Praying for the Persecuted Church 2016

Praying for the Persecuted Church 2016

Introduction

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or Jesus, the adulation of the entry into Jerusalem led to the agony of Gethsemane, the shame, humiliation and alienation of the cross, and finally to the triumphant resurrection and glorious ascension. In this short period, Jesus experienced rejection by the crowds, betrayal by a friend, and denial by those closest to him as well as false accusation, arrest, and conviction by the religious community. It is humanly impossible to plumb the depths of his suffering or to grasp their enormity. As the old hymn says, “We may not know, we cannot tell what pains He had to bear.”

For God’s people throughout the ages, Jesus has been and continues to be their forerunner, their model, their pattern. There have been periods when they have had to face times of darkness from suffering, persecution, trials and temptations. There have been times when they have doubted because of mounting fears, when they have been distressed because of their circumstances, unsure how to press on, times when all hope seems to have gone, when darkness possesses and the future seems bleak. In their anguish and torment, they experience that moment of Jesus on the cross when He cried out, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani [My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?]”

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian is shown a wall from which there emanates a tremendous fire with searing heat. People are throwing buckets of water on the fire, trying to put it out. When Christian asks the meaning of the fire, he

is told that this represents faith and there are those who are trying through doubt and fear to extinguish it. But he is then taken to the other side of the wall and there he sees a figure with a vessel of oil and this gentle figure, almost in secret, is pouring oil on the fire, keeping the flames alive. When Christian asks the meaning, he is told that it is the oil of God’s grace that keeps the fire burning and so faith continues.

We are like Christian. From one side, we see and experience the quenching of faith when our hearts are filled with doubt, darkness and despair, when the tempter, Satan, and his emissaries - our friends and our foes alike - seek to do his bidding and to bring about the destruction of our faith and very existence. And yet, there is One who keeps us, who with the oil of God’s grace feeds our souls, keeps us alive and keeps the flickering flame from dying until one day it will blaze forth again.

Paul writing to the Corinthians speaks of the enormity of his suffering. It may well have been physical although we do not know. But he pleads with God to have it removed, begging for a respite and for peace, for him to be made well. But God’s answer was a simple one. It was to pour the oil of His grace into Paul’s life so that Paul could continue to press on, continue to serve, continue to fulfil the will and purposes God had for him. Though forsaken by many, though abused, though alone, God’s grace was present. For, as God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

(2 Corinthians 12: 9)

So, as we consider the period leading up to Easter as well as the Easter events themselves, we remember not only God’s suffering people but also our own inner experiences and travails. And so we ask God to give to us the oil of His grace to sustain us to live through not just the Thursday of Gethsemane, the tragedy of Friday of the cross, the loneliness and abandonment of Saturday, but also the triumphant resurrection of Sunday, with that certain hope of an ascension and a life to come when, in the words of the saint of old, “All shall be well, all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

Thank you so much for your prayers. They make such a difference to our persecuted family.

If you would like to send practical help to persecuted Christians as well as praying for them, please use the gift form at the back of this booklet. Barnabas Fund projects are listed on many of the pages.

This booklet is provided to inspire and focus your prayers for our Lord’s suffering people. Most pages are dedicated to a particular country where Christians experience discrimination, harassment or violence for His sake, giving background information and suggestions for prayer. Some pages focus on a particular group of persecuted believers, and the final page encourages us to rejoice in the glorious hope that we have in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, a hope that can sustain us all in our trials for Him. Some Christians like to observe the traditional season of Lent to prepare themselves for Good Friday and Easter Day. The booklet has been structured for use during this time, with a page for every day from Ash Wednesday 10 February to Easter Day 27 March. A reading plan for this period can be found on the inside back cover.

© Barnabas Fund 2016 Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version®. Unless otherwise stated, images are © Barnabas Fund.

Creative Commons image sources: Page 8: Julia Boda, "St. Nikolas Church, Brest, Belarus" 12 September 2012, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons License

Page 28: Sara Prestianni, "Migrants arriving on the Island of Lampedusa in August 2007" 15 May 2008, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons License

Page 30: Nawalbennani, "Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Rabat" 23 March 2013, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons License

Page 27: Ondřej Žváček, "Rice planting near Champasak (Laos)" 15 January 2007, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons License

Page 29: Michał Huniewicz, "Winding Road in the Sahara" May 25, 2014, via Flickr, Creative Commons License

Page 51: tommy japan, "Montagnard" April 22, 1971, via Flickr, Creative Commons License

6 Algeria 7 Bangladesh 8 Belarus 9 Burma (Myanmar)

Contents

10 Victims of Violence 11 Cameroon

29 Mauritania

12 Central African Republic

30 Morocco

13 China

31 Women

14 Egypt

32 Nepal

15 Eritrea

33 Nigeria

16 Holy Land

34 North Korea

17 Children

35 Pakistan

18 India

36 Philippines

19 Indonesia

37 Russia

20 Iran

38 Converts

21 Iraq

39 Saudi Arabia

22 Jordan

40 Somalia

23 Kazakhstan

41 Sri Lanka

47 Tunisia

24 Pastors and Evangelists

42 Sudan

48 Turkey

25 Kenya

43 Syria

49 Uzbekistan

26 Kyrgyzstan

44 Tajikistan

50 Martyrs

27 Laos

45 Elderly

51 Vietnam

28 Libya

46 Tanzania

52 A Living Hope

37 8 23 49

48 47

30 6

16 28

43

21

20

22

14

11

44

13 32

35

7

15

42 33

34

18

39

29

26

25 46

51 27 36

40

12

9

41 19

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Christian nursery school (Ref. 02-1045)

Algeria

Children at a Barnabas-funded nursery

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li Touahir knows the high cost of giving his life to Christ in a strongly Islamic country.

He became a Christian in 2012 after a Christian friend introduced him to Jesus.

Because he renounced Islam, he was threatened with death for apostasy. His Muslim wife strongly opposed his new faith and left him in June 2013, taking their seven-year-old daughter with her. At a court hearing in January 2014, the judge suggested that Ali renounce his Christian faith, but he refused.

North Africa was a bastion of early Christianity, but Christianity was wiped out in Algeria after the Arab-Muslim invasions. Over the last 25 years many Muslims have been turning to Christ, disillusioned by the rise in radical Islam, and the violence between Islamists and the military-backed government of 1992 - 2002. Algerian Muslims have been questioning aspects of their religion and expressing genuine interest in Christianity. Remarkably, there are now perhaps 80,000 in a population that is over 99% Muslim. Many of the Algerian converts are Berbers,

indigenous to North Africa and often alienated from the Arab population.

Relative religious freedom followed the end of the civil war in 2000, but government regulations introduced in 2006 have severely restricted Christian activity. It is not illegal for Muslims to convert to Christianity, but all forms of evangelism to Muslims are prohibited and punishable by a fine or up to five years’ imprisonment. All imported Christian literature must be approved by the authorities and all denominations and places of worship must be registered. Authorities sometimes deny approval to church groups, so they cannot lawfully meet. Even so, sharia is not widely enforced and Algerian believers have some degree of freedom to practise their faith if they respect Islamic morality and public order.

Al-Qaeda continues to be active in Algeria, causing insecurity for the country’s Christian population.

Praise God for the renewed interest in Christianity among Algeria’s overwhelming Muslim majority and for each new convert who boldly counts the cost of their decision. Pray for strength and wisdom for each and every Algerian believer to stand firm amidst great loneliness and suffering. Pray that the restrictions on Christian literature and places of worship will be relaxed so that Algerian believers will be able to meet together for prayer and worship. Pray too that the rules concerning Christian evangelism among Muslims will be eased so that believers will be able to share their faith without fear.

Pray for God’s protection over Christians across the country and in particular as they share the Gospel with neighbours and relatives. Ask especially for God’s protection for Muslimbackground converts to Christianity. Pray also for peace in the country and for wisdom for the secular government to know how to effectively quell Islamist uprisings.

Bangladesh

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hree men visited Pastor Luke Sarker in his home in Bangladesh’s northwestern Pabna district in October 2015, pretending that they wanted to know more about Christianity. During their conversation, the men attacked the pastor with a knife and attempted to slit his throat. Pastor Sarker was only saved when his wife and neighbours came to the rescue.

Bangladeshi Christians make up just 1% of a population that is 90% Muslim, making them easy targets for attack by Islamic radicals. Several churches were burned last year and new converts to Christianity

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Feeding Christian families (Ref. 04-1090) Bible Students Fellowship of Bangladesh (Ref. 04-640)

A Church that was rebuilt, with the help of Barnabas Fund, following a tropical cyclone

are particularly vulnerable to discrimination and attack. It is not illegal for Muslims to convert to Christianity, but converts can face pressure from family members and neighbours to renounce their new faith. Those who have shared the Gospel with them can also face attacks by the local community. This is particularly the case in rural areas.

Bangladesh is a secular country and its legal system makes it one of the most tolerant Muslim-majority countries in the world. Unusually for a Muslimmajority country, its constitution recognises the rights of minorities not only to practise their religion, but also to share their faith with Muslims. The hard line Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, is not allowed to take part in elections. At various times in the past, the party had not only been free to operate, but had collaborated closely with ruling governments. The political situation in Bangladesh remains very volatile and an explosive and violent struggle between secularists and those who want to Islamise Bangladesh mean that freedoms for Bangladeshi Christians could come under threat if extremists are able to take power.

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Belarus 8

Church in Brest, Belarus

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elarus is sometimes described as “the last dictatorship of Europe”. Presidential elections were held in October 2015 and it was no surprise to anyone that President Lukashenko won easily. Under Lukashenko’s rule, Belarus has continued to enforce many Soviet-era policies, including harsh restrictions on religious freedom.

Although the constitution of Belarus is seemingly supportive of religious freedom, the country’s government strictly regulates Christian groups.

All religious communities are obliged to register with the State, but this is often made difficult for

Christian groups who are politically “disfavoured”.

Even church leaders who have official registration can face harassment and fines for religious activity that is unregistered.

The congregation of a church in Gomel, the second largest city in Belarus, was banned from meeting together after the police raided a Sunday service in June 2015 where 20 members had met together in a rented building to worship, even though the church has state registration. The church pastor was then fined, and police continued to harass him by searching his home looking for “sectarian” literature. When they could not find anything, they demanded a list of the church members and documentation on church activity.

The difficulties in obtaining official state registration have driven some churches underground. Although religious meetings in private homes are not prohibited, there are tight restrictions on the number of people who can attend as well as how often they can meet.

Lift up in prayer Christians in Belarus as they seek to strengthen their faith by meeting together to worship the Lord. Pray for those who have been subjected to raids, fines and harassment for their faith.

Ask the Lord to shepherd congregations facing difficulty in obtaining the official registration required by the State. Pray also that the tight control that the government currently exercises over Christian groups will be loosened.

Barnabas-funded supplies for Christian flood victims

Burma (Myanmar)

Pray that the new government will bring an end to the targeted persecution of Christians in Burma.

Pray that Burmese authorities will see Christian minorities as vulnerable and in need of special protection and care. Ask God to bring comfort and hope to the many displaced believers who live in refugee camps.

Pray also for restoration in the lives of those who have been personally harmed, displaced from their homes, or lost loved ones in the army’s brutal treatment toward Christians.

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Burma General Fund (ref. 75-810)

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landmark election in November 2015 resulted in a victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). Many hope the new government will bring greater freedom, but the future is unclear and the effect on Christians unknown.

