Barnabas Prayer November December 2015

BARNABAS Aid – Relief AGENCY FOR THE PERSECUTEd CHURCH

barnabasprayer To help you pray for the persecuted church

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Thank you for your prayers for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ, which make such a difference to them. We sometimes have to change or omit their names for security reasons, and we have only limited space to share their stories. But the Lord knows the people and places we are praying about. Thank you for your understanding.

Please do not feel limited by the specific prayer requests, but pray as you feel led. On each Sunday we have provided a set prayer; please feel free to use these in their current form, to adapt them as you prefer, or to use the information they contain to frame your own prayers.

November Sunday 1 God of all compassion,

visit your suffering people. In the time of their troubles, let them not be dismayed. In their oppression, let them not be destroyed. In their anxiety, let them not lose hope. In their alienation and wandering, be their identity and home. O God, the Father of all mercies, look upon them with Your favor. Set Your seal upon their foreheads. Let Your right hand uphold them, Your love encourage them, Your presence overwhelmed them, Your protection cover them. In their fragility and brokenness, be their strength and treasure. Let your light shine upon them and reveal the glory of Your eternal Son, in Whose Name we pray.

Monday 2 A general election was held in Turkey yesterday, called at short notice by President Erdogan after a

previous election in June resulted in a hung parliament and upset his plans to change the constitution.

Please check the news and pray for whomever is now in power, whether Erdogan or another, remembering that it is God who “sets up kings and deposes them” (Daniel 2:21). Erdogan, who described democracy as “a train that you get off once you reach your destination”, has been gradually Islamizing Turkey. Under Erdogan’s leadership Turkey has facilitated the military ambitions of Islamic State and reignited an ongoing conflict with Turkey’s large Kurdish minority. The country is teetering on the brink of armed conflict, which would have serious consequences for the small Christian minority and the many Christian refugees from Syria and Iraq.

Tuesday 3 Thank the Lord with us for the generous response of many Christians around the world to Barnabas Aid’s Operation Safe Havens. Many people have offered accommodation to Syrian and Iraqi Christians fleeing the killing fields of Islamic State, and many have given donations to help with the costs of rescuing them by transporting them safely and supporting them as they settle in safe countries. Pray that Western governments will also respond generously and allocate visas for Christian refugees from the Middle East, recognizing their particular vulnerability.

Wednesday 4 Some 260 Christians from the Syrian town of Qaryatain were kidnapped by Islamic State (IS) jihadists on August 6 as they captured the town and hunted out its Christian population. Early in September IS

Thursday 5 “I would like to thank my Lord because he saved me from the Sahara, from the Mediterranean Sea and from the Libyans. I pray every day that He will be here helping me,” said Abrahaley, an Eritrean Christian living with his wife in the “Jungle” camp at Calais, where thousands of refugees wait for an opportunity to cross from France to the UK. Other Christians in the “Jungle” include

A make-shift church building in the “Jungle” camp at Calais, where Christian refugees gather and find strength in God

a group of six Syrians who were smuggled from Turkey to Greece in a perilous “death boat” and then covered much of the rest of the journey on foot. Pray for Christians and other refugees in real danger that the Lord will lead them to places of safety.

Friday 6 The Muslim relatives of a young Pakistani woman who became a Christian and married a Christian man from a Christian background have murdered her husband to avenge the shame of her conversion.

Nadia Din married Aleem Masih on April 8, 2014 after which they fled from Lahore to a town 31 miles away to evade Nadia’s furious relatives. It was on a return visit to Lahore that three of Nadia’s male relatives forced their rickshaw driver at gunpoint to drive the couple to a field where they beat them both and then shot them. Aleem was killed, but Nadia, although shot in the abdomen, survived. Pray that she may be physically healed and that her faith in Christ may sustain her as she grieves for her husband, pray also for the protection of other members of his family, who know themselves to be future targets of Nadia’s family.

Saturday 7 Today is Barnabas Aid’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Please join with Christians in many countries today to pray for persecuted Christians as part of our Suffering Church Action Week.

