http://www.barnabasfund.org/Daily-Prayer-Point/ Barnabas Fund | Daily Prayer Barnabas Fund supports Christians where they are in a minority and suffer discrimination, oppression and persecution as a consequence of their faith. The Lord has promised, "I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint." (Jeremiah 31:25) Barnabas Fund | News of persecuted church. Aid for Christians suffering persecution http://www.barnabasfund.org/_images_files/content/corporate/barnabasfund_2colour.jpg http://www.barnabasfund.org/Daily-Prayer-Point/ en Copyright 2012 http://www.barnabasfund.org Daily Prayer Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer - Monday 21 May 2012 The Cuban authorities have also been clamping down hard on Christian human rights activists. On 4 March, Caridad Caballero Batista and her husband Esteban Sade Suarez were detained on their way to church, mistreated and held in a poorly ventilated, mosquito-infested cell for three hours. Since the start of the year they have been blocked, and sometimes violently prevented, from attending Christian activities. Other Christian activists have also been arrested or prevented from attending worship services. Give thanks that the churches in Cuba are growing, and pray that they may be strong in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10).

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Monday-21-May-2012.html 4098AU Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Sunday 20 May 2012 Threats, beatings, arrests and fines: these are all penalties suffered by Cuban pastors in a recent crackdown by the authorities. One church leader, from Moa, sustained brain damage in a brutal assault on 6 February; it is thought he was targeted because he challenged the confiscation of a vehicle owned by the church. In another incident, on 25 February, four leaders were detained in Bayamo while sharing the Gospel at the local bus station. One of them was so badly beaten that he required hospital treatment. In Havana a pastor has been repeatedly fined huge sums because his church is not registered, while another has faced threats of violence because of his congregation’s outreach to people on the margins of society. Pray for these leaders as they recover from their ordeal, and for an end to the official harassment.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Sunday-20-May-2012.html 4099AU Sun, 20 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Saturday 19 May 2012 Unregistered churches in Kazakhstan can face intense harassment from the authorities. On 8 February Aleksei Asetov, a father of ten, was given a fine equivalent to about 18 months earnings of an average wage for leading a small unregistered church that meets in his home in Ekibastuz in Pavlodar Region. His property was raided and Christian literature seized, and he was convicted of carrying out banned religious activity. He is the fourth Christian known to have been fined since the new Religion Law came into force. Pray that Christians will stand firm in their faith and show the love of Christ to those who persecute them.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Saturday-19-May-2012.html 4100AU Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Friday 18 May 2012 “The activity of small religious groups in the territory of Kazakhstan is now banned since there is no such form of religious association of citizens.” A senior religious affairs official in Kazakhstan bluntly declared that under the new Religion Law that came into force in October 2011, religious associations with fewer than 50 members must either re-register with more than 50 people or stop their activities. A number of churches from a range of Christian denominations have already been stripped of their registration, and no rules have yet been drawn up to enable them to re-register, even if they have enough members to do so. Pray that this repressive new law will be enforced less strictly and will eventually be repealed.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Friday-18-May-2012.html 4101AU Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Thursday 17 May 2012 The new president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has promised to make the protection of repressed Christians in foreign countries one of his foreign policy priorities. During the presidential election he met with a group of church leaders in Moscow on 8 February, who told him that Christians were suffering persecution all over the world, with one Christian dying for his or her faith every five minutes. When they asked him to give attention to this problem, he replied, “This is how it will be, have no doubt.” Give thanks for this undertaking, and pray that the president will honour it.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Thursday-17-May-2012.html 4102AU Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Wednesday 16 May 2012 Pray for Greater Grace Church in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, which has been closed by the authorities. The State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations moved against the church for its failure to obtain the re-registration required by the harsh Religion Law of 2009. This is thought to be the first attempt to use the new law to force a church to close, and it creates a legal precedent that may threaten other churches. Several congregations that have tried to re-register have recently been informed that their applications have been refused. Pray for an easing of the tight limitations and severe penalties imposed by the law, and for the churches as they seek to serve Christ under great pressure.