Several hundred thousand ethnic Burmese Christians were excluded from voting due to ongoing security problems in various parts of the country.

Most of Burma’s Christians are members of nonBurman ethnic minorities, such as Kachin, Karen and Chin. They have endured persistent discrimination and persecution from the authorities, both for their ethnicity and their Christian faith. Many Kachin live in camps for displaced people, and have lived in fear of kidnap, rape, torture, forced labour and killings. It is not clear whether this will end under the new government.

The previous government approved four new Race and Religion Protection laws in 2015, curbing conversions to other religions, marriages between Buddhist women and men of other religions, and

childbirth rates by region. These laws are primarily targeted at ethnic Rohingya Muslims, who are also persecuted. However, some affect Christians too.

Burmese authorities under the previous government raided Christian meetings and Christian villages, forced Christians to remove crosses, controlled the publication of Christian materials, and prevented believers from building or repairing places of worship. A religious conversion law approved last August requires that anyone wishing to change religion must obtain official approval.

Alongside persecution of the religious minorities, the previous Burmese authorities actively promoted conversion to Buddhism. Children from poor Christian families in some remote areas were offered free food and education in special schools known as Na Ta La are not allowed to practise Christianity and must shave their heads according to Buddhist teachings. These schools had often promised the children government jobs when they graduate.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Victims of Violence Fund (00-345)

Victims of Violence 10

Christians worship in their church which had been destroyed by Islamic militants. Barnabas Fund helped with the cost of the restoration work

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any Christian communities in contexts of persecution live under constant threat of violence from extremist groups, their local communities or the authorities. There are frequent reports of attacks by Islamist groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon, al-Shabaab in Somalia and IS in Syria and Iraq; Islamist attacks have also taken place in other countries such as Pakistan, Tanzania, Kenya, Bangladesh and the Central African Republic.

Christian gatherings in Sri Lanka are often violently disrupted by militant Buddhists, and Hindu extremists in India frequently carry out acts of anti-Christian

violence. Christians also endure brutal treatment under some Communist regimes.

Anti-Christian violence is carried out by government authorities in some countries. For example in Eritrea, Iran and Sudan Christians may be subjected to violence, brutality or even torture at the hands of the police or prison guards. Believers imprisoned for their faith in North Korea, where the state demands absolute devotion to the ruling family, are tortured and worked to death in labour camps; some are executed.

Barnabas Fund’s Victims of Violence Fund helps to rebuild shattered lives by providing medical care, legal assistance, places of refuge, small business start-up costs or vocational training that victims of anti-Christian violence may need to help them with a fresh start. It also cares for the families of prisoners and helps Christians who have suffered injustice from the authorities.

Lift up Christians whose lives have been torn apart by violence. Ask the Lord to bring peace where the threat of attack has left people feeling vulnerable and uncertain. Ask also that He will meet all the material needs of those who have been left impoverished and destitute after being forced to flee their homes. Pray that vulnerable Christian communities will find in the Lord a mighty rock and refuge (Psalm 62:7) when they have no earthly safe havens left, and ask Him to give them the courage they need to maintain a loving witness to Him in the face of violence.

Pray for those who have lost loved ones in attacks

by Boko Haram militants that the Lord will bring peace to their souls and that hope will surface once more. Pray also that those who have been kidnapped will be found and released without harm. Give thanks for unity in the region’s governments as they seek to defeat the common enemy of Boko Haram. Pray that the joint military forces will have success in restoring peace to West Africa so that people can return to their homes, and schools and churches will be able to reopen.

Cameroon

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very night they target a predominantly Christian village to plunder,” wrote a Cameroonian pastor about the activities of the Nigeria-based Islamist insurgency group Boko Haram in his country. Boko Haram jihadists have been crossing the long, porous border between the two countries for several years, brutally attacking residents in northern Cameroon.

The jihadists like to target markets, where they snatch goods and kidnap young people for recruitment into their ranks. They also raid villages, plundering cattle and burning corn. All the churches along the border have either been torched or forced to close. More than 100 villages stand empty and hundreds of schools have been closed.

Barnabas Fund Projects include: West Africa Relief Fund (ref. 00-568)

The aftermath of an attack on a church in Amchide, Cameroon

The rise in suicide bomb attacks has led officials to ban women from wearing a full face veil in various parts of the country and in July, the government took the decision to impose a 6 p.m. curfew in the Far North.

Approximately 70% of the country’s population is Christian and 20% Muslim. Most churches in Cameroon are in the south of the country. Until Boko Haram stated making incursions into Cameroon, it had been a relatively peaceful country where interreligious conflict was rare. But now, many people in the poorer north of the country have been killed and huge numbers have been forced to leave their homes and their livelihoods.

Tens of thousands of Nigerian refugees have also sought safety there as they flee from Boko Haram’s violence in their own country. “We ask prayer, prayer, prayer for this crisis,” pleaded a Cameroonian church leader.

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Central African Republic

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Motorbike taxis for Muslim background believers in CAR (Ref. 105-1245) Aid for Displaced Christians (Ref. 105-1172)

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A feeding programme in CAR. Barnabas Fund is involved with providing emergency aid to those affected by the conflict

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here is misery written on people’s faces and my heart breaks to see God’s servants unable to hide their suffering,” a church leader wrote to Barnabas Fund in October 2015, just weeks after up to 200 people were killed in clashes in capital city Bangui.

The situation, he said, was one of “total carnage” and “chaos”. “The scenes are surreal,” he said. “When,” he asks, “will this Calvary end for the people of CAR?” The attacks were prompted by the murder of a Muslim motorcycle-taxi driver. Without evidence, Muslims targeted Christians with the worst violence the country had seen in 2015. Anti-balaka (meaning antiAK47 bullets or anti-machete) fighters responded with reprisal attacks leading to more looting and deaths.

The bodies of over 30 men and women were left outside a church in Bangui after more reprisal attacks later that month. Some 20,000 believers fled their homes to displaced persons’ camps for safety but eight

Christians were killed on 3 December when Muslim Seleka militants attacked a camp in central CAR. Thousands have been killed in the past two years after violent clashes erupted between Muslim Seleka groups and Anti-balaka militia in late 2013. Although the Anti-balaka call themselves a Christian militia, CAR churches strongly condemn their violence. The group’s militants wear charms and disguises to protect them against enemy attacks, stemming from a mixture of animist beliefs and local traditions.

Christians also face attacks from Fulani Muslims who have seized, torched, and vandalised Christian homes and missionary centres in the rural northcentral part of the country.

In 2013 Muslim Selaka rebels seized political power in the Christian-majority nation. A transitional government was put in place in January 2014 and since then, the situation has continued to be extremely volatile.

Elections that were set to take place in October 2015 were postponed in the wake of the violence. A yes vote in December in the referendum for a new constitution “clearly confirmed the wish of the people to see a page turned and this dark chapter in our country’s history closed once and for all,” a Christian leader told Barnabas.

Pray for a stable government and for an end to the violence. Pray also that the many thousands of Christians who are displaced within CAR and in neighbouring countries will know the Lord as their Rock and their Shepherd in these times of continuing upheaval and will react to the violence in a Christ-like way.

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limujiang Yimiti, a Uighur convert from Islam, is serving a 15-year sentence in a labour camp in China.

He was accused in 2008 of using his business as cover for sharing the Gospel with Uighurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic group in Xinjiang province, north-western China, and later arrested. His wife Gulinuer and their sons are only allowed to see him for a quarter of an hour every three months. While the younger child dreams of the day his father is released, the older has lost hope and become sad and discouraged.

Like Alimujiang, many believers in China serve time in prison, though usually for much shorter periods.

Praise God for the growing numbers of Chinese people placing their trust in God, despite the constant threat of harassment and persecution.

Pray for Chinese believers who are imprisoned across the country, some of them facing torture and abuse. Pray for greater freedom for Christians in China to worship together; pray also for greater access to Bibles and Christian literature. Pray that Chinese believers will not be discriminated against when seeking employment.

Ask that job opportunities in government positions will be offered to Chinese believers.

China

Christian women in China

Although Christianity is permitted in China, access to Christian literature is restricted and places of worship are tightly controlled. Officially, Christian worship is only allowed in registered churches, but even the members of registered churches face discrimination in employment; as Christians they are barred from almost all high-level jobs. And these churches are subject to arbitrary restrictions.

House churches (i.e. unregistered churches) are routinely raided and shut down by Chinese authorities fearful of their rapid growth. The leaders of these churches are sometimes attacked, arrested and put in prison, where they may be beaten or tortured for their faith.

Based on state church membership, the authorities in this communist-led, atheist government estimate the number of Christians to be around 22 million, but some other estimates are as high as 100 million.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Feeding needy families (Ref. 11-220) Support for families of 21 martyrs (Ref. 11-1240)

Egypt 14

Barnabas Fund provided over 10,000 Egyptian Christians with food parcels in 2015

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ver since President Morsi was ousted in 2013 by the army, the Muslim Brotherhood has urged its followers to believe that the leader of the Coptic Church was involved in bringing down their leader. Christians have been targeted countless times since then in revenge attacks.

In the country’s North Sinai governorate, Christians have been fleeing the region for months, forced out of their homes by angry jihadists.

Churches, Christian homes and Christian businesses have been pelted with stones as local Muslims seek to intimidate the minority Christian population.

The removal of Morsi was seen as a positive development for the Christian minority, who have suffered discrimination for many generations. The

new Egyptian constitution adopted in 2014 declares that freedom of belief is “absolute” and grants freedom to practise religion and establish places of worship to Christians (and Jews) as well as Muslims.

It requires Parliament to issue a law that would relax the longstanding restrictions on the building and renovation of churches so as to allow Christians to worship freely.

Egyptian Christians are often discriminated against in employment, so some choose to go to Libya for work, where they can earn a much higher wage and send money back to their families. But in Libya they have been targeted by Islamic State (IS) jihadists. In February 2015, IS released a video showing militants brutally beheading 21 Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya. The men had been abducted by masked gunmen who went door to door at a residential complex in Libya. Checking IDs, they took the Christian residents and spared the Muslims.

Pray for protection for Egypt’s Christians and that they will be filled with wisdom to know how to act in the current situation, and with love towards their neighbours who would do them harm. Pray for the families of the Christian Egyptians living in Libya who have been kidnapped, and some of them killed, for their faith. Give thanks for positive changes in the government’s attitude toward the Christian community. Pray that these changes at the top will be reflected in the wider society.

Lift up in prayer our brothers and sisters detained in Eritrean prisons, that they will know the presence and help of the Lord to endure. Pray that the hands of those who would abuse and torture imprisoned believers will be stayed so that no harm will come to them. Ask for genuine transformation within the political structure so that the systems of fear and violence will topple, and truth and justice will prevail. Pray also for the many thousands who have fled, that they will be protected in their escape.

Eritrea

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wen is a 33 year-old Eritrean Christian, who has been in prison since she was arrested at a prayer meeting in January 2005. She refused to sign a statement that she will not engage in Christian activities and therefore continues to be detained.

Eritrea is seen as one of the worst countries in the world for Christians to live in. President Isaias Afewerki has been in power since the country’s independence in 1993 and there have been no elections since then. His regime depends on a culture of perpetual fear through mass surveillance, compulsory long-term military service, arbitrary arrests, disappearances and killings.

The government accepts only three Christian denominations. Christians belonging to other

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Eritrean Christian refugees (Ref. 12-954)

Eritrean Christians who have fled to Egypt worship together in prison

denominations are not allowed to meet together, and are frequently arrested. There are an estimated 1,200 – 3,000 people detained in prison on religious grounds, most of them Christians.