The theme is “Struck Down but Unconquered” from 2 Corinthians 4:8-12. Pray for our Christian family around the world, whom we may not know on earth but will surely meet in heaven, that the life of Jesus may be revealed in them as the all-

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reported that 15 of the Christians had been released after signing an 11-point dhimma contract. This is the classical Islamic arrangement for treating Christians and Jews living under Islamic rule, whereby the nonMuslims are allowed to keep their faith in return for submitting to a series of humiliating rules, designed to show their inferior status. The rules of the IS dhimma contract include not building churches, not letting the sound of their worship be overheard, showing respect to Muslims, not criticizing Islam, not owning guns, paying the jizya tax, and following the IS dress code. Pray to the Lord who loves justice (Isaiah 61:8) that He will act in power to restore equality and the rights of His faithful people.

surpassing power of God keeps them through all that they are enduring.

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Sunday 8 Father God, we pray for

the country of Burma (Myanmar) as it holds parliamentary elections today. Thank you for the political and economic reforms of the last four years and the greater freedoms that have been introduced as the country gradually transists from military to civilian rule. But we lift to you our Christian brothers and sisters, who have so far seen little improvement in their position in the country.

We remember also the Muslim minority who are persecuted, like the Christians. We pray that Your hand will be over the events of today, for peaceful and fair elections and for a government to be raised up that will end all discrimination and violence against religious minorities. We ask it in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Monday 9 A Kachin Christian man from Burma (Myanmar) called “Cho” used to run an orphanage, until the army fired a rocket at it, killing his eldest son, a grand-daughter and five of the orphans. Cho was then imprisoned, spending the first four months handcuffed and with his legs chained, waiting for his court hearing. After that, the chief warder, believing Cho to be innocent, appointed him prison chaplain.

The courts, likewise, could find no evidence against him. Yet he was held in prison for four years, during which time, as chaplain, he was able to preach the Gospel and win people to Christ. His imprisonment appears to have been a ploy by the army to cover up the fact that their rocket had hit the wrong house. Pray for Cho and his family, who have endured such

trauma, and also for the orphans scattered to other places, that they will know the Lord’s presence and power in their lives. Cho now works at a Barnabas-supported Bible school.

Tuesday 10 Give thanks to the Lord that two South Sudanese pastors who had been held in prison in (north) Sudan for eight months, facing the possibility of a death penalty if convicted of trumped up charges, were released on August 5. However, their troubles were not over, because when they arrived at Khartoum Airport to fly home, they were told that they were banned from travelling. Eventually the travel ban was lifted and on August 19 they arrived back in South Sudan. Pray that Pastor Yat Michael and Pastor Peter Yein Reith will continue to minister boldly.

Wednesday 11 The Khartoum Administrative Court ruled on August 31 that a congregation in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, which had faced more than two years of problems from the authorities over its land and buildings, could resume normal ownership powers over its property.

Praise God for this good news. Pray that church lands and buildings which had been sold to businessmen, while the ownership powers were in the hands of an Islamic committee, will be restored to the church. It was Pastor Yat Michael’s visit to encourage this beleaguered church in December 2014 that led to his arrest and then the arrest of Pastor Peter Yein Reith who enquired his whereabouts (see above).

Thursday 12 Five Sudanese Christian women have been found guilty of wearing immoral or indecent clothing

Friday 13 Three church buildings were burnt in the Bukoba-Kagera region of north-western Tanzania on September 22. Violence against Christians in Tanzania is increasing, along with a gradual process of Islamization of every area of life.

Pray for peace, stability and justice in Tanzania, and that Christian may be wise as serpents but innocent as doves as they respond to the fast developing situation.

Tanzanian Christians beside the remains of their burnt church

Saturday 14 Khamis from Zanzibar left Islam to follow Christ and was baptized in May this year. Because of threats from relatives he had to move around, staying in different places.

In September he went to collect some of his clothes and was attacked by his three brothers, wielding knives and shouting “Kafir! Kafir!” (Infidel!

Infidel!) Pray for his full recovery from his injuries and that he can find a safe place to live freely as a Christian.

