prayershield releaseinternational.org
MAY/JUNE 2016
A Nigerian believer stands in the rubble of a church destroyed by Boko Haram.
May 2016
Nigeria
Heavenly Father,
Sunday 1: Pray that
Thank you that you never leave us or forsake us, even and especially in our darkest times. I praise you, Lord, for the courage of my brothers and sisters who are standing firm and staying put, despite strong opposition, persecution or even threat of death. I ask you to surround them with your angels and make them radiant with your love and your light. For your glory, Lord. Amen.
Nigeria’s Government will take effective action to protect vulnerable Christian communities against attack. It had vowed to defeat Boko Haram insurgents by the end of last year.
Monday 2: About 300 mainly Christian farmers were killed in one week in late-February when herdsmen raided villages in Agatu, Benue state. Five villages were destroyed and homes looted. Tuesday 3: Fulani militants
on horseback attacked Tombo village in Buruku, Benue state, in March, shooting
people and attacking them with machetes. At least 15 people died.
Wednesday 4: Pray for those
still coming to terms with an attack by Boko Haram on Dalori village, near Maiduguri city, in January. Up to 65 villagers were killed; some – including children – were burned to death.
Thursday 5: Pray that God will provide for the thousands of Christians who have fled their homes to escape violence in north and central Nigeria.
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Egypt Friday 6: Pray that God
will strengthen the faith of His people in Egypt. Pray he will comfort those who mourn, including the little girl pictured whose mother was killed for her Christian witness; many have paid with their lives for following Christ.
Saturday 7: Praise God
that the case against three Christians accused of blasphemy has been dropped. Fawzy Osama Ibrahim, 16, and two friends were arrested last July after Fawzy shared Christian tracts in Alexandria.
Sunday 8: Thank God
that all the equipment confiscated by officials in October has now been returned to Release’s partner, satellite TV broadcaster SAT-7, in Cairo.
Monday 9: The temporary
loss of its equipment and its inability to screen live shows or record many programmes (above) cost SAT-7 more than £140,000. Pray that God will multiply its income to cover those losses.
Tuesday 10: Pray that officials will investigate fully four suspicious deaths in the Egyptian army in nine months: all the deceased were Christian soldiers. Officials report three of the deaths as suicide: relatives reject those claims.
A young girl whose mother was killed is comforted by her church family in Egypt.
Sri Lanka Wednesday 11: Pray for
wisdom for the pastor of Voice of Heaven Church in Dumalasuriya, Kurunegala district, who has been told by officials not to hold Sunday services for fear they will ‘disturb the peace’.
Thursday 12: Pray for the
pastor of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Sri Lanka Church in Dehiowita, Kegalle district, who was threatened by a 60-strong mob recently while he led a prayer meeting.
Friday 13: Believers in
some parts of Sri Lanka are being denied a Christian burial: locals are insisting that burials be carried out according to the traditions of the majority religion in some villages.
Saturday 14: Pray for the
pastor of Apostolic Church in Alawwa, Kurunegala district, who has had to suspend all prayer meetings after Buddhist monks and other opponents made false allegations against him.
Sunday 15: As we focus on Pentecost, let’s pray that Christians in Sri Lanka and globally will be filled afresh with the Holy Spirit and know His power within them to transform their communities.
Pakistan Monday 16: Pray for wisdom for Christian leaders as they try to protect their congregations but also encourage them to be salt and light in their communities.
prayershield Tuesday 17: Christians have
been alarmed by widespread anger over the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri, the man who assassinated Salmaan Taseer, the Punjab governor and a strong critic of the country’s blasphemy laws. Tens of thousands attended Qadri’s funeral.
Al-Shabaab regard as Islamic territory. Hundreds fled their homes after the attack in February (above).
labour and prison camps. Pray that God will strengthen them and give them hope.
Friday 20: Pray for all those affected by the suicide bombing at a Lahore park on Easter Sunday, which was deliberately targeted at the Christian community. More than 70 people were killed and over 350 injured.
