BARNABAS FUND AID AGENCY FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

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To help you
pray for the
persecuted
church

January /
february
2015
barnabasfund.org

January/February 2015 2

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.

tents, which were previously used

by the British army in Afghanistan,
are being transported by truck and
will provide a safe, warm home for
600-1,000 displaced Iraqi Christians.
The complex also contains washing
machines, showers, toilets and a
large meeting space, and each tent is
equipped with air-conditioning and
heating. Pray that Sawra Village will
bring hope to the displaced Christians
and a place of rest and peace from
where they can restart their lives.
(Sawra means hope in Assyrian.)

January
Thursday 1 As Iraqi Christians look
ahead to the coming year, the future
must seem very uncertain. The
previous twelve months saw the
sudden rise of Islamic State (IS) and
its rapid seizing of territory causing
hundreds of thousands of Christians
to flee their homes to escape its brutal
anti-Christian rule. The homes they
were in last 1 January have now been
given to IS fighters, and realistically it
is doubtful that the Christians can ever
return to their ancestral lands. As they
wonder where they will be a year from
now, pray that they will cling to the
promises of Scripture and know that
the Lord your God will be with you
wherever you go (Joshua 1:9).
Friday 2 Pray for the safe arrival of a
state-of-the-art tented village in Iraqi
Kurdistan, due in mid-January. The

Former British military tents, provided by

Barnabas Fund, will provide shelter for up to
1,000 displaced Christians in Iraq
Saturday 3 They have turned it into
a mosque! Archbishop Nicodemus
Daoud of Mosul, Iraq, broke down
and wept as he uttered these words
about his cathedral, now under the
control of Islamic State (IS). When IS
militants were just 300 metres from
his residence, he had finally left the
city, and joined 160,000 or more Iraqi
Christians who had already fled from
ISs advance to the relative safety of
Iraqi Kurdistan. He also said he had

learned how true it is that treasure

in heaven is far more important
than possessions on earth, and this
is what he preaches to the displaced
and dispossessed Christians. Pray
that God will strengthen all displaced
Iraqi church leaders, so they in turn
can strengthen the faith of their
traumatised congregations.

Monday 5 Lift up in prayer the

Egyptian parliament, as they intend
to vote early this year on a proposed
law that will remove restrictions on
building churches in Egypt. According
to Egypts new constitution, passed a
year ago, parliament is required in its
first session to issue a law regulating
the construction and restoration of
churches in a way that ensures that
Christians perform their religious rites
freely. Under current laws, Christians
struggle to meet the legal requirements
when attempting to build a church,
which include being 100 metres
away from a mosque and receiving
permission from the head of state. Pray
that the law will pass and that Egypt

Tuesday 6 Hundreds of Egyptian

Christians took to the streets in
Samalout, Minya province, on 16
September to pressurise police into
finding a 37-year-old Christian woman,
who had been abducted two weeks
earlier. Christian women and girls
are very vulnerable to abduction by
Muslims, and the police will seldom act
to rescue them. Pray for all Egyptian
women now being held against their
will in Muslim homes, most likely after
being forcibly converted to Islam and
married to their abductor. Pray that
the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will
remind them of all that they know of
Gods Word and strengthen them in
their Christian faith (John 14:26).
Wednesday 7 Continue to remember
those in prison as if you were together
with them in prison, and those who
are mistreated as if you yourselves
were suffering (Hebrews 13:3). Three
Christian converts from Islam were
arrested in Iran on 27 September
by intelligence officers. The men,
Shahram Ghaedi, Heshmat Shafiei and
Emad Haghi, are believed to have been
targeted because of their involvement
in a Jesus Film project. Please, Lord,
be with Shahram, Heshmat and Emad
throughout their imprisonment and
use them there for Your purposes and
Your glory.
Thursday 8 Pray for the two men in
Kazakhstan who have been given a tenday prison sentence for distributing
Christian literature. Kazakh authorities
confiscated 252 Christian books

January/February 2015 3

Sunday 4 Dear Lord Jesus, we pray

to You today for our courageous
brothers and sisters in Egypt who have
kept the flame of the Christian faith
burning in their land for 2,000 years,
despite generations of discrimination
and persecution. We praise You that
their witness has drawn many to You
despite knowing the suffering that
is likely to follow. We pray also for
President al-Sisi, who has expressed a
determination to improve the situation
of Egyptian Christians. Please guide
him in ways of righteousness, justice
and peace and use him to be a blessing
to Egypt and all its people.

will uphold its constitution, which

greatly improves religious freedom in
the country.

