CIC Persecution News Alert

September 11, 2004

ãIf one member suffers, all the members suffer·ä 1 Corinthians 12:26a

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PLEASE NOTE: Out of concern for the security and safety of the ministries and individuals mentioned in our Persecution News Alert. It is the policy of Christians In Crisis (CIC) to conceal specific names or locations of our contacts. Ministries that are commended by authorities or located in secure areas may be named.

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Our website is under construction. . . soon, more news will be available at www.christiansincrisis.net . . .

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September 11, 2004

LETâS PRAY FOR THE FAMILIES WHO ARE STILL BOUND IN GRIEF FROM THE DEVASTATING ATTACK ON THE U.S. IN SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. MORE PRAYER IS NEEDED FOR AMERICA.

Christians In Crisis ö Please pray for:

á Pastor Wally, Matilda and Preshus Joy.

á Our Houses of Prayer Leaders and Participants.

á Our intercessors who receive our persecution news.

á Members of the Crisis Prayer Team.

á The volunteer staff of CIC.

á Our contacts in areas of persecution.

FROM Brother Terry:

As Pastor Wally says so frequently, ãPrayer, it is the least yet the most we can do for them!ä, referring to what we can do for our suffering brothers and sisters throughout the world.

We want to thank you for being in partnership with CIC in our efforts to advocate for the persecuted church. The Lord has been stirring my heart to find out what more CIC can do to form more effective prayer partnerships. What I mean by that is how can we at CIC help you our partners become more effective in your prayer life and particularly, how can we encourage you to pray more consistently about the needs presented to you through CIC?

We are not a ministry that over emphasizes finances, our ministry emphasizes the needs of the suffering. It is a challenge in this world, to keep focus on the fact that we as Christians are to be ãmeeting needsä. You might wonder, how can my prayer life meet the need of someone else? It may surprise you to know that the number one request of people in areas where persecution is occurring is that people pray for them.

It is true that CIC presents a high volume of news stories, a high volume of needs but we are guided by this principle in that, which may help you pray more effectively.

á There are many stories daily of persecution, we only present a fraction of the stories that are occurring.

á To keep from becoming overwhelmed, ask the Lord to take you to the need you are to pray for.

á Focus in on that particular need and pray for it that day or maybe that week.

á Above all, in your meditations, remember ãIT IS MORE THAN A STORYä, it is situations involving people just like you and I, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters.

á Follow the developing story of the need you pray for by visiting the website of the original report or subsequent reports by CIC.

á Take advantage of any offer to write letters to prisoners, government officials that are offered, thus putting feet on your prayers, you will be richly rewarded to know that your personal encouragement will be used of the Lord to minister to someone in need.

An example of creativity, unselfishness and love follows, it is the story of Grandma Winnie and how she practically met the needs of some students in Nepal with whom our contact CJ is associated, as well as the needs of many others. We praise and thank God for the generosity of Grandma Winnie.

At 81, Grandma Winnie is finding new ways to expand her life-long practice of doing for others. Her career as a registered nurse gave comfort and help to undoubtedly thousands. She is of the 'old school' where people and not paperwork come first. She also helped to bring the Hospice movement to this area. After retiring from nursing she continued to assist a lady with Alzheimer Îs several afternoons a week for many years. In addition, she tutored ESL (English as a Second Language) for more than 12 years, making hundreds of foreign-born adults in this community feel welcome and able to cope with a new life style. She has crocheted many blankets for Project Linus, a non-profit organization that makes hand-made blankets and quilts which are then distributed to children of all ages in need. She has also crotched hundreds of little blankets for kitties and puppies at the local Humane Society. She makes candy and bakes cookies (which only she can make!) and generously gives to many. She volunteered for several years in a second-grade classroom in a local school where many of the children are poor and have difficult living situations, retiring from that, with that teacher, at the end of this last school year. She volunteers with the local RSVP program and at the nursing home near her retirement community. In addition, she loves to send cards and encouraging notes to her many friends and she now has e-mail! Most recently, she crocheted fifty neck scarves which were sent to children in Nepal. This has been done in conjunction with Christians In Crisis ministry, Love the Children, whose director happens to be her granddaughter, Jennie. Now, she is working on baby blankets to send. There is no way I could mention all of her unselfish acts. And though her life has not been the easiest and she is living on a fixed income, she is fulfilling the second greatest commandment . . . 'love your neighbor as yourself' . . .