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Wednesday-16-May-2012.html 4103AU Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Tuesday 15 May 2012 Give thanks that the charge of religious defamation against Egyptian Christian businessman and liberal political leader Naguib Sawaris has been thrown out of court. Mr Sawaris was charged with “blasphemy and insulting Islam” for an image he tweeted in June 2011 depicting the cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in Islamic guise, with a long beard and face veil respectively. Both lawsuits filed against him were rejected, one on 28 February, the other on 3 March. The tweet sparked a Muslim backlash against Mr Sawaris, with groups calling for a boycott of his companies. Pray that this will not happen and that freedom of speech will be upheld in the new Egyptian order.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Tuesday-15-May-2012.html 4104AU Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Monday 14 May 2012 Islamists are increasingly imprinting their image on the government of Egypt. On 28 February an Islamist was elected as speaker of the upper house of parliament, which strengthens the grip of the Muslim Brotherhood on the country’s legislation. The Brotherhood holds 47% of the seats in the lower house, with the radical Salafist party al-Nur holding 23%; in the upper house they hold 59% and 25% of the elected seats respectively. Education reform has been put in the hands of a Salafist MP; al-Nur’s policies include eradicating material that supposedly violates Islam and providing separate curricula for boys and girls. A strongly Islamist regime is likely to worsen the desperate plight of the country’s Christians, who already suffer routine discrimination and incidents of brutal violence. Pray for positive political change that will benefit them and all the people of Egypt.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Monday-14-May-2012.html 4105AU Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Sunday 13 May 2012 Pray for Makram Diab, an Egyptian Christian, who was sentenced in March to six years in prison for “insulting” Muhammad. This is double the maximum sentence permitted for the offence of Defamation of Religion, and the judge has been accused of appeasing the angry 2,500-strong Muslim mob that had gathered outside the court in Assuit. A large crowd of Muslim lawyers also filled the court and denied access to the defence, a scene repeated at Makram’s first appeal hearing on 15 March. He was accused following a heated discussion with a Muslim colleague at the school where they both worked; the person who accused him was not even present during the discussion. Pray that he may receive justice from the court, and that the authorities in Egypt will protect the legal rights of Christians and resist intimidation by Islamists.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Sunday-13-May-2012.html 4106AU Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Saturday 12 May 2012 “Women without a veil deserve to burn in hell.” With these words, the head of the Centrist Association for Awareness and Reform in Tunisia gave a vivid and startling indication of how individual freedoms in the country may soon be curtailed. The Association was formed by Salafists after the 2011 revolution as an Islamic religious police, which took upon itself to see that Islamic virtues were upheld in public life. Earlier this year it was given legal status by the Ministry of Interior. There have been reports of Salafists verbally and physically attacking women whose clothing they judge to be insufficiently modest. Pray that sharia will not be imposed in Tunisia, which was previously one of the most secular of Muslim-majority countries, where the hijab was banned in government offices and universities. Pray too for the country’s Christians, whose precarious position is jeopardised further by the rise of radical Islamism.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Saturday-12-May-2012.html 4107AU Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Friday 11 May 2012 Tunisia’s new draft constitution makes Islam and its sharia law “the principal source of legislation”. The largest political party, Ennahda, claims that this principle will guarantee freedom, justice and equality, but the tenets of sharia are incompatible with non-Muslim understanding of these concepts. For example, non-Muslims do not have equal rights with Muslims and converts from Islam are liable to the death sentence. Women also suffer severe discrimination under sharia. Pray that the draft constitution may be modified to protect the freedoms of Christians and other minorities.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Friday-11-May-2012.html 4108AU Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Thursday 10 May 2012 A group of 35 Ethiopian Christians had gathered to pray at a house in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 15 December 2011 when police burst in and detained them. The 29 women were taken to prison, where they were strip-searched and sexually abused. The men were held at a police station for two days before also being transferred to prison; officers kicked and beat them and called them “unbelievers”. The group also endured inadequate medical care and unsanitary conditions in the prison. They were all charged with “illicit mingling” of unmarried people of the opposite sex (despite there being no law that defines this offence), and they now face deportation. Pray that they will emerge safely from their ordeal and be sustained by the Lord in their suffering.