Sunday 15 O God of hope, we lift to you today our Christian brothers and sisters in Eritrea, many of whom are enduring terrible persecution just for their faithfulness in following you. We pray for those who are today in prison in appalling conditions, some of them having been held for nearly 12 years so far without trial and having no idea how long they will have to remain incarcerated. We ask that you would fill them all with joy and peace as they trust in You, so that they may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).

Monday 16 Islamist militants searching for Christians stormed a police station in Oursi, northern Burkina Faso, on August 24. A Muslim who called at the police station found himself in the presence of three masked gunmen who ordered him to lie on the ground.

“There are no police here now – it is Boko Haram from now on,” they said to him, “We are looking for Christians, and you are spared because you are a Muslim.” The Christian minority in Burkina Faso has not faced much harassment until now. Pray that there will be no more

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and fined. One of them, Fardo, was also sentenced to 20 lashes, and another, Rehab was threatened with two months in prison if she did not pay her fine. At the time of writing, no date had yet been set for Fardo’s flogging. The five were part of a group of twelve Christian women, all aged under 24, who were arrested as they were leaving a Sunday church service. Others in the group have been released without charge or acquitted, except for 15-year-old Hala, who is still awaiting trial. Sharia (Islamic law) is enforced in Sudan and Christian women must cover themselves completely, like Muslim women. Pray that our sisters may be able to rejoice and be glad in the midst of their persecution (Matthew 5:11-12).

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such incidents in this desperately poor country of West Africa.

Tuesday 17 Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior and a number of senior generals warned Pakistani Christians in mid-September that Islamist terrorists were planning to target Christian religious institutions in the near future, such as churches, Christian schools and hospitals.

Messages were given personally to church leaders that the attacks were being planned by splinter groups formerly belonging to the Pakistani Taliban and are expected to start in the north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Christians are very thankful for the warning and the advice given on how to take extra care. Please ask that God will protect and keep them from harm.

Wednesday 18 Christians in Kazakhstan ask for prayer for Yklas Kabduakasov (aged 54) and his family. Yklas used to be a zealous Muslim but made a decision to follow Christ in 2013. Since then he has been very active in sharing the Gospel with Muslims, and this spring received an official warning to stop handing out New Testaments on the street. He ignored this, saying that nobody can forbid him to do what God has commanded. Then he was fined for his evangelistic activities, and after that on August 14 was arrested. At the time of writing, he is being held in pre-trial detention, sharing a cell with two radical Muslims. His wife is pregnant with their sixth child.

Thursday 19 Five orphans in Dostabod, Uzbekistan, were

pressurized by police to write statements against the pastor of a church where they went on Saturdays and Sundays, with the permission of the boarding school where they lived. Pastor Rychagov was then accused by anti-terrorism police of “teaching religion illegally” and fined after a court hearing he had not even been told about. His offence was apparently to have given away two Christian books. Pray for an end to such abuses of Christians in Uzbekistan.

Friday 20 Police officers with a mob of about 40 Hindu radicals stormed the home of a 70-year-old Christian man in Kanheipur village, Odisha (formerly Odissa) state, India on August 23. They arrested Pastor Sushil Lima, who was visiting, and insulted and attacked all the Christians present. The pastor was released later that night, but the next day a Christian couple who had visited him while he was in detention were seized by Hindu extremists, beaten, and threatened with banishment from the village.

Meanwhile the couple’s children were forcibly expelled from their school.

Pray that each one who suffered in this attack may count it pure joy to face such trials (James 1:2).

Saturday 21 The anti-Christian rioting in the Indian state of Orissa (now called Odisha) in 20078 was so large-scale that some Christian families made homeless at the time are still without proper accommodation. In 2015 Barnabas built another 176 houses, bringing the total we have funded to 1,442. One of this year’s beneficiaries, Abraham, remembers his family’s ordeal. “I

could not ask for help from the Hindu neighbors due to the fear of them luring us to convert to other faith … returning to my village was out of the question as life threats against us still continued … we were left without shelter and had to suffer starvation.”

Pray that the faith of Abraham and all the 60,000 Christians made homeless in the rioting may be strengthened by what they have gone through and by seeing the Lord’s provision.

