AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER * IRAQ CHRISTIANS CALL ON THE WORLD TO JOIN THEM IN PRAYER * NIGERIAN CHRISTIANS LIVE IN DREAD AS LOCAL TALIBAN RISES IN THE NORTH * SUDAN: WAR AGAIN LOOMS DESPITE THE SIGNING OF PEACE AGREEMENTS * INDONESIA: CHRISTIAN LEADERS JAILED FOR PRAYING * STEM CELL DISCOVERY HAILED AS MILESTONE * WORLD CONGRESS FOR FAMILIES RESTORES FAITH IN THE FAMILY ----------------------------------------------- IRAQ CHRISTIANS CALL ON THE WORLD TO JOIN THEM IN PRAYER Pastors and leaders from all over Iraq are today, (Sunday 2nd December in Iraq), holding a National Day of Prayer for their country. They are asking Christians around the world to join them in praying for their nation. Inspite of the well documented troubles faced by Christians in Iraq there has been a growing prayer movement in the country over the last few years. In 2005, the first National Prayer Conference in Iraq's history was held, attended by around 640 Iraqis from 17 different churches across the country. 670 Iraqis from 23 churches attended the 2nd National Prayer Conference in 2006, followed by the 3rd conference this past September which 604 Iraqis attended from 24 churches and a number of house churches, despite the many challenges involved in travelling across the country. This was a significant event, as it brought together believers from almost every church and denomination in Iraq. We praise God for the awesome work He is doing in and through His Church in Iraq. Things are getting better specially in Baghdad and we need to continue to pray for the nation to have complete deliverance from the enemy and for the land to be healed. Please join with the Iraqi Church to pray for the Lord to build His Kingdom in Iraq! Here are some of the prayer requests that will help you to pray for the church and country: 1-Pray protection over individual and ministry relationships - that the Holy Spirit will rule with wisdom and love in each situation and the efforts of the enemy to bring fear/disunity/distrust/separation will be confounded and turned against them. 2-Pray that God will give the shepherds/Pastors words of encouragement and comfort for their congregations and their communities. 3-Pray that the church will have a good relationship with their communities. Pray they will be able to love their enemies as Christ commanded. Pray that the real enemy will be unmasked/exposed and the different groups will unite and defeat his effort to bring fear, hatred, violence and strife. 4-Pray protection and wisdom for recently converted believers that they would stand strong and not be pulled back into darkness. 5-Pray that those outside of the family of God will have visions of Jesus that will draw them to salvation. 6-A number of persons in the leadership of churches in Iraq are experiencing health concerns. Please pray that they will experience the Healer in their specific situation and that as they set their minds and hearts on Him, they will experience His perfect peace, regardless of their physical circumstance. 7-pray for the country to have peace and for Civil war to stop. 8-pray for new laws to be established in the parliament that will bring democracy, peace and prosperity to the nation. 9-Pray for the leaders in the nation - government, police, military, etc. - that they will rule responsibly and fairly, helping to build the necessary infrastructure and order. 10-Pray that the desperate and unemployed will turn from darkness to light; helping to build, protect and restore order, instead of turning to violence or criminal activity. Source: International Prayer Council ----------------------------------------------- NIGERIAN CHRISTIANS LIVE IN DREAD AS LOCAL TALIBAN RISES IN THE NORTH The men dressed in red turbans and long robes and carrying machine guns and machetes went among the Muslim and Christian residents in the northern city of Kano saying they meant no harm; their gripe was solely with the national government for failing to live by the Qur'an. The next day the hundreds of fighters, who included women and some children, attacked the police headquarters, killing 10 policemen and a divisional commander's wife. The police station was set ablaze, vehicles were burned and prisoners freed. A six-hour battle followed through parts of the city that left at least 10 others dead, some of them civilians caught in the crossfire. About 25 attackers were killed as the army shelled the mixed Panshekara district. No one in Panshekara is even sure who the attackers were. But religious leaders believe they were members of the self-styled "Nigerian Taliban", a group founded by radical students who believe the country is led by an infidel government. The Nigerian Taliban first emerged five years ago demanding "full sharia" in the 12 states in the north that introduced Islamic law after the end of military rule in 1999. The latest assault sent a new wave of fear through Kano's minority Christian community, which lives with one eye on sharia and the other on inter-religious violence that has caused tens of thousands of deaths in recent years. Islamist attacks on the Christian areas of Kano have left hundreds dead at a time. Sharia came to Kano on a wave of popular support among voters who hoped it would curb rampant corruption. The state introduced a form of religious police to enforce dress codes, ban the sale of beer and impose a bar on male-driven motorbike taxis carrying women. Earlier this year the national government won a court ruling disbanding the religious police as illegal, to the fury of radical Islamists. The Nigerian Taliban has also attacked what it says is a western plot to "Christianise" Islam after Kano's leaders sought to offset the influence of Saudi Arabia and Iran, which are funding hardline Islamist