January/February 2015 4

from them, including Jesus: More

than a Prophet. This particular title
underwent expert analysis, which
claimed that the book contained
elements inciting religious hatred and
discord. The two men, Vyacheslav
and Zhasulan, were also fined the
equivalent of four months average
wage in Kazakhstan for repeatedly
distributing religious literature without
state permission. Pray that Christian
in Kazakhstan will continue to have
courage to obey the Lords command
to witness for him (Acts 4:19-20).
Friday 9 Three months ago
Kyrgyzstans State Commission
for Religious Affairs announced a
proposal to tighten the countrys
already very repressive religion law.
Under the proposal all religious
organisations will be required to
re-register with the authorities, and
the number of founding members
required for organisations seeking
registration will rise from 200 (already
a difficult target for rural churches)
to 500. There would also be harsher
punishments for those convicted of
taking part in unauthorised religious
activities. Please pray that Christians
in Kyrgyzstan will be strong and
courageous, not afraid or dismayed,
as they face a deteriorating religious
liberty situation (Joshua 1:9).
Saturday 10 Give thanks that a threeday camp in Central Asia last year,
which Barnabas funded, provided a
precious learning time about Gods
plan for families. The ten participating
couples, all Christian converts from
Islam, had unwittingly continued
in their Muslim customs and mindsets. As unregistered home churches

are forbidden to gather together

openly, the church leaders struggle to
find opportunities to teach converts
Christian family values. Afterwards
the ten couples felt so empowered
by what they had learned that they
started teaching other families both
Christian and Muslim about godly
family relationships. Pray that the
teaching may continue to spread.
Sunday 11 Heavenly Father, we lift

up Christians in Uzbekistan who are

persecuted simply for having Christian
literature in their homes. We pray for
them that they will have peace in their
hearts day by day, despite knowing
that at any time police could raid their
home. Please bless Artur who was
fined 50 times the minimum monthly
wage. Bless Maksim and Tatyana who
had 65 books (including childrens
Bibles) seized in a raid. Bless Aleksei
and Diana whose home was raided
by twelve police officers taking
two Braille Bibles, other literature
and a laptop. May they count their
persecution pure joy, knowing that
the testing of their faith produces
perseverance and maturity.

Christians at worship in Uzbekistan

Image Source: Kevin Hamm, Flickr

Monday 12 Lift up in prayer Aasia

Bibi, a Pakistani Christian mother,
whose appeal against her conviction
under Pakistans blasphemy law
was rejected and a death sentence
confirmed at the Lahore High Court
on 16 September. She has been in
prison since being falsely accused
of defiling the name of Muhammad
during an argument with Muslim
co-workers in 2009. Please pray
that Pakistans Supreme Court will
overturn her conviction and that she
will be released.

Wednesday 14 Benjamin, a
Cameroonian secret believer from
a Muslim background, was falsely
accused of being a member of
Boko Haram. The mans uncle had
discovered Benjamins conversion
and forced him out of his job as an
insurance agent, so Benjamin had fled
to live with his brother. Eventually
his brother noticed that Benjamin
would not join in Islamic prayers. Soon
after this, Benjamin was arrested by
Cameroonian soldiers, beaten, tortured
and imprisoned because of a tip-off
that he was a member of Boko Haram.

