Barnabas Prayer July August 2015

BARNABAS FUND – AID AGENCY FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

barnabasprayer To help you pray for the persecuted church

july /august 2015 barnabasfund.org

Thank you for your prayers for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ, which make such a difference to them. We sometimes have to change or omit their names for security reasons, and we have only limited space to share their stories.

But the Lord knows the people and places we are praying about. Thank you for your understanding.

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Please do not feel limited by the specific prayer requests, but pray as you feel led. On each Sunday we have provided a set prayer; please feel free to use these in their current form, to adapt them as you prefer, or to use the information they contain to frame your own prayers.

July Wednesday 1 Nepal has been devastated by two terrible earthquakes, which struck on 25 April and 12 May. An estimated 8 million people were affected, with 8,000 killed. Pray for all who have suffered in this disaster. The first quake struck on a Saturday, when many Christians had gathered for worship (as Saturday is the only non-working day in Nepal).

Whole congregations were killed as church buildings collapsed on top of them. At least 100 church buildings were damaged or destroyed. The small but growing Church in Nepal is marginalised and often discriminated against by the Hindu majority.

Some Christians were deliberately overlooked in the distribution of government aid, but Barnabas stepped in to assist with emergency relief. Pray for wisdom for our Nepalese Christian

partner organisations as they plan how best to provide shelter for Christian families, especially now in the middle of the monsoon season, and how to assist in the long-term restoration of lives and livelihoods.

This Nepalese Christian received a tarpaulin and food supplies from Barnabas Thursday 2 Yesterday was the deadline given by the Delhi High Court in India for a report about attacks on places of worship in the Indian capital and what protective measures have been taken.

This followed six attacks on Delhi churches in less than five months. Pray that the report will lead to action to protect the Christian minority (2% of the total population) and other nonHindus in the face of rising hostility from Hindu nationalists.

Friday 3 Five Hindu radicals joined a house prayer meeting in Multai, Madhya Pradesh state, India on 16 March. After giving some prayer requests, they began to make false accusations against four pastors present, saying the pastors had forcibly converted people to Christianity. The Hindus took photos of the meeting and then dragged the pastors to the local police station where they were held for two days. A similar accusation was made four days later by a mob of Hindu extremists who attacked a Bible

Convention in Jabalpur in the same state. The Christians identified three of their attackers but police released them on bail the same day. Pray that the Indian police will act impartially and ensure justice for Christians suffering harassment and persecution.

Sunday 5 Almighty God, we pray to you for the many Iraqi Christian women and girls captured by Islamic State and sold as slaves. We ask that each one, wherever she is living now and whatever conditions she is enduring, however old or young she is, may remember the promise that “the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go”. Please make Your presence very real so that each may be comforted in her terrible ordeal. We pray also for the Yazidi and other non-Muslim women sold into slavery. We ask that You will open a way for all of them to return to their families (Joshua 1:9).

Monday 6 The Islamic State (IS) group have been systematically killing Christian and Yazidi youngsters in Iraq, as recorded in a report by the United

Tuesday 7 After Friday prayers on 27 March, a mob of armed Muslim rioters from several villages stormed the Egyptian village of Al-Our, which had been home to 13 of the 20 Egyptian Christians beheaded by IS militants in Libya the previous month.

Enraged by the unexpected decision of President al-Sisi to give permission to local Christians to construct a church building, the rioters threw stones and fired bullets at the church sign and the service buildings on the plot where construction work had recently begun. Many Christians did not dare to attend the memorial service for the Christians killed in Egypt, which was scheduled for the following day; they stayed at home to protect their houses in case of further attacks. Pray that President al-Sisi will be able to create in Egypt a more tolerant and accepting attitude to the Christian minority.

Wednesday 8 Over the next nine nights, Muslims will mark the “Night of Power”, the exact date depending which tradition they are following. Muslims believe that this was when the Quran

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Saturday 4 Christians and Muslims in India are particular targets of Hindu nationalists because they follow religions which did not originate in India. Much pressure is being put on them to convert to Hinduism, or as the Hindu nationalists call it “re-convert”, in a “homecoming” ceremony. Pray that Christians will continue to follow the Good Shepherd whose voice they know (John 10: 3,4,14) and that they will be encouraged in the knowledge that there have been Christians in India since the Apostle Thomas brought the Gospel in the first century.

Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. There have been mass executions of boys under the age of 18, as well as IS using them as suicide bombers, bomb makers, informants and human shields.

The UN group has also received reports of IS beheading children, crucifying children and burying children alive.

Even some Muslim boys have been amongst the IS victims. Pray that the IS militants who order or carry out such atrocities may each have a powerful personal encounter with the living Lord Jesus, and may turn away from their violence and persecution (Acts 9:1-5).

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was first revealed to Muhammad and that their prayers on the Night of Power will have great efficacy. Some Muslims spend the night reading the Quran, but sadly there are others who engage in violence against Christians. Pray that the blood of Jesus will cover Christians at this time and they will be protected from all harm.

Thursday 9 The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has repeated his call for all churches in the Arabian peninsula to be destroyed. Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bases his statement on an Islamic tradition recording that Muhammad said he would expel all Jews and Christians from the Arabian peninsula so that only Muslims remained. No church buildings are allowed in Saudi Arabia anyway, but the Grand Mufti was motivated to reiterate his opinion on 17 March after a Kuwaiti MP tweeted his plans for a bill to remove all church buildings in Kuwait. The MP later clarified that he did not mean to have existing church buildings destroyed, only to prevent any new ones being erected. Pray that Kuwait will resist pressure from Saudi Arabia and will take pride in allowing Christians to meet for worship in church buildings. There are about half a million Christians in Kuwait (around 15% of the population), although almost all are expatriate workers, not Kuwaiti citizens.

Friday 10 A group of hooded gunmen from the Somali-based Al-Shabaab militant group sprayed bullets at a Christian shopkeeper and his Christian customers in north-eastern Kenya on 17 March. They then hurled a grenade into the shop; in the ensuing blaze four people were burned to death

beyond recognition. The militants had apparently targeted a Christian neighbourhood in a mainly Muslim part of Kenya. Ask the Lord to comfort those who mourn and give them grace to love and forgive their enemies and pray for those who persecute them.

Saturday 11 At Garissa University in Kenya, Christian students were singled out and attacked by Muslim militants from Al-Shabaab on 2 April.

A total of 148 people died that day, including 13 members of the Christian Union, who were killed as they met for early morning prayer, one dying on his knees. A Kenyan Christian leader, who sent updates to Barnabas Fund as the dreadful events unfolded, asked for prayer to the “eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love.� Pray for all those injured, bereaved and traumatised by this, the deadliest Al-Shabaab attack to date.

Christians were singled out for killing at Garissa University Sunday 12 Lord Jesus, we pray today for the many lives devastated by the attack on Garissa University, Kenya, in April. We remember the hundreds of bereaved, mourning for loved

ones who lost their lives because they were Christians. We remember the desperately traumatised student survivors, who escaped death by hiding for hours or days. We pray for the counselling programme that Barnabas is supporting, running from May to August, and ask that Your Holy Spirit, the Comforter and Counsellor, will work through the clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and others involved in the programme to bring healing and wholeness. May Your Name be glorified by lives restored.

Tuesday 14 A video by Islamic State (IS), posted on social media sites on 19 April, shows the killing of 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya, some beheaded on

Wednesday 15 Pray for General Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected president of Nigeria on 28 March. A Muslim from the north of the country, he has promised to crack down on Boko Haram, the Islamic insurgent group who are terrorising northeastern Nigeria, mainly targeting Christians, schools and security forces. Remembering how the Lord moved the heart of the unbelieving Persian king Cyrus to help the Lord’s people (Ezra 1:1-4), pray that He will use President Buhari to bring relief and respite to His people and other innocent sufferers in north-eastern Nigeria today.

Thursday 16 In May Nigerian troops found and freed around 700 women and children who had been held captive by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. Many of the women were pregnant. However, this is less than half the total number by Boko Haram kidnapped since the beginning of 2014, and over 200 of the mainly Christian school-girls abducted from their school in Chibok in April 2014 are still missing. Pray that all the captives will be rescued and that the Lord will restore them after their long and life-changing ordeal (Joel 2:25).

