* 12 MILLION REFUGEES AND 34 MILLION DISPLACED BY WAR LOOK FOR A PLACE TO BELONG * WASHINGTON IMAM DECLARES MUSLIM PLAN TO TAKE OVER AMERICA * PRINCE CHARLES VISITS LONDON PENTECOSTAL CHURCH FOR HIS BIRTHDAY * NEW ZEALAND MINISTER OF EDUCATION WANTS TO LICENSE SUNDAY SCHOOLS * CHRISTIAN TEEN IN UK TAKES PURITY RING CASE TO HIGH COURT * SPIKE IN NUMBER OF STUDENTS INTERESTED IN CHRISTIANITY ON AMERICAN CAMPUSES ----------------------------------------------- 12 MILLION REFUGEES AND 34 MILLION DISPLACED BY WAR LOOK FOR A PLACE TO BELONG The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants gives the world refugee total as 12,019,700 and estimates there are over 34,000,000 people displaced by war, who remain within the same national borders. The following countries provide the major source of refugees and internally displaced people. IRAQ The displacement of Iraqis is now the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world. The United Nations estimates that every month, more than 50,000 Iraqis are displaced by the war. More than 4 million refugees in all. Iraqi refugees are now living in Syria, Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, and Turkey. Most Iraqis are determined to be resettled to Europe or North America, and few consider return to Iraq an option. With no legal work options in their current host countries, Iraqis are already exploring the use of false documents to migrate to Western nations. Neighbouring countries are being overwhelmed by the massive influx of Iraqi refugees. AFGHANISTAN Iran is forcing the return of thousands of illegal Afghanistan refugees who are flooding into western Afghanistan. Iran says it wants 1 million illegal Afghans out of its country by March 2008. SUDAN 170 000 southern Sudanese refugees live in Uganda after fleeing the country's 20-year conflict. The war between the government in Khartoum and the Christian and animist southern rebels killed two million people and displaced twice as many before a 2005 peace deal. But armed clashes and banditry persist in the lawless south. SOMALIA Whatever troubles life might deal you today, consider what it's like just trying to make it from one day to the next in the African nation of Somalia. Amid the ongoing bloodshed between various warring factions, kidnappings and killings have made humanitarian efforts next to impossible. The long years of violence has sent more than 30,000 people fleeing to refugee camps in Kenya. And suddenly, the surge in population there is creating fierce competition for already scarce resources, from firewood to medical care. UGANDA Nearly 40 per cent of Uganda's more than 250,000 refugees are below 17 years of age. The refugees stream in from neighbouring East African countries and make their homes in squalid camps upcountry, living on rations and rarely achieving subsistence. Refugees are usually driven away from their homes by war and large-scale social upheaval. Poverty is so rampant in the camps, where income-generating activities are few and far between, that for most families a bride price allows some means of stability and sustenance. Often, a girl child is married to educate the boy child. If somebody comes with money that I can use to eat and feed the children, I will sell her," one 32-year-old Sudanese refugee said of her 13-year-old daughter. Few refugees choose early marriage freely; instead, circumstances force them to marry early. VIETNAM 260,000 ethnic Chinese refugees - mostly farmers, fisherfolk and artisans - who fled Vietnam during the brief 1979 border war that followed Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia, now number 300,000 in China. ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES In mid-October 2003, Italian authorities discovered a boat carrying refugees from Africa bound for Italy. Adrift for more than two weeks and without fuel, food, and water, many of the passengers had died. At first the dead were tossed overboard. But after a point, the remaining survivors lacked the strength to hoist the bodies over the side. The refugees were believed to be Somalis who had embarked from Libya. We do know that Somalia is an ecological basket case, with overpopulation, overgrazing, and desertification destroying its pastoral economy. Although the modern world has extensive experience with people migrating for political and economic reasons, we are now seeing a swelling flow of refugees driven from their homes by environmental pressures. Modern experience with this phenomenon in the United States began when nearly 3 million "Okies" from the southern Great Plains left during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, many of them migrating to California. Source: Intercessors for America ----------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON IMAM DECLARES MUSLIM PLAN TO TAKE OVER AMERICA A Washington imam has stated that an organization that he is part of is seeking to replace the U.S. government with "the Islamic State of North America" by 2050. The group, known as As-Sabiqun - or the Vanguard - is under the leadership of