releaseinternational.org
prayershield MARCH / APRIL 2017
Nankpak lost his entire family in an extremist attack on his village – but his faith has held firm.
March 2017
Nigeria
Heavenly Father,
Wednesday 1: Church
Thank you that you are above all things and outside of time. You see the end from the beginning. I pray that my brothers and sisters will be encouraged today to know that you order their days and you know what the future holds for them. Lord, you prepare good works in advance for them to do (Ephesians 2:10). Help my persecuted family – and me – to trust you more each day. You are all we need. Amen.
leaders say that they’re witnessing a systematic attempt to ‘cleanse’ the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria of Christianity, through sustained violence. Ask God to protect His people in this region. Thursday 2: The Christian
Association of Nigeria has accused security forces of ‘turning a blind eye’ when heavily armed Fulani Muslims attack Christians. Pray that the military and police will step up their response.
Friday 3: Pray that God will provide for Christians who have been driven from their farms. Many are going hungry and Christian leaders are calling on the Government to help avert a famine. Saturday 4: Ask God to raise up a generation of strong Christians among Nigeria’s youth. Thank God for the overcoming faith of Nankpak (pictured): he says he’s prepared to serve God wherever he’s called. His entire family were killed by militants.
prayershield Sunday 5: Pray for
Release associate ministries distribute Christian literature for all ages to build up the church in China.
Christians in a Releasesupported camp for those fleeing violence in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states. Pray that this support will remind them they are not forgotten.
Kenya Monday 6: Pray that God
will provide for the work of our partners in Kenya, continue to strengthen their faith and bless their work. Thank God that they are seeing people turn to Christ.
China
Tuesday 7: Pray for three young people in Kenya who have recently turned to Christ. They’re under great pressure to renounce their decision: relatives are blaming recent sickness and poor grades at school on their conversion.
Saturday 11: Chinese
Wednesday 8: Ask God
Sunday 12: Pray that every Chinese person who receives Christian literature through Release-funded projects will hear God speaking to them through His word – and pray they will respond.
to protect Somali believers in Kenya whom one of our partners supports. They face stiff opposition and are at high risk of violent attack. Thursday 9: Thank
God for protecting Pastor ‘Jeremiah’ and his family. He has received death threats so they’ve had to move home – but so far they have remained safe. Friday 10: Pray that God
will raise up young leaders in Kenya. Thank Him for the ones Pastor Jeremiah is helping to train.
officials are continuing to clamp down on churches, especially unregistered ones. Pray that officials will have a change of heart towards Christians, seeing them as a force for good, not a threat.
Monday 13: Since July
2015, China has detained more than 230 human rights lawyers and activists, many of them Christians, and in many cases tried to portray them as corrupt and criminal. Pray for an end to this injustice.
Tuesday 14: Ask God to
heal and restore Christian lawyer Li Chunfu, released on bail in January. He appeared
to have had a severe mental breakdown after being kept in an illegal detention centre. Wednesday 15: Christian lawyer Li Heping has been detained since July 2015 and has reportedly been tortured with electric shocks. He has been involved in cases defending church leaders. Thursday 16: Christian
lawyer Jiang Tianyong has been held illegally since November. A state-run newspaper recently alleged Jiang had leaked state secrets. Pray for his release.
Friday 17: Ask God to protect Christian lawyer Zhang Kai who spent seven months in jail in 2015-16 for his defence of persecuted churches. He was recently detained for a further two days. Saturday 18: Pray for members of Fuxing Church in Hebei province who were attacked and badly hurt by hired thugs when
prayershield the congregation protested against the demolition of their church. Sunday 19: Huang Yan has
been refused vital surgery in China – apparently because of her involvement with leading Christians and human rights activists. Pray she receives the treatment she needs. Monday 20: Ma Huichao
recently received a three-year sentence simply for holding a Bible study in Xinjiang province. Pray that God’s presence will be very real to her in prison. Tuesday 21: Pastor
Gu ‘Joseph’ Yuese from Zhejiang was recently rearrested and charged with misappropriation of funds. He was held for two months last year on suspicion of ‘embezzlement’.