Thursday 15 Thousands of Christians

in northern Cameroon have been
displaced because of the brutality of
Boko Haram. Repeated raids by the
Islamist group have forced many to
flee with nothing but the clothes on
their backs. Displaced Christians
are living in appalling conditions.
An estimated 15,000 people were
sharing just two water supply points in
Minawao. Food and medical support is
also insufficient; more than 100 people
died in one month from malnutrition.
Ask our heavenly Father to give His
faithful children in Cameroon their
daily bread and other needs.
Friday 16 In September Islamic State
(IS) militants laid mines around a
church in Deir al-Zour, Syria, and
destroyed it with a blast that resonated
through the city. Constructed in
1989-1990, Holy Martyrs church
commemorated the Armenian and
Assyrian genocide which peaked 100
years ago. Its compound included a
memorial and a museum, containing
not only documents about the genocide
but also the remains of some of its
victims. Many refer to Deir al-Zour
as the Auschwitz of the Armenian
Genocide because hundreds of
thousands of Armenian and Assyrian
Christians were forcibly removed from
their homelands in Ottoman Turkey
and marched across the desert to Deir
al-Zour, with huge numbers dying on
the way. Pray for Christians in Syria
reeling from the shock of this event
and the savage message conveyed by
ISs choice of target.

January/February 2015 5

Tuesday 13 Remember Christians

in northern Cameroon whose
communities have been attacked
numerous times by Boko Haram. For
example, in September 2014, two
separate raids on the northern village
of Tourou and its surrounding area left
26 Christians dead. Among those killed
were a Christian worker and the son of a
pastor. Eight churches had to be closed
because of the destruction and five
believers homes were burned down.
Pray for those who have been bereaved,
that they will know Gods comfort.

Pray for his release and restoration to

full health. Barnabas Fund is assisting
with some of his legal and other needs.

January/February 2015 6

Saturday 17 A Christian grandmother

in Syria, who is receiving regular
aid from Barnabas, said that she is
comforted by knowing that her God
is no stranger to suffering. Last year
her grandchildren were still living
with their parents in Mhardeh, one of
Syrias last unviolated Christian towns.
But then fighters from the al-Qaedalinked al-Nusra Front attacked the
town with mortar bombs, first killing
the father and five months later, the
mother. The grandmother is now
taking care of her three grandchildren,
the oldest of whom is six. Pray that
Christians and all Syrians mourning
the loss of loved ones will experience
Gods comfort and that the violence in
Syria will cease.
Sunday 18 Almighty God, we pray
for the many thousands of Syrian
Christians who have fled from
the cities to seek safety in the
mountainous Valley of the Christians
near Homs. We think of the desperate
overcrowding, the lack of food, the
shortage of heaters and even blankets
to keep themselves warm during
winter in one of the coldest places in
Syria. We pray for milder weather
than normal and an early spring. We
ask that bronchitis, pneumonia and
other winter illnesses will not spread
among the displaced Christians.
Above all, we ask that they will know
Your presence and peace despite their
suffering and turmoil, and that all they
have endured for Your Name will draw
them closer to You.
Monday 19 Please continue to pray
for the displaced Christians in Iraq
and Syria, as Islamic State (IS) has
continued to consolidate their power

in the region by Islamising institutions

and societies. IS has carried out mass
executions of national police and army
officers, regulated education for young
students, and enforced a strict dress
code for women. Abandoned Christian
homes in Raqqa, Syria have been given
to Muslims jihadis from the West.
Please pray for Christians who see no
possibility of returning home due to
ISs control over the area.
Tuesday 20 Give thanks to the Lord
that seven Christian villages in
northern Iraq were liberated following
a push by Iraqi and Kurdish forces to
reclaim territory captured by Islamic
State (IS) militants. The villages,
located near Mosul, in the Nineveh
plain, the heartland of Iraqi Christians,
were liberated in September, only
a month after many of its residents
were forced to flee as IS militants
descended upon the area. Pray that
God will guide the former inhabitants
with wisdom to know whether they
should return home now or remain in
other safer locations.
Wednesday 21 Praise God that
Christian children from the persecuted
Christian-majority Karen people in
Burma (Myanmar) are experiencing
Gods healing at a Barnabas-funded
Christian childrens home in Thailand.
Most of the 104 children at the home
were witness to horrific violence to
their family and neighbours by the
Burmese military and spent days in
the jungle suffering hunger and thirst
to escape the soldiers. Some were
forced to work as child soldiers. Pray
that one day they will be able to return
to their villages and live out their faith
in peace.

it difficult to support themselves in

the new village where they are now
living, as their farm and land are in the
old village. The elderly head of one
family died soon after being relocated,
which friends think is because of the
distress of leaving his ancestral home.
Praise God for their faithfulness and
pray that they will find hope in His
specific promise of eternal life for those
who have left fields for Christs sake
(Matthew 19:29).