Sunday 22 Lord Jesus, we pray for all Your followers who long to gather with other believers today to worship you but cannot, because their relatives prevent them, or because they would be stopped at the church door and arrested, or because they are in prison, or because there are no other Christians for miles around.

Please minister to them today.

Nourish them spiritually, speak to them personally, enable them to feel Your presence and Your love. We ask it for Your Name’s sake and for Your glory.

Tuesday 24 Praise God that the new constitution of Nepal, formally adopted on September 20, defines it as a secular state, despite widespread calls for it to be a Hindu state. However, evangelizing remains illegal, which is thought to be a response to fears of large numbers of low-caste Hindus and other marginalized groups converting to Christianity. Give thanks for the church growth which has been seen in Nepal in recent decades and pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to be at work, drawing people to Christ, despite human laws.

Wednesday 25 Police in Nong-Hang village, central Laos, arrested two Christians on September 2 for the “crime” of spreading Christianity, as they were sitting down to eat at the home of a Christian family they were visiting. The two men were apparently reported to the police by the village chief and a local official of the Communist Party.

Pray for Bountheung and Neuy, both of whom have been targeted by the police before, that they will be

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Abraham and some of his family outside their new home

Monday 23 Within hours of a vote

by Nepal’s Constituent Assembly on September 14 to reject the proposals to make Nepal a Hindu state, bombs had exploded in two churches in Jhapa district. Bombs planted in another two churches failed to detonate (although one exploded later, after it had been removed by police). Leaflets from a Hindu nationalist group called Hindu Morcha Nepal were found at the churches. Pray that Christians in Nepal will have grace to forgive their persecutors and that this will be a powerful witness.

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strong in the Lord as they are held in Khounkham District jail.

Thursday 26 Pervaiz Masih, a Pakistani Christian brick-kiln worker, from Kasur, Punjab, asked a Muslim contractor for money owed to him. Soon afterward the Muslim accused Pervaiz of insulting the name of Muhammad, a crime which carries a mandatory death penalty under Pakistan’s “blasphemy law”.

Police dragged his disabled wife into the street and tore her clothes as they tried to get information on her husband’s whereabouts. They also detained four of his relatives.

Eventually Pervaiz handed himself over to the police and his relatives were released. Pray that he may be granted justice and soon. Normally those accused of blasphemy languish in prison for years.

Friday 27 Pray for 30 orphaned Christian girls in Pakistan being cared for at the Abba Home, with support from Barnabas Aid and for the nine professionally trained Christians who lovingly care for them, seeking to meet their emotional, spiritual and health needs and prepare them for adult life. Important skills are cooking, nutrition and hygiene, to enable the girls to raise their families well when they have grown up and married. There is also an emphasis on activities to boost the girls’ confidence, given the difficulties and grief they have suffered and the fact that the majority of their society despises them both for being Christians and for being female.

Saturday 28 On Sunday September 13 a 40-year-old Muslim armed with

a gun entered a church in Texas, USA, after the morning service and asked for the pastor. Rasheed Abdul Aziz told Pastor John Johnson that he had been instructed to “slay the infidels” such as Christians and Jews.

This phrase comes from the famous “Sword Verse” in the Quran which tells Muslims to “fight and slay the infidels wherever you find them” (Q 9:5). Johnson, a former parole officer who is trained in crisis prevention and verbal de-escalation, talked to Rasheed and resolved the situation peacefully. Soon afterwards Rasheed was arrested but not before he had left a hand-written note at the church saying, “You helped me at my time of need. This house is blessed.” Pray for Rasheed, who seemed very troubled and distressed when he arrived at the church, that he may find peace in Christ. Pray also that the teaching of liberal Muslims, which does not take the Sword Verse as a literal command for today, may spread amongst all Muslims.

Sunday 29 Dear Lord, we lift to You

the countless Christians around the world who are today in prison or in labour camps, simply because of their faithfulness to You. We think of Alimujiang Yimiti serving 15 years in China, of Saeed Abedini in Iran and not due for release until 2020, of Aasia Bibi the Christian mother on death row in Pakistan with one last possibility of reprieve. We remember others in North Korea and Eritrea, Central Asia and many other countries, unjustly accused and unable to defend themselves, whose names are known to You. May they be filled right now with the assurance that they are never forgotten by You, that they are engraved on the palms of Your hands,

that they are precious in Your sight.

