James 5:16b

HAMAS ATTACKS ISRAEL; Triggers War: Christians Imperilled: Threats and a Smokescreen

(October 12, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal, RLPB, reports…

  • At 11:30pm on Friday  October 6, Gaza-based Islamic terror group Hamas started firing the first of 5000 rockets into Israel.
  • At 1:15am Saturday October 7, Hamas announced the start of a military operation dubbed ‘Al-Aqsa Flood.’ By 1:45am, Israel was returning fire; and at 3:34am Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was at war. As the sun rose on Israel, some 1000 Hamas terrorists invaded the ‘Gaza envelope’ (populated area within 7km of Gaza) by land, sea, and air.
  • By Monday the death toll had risen to over 1500 including some 900 Israelis, mostly civilians (including whole families, even infants) who were slaughtered in cold blood. A further 2500 Israelis had been wounded and around 150 abducted – including small children and an elderly holocaust survivor – taken as hostages and human shields into Gaza [see Live Updates, Al-Monitor].
  • On October 8, HizbAllah official Hashem Salhab delivered a speech in Lebanon where he claimed that ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ is just a manoeuvre in advance of a larger and multi-arena operation that will eliminate Israel [MEMRI, Oct 9]; indicating that what we have seen is just the beginning.

MEMRI’s August warning
MOSAD (Israel), MI6 (UK) and the CIA (USA) might have been taken by surprise, but MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) was not. Using nothing but open source material, MEMRI warmed back on August 31, ‘that a war against Israel may break out in September or October 2023.’

Included in MEMRI’s list of indicators was the fact that: ‘In this context [of escalating provocations on every front] the heads of the resistance axis [specifically leaders from Iran, HezbAllah (Iran’s proxy in Lebanon), Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)] held a series of meetings in Lebanon.’ [NOTE: the Iran-led, Shi’ite dominated ‘Axis of Resistance’ is comprised of groups – Shia and Sunni – that are committed to ridding the Middle East of US bases and the state of Israel. The Axis of Resistance rejects alliances with the US and any peace/normalisation with Israel.]

This much is obvious: in Israel and in Gaza, Christians are going to die. However, the threat extends way beyond the obvious. All around the wider Middle East, the danger facing remnant Christians will escalate in direct proportion to the escalation in Islamic zeal all around them. As I wrote in After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, 2016): ‘There is a popular Arabic war cry which never fails to make the blood of Middle Eastern Christians run cold. Whether Muslims are spray-painting it on walls, whispering it in ears, or chanting it in the streets ‘Ba’d as-sabt biji yom al-ahad’ (After Saturday comes Sunday) is issued as a threat, meaning: As sure as Saturday (the day of Jewish worship) is followed by Sunday (the day of Christian worship), first we’ll kill the Jews, then we’ll kill the Christians.’

And as I demonstrate in the book, this is no idle threat. In a country like Iraq where Jews have already been eliminated, Hamas’ terrorism is being celebrated and vulnerable remnant Christians are gravely imperilled. Even further afield, it is routinely the case that vulnerable minority Christians in Northern Nigeria and Pakistan receive ‘blowback’ (unintended consequences) – mostly in the form of Islamic anti-Christian pogroms – when events in the West (includes Israel) inflame Islamic passions.

Smokescreen
Compounding the risk is the fact that a war in the Middle East involving Israel will devour the world’s attention, creating a smokescreen behind which other agendas can be advanced and atrocities committed. If the war continues and escalates, then Turkey and Azerbaijan might assess that now is the perfect time to advance their pan-Turkic agenda across the South Caucuses at the expense of even more Armenians.

The military junta in Burma/Myanmar might assess that now is the perfect time to eliminate resistance, once and for all. At 11:30pm on Monday October 9, the Burmese junta launched a military strike on a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Laiza – a city in predominantly Christian Kachin State, killing 29 IDP, including many women and children and wounding 56. (The junta has denied responsibility.)

Those intent on dispossessing, disinheriting and disenfranchising remnant Assyrian Christians in Northern Iraq’s Nineveh Plains might assess that now is the time to enact the final solution [see RLPB 702, Christian Crisis in Azerbaijan and Iraq, July 19, 2023]. After all, the lesson of Nagorno Karabakh [RLPB 712 (Sep 27)] is this: when geostrategic power and influence and supply of gas and oil are involved, then some people are simply expendable. We must continue to watch and pray for all our imperilled brothers and sisters.