Thursday 22 Give thanks that six

of seven imprisoned believers were
released in Laos on 3 October after
being detained for five days. The
Christians had been eating lunch at
the home of Pastor Sompong Supatto
after morning service when they were
arrested by village security officials
and police officers. However, weeks
after his arrest, it was reported that
Pastor Sompong was still in custody,
handcuffed and his legs in stocks. Lift
up Pastor Sompong in his suffering
and pray for his release.
Friday 23 Six Hmong Christian
families in Laos were forced to
leave their homes in Ko Hai village,
Khamkeut district last year because
they refused to deny Christ and
return to the animist beliefs of most
of the villagers. Two of the men had
already been detained for a month,
in an effort to make them renounce
their Christian faith. The families find

Sunday 25 Dear Lord Jesus, we ask

you to comfort the grieving relatives

of the Nigerian school-boys killed in
suicide bomb attack at a Christian
school in Potiskum, Yobe state, in
November. At least 47 died and many
more were hurt as they gathered for
morning assembly. Please lay your
healing hand on the injured and restore
them to full health. Please touch also
the hearts of those who planned this
attack and encouraged the suicide
bomber to do it, leading them to
repentance and a true understanding
of what pleases God.

January/February 2015 7

I feel safe and love to sing songs to Jesus,

said a Karen child from Burma about her life
at a Barnabas-funded childrens home

Saturday 24 On 23 October believers

in Vietnams capital, Hanoi, held a
protest outside an official building
demanding that local authorities stop
construction work on land that legally
belongs to a church. Church members
said that the authorities move to fill
in an 18,200 square metre lake on
church land is in violation of the law;
they believe that this action was taken
in order to reduce the influence of the
church in the region. Pray that the
government will cease its harassment
and that Christians will be given true
freedom of religion.

January/February 2015 8

Monday 26 Christians in north-eastern

Nigeria are in extreme danger of
attack as the Islamist group Boko
Haram seek to expand control in the
area. The predominantly Christian
city of Mubi was seized by Boko
Haram on 29 October and its name
was changed to Madinatul Islam,
which means City of Islam. It
is apparently intended to be Boko
Harams headquarters. Residents
were trapped, churches and homes
torched, and there were reports that
Christians were tortured and killed.
Christians were given three options:
leave, convert to Islam, or be killed.
Some 13,000 people fled the city. Cry
out to the Lord for believers who are
trapped, bereaved, injured, destitute
or homeless because of the attack.
Tuesday 27 We need help. Our people
are dying. Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor,
president of the Christian Association
of Nigeria, spoke out about Boko
Harams attacks. I believe as bad as
the situation is, with God, all things
are possible. I know that there is
God. He will not forsake us. We have
restrained our people so much and
we will continue to restrain them.
But I beg Nigerians not to let this
continue. Pray that the Nigerian
military will succeed in freeing the
territory that Boko Haram has seized.
Pator Oritsejafor also appealed to
Nigerian Muslims: You defeat an
ideology with a superior ideology.
Boko Haram will not listen to me. I
want to make an appeal to our Muslim
clerics and Muslim political leaders to
come together and see how they can
help us solve this problem. Pray that
moderate Muslims will condemn the
cruelty and violence of Boko Haramm,

despite the risk that they themselves

will face by speaking out.
Wednesday 28 Attacks by Muslim
Fulani herdsmen against Christians in
Nigeria are increasing at an alarming
rate in Kaduna state and Taraba state.
On 14 September Christians were
killed and homes were burned in
Tunari village, in the Wukari area of
Taraba state. An estimated 20 men,
women and children died in the attack.
A similar incident occurred in Kaduna
state where one person was killed and
three others seriously injured in an
assault by armed Fulani herdsmen
as worshippers attended a morning
church service in the village of Ungwan
Powpow. Pray that God will comfort
the victims families and that He will
bring their assailants to justice.
Thursday 29 Give thanks to the Lord
that four Nigerian schoolgirls, who
had been kidnapped by Boko Haram
six months earlier, managed to escape
from a camp run by the Islamist group
in Cameroon. They were part of a
group of around 270 kidnapped from
their school in the predominantly
Christian town of Chibok, Borno
State, on 14 April. They walked west
for more than three weeks until they
arrived, starving and traumatised, in
a Nigerian village. Pray that God will
protect these girls and their families
and that the rest of the kidnapped girls
will make it home safely. Boko Haram
claims that all the kidnapped Chibok
girls have been converted to Islam and
married off.
Friday 30 Thank the Lord that a food
distribution funded by Barnabas
helped 2,000 Christian families in