Once arrested, they are seldom charged or brought before a court. They are denied legal counsel and family visits, and they are not allowed to pray aloud, sing or read a Bible. Sometimes they are held in solitary confinement or even in metal shipping containers (some of them underground), and they are often abused and tortured as authorities pressure them to renounce their faith.

Many Christians feel they have no option but to flee. Around 5,000 Eritreans are escaping the country every month, many through Sudan and then Libya or Egypt in an attempt to reach Israel or European shores. The route is fraught with danger, however, and they are vulnerable to being kidnapped, exploited, and trafficked.

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Holy Land

Barnabas helps provide good education in safe contexts for Christian children in Bethlehem

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hristians living in the land where Jesus lived face many difficulties.

In Israel, church buildings are vandalised and some ultra-Orthodox Jews persecute the tiny Christian minority.

Messianic Jews experience the most harassment for their decision to follow the Lord. However, the Christian population is growing in Israel.

Christians in Jerusalem came under serious threat during Ramadan in June 2015 when the Islamic State jihadist group spread leaflets around the city ordering the believers to leave before the end of Ramadan, or be killed. “We tell the heretic Christians, you must clear out immediately or we’ll massacre you on Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, and one month is time enough to evacuate.” The date passed without fulfilment of the threat, but fear lingers among the city’s tiny Christian population. Tensions spiked again last October after a spate of shootings and stabbings of Israelis by Palestinians.

There are around 12,000 Christians in Jerusalem, but the city itself is dotted with churches and Christian institutions and Christians mark the places where the dramatic events culminating in the crucifixion occurred some 2,000 years ago.

They are, however, made to feel unwelcome and face discrimination, abuse, harassment, and attacks from both Palestinian Muslims and ultra-Orthodox Jews.

In the Palestinian territories, most Christians live in the largely Muslim West Bank but their numbers have been declining for decades. They face discrimination and endure difficult economic conditions. Christians also live in Gaza, but a survey published in 2014 indicates that they are also in decline. It recorded a total Christian population of 1,313 down from 1,688 in 1997.

Although they are officially tolerated, many Christians experience discrimination and threats from Islamist groups. Life there is difficult and many Christians live in deep poverty. Ever since Hamas came to power in 2007, Christians in Gaza have been barred from visiting holy sites in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Living in a majority Muslim context, Muslim converts to Christianity are particularly vulnerable to attack.

Pray for wisdom for Christians throughout the Holy Land to know how to live out their faith and to know how to display their love and kindness to neighbours who persecute them. Pray that the hands of those who plot against the believers will be stayed so that no harm will come to them.

Children at a school for refugees in Vietnam

Pray for the needy children of Christian families around the world. Ask Him to be their Comforter and Protector at times of violence and their Provider when families have to flee in the face of danger. Pray for those who have no access to education for a release from the cycle of poverty, and for those for whom the classroom is a place of trauma and danger, that He will make a way for them to study in a safe and nurturing environment.

Ask the Lord to guide persecuted children and enable them to grow up to be faithful men and women of God.

Children

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od treasures children, but when Christians suffer persecution, children are among the most vulnerable. When conditions are harsh, as they are for most Christian refugees fleeing the killing fields of Syria and Iraq, children’s health deteriorates most quickly.

When overcrowded, unseaworthy boats capsize on the perilous sea-crossing to Turkey and Greece, children are the least able to survive. Many have drowned.

In some countries, Christian parents are trapped in grinding poverty through discrimination and unable to afford the school fees, they send their children out to work in order to help feed the family.

Children from persecuted Christian communities who do attend school may suffer harassment, injustice or even violence from teachers and fellow

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Children’s Fund (ref. 00-665) School Place Sponsorship Fund (ref. 00-514)

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

(Matthew 19:14)

students and are sometimes pressurised to convert to the majority religion.

In some cultures, most notably in Egypt and Pakistan, it remains common practice to kidnap Christian girls and young women, compel them to convert to Islam, and then force them into marriage.

Recently, the abuses meted out to Christian girls and women by Islamic State militants have drawn widespread condemnation, but the way in which the youngest girls (from infancy upwards) are the most highly prized is particularly abhorrent.

Where persecution and discrimination bring poverty and hardship for Christian children, Barnabas helps. For example, children are given refuge in orphanages and homes, nourished through feeding programmes, support is provided for Christian schools, school-place sponsorship offers opportunities to escape the vicious cycle of illiteracy and poverty, bringing hope for the future.

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India

An Indian boy reads the Bible

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even Christian families in Jharkhand state were summoned to a village meeting last year and told they would be ousted from their village because of their faith.

Village leaders told villagers not to allow the families to use water from the well, graze their animals on village pastures, or use the village pond.

They were told that the property of these families would soon be destroyed or seized.

This kind of incident is not uncommon. India’s believers are subject to eviction, attack and killings.

In Odisha (formerly Orissa) state, where Christians suffered horrific violence in 2007-8, violent incidents continue. Officially, India is a secular state and, allows freedom of religion, but there has been a clear change in the government stance since May 2014 when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Narendra Modi, came to power. In the first 300 days of BJP rule, 168 incidents of anti-Christian violence were recorded. Some Christians believe that Hindu

nationalism is advancing so rapidly that true democracy and religious liberty could end in less than a year.

India’s state-level “freedom of religion” laws, masked as protective measures, impede a Hindu from converting to another religion. Implemented to varying degrees in six of the country’s states, they are often misused to accuse Christians of converting Hindus to Christianity through force, fraud or allurement.

Prayer meetings are frequently interrupted (often violently) by supporters of Hindutva (a political stance requiring all Indians to adhere to Hinduism). Believers found they are sometimes beaten and insulted. In remote tribal areas of the country, Christians are often “caught in the crossfire” of the Indian military targeting Naxalite-Maoist guerilla groups.

The growing Christian population is now estimated at over 25 million (2%). Two-thirds are Dalits, who are at the very bottom of the Indian caste system, meaning that Christians are often very poor and despised. Christian and Muslim Dalits are not eligible for the advantages in jobs and education that the government has given to other Dalits since 1950.

Pray for protection for India’s Christians who are subject to abuse, harassment and violence from radical Hindu groups. Pray that the government will ensure freedom for Hindus to convert to Christianity. Ask also that there will be a government decision to grant Christian and Muslim Dalits the same benefits that are provided for Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist Dalits.

Indonesian Christians in prayer

Indonesia

Praise God for the new government’s desire to improve religious freedoms for Christians in Indonesia. Pray that its positive measures will not be hindered, but that attitudes of fairness and integrity will form deep roots in the country’s structures.

Pray for protection for Christians in Aceh province, and that poor Christian children in Papua will not be enticed away from their families on false pretences.

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Church planters (Ref. 22-828)

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hristians in Indonesia welcomed the election of President Joko Widodo in July 2014. He has promised equal rights for religious minorities. He has also promised new laws to protect Christians and other religious minorities from attack and discrimination and will make it easier to obtain permits to build places of worship.

While there are some promising signs, including the appointment of a Christian governor for capital city Jakarta, much remains to do to bring real religious freedom to this Sunni-majority country. Police and government officials are often complicit in allowing Islamist abuses of the Christian minority. In Aceh province, Islamists burned three churches to the ground last October before authorities conceded to their demands to tear down churches without the required legal permits (which are very difficult to obtain). The authorities then destroyed a further twelve churches.

Indonesia’s political philosophy, Pancasila, introduced alongside independence in 1949, requires every citizen to follow one of five religions, which include

Christianity. For many decades this ideology helped to promote stability, peace and equality. Christians and Muslims lived together in equality and harmony.

During the 1980s, however, President Suharto increased the role of Islam in public life. After his resignation, Islamists attempted to make Indonesia subject to sharia, and there was a huge increase in targeted violence towards Christians. Indonesia is home to the largest Muslim population in the world, but its immense size and the differing attitudes of the provincial authorities make some Christians more vulnerable to persecution and violence than others. In Aceh province, the authorities implement sharia, greatly disadvantaging Christians. Christian children in Papua, Indonesia’s most easterly province, are being trafficked to Islamic boarding schools in Jakarta as part of an Islamisation programme that is changing the character of this formerly Christian-majority region. Other areas which were also previously Christian-majority have been Islamised by relocating Muslims, changing the demography to Muslim-majority. Despite these challenges, the church is growing in Indonesia.

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Barnabas Fund supports many projects to help Iranian Christians. Although we cannot publicise these for security reasons, gifts to the Iran General Fund (Ref. 19-940 ) will be used to fund them.

Iran 20

A summer conference for Iranian Christians, funded

by Barnabas

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aryam Naghash Zargaran, a 36-yearold Christian woman has served three years of her four-year sentence after she was accused of converting to Christianity, being an active member of a house church, establishing a house church to bring young people to faith in Christ, contacting foreign Christian organisations to carry out evangelism in Iran, and travelling to Turkey to attend Christian conferences. In November, she was forced to return to prison in the middle of her medical treatment despite her deteriorating health.

Christian leaders estimate that hundreds of thousands of Muslims have converted to Christianity and meet secretly in house churches, but Muslimbackground converts to Christianity are persecuted by the authorities. Last year an Islamic religious expert warned Iranians “to be cautious and not let house churches be planted”.

Although senior Iranian officials claim that religious minorities have freedom to practise their religion, in reality Iran’s underground house churches are frequently raided and Christians rounded up as part of an ongoing crackdown. The use of Christian literature is highly restricted and churches which provide services in Farsi (the language of Iran’s Muslim majority) are increasingly being shut down.

Only recognised Christian minorities are allowed to meet together to worship in church buildings in Iran. The recognised groups are the Armenian and Assyrians, who have been worshipping in Iran for generations.

Lift up in prayer Christians in Iran, and in particular the many converts from Islam, and their children, who meet secretly in house churches all over the country. Pray that God will protect them and hide them from cruel authorities. Pray for the many Christians currently in prison for their faith, often subjected to beatings and torture. Pray for strength to endure, and grace towards fellow prisoners and guards. Ask that they may be released and able to return to their families .

Pray for Iraq’s displaced Christian community, struggling to survive poverty and living under a cloud of terror. Pray that the Lord will comfort those who have lost loved ones in attacks, and that He will provide for those who have lost their breadwinner . Ask for the safe release of the women and children who have been made slaves for jihadists. Pray that many IS militants will come to know the Lord and that there will be an end to the group’s violence against Christians and all Iraqi people.

Iraq

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ince the middle of 2014 Islamic State (IS) jihadists have advanced rapidly across Iraq, expelling Christians from their homes, and seizing their properties and businesses. The group’s behaviour is brutal. The family of a kidnapped church leader, for example, managed to find money to pay the ransom, but just hours later, he was murdered and his body cut up. Pieces of him were sent in a box to the family.

Tens of thousands of Christians in northern Iraq fled their homes with only the clothes on their backs, seeking refuge in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, where they continue to live as displaced people. Even in Baghdad, almost 70% of Christian homes have been illegally expropriated, their title deed documents falsified and given to other Iraqi citizens.

Many believers have been abducted and killed.

The rise of IS is only the latest threat to Christians who have suffered numerous attacks since the Gulf

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Needy Iraqi Christians (Ref. 20-227) Food and basic needs for Christians in Iraq (Ref. 20-246)

Iraqi men in a prayer of thanks following the distribution of food parcels. Barnabas Fund supports needy Christians in Iraq

War of 1990-1, with their treatment deteriorating dramatically after the 2003 US-led invasion which resulted in widespread lawlessness after the removal of Saddam Hussein. Under Saddam’s Iraq, Christians could practise their faith in safety and there were almost 1.5 million Christians living in the country.

