North Korea
For fourteen years North Korea has been the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. Believers face arrest, torture, imprisonment and death for daring to think there is a higher authority than Kim Jong-un. Many follow Jesus in secret. Parents don't even tell their children about their faith, for fear they will be revealed. Thousands of Christians are trapped in horrific labour camps, prison camps, and isolated closed villages. Most will stay there until they die. Despite the risks North Koreans are still choosing to follow Christ. A social stratification system called 'Songbun', similar to the Indian caste system, divides people into three classes: the loyal, the wavering and the hostile. These are further divided into 51 subclasses. Christians are part of the 'hostile' class, with Protestant Christians being number 37 and Catholic Christians number 39. Food and basics are often scarce, so pray for protection for those who smuggle food, medicine and Christian material into the country.
Iran's president asks the Pope to pray for him
Pope Francis met the Iranian president on Tuesday, joining in discussions touching on the nuclear accord and Iran's role in the region. Before these discussions, the two men met privately for forty minutes. The Vatican described the talks as ‘cordial’, with good Iranian-Vatican relations. After the meeting President Rouhani asked the Pope to pray for him. The Vatican meeting was a key part of an Iranian effort to take a more prominent place on the world stage after a nuclear deal with Western powers. The Vatican said that Iran was also urged to help fight arms trafficking. Rouhani's visit to the Holy See saw the first meeting between a pope and an Iranian president since 1999. He is on a four-day European visit to boost Iran's image abroad as well as to rehabilitate economic ties with a continent that had been a big trade partner before sanctions.
South Sudan: urgent support needed
An alert from the Integrated Food Classification (IPC) states that in some areas of South Sudan the situation has reached ‘catastrophic’ and ‘emergency’ levels. Over a third of the population are experiencing severe levels of hunger, and many are eating wild foods and drinking unsafe water to survive. In Unity State, one of the three areas worst affected, Christian Aid is supplying fast-maturing vegetable seeds, fishing nets and water purification tablets. To prevent the spread of disease, they are also distributing hygiene kits which include soap, sanitary products, jerry cans for transporting and storing water, and mosquito nets. Unless the response can be scaled up, livelihoods and lives will be lost. Further catastrophe can be averted. Christian Aid and other NGOs urgently need more funding to respond to this humanitarian crisis.
USA: Alabama ordered to uphold sanctity of marriage amendment
Although the Episcopal Church in the USA allows its clergy to perform same-sex marriages, Chief Justice Roy Moore has ordered the reaffirming of the marriage law in Alabama with an administrative order saying, ‘Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment. Confusion and uncertainty exist among the probate judges of this State. Many judges are issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples; others are issuing marriage licenses only to couples of the opposite gender or have ceased issuing all marriage licenses.’ Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel said, ‘In Alabama and across America, state judiciaries and legislatures are standing up against the federal judiciary or anyone else who wants to come up with the view that somehow the Constitution now births some newfound notion of same-sex marriage. The opinion of five lawyers on the US Supreme Court regarding same-sex marriage is lawless and without legal or historical support.’