famine-stricken western Kenya survive

last years drought. Each family
received 16kg of maize, 3.3kg of beans,
cooking oil and salt. Women greeted
the food relief trucks arriving at their
church enthusiastically with song
and hands raised high. And children
who had been lying on the ground
from weakness and hunger were soon
noticeably better after drinking the
milk given to them while the food
distribution was in progress. Pray that
the Lord will bless the region this year
with a bountiful harvest.

church members had been receiving

threats from Muslims, who had vowed
to reduce the number of Christians in
the area. Despite government efforts,
attacks against Christians in Tanzania
are on the rise. Please pray for the
widow and children (aged four and
two) of Dioniz Ngwandu, 31, who died
in the attack, and for the full recovery
of the injured believer.

February
Sunday 1 We thank you, Lord, for

Hungry Kenyan Christian children drinking

milk provided by Barnabas
Saturday 31 On 9 October, as
four Christian men met to pray in
an unfinished church building in
Tanzania, masked men with machetes
attacked, killing one Christian and
seriously injuring another. Dioniz
Ngwandu, 31, died in the attack,
leaving behind a wife and two children,
aged four and two. Before this incident

Monday 2 Pray for the Sri Lankan

believers in the Matale District, as
local authorities threated to demolish
a temporary shelter being used by a
church for worship services. During
a meeting, the chairman of the
provincial council lashed out at the
pastor and said that he would ensure
that the shelter was demolished and
that the churchs plan for a permanent
building would never be approved. The
church in question was established 17
years ago, and according to Sri Lankan
law, there is no legal requirement
for places of worship to obtain

January/February 2015 9

the public commitment made by

the Prime Minister of Nepal, Sushil
Koirala, that religious freedom will be
upheld in the countrys long awaited
constitution. We pray that this will
be an encouragement to our brothers
and sisters in Nepals growing Church,
who are often discriminated against
by the Hindu majority. Please protect
Your people in Nepal and guide Prime
Minster Koirala and all other decisionmakers in Nepal to ensure that his
promise about religious freedom
is kept.

January/February 2015 10

registration. Pray that the Lord will

protect His Church in Sri Lanka and
that Christians will be granted true
freedom of religion.
Tuesday 3 Two Christian workers in
Polonnaruwa District, Sri Lanka were
on their way to visit a Christian family
in Siripura village on 22 October but
were stopped by a mob of about 300
villagers led by three Buddhist monks
who stood outside the Christian
home to prevent the visitors getting
there. They shouted threats to warn
them against entering the village.
Many Christians in Sri Lanka are
encountering opposition like this.
Pray that their Christ-like response
may soften the hearts of those who
persecute them.
Wednesday 4 Give thanks to God
that the Bilaspur High Court in India
has opposed a ban on non-Hindu
missionaries entering villages in
the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh
state. The ban had been agreed to
by more than 50 local assemblies in
Bastar; however, the Chhattisgarh
Christian Forum filed a petition with
the High Court to oppose the ban.
Despite the High Courts stance,
the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP),
a militant Hindu fundamentalist
group, demands that the ban is fully
implemented. Pray that the Lord will
protect His Church in India, especially
in Chhattisgarh state where Christians
are under great pressure.
Thursday 5 Twelve Christians were
injured during an attack by a group
of Hindu extremists in the Bastar
district of Indias Chhattisgarh
state on 20 October. A group of 40