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Thursday-10-May-2012.html 4109AU Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Wednesday 09 May 2012 The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, declared on 12 March that it is “necessary to destroy all churches” in the Arabian Peninsula. His ruling is in accordance with sharia; it is based on a tradition in which Muhammad declared that there should not be two religions there. (There were churches in the Arabian Peninsula before the coming of Islam.) Churches have always been banned in Saudi Arabia itself, but some do exist in other Arabian countries, such as Kuwait, although they are subject to severe restrictions. There are also some sizeable expatriate Christian communities in the region, and a very small number of converts from Islam, who practise their faith mainly in secret. Pray for their protection in light of the mufti’s statement, and for greater religious freedom in these countries.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Wednesday-09-May-2012.html 4110AU Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Tuesday 08 May 2012 Basilios Nassar, a Syrian church leader, was shot dead by anti-government forces on 25 January as he rushed to the aid of a Christian wounded amid heavy fighting in Hama. More than 200 Christians have been killed in the fighting between President Assad’s troops and the Free Syrian Army, and the community has been beset by a series of kidnappings. The rebels demand large ransoms for the return of the captives, but in at least two cases the ransom money was paid but the kidnap victims were killed anyway. Pray that the Lord will comfort all those who have lost loved ones amid the Syrian unrest.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Tuesday-08-May-2012.html 4111AU Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Monday 07 May 2012 Christians in Syria have been suffering grievously in the conflict between President Assad’s troops and anti-government forces. On 18 March a violent explosion rocked the Christian quarter of Aleppo, killing three people, and Christians there believe they may be being targeted deliberately. Another bomb was detonated in the Christian area of Damascus. At the height of the fighting in Homs, Barnabas Fund received reports of Christians being used as “human shields” by anti-government forces. Around 70 homes belonging to Christians in Homs were invaded and pillaged by the opposition forces; they also occupied an evangelical school and home for the elderly, which were then shelled by the army. Christians in Homs have also suffered kidnappings and gruesome murders. Almost the entire Christian population of the city, some 60,000 people, have fled and are now homeless and jobless. Pray that Christians in Syria will know the Lord’s peace at this turbulent time.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Monday-07-May-2012.html 4112AU Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Sunday 06 May 2012 Sustained violence by Boko Haram against Christians in Northern Nigeria is driving them out of the Muslim-majority region. Nearly 95 per cent of the Christians have left Yobe State, where 20 churches have been torched and many lives have been lost. Some are heading to the mainly Christian South, while others are crossing the border into Cameroon. The mass migration is precipitating a major humanitarian crisis: Northern Christians who have been forced to leave behind their homes and jobs are in great need. Moreover, as the Christian presence diminishes the Church is being wiped off the map in the North. Pray that the Lord will give wisdom to Northern Christians about what to do and that He will meet all their needs whether they stay or go.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Sunday-06-May-2012.html 4113AU Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Saturday 05 May 2012 “Pray without ceasing” for Christians in Nigeria as “…a palpable terror is being unleashed in Christians so that Sunday is transformed from a day of worship in to a day of fear”. These were the words of a church leader in Jos following a second church bombing in the space of two weeks. The attack happened ten minutes into a Sunday service on 11 March; seven people died in the blast. Later that same day, gunmen ambushed Christians in Chungwi village, killing three people. Nigerian Christians are under constant threat as Boko Haram seeks to eradicate Christians from the North (see 1 May). Pray for grace for our brothers and sisters, and that even in the face of such violence they will respond in love and not retaliate.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Saturday-05-May-2012.html 4114AU Sat, 05 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Friday 04 May 2012 At 7.20am on Sunday 26 February, a suicide bomber forced his way into the grounds of the Church of Christ (COCIN) headquarters in Jos, Nigeria. Two women and an 18-month-old child were killed and around 50 people were injured as the vehicle sped past a security checkpoint and exploded three metres from the church building. Pray for the families of those who died in this attack, that they will find comfort in the Lord. Ask that He will also grant healing to those who were injured in this bombing, and in a similar attack at a church in Suleja, near the capital, Abuja, on Sunday 19 February. Pray for protection for the Christian community in Jos; prior to this attack, a list of potential Boko Haram targets, which included the COCIN headquarters, had reportedly been found.