Prayer Guide 4th February 2010

Prayer Points

Let us again take heed and truly Love the Lord our God with heart, soul, mind and strength.

Local Prayer

• Continue to pray for all saints in the fellowship to seek to cleanse their hearts before God to be able to move forward with Him as we long to see revival in Redruth.
• Pray for the Elders, Preachers and Teacher of all sections of the Fellowship, that we all might see how we might be move forward with God.
• Pray for a greater desire to be found moving in the will of God.
• Pray that there might be a desire to show out the love of Jsus in all our daily living.

The Church World-wide

Sound Christian teaching remains lacking, he said. There is a tremendous need for goodChristian teaching and general education among the Christians in Bhutan, says a pastor. “But little can be done given the restrictions we face here.” See
Link1

A team of 13 diplomats from the EU was to begin its four-day tour of Kandhamal district, India, last week, but the federal government had refused, but it has since begun. An estimated 300 families are still living in private relief camps in Kandhamal, and at least 1,200 families have left Kandhamal following the violence, See Link2

Members of a church in Algeria’s Kabylie region gathered to worship last Saturday (Jan. 16) in their new building despite a protest, vandalism and a fire that damaged the building the previous weekend. Local Muslims bent on running the congregation out of the neighbourhood set fires inside and outside the building on Jan. 9.  See Link3

At least 14 Christians have been detained in Iranian prisons for weeks without legal counsel in the past few months as last year’s crackdown has continued, sources said. Three Christians remained in detention at Evin prison after authorities arrested them along with 12 others who had gathered for Christmas celebrations on Dec. 24 in a home 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran, according to a source who requested anonymity. Half of those arrested in recent months could face apostasy charges. See Link4

Violent Death of Girl in Pakistan Spurs Push for Justice. A protest and a high-profile funeral in Lahore on Monday (Jan. 25) for a 12-year-old Christian girl who died from torture and malnourishment has cast a rare spotlight on abuse of the Christian poor in Pakistan. In an uncommon challenge in the predominantly Muslim nation, the Christian parents of Shazia Bashir Masih protested police unresponsiveness to the alleged violence against their daughter by Muslim attorney and an attempt to buy their silence after her death, after working eight months in his house. See Link5

As Burma’s military junta gears up for its first parliamentary election in two decades this year, observers fear attacks on the Christian minority could intensify. A News Agency reportersaid that the Buddhist nationalist junta would target Christians particularly in Karen state, bordering Thailand, and in Chin State, bordering India and Bangladesh. There are over 100,000 Christian Chin refugees in India who have fled the junta’s attacks in the past two decades, according to Human Rights Watch. See Link6

In Turkmenistan, Pastor Ilmurad Nurliev of Peace to the World Pentecostal church in the south-eastern town of Mary has complained that despite repeated attempts he has been unable to overturn the exit ban imposed on him in October 2007. "I was taken off the aeroplane at Ashgabad airport that month and told I was banned from travelling abroad," he said. When he asked why, he was told: "You know the reason yourself." He said the ban could only have been imposed to punish him for his religious activity. Link7

In Belarus, the family of Ivan Mikhailov, a Messianic Jew, condemned a three-month prison term handed him on 1 February by a court in the Belarusian capital Minsk for refusing compulsory military service. "So many positive things were said about Ivan in court – and then came this sentence," his brother-in-law Mikhail Suboch, present in court, in the wake of the verdict. "The sentence has nothing to do with justice.

(The right to refuse military service is part of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion guaranteed by Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Belarus ratified in 1976.) See Link8

Members of Protestant churches in different parts of Turkmenistan continue to face raids and threats for meeting for worship. Officials have stated that meeting for worship without state registration is "illegal". No official has been prepared to explain to why these congregations have been harassed. Two of the harassed congregations - Path of Faith Baptist church in the northern town of Dashoguz [Dashhowuz] and Peace to the World Pentecostal church in the south-eastern town of Mary – are among religious communities which have been seeking legal status in vain for many years. The pastor of one of the congregations is among many Turkmen citizens on the country's exit blacklist. See Link9

In North Sumatra, Indonesia, two unregistered churches  were burned down last Friday night by  about 1,000 people in Sibuhuan.  The attack was the culmination of tensions between Muslims and Christians over the latter’s use of buildings not registered as churches. However, two days after the arson attack, none of the attackers have been arrested by the police. See Link10

A Filipino nurse with ten years in Saudi Arabia tells of the dramatic situation of Christian workers, forced to embrace Islam just to keep their job. Despite abuses and violence, migrants still choose the Middle East because of the availability of work. Any Christian who works in Saudi Arabia may be subject to this abuse. See Link11

An American judge on Tuesday granted asylum to a German couple who wanted to homeschool their children, bringing international attention to the debate in Germany over the rights of parents to freely educate their children. The parents identify themselves as evangelical Christians and say religion was the primary reason why they chose to homeschool their children. Hannelore Romeike said public education can never be neutral. See Link12

VIETNAM, Persecution of Catholics in Vietnam continues after the arrests and beatings of parishioners at Dong Chiem when government officials removed a cross from a graveyard. Vietnamese Government Officials deny the persecution of Catholics and have criticised Catholic News agency of slander. Additional troops deployed as unrest continues at Dong Chiem In a gesture of defiance toward the government, hundreds of new crosses can be seen now at the very site where the destroyed crucifix once stood. See Link13

Israel.

• Pray for the  Members of the Knesset that they might have wisdom to make the right decisions as they seek to rule faithfully.
• Pray that Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria & the Golan Heights would remain in Jewish hands, now and until the Messiah returns. But pray too, that the Arab communities would recognize and receive their blessing in wanting to live in harmony with Israel. 
• Earnestly intercede for the Jewish people as they face much spiritual warfare aimed at thwarting their divine destiny.  Pray for their protection and for their spiritual preparation as they continue to face a difficult future. 
• Please continue to pray also for the Arab people struggling under the heavy restraints of Islamic oppression.  Pray that they may find freedom in following the Lord God.
• Continue your prayers for the Peace of Jerusalem as we wait the soon coming of the Lord, The Prince of Peace.

With love in our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus,

Merton Gray