Page updated 3rd February 2012

“Murder, kidnap, imprisonment, harassment, discrimination, prevented from meeting for worship… persecution is alive and all too well in 2010. It affects millions of Christian believers. It’s growing, too. But then so is the church.

Open Doors is active in over 50 countries, supplying Bibles, leadership training, advocacy campaigns and practical support for Christians suffering for their faith. An important part of Open Doors’ ministry is to encourage the church in the UK to play its part: by responding to the needs of the persecuted church and learning from their experience of what it means to wholeheartedly follow Jesus.”

For more information about how you can pray, give, volunteer and campaign in support of the persecuted church visit our website at www.opendoorsuk.org.

Dear Friends of Persecuted Christians,

I welcome you on behalf of the Open Doors UK ministry to our own Web page which I hope will keep you up to date with many of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering badly because of their love and dedication to our Lord Jesus. 

If you need further information about many of the OU areas of work etc, then please click on the coloured link above which will take you directly to their very informative Web site. If, as a computer user you know of someone who would like to receive Open Doors monthly magazine and prayer diary and don't have a computer, then please let me know, either by contacting me using my email adddress, which is: christopher.murphy@virgin.net, or telephone 520450 - or come and see me in church on Sundays. 

God bless you all

Chris Murphy

3rd February 2012

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." - 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 [NIV]

Sudan

Christians facing increasing hostility

Sudan's Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments has threatened to arrest church leaders if they carry out evangelistic activities and do not comply with an order to provide their names and contact information, Christian sources have said.

The warning, in a letter to church leaders of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC), arrived a few days after President Omar al-Bashir told cheering crowds that, following the secession of largely non-Islamic South Sudan, the country's constitution will be more deeply entrenched in Sharia (Islamic law).

"We will take legal procedures against pastors who are involved in preaching or evangelistic activities," wrote Hamid Yousif Adam, under secretary of the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments, to church leaders. "This is a critical situation faced by our church in Sudan,"said the Rev. Yousif Matar, secretary general of the SPEC.

Sudanese Christians are living beneath a blanket of fear since South Sudan seceded on 9 July 2011. Sudan has moved up in Open Doors' World Watch ranking to 16, from 35, with the situation between north and south becoming increasingly volatile.

Christians in (north) Sudan celebrated Christmas amid threats from officials in Khartoum. Three members of the Sudanese Church of Christ were detained by national security agents in Khartoum on 23 December, because they were Christians and therefore suspected supporters of southern military forces. More recently, two Christian leaders were kidnapped by South Sudanese militia loyal to Sudan's Islamic government in Rabak, central Sudan. Although they were later released, the incident added to fears that Christians will increasingly become targets for Islamic hostility.

Open Doors supports the church in Sudan by providing Bibles and Christian literature, leadership training and livelihood projects.

Source: Compass Direct

To find out more about Sudan and other countries on the World Watch List go to www.opendoorsuk.org/countries

Please pray:

1. That church leaders would have wisdom and grace to respond to increasing opposition
2. That tensions between the north and south would be resolved, rather than deteriorate to war
3. That God would strengthen Open Doors teams serving the church and helping Christians to stand strong in the midst of daily pressures.

With many thanks for your prayers.

27th January 2012

“… for your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep. Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Get up! Do not reject us forever… Rise up! Help us! Ransom us because of your unfailing love.” Psalm 44:22-26 (NLT)

Nigeria

Country in turmoil after bomb attacks by Islamic extremists  

Nigeria is reeling after numerous bomb attacks on churches, government buildings and police stations left hundreds dead and the country on the verge of civil war. Christians are in a state of perpetual fear for their safety.

An early morning attack on a church in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi state, on 22 January, left at least seven Christians dead and a church building destroyed. The assault on the Evangelical Church Winning All Church was reportedly carried out by local extremists alongside members of Boko Haram. Local pastor Yunnana Yusufu reported that the assailants arrived early in the morning and began shooting at Christians. “I saw seven dead bodies of some of the Christians killed,” he said.

This latest incident follows last weekend’s bomb attacks in Kano, Bauchi and Tafawa Balewa, which claimed the lives of around 200 people. Rumours of further attacks continue to circulate and have amplified the fears of Christians across the north. While the initial 24-hour curfew has been relaxed, the atmosphere across the north remains tense and a mass exodus of southerners leaving Kano has now started.

Open Doors’ coordinator explained that Open Doors’ operations in the cities have been suspended but that they are considering how to continue planned seminars and other emergency projects in the rural areas surrounding the cities.

