releaseinternational.org
prayershield SEPT / OCT 2017
Sudanese Christians in the Nuba Mountains do not hide their faith, despite persecution.
SEPTEMBER 2017
Sudan
Heavenly Father,
Friday 1: The Sudanese military continues to drop bombs in the Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan. The army asserts it is targeting rebels, yet civilians are frequently killed. Pray for local Christians who say they are being targeted for their faith.
Thank you that your truths are eternal and that your plans are perfect. I know your purposes will stand (Isaiah 46:10), despite the schemes of the enemy. Lord, I lift to you my dear brothers and sisters who are being persecuted. May they know that you are in charge. Speak to them, Father: show them that you are with them. Remind them you have already won the victory over sin and you will deliver justice. Amen
Saturday 2: Praise God
for the bold faith of Christians in South Kordofan. Despite religious persecution, believers refuse to hide their faith in Jesus. Churches are brightly painted (see photo). Sunday 3: Many Muslims
in the Nuba Mountains are reportedly open to discussing Christianity; they too are caught up in the bombing
raids. Thank God for cooperation and mutual support among local Christians and Muslims. Monday 4: Pray for
members of the Sudanese Church of Christ whose churches in Algadisia and Soba Al Aradi, both suburbs of Khartoum, were demolished in May.
Tuesday 5: Some 25 churches in Sudan are currently scheduled for demolition, allegedly because they violate rules on land use. Officials refuse to designate any new land for church buildings.
prayershield Wednesday 6: Pray for wisdom for leaders of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church in Bahri (Khartoum North) and Omdurman: Sudanese authorities continue to confiscate their properties.
KenYa Thursday 7: Islamist militants al-Shabaab appear to have stepped up their campaign of violence in areas of Kenya bordering Somalia recently. Pray that Christians in places such as Mandera will stand firm in their faith. Friday 8: Al-Shabaab is suspected of involvement in a gun attack on quarry workers in El Wak, on the border with Somalia, in May. Two people died, including a Christian named Dalama Otieno. It is believed the group were targeted because they were non-Muslim. Saturday 9: Pray for the
family of Elly Oloo Ojiema, a teacher shot dead by extremists in front of his pupils at Fafi Primary School. Pray too for the safe return of two other teachers abducted from the same school: a Christian named Joseph Kamau and a Muslim teacher who tried to defend Joseph.
Sunday 10: Ask God to comfort all the families who have lost loved ones in alShabaab attacks, including Freida (pictured) whose husband was killed by militants targeting Christians in a raid on a Kenyan coastal town.
Freida was widowed when Islamist extremists raided her community in Kenya.
Iran Monday 11: Pray that our
Christian family in Iran will stand firm in their faith and put their trust in God. Pray that officials will recognise that Iran’s Christians are no threat to national security.
Tuesday 12: Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz was recently sentenced to ten years in jail after being convicted of charges including ‘evangelism’. The pastor, who is in his 60s, suffers from diabetes. Pray his appeal will be successful. His son, Ramiel, and wife, Shamiran Issavi, are also awaiting trial in connection with their church activities. Wednesday 13: Pastor Victor ignored official orders to ban non-Assyrians from his church and to conduct only services in Aramaic. Pray that many non-Assyrian, Farsi-
speaking Iranians will hear the gospel of Christ. Thursday 14: Christians
Mohamad Dehnay and Amir Sina Dashti were arrested with Ramiel Tamraz (see earlier prayer), at a picnic in Firuzkuh last year. Pray the charges will be dropped.
Friday 15: Ask God to be with Yaser Mosibzadeh, Saheb Fadayee and Mohammad Reza Omidi who were recently given ten-year sentences for their involvement in the house church movement. They are still waiting to hear whether their appeal against a sentence of 80 lashes for drinking communion wine has been successful.
Egypt Saturday 16: The Egyptian church is under intense pressure, amid rising
prayershield extremism. Pray that Egyptian Christians will learn what it means to have steadfast faith so they can live in God’s perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). Sunday 17: Ask God to
protect Suzan, 22, who went missing in June as she walked to the church where she works in Al Khosous, a mainly Christian town just outside Cairo. Monday 18: Pray for the safe return of two other young women who vanished from Al Khosous just days before Suzan disappeared there too (see above). Tuesday 19: Ask God
to protect women in Al Khosous, who are said to be too frightened to leave their houses: three recent suspected abductions (see above) followed the accidental shooting of a Muslim. Previously, several local women had had acid thrown in their face, for not wearing veils. Wednesday 20: Continue to pray for the grieving families of at least 29 Christians who were shot dead by extremists in May, after being pulled off a bus in Minya Province. Thursday 21: Pray for wisdom, boldness and firm resolve for the Egyptian Government in resisting the spread of Islamist extremism in its nation and protecting the Christian community.
