PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

* HONOUR KILLINGS A BLIGHT ON ISLAM

* FORCED ISLAMIZATION OF COPTIC GIRLS A RAPIDLY ESCALATING PROBLEM

* IRANIAN CHURCH LEADERS CALL FOR PRAYER AND FASTING FOR IRAN

* PERSECUTION CONTINUES FOR LAOTIAN BELIEVERS

* 35 MILLION AMERICANS HAVE NO REGULAR SOURCE OF FOOD

* INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS CALL FOR REJECTION OF SHARIA-INSPIRED BILLS

HONOUR KILLINGS A BLIGHT ON ISLAM

In Somalia four converts from Islam have been beheaded by radical Islamists belonging to Al-Shabab. In the minds of Al-Shabab, all converts who leave Islam must be killed in accordance with the Koran. Radical Islamists are intent on Islamizing the world by killing all minorities within their Islamized states. The mindset of discrimination is rampant within religious communities and while western liberals enjoy lambasting their own cultures and appeasing Islam, they remain silent about mass discrimination within the Muslim community towards non-Muslims and apostates.

In the UK Islamists can’t behead apostates, however, many Muslim families will disown their children if they leave Islam with many females becoming victims of “honour killings.” The British government will not tackle this issue and the Christian church in the UK is blinded by its own peace-loving views. A UK survey has found that 36% of Muslims in the UK support the killing of apostates. The Muslim Council of Britain insists that such behaviour is “awful and quite wrong” but when asked about killing apostates in Islamic nations, responded “it was a matter for those states.”

In Somalia it is clear that Al-Shabab wants a one hundred per cent Islamic Sharia state. This radical Islamic state will kill all converts from Islam, whip women who do not cover up completely, stone women to death for adultery, chop hands and feet off and kill homosexuals claiming that to do so is in accordance with the teachings of Mohammed. After all Mohammed ordered the killings of all apostates. Hadith 9:4 says “Wherever you find infidels kill them; for whoever kills them shall have reward on the Day of Resurrection.”

Therefore, in the last few weeks Christians have been burnt alive in Pakistan, converts from Islam have been beheaded in Somalia, and Christian pastors in Nigeria were beheaded for not converting to Islam. All these acts were done by radical Islamists and in every case the killers were shouting “Allah akbar” (God is great) because they believed that it was their religious duty to kill innocents because of their understanding of conservative Islam. Al-Shabab, the radical Islamists who want to go back to “year Mohammed” and implement brutal laws are proud of their barbaric deeds.

In the United Kingdom a former Muslim, Sofia Allam, (not her real name)

who converted to Christianity faced the brutal reality of Islam. Her parents turned from loving parents into hate filled anti-infidel ones and said their loyalty was to Islam and not their daughter. To them, having loyalty to both their faith and daughter was not possible because she had become an apostate. Sofia Allam explained that her father "insulted me horribly. I couldn’t recognize that man as the father who had been so kind to me as I was growing up.

My mother was even worse. She constantly beat me about the head. She screamed at me all the time. I remember saying to them, as they were shouting death threats, ‘Mum, Dad – you’re saying you should kill me… but I’m your daughter! Don’t you realize that?” However, her parent’s knowledge of the Koran and the pressure within the Muslim community, meant that Sofia Allam had to leave home in order to protect herself. She said, "I remember thinking, how can this be happening? Because this isn’t Pakistan. This is Britain!”

Maryam Namazie, a spokesperson for the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, states that she believes that many of the deaths classified as “honour killings” are actually murders of people who have renounced Islam. Of course the British legal system will punish people for killing people irrespective if it is a “honour killing” or killing an apostate from Islam. However, it is clear that many liberals are afraid to say that killings of apostates is already a reality because they fear being deemed racist or they have a mythical view of the Koran and Hadiths.

This persecution will not end in response to silence on the contrary it will merely grow. Remember, the victims of this hatred are all moderates, because Islamic radicals are killing both Christians and Muslims in Pakistan. This madness will only end when it is challenged. Fascism in Europe was defeated only when nations challenged it. Today a new fascism is emerging, but this fascism is based on fusing religion with politics, and it is more dangerous because it is global. When will our leaders stand up to this new challenge?

Source: The Seoul Times

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FORCED ISLAMIZATION OF COPTIC GIRLS A RAPIDLY ESCALATING PROBLEM

The systematic abduction and forced Islamization of Coptic minor girls in Egypt is a frequent, dangerous and rapidly escalating phenomenon, Dr. Waheed Ala, renowned Coptic activist and researcher, believes that the issue of abducted Coptic girls forms the most complex problem in the relations between Christians and Muslims in Egypt. These frequent abduction cases are reported by Coptic human rights advocacies but rarely by the main stream media, and when they are, they are mostly portrayed as 'an elopement of a loving teen couple.'

The latest victim of abduction is 15-year old Marian Bishay, who went out on July 15 to get dinner for her mother and young brothers from a local restaurant, 50 meters away from where she lives in Giza, but failed to return home. The local police succumbed to pressure and issued a missing person report after initially refusing. The Bishay family, whose father works in Kuwait, reported the matter to Free Copts advocacy in Cairo, asking for support. According to activist Osama Eid "the police just shrugged their shoulders and said there is nothing we can do."

When the abducted girl's father, Amir Bishay, returned from Kuwait, the police refused to issue another report under the pretext that they investigated the initial report with no results. A Free Copts spokesperson said "We found out that the owner of the restaurant and one of his co-workers, who were under suspicion, disappeared when they knew that the matter was becoming serious."

