AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

MAY 2009

* PAKISTAN FACES REFUGEE CRISIS

* CHRISTIANS CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE OF SRI LANKAN CIVIL WAR

* DEFECTORS TO FAITH A GROWING TREND

* IRANIAN CHURCH NEEDS SUPPORT

* AMERICANS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF THEIR DOCTORS RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE

* BBC APPOINTS MUSLIM AS HEAD OF RELIGIOUS PROGRAMMING

PAKISTAN FACES REFUGEE CRISIS As Pakistan continues its press on the Taliban, thousands are fleeing the Swat Valley. A recent brief lull in the violence saw many people loading their families and possessions into anything that moved in order to leave the area. A “peace” pact with the Taliban has broken down with security forces beginning an assault to push the militants back into their territory. The rebels, well-established in their stronghold, had begun to encroach upon Islamabad in a blatant grab for land and power.

The result when the two forces met was volatile. The government is now preparing for up to 500,000 internal refugees, the largest displacement crisis in Pakistan’s history. Even when the refugees arrive at refugee camps, it’s not a guarantee of safety or comfort. Jacob Kramer is with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. He says,”These camps are now full. New places will have to be made in order to help them and have an opportunity to distribute the most essential things to maintain life.”

It’s hot, overcrowded, and there are inadequate sanitation facilities, little available electricity and a lack of medical help. Kramer says their teams are mobilizing. “We’ve been in contact with our partners, and they are trying to get a more detailed picture so that we can start with food and non-food responses to help the people.” Kramer urges people to “pray for the people, that God’s grace may abide with them and peace may return as soon as possible. This is a population which has been tormented from so many sides, so often, that they are highly-affected by trauma.”

The fighting started in Pakistan’s tribal areas located between the country’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the border with Afghanistan. It has since spread south and east across the NWFP into what is known as the settled areas. The tribal areas are administered by the central government, while the administration of the settled areas falls to the province in question. The tribal areas have a separate system of justice, while the settled areas follow regular Pakistan law. Currently, the fighting is taking place in the Swat valley, which is part of regular Pakistan territory.

Pakistani security forces are battling Taliban militants and their al-Qaeda allies. Missile attacks by unmanned US aircraft known as drones have added another facet to the conflict. The missile attacks are principally targeted at Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders, as well as training camps and hideouts. Initially the Taliban were principally a sub-division of those fighting in Afghanistan. Pakistani security forces were sent into the tribal areas to kill and capture senior al-Qaeda leaders as well as seeking to prevent cross border attacks by the militants against Nato forces in Afghanistan.

There have been a lot of questions raised about the commitment of the Pakistan’s security establishment. In particular, the role of the country’s powerful but shadowy Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has been the subject of much debate. Most of it is focused on the agency’s relationship with the Taliban. The Taliban were very much a creation of the ISI as part of the army’s doctrine of ‘strategic depth’. While post 9/11, the country ostensibly threw in its lot with the US, many believe the army and the ISI continue to secretly support the Taliban.

Pakistani authorities deny this on the record, but many senior security personnel admit some support for the Taliban. They point to the growing influence of India in Afghanistan, and say Pakistan cannot allow this ‘encirclement’ of its country. The United States aims to eliminate Al Qaeda and the Taliban from the region in order to establish sustainable democracies in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It also wants to ensure that extremists do not take control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. But analysts fear this maybe a case of too little too late, and that the situation may already be lost.

Source: Intercessors Network

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CHRISTIANS CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE OF SRI LANKAN CIVIL WAR A major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Sri Lanka as the country’s civil war appears to be reaching its conclusion with victory for Government forces. More than 50,000 civilians, including many Christians, are trapped in the crossfire between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels (LTTE). Christians in Sri Lanka are also suffering persecution and the effects of natural disaster. In recent fighting the military began to shell civilian areas, while the LTTE used the local population as human shields or forcibly conscripted them as soldiers.

Over 6,000 people, including hundreds of children, are believed to have died in the fighting. Vast numbers have fled from the violence with thousands of civilians now overwhelming government camps and centres. They have little access to food, water and medicine and are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. The civil war is not a religious conflict, and Christians are not a special target for either side. But Christians comprise some 20% of the Tamil population, and about eight per cent of the total population of Sri Lanka, so they are inevitably caught up in the violence.

Four Christian workers were killed in the shelling at the end of April, and there are many Christians among the displaced in the camps. Some have lost family members whilst others do not know if their loved ones are alive or dead, as families have been scattered among different centres. The Christians are at risk not only from war and deprivation, but also from persecution at the hands of Muslims, Hindus and especially Buddhists. Infringements of religious freedom are easily provoked or exacerbated by the conflict.

Most of Sri Lanka’s Christians are Tamils, and as such they tend to be ostracised by the majority Sinhalese community. As Christians they are also regarded as second-class citizens in a predominantly Buddhist country, and suffer discrimination in taxation, employment and education. Natural disasters are currently making matters even worse. There has been serious flooding in the north of the country where the fighting is, and in the south a prolonged drought has had a disastrous effect on the tea plantations where many Christians work.

Please pray

* for the displaced people in northern Sri Lanka, and especially for the Christians among them. Pray that the aid agencies will have unrestricted access to the refugee camps and be able to provide the basics of life.

* for the Christian community in Sri Lanka in these difficult conditions. Ask that the Lord will protect His people who are caught up in the conflict, and watch over His whole Church as it faces insecurity, persecution and natural disaster.

* that international efforts to bring peace to Sri Lanka will succeed in ending the prolonged civil war, and that a just settlement will restore stability to the nation. Pray too that the economic and social needs created by floods and drought will be addressed.