Abdul Alim Musa. Musa's declaration of his intention to help lead a takeover of America was highlighted by noted Islam observer Robert Spencer on his website Jihad Watch. Spencer said that figures such as Musa should not be ignored, "Not because they have the power to succeed, but because they may commit acts of violence to achieve their purpose." Musa declared: "Those who engage in this great effort require a high level of commitment and determination. We are sending out a call to the believers: Join with us in this great struggle to change the world!" Musa launched the group in the early 1990s at the Al-Islam mosque in Philadelphia. His group says it is influenced by the writings and life work of Muslim thinkers and leaders such as Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna, and Iranian revolutionary Ayatollah Khomenei. Musa's organization declares "The paramount goal of the movement is the establishment of Islam as a complete way of life in America. The groups says it does not "advocate participation in the American political process but believes in a strong and active outreach to the people of the U.S." Meanwhile the founder of the leading Islamic lobby group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has reportedly told a group of Muslims in California they are in America not to assimilate but to help assert Islam's rule over the country. The CAIR spokesman said that he hopes to see an Islamic government over the U.S. some day, brought about not by violence but through "education." The group says it has a six-point plan of action which is implemented at each location where a branch of the movement is established. 1. Establishing a mosque as a place to worship Allah and as a centre of spiritual and moral training. 2. Call the general society to embrace Islam. 3. Establish a full-time school that raises children with a strong Islamic identity so they can effectively meet and deal with the challenges of growing up in the West. 4. Establish businesses to make the movement financially stable and independent. 5. Establish geographical integrity by encouraging Muslims of the community to live in close proximity to the mosque. 6. Establish social welfare institutions to respond to the need for spiritual and material assistance within the community as well as thegeneral society. In addition to daily classes, each mosque in the movement "also provides youth mentorship, marriage counselling, a prison outreach program, and employment assistance for ex-convicts." As-Sabiqun says its branch in Los Angeles "was instrumental in creating a free health clinic in cooperation with other Islamic groups. The headquarters branch in Washington D.C. has developed scout programs for young members of the community." Source: World Net Daily ----------------------------------------------- PRINCE CHARLES VISITS LONDON PENTECOSTAL CHURCH FOR HIS BIRTHDAY Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall attended a special thanksgiving service at one of London's largest black majority churches, Jesus House, where he paid tribute to the contribution of black churches to their communities. The service, which took place on Wednesday, November 14, also marked the Prince's 59th birthday. He acknowledged the work done by Jesus House in the local community as well as the growing contribution made by Pentecostal and black majority churches in the UK. Other attendants at the service were the local Mayor, local MPs and the Bishop of London, the Rt. Rev Richard Chartres. Prince Charles began by thanking Jesus House for the welcome he received, "I can't tell you what a joy it is to worship with you today. All I can tell you is that there is nowhere I would rather be on my birthday. You have given us both such a wonderful, warm and happy welcome and all I can tell you is that we shall leave here with our spirits well and truly raised. You are all a marvellous example of how so many people whose families originate from the Commonwealth, have yourselves brought new life into the Christian church in the United Kingdom thereby completing the cycle started by missionaries from Britain so many years ago. So we have that to thank you for," he said. Prince Charles said he was "so impressed" by Jesus House's active involvement in the local community. Members of the congregation run yearly free car wash events and the Spreading Christmas Cheer program, where they work in London Underground stations giving away hot drinks and mince pies. They also visit the elderly and drop-in centres. "I must also say that a huge positive contribution to British society is made by a great number of church-going black people," he continued. "I want you to remember that it is highly appreciated by me and more and more by other people. Too often, it seems that the media are interested in the negative and stereotypical, but you, if I may say so, are a wonderful and shining example." The Prince of Wales concluded, "I wish I had known about this church long ago. I pray, ladies and gentlemen, that you continue in your wonderful work for the Spirit and that you are