FOR YOUR PRAYER

INDONESIA

On May 27, an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale struck Yogyakarta, killing over 5,100 people, injuring thousands and displacing more than 130,000. A spokesman of United Nation Children’s Fund reported that 40% of the homeless are under 18 years. Close to 35,000 homes and buildings have been turned into rubble.Although the region is Muslim-majority, Christians were not spared from the affliction. Barnabas Fund reported that there are up to 40,000 Christians living in Bantul and up to 180,000 Christians in Klaten, two badly-hit areas. Praise God for the quick response to the victims. Pray that the suffering Indonesians will see His love through His people who are ministering in the affected areas. Pray for victims and those who have lost their loved ones, that they will receive physical and emotional healing, restoration of lives and homes. Pray for effective teamwork among relief agencies, efficient delivery of relief services to the victims and good stewardship and proper managing of relief fund. Pray for wisdom and righteousness for the Indonesian authorities in rebuilding the afflicted areas and restoring the lives of victims.
For our Christian brethren who are afflicted, pray: that they do not lose heart in times of difficulties and remain steadfast in God’s faithfulness; the light of God will continue to shine through them; and they will find favour with the Indonesian authorities in obtaining permit to rebuild their churches.

ZIMBABWE

A year ago, the Robert Mugabe regime razed some 300,000 homes in a campaign called Operation Murambitsvina (clean out filth). Churchesproviding advocacy, food, shelter and medical care for the victims found themselves in conflict with the government and security forces.
The churches decided to hold an anniversary prayer event on May 20, with a prayer procession and simultaneous prayer vigils to remember the victims of Operation Murambitsvina and pray for the nation. However the police detained and interrogated several pastors and ordered them to cancel the prayer event. The more the churches stand for justice and righteousness the more they are repressed as potential enemies of the state. Furthermore the issue of church engagement in social justice and political issues is splitting and polarising the Church in Zimbabwe. Please pray that the Zimbabwean churches will be united in putting the gospel into action. (Ephesians 6:12) 

india

On May 19, the Governor of Rajasthan refused to sign into law the state’s proposed anti-conversion bill, saying it violated religious freedom. She sent the legislation back to the Assembly. Praise God for such independent political and moral courage. Pray for God’s blessing and comfort upon the persecuted Church in Rajasthan and that He will frustrate the ways of the wicked! (Psalm 146:9)

SOMALIA

In early June, Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, fell to an alliance of Islamic militias after they had fought for four months against an alliance of warlords. The ‘Islamic Courts Union’ (ICU) Shura Council will act as a parliament in all areas the ICU controls. Its head, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, is designated aterrorist by both the US and the UN. Aweys has vowed to enact Syariah across Somalia. Already, he has ruled that Muslims who miss prayers will be regarded as infidels and killed. Three Christian men were recently shot dead, while some children of Christian Somali refugees in Kenya have been kidnapped by Muslim relatives and taken to Islamic institutions in Somalia for ‘rehabilitation’. The situation in Somalia is dangerous and desperate. Pray for: God to intervene there for the sake of his Kingdom and glory; God to speed the rescue of the children who have been kidnapped from their Christian Somali refugee parents.Pray for: the Holy Spirit to mercifully save many Somali people through dreams, visions, gospel radio, Somali-language Christian literature and the personal witness of believers; God’s servants to have access to bring the good news to those desperate for peace and calm; God to raise up wise, strong leaders for Somalia in law, medicine, agriculture, education, government, peace-making and every other field, especially in the Church.

NEPAL

On May 18, Nepal was proclaimed a secular state.  The previously Hindu kingdom went through 19 days of protests in April seeking a return to a democratic system first instituted in 1990. The country has been in a state of emergency since 2004. As Nepal is now a secular state, pray that the widespread discrimination and persecution of low castes and non-Hinuds will now end. Pray that God will strengthen Nepal’s leaders to stand against Hindu nationalists, restrain its Hindu masses, and bless its young growing Church for the Kingdom and glory of God.