Today there are fewer than 300,000 Christians remaining in the country. Now split between Sunni and Shia areas and Iraqi Kurdistan, which has its own government, there are signs that the Iraqi state could completely disintegrate.

In its quest to create an Islamic caliphate in the region, IS militants have turned churches into mosques, stripping them of crosses, and hoisting jihadi flags over their domes. They have taken sledgehammers to Christian graves in Mosul, lifting out the crosses engraved on headstones. In late 2014, IS issued a document standardising the prices at which they would sell Christian and Yazidi women and children who had been captured.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Building for Free Evangelical Church, Amman (Ref. 23-1230) Feeding Iraqi refugees in Jordan (Ref. 20-383)

Jordan 22

Blankets and other supplies being handed to 250 Iraqi and Syrian refugees in Jordan. Barnabas Fund supports projects such as this one

At

a time when Christians in the Middle East are in a desperate position and it often seems that there is no one willing to defend them, Jordan’s King Abdullah has been a vocal defender of the rights of Christians. At a conference he stressed that “Arab Christians have played a key role in building Arab societies” and that the protection of their rights was “a duty rather than a favour”.

Jordan has given refuge to thousands of Iraqi Christians who fled from Islamic State. These Christians are extremely grateful for the lifeline that Jordan gave them. They are, however, facing severe financial hardship and many of them have only

managed to survive thanks to the help they have been given by churches and Christian communities in Jordan.

Jordan’s Christian population has gradually decreased, as many Christians have moved abroad.

The Christian population has roughly halved since 1970 when it stood at around 5%.

Despite being tolerant of Christians, Jordan is a Muslim-majority country with elements of sharia in its legal system. In particular, there are issues in matters of family law when one of the spouses has converted to Christianity, especially concerning inheritance or access to children if they divorce.

Converts from Islam to Christianity can also face pressures and legal difficulties, because the legal system still regards them as Muslim.

Jordan remains vulnerable to radical Islamists within its borders as well as the threat of Islamic State in neighbouring Iraq.

Give thanks for King Abdullah’s positive attitude towards the Christian minority in Jordan and his desire to protect their religious freedoms. Praise God for the care and love that Jordanian Christians have shown towards the Christian refugees living amongst them. Pray that the tiny Christian community will shine as a bright light to their Muslim neighbours. Pray also that Jordanian legislation will be applied fairly to Christians, so that they will not be disadvantaged by sharia law.

“

Pray for Christians in Kazakhstan as they seek to practise their faith in a society that attempts to undermine their work. Pray that they will be filled with patience to persist and with wisdom to know how to show God’s love to those around them. Ask that they will be treated fairly in their dealings with police and official authorities. Pray also that the censorship rules on religious literature will be eased, and that the registration process for churches will be lightened dramatically.

Kazakhstan

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hey behaved like they were detaining some criminals,” said Pastor Li after Kazakh authorities stormed a churchrun children’s camp in July 2015 and made a video recording of the raid.

Officials then passed on the video footage they shot to media channels and alleged the children were being taught religion illegally, without parental permission, and were given “suspicious” drinks and chewing gum.

These allegations were then repeated in news reports, even though all of the official approvals were in order.

Believers in Kazakhstan are often fined for Christian activities in this country which is 53%

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Children’s Christian magazines in Central Asia (Ref. 80-664)

Believers come together in prayer in Kazakhstan

Muslim, especially those who belong to unregistered or non-traditional churches. Christian converts from Islam often experience pressure from family members and the local community to recant.

Kazakhstan has steadily become more restrictive of religious freedom as the government seeks to increase its control over the population. While the Constitution determines that the country is secular, a Religion Law was passed in 2011 that seriously curtailed religious freedoms for Kazakh citizens. The new law demanded that all religious institutions officially re-register with the state, but it also placed greater restrictions for obtaining registration. In order for a religious body to register on a national level, for example, it must provide the names and addresses of a minimum 5,000 members appropriately distributed across the country’s geography. The law also prohibits citizens from sharing their faith with others and operates strict censorship on all religious literature.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Pastors’ Support Fund (Ref. 00-477) Evangelists’ Support Fund (Ref. 00-478)

Pastors and Evangelists 24

Hamid, “helped” by one of his children, with the new equipment “So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up …”

(Ephesians 4:11,12)

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any brave pastors and evangelists across the world face hostility from their communities and the authorities, yet faithfully obey God’s calling to share the Gospel of Christ and build up His Church. Their work is often lonely, underresourced, unsupported and dangerous.

Three Indian evangelists were arrested on 3 October 2015 in the state of Madhya Pradesh, accused

of violating the state’s anti-conversion law. The penalty is up to three years in prison and a heavy fine. Their accusers alleged that they offered two Hindus money to convert. One of those arrested had previously been kidnapped and beaten for his missionary work.

In 2015, Barnabas Fund contributed to the living costs of almost 500 Christian workers working in the contexts of pressure and persecution. Sometimes this support takes the form of equipping them to earn an income by starting a small business, as with “Hamid”, a pastor working in Kyrgyzstan. “It is a good witness to unbelievers, we are working like all local people and share the Gospel with them,” he says. His shoemaking workshop generated just enough income for his family’s daily needs but he pastors believers over a huge area so to support his ministry, Barnabas has funded the purchase of two key-cutting machines to complement his shoe repair business.

Thank God for pastors, church-planters and evangelists who serve Him in the face of hostility and violence. Pray that He will equip them for their work, empowering them by His Spirit and meeting their material needs. Pray that they may be protected from attacks by the majority community, harassment by the authorities and unjust penalties for fulfilling their ministry.

Pray for fruitful ministry in lives transformed by the Gospel of Christ and churches strengthened to face persecution with courage and faithfulness.

Pray that the Lord will shield His people in Kenya from the violent attacks of radical Muslims. Ask God to comfort those who have been bereaved or injured. Almost 100 schools have closed in northern Kenya with teachers, many of them Christians, too afraid to work because of attacks against education institutions. Pray that al-Shabaab will be defeated and that stability will be restored to the region so that children can learn in safety. Pray also for protection for converts from Islam and for the help of the Holy Spirit as they begin their new life in Jesus.

Kenya

In

al-Shabaab’s deadliest attack to date, militants slaughtered 148 people in a daylong raid on Kenya’s Garissa University in April 2015. Laughing and taunting their young victims, the gunmen separated Christians from Muslims before killing them. They beheaded those who could not or would not recite passages from the Quran.

Al-Shabaab is a Somali-based terrorist organisation with links to al-Qaeda, but after Kenyan authorities took the decision in 2011 to send troops into neighbouring Somalia to help counter terrorist activity, Kenya has been plagued with acts of brutality, often against the country’s Christian population. In Mandera county, which borders Somalia, militants singled out the non-Muslims and brutally murdered them in two violent attacks in late 2014.

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Cana Girls Rescue Home (Ref. 25-663) Support for Kenyan missionaries (Ref. 25-017)

Barnabas helps feed needy Christians in Kenya

It is estimated that around 500 people, mainly Christians and Kenyans from of the south of the country, have been killed in Islamist attacks in the two years up to Summer 2015 in a bid to clear a pathway for the establishment of sharia law.

A senior Kenyan Christian leader explained that al-Shabaab’s aim for Kenya (a nation which is 80% Christian) is to make it ungovernable, to make the Church fearful, and to prevent Christians from doing outreach in Muslim-majority areas of the country.

Christians and Muslims peacefully coexist in many parts of Kenya, although Christian converts from Islam can face pressure and even violent threats to renounce their new faith in Christ. In Muslimmajority areas, Christians are discriminated against and local Muslims are seeking to settle matters through Islamic (Kadhi) courts.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Kyrgyzstan General Fund (Ref. 26-849) Church buildings (Ref. 26-895)

Kyrgyzstan 26

Women in a home group in Kyrgyzstan

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onverts from Islam to Christianity in Kyrgyzstan (which has a more than 80% Muslim majority population) 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.

Several converts have had to flee to Russia because of persecution by their families. Leaving Islam is seen by most Muslims as an act of treachery against the umma (Islamic nation worldwide) and is punishable by death according to sharia law.

The state closely monitors Christian activity in Kyrgyzstan. The Religion Law states that every congregation must apply for official registration, itself a cumbersome process. Unregistered groups are not

allowed to meet and registered groups are subject to intrusive monitoring by the authorities, who may attend services, take photographs, and ask questions. The law does not allow children to be involved in religious groups. It also states that all religious literature, from any registered faith group, must be examined by state officials and restricts evangelism.

Christians in Kyrgyzstan are concerned about a proposed new law on religion, which would require every church to have 500 members in order to be registered (up from 200 under the existing law) and each of the 500 to submit a notarized document with their passport information. The new demands would be extremely difficult to meet, especially in rural parts of the country, where it is already difficult to gather 200 founders to register a church.

Under the proposed law, there would also be harsher punishments for those convicted of taking part in unauthorised religious activities.

Give thanks for the unwavering faith of Christians in Kyrgyzstan despite the difficult conditions imposed on them. Pray for Christian converts from Islam, that they will be protected from discrimination and from harm as they live out their bold decision. Ask the Lord to be sovereign over the decisions taken by Kyrgyz lawmakers. Pray that the proposal to increase the number of church members for official registration will not succeed, and pray also that other laws concerning Christian gatherings will be eased.

Pray for greater religious freedoms for Christians in Laos, who struggle to gain permission to meet together or share their faith with others. Pray for those who are in prison for their commitment to the Gospel. Pray that the authorities will be prevented from doing them harm, and will soon grant them release.

Ask the Lord to provide for the material needs of those who have been forced to leave their homes, villages and fields. Pray God’s protection over the Christian community, and especially over the ethnic minorities in rural areas.

Laos

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olice in a village in central Laos stormed the home of a Christian family and arrested two believers who were visiting the family of five, accusing them of “spreading the [Christian] faith� after they encouraged the believers to pray. One of the men had previously been arrested in 2012 after 300 local people decided to become Christians through the witness of his life.

Incidents such as this are sadly common in Laos, where authorities consider Christianity a threat and take a harsh approach to Christian evangelism, targeting pastors and evangelists in particular. Those who are imprisoned for their faith are sometimes held in stocks and handcuffs; some are tortured.

Christians in Laos make up a tiny minority, numbering about 150,000 people amongst a total

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Laos General Fund (Ref. 90-740)

Paddy fields in Laos

population of about 7 million who are predominantly Buddhist. In some areas Christians, particularly those belonging to ethnic minorities, suffer harassment, threats and detention or are denied access to education and medical care. When authorities ordered six Hmong Christian families to renounce their faith in late 2014, the Christians refused and were forced to leave their village and their fields.

Despite the fact that the Lao constitution provides religious freedom for citizens, Christians have been tightly controlled since Communist forces seized power in 1975 and overthrew the monarchy. It is illegal to print Bibles and extremely difficult to obtain the required approval for importing Christian literature, evangelistic activities and building churches. In some areas, Christians are unable to meet together legally if permission to build a church has been denied and meeting in private homes has been banned.

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Libya

Migrants arrive on Lampedusa island, Italy, after leaving Libya

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he brutality against Christians in Libya has soared since the emergence of Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East. Last year, IS filmed the executions of around 50 “followers of the cross�, 21 Egyptians in February and 30 Ethiopians in April.