Sunday 29: As we hold our Great Outdoors Church Christians in Lamu County will Services today, let’s pray for persecuted Christians stand firm in their faith in the worldwide forced out of face of persecution (Matthew their churches because 24:12). ‘God has called us to their buildings have been be the salt and the light,’ said destroyed, officials have one area church leader after barred them from their the February attack. premises or because it’s too Tuesday 24: Pray that the dangerous to meet. Kenyan Government and Monday 30: Pray for the security forces will take firm action now to tackle extremist 30 Christians being trained and prepared for service to groups. other North Koreans on a sixWednesday 25: Pray for month discipleship training Somali Christians in Kenya programme run by our who are frequently a target for ministry partner VOM Korea. persecution by members of the Tuesday 31: Pray that God Somali community. will raise up more people Thursday 26: Hassan, 26, a to support the underground Somali Christian, was seriously church inside North Korea, so injured after Muslim relatives that it will flourish and draw ambushed him on his way many people to Christ. to church on the outskirts of Nairobi and beat him unconscious, apparently for his faith. Pray that God will protect and provide for his family.
Kenya
North Korea
Saturday 21: Al-Shabaab extremists killed at least four Christians in a night-time raid on the mainly Muslim village of Maporomoko in Lamu County in February. Several others were wounded or kidnapped.
Friday 27: While the precise
Sunday 22: Pray for Christians
Saturday 28: Some estimates
Wednesday 18: Punjab farm labourer Asia Bibi remains in solitary confinement on death row for ‘blasphemy’, pending an appeal to the Supreme Court. Security was tightened after Mumtaz Qadri’s execution (above). Thursday 19: Some Muslim
leaders have spoken out for Christians, at great personal risk. Praise God for their courage in defence of religious liberties.
in the northern coastal area of Kenya which Islamist terrorists
Monday 23: Pray that
number of Christians inside North Korea is unknown, Christian and secular analysts believe there are about 100,000 Christians in the country. Pray that God will multiply their number.
suggest that there are 30,000 Christians in North Korea’s
North Korea’s former leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, honoured in these 20-metre statues in Pyongyang, are treated as gods.
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June 2016 Iraq Wednesday 1: Pray for a
Release partner working with local churches in Kurdistan, northern Iraq, to provide essential supplies and vocational training to Christian refugees from Iraq.
Thursday 2: Pray for the one million people who have fled to Iraqi Kurdistan, many of whom are Christians. Pray that God will provide for them - and that one day they will be able to return home. Friday 3: Thank God for the
overcoming faith of ‘Amira’ and ‘Jaffer’ (names changed) who have had death threats from Muslim relatives. Amira was captured and tortured by Islamic State but was freed by local militia. They fled abroad, where they were baptised (pictured).
Saturday 4: Thank God for
reports that He is appearing to many Iraqi Muslims in dreams. Pray that many more turn to Christ so the church grows, both inside Iraq and among its refugee population.
Turkey Sunday 5: Pray for our brothers and sisters in Turkey who are under pressure as extremists threaten religious liberties. The Association of Protestant Churches says churches have received threats by email and text
Iraqi Christians ‘Amira’ and ‘Jaffer’, who were severely persecuted, show photos of their baptism.
message from groups sympathetic to Islamic State.
Monday 6: Churches
in Turkey are finding it increasingly hard to register official places of worship. The Ankara Kurtulus Church has been trying for years: it has now taken its fight to the European Court of Human Rights.
Tuesday 7: Pray for members of the Agape Church Foundation in Samsun whose building was recently attacked by men, who were later heard shouting jihadist slogans. Wednesday 8: Thank God
that officials in Bursa, north-west Turkey, recently withdrew an order that the last-remaining church-goers in the city should vacate their premises.
Thursday 9: Continue to pray
for justice for the families of three Christians murdered at a publishing house in Malatya in 2007: the trial of their alleged killers continues, amid allegations of a political conspiracy.
Friday 10: Thank God that the
families of the three Christians murdered in Malatya in 2007 (above) were recently awarded substantial damages after a court ruled the Government had been negligent in its duty to protect the men.
India Saturday 11: Pray that India’s
Government, led by the Hindu nationalist BJP, will do more to stand up against Hindu extremist attacks on minorities such as Christians.
prayershield Sunday 12: Attacks on Christians became an almost daily occurrence in 2015, according to one advocacy group. The 355 incidents of violence recorded included the murder of seven pastors. Monday 13: Hundreds of
Christians were arrested last year under India’s anti-conversions laws. Pray for legal reform so that these laws cannot be used to persecute religious minorities.
militants are targeting them. Pray that many will follow Mohammad Yousuf Bhat’s lead and spread the gospel.
