Zimbabwe: Archbishop of Canterbury requests meeting with Mugabe
The Archbishop of Canterbury is hoping to have face to face discussions with Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe next month amid the violent persecution of Anglicans in the country. Rowan Williams has requested a meeting with the Zimbabwean president when he travels to Harare as part of a tour of the south of the continent, according to his spokeswoman. Williams, who will become the first prominent British representative to visit Zimbabwe's capital in a decade, is making the journey in an attempt to ‘show solidarity’ with Anglicans in the region, she said. In recent months priests are said to have been beaten and arrested by police, staff evicted from church buildings and property seized, while some Anglicans have allegedly been arrested and murdered. Some have questioned whether Williams would make the trip due to the violent regime, but Lambeth Palace said there had never been any debate over the matter.
Pray: that the Archbishop will be given the insight and wisdom in approaching Mugabe that would lead to positive resolutions. (Pr.21:30)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/08/archbishop-canterbury-robert-mugabe
Indonesia: Troops sent after deadly clashes in Ambon
The Indonesian government has sent hundreds of security personnel to the eastern city of Ambon following sectarian clashes that left five people dead and 80 injured. The violence was sparked by rumours a Muslim motorcycle taxi driver - who police said died in a traffic accident - had been killed by Christians. It erupted on Sunday, when rival groups clashed at the man's funeral. Houses, cars and motorbikes were set on fire during the violence. Ambon - the provincial capital of the Molucca islands - has been hit by sectarian violence in the past. Conflicts between Christians and Muslims between 1999 and 2002 left more than 5,000 dead and half a million people displaced.
Pray: for peace to reign in Ambon and the Molucca islands and cessation of the violence. (Ps.7:9)
Kazakhstan: Bids to tighten grip on religious freedom
The government of Kazakhstan is renewing its efforts to restrict religious freedom in the country under proposed changes to legislation that would require all religious groups to re-register with the state. President Nursultan Nazarbaev told Parliament that amendments to the religion law will be adopted in the current session, which ends in June 2012. The details have not yet been made public, but the head of the new state Agency of Religious Affairs, Kairat Lama Sharif, said that the law will require all currently registered religious organisations to re-register. The government previously tried to amend the religion law, in 2008, increasing the harshness of penalties for unregistered religious activities. But the move was blocked by the Constitutional Council the following year. Officials vowed that they would try again, and it is feared that the new amendments will be essentially the same.
Pray: that this fresh move by the Kazakh government would again be thwarted. (Is.8:10)
More: http://www.barnabasfund.org/Kazakh-government-bids-to-tighten-grip-on-religious-freedom.html
Somalia: Convert to Christianity kidnapped, beheaded
A kidnapped Christian convert from Islam was found decapitated on Sept. 2 on the outskirts of Hudur City in Bakool region, in south-western Somalia. Juma Nuradin Kamil was forced into a car by three suspected Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab terrorist group on Aug. 21, area sources said. After members of his community thoroughly combed the area looking for him, at 2 p.m. on Sept. 2 one of them found Kamil’s body dumped on a street. The kidnapping and subsequent manner of murder suggests that al Shabaab militants had been monitoring him, Christian leaders said. Muslim extremists from al Shabaab, a militant group with ties to al Qaeda, have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity, and they control the area some 400 kilometres from Mogadishu. A Christian who saw Kamil’s body said it bore the marks of an al Shabaab killing.
Pray: for God'sprotection over all believers andt that the influence of al Shabaab will be broken. (Ps.5:11)
More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/somalia/article_120184.html/