There are many migrant workers living and working in Libya where they can earn a higher salary to help support their families back home.

Many of the migrants are Christians and while they 28

are allowed to meet in churches, the sharp rise in anti-Christian violence has forced many to leave.

Libya has become a strategic point of exit from the killing fields of the Middle East and many thousands have risked their lives crossing the country on trucks and then the Mediterranean on overloaded boats in an attempt to reach safety on European shores.

Jihadists have caught many believers en route and have hunted out and killed others.

Libya has been in a state of turmoil since Colonel Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011 and civil war broke out. The chaos enveloping the country has meant that around seven main Islamist militia groupings have started to use the country as a base of operations, including those affiliated to Islamic State.

Indigenous Libyan Christians are converts from Islam and are very few in number. They face enormous pressure from their families and communities to return to Islam, and must practise their Christian faith in utmost secrecy.

Lift up in prayer Libyan converts from Islam, that they will be able to stand firm in their faith and be witnesses to the love of Jesus in their daily lives. Pray for protection for the many Christian migrants living in or passing through the country, that they will not be discovered by jihadists or exploited by unscrupulous people-smugglers. Pray that God will raise up leaders who will govern the country with justice and integrity so that peace and security will grow.

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he Christian population of Mauritania is very small, numbering perhaps just a few thousand – and many of these are expatriate believers. Believers in this Islamic Republic have been imprisoned, beaten for their faith, or endured ostracism by family or tribe.

According to the country’s constitution, only Muslims can be citizens of Mauritania. Apostasy from Islam is forbidden and those who do not recant within three days can face a death sentence and have their property confiscated, although no one has been officially executed for this offence to date. All nongovernmental organisations which are linked to a religious body must be officially registered with the government and must not promote any religion that is not Islam. Government permission is required for all

Pray for God’s blessing on Mauritanian Christians who have made the decision to leave the religion of their families and communities to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray also for their protection as they live under authorities which can place a death sentence on those who leave Islam, and pray that they will have courage to press on toward the goal (Philippians 3:14). Pray that laws against Christian activity will be eased so that Christians will be able to meet together freely for encouragement and teaching. Pray that the seeds of radical Islamism will wither before they take root.

Mauritania

Source Michał Huniewicz

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Training project (Ref. 108-1229)

Desert scenes such as these are characteristic of the Mauritanian landscape

group meetings, including religious meetings by nonMuslims, even when these are held in private homes.

The tiny number of Mauritanian Christians must meet secretly; although expatriate believers can meet in churches, they are increasingly subject to persecution. In 2009 an American Christian, Chris Leggett, was assassinated by Islamic terrorists when he resisted being taken hostage.

There have been protests against Christians by Muslims. At one public demonstration they accused Christians of burning the Quran and called on the government to punish them. They were not specific about which Christians they were accusing.

Radical forms of Islam are spreading across North Africa. For some time Islamic terrorists have been active in Mauritania. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has exploited porous borders between North African countries and carried out attacks.

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Morocco

Saint Peter’s cathedral in Rabat

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ccording to Morocco’s constitution, Islam is the official state religion.

The Islamic establishment does not allow conversion from Islam to any other religion. On 23 April 2013, the Supreme Ulema Council, a group appointed by the king, published a decree saying that Muslims who renounce their faith “should be condemned to death”. Conversion to another religion is seen as a threat to the authority of the king, Mohammed VI, who according to the country’s constitution is the “Commander of the Faithful and Defender of the Community and the Faith”. The Alawite dynasty, whose family has ruled Morocco for nearly 400 years, claims to descend from Muhammad.

Evangelism among Muslims, who account for more than 99% of the country’s population, is forbidden.

Foreign missionaries were expelled from the country in 2009 and 2010 for undermining public order.

Converts from Islam can experience severe pressure, often facing police interrogations, ostracism, dismissal from employment, family harassment and the threat of imprisonment. The most frequent targets of harassment are newly converted Moroccan Christians and Muslims interested in Christianity.

Converts to Christianity can also come under pressure for having links to missionaries.

The Government refuses to recognise churches constituted of Moroccan nationals, so religious liberty for non-Muslims is effectively restricted to foreign expatriates. Estimates for the numbers of Moroccan Christians range from 800 to 8,000, the majority being ethnic Berbers. Small groups meet surreptitiously in several towns, sometimes disguising their gatherings as family celebrations.

Give thanks for the steadfast commitment of Moroccans who have converted to Christianity despite the dangerous impact of this decision.

Pray for Muslims who feel drawn to Christ, that they will have courage to make a decision to follow Him and that they will be protected from harm. Pray that foreign missionaries will have wisdom in their work, and will not accidentally endanger Moroccan Christians. Ask God to intervene in the political structures in Morocco so that there will be greater freedom for Christians to meet and share their faith with others.

Pray for protection for Christian women, and especially those who have to go out to work in dangerous contexts, for example as domestic workers in the homes of families from the majority community. Ask that the authorities in Pakistan and Egypt, where forced marriage is common, will do more to prevent it and to protect women believers. Ask that the Holy Spirit will enable persecuted women to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power (Ephesians 6:10) despite their vulnerability to abuse.

Women

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he Bible gives women an honoured place in God’s family, unlike the treatment that Christian women receive in some contexts of persecution.

Five Sudanese Christian women were convicted and fined last year for wearing “immoral or indecent clothing”. One of them, Fardo, was sentenced to 20 lashes. Although sharia (Islamic law) is enforced in Sudan, the Sudanese Criminal Code allows women to dress in a way that is morally acceptable “according to the standard of the person’s religion”. A Christian minister testified that the women were dressed appropriately as Christians, but to no avail.

When Christian men are martyred, often grieving women are left with no means to support their families other than the help provided through, for example, the feeding programmes or small business initiatives which Barnabas supports.

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Pakistan – Christian lawyers helping abused Christians (Ref. 41-465); Sudan – Women’s Christian prison ministry (Ref. 48-575); Pakistan – Sewing and Literacy centre for women (Ref. 41-1046)

A widow in Pakistan whose husband was martyred in a church bombing. Barnabas Fund has supported her in her recovery from the incident

Christian women are often persecuted both for their faith and for their gender. Some Muslims consider all Christian women to be “immoral”, and their abuse is condoned. An Islamic cleric has described the rape of any woman who is not a Sunni Muslim in Syria as “legitimate”. In Burma (Myanmar), women from (predominantly Christian) ethnic minorities often suffer sexual abuse by the army.

In countries such as Pakistan and Egypt, a Christian woman or girl may be kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam and then to marry a Muslim often her abductor.

Islamic State (IS) militants routinely enslave and abuse Christian women who are captured; in August last year, the UN accepted as authentic a shocking “price list” for captured girls and women: a woman over 40 would change hands for about £40, while very young girls (aged between one and nine years old) would fetch about £110.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Bible training by correspondence course (Ref. 89-946)

Nepal 32

A Nepalese family take shelter under a tarpaulin in the aftermath of the earthquake in April 2015. Barnabas Fund assisted with the finances to help rebuild this family’s home

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ombs exploded in two churches in Nepal’s easternmost Jhapa district in September 2015, only hours after the country’s constituent assembly (CA) overwhelmingly rejected proposals to make Nepal a Hindu state. Another two bombs planted in the area’s churches did not explode inside, although one of them detonated later at a police station to which it had been removed.

Nepal was declared a secular republic in 2008; prior to that date it was the only Hindu kingdom in the world. Hindu fundamentalists have been pushing for Nepal to move towards becoming a Hindu state and to put pressure on Christians and followers of other non-Hindu religions for some time. Although the government voted to keep Nepal as a secular state, there are still dangers for Christians from proposed legislation which would not allow Nepalese citizens to change religion and would punish anyone who “[attempts] to change or convert someone from one religion to another”.

Nepal has experienced rapid church growth since its borders were opened to foreign missionaries in the 1950s, even though they were not permitted to evangelise the local population. At that time, Christian numbers were extremely small, perhaps under a hundred Christians in total. An official census taken in 2011 revealed that by then there were 364,000 Christians, but many Nepalese Christians believe the real figures are much higher.

Over 8,000 people died in two major earthquakes in April 2015 and hundreds of thousands were displaced.

Christians are often marginalised in Nepal and many were overlooked in aid distribution because of their faith. Nepalese believers are often extremely poor as a result of ongoing discrimination and marginalisation.

Christians are also sometimes subject to threats and violent attacks. Some church leaders sent their children abroad for safety after a blacklist of pastors was published in certain media.

Give thanks for the rapid growth of the church in Nepal over recent decades. Pray for wisdom for authorities at every level as they begin to implement the new constitution that has been many years in the making. Pray that the legislation that punishes anyone involved in converting someone from one religion to another will be amended so that Nepalese citizens can freely choose to become Christians. Ask the Lord to provide the material needs of all those who lost their homes in the earthquakes.

Pray that God will comfort the many who have lost loved ones.

Lift up in prayer the many thousands of Nigerian Christians and others who have been displaced from their homes because of anti-Christian violence. Pray that God will comfort those who have lost loved ones in the brutal attacks that have occurred in market places, churches, schools and Christian villages as well as in attacks on mosques and on the security forces. Pray that the international community will prioritise the insurgency in Nigeria and will act to bring an end to the brutality. Ask the Lord to lead security forces to the places where kidnapped believers are being held, so that they can be returned to their families.

Nigeria

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ver the last two years the radical Islamist group Boko Haram has attacked more churches and killed more Christians than any other Islamist terrorist group or government in the world. The group, which has now pledged allegiance to the Middle Eastern Islamist group, Islamic State, has razed entire villages, killing many of the inhabitants and kidnapping others. The kidnapping of over 276 mainly Christian schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014 generated huge media attention, but there have been many other abductions.

Almost all of those kidnapped have been Christians.

Active mainly in Nigeria’s north-eastern states, Boko Haram has been waging a war against the

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Victims of violence in Nigeria (Ref. 39-772)

Nigerian women gathered in prayer

Nigerian government and security forces and carrying out brutal attacks on churches, Christian villages, moderate Muslims, and Western-style educational establishments. Some 20,000 people have been killed since the group initiated its violent campaign in 2009.

Thousands of Nigerians have fled to other parts of the country and also into neighbouring countries, often living in desperate circumstances.

Northern Nigeria is mainly Muslim and the Christian minority of north-eastern Nigeria is now feared to be under threat of extinction. The country’s southern states are largely Christian. In Nigeria’s Middle Belt, where Christians and Muslims are roughly equal in number, there have been attacks against Christians from other groups, most notably from Muslim Fulani tribesmen, who have attacked and slaughtered hundreds of Christian villagers.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: North Korea General Fund (Ref. 86-545) Christian bakeries project (Ref. 86-642)

North Korea 34

North Korean Children eating at a kindergarten. The bread is provided by the Christian bakeries project that Barnabas Fund supports

“G

od also comforted me and brought a secret fellowship into existence,” says Hae-Woo, a Christian survivor of North Korea’s labour camps.

“Every Sunday we would gather in the toilets and pray.” It is thought that there are up to 100,000 Christians being held in prison labour camps, where they are clothed in rags, hungry, abused, tortured, worked to death, and some executed for their faith. Often the whole family, including the parents and children, of those suspected of being Christians are imprisoned.