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Monday 13 Two Christians distributing Bibles in Ethiopia’s Melka Belo region were arrested in separate incidents in March. After enduring some days of harassment and physical abuse, they were both released. One of them, Sheikh Amin, is a recent convert to Christianity, having previously been a mosque leader; while in detention he was repeatedly pressurised to renounce his Christian faith but he refused. The other, Gemechu Jorgo, was hit in the face three times with his own Bible, after reminding his interrogator that he had a constitutional right to practise his faith freely. Praise God for the faithfulness of our two brothers and pray that this may cause their persecutors to question their policy of harassing Christians. The Melka Belo authorities have been trying to incite local Muslims to harass Christians; pray that this policy will fail.

a beach and some shot in the desert.

IS’s commentary justifies the brutal violence by arguing that the Christians should have converted or paid the traditional Islamic jizya tax (a sign of subjugation under Muslim rule). Pray that the families of the victims will be comforted by the knowledge that their loved ones died as martyrs and that Jesus the Living One promises them a crown of life (Revelation 2:10).

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Friday 17 Twelve Christians from Nigeria and Ghana were drowned when Muslim passengers threw them overboard in mid-April as they all travelled in a group of 105 would-be migrants on a crowded inflatable boat from Libya to Sicily.

A dispute arose after a Nigerian Christian prayed that God would save them. A Muslim responded that he should pray to Allah not to God. The Christians linked arms to try to prevent themselves being pushed off the boat but the Muslim aggressors outnumbered them. Ask the Lord Jesus to touch the hearts of those who did this violence, to reveal Himself personally to them as they begin their new lives in Europe, and to lead them to repentance and faith.

Saturday 18 Muslims around the world are today celebrating Eid ulFitr, the feast which marks the end of the Ramadan fast. Ask for God’s special protection over the next few days for Christians and other nonMuslims living in Muslim-majority contexts today, as this is a time when some Muslims are more liable to attack non-Muslims.

Sunday 19 Lord God, we ask You

to draw near to the many Iranian Christians now in prison, on all kinds of pretexts and trumped up charges, but in reality just for loving and serving You. We pray especially for Ebrahim Firouzi and Sevada Aghasar, who have each been sentenced to a further five years in prison, having completed other prison terms earlier this year. Will you renew their strength for the long ordeal ahead and, despite their disappointment at

the turn of events, enable them to hope in You and to “soar on wings like eagles” even behind bars? We ask this in the Name of the Lord Jesus.

(Isaiah 40:31).

Monday 20 The state assembly of Kelantan, Malaysia, passed a bill on 19 March to bring one step closer the enforcement of sharia penalties such as amputation for theft, flogging for drinking alcohol and stoning for adultery. A bill passed in Kelantan 22 years ago to allow these hudud punishments (punishments specified by the Quran) had never been implemented because the Malaysian federal government ruled that it was unconstitutional, but now a private bill will be presented to the federal parliament aiming to change this.

Pray that the plans of those working to find a way for hudud punishments to be implemented now will fail. If implemented, there would be a death sentence for Muslims who chose to leave Islam and follow Christ.

Tuesday 21 Please continue to pray for persecuted Burmese Christian children living in a children’s home supported by Barnabas. The brothers in the picture lost their father when he was tortured and then executed by the Burmese army. There is a rumour that their mother is living in a camp for internally displaced people. Pray that she can be found and reunited with her sons. Our heavenly Father knows the story and the pain of every child at the home. Ask that He will comfort and console them. Pray too for the staff that they will know how best to help the children.

“Both boys love Jesus very much,” say the staff at the children’s home

Thursday 23 Pray for the protection of courageous Christian lawyers in Pakistan who work on behalf of poor and vulnerable Christians who have been falsely accused, for example under the country’s notorious “blasphemy law” with its mandatory death sentence for defiling the name of Muhammad. They also work to help Christian women and girls who have been kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and force to marry a Muslim, often the man who kidnapped them. Pray that the God of justice will guide them in their work. Pray also for the protection of the lawyers themselves, who face many threats and attacks because of what they are doing.