Prayer requested
Please pray that our merciful God will:
* Intervene to redeem all this horror and suffering for his good purposes; may peace be forthcoming and may many seek God and find the Prince of Peace (see Isaiah 9:1-7). ‘Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand’ (Proverbs 19:21 ESV). ‘…for his steadfast love endures forever’ (from Psalm 136 ESV).
*Protect Christians in Israel, in Gaza, in Iraq and the wider Middle East, in Northern Nigeria and Pakistan and in every place where the possibility of violence against vulnerable Christian minorities is now elevated. Lord have mercy!
* Grant imperilled vulnerable Christians great wisdom and discernment as they navigate their changing and possibly increasingly hostile environment. Lord have mercy!
* Fan into flame that deep yet simple faith that moves believers to pray and ‘rest’ in the love, gentleness and faithfulness of God. (Matthew 11:28-30).
* A psalm to meditate on and pray through as we advocate in the Heavenly Court of The King of Kings for our vulnerable, imperilled brothers and sisters: Psalm 56.

‘The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective’ (powerful and effective) James 5:16b.
_______________________________________________

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted church. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com. Above updates excerpted from RLPB reports.

Elizabeth, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam, Melbourne School of Theology, has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne) which offers a biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA).
_______________________________________________

EVANGELISTS AND OTHERS MURDERED!

(September 30, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal, RLPB, reports…

UGANDA: Another Evangelist Murdered
On Wednesday  September 6 evangelists Philip Bere and Mudenya Sirasi participated in an evangelistic event in Eastern Uganda’s Kituuti town. According to Sirasi, many people accepted Christ, including Muslim women and two young Muslim men. About 7:40pm, as the evangelists travelled home to Katiryo, they were ambushed by Muslims angry about the conversions.

Bere was struck and pulled from the bicycle as Sirasi fell but escaped into a tunnel under a bridge. Captured, Philip Bere (33) was subsequently bashed to death with a large rock. The pastor of Bere’s church told Morning Star News that police in Katiryo, Kibuku District, took statements about the killing and assured him they were searching for the killers. The pastor laments: ‘Our evangelist was killed because of his passion for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, especially to Muslims.’ Apparently Bere was well-known for his preaching among Muslims in Buseeta, Lwatama, Katiryo and other parts in eastern Uganda. Please pray.

NEPAL: Battle heating up
On September 4 Hindu nationalists attacked a church in Nawalparasi district, in Nepal’s south-western Lumbini Province. Windows were broken and property was vandalised.

It was the seventh attack on a church in two weeks. Footage emerged showing two men, identified as pastors, being violently assaulted and publicly humiliated. Endless political chaos has left many Nepalis deeply disillusioned. Exploiting this, Hindu nationalists are ramping up their calls for the restoration of the Hindu State.

Angered by the rapid growth of Christianity, they are also fuelling sectarian hatred – protesting religious conversions and beef consumption – for political gain. Today there are some 1.34 million Christians in Nepal (4.4 percent of population), mostly Protestant. It is one of the fastest growing churches in the world. The battle for Nepal is heating up! Please pray.

NIGERIA: Terror in Kaduna and Plateau
Militant Muslim Fulani herdsmen, often working in conjunction with Islamic jihadists, continue to attack predominantly Christian villages in Nigeria’s Kaduna and Plateau states. At 7am on Friday September 15 hundreds of militants surrounded Dogon Noma village in predominately Christian Southern Kaduna’s Kajuru Local Government Area (LGA) and shot anybody in sight.

At least 15 Christians were killed and 32 were abducted. Meanwhile, Christian communities in neighbouring Plateau State have been under sustained attack since mid-May from militants estimated to be around 800 in number. Mangu, Barkin Ladi and Riyom LGAs have been most severely affected. There is mass displacement. Most recently, at 8:40pm on Sunday September 10, militants invaded the predominantly Christian community of Kulben in Mangu LGA, killing 10 Christians, wounding others and destroying property. Please pray.