To be a Christian in North Korea is illegal. In fact, North Korea is often cited as the most dangerous

place in the world to be a Christian. The country’s secret believers must be extremely cautious. The country is ruled by an ideology known as Juche, which demands unchallenged veneration of the ruling member of the Kim family, currently Kim Jong Un. Christianity is a threat to this all-controlling system, which is political, religious, social and economic.

North Koreans are isolated from the outside world and have no access to foreign media or literature. The government enforces a surveillance society, where everyone is monitored and unauthorised activity is punished. Teachers may ask children if they have seen their parents reading the Bible or saying prayers and authorities sometimes attempt to trap Christians by organising fake prayer meetings.

Starvation, isolation and the regime’s strict repression have caused hundreds of thousands of North Koreans, including many Christians, to flee to South Korea via China. However, Chinese authorities routinely repatriate any North Koreans who manage to escape.

Lift up in prayer North Korean Christians subjected to a life of secrecy and caution.

Pray that God will protect them and grant them great wisdom in how to live out their faith. Pray especially for Christians who are living in prison camps, for strength for each day and perseverance to endure. Ask also for a transformation of the political system so that the country’s citizens are released from fear.

Pray for dramatic changes to the country’s “blasphemy laws”, so that they cannot be misused to exploit poor Christians on false charges. Lift up in prayer Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of five who has been languishing in prison since 2009 after she was falsely accused of insulting the name of Muhammad and sentenced to death. Ask the Lord to protect vulnerable Christian women and girls from being kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and forced into Islamic marriages. Pray that those being held in unfair “bonded labour” will be enabled to free themselves.

Pakistan

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hehzad Masih and his pregnant wife Shama Bibi were accused of “blasphemy” after local media reported that they had burned pages of the Quran and thrown them in a rubbish bin. They were beaten and burned alive in a brick kiln by a Muslim mob in a village around 60 kilometres south-west of Lahore on 4 November 2014. Even if she had burned the pages, however, Shama was illiterate and so could not have known what she was burning.

Violent attacks against Christians in Pakistan have become disturbingly frequent. As well as attacks by angry mobs, Christians are also vulnerable to terrorist attacks, particularly in the north-western region, which borders Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s “blasphemy laws”, which carry a mandatory death sentence for “defiling the name of Muhammad”, are repeatedly exploited, often to settle a grudge or grab property. A simple accusation is enough to make the accused, and even an entire Christian community, vulnerable to extrajudicial

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Pakistan General Fund (Ref. 41-980) Feeding Christian families (Ref. 41-331) Christian lawyers helping abused Christians (Ref. 41-645) Primary schools for deprived Christian children (Ref. 41-948)

A gathering of believers in Pakistan

murder as zealous Muslims take the law into their own hands. People of all religions can be accused but Christians are especially vulnerable. Although no one has yet been executed, 14 people are currently on death row and a further 19 are serving life sentences for blasphemy charges. Many spend years languishing in prison waiting for their cases to be brought to trial.

Christians are a small minority of the population and are vulnerable to attack. Last year, 14-year-old Nauman Masih died after two Muslims doused him with kerosene and burnt him when he admitted to being a Christian.

Christian women and girls are often kidnapped, raped and forced into marriage with a Muslim.

Many Christians in Pakistan are “bonded labourers”, which is almost like being enslaved. They cannot escape from exploitation by their employers because of debts incurred in times of great hardship, often several generations earlier.

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Philippines 36

A Filipino pastor in front of his church building

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his cyclone-prone nation of 7,250 islands is around 85% Christian, but Christians on the southern Muslim-dominated island of Mindanao have endured a decades-long insurgency by the Moro (a local word for Muslim) Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) militant group campaigning to separate from the Philippines.

In January 2014, President Benigno Aquino III agreed a peace deal and later proposed the creation of a semi-independent sub-state on part of the island called “Bangsamoro” (meaning Muslim people or Muslim nation) through the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). The government approved the BBL in May 2015.

In what could be a worrying precedent for Muslim minorities living in other Christian-majority countries, the BBL allows regional authorities to set

up sharia courts with sharia punishments for crimes that include apostasy. It also permits authorities to introduce Islamic banking systems, promote halal products and foster the Islamisation of the area.

Although lawmakers insist that the BBL will apply only to Muslims, Christians (who make up a sizeable proportion of the population in the region) are concerned that they will be affected by the imposition of sharia. The bill insists that it will uphold international human rights law, but contradictions between recognised human rights and sharia make this a concerning move.

However, when Christians on Mindanao raised their concerns about such laws in the past, they have been violently targeted by the MILF. In 2008, when the Christian community objected to a similar agreement, the Supreme Court ruled that the agreement was unconstitutional. The MILF responded violently, killing around 400 believers and displacing 750,000.

Pray for God’s protection and wisdom for Christians living in the Bangsamoro area of Mindanao island. Pray especially for Muslim converts to Christianity in this area, who could be tried for apostasy under sharia courts. Pray also for restraint on the part of authorities in Bangsamoro so that harsh sharia punishments will not be dealt out. Ask the Lord to meet the practical needs of all who have been affected by natural disasters. Pray that He will comfort those who have lost homes and loved ones.

Lift up in prayer Christians across Russia, whose freedoms are subject to the country’s political tides. Ask the Lord to grant believers great wisdom to know how best to live out their faith.

Pray that the Lord will be sovereign over the decisions and actions of government and police authorities.

Russia

In

former times , Christianity was a strong part of the identity and culture of Russia, which saw itself as a bulwark against the Muslim Tatars and other Muslims of Central Asia. The Soviets who seized power in 1917 were strongly atheist and aimed to destroy religion completely. An estimated 200,000 Christian leaders were martyred during the decades of communist rule (1917–1990) and a further 500,000 were imprisoned.

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Radio Outreach Ministry (Ref. 43-669)

Russian believers gather in worship

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to a massive increase in churches, churchgoing and Christian activities. But in recent years hostility towards Christians in the Russian Federation has spread. In the media, Christians are sometimes portrayed in such a way as to rouse suspicion about their activities.

In spite of this, local Christian leaders say that the number of Christians has grown significantly in the last 10-15 years.

Though Christians are generally free to operate under the law, growing Russian nationalism and the revival of Soviet era practices are causing problems for some of them. Believers can face administrative opposition from local authorities and harassment from the police, and churches have to register to be able to legally carry out certain activities, such as officially owning property.

In areas where there is a strong Muslim presence, especially in the north Caucasus region, converting to Christianity from Islam can be dangerous and there is an ongoing fear about the impact of Islamic extremists with links to Islamic State.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Convert Fund (ref. 00-113)

Converts 38

Baptism of a new convert in India

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adia Din, a young Pakistani woman, converted to Christianity from Islam and married a Christian man, Aleem Masih, in April 2014. The couple, from Lahore, northern Pakistan, fled to the town of Narang Mandi, around 50 kilometres (31 miles) away, fearing attacks from Nadia’s family who were incensed at her conversion. Returning to Lahore last year, they were abducted by Nadia’s father and brother. They shot both Nadia and Aleem, leaving them for dead. Nadia survived her injuries, but Aleem died. Nadia’s family said they had avenged their humiliation and restored the pride of the Muslims by killing the couple in cold blood.

New Christians face persecution in many contexts: at the hands of Hindu extremists in India, for example,

or by Buddhist extremists in Sri Lanka and south-east Asia. But they are most at risk in Islamic contexts.

All schools of sharia prescribe the death penalty for adult males who leave Islam. Apostasy from Islam is officially outlawed in 24 countries and punishable to different degrees although the death penalty, where legal, is very rarely enforced. Converts are more likely to be imprisoned and tortured, as in Iran where more than a hundred are currently incarcerated.

Converts from Islam also very often face pressure from their families to return to Islam or endure outright rejection if they refuse. They may lose their spouses, children, jobs, homes and possessions or be forced into hiding because of the threat to their safety. Some are killed by family members or by zealous Muslims.

Barnabas Fund’s Convert Fund supports vulnerable new Christians by providing them with safe places of refuge, discipleship training and education, skills training and small-business start-up costs.

Give thanks for all those who give their lives to the Lord, and for the faith of those who endure even in the face of great loss and suffering. Pray that the Lord will use other Christians to support, comfort and encourage vulnerable new converts and that He will strengthen new Christians who are isolated.

Pray for protection for those who are at risk of violence, and ask that those who are rejected by their families will be comforted by the knowledge that their place in God’s family can never be taken away from them.

Mecca in western Saudi Arabia is considered Islam’s holiest city - only Muslims are allowed to enter

Pray that the brutality of the legal system will end and that the pillars of its laws will be set on the foundations of God’s justice. Restrictions on Saudi Arabia’s women have shown some signs of easing as they were allowed to vote and to stand in elections in December, for the first time in the country’s history. Pray that restrictions on non-Muslims will similarly be eased.

Pray that all attempts to promote hatred against God’s people, whether in education, sermons, media or law, will be thwarted. Ask God to protect Saudi Arabians who have decided to leave Islam and become Christians. Pray that they will not feel loneliness in their secrecy and their tiny minority, but instead that they may know the company and support of their brothers and sisters around the world.

Saudi Arabia

In

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the state religion is Wahhabism (a strict form of Sunni Islam, dating from the 18th century). Any Muslims who decide to follow Jesus face a death sentence and therefore must live out their faith in extreme secrecy.

Even expatriate Christians, who are supposedly allowed to worship together in private, can face harassment, detention and deportation. Their meetings may be raided by Saudi Arabia’s mutawaah (religious police), who ruthlessly enforce restrictions on behaviour. Even ordinary citizens can act as anti-Christian vigilantes. Christians from Western countries are likely to be deported, whereas Asian or African Christians who are discovered by the mutawaah are likely to face imprisonment and harsh punishments, before eventually they too are deported.

There is no separation between religion and state.

Anyone who challenges this, or attempts to promote

human rights, can be accused of blasphemy. Like apostasy, a blasphemy conviction officially carries a death sentence. According to Saudi law, the country has no constitution outside of the Quran and the Sunnah of Muhammad (meaning records of his actions and words, which should be used as an example to follow). The judicial system is founded on the country’s strict interpretation of sharia. Saudi Arabia’s vast wealth from oil helps to fund dawa (Islamisation) worldwide.

According to Wahhabism, Islam must be the only religion on the Arabian Peninsula, so no church buildings are permitted in Saudi Arabia. Even school textbooks promote violence against Christians and Jews.

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Somalia 40

The port of Merca on the south coast of Somalia.

Al-Shabaab continues to hold areas of southern Somalia

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Christian man, whose name cannot be disclosed, was kidnapped by al-Shabaab militants in the south-central city of Baidoa, Somalia, in May 2015. They interrogated him about his faith and as they did so, they chopped off four fingers on his right hand. He managed to escape the militants and is in hiding.

Somalia’s population is almost 100% Muslim, and those who convert from Islam must meet in absolute secrecy or live out their faith alone because of the danger of kidnappings, sexual abuse, torture and

murder carried out against this very small minority.

Somali Christians live under the constant threat of al-Shabaab jihadi attacks. The group has said its intention is “to get rid of the barbaric and non-Islamic culture in the country ”. Dozens of Christians have been killed since 2008, when the group seized control of central and southern Somalia.

Al-Shabaab, which has declared its allegiance to al-Qaeda and wants to establish a radical Islamic state in East Africa, has been pushed back but still controls areas of central and southern Somalia. In these areas, the group enforces brutal sharia punishments such as stoning, amputation and flogging.

Somalia has been without an effective government for many years. Fighting between various warlords left the country in chaos, with no one to deal with severe famines, piracy, and the rise of Islamist groups. In 2012, Somalia’s first formal parliament in more than 20 years was sworn in.