Saturday 25 Early on Easter Sunday morning, 5 April, Pastor Christopher Meesaul and his church members in Makthal Mandal, Telangana state, India, held a sunrise service.

Afterwards they returned to their church building and found that the saffron flags of Hindu extremists had been hung there. The congregation removed the flags and continued with their Easter worship. Meanwhile Hindu extremists gathered outside the church and hoisted another saffron flag. Then they dragged the pastor out of the church to the Hindu temple, from where he was later rescued by police. Pray that Indian Christians will not become fearful or cease meeting together for worship, as they face ongoing hostility and low-level violence.

Sunday 26 Father God, we thank

You for the growth of the Church in India and ask that You will enable Indian Christians to continue bravely evangelising, especially those who live in the five states where there are

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Wednesday 22 A Pakistani Christian journalist was beaten up and his arm broken by two men on a motorbike, who attacked him in Islamabad on 29 March. Shamim Masih often reported cases of Christian persecution and his attackers warned him that if he did not stop, they knew his home and his family and would teach his family a lesson. The Pakistani police were reluctant to take any action about this assault and intimidation. Pray that the Pakistani authorities will grant justice to Pakistani Christians.

Friday 24 Two Christian schools in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand state, India were stormed by a mob of around 60 radical Hindus on 21 April. Carrying flags and chanting slogans, the Hindus demanded to know why the schools did not have a statue of Saraswati, the Hindu god of learning, or a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They forced the schools to close and send the children home. Police watched without intervening, but 16 people were later arrested. Christian schools are generally well respected and appreciated in India, because of the quality of their education. Pray for the protection of pupils and their teachers.

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“freedom of religion” laws that are so often used against them. When Christians in these states are falsely accused of winning converts by force, fraud or allurement, may they have wisdom to know how to defend themselves and show that it is the power of the Gospel alone that is drawing people to You. We ask this in Jesus’ Name.

Monday 27 Sixteen thousand people in the plains around Darjeeling, northern India, were abandoned to their fate, some literally starving to death, when tea plantations were closed. Amongst them were Nepalese Christians who had come to India to seek work.

Barnabas Fund is supporting a Christian ministry which trains and encourages these Christians to make them strong in their faith and able to cope with the desperate situations they face. Pray that they may put their hope in His unfailing love (Psalm 147:11).

Tuesday 28 On 10 April Nauman Masih (aged 14) was on his way to the tailor’s in Lahore, Pakistan, where he worked as an apprentice. Two Muslims going to Friday prayers asked him which religion he was. When he replied that he was a Christian, they started to beat him, chased him through the streets, threw kerosene over him and set him

Nauman Masih in hospital

on fire. Four days later he died of his burns. Pray that God will comfort Nauman’s family and that his courage will inspire other Pakistani Christians facing harassment and persecution.

Wednesday 29 Doniyor Akhmedov was arrested by police in Uzbekistan on 16 March after he gave a Christian leaflet to a passer-by in the street.

He was detained for 15 days. The day after his release he was summoned to appear before the Ahangaran District Criminal Court and fined 40 times the minimum monthly wage, a fine which he has refused to pay on the basis that he was exercising a fundamental human right when he distributed the Christian materials. Pray that the Uzbek authorities will stop harassing Christians for sharing their faith.

(Forum 18) Thursday 30 French police arrested an alleged Islamist terrorist on the morning of Sunday 19 April, just before he carried out his apparent plan to attack churches in Paris. It seems that the man accidentally shot himself in the leg and called an ambulance.

The police also came, and found in his car several weapons as well as notes on potential targets. Thank the Lord for this turn of events, which may have saved the lives of many Christian worshippers that morning.

