North Korea: World Watch update
North Korea is in total crisis. Persecution of Christians is more severe there than anywhere else in the world. Famine holds vast swathes of the nation in its grip and untold thousands live in poverty and misery. The populace are kept ignorant of the outside world and forcibly indoctrinated into ‘Juche’ ideology focusing on the self-sufficiency of man. It teaches a trinity consisting of the father (deceased leader Kim Il-Sung), son (current leader Kim Jong-Il) and the ‘Juche spirit’ of self-reliance. Christians in North Korea are forced to keep their faith secret as all religions are harshly suppressed and those who are discovered face torture, labour camp and even death. Please pray for strength and courage for the estimated 50,000 Christians currently in North Korea’s prison camps. Pray also for secure printing and distribution of Bibles to North Korean Christians, and safe outreach work amongst North Korean defectors in China’s border areas. Pray: that many North Koreans respond to the hope and truth of the triune God, and for Christians to be strengthened. (Mal.4:2)
Afghanistan: Campaign to free Christians
We can rejoice over the release of prisoner Said Musa, a Muslim convert to Christianity under threat of execution for apostasy, as Christian human rights organizations continue to work for the release of other converts who remain behind bars for their faith. Barnabas Aid remains deeply concerned about Shoaib Assadullah, an Afghan convert to Christianity facing execution for apostasy, and other converts in prison in Afghanistan who have not received international publicity. In a letter dated February 17 Shoaib expressed fears that he will ‘most definitely’ be sentenced to death by the court. He has been incarcerated since being arrested last October for giving a New Testament in the national Dari language to another Afghan, who later reported him to the authorities. Pray: for God to strengthen and protect all struggling for religious freedom in Afghanistan, and for God’s sprit to embrace every prisoner. (Rev.2:10)
Zimbabwe: Bishops warn of rushed elections
Last month scores of supporters of Tsvangirai's party sheltered in churches after being attacked and forced out of their homes by militant supporters of Mugabe's party. The work of the compromise government has been characterised by fighting over allocation of key government posts. The drive to collect people's viewsof the new constitution has been disrupted several time by violent clashes between the two main political parties. Catholic Bishops have warned ‘Conditions in the country are not conducive to elections in 2011. We believe holding elections at this stage would be dangerously premature.’ The bishops are from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Swaziland, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The statement was released on 22 February. Pray: for incidents of violence to decrease, an end to fear, for elections to safely go ahead in Gods timing. (Is.9:6)
Honduras: Murder of pastors – Evangelicals vulnerable
Christians in the evangelical church in Honduras fear they are being deliberately targeted following the murder of several pastors in recent months. Pastor Carlos Roberto Marroquín, the founding pastor of the Pentecostal Church of God and a prominent figure in other Christian organisations was shot last week as he walked his dogs near to his home. The police are treating the pastor as a victim of robbery. Some in the church fear he was deliberately targeted as part of a wider attack on the work of the church. A pastor of Harvest Ministry called the authorities to launch a full investigation saying, ‘There are already six pastors who have died in Honduras in recent months. There must be a project, the authorities must investigate who is behind everything.’ Pray: for God to provide a canopy of protection over His evangelists in Honduras. (Mk,16:20)