Lift up in prayer Christian converts in Somalia who have made a costly decision and face an isolated, dangerous life. Pray that they will know that they have brothers and sisters around the world who remember them in prayer. Pray also that they will be able to safely connect with other believers. Praise God that al-Shabaab forces are slowly being driven from more and more parts of the country. Pray for a government that will bring a just and merciful rule to this chaotic country.

Pray that Sri Lanka’s current president will show a greater commitment to protecting the religious freedoms of the country’s Christians and that pressure from violent groups will be ignored.

Pray that Sri Lankan Christians will have courage and perseverance to live out their faith. Pray that many of the country’s believers will be lifted from the deep poverty in which they are entrenched. Ask that they will have fair access to educational and employment opportunities and that any tactics to discriminate will be brought into the light.

Pray also that they will be protected from insults, threats and violent attacks from hard-line Buddhist groups.

Sri Lanka

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our Buddhist monks forced their way into the premises of a church in Sri Lanka’s Kalutara District on Sunday 6 September 2015. They told the pastor he had no right to conduct worship services in the village, and proceeded to call the police station’s Officer in Charge. Police later told the pastor that he needed to register the church with the state and forced him to sign a statement that he would cease all Christian activity until this was done.

There are many similar incidents involving violent attacks by Buddhist monks and hard-line Buddhist groups who say that Christians must have official registration (although this is against the constitution) and insisting that they cease all Christian activities.

The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka reported 114 incidents of Christian persecution in 2014 alone.

In 2009, a 26-year civil war between the mainly Buddhist Sinhalese majority and minority Tamils,

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Post-war church Reconstruction (Ref. 85-927) Theological seminary (Ref. 85-985)

Church leaders pray before the start of building work at a church in eastern Sri Lanka

who are largely Hindu, finally ended. A new president, Maithripala Sirisena, was elected on 9 January 2015.

He heads a coalition that includes both moderates and the radical Buddhist party which proposed an anticonversion law (shelved in 2005).

Under the ten year rule of his predecessor, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Christians suffered enormously.

The country’s constitution states that Buddhism shall have “the foremost place” and makes the state responsible for protecting and fostering the religion.

Christians, who make up around 8% of the population, suffer widespread injustice and poverty.

Tamil Christians are doubly discriminated against for their ethnicity and their faith. Many Christians work on the tea plantations and are harassed by their employers.

They also live in extreme poverty on the slopes of these plantations, where they are susceptible to mudslides. In schools, too, non-Buddhists face discrimination.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Women’s Christian prison ministry (Ref. 48-575)

Sudan 42

Barnabas transported Christians home to South Sudan after they were ordered to leave the North

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mar al-Bashir, president of Sudan since 1989 has said he intends to make the country a fully Islamic state. The process has become more marked since the secession of predominantly Christian South Sudan in 2011. Although sharia law is already in force, a new constitution is expected to further limit religious freedom.

South Sudan became independent in 2011 following a 22-year-long civil war that ended in 2005, during which the South Sudanese people struggled to prevent the Islamic government of North Sudan from imposing sharia law on them. After independence, all those of Southern origin in Sudan, numbering hundreds of thousands who are mostly Christian, were stripped of their citizenship and ordered to leave. Some observers believe the authorities are attempting to completely eradicate Christians.

Sudanese citizens must abide by strict sharia law and amendments to the constitution have awarded al-Bashir more powers. The Islamist government is waging a cruel campaign against the country’s believers. Christian literature has been seized, and Christians face arbitrary arrest, interrogation and detention without charge. According to the law, apostates from Islam face a death sentence, and many foreign Christian workers have been deported.

Numerous church buildings and Christian institutions have been demolished and the government has said no more permits for new church buildings will be granted. A church in Khartoum was affected when an official committee was granted power in March 2013 to sell church lands and buildings to Muslim businessmen; some buildings were demolished as a result. These powers were thankfully returned to the rightful church committee responsible for the Khartoum church land and buildings in August 2015.

Pray for Christians in Sudan who live under sharia and with the constant threat of intimidation, harassment and arrest. Pray that they will have the strength and courage to remain firm in the faith. Pray also for an end to the government’s campaign to target the Christian minority. Thank the Lord for restoring the powers regarding land and buildings to the rightful church committee. Pray that there will be greater freedoms for Christians across Sudan to meet together and live out their faith without fear.

Lift up in prayer our suffering brothers and sisters in Syria. Ask the Lord to shield them from the dangers of living in a war zone and to hide them from Islamic State militants. Pray for the safe release of all those being held hostage. Pray too for those who have been displaced from their homes, that the Lord will comfort them in their loss and be their Shepherd to guide them to safety. Ask the Lord to bring an end to the violence against so many innocent civilians who are suffering in this country.

Syria

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he conflict in Syria is now approaching its sixth year. Labelled the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, the war began with the peaceful protests of the Arab Spring in early 2011 but spiralled as Islamist groups began to seize swathes of the country.

Syrian Christians are suffering in this terrible war, but they are also being hunted out, kidnapped and killed

by Islamist militants simply because of their faith.

The rise of Islamic State (IS) in 2014 saw renewed savagery. Militants have attacked churches, removing crosses and replacing them with the black flag of IS. In February 2015, 253 Syrian Christians were kidnapped from villages along the Khabur river. Any who tried to resist capture were killed. Some of the hostages, mainly the elderly, have been released in small groups. But in a video released in October 2015,

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Middle East Fund to help Christians in Syria (Ref. 00-1032)

Barnabas is helping to care for freed Christian hostages who were taken captive from the Khabur river area last February

armed militants shot three of the hostages in the back of the head and jihadists threatened to execute the rest of the Christians still being held. A total of 145 of the Christians captured in the Khabur river raids have now been released, but IS continues to hold 105. In another incident, around 250 Christians were kidnapped last August as Islamic State captured the town of Qaryatain and hunted out its Christian population. A group of 15 were released in September after signing a dhimma contract that forces them to live with second-class status, and a group of 50 were freed in October.

At least 7.6 million Syrians are internally displaced and a further 4 million have fled the country since the conflict began. Unusually for a Muslim-majority country, Christians enjoyed respect and equality before the war began, when they made up 10% of the population. Now their numbers are dwindling rapidly and over half a million have already fled the country, many from Aleppo which has been particularly hard-hit.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Tajikistan General Fund (Ref. 50-770)

Tajikistan 44

A group of Christians read the Word together

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ike most former Soviet countries in Central Asia, Tajikistan has gradually become more restrictive of religious freedom since it became independent in 1991. Since 2009, the government has broadened the laws that limit religious freedom, demanding state registration for religious groups and criminalising all unregistered religious activity. The import, export and distribution of religious publications must also be approved by the government.

Christians involved in organising or participating in unregistered activities face large fines and prison

sentences, under recent amendments to the penal code. Evangelism and private Christian education (except by parents) are prohibited, and official permission must be given to provide Christian instruction. All children under the age of 18 are forbidden from taking part in religious activities.

There are currently about 80 registered churches in Tajikistan and the total Christian population is estimated at up to 98,000, some 1.5% of the total population. Many ethnic Russians and other Europeans have left Tajikistan for Russia and the declining number of Europeans may make life harder for Tajikistan’s Christians.

Tajikistan is very poor, with high levels of unemployment among young people. Several hundred young men have gone to fight for Islamic State in Syria. There is a concern that radical groups like Islamic State will gain more influence in Tajikistan.

Pray for Christians in Tajikistan who face so many restrictions in the way in which they can practically live out their faith. Ask the Lord to encourage them in their walk with Him and to show them how He would have them serve Him. Pray that the controls on Christian activity and publications will be eased so that the believers can meet freely without fear of imprisonment and fines. Pray especially for Christian children, that they will grow in their faith in spite of the government restrictions on their involvement in Christian activities.

“Even to your old age and grey hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you: I will sustain you and I will rescue you.�

(Isaiah 46:4)

In

February 2015, Christians around the world watched in horror as a video showed 21 Egyptian Christian men being led single file along a beach in Libya before they were beheaded by Islamic State militants who despised them for their

Pray for the older generation of Christians in contexts where they live in poverty and suffer persecution because of their faith. Ask God to uphold them in their sufferings, to meet their needs and make His power perfect in their weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Pray that they might know His peace and joy in their remaining years. Pray too that the care homes and other support that Barnabas Fund has provided will relieve hard-pressed Christian communities by ensuring that their elderly loved ones are properly cared for.

Elderly

An elderly Christian woman helped by the feeding programme in Rawalpindi

commitment to Christ. Like so many men killed for their faith, they supported elderly parents as well as wives and children.

Wherever Barnabas Fund brings relief to suffering communities of Christians, it is the elderly who are among the most vulnerable. Their physical frailty may render them less able to defend themselves against violence or to flee, and poverty may deny them access to legal aid or medical care.

Younger Christians who are themselves living in hardship may be unable to provide for their elderly family members as well as they would wish. The wearying and unrelenting burden of poverty, discrimination, harassment and violence may also cause some Christians to age more quickly.

Barnabas Fund has supported Christian care homes for the elderly in several countries, and older Christians also benefit from the disaster relief and feeding programmes that we fund.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Bible college students’ support (Ref. 51-1105) Swahili New Testaments for Tanzania (Ref. 51-1241)

Tanzania 46

Church in Tanzania torched by local Muslims

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rowing Islamisation and Islamist violence are making life more difficult for Tanzanian Christians even though they comprise around 60% of the population, and Muslims only 36%. As one Christian leader said, “We cannot [bear to] see our people being attacked, killed, injured and arrested unlawfully – and this is becoming normal in our national daily life!”

Although Muslims are a minority population, many of the key posts in politics, the judiciary, education and business are held by them. Islamisation across the country’s mainland is also affecting authorisations for church buildings. Last year local authorities in Bukoba refused to allow a church to be rebuilt because the area is solely for residential purposes although there are three mosques in the same area. Numerous churches have been burned to the ground. Last September, the local Muslim community ordered the Christians to evacuate a church building because they were disturbed by their singing. Their church was then torched. The

government has also banned hundreds of NGOs, some of them churches and Christian organisations, because they “interfere with other faith affairs”.

There is a proposal to introduce Kadhi (Islamic) courts, which already exist in the 98% Muslim Zanzibar archipelago, across the mainland. These courts would deal with family matters, such as marriage, divorce and inheritance, for Tanzania’s Muslim population, undermining existing secular judicial systems.

Presidential elections held in October were annulled in Zanzibar and are set to be rescheduled.

Converts from Islam in Zanzibar are extremely vulnerable to violent attack, even by their own family members. In mainland Tanzania, Christians have been attacked and killed by mobs of radical Muslims, and church leaders are particularly vulnerable to attack. Some believers have been arrested for slaughtering their own livestock to eat, although there are no laws to restrict this.

Give thanks for the courage of converts to Christianity, particularly in the Zanzibar archipelago, to stand firm in their faith despite the threat of rejection and violence. Pray for peaceful relationships between Christians and Muslims across the country, particularly now as the country currently works towards the creation of a new constitution. Pray also that God will protect His people from harm. Lift up in prayer the families of those who have been attacked and killed; ask the Lord to comfort them and to drive away fear. Pray that the government will be wise in the laws that it is implementing.

Lift up in prayer Tunisian Christians, many of whom live as secret believers because of the marginalisation and harassment they may encounter. Pray that they will be able to encourage one another in the faith. Pray that the rights and freedoms granted to the Christian community and other minorities in the new constitution will be honoured in practice. Pray also against the roots of instability that extremists can so easily exploit.