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Friday-04-May-2012.html 4115AU Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Thursday 03 May 2012 On 4 March, militant Islamist group Boko Haram declared “war” on Christians in Nigeria. A spokesman said that that they were planning coordinated attacks to “eradicate Christians from certain parts of the country”. Two days later, they followed this up with a threat to kidnap Christian women. Boko Haram, which has been fighting to establish an Islamic state in Northern Nigeria since 2009, has committed numerous attacks against Christians and the security forces; these have intensified this year after the group issued a three-day deadline on New Year’s Day for Christians to leave the North. Pray that the authorities will be able to restrain Boko Haram’s violent menace, and that Christians will be protected from further attacks.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Thursday-03-May-2012.html 4116AU Thu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Thursday 03 May 2012 “I believed in Jesus two years ago and after that my wife came to Jesus too. We are from a very difficult region for sharing the Gospel. This seminar encouraged us in our ministry and helped us to be strong in faith. I had many questions when I read the Bible and I have received answers to my questions.” This testimony comes from “Salman”, one of 40 church leaders in Tajikistan who attended a three-day study programme supported by Barnabas Fund. All of the leaders are converts from Islam. Pray for them as they seek to proclaim Christ and build up their churches in the face of tight government controls and hostility from Muslims.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Thursday-03-May-2012_1.html 3702AU Thu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Wednesday 02 May 2012 As widely predicted, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party emerged from Egypt’s first parliamentary elections since the revolution with the largest share of the vote (around 40 per cent). The success of the more hard line Salafist al-Nur Party, which achieved around 25 per cent, took commentators by surprise, as did the weak support for the secular, liberal voices that had hailed the revolution. The election results are an indication of the strength of Islamic fervency in Egypt and do not bode well for the country’s sizeable Christian minority, who have come under increasing attack since the fall of President Mubarak. Pray that the new Egyptian order will protect all of its citizens and promote genuine freedom and equality.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Wednesday-02-May-2012.html 3733AU Wed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Tuesday 01 May 2012 “The life of the Christians has become vulnerable and people are living in constant fear of being attacked and reviled.” These were the words a church leader in Bangalore wrote to the chief minister of Karnataka state, India, after yet another Christian building was vandalised on 2 November 2011. More than 400 incidents of anti-Christian violence have been recorded since 2007, when the Hindu nationalist BJP took control of the state government. In September 2008 there were 37 instances in just two or three days, and attacks on individuals and churches have continued ever since. Pray that the state government will take firm action against those responsible for the violence, and that Christians will stand firm under pressure.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Tuesday-01-May-2012.html 3618AU Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Monday 30 April 2012 Lift up in prayer Pastor Jamal, who was taken from his home in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, in July 2010 and (at the time of writing) is held in a special prison for terrorists. For days on end he was left blindfolded and handcuffed in solitary confinement, receiving very little food and water. His captors regularly interrogate him on why he has left Islam for Christ. Sometimes he is put in the general area of the prison with the hardcore terrorists. There he continually witnesses to his faith in Jesus, and as a result some prisoners have come to faith. Please pray for Pastor Jamal’s safety and swift release. Ask the Lord to empower him during his ordeal and that He will continue to use him for the work of His Kingdom.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Monday-30-April-2012.html 3127AU Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Sunday 29 April 2012 In September 2011 the Post Office Customs Division in Uzbekistan confiscated a shipment of Christian books sent to a member of an unregistered church in the capital, Tashkent. Earlier in the year a court had ordered thousands of Bibles imported to Uzbekistan to be sent back at the Bible Society’s expense. A former employee said that it was “hard or even impossible” to import literature in the Uzbek language. The hard-pressed churches of Uzbekistan could be greatly blessed by good Christian literature, but the authorities impose strict censorship on Christian books sent into the country, as well as on their production and distribution. Pray that these repressive restrictions will be relaxed, and that the Lord will build up His Church in Uzbekistan (Ephesians 2:19-21).