Lina Joy, Shamala, conversion cases

On July 17, the Court of Appeal put on hold hearing of all cases pertaining to religious conversion until the Federal Court delivers judgment in the Lina Joy’s case. Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mokhtar Sidin made the ruling when hearing appeals by Dr M. Jeyaganesh and a counter appeal by his wife, S. Shamala (see pg 3).Mokhtar said the court wanted to wait for the Federal Court’s decision in Joy’s case because the apex court’s judgement might annul his court’s findings.
The Federal Court has heard Joy’s case and the three judges are now deliberating their decisions, which will have great repercussion for generations to come. Therefore, let us humbly and urgently ask Him to intervene at this crucial juncture of our nation’s history, so that truth, righteousness and godliness will prevail in our land. Please pray:

• For the judges that they will: remember their judicial motto “Berkhidmat untuk Keadilan”; uphold the supremacy of the Federal Constitution; have an open mind in interpreting the law; and deliver judgement without fear or favour;
  Against the spiritual forces (Eph. 6:12) behind those who seek to hijack ‘religion’ for their own gain and sow discord within the community;
  For the Prime Minister to act justly to defuse all attempts to incite religious sentiments and hatred;
  God will be sovereign over whatever decision meted out by the Federal Court, and that righteousness and freedom, peace and harmony, and the overall wellbeing of the nation will prevail; and
• For God’s peace for Joy and Shamala and all others in their predicament.

Moorthy Case

In September, the Court of Appeal will make a decision whether the civil or Syariah courts has the jurisdiction todetermine the religious status of an individual. If the appellate court agrees that civil courts have the jurisdiction, it would then send the “M. Moorthy case” back to the High Court for the merits of the case to be heard. On Dec 28 last year, the Appellate and Special Powers High Court had ruled that it would not disturb the declaration that Moorthy was a Muslim because the matter was under the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court.  On Jan 24, the late Moorthy’s wife, S. Kaliammal filed a petition of appeal against the High Court decision.

Again, the Court’s decision in September has far-reaching consequences for the present and future generations. Please pray for the judges that they will remember their duty to the country’s pluralistic society. Pray that God will give them strength to resist pressure from certain quarters as they deliberate their judgement. The dual-legal system is already in place in Malaysia. Pray for clarification of the courts’ role; for our leaders, judges, lawmakers and law enforcers to uphold the principle of justice for everyone; and for rational and moderate religious and civil groups to work together for public interests and justice.

9MP Projects

The Government has announced RM15 billion worth of projects to be tendered under the first batch of the 9th Malaysia Plan. The Government has adopted a new Project and Programme Management methodology to ensure the 880 projects are completed on schedule, and to ensure good practices and processes in planning and implementing the projects. The projects include 450 schools, transport systems, government buildings, water supply projects, building and upgrading roads, and clinics.

Pray that the tendering process will be fair and totally free of corruption and the projects will be awarded to responsible, principled and honest contractors. Pray too against all corruption in the construction process.

Anti-terrorist watch

everal small groups attempted some years ago to mount a violent struggle to overthrow the government and install their version of an Islamic country, revealed Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Musa Hassan (The Star, May 19). “The majority are religious students who went to Pakistan to study Islam but instead were taught that the government was not Islamic and they had to overthrow it by violence,” he said.
“They were trained by the Taliban during the Afghan war and returned to Malaysia to carry out their violence.” The clandestine groups were nabbed in time by the police. To empower the police to be even more effective, the Government is amending the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to allow them to intercept communication involving terrorism suspects. The CPC (Amendment) Bill will also empower the police to arrest without a warrant anyone suspected of being involved in a terrorist act. Continue to lift up in prayer those responsible for the security of our nation. Pray for them to be vigilant and may God give them the right leads.

