Sunday, please pray for the Christians of Iraq. Iraq has been listed as the world’s number 2 worst persecutor of Christians. In some areas radical Muslims have been demanding identity papers at gunpoint and sometimes shooting Christians for no offense other than being Christian. However, God is moving among Muslims in Iraq. Pray that His Spirit will continue to move, that He will place His people under His wing of protection, and that He will bring to repentance or justice those who wantonly murder His people. (International Christian Concern)
Monday, please praise God for and pray for a Christian evangelist named Philip who feels compelled to take the Gospel to a refugee camp in Darfur, Sudan, that holds 22,000 desperate people, primarily women and children. At least two babies a day die of lack of clean water. The people face attacks by the Muslim Janjaweed. Both Muslims and a few Christians live in desperation in this camp. Philip is now in Kenya gathering medicine and aide. Please pray for him and these poor, desperate people. (Make Way Partners)
Tuesday, please praise God that “In one valley that was laid to waste by the Burma Army, two villages have been re-established, as well as a clinic, school and two churches. The KNU (Karen National Union, the ethnic pro-democracy resistance in this area) has built a sprawling community of homes, bamboo offices, sports fields, barracks, and food depots. Almost every organization that assists the Karen people has offices here. Everywhere we went we met hopeful people who continued to work their fields, and, as soon as the Burma Army slows down its operations, they move back into their own villages. While it is true that at any moment the Burma Army could mass enough troops to push the people out, in many areas the Burma Army have yet to do this. THIS IS DUE TO THE TENACITY AND RESILIENCE OF THE PEOPLE AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE RESISTANCE.” (Free Burma Rangers)
Wednesday, please pray for the state of Orissa, India, where the government took four months to quell anti-Christian violence committed by radical Hindus. “Since August, more than 60 Christians have been killed; 18,000, wounded; 181 churches, razed or destroyed; 4,500 Christian homes, burned; and more than 50,000 Christians, displaced, of whom more than 30,000 remain in refugee camps or in hiding in the jungle, according to media reports.” The Catholic Archbishop of Orissa charges that the government turned its back on the violence because the people of the area were poor. Archbishop “Cheenath, frustrated over the lack of concern for Orissa, wrote a letter to the Indian prime minister saying that he does not understand how the government can stop the Mumbai attacks in three days, Karnataka in five days, but couldn’t stop the attacks on Christians in Orissa after more than four months.” Some reports also claim that discrimination against Christians occurs in the refugee camps. (Michael Vu, Christian Post, Open Doors, International Christian Concern)
Thursday, please pray for the Christians of Afghanistan. Although the Taliban is not in power, becoming a Christian is dangerous. “Christian groups estimate the number of Afghan Christians ranges between 500 and 8,000—in a country of 30 million Muslims.”(Christian Science Monitor, International Christian Concern)
Friday, please pray for the church in Libya which is so oppressed that the few Christians there do not dare meet in private. “Libya remains one of the world's least reached nations. Among 6,000,000 Libyans live only a handful of known believers….Opportunities for outreach are rare.” (Arab World Ministries)
Saturday, please pray for Arab women who live in repressive and abusive situations. “Christian women are creating these safe environments for Arab women to explore their emotional health. Pray that these meetings would be led by the Holy Spirit. Many times counselors must address demonic influences in Muslim women's lives due to the mingling of Islam with animistic and occult practices. Pray that Christian women would discern such activity and pray with power in Jesus' name to see these women set free. Pray that Muslim women would find peace through the Prince of Peace. Pray for training in counseling for Christian women who are reaching out to Arab women.” (Arab World Ministries)
Labels: Afghanistan, Arab women, Burma, India, Iraq, Libya, Persecution, Sudan