Please give them strength to endure the beatings, hunger, cold, heat, sickness or whatever other suffering they face. We ask this in Jesus’ Name.

December Tuesday 1 When fire swept through a Christian-majority village in Senegal, killing three people and destroying 70 homes, a church, food stores and livestock, nearby Muslim communities mocked and refused to help. Some of them told Musu, a Christian mother of four, that the disaster was a punishment on her and her children for leaving Islam. Others were offered help if they would deny Christ and become Muslims. But Barnabas sent a grant for food, sleeping mats and blankets.

“I believe that God never abandons His children. He touched the hearts of our Christian brothers to come to our rescue,” affirmed Alfa (92) who had been one of the first Muslims to convert to Christianity, back in

Alfa, 92, a survivor of the village fire Wednesday 2 Pray that God will strengthen and encourage Christians in northern Cameroon, who are being targeted by Boko Haram militants.

As Christians are killed in raids on villages near the Nigerian border, the Cameroonian authorities have stepped up security measures in the region, imposing a night-time curfew, banning children under 12 from the streets and forbidding women to cover their faces. “Fear and psychosis dominate the inhabitants,” reported a local Christian leader to Barnabas Aid. Church attendance has dropped and many Christian summer programs like youth camps, spiritual retreats and film evenings were cancelled. Pray that church leaders will be able to bring hope and confidence to their people.

Thursday 3 Fifteen young Ethiopian Christians from Addis Ababa have been arrested for evangelizing in the town of Karamile, in Muslimmajority Oromia state, along with young Christians from Karamile

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Monday 30 In August Islamic State (IS) militants released 22 of the Christian hostages they had taken from the Assyrian villages along the Khabur River in north-eastern Syria.

This brought a small measure of hope to Syrian Christians, although 205 Khabur hostages are still held at the time of writing. Like three others released in May and June, it seems that those freed were chosen because they were elderly and frail.

Praise God for this indication of a glimmer of mercy on the part of IS, and pray that all IS militants, senior and junior, will turn away from their normal pattern savage cruelty.

1972. Thank the Lord with us for the generosity of Barnabas supporters around the world which made it possible for us to help.

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itself. The arrests happened after two young women in the group had been attacked by local people. After church leaders appealed on their behalf, the 15 were released later the same day. But the following day all the church leaders in Karamile were summoned by town officials and told to stop all evangelistic activities outside of church buildings and not to invite other people to join their times of prayer at home. This instruction violates the constitution of Ethiopia.

Pray that the church leaders of Karamile will know how to protect their right to share the Gospel.

Friday 4 Six members of a church committee in Kilto, southern Ethiopia, have been found guilty of inciting public disturbance, destroying public trust in government officials, and inciting hatred. These charges arose from a letter they wrote describing the persecution they endured as Christians living in the Muslimmajority Silte zone of Ethiopia.

In the letter, which they copied to several government institutions and which also got leaked to the media, they complained of discrimination in employment, burning of church buildings, physical attacks and death threats. Local government officials demanded an apology, which the Christians gave, but they were nevertheless sentenced to several years in prison. Pray that the words they wrote might even now bear fruit and that the Ethiopian authorities would act to ensure that all citizens are protected from violence and treated equally.

Saturday 5 Our Lord Jesus commanded: “Pray for those who

persecute you.” (Matthew 6:44).

Lift up in prayer the members of the Marxist Eritrean government, headed by President Isaias Afewerki, who work so hard to cause pain and suffering to Eritrean Christian believers. Pray that the persecutors of our brethren will each have their own personal encounter with the Lord.

The president’s first name means “Isaiah”; pray that he may see the Lord Almighty as his namesake did so many years ago (Isaiah 6:5).