Friday 31 Armenian and other solidly Christian neighbourhoods of Aleppo suffered an unusually severe rocket attack on the night of 10 April (when many Syrian Christians were marking Good Friday) At least 29 people were killed, 56 injured and seven Christian homes destroyed. Christians in Aleppo

are in danger from attacks by forces within Syria but were also aware of a chilling threat emanating from Turkey: “We will show all Armenians how to celebrate the 100th anniversary on 24 April.” This refers to the centenary of the worst year of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocide, which peaked in 1915 when some 800,000 Armenians died. On 24 April 1915 the Armenian intellectuals and leaders were targeted for deportation and killing. Ask the Lord to protect His faithful people and pray that Christians in Aleppo will not let their hearts be troubled but will continue to trust in the Lord Jesus (John 14:1).

August Saturday 1 The Central African Republic (CAR) will hold a constitutional referendum this month, as part of a conflict-resolution process for this country, which was racked by violence following the coup in 2013 when Muslim rebels seized political power in this Christianmajority country. Pray that the Lord’s purposes may be fulfilled as people cast their votes, and that CAR will progress towards peace and stability.

Sunday 2 Heavenly Father, we pray for Pastor Yat and Pastor Peter, from South Sudan, who face the possibility of a death sentence, after they were charged on 4 May at the Khartoum Bahri Criminal Court, Sudan (the northern state), with a long string of alleged “crimes”. You know, Father, that all Pastor Yat did was to visit and encourage a congregation under great pressure from the Sudanese government, and all Pastor Peter did was to ask where Pastor Yat was being detained. Yet they are accused undermining the constitutional system and waging war against the state, and could be sentenced to death for either or both. We ask, O God of justice, that You will act in power and set these prisoners free. May they be cleared of the charges against them. We ask in the Name of your Son Jesus Christ.

Monday 3 Christians in Tanzania are facing escalating violence with many attacks on churches, resulting in damage to the buildings and injuries to the Christians. In the north-western town of Bukoba, Christians have been facing attacks since October 2014, with seven churches already burnt down this year. During one of the worst of these attacks one pastor was killed and a youth minister was seriously injured.

Barnabas Fund is helping the widow and children of the martyred pastor and also funding medical care for the injured youth minister. Pray that those affected by these attacks will be enabled to consider it pure joy to face such trials (James 1:2).

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Barnabas Fund is helping to feed the beleaguered Christians of Aleppo

Since January 2014, Catherine Samba-Panza (a Christian) has been the Transitional Head of State.

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Tuesday 4 Tanzanian Christians were delighted when Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda promised to review the government’s decision to table a bill to introduce kadhi (Islamic) courts in the Christian-majority mainland. Such courts have been in existence in the Zanzibar archipelago (98% Muslim) since 1964. But many church leaders who spoke up against the proposed new legislation have been attacked and their churches threatened with closure.

Pray for the protection of all who are challenging these developments.

Tanzania is in the process of formulating a new constitution and the kadhi courts bill was to have been part of that. Pray that the constitution will preserve full religious liberty for all and equality under the law.

Wednesday 5 Three pastors on Tanzania’s Mafia Island were summoned to the District Registration Office bringing with them a list of the church leaders, their birth certificates, educational certificates, and their churches’ registration documents. Local Christians understood this to be the first steps in implementing a threat from the Minister of Home Affairs, Mathias Chikawe, that churches and Christian organisations who publicly opposed the kadhi (Islamic) courts in the proposed new constitution would be closed down.

Pray for an end to the harassment and persecution of Christians who seek to prevent the Islamisation of Tanzania.

Thursday 6 A Tanzanian pastor who had been receiving threats from the nearby mosque was attacked on the night of 14-15 May by men who broke into his home and slashed his head, making a wound two inches deep.

They took nothing from the house, so the police theory that the attackers were burglars is not convincing. His older brother, who is more senior in the church, has been facing persecution and intense pressure from the Tanzanian authorities for opposing the kadhi court bill (see above), including a court case against him. Pray for Pastor Samson - still unconscious at the time of writing - that he will fully recover from his injuries. Pray for protection for his wife and family; the threats have continued since the attack.

Friday 7 North Korea is regularly named as the worst country in the world to be a Christian. All North Koreans are expected to follow Juche (self-reliance), an extreme cult of personality that venerates the ruling Kim family. Other belief systems are viewed as a threat to the regime’s authority, and it is illegal to be a Christian or take part in any Christian activity. Those caught may be detained in prison labour camps, where they are abused, tortured and worked to death.