AZERBAIJAN: Imperilled Armenian Christian enclave
At 1pm on Tuesday September 19, Azerbaijan announced that it had launched an ‘anti-terror operation’ in Nagorno-Karabakh (an Armenian Christian enclave inside Turkic Muslim Azerbaijan). Troops have entered the capital, Stepanakert, backed by artillery shelling. Azerbaijan insists the operation will continue until the enclave’s government is dissolved and its armed forces are disbanded.

IRAN: Armenians free to worship, but not in Persian
Worship in Persian (language) or witness to Muslims and you’ll go to jail! Ethnic Armenian Iranian Pastor Joseph Shahbazian was arrested on 30 June 2020 when agents from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps raided his house church gathering in Tehran [RLPB 557 (8 July 2020)]. He was sentenced in June 2022 to 10 years in prison to be followed by two years internal exile for ‘founding or leading an organisation that aims to disrupt national security’.

However, in February 2023 the Supreme Court granted him a retrial and in May his sentence was reduced to two years. Then, on the evening of 13 September, Pastor Shahbazian (59) was summoned to the Evin Prison office and informed that he had been pardoned and was free to leave prison and return to his family, including his first grandchild, born while he was incarcerated. Thank-you Lord!

‘The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective’ (powerful and effective) James 5:16b.
_______________________________________________

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted church. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com. Above updates excerpted from RLPB reports.

Elizabeth, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam, Melbourne School of Theology, has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne) which offers a biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA).
_______________________________________________

PAKISTAN: THE JARANWALA POGROM

(August 31, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal, RLPB, reports…

On August 16 thousands of fanatical Muslims attacked the Christian colony in Jaranwala, a city in the Faisalabad district, Punjab province.

Fortunately, Christians were quick to flee.

  • During 10 hours of rioting, the Muslims looted and ransacked some 500 homes and at least 20 churches, torching many.
  • Around 2000 Christians have lost everything, including all sense of security. The pogrom, which was triggered by a blatantly false accusation of blasphemy, was led by fundamentalist Islamist clerics associated with Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a radically Islamist political party.
  • Pakistani Islamists have been stoking tensions, protesting and issuing threats since early July, after the Swedish government allowed an Iraqi refugee to burn a Qur’an in a public protest.
  • On 2 August 2, Lahore-based terror group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) announced it would respond by attacking Christians and churches!

Urgent prayer needed overall! Please pray that our merciful God will:

* Protect, comfort, sustain and provide for the Christians who lost homes, belongings and all sense of security in the Jaranwala pogrom. May they all be able to say with the Psalmist: ‘But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head’(Psalm 3:3).

* Redeem this wickedness and turn it to good for the benefit of the church in Pakistan. May reform be forthcoming. May multitudes of Pakistani Muslims be awakened to the dangers of intolerant, fundamentalist Islam – and in rejecting it, may many embrace the beautiful way of Jesus Christ. May those who walk in darkness, see the light! (Isaiah 9:1-7) May Christ continue to build his church in Pakistan.

* Secure justice for the Christian victims of Pakistan’s infamous blasphemy law: for those who have been driven from their homes; for those who are currently languishing in prison; and especially for those who have been sentenced to death – including Noman Masih (22), Ashfaq Masih (34) and the long-suffering and ailing Pastor Zafar Bhatti (57). Lord have mercy.

‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.’ (From Jeremiah’s prayer in Jeremiah 32:17-25 ESV)

‘The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective’ (powerful and effective) James 5:16b.
_______________________________________________

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted church. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com. Above updates excerpted from RLPB reports.

Elizabeth, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam, Melbourne School of Theology, has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne) which offers a biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA).
_______________________________________________

APRIL UPDATE & ROUNDUP

(April 27, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal, RLPB, updates prayer requests…

BURMA (Myanmar): Karen people flee
[RLPB 689 (12 April)]. After junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing labelled the resistance ‘terrorists’ with whom the junta would not negotiate, vowing instead to ‘annihilate them to an end.’

Within days of his speech, the Christian-led Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) had scored some significant victories, thereby triggering a massive military retaliation. By Easter Sunday 9 April some 10,000 civilians had fled Karen lands across the border into Thailand.

