Keep Praying for Syria and other “Arab Spring” Nations
(CNN) June 2, 2011-- Dozens of people have died in clashes with troops in western Syria, where government forces reportedly shelled homes in one town, protest organizers and a human rights official said Thursday. The reports come a day after a leading human rights group accused Syria of committing abuses against anti-government protesters, who have been calling for a regime change. Syria has denied the allegations. At least 43 people have been killed since Sunday when government forces entered Homs province to end protests against government rule, said Rami Abdel Rahman, president of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights…
Human Rights Watch accused Syria on Wednesday of carrying out a "systematic" series of abuses against protesters. It called on the United Nations to investigate. The United States has imposed new sanctions on al-Assad and other senior Syrian officials, freezing any assets held in the country over human rights abuses. Security forces have killed more than 887 across the country since the protests started in mid-March, Human Rights Watch said in a report. That number does not include security personnel the government claims died in attacks from "armed groups." Precise "numbers are impossible to verify given the information blockade imposed by the Syrian government," the rights group said.
Please pray for the peaceful transformation of Syria and other Arab nations in the Middle East that they will become just and free societies with leaders who serve their people rather than themselves.
Nigeria: Projects to unite Christians and Muslims
An ecumenical organization, the Fellowship of Churches of Christ in Nigeria, said it plans to establish small business and agricultural enterprises that will bring Christians and Muslims together in the troubled north-central part of Nigeria. ‘We believe that projects jointly owned by Christians and Muslims would bridge the relationship gap between them,’ said Helen Philemon Haggai, co-ordinator of the fellowship's peace desk. The projects, Haggai said, ‘will focus on establishment of farms that will provide employment opportunities for Christian and Muslim youths. These farms will enable them to produce crops like potatoes, tomatoes and vegetables like lotus and cabbages. This will provide food for their families and at the same time, provide them with incomes. In addition, water projects like boreholes can provide safe drinking water for Muslim and Christian communities’. Furthermore, Haggai said, ‘a skills acquisition centre will be established for the training of both Christian and Muslim youths and widows.’ Praise: God for this initiative and pray that working together will lead to peace. (Ez.37:26)
Nigeria: Projects to unite Christians and Muslims
An ecumenical organization, the Fellowship of Churches of Christ in Nigeria, said it plans to establish small business and agricultural enterprises that will bring Christians and Muslims together in the troubled north-central part of Nigeria. ‘We believe that projects jointly owned by Christians and Muslims would bridge the relationship gap between them,’ said Helen Philemon Haggai, co-ordinator of the fellowship's peace desk. The projects, Haggai said, ‘will focus on establishment of farms that will provide employment opportunities for Christian and Muslim youths. These farms will enable them to produce crops like potatoes, tomatoes and vegetables like lotus and cabbages. This will provide food for their families and at the same time, provide them with incomes. In addition, water projects like boreholes can provide safe drinking water for Muslim and Christian communities’. Furthermore, Haggai said, ‘a skills acquisition centre will be established for the training of both Christian and Muslim youths and widows.’ Praise: God for this initiative and pray that working together will lead to peace. (Ez.37:26)
Iran: Court acquits 11 evangelical Christians
Eleven members of one of Iran's largest evangelical house church movements, who were charged with ‘action against the order of the country’ and drinking alcohol, have been acquitted by an Iranian court. The charges referred to their involvement in a house church meeting and to taking communion wine, Iranian Christians said earlier. Following their arrests in April, the members of the Church of Iran were brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal in Bandar-Anzali ‘for a rushed hearing where their lawyer, Mr. Seyyed Mohammed-Ali Dadkhah, hastily drafted a statement in their defence,’ said Britain-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide. In a written verdict issued in mid-May, the court ruled that since the eleven claimed to be conducting a Christian ceremony, their activities were covered by Article 13 of the Iranian Constitution, which allows Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians to ‘perform their religious rites and ceremonies, and to act according to their own canon in matters of personal affairs and religious education’.
Praise: God for the release of these 11 believers and pray that others still incarcerated would be released. (Ps.136:24)
More: http://www.worthynews.com/10247-iran-court-acquits-11-evangelical-christians