Christians were attacked by around

50 assailants with knives, sticks and
axes. The Christians had gathered in
Madota village for what was intended
to be a mediation meeting to resolve
rising tensions with the local Hindu
community. Upon arriving there was
no one from the district administration
to greet the Christians; instead, they
were ambushed by militants. Eleven of
the twelve injured were hospitalised.
Pray that the Lord will heal those who
were injured in the attack and that the
assailants will be brought to justice.
Friday 6 On 4 November, a group of
eight Christians meeting in a church
in the village of Kotla in Madhya
Pradesh state, India were attacked by
Hindu radical Bajrang Dal activists.
After being stripped and beaten by
their attackers, the Christians were
then arrested by the police. The
Hindu radicals told police that the
Christians were planning forced
conversions. In August 2013, the
Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion
Act was toughened and has often been
used to make false accusations of
forced conversion. Pray that Indian
Christians will not be intimidated and
will continue to proclaim the Gospel.
Saturday 7 Thank God that a church
building in Bangladesh, erected with
help from Barnabas Fund, has given
the poor and needy rural congregation
a precious place of worship and
improved many relationships. Before,
the villages 85 Christians would
meet for worship in front of each
others houses, while in the rainy
season they could not meet at all. The
congregation feel that the building
has brought them a greater unity. It

has also improved relations with the

other villagers, because the church
premises are used for community
activities such as pre-school classes
and vaccination programmes.

Sunday 8 Lord God, we cry out to you

for the family and friends of Shehzad

Masih and Shama Bibi, a Christian
husband and wife, who were brutally
killed in November by a Muslim mob in
a Pakistani village near the town of Kot
Radha Kishan. The couple were beaten
and then burned alive in a brick kiln
furnace after local media reported that
Shama had burned pages of the Quran
and thrown them in a rubbish bin. We
ask that You will bring good even out
of such horrific suffering, and that the
outcry in Pakistan about this incident
will lead to a lasting improvement in
the situation of Christians.

Monday 9 Praise the Lord that an

Argentinian pastor survived an
attempt on his life. Marcelo Nieva

Tuesday 10 A law passed in Bolivia

last year requires all churches and
non-profit organisations to re-register
their legal charters. They will now
have to hand in detailed data of their
membership, leadership and finances.
Furthermore, they will have to comply
with a new administrative structure
based on the worldview and beliefs
of the indigenous Aymara people.
Please pray for the Christians who are
challenging this law through Bolivias
judicial process. Pray that they will be
watchful, stand firm in their faith, be
courageous and be strong
(1 Corinthians 16:13).
Wednesday 11 Cuban pastor Mario
Felix Lleonart Barroso and his wife
Yoaxis Marcheco have been repeatedly
harassed by the authorities. Yoaxis
was arrested on 16 October and
threatened with imprisonment. She
was told to stop having contact with
counter-revolutionary elements,
an accusation that was also levelled
against her husband earlier in the
month. Pray that the Lord will protect
Rev. Barroso and his wife and that the
Cuban church will be granted complete
religious freedom.

January/February 2015 11

This Bangladeshi congregation feels a

greater sense of unity as they can meet
together in their new building

was shot multiple times by gunmen

as he drove through the city of
Rio Tercero on 21 October 2014.
Marcelos outreach to support victims
of domestic abuse, sex trafficking
and drugs had made him an enemy
of many, and his lawyer expressed
concerns over his and his churchs
safety as he recovers in hospital.
Please pray for Marcelos physical
healing, for the churchs protection
and that his ministry will be able to
continue.

January/February 2015 12

Thursday 12 Lift up in prayer those

affected by a grenade attack on a
church in the southern Philippines
on 8 October. Felomina Ferolin, a
54-year-old nurse, and teacher Gina
Cabilona, 39, were killed in the attack,
which targeted a mid-week service.
At least 40 worshippers were inside
the building when two men on a
motorbike fired a grenade launcher
at the door of the church in Pikit, on
the island of Mindanao. Three injured
Christians were hospitalised, one in a
critical condition. Pray that the Lord
will comfort the surviving families
and that the assailants will be brought
to justice.
Friday 13 Pray for the Filipino
Christians living in Zamboanga City,
Mindanao who narrowly escaped an
attempted bomb attack on 11 October.
The improvised explosive device
was defused at the scene by security
forces with no reports of injuries.
Many Muslims live in Mindanao,
which has been suffered decades
of violence by Islamist militants
seeking greater autonomy. Members
of two other militant Islamist groups
in the Philippines, Bangsamoro
Islamic Freedom Fighters and the
al-Qaeda-linked group Abu Sayyaf,
have recently pledged allegiance to
the militant group known as Islamic
State, which is persecuting Christians
in Iraq and Syria. Pray that the Lord
will continue to protect His people in
the Philippines.
Saturday 14 Pray for Christians in
the southern Philippians as the largest
Islamist rebel group, the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF), announced
that it will be forming a political party

