Ethiopia: teenagers on trial for evangelism
14 Oct 2016
Ethiopian evangelical Christians frequently face discrimination and harassment. Eden (15), Gifti and Mihiret (both 14), and Deborah (18) were distributing a Christian book in Ethiopia's main language entitled ‘Let's speak the truth in love - answers to questions’. The book answers questions posed about the Christian faith by a South African Islamic scholar who used to be head of the Islamic Propagation Centre International. Christians in a town east of Addis Ababa decided to distribute it following cross-cultural evangelism training. Local Muslims said the book was an insult to Islam. The four girls have made several court appearances and their case has been transferred to a higher court in Harar. Eden was beaten in prison but said, ‘This suffering is an honour for us. We should expect persecution. We are not afraid. We are singing and praying here in prison.’ Deborah said, ‘It is an honour to be jailed for God's Kingdom.’
Israel: terrorists and financing terror
14 Oct 2016
A terror attack began at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem on Sunday morning. The terrorist fired from his car at a train, wounding one woman critically. He then drove to Shimon Hatzadik train stop and opened fire at another car, wounding another woman. Meanwhile, Hezbollah's drug smuggling operations, used to finance terror in northern Israel, were exposed on an IDF interactive website last week. In July six suspects were arrested on suspicion of smuggling explosives that had been discovered south of Metulla and taken into custody for planning to carry out major terror attacks in Israel, according to a statement by the intelligence agency. In recent years, security services have dealt with several cases in which links were discovered between routes for smuggling drugs from Lebanon into Israel and routes for the infiltration of war material. See:
Venezuela: eating garbage to survive
14 Oct 2016
Venezuela, once a candidate for 1st World status, has deteriorated to many citizens eating from dustbins to survive. A study found 15% of Venezuelans feed themselves exclusively with ‘food waste discarded by commercial establishments’. 75% of all Venezuelans do not eat a diet of breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. 54 % go to bed hungry, and 52% buy food through the black market. 48% took time off work to search for food. Many believe the severe food shortage is caused by Venezuela’s socialist economy. William Murray, chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition, noted that when prices are allowed to rise in accordance with market forces, as in a free enterprise system, demand is reduced to a manageable level. But in Venezuela’s centrally- planned economy, the government does not allow producers to raise prices on their goods to keep up with increases in the cost of production. Therefore, producers cannot afford to produce as much as is needed, and shortages result.
USA and Russia chill in relations
14 Oct 2016
A year after Russia stepped into the Syrian quagmire on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow has challenged the US and NATO in virtually every arena possible. The Russians: - probably bombed a UN humanitarian aid convoy bringing relief, derailing joint US / Russian peace talks; - continue to strike civilian targets with chemical weapons; - sent nuclear-capable missiles to Kaliningrad, Russia’s European enclave; - suspended an agreement with the US to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium because of what they viewed as ‘unfriendly’ acts by the US; - sent missile defence batteries to Syria, and threatened to shoot down US planes flying in Syria without warning; - participated in military drills with China in the South China Sea (where China has illegally annexed and militarised artificial islands); - probably hacked the Democratic National Committee and other US government agencies and leaked information to the public to de-legitimise the USA's upcoming election and destabilise the country at large.
Aleppo being ‘held hostage’
14 Oct 2016
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura appealed to Jabhat al-Nusra, Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate, to leave Aleppo saying, ‘1,000 of you are deciding the destiny of the 275,000 civilians.’ Jabhat al-Nusra’s role in Aleppo is omitted from most mainstream press accounts. John Kerry said, ‘Russia and the Syrian regime owe the world an explanation as to why they keep hitting hospitals, medical facilities, children and women’. He called for war crimes investigations. The understandable impulse to assist Syrians suffering as a result of war is heartfelt and laudable – but for policymakers, there is also the need to weigh the consequences of military action, reflecting on what was learned from interventions in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. Even the establishment of humanitarian or safe zones would entail a ‘major combat mission.’ See also article 4 in the British Isles section.
This month children in Syria are to meet in mass prayer, to end the ‘spiral of death’ that is killing hundreds of people in rebel-held districts of Aleppo. Christian and Muslim boys and girls in Aleppo will join together to pray for an end to the deadly bombing raids, Archbishop Boutros Marayati, head of the Armenian Catholic church in Aleppo, told Agenzia Fides, ‘Many cannot leave Aleppo. New blood will be shed if the powers behind the two warring parties do not decide to really put an end to this dirty war.’ The schoolchildren will sign and fingerprint an appeal begging world rulers to put an end to the massacres. ‘But above all, they will pray. They will pray for all of their peers. And we trust in the fact that children's prayer is more powerful than ours’, said Archbishop Marayati. See also article 1 (on the 4-14 window) in the World section.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump recently told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that if he is elected President, the USA will recognise Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State of Israel. While Israel calls Jerusalem its capital, few other countries accept that, including the United States. Most nations maintain embassies in Tel Aviv. Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, as capital of the state they aim to establish alongside Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. During the closed-door meeting, a spokesman said that Trump agreed with Netanyahu that peace in the Middle East could only be achieved when ‘the Palestinians renounce hatred and violence and accept Israel as a Jewish state.’ The Iran nuclear deal, which both parties have criticised, was also discussed.
God is in the detail
07 Oct 2016
The daily struggles and snags we get caught up in are a normal part of everyday life; they are part of the imperfect world we live in. People let us down or misunderstand us. The things we use don't always work as we want them to and they don't last for ever. Yet these everyday problems aren't huge barriers that completely block our way in life; they are more like obstacles we can jump over or find a way around. Sometimes, you have a day when everything seems to go wrong, when even the little things seem far worse than they really are. Does God know about these 'little' things? Does He care? The Bible says that God can make something good come out of every situation for those who love Him.