Pray for religious tolerance in their district.
Thursday 16: Pastor Avdhesh
Sunday 19: Thank God for
Savita was recently beaten and paraded through streets in Uttar Pradesh with his head half-shaved as crowds called for him to be cut to pieces. He says he felt honoured to suffer for Christ. Ask God to protect him.
Tuesday 14: Mohammad
Friday 17: Twelve people, including a blind couple and their three-year-old son, were arrested in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, on anticonversion charges and held for several days – simply for being Christians.
Wednesday 15: Pray for
Saturday 18: Four of the 12 Christians arrested recently in Dhar (above) were later fined for ‘breaching peace and harmony’ and ‘picking arguments with their own family members’.
Yousuf Bhat (pictured) spent many years sharing the gospel with Muslims in Kashmir, before he was killed by Islamic militants last year. Pray that his ministry will bear rich fruit.
Christians in the mainly Muslim state of Jammu and Kashmir where Islamist
Mohammad Yousuf Bhat spent years sharing the gospel with Muslims before he was killed by Islamic militants in India.
China the recent release of human rights lawyer Zhang Kai, after he had spent almost seven months in a secret ‘black jail’. He was held because of his work with Zhejiang churches targeted for demolition or cross removal.
Monday 20: Continue to
pray for the release of other religious leaders, human rights lawyers and defenders jailed in China, including attorneys Li Heping and Wang Yu, and pastors Hu Shigen, Li Guozhi (Yang Hua) and Bao Guohua.
Tuesday 21: Pray that
churches in Zhejiang, and across China, will find a fresh unity as congregations of all denominations are targeted for attack.
Wednesday 22: Thank God
for the release of Pastor Yan Xiaojie from Wenzhou city, Zhejiang, who was jailed for five months for circulating on social media prayer requests for churches targeted for cross removal.
Thursday 23: High-profile
pastor Gu ‘Joseph’ Yuese remains under surveillance in Zhejiang, for opposing officials’ plans to demolish churches and remove crosses. He has been replaced as head of the huge Chongyi Church and chairman of the provincial China Christian Council.
to worship together. Pray that they will be able to build a church.
Wednesday 29: Pray for a change of heart among village heads who are often a key hurdle to Christians’ plans to share the gospel and build churches. Through Release-supported conferences in Thailand, Lao pastors are equipped to minister in remote areas.
Friday 24: Huoshi Church
in Guìyang city is suffering intense persecution with the arrest of several leaders, including Pastor Yang Hua; the church has been barred from its meeting place and services banned.
Saturday 25: Thank God for
the release of Cheng Jie after she had served two years in jail for ‘illegal business operations’ as director of a church-run kindergarten in Guangxi.
Sunday 26: Officials in Guangdong province have forced Huaqiao City Church out of its premises, by pressuring its landlord to end its lease. All other landlords
have refused to rent out property to the church.
Laos Monday 27: Pray for God’s
people in communist Laos where Christians in different regions continue to suffer discrimination and persecution, including imprisonment and forced displacement. Pray for two Christian men imprisoned for several months because of evangelism.
Tuesday 28: Thank God for the strong faith of 25 families of the Prai tribe in three villages in northern Laos who walk for two hours to be able
Thursday 30: Officials frequently discriminate against Christians, for example, by confiscating the ‘family books’ which combine ID papers and a ration card. Lord Jesus, Thank you, precious Saviour, for leaving us with the gift of your Holy Spirit. I pray that my persecuted brothers and sisters worldwide will be filled continually with your power, so that they can truly be your disciples, bringing radical transformation and hope to their communities. I pray this for the whole church: may your joy be our strength as we build your kingdom, Lord. In your precious name, Amen. © Release International 2016
For more information on the countries where Release works, go to the ‘Country profiles’ page at releaseinternational.org Sources: BBC; China Aid; Middle East Concern; Morning Star News; Release partners; SAT-7; UCANews; VOM USA; World Watch Monitor.
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