North Korea: Sabre rattling
South Korea suspects North Korea to be behind cyber-attacks on computer networks at two major banks and three top TV broadcasters which went into shutdown on Wednesday. Also this week North Korea produced another video showing the United States under attack. The White House and Washington featured in a four-minute video titled ‘Firestorms will rain on the Headquarters of War’ posted on the YouTube channel of North Korea's official website from the state media. The video portrays the United States as a bullying nuclear power intent on bending Pyongyang to its will. ‘Second by second, the fuse of a nuclear war is burning,’ a female narrator warned. ‘There is no limit to the range of our strategic rockets,’ the narrator said. Meanwhile crimes against humanity are committed daily. 200,000 men, women and children are held in prison camps. Religious persecution is boundless. Christianity is ‘public enemy number one’.
Pray: for an end to violent religious oppression, threats of pre-emptive nuclear strikes and continued tensions on the Korean peninsula. (Job20:4-6 &1Ch.17:9)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/
India: Orissa – more violence against Christians
At 2:30 am on 15th February, 60 police officers forced entry into Christian homes in a village in Ganjam district. Pastor Jahaya Mandal heard the commotion and investigated, then police started to interrogate him about his ministry. Church deacon Korneil Roita was called for and subsequently tied to a tree and beaten severely. Other Christians were also tied to trees and beaten. When one of them shouted, ‘O God, O Jesus, Alleluia, Alleluia,’ the police increased the brutality, causing severe injuries. Four hours later police led six (including the pastor and deacon) into the jungle with hands tied and feet bare walking over thorny and rocky ground causing their feet to bleed. They were then taken 12 kilometres from their village and left in a very bad state. Christians in India are vulnerable to violent attacks by Hindu extremists. While police often fail to intervene they are rarely the perpetrators of violence against Christians. Please pray that the police and local officials will do more to uphold religious liberties in India.
Pray: God's peace, comfort and protection over those Christians living in pain and fear of further violence. Ps.12:5-6)
More: http://persecution.in/content/christian-villagers-beaten-orissa
Afghanistan: Christian translations
Please pray for the protection of a production team putting together a film that depicts part of the life of Jesus. It is being dubbed into the language of the largest Afghani tribal group. Pray for the safety of local believers who have volunteered to have their voices used in this project. They are exposing themselves to tremendous risk. When one local believer was asked about his voice being used in the project, he replied, ‘Not my voice only, but all of me belongs to God. It’s my service to Him!’ Pray also for more speakers to come forward, to enable the production of multiple dialects of this language. Pray that the completed film will have secure and anointed distribution.
Pray: for many local people to become followers of Jesus and to be protected as they share their faith. (Mk.10:28-30)
Israel: Security/Syria’s chemical weapons?
In 1997, CIA Director George Tenet told Congress that Syria had or was actively developing chemical and biological weapons. Syria is considered to have one of the most advanced chemical weapon programs in the Arab world. See: http://www.wisconsinproject.org/countries/syria/chem.html On Wednesday a senior Israeli official said ‘it is clear that chemical weapons were recently used in Syria’ and that the attack will be a main topic of conversation with visiting President Barack Obama at the end of this week. The statement conflicts with US assessments of ‘no evidence’ behind Tuesday's chemical weapons attack on a village in the north of Syria. However, a senior US defence official told the Associated Press that he concurred chemical weapons had been used. He spoke anonymously because he is not allowed to speak to the media. Israel is concerned that Syria's chemical arsenal could fall into the hands of anti-Israel militants like Lebanon's Hezbollah, an al-Assad ally, or an al-Qaida-linked group fighting with the Syrian rebels.
Pray: against the use of chemical weapons in the middle east, in the light of Obama’s declaration of military intervention should they be proven to be used. (Pr.2:10-12)
More: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-official-chemical-weapons-used-syria-095543871.html