Source: Barnabus Fund

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DEFECTORS TO FAITH A GROWING TREND Militant atheism may be on the warpath in the English-speaking world, but last week its advocates had to take on board some unwelcome news. According to the latest American research, parents with no religious affiliation are losing the battle to indoctrinate their children. A majority of those surveyed who grew up in atheist or agnostic households, or where there was no particular religious attachment, later chose to join a religion. In comparison only 13 per cent of those raised as Protestants and 14 per cent of cradle Catholics later severed connections.

These unexpected findings come from a study, Faith in Flux, by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. About 54 per cent of those reared in unaffiliated households have since got religion. Nearly 40 per cent have become Protestants, 22 per cent evangelicals, 13 per cent mainline and 4 per cent have joined one of the black churches. Six per cent converted to Catholicism and 9 per cent embraced some other faith.

Among the reasons the unchurched offered for their conversion, 51 per cent did so because they had spiritual needs that were not being met. Less attributed the change to life-cycle reasons: marriage (23 per cent), moving to a new community (15 per cent), the death of someone close (10 per cent) or separation-divorce (6 per cent). The survey also looked at what attracted those raised with no religious affiliation to their present faith tradition. The most commonly cited was enjoying the services and style of worship (73 per cent).

The Catholic Church in America has lost the most members. Those who’ve left Catholicism outnumber those who’ve converted to it by nearly four to one. Overall, 10 per cent of adult Americans have left after being raised as Catholics. Of those 16 per cent are now Protestants, 14 per cent are unaffiliated and 3 per cent now belong to other religions. The most common reason for leaving was the churches teaching on abortion or homosexuality (56 per cent). Only 5 per cent said paedophilia scandals were the main reason for their leaving.

Source: Intercessors Network

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IRANIAN CHURCH NEEDS SUPPORT The church in Iran is experiencing revival while also facing oppression. Patrick Klein of Vision Beyond Borders (VBB)recently spent nine days there, evaluating how to best support Iranian Christians. “The revival in Iran is equivalent to what’s happening in China. Not as large a scale, but there are so many people coming to Christ in Iran, and people are searching for the truth.” he said. Klein learned that fully 98 percent of the people do not support the government. “Everybody I talked to does not agree with the government,” Klein said.

Iranians have had enough of living under oppression and fear. “They said there are two faces in Iran,” Klein explained. “There’s the face you have at your home, when you’re relaxed, and the women don’t have to have the hair covered at home and they can talk openly.” When they go out in public, however, Iranians said “we have to be very careful of what we say.” Klein learned that the oppression could worsen in the coming months. “We’ve heard that Ahmadinejad said that this year, he’s going to wipe out Christianity in Iran and get rid of all traces of Christianity,” he said.

The Iranian government has shown plenty of brutality to its people, for reasons even less significant than converting to Christianity. Klein learned that after 9/11, 200,000 Iranians held “a candlelight vigil in support of America” on the streets for two nights. “The second night, the police began beating up people and dispersed the crowds,” he said. Klein discovered in Iran that he needed to repent of some of his perceptions about the people there. He found that Iranians were extremely friendly and nice to westerners.

“Never once did I feel any hostility from the Iranians at all,” he explained. On the contrary, the people were inviting him and his companions to dinner within five minutes of meeting them. Unfortunately, however, the government did not allow Iranians to invite Americans into their homes. Klein said that Iranian Christians need our support and our prayers. “I think the biggest thing is praying for them that they would be strong in the face of the opposition from the government.”

Source: Vision Beyond Borders

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AMERICANS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF THEIR DOCTORS RIGHT OF CONSCIENCE President Obama has indicated his desire to overturn federal laws that protect medical professionals from being forced to participate in abortion and other anti-life practices that violate their morals. Carrie Gordon Earll, senior bioethics analyst at Focus on the Family Action, called it a serious situation. “If the regulations are reversed and the trend to discriminate continues, people of faith and strong conviction will stop going into medicine,” she said. “In 20 years, you may not be able to find a pro-life doctor. Reversing the regulations puts medical professionals and patients at risk.”

In a recent survey, 95 percent of faith-based physicians said they would rather stop practicing medicine than be forced to violate their consciences. In another poll nearly 90 percent of Americans said they believe it is important to “make sure health care professionals are not forced to participate in procedures and practices to which they have moral objections.” Through the efforts of nearly a dozen pro-family groups more than 340,000 Americans have sent comments to the Health and Human Services Department in support of health care professionals’ right of conscience.

Source: Citizen Link

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BBC APPOINTS MUSLIM AS HEAD OF RELIGIOUS PROGRAMMING The BBC is to have its first Muslim head of religious programming. Former Channel 4 executive Aaqil Ahmed is to take over the role. It is only the second time in the BBC’s 87-year history that a non-Christian has been appointed to the position, following the agnostic Alan Bookbinder in 2001. The move is likely to be controversial with some – the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was reported to have raised concerns with the BBC director general Mark Thompson that the “Christian voice is being sidelined” after Ahmed was first connected to the role last month.

The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, said “At a time when the BBC’s coverage of religion is causing some disquiet, the Church of England will be watching how the future of religion and ethics develops.” A BBC spokesman said the corporation appointed individuals “on the basis of talent and suitability to the role, regardless of their faith or background”.

Source: The Guardian

Australian Prayer Network

Related Articles:

• SUDAN & BURMA: CHRISTIAN REFUGEES IN PERIL
• Pray for the World 6 February 2012
• PRAYER OF A HUMBLE SERVANT
• Prayers for Help in Times of Trouble
• Pray for the World (January 31, 2012)

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