Armenia: prime minister refuses to resign
25 Feb 2021
Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan has warned of an attempted military coup, after the country's armed forces said he and his cabinet must resign. The army ‘must obey the people and elected authorities’, he told thousands of supporters in the capital Yerevan. His opponents held a rival rally. The military's top brass was angered by the PM's sacking of a commander. Mr Pashinyan has faced protests after losing last year's bloody conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh - an enclave internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but controlled by ethnic Armenians since a 1994 truce. During the six weeks of fighting late in 2020, Azerbaijan not only recaptured areas around the enclave but also took the key town of Shusha inside it. Under the Russian-brokered deal that emerged shortly afterwards, Azerbaijan keeps the areas it has captured.
Pfizer and Moderna have promised to boost vaccine production in the coming months, as the country’s death toll from Covid-19 went past 500,000. Pfizer said the company will have 120 million doses of the vaccine available for shipment by the end of March and an additional 80 million doses by the end of May. Pfizer expects that all 300 million contracted doses - enough for up to 150 million Americans - will be available by the end of July. Moderna President Stephen Hoge plans to double vaccine production to over 40 million doses per month: 300 million doses will be ready by the end of July. The main concern is that new variants could become dominant in the US by March. A leading forecasting institute says over 90,000 more Americans are likely to die from Covid, and Americans will still be wearing masks in 2022.
President Mahmoud Abbas has guaranteed that at least seven seats of a new legislative council will go to Christians in the elections in the occupied territories to be held on 22 May. Hanan Ashrawi, a Christian who recently resigned her position on the PLO’s executive committee, said she is uneasy about reserving seats for specific communities. However, the president of Bethlehem Bible College said, ‘This is an important and long-awaited opportunity for young Palestinian Christians to participate in this public process, whether as candidates or as voters’. Emigration due to violence has produced a huge drop in the Palestinian Christian population. Many believe the way to fight emigration is to give them reasons to stay. What is needed is a system that protects people and provides for their rights, not allow churches to become museums.
Myanmar: chilling army document discovered
25 Feb 2021
An army document has been discovered instructing soldiers to ‘punish and break down’ ethnic-minority Christians and anyone objecting to the military regime. The discovery came as the army ramped up armed patrols in Karen and Kachin States. Since December 2020, the military have increased ceasefire violations in Karen State, shelling villages in order to clear land for new roads and military installations. The official document states military personnel should fire 12mm weapons (equivalent to a machine gun) at individuals or use a 38mm weapon (a gun to launch grenades) on groups of civilians. The directives include special instructions to round up any dissenting civilian doctors and nurses and to report on any local leaders who are not fully cooperating with the military. There are many Christians amongst both the Karen and the Kachin ethnic groups, and thousands of Christian villagers fled to remote jungle areas when persecution began.
Global: what is home when home has gone?
25 Feb 2021
Home is a place where everyone can flourish: somewhere we can belong, feel safe, and grow. Millions of people, forced to flee their homes because of years of conflict, are having to raise their families in cramped conditions in refugee camps, lacking the basic essentials. Life is a struggle to survive. Pray for people like Tamam who used to live a quiet and comfortable life in Northern Syria, with her loving husband and children. Then IS occupied the area; no electricity or running water, crops and animals died. Her husband was killed, and they joined around 1 million Syrians living in makeshift settlements in the middle of a slum in Lebanon. Pray for the mission agencies bringing relief in dangerous situations, and for the network of churches attempting to support displaced people.
When Iranian authorities arrested and executed his 18-year-old brother for a minor political crime. Hormoz wanted revenge. But God spoke to his heart: ‘Those people who killed your brother are not your enemies. They are victims in the hands of your enemies. When you see Muslims killing others they are victims.’ Today house churches in Iran celebrate with satellite broadcasts of Hormoz. He is now an evangelist in the tsunami of salvation washing over Iran. While Iran’s regional ambitions and nuclear programme dominate the news, widespread underground unseen revival is occurring.
Online Easter gatherings
18 Feb 2021
As the cold lockdown season comes to an end, the church will have opportunities to attend online conferences to connect with God and each other as well as hear from encouraging speakers. New Wine has created a digital journal to accompany its programme, and from 1 March is releasing a thought for the day from different New Wine leaders, to help delegates to come together prepared, hungry, and ready to encourage each other. See Meanwhile the usual huge Spring Harvest events at Minehead and Skegness have been cancelled to make way for a safe socially distanced and online event that delivers what it should in a new way. These are just two of a new season of Easter celebrations that are about to break out across the nation.
Christians in Parliament - part two
18 Feb 2021
Following last week’s intercessions for our Christians in Parliament as they meet up virtually to read the Bible and offer pastoral support, pray for God to anoint them as they walk alongside other people in difficult circumstances and for new opportunities to give one-to-one support. Our Christian MPs also hope to run a course exploring the Christian faith soon; please pray that those who would benefit from such a course would be able to find the right time to meet. Also, plans are being made for this year's National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast. Please pray for God to give the organisers wisdom as they work out what will be feasible given the ongoing Covid restrictions. Pray that whatever format the event takes, it will be an encouragement for all who attend and a vehicle for strengthening relationships between church leaders and their local MPs.