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Posted on

Violence in Orissa India

10316
I just received this prayer update from "Open Doors" concerning the persecution of Christians in India. There is a link about Open Doors at the bottom if you would like more info on what they do, and how to get on their prayer update list.

Please pray…Monty

Violence Spreads in Orissa, India*

Compass Direct News reported last week on the death and destruction directed towards Christians in Orissa, a state in eastern India. When the Hindu leader Swamiji Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others were murdered on Aug. 23, Hindu extremists then incited hatred by heated accusations that Christians had killed Saraswati.  There were many reports of Christians being pulled from their homes either killed or beaten.  The violence that has claimed the lives of at least 36 people, most of them Christians, and destroyed hundreds of churches and homes continued over the weekend as Hindu extremists continued to blame Christians for the killings.

However, the latest information on Monday, Sep 1st by Compass Direct News reports that a Maoist group claimed responsibility for killing Hindu extremist leader and four of his disciples, saying that fanatical Hindus’ claims that Christians murdered him were “lies.” The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India-Maoist released a statement today saying that Sangh Parivar, the family of Hindu extremist groups led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, have deliberately misled people about Saraswati’s death. “The Sangh Parivar leaders like Praveen Togadia have been trying to divert the people by uttering lies that it is not the Maoists but Christian organizations that had carried out the attack on the leader,” the Marxist group stated.  Read more about the violence in India.

Students Ordered to Leave Campground in Indonesia*

The manager of a campground in East Jakarta asked staff members and 600 female students from a theological college who had taken refuge there to leave and pay fees. Officials had sent the students to the facility after a violent mob attacked the Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology (SETIA) in East Jakarta on July 25. When police intervention failed, staff members and students were evacuated on July 26 and 27, even as protestors armed with swords, machetes, bamboo stakes and acid continued to attack them. At least 20 students were injured in the attack, some with sword slashes.  Read more about these attacks on the Open Doors website.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.  The Ramadan prayer campaign is now available for you to unite in prayer with other believers who are praying for the Muslim world during the month of September. 

Prayer Points:

Pray that the staff members and students from SETIA will be able to return to their school soon and that the violence in East Jakarta will cease. (Psalm 7:9)
Pray for the love of God to infiltrate the hearts of the violent perpetrators in both Indonesia, and also in Orissa. (Acts 3:19)
Pray for the family and friends of those who have been killed amidst the violence in Orissa. (Isaiah 61:2)
Pray for Muslims to receive Jesus Christ in their pursuit of holiness this Ramadan. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
*News Source: Compass Direct News

Praying with you,

Open Doors USA
1-888-5-BIBLE-5
http://www.opendoorsusa.org/

Posted on

Violence in Orissa India

10316
I just received this prayer update from "Open Doors" concerning the persecution of Christians in India. There is a link about Open Doors at the bottom if you would like more info on what they do, and how to get on their prayer update list.

Please pray…Monty

Violence Spreads in Orissa, India*

Compass Direct News reported last week on the death and destruction directed towards Christians in Orissa, a state in eastern India. When the Hindu leader Swamiji Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others were murdered on Aug. 23, Hindu extremists then incited hatred by heated accusations that Christians had killed Saraswati.  There were many reports of Christians being pulled from their homes either killed or beaten.  The violence that has claimed the lives of at least 36 people, most of them Christians, and destroyed hundreds of churches and homes continued over the weekend as Hindu extremists continued to blame Christians for the killings.

However, the latest information on Monday, Sep 1st by Compass Direct News reports that a Maoist group claimed responsibility for killing Hindu extremist leader and four of his disciples, saying that fanatical Hindus’ claims that Christians murdered him were “lies.” The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India-Maoist released a statement today saying that Sangh Parivar, the family of Hindu extremist groups led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, have deliberately misled people about Saraswati’s death. “The Sangh Parivar leaders like Praveen Togadia have been trying to divert the people by uttering lies that it is not the Maoists but Christian organizations that had carried out the attack on the leader,” the Marxist group stated.  Read more about the violence in India.

Students Ordered to Leave Campground in Indonesia*

The manager of a campground in East Jakarta asked staff members and 600 female students from a theological college who had taken refuge there to leave and pay fees. Officials had sent the students to the facility after a violent mob attacked the Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology (SETIA) in East Jakarta on July 25. When police intervention failed, staff members and students were evacuated on July 26 and 27, even as protestors armed with swords, machetes, bamboo stakes and acid continued to attack them. At least 20 students were injured in the attack, some with sword slashes.  Read more about these attacks on the Open Doors website.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.  The Ramadan prayer campaign is now available for you to unite in prayer with other believers who are praying for the Muslim world during the month of September. 

Prayer Points:

Pray that the staff members and students from SETIA will be able to return to their school soon and that the violence in East Jakarta will cease. (Psalm 7:9)
Pray for the love of God to infiltrate the hearts of the violent perpetrators in both Indonesia, and also in Orissa. (Acts 3:19)
Pray for the family and friends of those who have been killed amidst the violence in Orissa. (Isaiah 61:2)
Pray for Muslims to receive Jesus Christ in their pursuit of holiness this Ramadan. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
*News Source: Compass Direct News

Praying with you,

Open Doors USA
1-888-5-BIBLE-5
http://www.opendoorsusa.org/

Posted on

Violence in Orissa India

10316
I just received this prayer update from "Open Doors" concerning the persecution of Christians in India. There is a link about Open Doors at the bottom if you would like more info on what they do, and how to get on their prayer update list.