Open Doors is running an advocacy campaign to encourage supporters to speak up for Christians in Nigeria. To take part in the campaign go to www.opendoorsuk.org/campaign/nigeria.php

Source: Open Doors, Compass Direct News

Please pray:

1. For comfort for the bereaved and healing for the injured. Pray that Christians would have the wisdom to show restraint and the grace to forgive.
2. For protection for Open Doors workers as they move around the region to encourage and assist affected Christians.
3. For wisdom for the government in clamping down on the perpetrators of the violence. Pray that those responsible for the attacks will be brought to justice.

 With many thanks for your prayers.

Jane

Prayer Communications

20th January 2012

"… as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger…" 2 Corinthians 6:4-5

Somalia

Christian woman publicly whipped for converting to Christianity

A Somali convert from Islam was paraded before a cheering crowd last month and publicly flogged as a punishment for embracing a 'foreign religion'.

Sofia Osman, a 28-year-old Christian from Janale city in Lower Shabelle region, received 40 lashes on 22 December as jeering spectators looked on. She had been taken into custody in November by militants from the extremist group al Shabaab; the public whipping was meant to mark her release.

An eyewitness said that the whipping had left Sofia bleeding. "I saw her faint. I thought she had died, but soon she regained consciousness and her family took her away. She didn't say what other humiliations she had suffered while in the hands of the militants."

According to a family friend, in the days after the punishment Sofia would not talk to anyone and looked dazed. "Please pray for her quick recovery," the source added.

Sofia became a Christian four years ago and was a member of the underground church in Somalia. No one is expected to be a Christian in this war-torn country, so there is no organised church.

Somalia is ranked number 4 in Open Doors' recently published World Watch List of countries where Christians are most persecuted. Parts of the country are largely controlled by militants from the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group, al Shabaab. Muslim converts exist as individual secret believers and can only know a few others to make a small underground group. The largest known group is composed of just five believers.

Source: Compass Direct News

For more information about how you can pray for Somalia and other countries on Open Doors World Watch List go to www.opendoorsuk.org/worldwatch

Please pray:

1. That Sofia will recover physically, emotionally and spiritually from her traumatic ordeal
2. For freedom for Somali believers to worship and grow in their faith
3. That fighting between government forces and al-Shabab Islamist militants will result in a peaceful settlement and an end to suffering for the Somali people.

With many thanks for your prayers.

Jane

Prayer Communications

13th January 2012

“… God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."- 2 Corinthians 5:19 [NIV]

World Watch List

North Korea number 1 in 2012 World Watch List of persecution

Only days after it was announced that Kim Jong-il, the reclusive leader of the world's most secretive nation, had died from a heart attack and would be replaced by his son Kim Jong-un, North Korea has again been highlighted as the most dangerous place on earth for Christians to live.

Nowhere in the world is Christian persecution so fierce. Believers have to hide their faith; parents can't even share their beliefs with their children until they are old enough to understand the dangers. Owning a Bible could get you killed, or sent to a harsh labour camp. Christians are routinely arrested, some murdered and others sentenced to labour camps. But despite the risks, the church is growing and there are an estimated 400,000 believers.

The remaining countries in the top ten list of where Christians are most persecuted are all Muslim-majority countries and include Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Iran and Pakistan. Here Muslim-background believers must live as ‘Secret Believers', hiding their faith from the government, their community and their own families, or risk imprisonment, beatings and sometimes even death.

In a number of countries persecution has increased significantly. In Sudan, where the creation of a new nation - South Sudan - left Christians of (North) Sudan isolated, President Omar al-Bashir has vowed to make the country more Islamic. In Nigeria, Christians have frequently been the targets of murderous attacks by Islamist group, Boko Haram, which have claimed the lives of hundreds of Christians. In Egypt, a bomb attack on the Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria on New Year's Day 2011 and the Maspero massacre in Cairo in October, where Coptics were peacefully protesting against church closures, resulted in the deaths of around 50 Christians.

To find out more about the 50 countries on the 2012 World Watch List go to
www.opendoorsuk.org/worldwatch

Source: Open Doors

Please pray:

1. For a breakthrough this year in the situation for Christians in North Korea
2. That followers of Jesus in the Muslim world will live out their faith courageously and without fear
3. That Christian/Muslim relationships will improve, particularly in Nigeria and north African countries.

With many thanks for your prayers.

Jane

Prayer Communications