Sunday 6 Lord, we ask Your

protection for the small Christian minority in north-eastern Nigeria, who are so often attacked by Boko Haram militants. We remember in particular the Christian village of Dille in Borno state, where 14 people were killed and three churches burned down on July 14 and then another 29 people killed in a second attack a fortnight later.

Please comfort those who mourn in Dille and elsewhere, heal the injured and provide for those who have lost their livelihoods. Stop the men of violence in their tracks and change their hearts to seek peace and to seek You. In Jesus’ Name we ask these things.

Monday 7 Christians in Northern and Middle Belt Nigeria are targeted not only by Boko Haram militants but also by ethnic Fulani Muslims.

Barnabas seeks to help the victims.

A recent grant to 280 families in Kafanchan provided rice, beans, cooking oil and stock cubes. Thank the Lord that this enabled the families to stay in their homes and cultivate their land, instead of becoming homeless and jobless.

academia and an end to antiChristian bias. Pray that the young Christians dealing with such injustice blighting their hopes may react in Christ-like ways.

Food aid for Christian victims of Fulani gunmen

Wednesday 9 “Blatant, in-your-face anti-Christian discrimination is the new norm” in American colleges and universities, according to the American Center for Law and Justice, describing it as “astounding in its breadth and shocking in its shamelessness”. Christian students are being rejected, failed or expelled for their faith. Pray for a complete about-turn of attitudes in American

Friday 11 Since the Iranian Bible Society was closed down by the government in 1990, Bibles have been very scarce in Iran. Many Christians did not own a Bible and would copy out long passages by hand from Bibles they had borrowed.

The translation in Farsi (the national language of Iran) dated from the 19th century and many people found it difficult to understand. At the same time they were suffering much persecution. Last year, a new Bible translation was published, which is both accurate and clear. Pray that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, Iranian believers may have hope (Romans 15:4).

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Tuesday 8 An atheist American organization called the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has threatened Concord Community Schools in Indiana with an expensive lawsuit unless they permanently ban the students from putting on their annual “Christmas Spectacular” show. The show is mainly secular in nature but normally ends with about 15 minutes of traditional Christmas carols and Christian characters on stage. The FFRF is calling for this to be replaced with a winter-themed concert focusing on “secular values like family, giving and community”.

At the time of writing, the outcome is unknown. Please pray that the FFRF will back down and allow these young people to include the Christian “reason for the season” in their Christmas show.

Thursday 10 The ethnic Montagnards of Vietnam’s Central Highlands are mainly Christians and have endured decades of persecution by the Communist authorities, partly because of their Christian faith and partly because they were allies of US forces during the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Around 200 of them crossed into Cambodia in the twelve months preceding September 11, 2015, but on that day the Cambodian authorities ordered them all to return to Cambodia within the next three months. As that deadline is now about to pass, pray for their protection, whether they are in Cambodia or Vietnam, and that God will provide them with somewhere they can live in peace and worship Him freely.

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Saturday 12 A young, married, Christian mother of three in Pakistan was kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and married to her kidnapper on July 23. Fouzia Sadiq (26) was abducted by her Muslim employer, Muhammad Nazir Ahmad (56), while she was working in a field. Fouzia’s whole extended family, including children, work for Nazir as bonded laborers, earning a very low wage, which he has now stopped altogether.

When they attempted to register a case against him for the abduction of Fouzia, Nazir brought Fouzia to court and said she had converted to Islam and remarried him of her own free will. Pray for Fouzia that God will rescue her from her unbearable situation. There are many cases like this in Pakistan. Pray that the authorities will exert themselves to bring justice for poor and vulnerable Christians.

Sunday 13 Lord Jesus, thank You for answering the prayers of Christians around the world for Aasia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian mother falsely accused of “blasphemy”, convicted and sentenced to death. We remember that You too experienced exactly the same. We rejoice that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has agreed to hear Aasia Bibi’s appeal and that her execution has been stayed. Please work in the hearts of the three judges, that they may see clearly the truth of her case. May she be acquitted, released and restored to her husband and children.

Monday 14 Last Christmas, Egyptian Christians were thrilled when President El-Sisi unexpectedly turned up at a large church on

Christmas Eve to give Christmas greetings to the worshippers. It was an unprecedented gesture and the congregation erupted in cheers and applause. The president said, “Together we shall build our country.