Friday 24: Yaser Mosibzadeh, Saheb Fadayee and Mohammed Reza Omidi were sentenced to 80 lashes each for drinking communion wine. Their appeal was scheduled for February. Pray that their faith will not be shaken by their ordeal. Saturday 25: Prisoner
of faith Maryam Naghash Zargaran had her jail sentence extended after being allowed time out on medical parole. Her health remains poor: pray for her swift release. Sunday 26: Five Christian
friends were arrested last August during a picnic in Firuzkuh. Pray that their case will come to court soon. Hadi and Amin remain behind bars, while Amir, Ramiel and Mohamad have been released on bail.
Wednesday 22: Pastor
Yang Hua from Guizhou was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail in December – after being charged with ‘illegally holding state secrets’. His health has suffered because of abuse in jail.
Monday 27: Pray that God will strengthen and sustain His people in Sudan, despite ongoing persecution. Pray that they will be a ‘well-watered garden’ in a ‘sun-scorched land’ (Isaiah 58:11) which will draw many to Christ. Tuesday 28: Czech Christian Petr Jasek (pictured) was given a life sentence for ‘spying’ in January. His co-defendants, Sudanese nationals Pastor Hassan Abduraheem and Abdulmonem Abdumawla, were each given sentences totalling 12 years, mainly for ‘abetting’ Petr. Their crime was providing medical support to a Darfuri student. Pray their appeals will be successful. Wednesday 29: Pastor Kowa Shamaal, who was tried with Hassan, Abdulmonem and Petr (above), was acquitted for lack of evidence. Pray that God will protect him and his family. Thursday 30: Pray for justice for Bahri Evangelical Church in Khartoum which has had several of its buildings damaged or destroyed since investors ‘bought’ the land in 2013 without the church’s consent.
Iran Thursday 23: Pray for
Iran’s underground church and particularly its leaders. Pray that the Iranian authorities will cease to see Christians as a threat to the Islamic republic.
Sudan
Petr Jasek has been given a life sentence for ‘spying’ in Sudan.
Friday 31: Pray for wisdom for Pastor Hafez of Bahri Evangelical Church and other church leaders facing demolition orders on their property. The state has just appointed its own lawyers to 25 such churches.
prayershield
The Bishop of Lewes prays with a sister in Christ in Pakistan.
APRIL 2017
Pakistan Saturday 1: Thank God
for strengthening the bonds of love between UK and Pakistani Christians through Release ministry trips such as the one the Bishop of Lewes, Rt Rev Richard Jackson, took part in (pictured).
Sunday 2: Pray for a
radical shift in attitudes towards religious minorities in Pakistan, where intolerance appears to be growing.
Monday 3: Praise God that Release had a positive meeting at the Pakistan High Commission in London recently when it handed in its petition calling for repeal of the blasphemy laws. Tuesday 4: Thank God that
a Pakistani Senate committee has reportedly been debating how to prevent the country’s blasphemy laws being applied
unfairly. Pray that they will act to stop the widespread abuse of these laws. Wednesday 5: Ask God to protect Senate committee members who have reportedly been debating the blasphemy laws. Many hardliners in Pakistan consider even criticising the laws as blasphemy. Thursday 6: Babu Shahbaz of Kamahan village near Lahore was accused of writing his name on a copy of the Koran, then ripping up its pages. Babu is reported to be a Christian evangelist – and illiterate. Locals say the man accusing him of ‘blasphemy’ is a business rival. Friday 7: Pastor Judoon went missing after offering support for Babu Shahbaz (above) and becoming involved in his blasphemy case. Ask God to protect him and his family. Saturday 8: Pray for the release of human rights
activist Aslam Pervaiz Sahotra and another Christian detained after the suicide bombing of two churches in Lahore in March 2015. They are apparently being held in connection with rioting after the blast, which left two Muslims dead. Sunday 9: Extremists have threatened the family of Aslam Pervaiz (above), demanding they pay extortion money or face being killed. Pray that the Pakistan authorities will act swiftly to protect this family. Monday 10: ‘Sara’, 17, has been in hiding since she was kidnapped, brutally abused and left pregnant. Pray Release partners will secure justice for her: poor Christian families are treated as ‘second-class’ citizens.
