Nigeria

JULY RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PRAYER BULLETIN UPDATE

(July 27, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal, RLPB, updates July news, and requests prayer for…

VIETNAM [RLPB 700 (July 5)]
After the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam deployed massive military force into the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak in response to the deadly June 11 attack on two government offices in Dak Lak’s Cu Kuin district. We prayed specifically for the Central Highlands’ indigenous predominantly Christian hills tribes who feared the deployment could herald an escalation in ethno-religious persecution and displacement.

We also prayed for imprisoned Protestant minister and religious liberty advocate Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton (51), whose health continues to deteriorate as the authorities continue to withhold medical care. On July 21 the Director of Dak Lak’s provincial police announced that all six suspected ringleaders of the June 11 attacks had been arrested. In total, more than 90 people have been arrested on multiple charges including terrorism.

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MARCH UPDATE & ROUNDUP

(March 30, 2023) Elizabeth Kendal, RLPB, shares and requests further prayer…

During March we prayed concerning the following –

EGYPT
(1) Brutalised grandmother
Regarding the vexatious civil lawsuit being brought by three Muslim men against Mrs Thabet, the Christian grandmother whom they brutalised, there is no further news.

(2) Adoption denial
As reported in RLPB 686 (March 22), the court declined to rule in the lawsuit brought by a Christian couple regarding their right to adopt Shenouda, a boy they had raised for four years since he was found abandoned inside a church as a newborn [RLPB 682 (March 1)]. Consequently, the State’s decision stands: Shenouda (5) will not be returned to his adoptive Christian parents. It is imperative that the law be amended to give Christians the legal right to adopt children under Christian Family Law.

TURKEY: Concerning adoption
Islam permits guardianship (foster care) for orphaned and abandoned children. However, it bans adoption so as to ensure non-biological children do not receive inheritance. On February 6, Turkey was struck by a series of devastating earthquakes which are estimated to have killed up to 46,000 people. In response to questions about whether children orphaned by the quake could be adopted, Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) issued a fatwa (religious ruling) explaining that, while Islam bans adoption, ‘there is no obstacle for marrying’ earthquake-affected children.

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