called the United Bangsamoro Justice

Party (UBJ). This agreement follows
a decades-long Muslim insurgency
for an independent Islamic state,
in which Christians were targeted
in violent campaigns. Pray that the
creation of a semi-independent Islamic
region called Bangsamoro will not
lead to Christians in the region being
oppressed or discriminated against.
The mayor of Wao, a predominantly
Christian town on Mindanao, has
asked that his town be exempted from
the Bangsamoro government and the
rule of sharia law.
Sunday 15 We praise and thank You,

Lord, that Iranian Christian Homayoun

Shokouhi was granted conditional
release from prison on 10 November
2014 after his family had appealed.
We pray for the two remaining
Christians in prison from the group
in Shiraz arrested with Homayoun
on 8 February 2012, Mojtaba and
Vahid, that they will be sustained and
strengthened in the Lord. We ask
too that You will change the hearts of
those in power in Iran, so that
holding house-church meetings
and sharing the Gospel will not be
punishable offences.
Monday 16 A shopkeeper in Lahore,
Pakistan, has been selling shoes been
designed to insult Christians. The
shoes were printed with crosses on
their soles. In Pakistani culture, to
place anything on the ground is to
insult that object, and any symbol on
the sole of a shoe is considered defiled.
Christians held demonstrations in
early October after it emerged that
police were reluctant to act. Pakistans
blasphemy law lays down draconian

punishments for anyone considered

to have insulted Muhammad or the
Quran, but does not protect other
religions. Pray that the downtrodden
and despised Christians of Pakistan
might know the Lord as their shield,
their glory and the one who lifts their
heads high (Psalm 3:3).

Wednesday 18 Continue to pray for

Meriam Ibrahim from Sudan, now
living in the USA with her disabled
husband Daniel and their two young
children. Although her conviction
and death sentence for apostasy from
Islam was overturned in June 2014,
some of her relatives appealed against
the decision to free her. Her case has
therefore been brought before Sudans
Supreme Court. Meanwhile Meriam
has launched a campaign against
religious persecution to help those who
have been arrested because of their
religion, saying, There are others who
are in worse conditions in Sudan than
what I was in.

Meriam Ibrahim
Friday 20 Christians in North Korea
are brutally punished, along with
their whole families, in the countrys
notorious labour camps. Although
little news of our suffering brothers
and sisters reaches the outside world,
our Heavenly Father knows what they
need (Matthew 6:32). Commit these
courageous believers into His hands.

January/February 2015 13

Tuesday 17 A Christian school in

Pakistan that Barnabas Fund built in
2012 and continues to sponsor is lifting
almost an entire generation of local
Christian children out of illiteracy and
poverty. Before the school opened, only
10% of the Christian children in the
area were being educated. Now, thanks
to the minimal fees the Christian
school charges, 80% are in school.
And the children no longer have to
undergo the discrimination they
experienced at other schools because
of their faith. Pray that the remaining
20% of local Christian children will
also start attending the school and that
the children will grow up to be strong
ambassadors for Christ.

Thursday 19 Ask God to protect the

lawyers in Sudan who are representing
Meriam Ibrahim, as they take her
case to Sudans Constitutional Court.
They have received death threats from
Islamic extremists. In line with sharia
law, Sudanese law prescribes the death
penalty for those who leave Islam. But
Meriams legal team will challenge this
on the basis of Article 38 of Sudans
2005 interim constitution which states
that, no person shall be coerced to
adopt such faith, that he/she does not
believe in. If the Constitutional Court
were to decide that penalising apostasy
is unconstitutional, it could open the
way to full freedom of religion for
Sudanese Muslims who wish to change
their religion; pray for this outcome.