Azerbaijan Tuesday 11: Pastor Hamid Shabanov from Aliabad has been told his church is illegal because it’s not registered. He’s been trying to register it for 20 years and has long been persecuted. Pray for wisdom as he considers the future of his ministry. Wednesday 12: Police raided a recent prayer meeting at the home of Pastor Hamid (above) and held those present for several hours, including the children. Pray for courage and strength for his congregation. Thursday 13: President Ilham Aliyev declared 2016 a ‘Year of Tolerance’
prayershield for Azerbaijan. Pray that Azerbaijan’s Government will allow greater religious freedom, in accordance with its national constitution.
Prayers
for Easter Good Friday: As we
remember Jesus’ death on the cross today, let’s pray for our Christian brothers and sisters around the world, including those in Azerbaijan, who are persecuted for His name’s sake. Easter Saturday: Pray for Baptists in Azerbaijan who have suffered years of harassment and discrimination from local officials. Pray that their congregations will grow in faith and in number. Easter Sunday: Let’s celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead by praising God that the same power that raised our Lord from the grave lives in His people today. Pray that our persecuted brothers and sisters will have a fresh understanding of what that means for their lives. Easter Monday: Just as Jesus’ friends and disciples were overcome with joy to see Him alive again, let’s pray that our persecuted family will rejoice today to know that He has the victory over sin and death.
Egypt Tuesday 18: Continue to
pray for those affected by January’s bomb attack on St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo. At least 25 people, most of them women and children, were killed in the blast.
Wednesday 19: The Cairo
church bombing (above) prompted fears of a return to the anti-Christian violence of 2013, after the military’s overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi. Pray Christians’ fears will not come to pass.
Thursday 20: Thank
God that Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi was quick to show solidarity with Christians after the Cairo bomb attack (above). Pray
Christians pray in St Mark’s Cathedral, Cairo, the target of January’s bomb attack.
that his Government will take firm action to protect the Christian minority. Friday 21: Pray that our brothers and sisters in Egypt will know that God is faithful and He never changes. Pray that they will stand firm against the temptation to seek revenge or give in to fear. Saturday 22: Pray for Christians in the Upper Egypt village of Al-Nagameesh where a mob went on the rampage, destroying homes and businesses. The attack followed rumours that Christians had turned a community centre into a church. Sunday 23: Legislation, passed last August, has imposed further restrictions on the building of churches in Egypt. Some extremists appear to interpret this
Saturday 29: Malik,
a former Muslim teacher, was beaten unconscious by relatives in east Uganda when he told them he’d become a Christian. His mother turned to Christ after seeing how Malik was persecuted. Sunday 30: A Muslim was sent to murder Bishop George Edweu during a church service in Amuria but the would-be assassin became a Christian during that service instead. The Holy Spirit convicted him as he sat waiting to kill the preacher: praise God!
Susan’s powerful testimony about God’s love is touching many lives in Uganda.
as a licence to challenge Christians’ right to worship. Pray that officials will uphold this right. Monday 24: Pray that God will thwart the plans of Islamist militant groups in Egypt.
Uganda Tuesday 25: Susan’s father held her captive in a shed for months to try to force her to renounce Christ. His plan failed. Susan (pictured), who has ongoing health problems as a result, now tours churches across the country, encouraging people to pray for persecuted Christians.
Wednesday 26: Ask God to protect all those who are turning to Christ in Uganda: pray that their numbers will multiply. Thursday 27: Pray for Peninah and her three children. Extremists pulled down their home in eastern Uganda after the family turned to Christ. They’re now homeless; Peninah has received death threats. Friday 28: Masked men raided a church in Obokora village, Pallisa district, and attacked several church members, including Pastor Erod. A Muslim had reportedly been healed at the church the previous day.
Sources: China Aid; Christian Solidarity Worldwide; Forum 18; Human Rights Watch; Middle East Concern; Mohabat News; Morning Star News; Release partners and contacts; Reuters; VOM USA.
Lord Jesus, Risen Lord and Saviour, you have conquered sin and death through your resurrection. I praise you that no one is excluded from your grace and everyone is invited into your family. Jesus, please touch the hearts of those who persecute your people, accost the prison guards with your love and overwhelm the torturers with your mercy. Help me, Lord, to see everyone as you see them, even those I find hard to love. Amen. © Release International 2017 Names in inverted commas have been changed to protect identities.
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