Pakistan Friday 22: Pray that Pakistan’s Government will take firm action to tackle extremism and uphold religious freedom, for the sake of peace, justice and equality. Saturday 23: Christians in
Pakistan are generally treated as second-class citizens. The most menial jobs in Pakistani society are reserved for them: many work as bonded labourers in brick kilns (see photo). Pray this situation will change.
Sunday 24: The
Government in Pakistan has launched a crackdown on online content deemed to be ‘blasphemous’. Christians fear that this will open the door to mounting false accusations against them.
Monday 25: The
Government has set up an email hotline where people can report ‘blasphemous’
Menial work, including bonded labour in brick kilns, is generally reserved for Pakistan’s Christians.
content online (see previous prayer). Ask God to give wisdom to those monitoring this hotline so that it does not become a means to persecute religious minorities. Tuesday 26: Pray for
Nabeel Masih, 16, who has been detained since last September for allegedly posting on Facebook a ‘sacrilegious’ photo of an Islamic holy site. His lawyer says Nabeel has been framed.
Wednesday 27: Ishfaq
Masih, 23, from Lahore, was recently arrested on suspicion of ‘blasphemy’: the accusation followed a row between Ishfaq and a Muslim who had refused to pay him for repairing a tyre.
Thursday 28: Pray for Asia Bibi and her family, including husband Ashiq, as they wait for her final appeal against a death sentence for ‘blasphemy’. Pray that they will remain strong in their faith. Friday 29: Please pray for the many Christians in Pakistan who are brokenhearted, including those who have lost loves ones in extremist attacks. Pray that they will know that God ‘saves those who are crushed in spirit’ (Psalm 34:18). Saturday 30: Pray for freedom for ‘Kareen’ whom Release met on a recent visit to Pakistan. She and her children have been in hiding from Muslim relatives for 11 years.
Ruan Haonan was detained on similar charges. Monday 9: Ask God to heal several members of Bainian Church in Jiaozhou, Shandong, who were attacked by workmen tasked with tearing down the church fence. Pastor Zhan Gang fears the 100-year-old church may be demolished. Huoshi Church came under pressure from Chinese officials after it grew to more than 700 members.
October 2017
China Sunday 1: Pray for the
immediate release of all lawyers and activists arrested during and since China’s 2015 crackdown on ‘dissidents’. Monday 2: Christian
lawyer Jiang Tianyong has reportedly been charged with trying to overthrow the regime and so faces a potential life sentence. Ask God to comfort and sustain Jiang who was detained last November. Tuesday 3: Pray for peace
for imprisoned lawyer Jiang Tianyong’s wife, Jin Bianling, and their daughter, who have fled to the US to avoid further harassment. Wednesday 4: The much persecuted Huoshi Church in Guizhou province (see photo) has been fined more than £800,000 because, officials say, donations the
Nigeria church received between 2009 and 2015 were ‘illegal income’. Thursday 5: Continue to pray for the release of Huoshi Church elders Pastor Yang Hua and accountant Zhang Xiuhong, who are in prison on false charges. Friday 6: Imprisoned pastor Zhang Shaojie of Nanle Church has reportedly been tortured because he tried again to appeal against his sentence. He has served almost four years of a 12-year sentence for ‘fraud’. Saturday 7: Some
churches in Zhejiang province have had power and water supplies cut for refusing to install government surveillance cameras. Pray that officials will stop their surveillance attempts.
Sunday 8: Pastor Li
Wanhua of Fengle Church in Jiangmen, Guangdong, has been detained on charges which include taking part in ‘a cult’. Fellow Christian
Tuesday 10: Pray that
God will bless our Christian family in northern Nigeria amid continuing violence by both Boko Haram extremists and Fulani militants.