Pray that the Lord will sustain and strengthen His people in North Korea.

Saturday 8 Alimujiang Yimiti, a Uyghur convert from Islam, continues to serve his 15-year prison sentence in China. His wife Gulinuer and their sons are only allowed to see him for quarter of an hour every three months.

Gulinuer says her husband is thin and pale, but doing well spiritually. She asks prayer for the children. While the younger is always dreaming of when his father will be free, the older has lost hope and become sad and discouraged.

Pray also for Alimujiang himself, who

finds that many in the prison are very hostile to him, that the Lord will guide him and give him grace and courage.

Monday 10 At least 17 church properties in eastern Ukraine have been seized by militants or by the new authorities, with five others attacked or burned. Church ministers of all denominations have been terrorised and abused; at least seven have been killed; 40 have been kidnapped, beaten and interrogated; and many have had their cars, money and possessions taken, even their children’s toys. Despite this, most have stayed at their posts in order to take care of their church members and help the population at large. However, some congregations have ceased to exist and others meet in private homes for safety. Those who have fled to western Ukraine have started new churches there for other refugees from the east.

Barnabas is supporting ten persecuted pastors and their families. Pray for

Tuesday 11 “Smile,” said a Barnabas visitor to a group of Ukrainian pastors as he took their photo outside a church in Antratsyt. “Why?” asked one. The church had been seized not once but twice. Another replied, quoting Hebrews 10:34, “Because the Bible tells us to accept joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have better and lasting possessions.” Everyone started to smile. Ask that the Holy Spirit will encourage church leaders in eastern Ukraine, as others look to them for strength and guidance at a time of terrible suffering. The church is “an island of light and hope” in the desolate region where shops and businesses are mostly closed, banks no longer function, and most people have not had a salary or pension for many months.

Barnabas has helped needy Ukrainian Christians with food and coal.

Pastors in eastern Ukraine exhort each other from the Word

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Sunday 9 Dear Lord, we lift to You the countless Christians around the world who are today in prison or in labour camps, simply because of their faithfulness to You. We think of Aasia Bibi, the Christian mother on death row in Pakistan. We remember others in North Korea and Eritrea, in Iran Central Asia and many other countries, unjustly accused and helpless to defend themselves, perhaps enduring hunger or beatings, heat, cold or sickness. May they be filled right now with the assurance that they are never forgotten by You, that they are engraved on the palms of Your hands, that they are precious in Your sight.

Please give them strength to endure.

We pray this in Jesus’ Name.

them and for all faithful servants of the Lord in both parts of Ukraine that they will bring glory to God in everything that they do.

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Wednesday 12 Alexander Zakharchenko, head of the selfproclaimed Donetsk People’ Republic in eastern Ukraine has declared that there are only four true confessions: the Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchy, Roman Catholicism, Judaism and Islam. He has said he will “savagely fight the sects and pseudo-religions” which, in his classification, includes all the Protestant churches, and announced that a law is being prepared to facilitate this process. At the same time, in western Ukraine, Russian Orthodox churches are being attacked.

In both cases, there are political reasons behind the attacks, and yet faithful Christians suffer. Pray for a peaceful and just resolution to the crisis in Ukraine, and for full religious liberty throughout the country.

Friday 14 When 72 Syrian Christians tried to leave Idlib in eleven cars after Islamic State invaded the city, they were stopped at a roadblock and their convoy was led to a remote area. There, the families were told to get out and stand in a line; the armed men began to taunt and humiliate the Christians and told them it was time to become Muslims. Suddenly a motorcyclist stumbled unexpectedly upon the scene. He turned out to be “Mustafa”, a neighbour who knew all the Christians personally and persuaded their captors to let them go. “We were close to death, we felt so afraid, but God didn’t leave us,” said one of the Christians afterwards. Thank the Lord for His intervention and for the courage of their Muslim neighbour and other Muslim friends who helped them leave Idlib safely the next day.

