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JUBILEE CAMPAIGN U.K
PRAYER DIARY - JUNE 1ST TO JULY 31ST
INDONESIA - JUNE 1ST TO 30TH
Provacateurs in the Moluccas islands of Indonesia are trying hard to escalate the violence there once again. On May 20th this year, attacks on Ambon’s Christian quarters left nine people - including two soldiers - dead and 17 people wounded. Sectarian violence in the Moluccas has escalated sharply in recent weeks. According to the Amboina Diocese Crisis Centre, "The recent new wave of killing Christians is considered to be carried out by professional terrorists, either Laskar Jihad or the military."
The militant Islamic group, Laskar Jihad, has been responsible for many of the atrocities against Moluccan Christians including the massacre at the village of Duma in June 2000, where about 250 Christians were killed. Elements of the Indonesian military have been working closely with the Laskar Jihad, supplying them with weapons, ammunition and training. In recent weeks the leader of the Laskar Jihad, Jafar Umar Thalib, was finally arrested and taken to police headquarters in Jakarta. However, due to pressure from various Muslim groups calling for his release, the Indonesian authorities have now transferred him to house arrest, and this increases the likelihood that he may soon escape or be set free by the authorities. Such an event would be disastrous not just for peace in the Moluccas but for religious harmony in Indonesia as a whole as Jafar Umar Thalib has been one of the chief inciters of violence against Christians and his group is intent on imposing Islamic law throughout Indonesia.
Muslim-Christian sectarian violence in the Moluccas since January 1999 has resulted in the deaths of over 5000 people and the internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of Moluccans. The violence sharply escalated in May 2000 when thousands of Islamic militants from Laskar Jihad travelled to the Moluccas islands to wage a Jihad or so-called holy war against the Christians. Many of the Christian areas of the Moluccas have been overrun by Islamic militants and thousands of Christians have been forced by the militants to convert to Islam. The Christians who converted (both males and females) have been circumcised and made to perform the Islamic prayers and read the Koran. Those who refused to convert have been killed. Over 3000 Christians in Buru, Bacan and Seram islands who were forced to convert to Islam have still not been evacuated to a place of safety where they can return to practising their Christian faith. Several Christian women and children have also been kidnapped by Muslims.
Pray for 1) Peace and reconciliation in the Moluccas. 2) The anti-Christian violence not to spread to other parts of Indonesia, which is what the Islamic militants are trying to achieve. 3) Peace and stability throughout Indonesia as a whole. 4) An end to the Jihad fighters attempt to Islamicise the Moluccas and that the head of Laskar Jihad, Jafar Umar Thalib, will be convicted and appropriately punished for his crimes. 5) Those Christians who have been kidnapped by Muslims, that they will be safely reunited with their families. 6) Protection of the Christians and moderate Muslims in the Moluccas. 7) God's provision for the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people. 8) The international community and the Indonesian government to act more urgently, wisely and responsibly to restore order in the Moluccas and provide security for the Christians there. 9) An end to the forced conversions and that those Christians who converted to Islam under pressure will return to the faith and are evacuated to a place of safety away from the threats of the Islamic militants. 10) Strength and wisdom for those Christians under pressure to convert to Islam.
PAKISTAN - JULY 1ST TO 31ST
A 15 year old Pakistani Christian girl, Nadia Klaimason, was kidnapped by Muslims in February this year. Her kidnapper is Maqsood Nawab Sheikh, a Muslim moneylender. On February 11th this year, Maqsood’s mother, Khurshid Bibi, went to Nadia’s house and suggested that they go out into the fields together. When Nadia was alone with Khurshid, she was forced by Maqsood and other Muslims to visit an Islamic cleric where she was made to convert to Islam. Nadia was then forced to marry Maqsood. The police are unlikely to do much about the kidnapping because they have been bribed. Nadia’s mother has been so grief stricken by her daughter’s kidnap that she has threatened to commit suicide.
A Christian family in Pakistan has also been falsely accused of murder.
Rehmat Masih and his sons Shaukat Masih and Iqbal Masih have been charged with the murder of a Muslim boy who was killed on 17 December 1999. After the allegations of murder were made against Rehmat Masih and his sons, several Muslims attacked and burned their house down.
Rehmat and Shaukat
Masih were later released on bail. However, Iqbal Masih remains in detention. The police claim that Iqbal was the main murderer, who sodomised the boy and then killed him. Rehmat and his family maintain that a local Muslim, Ghulam Nabi, is responsible for the trumped up murder charges against them. They believe this man framed them because of his jealousy that they were the only Christian family in the village who were financially well off enough that they did not have to work for the Muslims. Ayub Masih, a Pakistani Christian, was sentenced to death on 27th April 1998 for allegedly blaspheming against the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Ayub was arrested in October 1996. The blasphemy charges against Ayub were false and resulted from a land dispute against his family, who had applied to the government for ownership of the lands on which they had built their homes. Since then, a few attempts have been made on Ayub’s life.
Pray 1) For Nadia Klaimason, that God will comfort and strengthen her and safely reunite her with her family and that her Christian faith will remain strong. 2) That God will protect Nadia and her family and that those responsible for the kidnap of Nadia will be brought to justice. 3) For an end to the kidnapping and forced conversions of Christian girls in Pakistan. 4) For Iqbal Masih, that God will comfort and encourage him and that the criminal charges against him and Rehmat and Shaukat Masih will be dropped. 5) For God's protection on Iqbal Masih and his family. 6) For Ayub Masih, that God will protect him and that he will be acquitted and released soon.
Received via email from: "Iwanov T" <iwanov_t@yahoo.com>
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