Religious Liberty Prayer List - No. 219 - Wed 14 May 2003

-------------------------------------------- UGANDA: THE CHILDREN, THE CHURCH AND THE LRA --------------------------------------------

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is an armed rebel militia fighting the government of Uganda. The LRA is nothing more than a blasphemous, terrorist cult-militia, being mainly lightly armed foot-soldiers (presently 300), and drugged, conscripted child soldiers (presently 600). Yet for 16 years, the LRA's campaign of terror has been unstoppable in northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. They have kidnapped more than 10,000 children for front-line fighting.

Calling themselves "The Lord's" army, they claim to want a government built on the Biblical Ten Commandments. However, their trademark is unrivalled cruelty, brutality and raw, sadistic evil. The LRA receives support from the defeated and exiled Holy Spirit force established by the Catholic heretic and self-proclaimed prophetess, Alice Lakwena. However, the bulk of LRA funding, training and arms has come from the National Islamic Front in Khartoum, Sudan.

The LRA's leader is Joseph Kony, a spirit medium controlling his fighters through his aura of terror and mysticism. A social worker helping rescued LRA child soldiers says the children tell her that whatever Kony says when he gets possessed comes exactly true. When Kony is possessed the children are supposed to sing and worship. She says, "I believe there is a deadly evil spirit misleading him. I'm not sure if they worship Kony or if they worship the spirit that is in Kony. They say the reason Kony kills so many people is because the spirit in him feeds on fresh human blood." There is little doubt the appalling blasphemy and extreme cruelty and evil of the LRA is demonic.

On Sunday night, 11 May, 50 LRA militiamen broke into the Catholic Lacor Junior Seminary in northern Uganda. They killed one and abducted 44 young seminarians aged 12-18, although three later escaped. In Gulu, Noah's Ark Children's Ministry Uganda (NACMU) has set up a safe haven for children at night. Many children walk up to 8 km from their village to Gulu, just to get a night's safe sleep, before walking home the next day. On 7 May, the LRA raided a village 1 km from Gulu, taking 26 children, as well as a Catholic mission and village 2 km from Gulu, where they took 30 children. The same day, the NACMU had a record influx of 1,203 terrified children seeking protection from the LRA. Set up to cater for 300 children per night, Noah's Ark is straining at the seams.

Uganda is a predominantly Christian country with complete freedom of religion. The Church is strong and growing and has seen revival both before and since the years of extreme persecution under Presidents Amin and Obote. Persecution of the Church takes many forms, but behind each is the one prince of persecution who seeks to prevent, divert, poison or destroy faith in Jesus Christ by any means. (Ephesians 6:12)

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR:

* God to bind all demonic forces at work amongst the LRA.

* God in his great mercy to grant safety, release and healing to the kidnapped children.

* Joseph Kony to face the justice of the Lord and either be delivered from his demonic bondage or, if he is a willing partner with evil, be judged by God so the nation might be delivered of Kony, bringing the LRA to an end for all time.

"We are human, but we don't wage war with human plans and methods. We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds." 2 Corinthians 10:3,4.

SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE: ------------------------------------------------------------ UGANDA: THE CHILDREN, THE CHURCH AND THE LRA

The blasphemous, terrorist cult-militia, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), is still causing intolerable suffering in northern Uganda. With a 16-year history of rebellion, the LRA has kidnapped more than 10,000 children to drug and forcibly conscript as child soldiers. Uganda is a predominantly Christian country with an active, strong and growing Church, and Christians are regularly victims of the LRA's unrivalled cruelty and evil. On 11 May, the LRA raided a Catholic seminary, killing one and kidnapping 44 young seminarians, three later escaping. Noah's Ark Children's Ministry Uganda has set up a night-time safe haven for hundreds of children seeking protection from LRA raids. LRA's leader, Joseph Kony, is a spirit medium. See Eph 6:12 and 2 Cor 10:3,4.

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PLEASE PERSIST IN YOUR PRAYERS FOR ERITREA, where severe persecution continues with 54 more evangelical Protestant Christians taken by police out of two prayer meetings on 6 May. They are in prison receiving "severe punishment".

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The WEA Religious Liberty Commission sponsors this RL Prayer List to help individuals and groups pray specifically and regularly for religious liberty issues, and in particular to uphold the Church where it is suffering persecution.

RL Prayer is moderated by Ron Clough, a commissioner of the WEA RLC and convenor of the Australian EA RLC.

Elizabeth Kendal researched and authored this message.

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