http://www.barnabasfund.org Barnabas Fund serves the suffering Church and makes their needs known to Christians around the world, encouraging them to pray. It provides practical help to strengthen and encourage the Church in many different ways. Barnabas Fund was established in 1993 and channels aid to projects run by national Christians in more than 40 countries. This RSS feed is updated when we issue news reports or stories from these countries. http://www.barnabasfund.org/_Images/BF/7_Features/7_5_RSS/feed-icon-with-words.jpghttp://www.barnabasfund.org/news/news_03.phpengCopyright 2009 Barnabas FundDaily prayer points from Barnabas FundGenrator www.barnabasfund.orginfo@barnabasfund.orgwebmaster@barnabasfund.orgThu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi is an active and committed Christian, but in one of the world’s poorest nations, much of the funding comes from Muslim countries such as Libya, Sudan, Pakistan and Iran. As a result, several significant political posts are now occupied by Muslims even though the growing Muslim population is probably no more than 5%. Pray that our brother President Nkurunziza will seek the Lord’s guidance in all his political decisions and have discernment and wisdom as he leads a country which is around 90% Christian. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 07 May 2009 09:00:00 GMT Muslims are active in spreading their faith in DRC, often through meeting the practical needs of the desperately poor Christian majority. They also challenge church leaders to hold public debates with Muslims. Most Congolese church leaders are lacking in the necessary training for such debates, whereas the Muslims are very well-trained and therefore win. Pray that the Lord Jesus will glorify His Name in DRC and that the Holy Spirit will give His people the words to say in every situation and will draw people to Christ. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:00:00 GMT Continue to pray for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the huge and war-torn country in the heart of Africa which is suffering one of the worst refugee crises in the world. In a situation of poverty, insecurity and confusion, Islam is advancing fast in this Christian-majority country, and is particularly strong in the capital Kinshasa and in the eastern regions where the refugee crisis is most severe. Most church leaders have fled because of the war, leaving congregations to be pastored by people who have only the barest knowledge of the Christianfaith and, in many cases, do not even possess a Bible to help them learn more. President Kabila has placed Muslims in senior positions in politics and the military. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:00:00 GMT Islam is the majority religion in Senegal, with Sufism (mystical Islam) very influential. It is a secular state, and non-Muslim faiths used to be well treated. But this has been changing in recent years, and the new dominance of Islam can be seen visibly in the streets of the capital, Dakar. President Abdoulaye Wade is strongly Islamist and was shown on TV refusing to touch a Bible that visitors offered him. He is pouring money into Touba, a place of pilgrimage for Muslims from all over West Africa. Pray that Senegalese Muslims will not follow their president’s lead but will hold on to their former tolerant attitude towards Christians (5%) and other faiths (3%) in their country. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Sat, 07 Feb 2009 09:00:00 GMT In March the Sudanese government announced that many large and well-known Western aid agencies would no longer be allowed to function in Darfur. This was apparently in retaliation for the arrest warrant issued for Sudanese President Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court. Pray that the Sudanese government will act to stop the brutality in Darfur, which it is apparentlysecretly facilitating. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:00:00 GMT The year 2009 is a year of special prayer for Tunisia (99.5% Muslim). At this midway point of the year, please pray for this extremely secular country where Islam is nevertheless the state religion. A few years ago President Ben Ali drank a glass of water on television during the fasting month of Ramadan, to show his disapproval of the Ramadan fast when Muslims are forbidden to eat or drink during daylight hours. At the same time the tiny Church of Tunisian believers has faced much harassment and struggles to grow or to maintain unity, though financially the Christians are remarkably independent and generous. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT Education is a major issue in Sudan, where a whole generation of Southerners (mainly Christians) effectively missed out on schooling during the civil war. When peace came four years ago, Christians were able to start schools in the South. Praise God for His blessing on these schools. In the Juba area and the refugee camps in the North, most of the Quranic schools, which had sought to get Christian children to attend them, have now given up as Christians are able go to the Christian schools. But there are still many Christian young people who must study at the government schools, which are fairly strongly Islamic. Pray that they will stand firm in the Lord as they face daily opposition and hostility. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT Before the signing of the peace agreement in 2005, which brought to an end almost 22 years of civil war in Sudan, it was effectively impossible for people who did not belong to the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood to do business. Now, however, anyone can start up a business. But Christians find that whenever they open a shop or school, a Muslim one is quickly established nearby. Pray that the Christians will not be discouraged but that their businesses will thrive, thus strengthening the impoverished Christian community. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT Permission for the construction of new church buildings in Pakistan can be obtained only with great difficulty. Shortage of land is also a problem. In all the large cities, the same buildings and cemeteries are in use as in the 1940s, and the authorities show no interest in allocating more space to Christians. Church buildings are sometimes attacked and damaged. Pray that Christians in Pakistan will have safe places to meet for worship and fellowship. Pray too that the Pakistani authorities will show more commitment to upholding the freedoms of Christians and other religious minorities. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT A Christian leader from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Pakistan, wrote to Barnabas about how the Taliban are trying to enforce their extremely strict interpretation of Islam on the whole of his nation. “That is why the religious minorities fear for their future,” he said. He described how Christians are beginning to dress like Muslims and Christian men to grow beards so that they can blend in with the majority population. Please pray for the protection of Christians and other non-Muslims throughout Pakistan and especially in NWFP, where the government is gradually yielding political power to the Taliban. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT The Christian community in Pakistan is drawn mainly from the poorest parts of society, and many Christians do very menial work. They are despised by the majority society and suffer various forms of discrimination. Sometimes they are subject to violent attack, especially Christian women and girls. A slow process of Islamisation over recent decades has gradually eroded their rights and liberties, and in the current circumstances this process looks set to continue at a far more rapid pace. Pray for Christians in Pakistan, that the Lord will keep them safe in the midst of violence and instability. Pray that they may be enabled to maintain a consistent Christian witness. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT Another area in which Christian children can be attacked is their education. Textbooks portray Islam very positively or give a highly distorted view of Christianity. When applied to the children of Christians, such education is intended to encourage their conversion to Islam. Please pray for Christian children, that God will enable them to discern truth from falsehood and to acquire the knowledge and life-skills that they need. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT When Christians are persecuted, it is often their children who suffer the most. Children stand in particular danger of physical persecution, as they are easy targets and are often unable to protect themselves or to flee. In last year’s violence in Orissa, India, children were threatened with death to persuade their parents to convert to Hinduism, and a number of Christian orphanages were torched. Please pray for children who are exposed to violence because of their faith, that the Lord will protect them and enable them to hold on to their faith in Him. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT Very few Western politicians have ever spoken out to condemn the Islamic law of apostasy, which specifies a range of punishments including the death sentence for adult Muslims who leave their faith. However, the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has deplored the discussion by the Iranian Parliament of a draft penal code that would impose a mandatory death sentence for apostasy. â€�"If adopted, that would violate the right of freedom of religion, which is also an important basis of any civilised society,” he added. Give thanks to God for Mr Miliband’s words, and pray that he and other leaders will take every opportunity to speak out against the apostasy law. Pray too for Barnabas’ campaign against the Islamic apostasy law, that it may give more influence to the people calling for reform. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT Today is a Day of Prayer for Sudan. According to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, elections must be held by July 2009, but at the time of writing no date had been set. These elections are seen as a major milestone in the peace process, and are to be followed by a referendum in 2011, when the South (mainly Christian) can choose whether it wants to become completely independent from the North (mainly Muslim). Some observers are concerned that July is the rainy season and this will make it very difficult for Southerners to get to the polling stations. Pray that the Lord’s hand will be over this nation of two extremes - where sharia law is in force in the North, while the South has seen amazing church growth. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT The Ministry of Education in Turkey has introduced a new school textbook that encourages discrimination against the country’s small Christian community. Aimed at 13-year-olds, the book says that mission work destroys national and cultural values by converting people to other religions and thus threatens national unity. It says that missionaries use natural disasters to serve their own interests, and warns the children how to recognise the activities of missionaries. Pray that Turkey’s Christians may have grace to face the latest of many attacks on their integrity. Pray for Turkish youngsters using the textbook that they may have discernment to sift truth from falsehood and will grow up to live in peace with Christians. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT “Don’t worry. You can keep your faith, but your children will belong to us.” This is the stance taken by the Muslim minority in Mauritius when they talk to impoverished Christian or Hindu parents and offer their children an education at a Muslim school, complete with free uniforms, free transport, and free food. Pray that Christian parents in Mauritius will not jeopardise their children’s Christian faith for the sake of a free education. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT Islam is growing fast in Madagascar, and is now estimated at 11%. Shi‘a Muslims are particularly active, with their own aid agencies, and also come over to Madagascar from nearby Réunion. The Christian population (almost 50%) is sadly apathetic and uncommitted, with little understanding of the difference between Christianity and Islam, so that it has been known for large groups to shift together from worshipping at the church to worshipping at the mosque. Muslims distribute copies of the Qur’an with banknotes slipped between the pages, and ask the Christians to compare this with the fact that when they go to church they are asked to give money. Pray for a Christian revival in Madagascar so that believers will have such a love for the Lord that they will never deny Him. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT Zimbabwean Christians are buoyant and hopeful despite the hunger and oppression in their country. Some Zimbabweans only have one filling meal a week, and some are so desperate that they are even frying cotton-bolls to eat. There is 95% unemployment and even those in work typically earn so little that a month’s wages are needed to buy a loaf of bread. But the Christians know that God is in control, and recent months have seen some hopeful changes in both political and economic terms. President Mugabe has said that only God can remove him from power. Pray that the Lord will raise up a righteous ruler for this country. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT South Africa is seeing a new phenomenon - the rapid growth of Islam amongst the black community. Some converts are disillusioned by the government failing to keep its promises. Some are influenced by Muslims amongst the large number of refugees from other African countries who are pouring into South Africa. Some are impressed by the Muslim opposition to gangsters and drugs. One study showed that large numbers of Xhosa women are converting to Islam so that they can divorce their husbands and thus escape from situations of domestic violence. At the same time, Arab imams are radicalising the more moderate Muslims, so that the Muslim population is increasing not only in numbers but also in fervour. The South African Church seems largely unaware of what is happening; pray that they will be roused to prayer and action before it is too late. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT A famine is afflicting Chin State, in the west of Burma (Myanmar). This is due to the bamboo flowering and producing fruit, an event which happens once every 50 years. Whenever the bamboo flowers a famine follows because the rats eat the bamboo fruit, which greatly increases their fertility and birth-rate. A huge rat population then devours everything that is edible, even seed planted in the ground. The Chin people now have little to eat except the rats themselves.Ninety per cent of Chin are Christians, and are severely persecuted by the Burmese government. Please pray for them at this time of need. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT The military junta in Burma (Myanmar) has launched a new crackdown on Christians, with an order to close all the house churches in Rangoon (Yangon). This affects around 100 congregations who have to meet in private homes because the government has not allowed any new church buildings to be constructed since it came to power over 40 years ago. Some 20% of Rangoon congregations are still able to meet because they hold their services in the colonial-era church buildings of the city, but they are closely monitored by the state authorities. Pray for grace for Christians in Burma, who have suffered long years of persecution of many kinds. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT An Islamic tradition says that an Ethiopian will attack the Kaba shrine in Mecca in the End Times, and this seems to be one of the reasons why Muslim missionaries are currently very active in outreach in Ethiopia. Concrete mosques are appearing in villages where all the other buildings are far less impressive. Many of their imams have been trained in Saudi Arabia. Pray that the Christian majority in Ethiopia will hold fast to their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 01 Jan 1970 09:00:00 GMT Somalia’s President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, elected on 31 January, has agreed to make sharia the official legal system of his nation. At the time of writing, this decision still had to be ratified by the Somali parliament. The government hopes that this move will bring peace and stability to the country, which has been wracked by violence for two decades. The imposition of sharia is one of the goals of the hardline Shabab and other Islamist militias who are fighting the Somali government. Sharia, with its inbuilt bias against non-Muslims and the death penalty for Muslims who choose another faith, has obvious implications for the small community of Somali Christians (all converts from Islam) as well as for expatriate Christians in the country. Pray for their protection �" many have been murdered in recent years. Pray that a way will be found to bring law and order to Somalia without giving such a powerful role to sharia. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Sun, 06 Dec 2009 09:00:00 GMT Presidential elections will be held tomorrow in Iran. The current hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is standing for re-election. So too is former president Muhammad Khatami, who took a more liberal stance. Under President Ahmadinejad, the pressure on Christians in Iran has been severe (73 documented arrests in 2008). Pray for an Iranian president who will let Christians worship and even witness without being monitored, harassed, arrested or imprisoned. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 GMT Thank the Lord for some rare good news for Christians in Iraq. The regional elections held on 31 January produced significant gains for the more secular-inclined political parties. This is much better for Christians than if the explicitly Islamic parties had gained more seats. Pray for those who have been elected, that they will use their power to bring stability and justice for all Iraqi citizens. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:00 GMT A British Christian who fosters children has been struck off the list of approved foster carers because a Muslim girl in her care chose to convert to Christianity and be baptised. The girl, in her late teens, already had an interest in the Christian faith before she was placed with this particular carer, and she insisted on attending church with her new carer, who acted throughout with integrity. Not only has the carer lost her livelihood, but also the local council involved has placed the girl with relatives and told her not to go to church for six months. Pray for the girl and her former carer, that their faith in the Lord Jesus will be strengthened by suffering for His Name. Pray that local authorities in the UK will uphold principles of freedom of religion, and will not display an anti-Christian bias. Pray for laws that clearly back this position. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Sun, 06 Sep 2009 09:00:00 GMT One of the countries where Col. Gaddafi is pouring in funds is Togo (approximately 50% Christian, 25% Muslim). As in so many other countries of sub-Saharan Africa, new mosques are being built all over the place, including villages where there are no Muslims. The principle is that the very existence of the buildings will draw people to convert to Islam. “Build a hive and the bees will come.” Pray that Christians will not be misled by beautiful buildings but will focus on the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ, who made Himself nothing and humbled Himself to become obedient to death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8). info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:00:00 GMT The Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, has said, “Christianity is not a faith for people in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas … It is a mistake that another religion exists alongside Islam.” He uses Libyan funds to promote Islam across Africa. Pray that his plans will not succeed. “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21) Pray that he may discover that Christianity is the faith for him, and that Christ is his Redeemer. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:00:00 GMT Government provision for the Christian refugees from the violence in Orissa appears to be seriously inadequate. For thousands of them no new housing has been planned, and they are either still in camps or living with relatives. Compensation payouts of less than £140 per person have forced many Christians to buy shacks in communities other than their own. Others are eking out a living doing odd jobs. Although the violence has abated, it has not been altogether eradicated. In February a father of two was murdered, and in January two Indian mission workers were attacked and injured. Please pray that the Christians in Orissa will be protected from further harm and that their lives may be restored. info@barnabasfund.org (Barnabas Fund)Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:00:00 GMT