We are all Egyptians.” This was understood to be an affirmation that all Egyptians are equal in the eyes of the state and there should be no discrimination against Christians.

Pray that El-Sisi will be able to succeed in making his vision a reality, despite the opposition of many elements of Egyptian society.

Tuesday 15 At the time of writing, the conflict in Syria and Iraq shows no sign of abating. Rather, it seems that more and more groups and countries are getting involved – Iran, Russia, Turkey, various Kurdish groups, UK, USA, France and others. The Christian communities are totally helpless and vulnerable.

We may feel helpless in the face of unfolding events, but let us pray with confidence to the Lord whose Name is “Peace” (Judges 6:24) that He will have mercy and bring the bloodshed and destruction to an end.

Wednesday 16 The Iraqi prime minister, Haydar al-Abadi, has set up a committee to document antiChristian crimes in Iraq. Christians are often kidnapped and their homes and land are seized. The committee will carry out a survey of how many Christian properties have been illegally expropriated, usually after their owners fled from violent attacks. Praise God for this initiative, pray that it will be pursued diligently, and will indeed reduce the frequent abuses and violence against them.

Thursday 17 As the snowy months of January and February approach in northern Iraq, thank the Lord for the shelter provided by the heated and insulated tents of Sawra (Hope) village, established by Barnabas Aid near Dohuk, in Iraqi Kurdistan, for displaced Iraqi Christians who fled from Islamic State. Last winter many were trying to survive in half-finished apartment blocks, without side-walls.

Please pray for the speedy completion of another project to provide accommodation for displaced Iraqi Christians, this one in Erbil, the other main city of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Saturday 19 A Syrian source claims that Islamic State (IS) plans to send at least ten members of its all-female Al-Khansaa Brigade to Europe, disguised as tourists, to target “Christian symbols” such as the Vatican, possibly in suicide attacks.

Al-Khansaa is thought to include a number of British and French women in its ranks, who would most easily be able to get back into Europe undetected. IS is allegedly planning also to send female jihadists to other parts of the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. Meanwhile IS themselves have released a video showing a French-speaking militant shooting

Sunday 20 Lord Jesus, as the time

approaches when we specially remember and celebrate Your birth, we pray for Christians living in places such as Saudi Arabia, where any public show of Christianity is banned, even Christmas decorations. We ask that you will protect them as they live out their lives in such a restricted environment, and help them to find ways of meeting together safely for worship, prayer and fellowship so that they may build each other up in their faith and rejoice together at Your coming into the world to save us.

Monday 21 Praise God for the popularity and growth of the Christian school in Bethlehem that Barnabas supports, thus enabling it to offer places to even the poorest of Christian children. The building is now bulging at the seams with 504 students and work has started on a new building for the older classes.

Pray that good progress will be made in construction work over the coming months, so that it will be ready for use by the beginning of the next academic year in August 2016.

Tuesday 22 Last Christmas a choir from the Bethlehem school supported by Barnabas Aid sang carols in four languages: Arabic (the children’s mother tongue), Aramaic (the language of Jesus), English and Latin. Pray that the children will

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Friday 18 The Islamic State (IS) group, who currently control large parts of Syria and Iraq, aim to expand their territory to include the whole of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Spain, Portugal, Greece, and the Indian subcontinent. This they plan to achieve by 2020. Pray that the Lord’s purpose will prevail, despite the many plans in the hearts of IS leaders (Proverbs 19:21).

dead a Syrian army prisoner and claiming that IS will “fill the streets of Paris with dead bodies”. Pray for wisdom for church leaders in Europe to know how to protect their congregations and property, and that security experts will not ignore these threats.

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continue to be built up in their faith by the daily prayers and worship at the school, even as they pursue their academic studies. Pray that the loving environment in the school will give confidence to these youngsters, growing up as a despised minority within the West Bank, who face frequent discrimination.

Wednesday 23 The closing date for Barnabas Aid’s “Safe Havens for Christians” petition is December 31.