Thursday 13 “We are cut off, like an island, surrounded by jihadists from all sides,” said a senior church leader from Hassake, in north-eastern Syria, as Islamic State (IS) fighters attacked the city which had only weeks earlier been a safe haven for Christians fleeing from nearby villages under attack. “Our children saw many beheadings,” said another Christian from Hassake who has escaped to Lebanon, “We were obliged to watch public executions.

What kind of world is that for kids to grow up in? They were always scared.”

He also described how crosses had been taken down from churches, and Christians forbidden from wearing crosses around their necks or travelling by car. Pray that Syrian Christians – young and old – may find strength in the Lord, their rock, their fortress and their deliverer (Psalm 18:1-2).

Saturday 15 Christians in Aleppo, Syria, held a special day of prayer and fasting on 15 May to pray for their city, “wounded Aleppo” as one church leader called it. Rocket and mortar attacks are frequent, while basic daily necessities are in very short supply.

Many are fleeing the city. “Aleppo is now in great need of a miracle, seeking resurrection with the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” wrote one local Christian to Barnabas Fund. Add your prayers to those of the remaining believers in Aleppo, asking the Lord to intervene and bring an end to over four years of intense suffering.

Sunday 16 Lord Jesus, as You prayed on the cross for Your enemies, so we pray for those who seek to hinder the growth of Your Kingdom and shame or hurt Your people. May they be

amazed at the peaceable response of those they persecute, at the love and forgiveness of Christian people, at their courageous perseverance and endurance, at their refusal to deny You. We pray that You will powerfully reveal Yourself to the persecutors of Your people, as you did to Saul of Tarsus, and that they will come to a saving personal knowledge of You.

Cana Girls Rescue Home Tuesday 18 A specialist training programme in Mozambique, funded

by Barnabas, seeks to equip 8,000 pastors and evangelists across the country with a knowledge of the

Wednesday 19 Please pray about the long-term Islamist strategy to Islamise Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa. Many Islamic organisations, much careful planning and enormous sums of oil money are supporting these efforts. Pray for wisdom for those in authority in such parts of the world that they may act justly towards the Muslim minorities in their country but also be wise in protecting the freedoms of the whole population and their Christian heritage.

Thursday 20 In this, the centenary of the worst year of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocide, international debate continues as to whether the deaths of around 3.5 million Christians under the Turkish Ottoman Muslims were “genocide” or not. Turkey has reiterated its position that it was not a genocide.

It has been supported by the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, who says the deaths were just a part of the First World War casualties.

President Obama, who had promised in his pre-electoral campaign to recognise the 1915 atrocities as “genocide”, has failed to do so, bitterly disappointing many ArmenianAmericans. Pray that the massacres of Middle Eastern Christians 100 years ago will be acknowledged by all nations as genocide and that this will help prevent a repeat of such terrible events in the region now.

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Monday 17 Pray for the ministry of the Cana Girls Rescue Home in Kenya, where 65 girls, aged nine to 20, are currently given security and education in a loving Christian environment. A further 31 have grown up and left, but the Home still monitors them closely.

Most have escaped from abusive situations of female genital mutilation, forced marriages at a young age to much older men, polygamy or child labour. One girl walked 100km to find safety at the Home, with nothing to eat on the way except the soil of ant hills.

Pray that each will find the Lord’s plan for her life, to prosper her and not to harm her, to give her hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

challenge that Islam poses to the Church in Africa. They in turn will train Christians at the grass-roots.

Pray that Mozambican Christians will understand the times they live in and know what to do (1 Chronicles 12:32).

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Friday 21 The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration has told two Barnabas Fund representatives that persecuted Assyrian Christians from Iraq will not be allowed refuge in America and that “there is no way that Christians will be supported because of their religious affiliation”. This is despite the brutal campaign by Islamic State to kill or oust all Christians from the territory that they control. Many other Western governments take the same position.

Pray that law-makers in these nations will reverse their policy and begin to offer refuge to Christians who are persecuted for their faith.