inspired by our Lord for many years to come." Source: Christianity Today ----------------------------------------------- NEW ZEALAND MINISTER OF EDUCATION WANTS TO LICENSE SUNDAY SCHOOLS Minister of Education Chris Carter (who was also responsible for authoring the homosexual friendly civil union act) has once again turned his attention on the family unit in New Zealand with the clear intention of making it difficult to run Sunday schools or school holiday programs. Paul Adams, Deputy Leader of The Family Party said that the idea of the government forcing churches to license their Sunday Schools was further evidence of unwelcomed state interference in family and community life. Education Minister Chris Carter has confirmed that a gathering of three children under adult supervision constitutes an early childhood education unit, so must be fully licensed. "Sunday Schools have functioned wonderfully in our country and are a fundamental part of church, community and family life. There is absolutely no justification for the government to set foot in the church and dictate how it carries out its activities," says Mr Adams. Mr Adams said Sunday Schools provided invaluable character based education for children and allowed parents to enjoy and participate in church services under the same roof. "What will be the impact on churches that run Sunday schools but don't have the resource or wherewithal to meet government compliance? he asked. Families are less likely to attend church because they don't have child facilities, which is totally contrary to family and community life. I thought the church and state weren't meant to mix?" "New Zealand's church community is well capable of continuing the traditions of Christian education without the government controlling how it does it," he added. Source: The Family Party Press Release ----------------------------------------------- CHRISTIAN TEEN IN UK TAKES PURITY RING CASE TO HIGH COURT Lydia Playfoot, a 16-year-old student in the UK, is continuing her stand for her faith and for abstinence before marriage, although for now, she has had to leave behind her purity ring. Lydia wears a smooth silver ring - part of the "Silver Ring Thing" a Christian program which helps encourage teens to remain sexually abstinent and wait for marriage, in the face of rising promiscuity. Although the school she attends has a policy that does not allow any jewellery to be worn, it does allow Muslims to wear headscarves, and Sikhs to wear Kara bracelets, but will not give students permission to wear purity rings. For wearing her ring, Lydia has been sent to numerous detentions. Lydia disagrees with the school's policy. "My ring is a symbol of my religious faith," she explains. "I think, as a Christian, it says we should keep ourselves pure from sexual sinfulness, and wearing the ring is a good way of making a stand." Not wanting to have her grades affected any further, Lydia has taken off the ring, but has written a letter to governors and school officials stating her position, and is now taking her case to the high court. Phil and Heather Playfoot, Lydia's parents, support her stance and her litigation. "We are extremely proud of our daughter who has shown the courage to stand up for what is right and true and who is trying to make a positive impact on her generation," Heather remarked. "In a nation with a rising rate of sexually transmitted infections, my hope is that schools, and all those in authority, would back any youngster who is living for what is the best way of life for our society." Source: Christian Post ----------------------------------------------- SPIKE IN NUMBER OF STUDENTS INTERESTED IN CHRISTIANITY ON AMERICAN CAMPUSES Harvard Professor Peter Gomes claimed that there may be more religious activity on campuses now than at any other time in the last hundred years. Terry Erickson of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship agrees with that assessment. "After interviewing a number of people: professors and people associated with the university, we have discovered that students are far more spiritual and far more interested in religion and pursuing degrees in religion," he said. Two-thirds of the freshman class claimed to pray, and 80-percent said they believed in God. "These are all kinds of numbers that have really surprised these professors," said Erickson. "The truth is, this is exactly what we're seeing, as well," he said. Their groups continue to grow each year, and its not just Christians attending. "Of those who attend our activities, we have about 28-percent who profess themselves to be non-Christians," added Erickson. Erickson said students have an "interest to try to discover who Jesus is, trying to discover what the Bible says, and then as they stick around and become part of the community, when given the opportunity to decide for Christ, they are saying 'Yes.'" As a matter of fact, last year Intervarsity reportedly had the highest number of recorded conversions in their history. Source: Mission Network News
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