HEADLINE: PRAYER AFTER ATTACK ON COLOMBIAN CHURCH

Soure: www.csw.org.uk

Date: September 6, 2004

Urgent Prayer Alert

Dear Friends,

CSW received reports today that at least three people were killed and 14 seriously injured on Saturday night (September 4) when masked men opened fire on a Christian Alliance church in southern Colombia during a prayer service. Please lift up the members of the church - particularly the pastor, Francisco Sevillano.

We would ask to you pray for the families of those killed and those who are still in hospital. Their names are listed below. Two children, aged 7 and 11 were among the casualties. About 45 people were in attendance at the service which took place in an impoverished area Puerto Asis. The area was in almost total darkness as there is no electricity in the community.

News reports offer conflicting information on who was responsible or why they attacked the church. Some indicate that right-wing paramilitaries were likely to have been responsible as this is an area with heavy paramilitary presence. Others say that pamphlets from the left-wing guerrilla group, FARC, were left outside and declared a new offensive in the region. The reason behind the attack is also unclear with one report suggesting that Jorge Arnulfo Santamaria Montoya, a retired policeman and a local council member, was the target. He suffered multiple bullet wounds and was transferred to hospital in a larger city because of the gravity of his injuries. He had survived two previous assassination attempts.

Regardless of where the responsibility lies, CSW emphatically denounces the attack on the church at a time when people were gathered together to pray and worship. Alexa Papadouris, CSW's Advocacy Director, stated "This demonstrates the total lack of respect that all the armed groups show towards the sanctity of a place of worship and of the innocent civilians, particularly children, that gather there. If the armed groups want to be taken seriously by the world as legitimate players in the political process they must begin by respecting the neutrality of civilians and their basic right to life."

Please join us in praying for the families of those who were killed and for those who are still struggling for life in hospitals across the country.

HEADLINE: VIETNAMESE PASTOR ARRESTED, QUESTIONED

Source: www.compassdirect.org

Date: September 7, 2004

Tran Mai released with orders to appear for further interrogation.

Special to Compass Direct

HO CHI MINH CITY, September 7 (Compass) ö Eight days after his arrest, prominent Vietnamese house church leader Rev. Tran Mai walked back into his house in Ho Chi Minh City at 11 p.m. on September 6. However, he arrived home with orders to appear for further interrogation just nine hours later at the city headquarters of the Ministry of Public Security.

Pastor Mai, leader of a house church organization known as the Inter-Evangelistic Movement, was arrested on Sunday morning, August 29, as he crossed a land border into Vietnam after several months abroad.

He was allowed a brief call to his wife, but police refused to tell his wife where he was or on what charges they were holding him.

HEADLINE: CHURCH BUILDING BURNED (NEPAL)

Source: www.persecution.net

Date: September 8, 2004

A church building in far western Nepal was completely destroyed on September3 and villagers have been warned to not meet again, according to VOM sources in Nepal. All of the contents of the building were either burned or stolen, including musical instruments, books and carpets.

Believers have been meeting in the facility for almost forty years and there had been an understanding with the perpetuators that the church meetings were fine.

This attack happened at a time when the fellowship was growing rapidly, meeting the needs of many who were seeking for answers.

While no one was hurt, local Christians are understandably shaken and future meetings of the church are uncertain at this point. Christian leaders will be meeting with those responsible for the attack to try to reach an agreement.

Please pray for wisdom for the church leaders as they meet and make decisions for the future. Pray that they will rest upon the protection of guidance of the Lord. Pray also for Christians throughout Nepal.

In the past week there has been considerable unrest, after the execution of twelve Nepalese citizens by Islamic militants in Iraq. Mosques have been attacked in the country, in retaliation for the deaths, but Christians have also faced threats, as the "Christian" west is seen as responsible for the situation leading up to the executions.