Far from seeing reform after Robert Mugabe was toppled, the country has fallen into deeper crisis as millions are ‘reduced to paupers’. Power cuts from dawn to long after dusk are causing families to cook on firewood in almost total darkness. Monthly earnings barely cover two weeks’ living expenses. With Mnangagwa things have gone from bad to worse with outlandish austerity measures causing 175% inflation. Multiple currencies replaced by another new Zimbabwe dollar, fuel subsidies cut, poor harvests, a cyclone and drought have compounded problems. The Zimbabwe Church is calling for the international community and the government to hear the cries of Zimbabwean families surviving on two meals a day and lacking life-saving medicine. UK aid agency CAFOD is asking for national dialogue, for all in authority to come together and address the current crisis as they do what they can to assist with food, clean water supplies, and seeds (70% of the population grow their own food).

Please pray for resolution between Hong Kong's pro-democracy people and China’s government. After police firing as many rounds of tear gas in one day as during the entire months of June and July, a general strike, and days of disruptions at Hong Kong Airport, protesters are now being called terrorists and China’s ambassador to the UK has warned that troops will intervene to restore order if necessary. Videos show a massive number of Chinese military vehicles gathering along the border. Hong Kong has its own legal system, borders, and rights including freedom of assembly and free speech, which are all meant to be protected. But things are changing. Rights groups accuse China of meddling in Hong Kong with legal rulings that disqualify pro-democracy legislators; also, five Hong Kong booksellers and a tycoon disappeared, all eventually re-emerging in custody in China. Artists and writers are under increased pressure to self-censor.

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) has called on Algerian authorities to guarantee freedom of worship to churches and religious institutions, and to allow all closed churches to re-open. A press release on 12 August states, ‘We deeply regret that in May and in August 2019 two churches were forcibly closed in the city of Boudjima. This brings the number of forcibly closed churches to six, including one house church. Five of them belong to the Protestant Church of Algeria, a WEA member. Many more churches are threatened with closure, amid denial of formal registration and recognition by authorities. We also call on the Algerian authorities to suspend and revise the February 2006 ordinance setting out the conditions and rules for the exercise of non-Muslim religions. This ordinance is cited in each of the decisions to close churches.’

Since IS was driven out of Iraq and Syria, it appears to have its sights set on Afghanistan. While the Afghan government is engaged in peace talks with the hard-line Taliban movement, radical Islamist groups are spreading their ideology at universities. Basira Akhtar, a 22-year-old student, was beaten up twice earlier this year, at her university in Kabul, when her headscarf slipped from her head. In both cases she was accused of promoting Christianity. An Open Doors analyst says, ‘The core of IS militants in Afghanistan consists of many disgruntled Taliban splinter groups and, reportedly, some returning fighters from Syria. They will try to attack in Afghanistan, just like the Indonesian couple who bombed a cathedral in the Philippines in January. For Christians, this basically means that they need to continue to keep their faith hidden as much as possible.’