schools, by negotiating a deal with the US and Britain to fund schools with a more balanced education. But extremism is never far from the surface. Earlier this month, a female teacher in Gombe spotted a student cheating during an exam on Islam and threw his books in the bin. The student, trying to cover up his wrongdoing, told other pupils that Oluwatoyin Oluseesin had desecrated the Qur'an. They beat her to death. About half of Nigeria's 130 million citizens are Muslim. They dominate the north, although there are sizeable Christian communities, which often leads to friction and, periodically, bloodshed. A Muslim presence dates back to the 12th century after north African scholars arrived on trade routes, bringing Islamic teachings and culture. Source: Intercessors Network ----------------------------------------------- SUDAN: WAR AGAIN LOOMS DESPITE THE SIGNING OF PEACE AGREEMENTS On Saturday 17 November Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ordered Sudan's Popular Defence Forces (PDF) to open its camps and mobilize troops and be prepared for any eventuality. President al-Bashir's words have sent a shock wave through South Sudan and Darfur. Al-Bashir also accused Western powers of lying about their motives in backing a 26,000-strong UN and African Union force due in Darfur in January. "'Those Americans, British, and Europeans are all liars and hypocrites who are only interested in the riches and resources of Sudan.'" Al-Bashir's belligerent words drew an immediate response from Darfurian rebel leaders who claimed al-Bashir's directive were nothing other than a declaration of war and they were putting their troops on high alert. Southerners have also moved to a state of high alert mobilising their troops in readiness to defend themselves against any attack from the north. Young supporters of President al-Bashir have started assembling in the camps waiting eagerly to execute the president's order'. A spokesman for the supporters was quoted as saying "Jihad was a tradition that could not be stopped by signing peace agreemens." Source: Elizabeth Kendal World Evangelic Alliance R.L. Commission ----------------------------------------------- INDONESIA: CHRISTIAN LEADERS JAILED FOR PRAYING Forty-one Christian leaders in Indonesia have been sentenced to five years in jail for praying that Muslim leaders would 'come to Christ'. The leaders, who are linked to Campus Crusade for Christ, were found guilty of blasphemy after a prayer meeting they attended was videoed - and a copy of the video leaked to a Muslim organisation. The specific charge levelled against the Christians was 'abusing the Koran - because the group were filmed praying over a copy of Islam's holy book. The law under which they have been charged mandates a prison term for anyone 'expressing hatred or opposition, or insults an individual or groups of Indonesian citizens in public'. The convicted Christians include parents of young children. Their lawyers say the group is planning to appeal at the East Java High Court in Surabaya. An official from the highest Muslim authority in Indonesia - the hardline MUI - said that a total of 60 Christians were being sought in connection with the video. Pray for the 41 Christians convicted of blasphemy; Pray their appeal will succeed. Pray for the Indonesian church in general, that it would stand firm despite pressure from Muslim hardliners. Source: Intercessors Network ----------------------------------------------- STEM CELL DISCOVERY HAILED AS MILESTONE Two prominent embryonic stem cell scientists have published results showing that they can produce cells with the qualities of embryonic stem cells directly from human skin cells, without the need for cloning, creating or destroying embryos. The scientists Dr. James Thomson from the USA, and Dr. Shinya Yamanaka from Japan, produced what are called "iPS" cells (induced Pluripotent Stem cells) using a simple recipe that involved adding four genetic factors to a human skin cell. Coupled with the recent announcement by Dr. Ian Wilmut, cloner of Dolly the sheep, that he is shelving cloning as an unproductive technique in favour of this new ethical method, experiments involving embryo cloning and embryo destruction are being rendered obsolete. Scientists can now work with "embryonic-like" stem cells without ethical concerns. Congress should now move swiftly to ban all human cloning. Source: Intercessors for America ----------------------------------------------- WORLD CONGRESS FOR FAMILIES RESTORES FAITH IN THE FAMILY With marriages collapsing around the world at an alarming rate and abortions rocketing, some 3,000 delegates from more than 60 countries recently gathered in Warsaw, Poland, at the World Congress for Families to affirm their faith in the need for traditional families. Allan Carlson, co-founder of the World Congress for Families said "We met in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which affirms that the family is the natural fundamental unit of society entitled to protection by society and the state. And the architects of that declaration had a very clear idea of what they meant by family, they meant a man and a woman coming together in a life-long bond of marriage for the purposes of the procreation and rearing of children, binding the generations together." Mr Carlson said that "one of the principle themes of the Congress was finding ways to counteract the sharp decline in fertility in most developed western countries - particularly so in Europe - due to a retreat from traditional marriage that's been going on for several decades now. This trend in turn is related to secularization and the declining influence of religion in public life, and in people's lives." Source: Assist News Service
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