Sudan
In line with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, legislative elections are due to be held by July 2009. A year ago the situation looked futile in the face of the provocative separatist rhetoric from the south and the belligerent jihadist rhetoric from the north.
There has been much prayer for a unified opposition to contest the 2009 elections and unseat the Arab Islamist military regime in Khartoum. Praise God that the late Dr John Garang's vision of a 'New Sudan' (united, secular and rights-affirming) is now catching on and a campaign to forge an opposition that could contest the elections is emerging.
Both the Islamist government (based in the north) and the Southern People's Liberation Movement (a national movement based in the south) are re-arming and conflict appears imminent and unavoidable. But if a strong, broad political opposition can be built around the SPLM and given a mandate to govern then the Islamist regime's days could well be numbered.
Pray for the nation: that God in His mercy will bring life and energy to the 'New Sudan' vision, and raise up wise leaders of strength and conviction who will advance justice, liberty, equity and hope in a brighter future.
Pray for the Church: for the Holy Spirit to fill the longsuffering, traumatised, war-ravaged and persecuted Church with a Spirit of grace that will equip them to advance reconciliation and gospel witness amongt those who have persecuted and terrorised them for so long.
India
Continue to pray for India where anti-Christian violence in BJPled states has caused many deaths and the displacement of multitudes. Pray for the nation: for God to intervene and restrain Hindutva violence and use this tragedy to awaken Indians to a reassessment and rejection of Hindutva ideology.
Pray for the Church: for God to protect and provide for the hundreds of thousands of Christians displaced by genocidal Hindutva terror in Orissa, and unsettled by the Hindutva violence.
Iraq
Iraq's Christians are under siege, facing genocide, and running out of places to go. After serious threats and 12 assassinations within two weeks in October, 750 Christian families totalling 3,750 individuals fled for their lives between 4 and 12 October to seek refuge with relatives or in churches and monasteries in various Christianmajority towns across Nineveh (WEA Religious Liberty Commission Prayer Bulletin, Oct 15). BBC reported that up to 12,000 Iraqi Christians have fled Mosul in October (20 Oct, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7696242.stm).
This is the most concerted campaign against the Christians, although they have had their share of fallout from the Iraqi upheavals that followed the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime. Since the invasion, Iraq's Christian population is believed to have fallen from around 800,000 to about 500,000, with many emigrating for good.
The escalation in terror may be linked to the Christian community's recent attempts to protect its interests and future: (1) Assyrian Christians are increasingly taking up arms for self-defence and joining the police force in record numbers; (2) they are protesting the loss of their political representation - on 24 Sept, the al Maliki government voted to abolish Article 50 of the Iraqi Provincial Election Law which reserved seats for minorities; and (3) some Assyrians are calling for the creation of an autonomous Christian-ruled province adjoining the Kurdish region, a controversial issue dividing the Christian community.
Currently, there is an urgent need for humanitarian assistance for the displaced Christians. The Kurdistan regional government has joined Christians, Iraqi government and international organisations in providing relief and support to the displaced Christians, who come from some of the world's oldest Christian communities, including Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syrian Orthodox and others. Some of their languages, both liturgical and everyday, go back to biblical times, including variations of the Aramaic spoken by Jesus Christ.
Pray that our suffering brethren will experience God as their shield and encourager, hearing their prayers, intervening on their behalf and increasing their faith. Pray for God to frustrate the plans of the wicked, bringing their unjust, repressive and genocidal plans to ruin. (Psalm 146:9).
May the Spirit of God breathe love and mercy over the land and into hearts so that his people may be preserved and empowered as his witnesses in Iraq.
Philippines
In August the Supreme Court intervened to postpone the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The MoA would have given the MILF jurisdiction over a de facto Islamic state in Mindanao.
When the signing ceremony was cancelled, Muslim militants who were aligned with the MILF attacked Christian rural areas of Mindanao, murdering and wounding dozens and displacing many thousands. In October the Supreme Court ruled that the MoA was unconstitutional. Tensions are high. Some Islamic elements are threatening jihad.
Pray for the Church to stand firm and and for a peaceful solution.
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