Wednesday 11: Many Christians from northeast Nigeria are now living in displacement camps, after fleeing extremist violence. Pray that the Nigerian Government will provide for them. Thursday 12: Pray that the Nigerian Government will take firm action to stop attacks by Fulani militants who are specifically targeting Christians in an attempt to seize land. Friday 13: Eighty-two of the 276 Chibok girls who were abducted by Boko Haram extremists in April 2014 were released in May. They have been undergoing ‘rehabilitation’ in Abuja. Pray that God will heal them. Saturday 14: Continue to pray for the many other women and girls abducted
prayershield Gundia, 15, was detained for nearly a month before being freed. Pray this experience will strengthen his faith. Friday 20: Pray for
Christian families in Jalalabad village in Uttar Pradesh whose neighbours are denying them water for their crops – to force them to deny Jesus. They have refused to recant their faith.
Saturday 21: A mob
‘My life is worth nothing if I’m not preaching and living the gospel.’ Archbishop Ben Kwashi, Jos, Nigeria by extremists in northern Nigeria who are still missing – and for their families. Pray that even those who have been forcibly converted to Islam will know their heavenly Father still loves and accepts them. Sunday 15: Praise God for the steadfast faith and wise leadership of Release partners in Nigeria, including Stefanos Foundation. Ask God to give them His authority. Monday 16: Stand
alongside Archbishop Ben Kwashi of Jos (pictured) in praying that revival will follow this current time of intense persecution of Nigerian Christians. ‘I’m asking God that out of these ashes will rise a wave of… revival… over Nigeria and all of Africa,’ he told us.
India Tuesday 17: Officials detained eight Christians and the 72 children they were taking to a Christian holiday camp in Madhya Pradesh. Children as young as six were held for up to three days before their parents retrieved them and insisted they were not being converted by force. Wednesday 18: Despite parents’ protestations, six Christians, including a 17-year-old, have been arrested on charges of kidnapping and forcible conversion of the children they were accompanying to a holiday camp (above). Thursday 19: One of the young people arrested en route to a holiday camp in Madhya Pradesh, Akash
forced every local Christian in Jalalabad village (above) to take part in Hindu rituals and deny Christ. Some younger Christians reportedly felt they had no option but to give in to these demands. Pray that Jesus will comfort them and restore them to Himself.
Sunday 22: Pray for Pastor Samuel Karjee and his church in Abasing, Odisha. A 300-strong mob beat its 12 members. Rajata, 24, suffered serious internal injuries; even Madhusmita, 13, was punched in the stomach. Monday 23: Members of
Pastor Samuel’s church in Abasing (above) have been forced to sign an ‘agreement’ which amounts to a ban on church services. Pray for justice for local Christians and pray that they will find new ways to enjoy fellowship.
Tuesday 24: Pray that
God will touch the hearts of individual police officers in the Abasing area and convict them of the need to uphold religious liberties.
Wednesday 25: Ask
God to build and strengthen His church in India amid
prayershield May. The threat of abuse and exploitation in these camps is high. Monday 30: Pastor Teresito Suganob and about 100 Christians were among some 200 people kidnapped by Maute militants in Marawi. The Islamic State-affiliated group still holds part of the city. Tuesday 31: Pray for the families of eight Christians who were shot dead as they tried to flee Marawi. They were killed after refusing to recite the Islamic creed.
These Christian children are living in a Mindanao displacement camp after extremists forced them to flee.
Lord Jesus,
mounting intolerance and hostility towards non-Hindus, especially since the March elections. Thursday 26: Pray that
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take decisive action to curb Hindu extremism and anti-Christian violence.
Philippines Friday 27: Pray for our
Christian family in Mindanao, an area in the southern Philippines with a significant Muslim population and
where Islamist extremism is on the rise. Saturday 28: Ask God
to protect church leaders in the southern Philippines especially: militants reportedly view them as a threat to their recruitment drives. Sunday 29: Many
Christians in Mindanao (such as those pictured) have been displaced and are living in camps, including 400,000 people who fled an extremist attack on Marawi city in
Sources: China Aid; International Christian Concern; Middle East Concern; Morning Star News; Release partners and contacts; VOM USA; World Watch Monitor.
Thank you for the amazing sacrifice you made on the cross, taking my place and bearing my sin. You are no stranger to pain and suffering. Jesus, thank you that you bind up the broken-hearted and raise up those who are crushed. Today, Lord, please bless and comfort my persecuted family. Remind them that you are their champion and you alone give them the victory (1 Corinthians 15:57). Amen Š Release International 2017 Names in inverted commas have been changed to protect identities.
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