only religious minority facing persecution; between 1 and 3 million Uyghur and other ethnic Muslims have been put in internment camps where they are taught to fall in line with the CCP. In January, the US state department described China's treatment of Uyghurs as a ‘genocide.’ China has also reportedly violated the rights of Falun Gong practitioners and Tibetan Buddhists.
Australia: earthquakes and violent protests
23 Sep 2021
One of Australia’s biggest earthquakes on record (magnitude 6.0) struck near Melbourne, damaging buildings. It was felt 500 miles away in Adelaide and Sydney 600 miles to the north. Over half of Australia's 25 million population lives in the southeast in an area from Adelaide to Melbourne to Sydney. Quakes are relatively unusual in this area. The shaking and damage did not stop hundreds of angry demonstrators from holding a protest across Melbourne against a vaccine mandate for construction workers (there are more Covid cases in the construction sector than there are Covid patients in the whole hospital system). Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrations before making arrests. Earlier in the day the protesters had marched through the city centre, chanting their opposition to the mandate. See