UZBEKISTAN: Baptist church raided
[RLPB 690 (19 April)]. Police raided the 9 April Easter Sunday worship service at the Baptist church in Qarshi, using batons and electric shock prods to incapacitate believers. Despite advancing transformative reforms, President Mirziyoyev – cognizant of the threat of Islamic terrorism and unrest – is reluctant to embrace religious freedom.

Consequently, the new religion law, passed in July 2021, retains many of the repressive elements of the Soviet era law, including mandatory registration, censorship of religious materials, restrictions on religious education, and a ban on ‘missionary activity and proselytism’ and ‘activities which offend the religious feelings of believers.’

(more…)

EASTER 2023: PRAYING IN THE LIGHT OF THE CROSS

(April 06, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal, RLPB, shares…

What is humanity’s greatest problem?

Our problem is sin, the consequence of which is death. How did God deal with it? He dealt with it by sending His Son – the Logos (Word), the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ – to live the life we could not live and die the death we deserved.

  • In full humility Jesus Christ surrendered Himself to be devoured by evil. On the cross He shed His perfect blood by which we are covered, forgiven and saved.
  • From the grave He defeated death and rose again, demonstrating that all who are covered by the blood of the Lamb will follow Christ to eternal life.
  • Through this, the cross – an instrument of torture and execution – is itself redeemed. Today, crosses adorn necks and crown steeples around the world as a symbol of life and amazing grace.
(more…)

TIP OF THE ICEBERG!

(January 26, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal requests urgent prayer for the following…

These January updates are but the tip of the iceberg! Always remember that the context is spiritual!

‘For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places’ (Ephesians 6:12ESV).

(more…)

MYANMAR (BURMA) AND INDONESIA NEWS

 December 15, 2022) Elizabeth Kendal requests urgent prayer for the following…

+ BURMA (MYANMAR): CHRISTIAN LEADER ARRESTED

Junta officials have arrested and are preparing to prosecute one of Burma’s most significant and influential religious leaders and human rights advocates. A former chairman of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), the Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson (pictured right in 2019) currently serves as chairman of the Kachin National Consultative Assembly (WMR), a group comprised of Kachin religious, political and civil society leaders. In 2019, Dr Samson travelled to Washington, DC to participate in the International Religious Freedom Ministerial Conference. Invited to the White House, he spoke with President Trump about the Burmese military’s religious oppression of ethnic minorities. On his return the military’s Northern Command attempted to open a lawsuit against him but was ultimately forced to drop the case.

Detention
Dr Hkalam Samson was detained on Sunday December 4, at Mandalay International Airport as he was about to board a flight to Bangkok where he was to receive medical treatment. He was held and interrogated overnight at Central Military Headquarters, before being put on a flight back to Kachin State. On his arrival at Myitkyina Airport, Dr Samson was arrested and taken away by officers of the junta’s Northern Regional Military Command.

(more…)

‘TOO COMMITTED TO CHRISTIANITY’ – SISTER KILLED IN MOZAMBIQUE

September 15, 2022) Elizabeth Kendal reports concerning news regarding Mozambique…

Late on the night of Tuesday September 6, Islamic jihadists attacked the Catholic mission in Chipene city, Memba District, in northern Mozambique’s Nampula Province. They burned much of the mission, including the church, the hospital, the primary and secondary schools, the dormitory and the new computer room.

‘Too committed to Christianity’
Four Christians were killed in the attack, including Sister Maria De Coppi (84), a nun with the Comboni order who had been living a life of service in Mozambique since 1963.

Hoping to reach the dormitory to alert the students, Sister Maria (left) ran out into what must have seemed like a war zone! The terrorists saw her and killed her with a shot to her head. Two other nuns escaped to raise the alarm. Six people were beheaded and three were abducted.

Islamic State claimed responsibility and explained in a statement posted to Telegram, that they killed the nun because she was ‘too committed to spreading Christianity.’ As His Exc. Msgr. Inacio Saure, Archbishop of Nampula remarked, ‘If the statement is authentic, then Sister Maria is truly a martyr for the faith.’

(more…)