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prayershield JULY / AUGUST 2017 A Sunday school in Sri Lanka continues to meet in the ruins of its church building.
JULY 2017
Sri Lanka
Heavenly Father,
Saturday 1: Thank God
Thank you that you hear my prayers: you are always listening. I lift to you, Lord, my dear brothers and sisters who are suffering today for your name’s sake. Comfort them, gentle Father. Strengthen them, mighty Saviour. Give them your peace, faithful Friend.
for the courage of believers in Sri Lanka who stand firm in the face of persecution. Pray for the Sunday school class pictured who continue to gather in the ruins of their church even after Buddhist monks destroyed their building.
Sunday 2: Buddhists’ aggression towards Christians has escalated since the Government considered a law banning ‘forcible conversions’. Pray that God will touch the hearts of those opposed to the church.
May they know that you answer their prayers. Thank you, Lord, that as they wait patiently for you, you will turn Monday 3: Local to them and hear their cry authorities use a 2008 (Psalm 40:1). government circular about Amen registering places of worship
to target churches and intimidate pastors. Pray for the success of Release’s petition calling on the Government to withdraw it. Tuesday 4: Pray for a
pastor in Kalutara district who had his home pelted with stones twice in two days – after local authorities told him his church activities were not registered.
Wednesday 5: Ask God to strengthen His people in Sri Lanka so they can continue to be bold and shine the truth of the gospel into their local communities.
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Pakistan Thursday 6: Ask God
to protect the many brave Christian evangelists (such as the woman pictured) who risk attack by sharing God’s word in Pakistan.
has since lost his job, as he has spent so long in hospital. Ask God to provide for his family and for the others who lost their income through injury or bereavement. Wednesday 12: Thank God
work of Lahore Evangelical Ministries, that God will go ahead of them as they invite communities to engage with their outreach, discipleship and training.
that, through its supporters’ generosity, Release is able to provide Bibles, prayer books and Christian liturgy materials to remote communities in Pakistan. Pray they will strengthen congregations and encourage new believers.
Saturday 8: In the villages
Thursday 13: Thank God for
Friday 7: Please pray for the
around Kasur, Punjab, attacks on Christians, including pastors, have continued. Pray that God will protect His people across Pakistan as they seek to live out their Christian calling.
Sunday 9: Muslim relatives
threatened to kill ‘Irfan’ for turning to Christ when he was 17. He was beaten and thrown out of his home. Today, he runs the church he founded. Thank God for his determination.
Monday 10: Christian
women and children are particularly vulnerable to poverty and persecution. Release-supported Strength to Stand groups serve vulnerable Christian women in Lahore and Kasur. Pray for the success of small businesses being set up through these groups. Tuesday 11: Samuel suffered serious chest injuries in the Easter Sunday 2016 Lahore park bombings and
the work of a Release partner which supports and disciples Muslim converts across the Punjab and in remote northern provinces bordering Afghanistan
Friday 14: Ask God to
protect and strengthen Release partners who provide legal aid to Christian families being persecuted in the courts and who provide safe houses for those in hiding.
Pakistani asylum-seekers Saturday 15: Pray
for Christians who have fled Pakistan due to persecution. They have sought refuge in several countries but those in Thailand are particularly hard pressed. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees there is not able to fulfil its mandate properly. So Pakistani Christians are forced to live in hiding or in inhumane detention centres.
Sunday 16: For Pakistani
Christians seeking asylum in Thailand, an unsuccessful application means being incarcerated in a detention centre until they agree to be sent back to Pakistan. Even successful applications can take years to process,
An evangelist shares the gospel and encourages Christians in mainly Hindu villages in Pakistan.
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while applicants remain in detention. Pray for a political breakthrough so that genuine asylumseekers are treated justly. Monday 17: Pray that
God will open a way for persecuted Pakistani Christians seeking asylum abroad: many worry their children have been out of formal education for years. Pray for wisdom for Release contacts trying to support them in their asylum bids.
Tuesday 18: Thank God
for Pastor ‘Aron’ who is supporting families like his own who are seeking asylum in Thailand. Pray his passport will be returned to him: he fears the embassy confiscated it when he submitted it for renewal.
Wednesday 19: Pray
that Pakistani Christians will become Acts 8 Christians: displaced and scattered people who take the gospel into new communities.