January/February 2015 14

Saturday 21 Indonesias new

government, led by President Joko
Widodo, has promised to give equal
rights to religious minorities. New
laws will protect Christians and other
religious minority groups from attack
and discrimination and will make it
easier for them to obtain permits to
build places of worship. Give thanks to
God for new hope for Christians and
other minorities. Pray also for
the smooth implementation of these
new regulations, which are opposed
by Islamists.
Sunday 22 Dear Lord Jesus, we pray for
the many expatriate Christians living
in Saudi Arabia, especially those from
Africa and Asia who are treated worse
by the authorities if they catch them
practising their faith. We pray also
for Saudi converts from Islam only
You know how many there are. Please
continue to protect them from the death
sentence which Saudi law decrees for
those who leave Islam. Thank you for
the freedom we have to meet together
to worship You without fear. Please
sustain the faith of those in Saudi
Arabia who take such risks to meet
discreetly for prayer with other Christians and of the secret believers who
can never have fellowship at all. Watch
over their coming and going both now
and forevermore (Psalm 121:8).
Monday 23 Praise God for the highprofile message brought before the
House of Lords by the UKs Prince
Charles in November. Lamenting
the suffering of Christians in the
Middle East and elsewhere, he
called on Muslim leaders to raise

awareness about religious persecution

in Muslim-majority countries. Give
thanks also that the case of Aasia Bibi
has been discussed in the House of
Commons. Fifty-four British MPs
signed a letter expressing their deep
concern about the injustice of this
Pakistani Christian womans death
sentence for blasphemy. Pray that
British politicians will be prompted to
further action.
Tuesday 24 Many Iraqi Christian
women and children have been taken
captive by Islamic State (IS) militants
and sold as slaves. IS released a
shocking document that revealed
the prices of Christian slaves. These
prices varied from 50,000 dinars
(27; 34; $43) for women aged 4050 to 200,000 dinars (107; 136;
$170) for children aged one to nine.
Yazidi women are also being enslaved.
Sharia allows Muslims to take human
beings as slaves as part of their war
booty in the context of jihad. Pray
that the Lord will protect all women
and children who are currently slaves
in Iraq or elsewhere. Pray that the
international community will act to
set them free.
Wednesday 25 Thank the Lord for
the generosity of Barnabas Fund
supporters and the untiring work of
local churches in Iraqi Kurdistan,
which have provided food, hygiene
articles, and other basic needs for tens
of thousands of displaced Christians.
In this region there is normally
snow lying on the ground in January
and February. Pray for the effective
distribution of blankets and heaters to
help the homeless survive the winter
cold. Many had arrived in Kurdistan

last year with only the clothes on their

back after fleeing from IS militants
last summer.
Thursday 26 Sixty converts from Islam
in Burundi were greatly encouraged
by each others testimonies when they
met together for workshops funded by
Barnabas. Sharing together, as well as
studying the Scriptures, helped equip
them to stand firm in their Christian
faith, even when facing violence and
rejection by their Muslim families
and communities. Pray that they
may continue strong in the Lord,
remembering everything they were
taught and build themselves up in their
faith (Jude 20).

Saturday 28 Pray for Barnabas Funds

Save the Christians of the Middle
East petition. Pray that it will be
effective in drawing the attention of
politicians and decision-makers to the
plight of Christian in the Middle East,
especially Iraq and Syria. Pray that
leaders of many Western countries
will intervene to protect Christian
minorities in the Middle East, will
provide humanitarian aid and will
welcome Christian asylum-seekers.

Burundian converts from Islam at a workshop that strengthened them in their faith

January/February 2015 15

Friday 27 At the time of writing it

was predicted that the food crisis in
South Sudan might become a fullblown famine in early 2015. Please
pray for the long-suffering people of
this Christian-majority nation, whose

land was devastated by decades of civil

war against the Islamic North as the
Southerners fought to prevent sharia
being imposed on them. Pray that
the Church may play a leading role in
helping to bring peace and a measure
of prosperity to this desperately poor
country. Due to the civil war, many
of todays Church leaders have had
very little formal education. Pray that
the Holy Spirit will equip them for the
challenging task God has given them.

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Barnabas Fund 2015
Front Cover: Displaced Iraqi
Christians living in unfinished
buildings in Iraqi Kurdistan
Barnabas Fund is a Company
registered in England Number
4029536. Registered Charity
Number 1092935