Tunisia

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unisia’s Christians had been deeply concerned about the rise of the Islamist Ennahda party which took power in 2011 in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings, when the regime of the dictator Ben Ali was swept away. However, many Tunisians started to turn against Ennahda after they were accused of failing to rein in Islamist militants – two prominent opposition politicians were assassinated in 2013 – and of mismanaging the economy. Eventually Ennahda agreed to stand down.

In January 2014, the Tunisian parliament adopted a new constitution that guarantees freedom of worship and enshrines the equality of men and

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Tunisia General Fund (Ref. 53-880)

Saint Joseph Church, Djerba, Tunisia

women. It has been hailed as a success for democracy and the principles of consensus and compromise after months of contention between Islamist and secular forces. Tunisia has traditionally been among the most secular and progressive of the Arab nations, and many legislators remained committed to this tradition. The new constitution describes Islam as the religion of the state but not its source of legislation.

Around 99% of the Tunisian population is Muslim and most of the Christians in the country are expatriates. The few hundred indigenous Tunisian Christians are converts from Islam or the children of converts. In general churches are allowed to operate without harassment, but evangelism among Muslims is not allowed and many converts are secret believers because of the strong disapproval of apostasy.

The growing influence of Islamic State is a continuing source of instability and there are concerns that there will be more incidents such as the attack on tourists in Sousse in June 2015.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Turkey General Fund (Ref. 54-750)

Turkey 48

Christmas being celebrated at a church in Turkey

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he Islamist government of president Erdoğan is seeking to tighten its grip on the country, creating turmoil. Erdoğan has been bitterly opposed by secularists who so far have managed to prevent him from pushing through some of his most authoritarian policies, but the country’s growing involvement in the war in Syria has provoked instability and threatened to reignite conflict with Turkey’s large Kurdish minority.

Islam is widely regarded as integral to Turkish identity. Christians and other religious minorities are viewed with suspicion or even outright hostility.

Turkish believers are often subjected to discrimination, harassment and sometimes physical violence.

The religious liberty of Christians in Turkey has gradually improved in recent decades, but even today all religious activity is closely monitored by the state.

The government restricts the rights of churches to own property, conduct services and open new facilities. Evangelism, leadership training, and internal governance of churches are also closely monitored, particularly in the non-traditional denominations.

Today the Christian population is small as millions of the country’s Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities died in a genocide which reached its peak in 1915. Those who converted to Islam had their conversions registered with the government and were given new Muslim names. Women from the Christian minorities were forced to marry Muslim men, and children were adopted by Muslim families. But today there are many Turkish people of Armenian descent who are publicly declaring their decision to follow Christ after their ancestors were forced to convert to Islam or be massacred a century ago. These conversions have been taking place in eastern Turkey for a number of years, but renouncing Islam is risky.

Give thanks for the many Turkish Armenians who are publicly declaring their decision to follow Christ. Ask the Lord to protect them from insults, harassment and attacks. Thank the Lord also for the positive developments in terms of religious freedoms for Christians over recent decades. Pray that there will be more freedom for Christians to practise their faith openly without encountering restrictions at every step. Pray that God will guide government officials in the country’s foreign policy in Syria so that they will act with justice and integrity.

Lift up in prayer our brothers and sisters in Uzbekistan who face the constant threat of discrimination, fines, and imprisonment. Pray for a loosening of control over believers, so that they can meet together for teaching, worship and mutual encouragement. Pray especially for Christian children who are often discouraged by the authorities from participating in Christian activities. Uzbekistan’s economic situation continues to deteriorate, creating instability and forcing numerous Christians to leave the country. Ask the Lord to strengthen churches which are struggling to continue in these conditions.

Uzbekistan

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zbek Christian, Timur Akhmedov, was searched by police at a metro station in capital city Tashkent in September 2015. When the officers discovered his Bible, Christian literature and discs, they confiscated them. Summoned to appear before the police two weeks later, officers pushed him around and hit him. A court later fined Akhmedov five times the monthly minimum wage for illegally storing religious literature, and ordered it to be destroyed.

The Uzbek government and authorities seek to grind down Christians by making their lives as difficult as possible in what is the most repressive of the Central Asian republics in terms of religious freedom.

In particular they have targeted church leaders and evangelists. There was a brief period of religious freedom after the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. This was a time of growth and establishment for the Uzbek Church, with some Muslims coming to Christ. Since 1998 the government

Projects in Uzbekistan are, for reasons of sensitivity, funded through the Uzbekistan General Fund (Ref. 57-776)

Women at a Barnabas-funded sewing group

has steadily brought in stricter legislation designed to make it very difficult for churches to function.

All churches must obtain official registration, but bureaucratic demands make this almost impossible.

Churches and meetings in houses are often raided and those attending are treated like criminals. Those found guilty of attending services, teaching the Bible, or training leaders can face heavy fines, even when churches have the required permits. Churches that are considered “non-traditional� may be criticised in the media and converts from Islam often experience pressure from their families and communities.

All evangelism is illegal, and Christians accused of storing, importing or distributing Christian literature are fined heavily. Christian literature is likely to be confiscated and destroyed. In the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan, where persecution is especially severe, it is even illegal to own a Bible.

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Barnabas Fund Projects include: Victims of Violence Fund (Ref. 00-345)

Martyrs 50

Two victims of violent attacks in Orissa in 2007. Barnabas Fund has helped rebuild the homes, such as this one, that were destroyed in the attacks where many were martyred for Christ “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.

I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you … Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.”

Revelation 2:10

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hrough His death on the cross, Jesus made the ultimate, perfect sacrifice for sin. He gave up His life willingly. Throughout Church history men, women and children have been killed because, when threatened with death, they chose to give up their lives rather than deny Jesus who gave His life for them.

Islamic State (IS) in Libya released a video in October 2015 showing a masked militant beheading Mohamed Al-Ghaid, a Christian man from South Sudan. He was forced to kneel and then he was beheaded. His killer said the murder avenged “injustice” against Muslims in Christian-majority South Sudan.

Today , Christians are killed for Jesus’ sake in a number of contexts. Jihadists seek to please Allah by murdering believers, repressive regimes such as that of North Korea seek to eradicate Christian communities and elsewhere converts to Christianity from other religions are at particular risk of being killed, often by their own relatives.

But even in the face of great trials, the Church grows. By God’s grace, the spilt blood of the martyrs leads to Church growth. Their faith and courage can change the hearts of their persecutors and encourage other Christians to stand firm.

Barnabas is supporting the widows and dependants of 21 Egyptian martyrs paraded on a beach and beheaded in Libya in 2015, and similar support is given to the families of many other martyrs.

Give thanks to God for the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus and for His gift of eternal life to all who believe. Praise Him for the faithfulness of believers who have persevered in faith in the face of mortal danger and did not cling to life in the face of death (Revelation 12:11). Pray that their sacrifice will inspire their brothers and sisters to endure whatever sufferings befall them and will also convince their persecutors of the truth and power of the Gospel. Pray too that their bereaved families and churches will not grieve without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13) but be comforted by the knowledge that their loved ones died for Christ.

Pray that God will protect Vietnamese Montagnards who have been sent back to their home country after they fled to Cambodia, despite the threat of persecution. Lift up in prayer those who are in unregistered house churches because of the difficulty of registering. Pray that, in their vulnerable position, they will know the protection and strength of the Lord. Ask God to be with His people who are in prison, that they may know the joy of His presence in the midst of suffering.

Vietnam

“I

was hit everywhere; they even used electricity to shock me,” a Christian Montagnard in Vietnam told a human rights group. “The police told me if I continued going to church, then the police would continue arresting me,” he said.

Many Christian Montagnards have left Vietnam and crossed into Cambodia. In Vietnam, some of them had been imprisoned and beaten. Many were forced to sign statements that they would no longer practise their faith.

Ethnic Montagnards are a mainly Christian minority who live in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. They have endured decades of persecution from Vietnamese authorities, partly for their

Barnabas Fund Projects include: Hmong Vietnamese refugees (Ref. 83-1066)

Vietnamese ethnic Montagnard, a people group in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, who are mainly Christians and suffer much persecution

Christian faith and partly for their alliance with US forces during the Vietnam War (1955 – 1975).

Cambodia is refusing to resettle the Vietnamese refugees and instead is sending them back to Vietnam, where only danger awaits. More than half of Vietnam’s Christians come from ethnic minority groups, including Hmong and Montagnard.

Communist Vietnam has labelled Christianity an “evil way” religion. Churches must be registered with the authorities, but regulations introduced in 2013 have made registration practically impossible.

Believers are under constant surveillance and frequently face intimidation and arbitrary arrest.

Hundreds of Christians are being held in Vietnamese prisons, where they are beaten, abused and tortured.

However, persecution of Vietnamese Christians is not restricted to the authorities of the one-party Communist state. Believers have also been attacked by local animists, who have driven Christians from their homes and villages.

51

“A Living Hope” 52

Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’” (Romans 8:35, 36) This prayer booklet tells of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world whose trust and steadfastness in the face of serious discrimination, harassment and violence can inspire us when we face lesser trials in our daily lives.

Their faith is tested in ways ours may never be; they turn to God in their hour of need, and He is faithful.

Often, their trust in God is bolstered by knowing that through Barnabas, they have demonstrable proof that they are part of the Body of Christ, not alone and not forgotten; neither left nor forsaken.

These persecuted believers find power in God’s promises, and through the Holy Spirit poured out on all flesh. Some have had their lives cut short at the hands of those to whom the truth of the Gospel is an affront. They have gone to their reward.

Children praying in Burma (Myanmar)

T

hrough the torment of His arrest, trial and humiliating crucifixion we know that Jesus identifies with the persecution of Christians at the hands of their oppressors. Through His glorious resurrection, Christians know, even in their suffering, that they share in the victory that is His. “Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For

Give thanks to God for the living hope that He has given us in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray that Christians who suffer for His name’s sake will be encouraged by the promise of an enduring inheritance and so stand firm in their faith, whatever may happen to them. Pray too that in our own sufferings we will be sustained by this hope. Lift up to the Lord the believers in the countries and situations featured throughout this booklet and pray that His joy and resurrection power will be their strength, today and every day.

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2 5 3 6 4 5

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Lent prayer diary

For those who are using this prayer booklet in Lent 2016, the following schedule of readings and prayers is suggested. It begins on Ash Wednesday, 10 February, and finishes on Easter Day, 27 March.

10 February

11 February

12 February

13 February

14 February

15 February

16 February

17 February

Algeria

Bangladesh

Belarus

Burma

Victims of Violence

Cameroon

Central African Republic

China

18 February

19 February

20 February

21 February

22 February

23 February

24 February

25 February

Egypt

Eritrea

Holy Land

Children

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

26 February

27 February

28 February

29 February

1 March

2 March

3 March

4 March

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Pastors and Evangelists

Kenya

Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Libya

Mauritania

5 March

6 March

7 March

8 March

9 March

10 March

11 March

12 March

Morocco

Women

Nepal

Nigeria

North Korea

Pakistan

Philippines

Russia

13 March

14 March

15 March

16 March

17 March

18 March

19 March

20 March

Converts

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Syria

Tajikistan

Elderly

21 March

22 March

23 March

24 March

25 March

26 March

27 March

Tanzania

Tunisia

Turkey

Uzbekistan

Martyrs

Vietnam

A Living Hope

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