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Sunday-29-April-2012.html 3125AU Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Saturday 28 April 2012 Pray for Christians in Kyrgyzstan following the country’s presidential election in October 2011. This was the first such election under the new constitution, which was introduced after a mass uprising in 2010. Since then the government has been too weak to enforce the country’s repressive religion law, and some Christian groups have enjoyed more freedom than they expected. Pray that new President Almazabek Atambayev will not start to enforce the law more strictly and that it will eventually be repealed. Pray too that he will govern in the interests of all the people of Kyrgyzstan and that the discrimination suffered by Christians will be relieved.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Saturday-28-April-2012.html 3162AU Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Friday 27 April 2012 Pray for patient endurance for the churches of Azerbaijan as they face the prospect of draconian new penalties for a range of Christian activities. Under proposed amendments to the country’s Criminal and Administrative Codes, those who produce or distribute religious literature that has not been vetted by the state could be sent to prison for five years or be liable to a fine of nearly nine times the official minimum wage. Fines are also set to increase for a range of other offences. These changes come on top of much stricter registration requirements for churches introduced in 2009, which have left hundreds of groups still awaiting government approval. Pray especially for Cathedral of Praise Church in the capital, Baku, which has still not been allowed to re-register despite winning a long legal battle against the state.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Friday-27-April-2012.html 3161AU Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Thursday 26 April 2012 Christians in Colombia who live in areas of the country that are under the control of armed paramilitary or guerrilla groups face much persecution. These illegal armed gangs force pastors to stop preaching, harass and kidnap them and extort large sums of money. Every year 20 to 30 pastors are assassinated in different parts of the country, and on average 200 churches are forcibly closed down every year. Christians are regularly targeted because they are seen as a threat to the groups’ ambition to exercise total control over local communities. Ask the Lord to comfort and empower Christians who are confronted by paramilitary violence. Pray that the government-supported demobilisation of these organisations will be successful and that their oppressive power will soon be broken.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Thursday-26-April-2012.html 3160AU Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Wednesday 25 April 2012 “Look at what happened to the Christians of Iraq after the war began there… A great number of them had no choice but to leave the country forever, and those who stayed remain marginalised to this day. Not to forget that many of them were persecuted and their churches bombed.” This statement by a Syrian church leader expresses the concern of many Christians that the current political instability will lead to a repeat of the events in Iraq after the US-led invasion of 2003. Many of the Iraqi Christian refugees fled to Syria, but if Syria itself were to collapse the Christians there might have nowhere to go. Pray that our sovereign God will overrule current events for good. “God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne” (Psalm 47:8).

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Wednesday-25-April-2012.html 3677AU Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Tuesday 24 April 2012 Just over a week after an arson attack on Christian property in Iraqi Kurdistan, Sermat Patros, a 29-year-old Christian man, was kidnapped from his family’s home furnishings store in the autonomous region. He was held for three days, during which his captors demanded a $500,000 ransom. Sermat, who was blindfolded and tied down during his ordeal, was rescued on 15 December to the great relief of his 21-year-old wife Amal and the local Christian community. Pray for Sermat and Amal as they recover from their ordeal, and pray that Christians in Kurdistan will be protected from attempts to harm them.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Tuesday-24-April-2012.html 3678AU Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer Daily Prayer - Monday 23 April 2012 “The troubles will escalate. There is no real future for us in Iraq”, said a 26-year-old Christian who lives in Iraqi Kurdistan. US troops completed their withdrawal from Iraq on 18 December amid concerns that, in their absence, the country could descend into greater instability and violence. Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, scores of Christians have been killed and more than 50 churches bombed in anti-Christian attacks. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled their homes, either to the more stable north or to neighbouring countries such as Syria and Jordan. Many Iraqi Christians and other minority groups fear that their precarious position in the country will now only deteriorate. Pray that the Lord will give Iraqi Christians peace and hope for the future.

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]]> http://www.barnabasfund.org/AU/Act/Pray/Daily-Prayer-Point/Daily-Prayer-Monday-23-April-2012.html 3679AU Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100 Daily Prayer