The family has received conflicting reports of Marian's whereabouts. Some reports say she was raped and forced to convert to Islam, while others that she has been kept in Alexandria against her will. Under Egyptian law, the abduction of a minor is punishable by 15 years imprisonment, and the penalty is increased if it was combined with rape. There are many cases of kidnappings of young girls from Christian families every year, with very little success in getting them back to their families. Not one single person accused of the abduction of a Coptic girl has been brought to justice.

After years of denial, Dr. Mustafa Al-Fiqee, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament, writing in a Cairo newspaper, confessed that there are dozens of cases of "minor girls being kidnapped from Christian families." "The most important point in Dr.Al-Feqee's declaration is that he admits that what the Copts of Egypt say about the kidnapping of minor Christian girls is the truth." commented Dr. Waheed Ala. "It is not lies, and it is not done to tarnish Egypt's reputation. We simply demand that the State addresses this dangerous phenomenon."

Source: Assyrian International News Agency

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IRANIAN CHURCH LEADERS CALL FOR PRAYER AND FASTING FOR IRAN

In response to ongoing persecution, Iranian church leaders are calling for prayer and fasting for the Christian believers of their nation. They know they have no influence in the courts of men, but they want to take their case to the courts of heaven. Like Esther of old, the queen of Iran who told Mordecai to ask all the people of God to pray and fast, so Iranian Christian leaders are asking the world-wide church to also pray and fast for their people who are under attack.

Since April there have been at least fifty three arrests of people whose only crime is their faith in Jesus Christ. The arrests are not localised, but have happened in all of Iran’s major cities. Sometimes people have been released the same day, others have spent months in prison, some still remain behind bars. Many of them have had to pay exorbitant fees for bail and face frightening court cases. Some have suffered physically while in detention and it is believed that one elderly couple died as a result of being beaten up.

Despite the persecution, the church in Iran continues to grow rapidly. The Word of God is reaching many in the country and many believers are determined to courageously share Christ with their countrymen. Christian leaders in Iran believe that the church will continue to grow very rapidly in the next five to ten years, such is the openness of Iranians to the Gospel. We urge Christians world wide to pray and fast on behalf of the church in Iran.

* Pray for all those who have been arrested and intimidated. Pray that the Lord will be their Rock, Deliverer and Shield.

* Pray that despite the persecution, Christians will be “encouraged to speak the Word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”

* Pray against the law of apostasy. Pray that many millions of Muslims will see the evil of this law and will hunger for spiritual truth and salvation.

Source: Elam Ministries

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PERSECUTION CONTINUES FOR LAOTIAN BELIEVERS

Despite what the Constitution of Laos decrees, small villages are subject to the tyranny of their local authorities. The Laotian Constitution states: Lao citizens have the right and freedom to believe or not to believe in religions. Yet Christian believers’ rights were once again violated by local officials of Katin Village. One day last month, the village chief, volunteer security force, village elders, and some villagers of Katin Village, broke into the pig pens of new believers and confiscated a pig from each of nine families after the believers returned home from fellowship meetings.

Many Christians raise pigs for profit. One pig represents 1½ months income for a Laotian villager. Village officials stated that the seizure of the pigs was a punishment imposed because the families had ignored their order forbidding them from believing in the Christian faith. This action appears to be the follow-up of an earlier incident when Katin village authorities confiscated the water buffalo of Mr. Boonchu (a Christian believer). At that time, authorities told Mr. Boonchu that if he and his family recanted their Christian faith, the buffalo would be spared.

When Mr. Boonchu refused, they took his buffalo to the village square and slaughtered it. The meat was distributed to all non-Christians in the village. They warned them that they would seize the animals of Christians who refused to renounce their faith, until there were no more animals. The ministry leader of the village has asked for prayer for the families who have suffered the latest loss.

Source: Christian Aid

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35 MILLION AMERICANS HAVE NO REGULAR SOURCE OF FOOD

There are 35 million Americans living without knowing consistently from where their next meal will come. In an interview with the Herald Tribune, Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of the nation's largest food bank network, America's Second Harvest, said, "We have surveyed our 200 food banks and demand was up 20 percent over last year. We're seeing more and more people visiting food banks for the first time because they've lost their jobs or they're not getting raises. They can't afford vegetables or protein, the essentials of a good diet.

Most of the people who come to food banks are on food stamps, but those are only $3 per person a day. Making the situation all the more critical, food prices are up year over year 7 or 8 percent, dairy products and meat are up 25 to 30 percent. "We (America's Second Harvest) receive $75 million a year and we need about $250 million a year to feed the new demand. Most of our donations are from large manufacturing companies like Kellogg, General Mills. About a quarter of our donations come from the government" Ms Escarra said.

Source: Intercessors for America

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INDONESIAN CHRISTIANS CALL FOR REJECTION OF SHARIA-INSPIRED BILLS

The Indonesian Council of Churches has called for the rejection of two bills inspired by sharia law currently before the Indonesian Parliament. The Halal Product Bill and the Zakat Obligatory Alms Bill, cater to the needs of one religious group at the expense of others, thus violating Indonesia’s policy of religious tolerance, said the Rev. Dr. Yewangoe, director of the Council. “National laws must be impartial. Since all laws are binding on all Indonesians they must be objective, otherwise discrimination will result. The state has a duty to guard the religious freedom of all its citizens.”

Muslim groups, meantime, recently moved to close more Christian institutions. Last month following complaints from community groups, police forcibly dismantled a church in West Java on grounds that it did not have a building permit – previously denied even though all requirements had been met – while similar groups in East Java successfully lobbied for the closure of a Catholic orphanage claiming that it planned to “Christianize” local children.

Source: Intercessors Network

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