Please pray…Monty

Violence Spreads in Orissa, India*

Compass Direct News reported last week on the death and destruction directed towards Christians in Orissa, a state in eastern India. When the Hindu leader Swamiji Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others were murdered on Aug. 23, Hindu extremists then incited hatred by heated accusations that Christians had killed Saraswati.  There were many reports of Christians being pulled from their homes either killed or beaten.  The violence that has claimed the lives of at least 36 people, most of them Christians, and destroyed hundreds of churches and homes continued over the weekend as Hindu extremists continued to blame Christians for the killings.

However, the latest information on Monday, Sep 1st by Compass Direct News reports that a Maoist group claimed responsibility for killing Hindu extremist leader and four of his disciples, saying that fanatical Hindus’ claims that Christians murdered him were “lies.” The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India-Maoist released a statement today saying that Sangh Parivar, the family of Hindu extremist groups led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, have deliberately misled people about Saraswati’s death. “The Sangh Parivar leaders like Praveen Togadia have been trying to divert the people by uttering lies that it is not the Maoists but Christian organizations that had carried out the attack on the leader,” the Marxist group stated.  Read more about the violence in India.

Students Ordered to Leave Campground in Indonesia*

The manager of a campground in East Jakarta asked staff members and 600 female students from a theological college who had taken refuge there to leave and pay fees. Officials had sent the students to the facility after a violent mob attacked the Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology (SETIA) in East Jakarta on July 25. When police intervention failed, staff members and students were evacuated on July 26 and 27, even as protestors armed with swords, machetes, bamboo stakes and acid continued to attack them. At least 20 students were injured in the attack, some with sword slashes.  Read more about these attacks on the Open Doors website.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world.  The Ramadan prayer campaign is now available for you to unite in prayer with other believers who are praying for the Muslim world during the month of September. 

Prayer Points:

Pray that the staff members and students from SETIA will be able to return to their school soon and that the violence in East Jakarta will cease. (Psalm 7:9)
Pray for the love of God to infiltrate the hearts of the violent perpetrators in both Indonesia, and also in Orissa. (Acts 3:19)
Pray for the family and friends of those who have been killed amidst the violence in Orissa. (Isaiah 61:2)
Pray for Muslims to receive Jesus Christ in their pursuit of holiness this Ramadan. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
*News Source: Compass Direct News

Praying with you,

Open Doors USA
1-888-5-BIBLE-5
http://www.opendoorsusa.org/

Posted on

Burma In The News

Burma_child
Burma continues find itself in the world’s eyes...Keep praying for our friends at "Free Burma Rangers" There fight continues and they need our prayers and support.  The BBC had this to report today:
Pastor Monty

Burma army ‘recruiting children’  


The Burmese army is forcibly recruiting children to cover gaps left by
a lack of adult recruits, says a report by a US-based human rights organization.
     
 
   
      

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says children as young as 10 are beaten or threatened with arrest to make them enlist. Burma has previously said it is working towards preventing the recruitment of children by the military. HRW has urged the UN Security Council to do more to punish Burma over its alleged use of child soldiers.
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

False documents
     
 
   
      
     
 
   
   

The report, entitled "Sold to be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of
Child Soldiers in Burma" says there are thousands of children in the
Burmese military.

It claims that children are approached in public places
by military recruiters and civilian brokers who have been promised cash
rewards by the military.

"The government’s senior generals tolerate the blatant recruitment of children and fail to punish perpetrators."  Jo Becker, HRW

The children are often beaten or threatened with arrest to force them to enlist, the report says. 

It is claimed that recruiting officers routinely falsify enlistment
documents to register children as being 18, the legal minimum age for
recruitment.

One child quoted in the report says he was forced to lie about his age when he was recruited for a second time. "When I said I was 16, I was slapped and he said, ‘You are 18, answer 18.’ "I just wanted to go back and home and I told them, but they refused."
     
 
   
      

‘Blatant recruitment’      
 
   
      
     
 
   
      

The child recruits are deployed to battalions after an average of 18 weeks training, the report says.
     
   


They are often reportedly sent into combat immediately, or forced to
take part in activities, such as burning villages, which can be
classified as human rights abuses.

Jo Becker, children’s rights advocate for HRW, said Burma is "literally buying and selling children" to fill the ranks.
     
 
   
    

"The government’s senior generals tolerate the blatant recruitment of children and fail to punish perpetrators," she said.
     
 
   
      


     
 
   
      
"In this environment, army recruiters traffic children at will."
     
 
   
      


Ms Becker said that the recent military crackdown had put off many of
those potential recruits who were not already deterred by poor
conditions and low pay.

"After deploying its soldiers against Buddhist monks
and other peaceful demonstrators, the government may find it even
harder to find willing volunteers," she said.

The Burmese ruling junta says it has formed a high-level committee to address the issue of child soldiers.
     
 
   
      


However, Ms Becker described the committee as "a sham", saying the
government must address the issue head-on and demobilize all children.

International pressure
    
 
   
      
     
 
   
      

There remains widespread international concern about human rights in Burma. Thousands of people are thought to have been detained following September’s military crackdown.
     
 
   
      

The UN Security Council is due to meet soon to discuss the use of child soldiers in Burma. HRW has accused the Security Council of not taking any action to
address the issue, despite stating repeatedly that it would consider
targeted sanctions.

The group has urged the UN to impose travel restrictions and arms embargos if the situation does not improve.
     
 
 
   

 


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7069920.stm


Published: 2007/10/31 00:21:25 GMT


© BBC MMVII