Saturday 22 Nissar, a British convert from Islam, who has been following Christ for many years, continues to suffer serious harassment from Muslims in the city where he lives. His car has been smashed up four times and both Nissar and his wife have been falsely accused to the police for separate alleged “offences” resulting in each of them being held at the police station for hours. He also has a number of health problems, partly brought on by the continued stress. Pray the police and other UK authorities will exert themselves to protect the couple and their six children.

Sunday 23 Heavenly Father, we remember before You those of Your children who take real risks to meet and worship you today in countries where Sunday worship meetings are often targeted in violent attacks. We thank You for the courage of those who are determined to continue attending church week by week, especially those who have suffered

personally in earlier attacks. Please take away any remaining fear or distress and enable them to worship you whole-heartedly and to learn from Your Word. We ask this in the Name of your Son, Jesus Christ.

Monday 24 Barnabas Fund has received a prayer request about the North Caucasus region of the Former Soviet Union. Muslims are migrating from the Muslim-majority southern areas to the Christian-majority northern parts. They are building mosques where they settle and introducing an Islamic lifestyle. Please pray for Christians as they come under increasing pressure that they will remain faithful to the Lord and make use of every opportunity to reach out to their new Muslim neighbours.

Tuesday 25 Russian pastor Pavel Pilipchuk has been refusing to pay a fine imposed on him for allegedly organising an open-air Christian meeting on Palm Sunday 2014 in Orel, south-west of Moscow, without informing the authorities. Members of the congregation insist that he was not even present at the meeting. In April 2015 he was given a five-day prison sentence for his refusal to pay the fine. Pray that justice may be done for Pastor Pavel. (Forum 18) Wednesday 26 Every week “Karimbek” walks many kilometres up into the rugged terrain that surrounds his city in Kyrgyzstan so that he can visit Christian families from a Muslim background and disciple them. The believers show in their transformed lives what a difference their new faith has made. Previously many

were unwilling to work, but now they support their families, for example by farming livestock and poultry. They try to help their neighbours and take the opportunity to talk to them about Jesus. Pray for protection and strength for Karimbek and that his ministry will continue to be fruitful.

Friday 28 Converts from Islam to Christianity in Kyrgyzstan are facing increasing pressure from their relatives, who now often have the backing of mosque leaders. One young believer was put in a psychiatric hospital by her parents because she refused to renounce her Christian faith; this action was recommended to the parents by a mullah who specialises in getting converts back to Islam. Another was forced to marry a Muslim who beat her severely and then, when she was pregnant, threw her out. Several converts have recently fled to Russia because of persecution by their families. Please pray that all

Saturday 29 “Boris” was expelled in May from a Central Asian country where he has been a senior church leader for many years. He was charged with illegal religious activities. His wife and three children remain in the country and Boris hopes that he may be able to return to them in a few months’ time. Pray for clear guidance for Boris and his wife and for peace and protection for them both, as well as for the children.

Sunday 30 Lord Jesus, we pray for all your followers who long to gather together with others today to worship you but cannot, because their relatives prevent them, or because they would be stopped at the church door and arrested, or because they are in prison, or because there are no other believers for miles around. Please minister to them today. Nourish them spiritually, speak to them personally, enable them to feel Your presence and Your love. We ask it for Your Name’s sake and for Your glory.

Monday 31 Nauman Ijaz is the only Christian draftsman in the Punjab Architecture Department, Pakistan.

Two of his Muslim colleagues began to put pressure on him to convert to Islam and then became so insistent and aggressive that he dared not go to work any more. There are many, many other Pakistani Christians suffering the same kind of pressure at their place of work or education. Pray that all will stand firm and that their steadfast faithfulness to Christ will be a powerful witness to those around them.

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Thursday 27 Christians in Kyrgyzstan ask prayer about a proposed new law on religion, which would require every church to have 500 members in order to be registered and each of the 500 to submit a notarized document with their passport information.

Parliamentary elections will be held later this year and all the political parties are afraid of losing votes because the proposed law is unpopular with many citizens. Nevertheless, the authorities are already beginning to prohibit various church activities; summer camps for Christian children and young people have been banned this year. Pray that the law will not be passed, even after the elections.

our new Kyrgyz brothers and sisters will stand firm for Christ.

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