The Challenge to the Church

From Twitter

• Islamists hurl bags of urine, sewage, rotten eggs and stones at beleaguered Indonesian congregation http://t.co/X8g78o4h 18 hours ago

• Burmese military kill two children from #Christian ethnic group http://t.co/Q40RCJkE 20 hours ago

• Sudan & S.Sudan agree 2 peace talks–but attacks continue "Khartoum is bombing civilian targets, killing women/children" http://t.co/ImZPDfxd Fri, May 2012 16:25

• Kuwait's ruler blocks Islamist parliament's bid to impose sharia law http://t.co/RQOx3Ar7 Fri, May 2012 15:59

• "The funds provided by Barnabas have been a big source of help and a glimpse of hope" for needy Christians in Syria http://t.co/hPehUw4y Thu, May 2012 16:50

Daily prayer

• Egyptians go to the polls tomorrow (23 May) for the first round of voting in landmark presidential elections. The contest will see Islamist candidates go head-to-head with former members of the Mubarak government and poses a huge dilemma for Christian voters. Despite suffering discrimination and persecution under the old regime, Christians are mostly supporting one of its candidates, fearing that an Islamist president would turn the country into an Islamic state. The Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, Mohamed Mursi, has vowed to implement sharia if elected, and a recent opinion poll found strong support for this agenda. Pray that the new president will run Egypt in such a way that Christians “may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:2b), and that their rights will be upheld. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed 11 hours ago

• 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). Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Mon, May 2012 00:00

• 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. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Sun, May 2012 00:00

• 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. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Sat, May 2012 00:00

• “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. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Fri, May 2012 00:00