Incentives for OA conversion

AS part of its efforts to convert more Orang Asli (OA) to Islam, the Kelantan Government is offering RM10,000 to its missionaries (male or female) who marry Orang Asli men or women. Other incentives offered include free housing, a monthly allowance of RM1,000 and a four-wheel-drive vehicle.They were also expected to settle down in Orang Asli communities in Jeli and Gua Musang to spread Islamic teachings and act as spiritual figures. The They were also expected to settle down in Orang Asli communities in Jeli and Gua Musang to spread Islamic teachings and act as spiritual figures. The incentives were introduced after the establishment of the Orang Asli Dakwah Unit in May to focus on converting OA.
Pray for the OA community that God will reveal Himself to them and His light will penetrate their hearts so that they will know the true, living God. Pray too for their welfare, that they will be economically blessed so that they will become self-reliant. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has criticised the Kelantan government’s monetary incentives to convert OA, saying that utilising state resources in this manner is an abuse of power and violation of the basic right, especially the freedom of thought, conscience and religion by monetary inducement. It advised the state to use the resources to help empower the poorest community through economic activities which will enhance their income, improve educational opportunities and develop their human potential to ensure them a better quality of life. Pray along this line.

Hardy NS volunteers

National Service camps are currently running and we need to uphold our volunteers who are conducting the weekly Christian classes throughout the country. Praise God for the dedicated and passionate volunteers, some who have to travel long distance, through jungles and in poor road condition, to get to their classes. Several camps have low numbers of Christian trainees, yet this has not deterred the volunteers. For example, the Sg Bakap camp in Penang has only one Christian trainee while the Pagoh camp in Johor has four; yet the volunteers have agreed to take on the classes. For their faithfulness, God has led non-Christians to attend their classes and some have become Christians through them.
Pray for the volunteers to be sensitive to the spiritual and emotional needs of the trainees attending their classes, and that they will be able to communicate with them. Pray that God will use them mightily to impact the trainees. Pray for the safety of volunteers who have to travel in rough conditions to get to the classes.

Human Rights Poser

On May 9, the UN General Assembly elected Malaysia to the 47-member UN Human Rights Council, a move that was seen as ironic to some and inconceivable to others for many known reasons. In recent years, the country’s human rights performance seemed to have improved, judging by the media’s increased boldness in criticising government policies and officials, exposing government corruption, and covering contentious debates at the Dewan Rakyat.
Yet, serious human rights issues continue to plague Malaysians. Among them are:

• the increased constraints on those who want to leave Islam for other religions; ethnic discrimination (eg. preferential programmes designed to boost economic position of bumiputras while Orang Asli continue to be the poorest group, OA land ownership issues, etc.); gender discrimination (Muslim women in particular); and
• denial of fair public trials (M. Moorthy. S. Shamala, Ayah Pin’s followers, etc.)

Human rights groups have opposed Malaysia’s selection into the council because of the government’s failure “to ink a raft of international human rights treaties” (malaysiakini, May 10).
To date, Malaysia has ratified two out of the 12 international UN human rights treaties – the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, the predicament of the Muslim women in this country has given the impression that the government is not honouring its ratification of the former convention. Amnesty International responded to Malaysia’s election by urging Malaysia to ratify UN conventions on torture and civil rights, scrap restrictive laws (eg. ISA) and protect migrants and refugees, before it can sit in judgment on other countries.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders wrote an open letter to our PM to express its concern on the disruption of the “Federal Constitution – Protection for All Public Forum” in Penang. Pray that Malaysia’s entry to the council will improve citizens’ human rights as it will now come under international scrutiny and pressure to live up to the expected human rights standard.

Rising divorce rate

An increasing number of Malaysians are opting for divorce when problems crop up in their marriage (NST, May 18). In 2004, about 150,060 couples uttered the marital vow. In the same year, 19,800 divorce cases were recorded, an increase of 4,561 cases compared with 2000.
Statistics from the National Population and Family Development Board show that the divorce rate is highest among Muslims. One reason for the rising trend is that the current generation places more importance on self and is more open to the concept of divorce. Another is the demise of the extended family, especially in urban areas.

A solid marriage provides a firm foundation for a thriving, harmonious family life. Pray for churches to provide strong leadership in the area of marital counselling, not only for their own members for their communities. Pray for comfort and healing for those suffering, especially the children, from the effects of divorces. Pray for organisations, such as Focus on the Family, that work to uphold strong family values, that they will have more than enough resources to carry out their tasks.