Give thanks for the many people who have signed the petition already and pray for more signatures so that the petition will carry greater weight as it is presented to governments around the world in 2016. Thank Him also for those who have written to their elected representatives, making the same requests as the petition: asking Western governments to welcome in Christians from Syria and Iraq fleeing the existential threat they now face from Islamic State, and to work with Middle Eastern governments to provide secure areas for displaced Christians within the region. Pray that law-makers and decision-makers will respond with new policies to help the vulnerable Christians of the Middle East at their hour of need.

Thursday 24 Major Christian celebrations are often a time when radicals from other religions decide to make violent attacks against Christians. Pray for the members of our Christian family around the world who live in such situations, whether Islamic, Hindu or Buddhist, that they will be kept safe at this time.

As angels appeared to the shepherds and to Joseph to guide and protect them, may they guard and watch over believers in this Christmas season.

Friday 25 As we give thanks today for the birth of the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), pray for the millions of Christians around the world who live under the shadow of disadvantage, discrimination and persecution. Pray that as they celebrate His coming they may experience the peace of God that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), and that they may take heart from the knowledge that He has overcome the world (John 16:33). Pray also for God’s special comfort for those marking Christmas for the first time after loved ones have been killed.

Saturday 26 Modern communications technology can be a great channel of blessing for isolated Christians, especially persecuted converts from other religions, who have no other opportunity to get teaching and encouragement in their faith, and no one to celebrate Christmas with. Pray for the many ministries around the world working to produce materials to be accessed online or by TV or radio, or distributed as easily hidden USB sticks, that the Lord will guide them in all they are doing. Pray that they may understand how best to meet the spiritual needs of these faithful followers of the Lord in a safe and secure way.

Sunday 27 Heavenly Father, we pray

for the tens of thousands of Christians in North Korea who suffer unspeakable cruelties in the country’s notorious prison labor camps. We give thanks that You know each one and what they are going through, enduring severe physical and psychological torture, with very little to eat as they are worked sometimes to death, or in

other cases, executed. Please may each find that Your grace is sufficient.

We pray too for North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong-Un, asking that You will guide him to rule his country with more justice and mercy, and that You will reveal Yourself to Him (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Tuesday 29 A church building in Cairo designed for 200 has a congregation every Sunday afternoon of 600 Christians from the Nuba Mountains of Sudan.

They have fled to Egypt to escape persecution by the Sudanese government, and half of them are under 16. Barnabas pays for a hot meal for everyone after the service,

This small church in Egypt hosts 600 Sudanese Christian refugees every Sunday

Wednesday 30 Please pray today for the courageous lawyers, both Christian and Muslim, who represent persecuted Christians in court in many countries. In response to their stand they may themselves be arrested, as was Mohaned Mustafa, chief counsel for the two pastors imprisoned in Sudan earlier this year (see November 10). They may also be threatened with violence, for example, Joseph Francis, who heads up an organization which gives legal assistance to Christians in Pakistan, especially those who have been unfairly targeted by the notorious “blasphemy law”. Ask God to protect them and to give them wisdom and put the right words in their mouths as they seek to defend the innocent and bring about justice.

Thursday 31 Many people in the non-Western world think that the Western New Year is a Christian festival, so it is often a time of increased harassment and violence against Christian minorities. Pray for the protection of our brothers and sisters at this time. Pray especially for converts from other religions, who are especially vulnerable, that in the coming year they may be blessed by the Lord under whose wings they have come for refuge (Psalm 91:4).

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Monday 28 The Lord Jesus Himself was a refugee in Egypt, escaping the murderous wrath of King Herod.

Many other Bible figures also had to flee for their lives. Today hundreds of thousands of Christians have left their homes because of persecution.

Pray that as they are scattered they may take the Gospel with them wherever they go (Acts 8:1,4).

which is very important for such desperately poor people. It also provides a shared time together, which significantly enriches their lives. Pray that they will find hope and joy as they journey two hours every Sunday to worship the Lord and have fellowship with other believers.

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Front cover: An Iraqi Christian mother and baby who fled from Islamic State and are living in a temporary camp for displaced Christians in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

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