Iran Thursday 20: Pray for
President Hassan Rouhani, recently re-elected for a second term. Pray that he will keep the promise he made before he came to power in 2013, that he will improve the situation for religious minorities.
Friday 21: Iranian
Christians Ramiel Bet Tamraz, Mohammad Dehnavy, Amir Sina Dashti and Hadi Askary have been charged with serious crimes including ‘acting against national security’. The men were arrested at a picnic last August: pray all charges will be dropped.
Saturday 22: Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz and Amin Nader Afshar have appeared in court on charges which include ‘conducting evangelism’ and ‘illegal house church activities’. They were first arrested in 2014. Pray for their acquittal. Sunday 23: Maryam Naghash Zargaran was scheduled for release earlier this year but remains behind bars. She has served her four-year sentence handed down for ‘threatening national security’ – because she worked in a Christian orphanage. Monday 24: Pray for
Ebrahim Firouzi: he has been denied leave to visit his mother, who is seriously ill with cancer. He is serving a five-year sentence.
Tuesday 25: Yaser
Mosibzadeh, Saheb Fadayee and Mohammad Reza Omidi are still waiting to hear if they have won their appeal against a sentence of 80 lashes for drinking communion wine. They’ve also been charged with crimes against ‘national security’.
Tajikistan Wednesday 26: Ask God to build up His people in Tajikistan, especially those in unregistered churches. Converts from Islam too face severe persecution from their families and community. Thursday 27: Tajik officials frequently use criminal charges related to extremism to persecute those who worship outside state-approved religious communities. Pray that God’s word will one day be preached freely in Tajikistan. Friday 28: Pastor Bakhrom Kholmatov was detained after officials found Christian books during a raid on Sunmin Sunbogym Church in Khujand. Pray no charges will be brought. Saturday 29: Police
have been raiding other congregations in Sogd region, linked to the church of Pastor Bakhrom (above). A church in Konibodom was shut down completely.
Sunday 30: Pray that God will touch the hearts of police officials involved in raids on Sogd churches: pray that He will speak to them through the witness of His people. Monday 31: Officials
in Dushanbe have closed down two kindergartens: one because it employed Christians and the other because officials found a book of Christmas carols.
at churches in Alexandria and Tanta. Praise God for their powerful testimonies of forgiveness towards the bombers.
Sudan An Egyptian Christian prays at St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo.
August 2017
Egypt Tuesday 1: Release partners are sharing the gospel through internet radio and social media, and reaching many thousands of Egyptians. Pray that God will bless this ministry with many more urgently needed workers and cause it to bear rich fruit. Wednesday 2: Egypt’s education system is ranked one of the worst in the world. Our partners are developing e-learning tools which can reach people even in remote areas. Pray they will succeed in countering a culture of fear with the message of God’s unconditional love. Thursday 3: Pray for Release partners in Upper Egypt who are sharing the love of Jesus in practical ways by serving marginalised families, especially Christians who have been displaced and young widows without an income.
Friday 4: Release’s Strength to Stand groups in Cairo support women who face hostility and persecution as Christians. Thank God that He prepares the hearts of women even before group facilitators invite them to join. Pray they will be filled with faith. Saturday 5: Thank God
for ‘Mary’, who had to flee from her village with her children after her husband was murdered. Two years on, Release partners have helped her set up a small shop to earn a living.
Sunday 6: Twenty-nine
people died in the December 2016 bombing of St Peter and St Paul’s Church, adjacent to St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo. The widow of the only man who died in the blast says she has been strengthened by support from the church: pray that all bereaved families will receive loving support.
Monday 7: Continue to ask God to comfort the families of those killed in the Palm Sunday bombings
Tuesday 8: Praise God for the release from jail of Pastor Hassan Abduraheem Kodi Taour and Abdulmonem Abdumawla. In January, the two men were sentenced to 11 years in jail for ‘spying’, among other things, but received a presidential pardon in May. Wednesday 9: Continue to pray for Czech Christian Petr Jašek, as he reintegrates into normal life after more than a year in jail in Sudan. He had been given a life sentence for ‘spying’, through his involvement with Pastor Hassan and Abdulmonem (above). Thursday 10: Younan Abdullah was fatally stabbed as he tried to protect fellow Christians who came under attack as they protested peacefully against the illegal sell-off of the Evangelical School of Sudan in Omdurman. Pray for his widow and children. Friday 11: Pray for wisdom for leaders of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church which runs the Omdurman school (above). A state-imposed committee has been selling off its property for ‘redevelopment’.
