South Sudan bishops (2): famine ‘man-made’
17 Mar 2017
South Sudan’s Catholic bishops have issued a pastoral letter condemning the civil war and labelling the famine ‘man-made’. The document responds to reports from all seven dioceses. They denounce government and opposition violence against civilians. ‘The killing, torturing and raping of civilians is a war crime. We want the world to hear the true situation in which our people find themselves. Our country is gripped by a humanitarian crisis - famine, economic hardship, and insecurity. Our people are struggling simply to survive.’ The bishops tell how people have been herded into their houses which were then set on fire, and recount atrocities of bodies dumped in sewage-filled septic tanks. They said, ‘People live in fear. While food shortages are partly related to poor rains, it is violence and a plummeting economy that are pushing the population over the edge into famine’.
Canada: new blasphemy laws
17 Mar 2017
Motions against ‘Islamophobia’ are not legally binding but extremists are demanding them as laws. Shutting out any criticism against hardliner behaviour in the West actually means giving extremists a license to commit atrocities. Resolution M-103, seeking to condemn ‘Islamophobia,’ was introduced recently in Canada’s House of Commons, sparking a controversy. A similar motion, labelled M-37, was later tabled in the Ontario provincial legislature and was passed. Like its predecessor it demanded that lawmakers condemn all forms of Islamophobia and reaffirm support for the Anti-Racism Directorate, in order to address and prevent systemic racism across government policy, programmes and services. It is feared that hardliners supporting this form of censorship and other restrictions required by Islamic sharia law aim to blur the line between genuine bigotry and criticism of core problems such as anti-Semitism, violence against women and minors, female genital mutilation, child marriage, etc. Canada already has laws to curb any discrimination or abuse against individuals or groups.
Afghanistan: a spiritually barren land
17 Mar 2017
The Afghan government does not recognise any of its citizens as Christians, nor is anyone permitted to convert to Christianity. However, there are no laws forbidding proselytism, although the practice is contrary to Muslim beliefs. There is only one legally recognised church - the Catholic chapel at the Italian Embassy - but it is not open to local nationals. There are also Christian religious facilities at foreign military bases, such as an Eastern Orthodox church at the Romanian base in Kandahar. Items and articles belonging to religions other than Islam, such as Bibles, are prohibited. Muslims who change their faith to Christianity are subject to societal and official pressure, which may lead to death. However, many sources claim there is a secret underground church of Afghans. The US state department estimates that the size of this group is between 500 and 8,000 individuals. The complete Bible is available online in Dari, and the New Testament is available in Pashto.
West Asia: creative uses of new technology
17 Mar 2017
New technology provides creative ways to distribute Scripture. One Wycliffe Bible Translation partner organisation plans to distribute 250,000 SD cards (ultra-small, high-capacity flash memory cards) in a language community in West Asia by the middle of this year. The Acts of the Apostles film and other Scripture media in the local language will go on the cards. Pray that many people will hear and respond to the Scriptures through this strategy.
USA: bakers refuse to make gay wedding cake
17 Mar 2017
A Christian couple in Oregon were fined $135,000 (£109,000) for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. Aaron and Melissa Klein, who own a local bakery called Sweet Cakes in Oregon, maintain that they did not refuse to serve the gay customers; they only refused to participate in making a cake for their wedding. They have decided to appeal against the ruling, with First Liberty Institute attorney Hiram Sasser representing them. They said, ‘We have no litmus test for customers. We serve everybody no matter who they are, from every walk of life. That’s part of being open to the public. These two women were in fact return customers.’ The couple cannot discuss the case due to a gag order.
100,000 evangelicals in new prayer initiative
10 Mar 2017
Unprecedented evangelical unity across the UK will run from April to October with 100,000+ Christians taking part in '17:21'. The initiative is named after Jesus prayer in John 17:21: 'May they all be one that the world might believe'. Christian groups, conferences and festivals will read the same Bible reading, prayer of commitment, and declaration of a shared life in Christ, and play the same worship song. Malcolm Duncan, representing Spring Harvest, added, 'The 17:21 initiative calls all of us who stand under the shadow of the Cross to link arms in the great responsibility that God has given us – presenting a living Saviour to a dying world. I have been humbled and thrilled to be part of this call to the festivals, conventions and Bible weeks in the United Kingdom to declare that we are united by far more than what divides us. May God take us beyond structural and mechanistic unity and give us the boldness and courage to stand together for Christ.' The initiative comes in the year of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
From Israel to Syria with love
10 Mar 2017
Gush Etzion is a cluster of communities at the centre of the political controversy surrounding Jewish settlements. It supposedly consists only of right-wingers who consider all Arabs to be enemies, but there is a very different side to the community. Once a fortnight, trucks arrive to collect supplies donated by local residents. The supplies are taken north for the Amalia ‘buses of angels’ to distribute to Syrian children across the border. The activity looks like any other charity activity, but the teenagers organising it are Orthodox Jews and the recipients of the boxes are Arab refugees. The teenagers have also contacted Rabbi Shivi Froman, a resident of another Orthodox community and the founder of ‘Syrians on the Fences’ (SoF). SoF has collected over a million shekels to buy equipment for Syrian children, in collaboration with Israel Flying Aid (IFA). Froman’s late father was a leading Israeli voice for peace and reconciliation with the Arabs in the Palestinian Authority.
Friday Focus - becoming welcoming churches
10 Mar 2017
In Acts we are told the church enjoyed the favour of all the people. What reputation does your church have – austere? cliquey? unreal? judgmental? Or is it seen as warm and welcoming to everyone in your community? Is it a place that shows God’s goodness? God’s mercy is wonderful - it can reach anyone. Let it fill our hearts.
(Steve Botham, World Prayer Centre)