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Kenya
that they will enjoy mutually encouraging fellowship.
have recorded details of congregation members.
Saturday 12: Pray that
India
Monday 21: Hindu extremists burned down Pastor John Muller’s church and his home in Tamil Nadu because they were angry that members of their group had become Christians. Pray God will protect Pastor John and his pregnant wife.
God’s people in Kenya will know they are not forgotten by their wider church family. One of our partners in Kenya says: ‘[Your prayers] are the pillars that make us continue having the courage to keep the journey of faith strong every day, even though it is tough.’ Sunday 13: Pray for Christian converts like ‘Alice’ (pictured) who face intense persecution from their own Somali community inside Kenya. ‘Alice’ risks attack every time she visits relatives in a Somali district, but she is determined to witness to them. Monday 14: Praise God for our partners’ recent training with believers from a Muslim background. Pray that participants will have wisdom to know how to apply what they have learnt in their ministries. Tuesday 15: One of our partners produces evangelistic programmes for broadcast on the radio and online. Finding staff for this area of ministry has proved challenging: pray that God will bring along the right people. Wednesday 16: Continue to pray for safety, protection and discernment for our partners during their ministry trips around Kenya and to neighbouring countries. Pray that they will bless those to whom they minister and
Thursday 17: The number of attacks on Christians in India has reportedly been rising sharply, especially since elections in March returned Hindu nationalists to power. Violence has spread to 23 states. Friday 18: Pray especially for the church in Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, states registering the highest incidence of persecution. Saturday 19: Pastor Ajay Kumar and a Bible college student called Assaryav were badly beaten in Bihar state – as police looked on. Officers later arrested the Christians and charged them with ‘outraging religious feelings’. Sunday 20: Pray for wisdom for Pastor Christopher Bhonsle of Mahanaim Church in Bihar. Hindu extremists have accused him of ‘forcible conversion’. Police
Tuesday 22: Ask God
to protect India’s Dalit community who have been targeted by Hindu nationalists angered by the fact that many Dalits are turning to Christ.
Wednesday 23: Pray against moves to bring in nationwide legislation aimed at outlawing evangelism and preventing Hindus from converting. Thursday 24: Pray
for courage, wisdom and protection for Release partners who uphold Christians’ rights and defend in court those who have been attacked or wrongly accused.
‘Alice’ has suffered persecution from her fellow Somalis since she became a Christian in Kenya.
prayershield Wang Qiaoling, from further persecution. Wednesday 30: Continue to ask God to heal Li Heping’s brother, Li Chunfu, who suffered an apparent mental breakdown after more than a year in jail. Thursday 31: Pray for the release of Pastor Yang Hua (pictured) from Guizhou: he is suffering from a serious disease affecting his blood vessels. Thank God he’s in good spirits. Pastor Yang Hua is suffering serious ill health behind bars. Friday 25: Thank God
for Home Minister Sri Rajnath Singh’s address to a conference in New Delhi last year when he condemned persecution against Christians. Pray that all government ministers will do more to uphold religious rights.
China Saturday 26: Ask God
to heal a Christian man and woman who were badly injured when they were pushed off a wall by officials trying to install surveillance cameras at a church in Wenzhou.
Lord Jesus, Sunday 27: Officials have
installed surveillance cameras at many churches in parts of Wenzhou city. Pray these cameras prove unsuccessful in providing incriminating evidence against churches. Monday 28: Ask God to
be close to all His people in Zhejiang where officials have launched a sustained attack on religious freedoms for more than three years. Tuesday 29: Christian
lawyer Li Heping was released from jail in May. Pray he will reintegrate well into his family and community and ask God to shield him and his wife,
Sources: China Aid; Christian Post; Forum 18; Middle East Concern; Morning Star News; Release partners and contacts; VOM USA.
Thank you for being my advocate in heaven (Romans 8:34). Through your death on the cross, I’ve become a child of God and heir with you. And you now intercede for me as I pray to our Father. Jesus, I lift to you my brothers and sisters who are suffering persecution today. Lift their heads and remind them you are interceding for them. Remind them that their help comes from almighty God who made heaven and the earth. Amen © Release International 2017 Names in inverted commas have been changed to protect identities.
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