“DEEP STATE” OF ISLAMISTS STILL IN SUDAN

 

Barnabas Fund, 7 May 2019

 

The barbarous rule of dictator Omar al-Bashir might be over, but whether Sudan will continue to be run by Islamist extremists hangs in the balance.

 

The al-Bashir government had apparently tried to eradicate Christians from Sudan. It deported Christians to South Sudan and forced them to live as despised second-class citizens under Islamic sharia law.

 

But Islamist regime insiders close to al-Bashir remain in the shadows, determined to maintain their grip on power.

 

These Islamist insiders make up what is being described in media reports as a “deep state” of shadowy authority figures that retain power and influence.

 

Military control may allow this “deep state” to eventually seize power in a countercoup as Islamist influence is strong in the upper echelons of the armed forces.

 

It will be difficult for independent individuals or groups with experience and strength to deal with these dangers.

 

The time may be ripe for Western democracies to help Sudan through diplomacy and also funding, but will these powers grasp this historic opportunity to do so?

Morning Star News, May 2, 2019 

 

A convert from Islam in Algeria whose Muslim wife charged him with inciting her to change her religion won a final court battle in April.

 

The woman who had filed the charges against him divorced him on March 3.

 

“I never wanted her to leave,” he said. “I am even now ready to welcome her if she decides to return.”

 

Rachid Ouali and 4 other Christians had been charged with inciting a Muslim to change her religion after his wife became upset when they sang a Christian song and talked about Jesus at a lunch at his friend’s house.

 

Her two brothers, both policemen, demanded that she file a complaint that Rachid and his four friends had tried to persuade her to leave Islam and become a Christian.

 

Ouali’s attorney said that it was unfortunate that the case resulted in the end of the nearly 10-year marriage.

 

The ruling comes two months after the acquittal was upheld of another convert from Islam who lost his wife, as well as his two young daughters, due to his faith in Christ.

World Watch Monitor, May 2, 2019

 

Burkino Faso is long known for its peaceful co-existence. Over the past two years, however, attacks by Islamist militants, military operations, and waves of inter-communal violence have left hundreds dead and 135,000 displaced.

 

On 28 April, Pastor Pierre Ouédraogo, 80, and other members were chatting in the church yard.  A dozen armed men arrived on motorbikes to storm the place.

 

“The assailants asked the Christians to convert to Islam, but the pastor and the others refused. They ordered them to gather under a tree and took their Bibles and mobile phones. Then they called them, one after the other, behind the church building where they shot them dead”.

 

When relatives had advised Pierre Ouédraogo to leave the area, he refused, saying he “would rather die for his faith than leave the community he has been serving for about 40 years”.

Fraser had a worthwhile visit to the Ivory Coast and returned to South Africa on Friday.

 

Dawn and the team have seen amazing breakthroughs in Drakenstein Prison where one man confessed to his parents that, after seven years of saying he was innocent, he had committed the murder. His parents had been supporting his wife and children while he was in prison. The sobs of his mother were heartrending.

 

Another inmate had asked for prayer for his wife whom he introduced to drugs and for his 9-year-old son who recently stabbed another child and could easily head down the wrong path.  The boy listened to his father and went to church with a neighbour even though none of the rest of his household attended. 

 

The father held a senior rank in one of the prison gangs before he started to follow Jesus.  The gangs are on a recruitment drive, especially targeting high rankers who have left to follow Christ. 

 

Dawn is still in touch with InReach in Nigeria which is changing churchgoers and reaching Muslims.  It is striking how many Muslims in Nigeria are receiving dreams and visions from Jesus. 

Talita Kum

Talita Kum is having a 2-week break as the schools are closed for the Orthodox Church’s Easter celebration.

There is no further news on finding 3 teachers to meet the ongoing needs of the students.

Adrian Poppa, the Director of Talita Kum, will be with us here in Castle Street on Thursday evening, 9^th May, for an update on the school and the funding application that he has to submit for the ongoing operation.

Daniel Centre

With most of the young men now out working during the day, much of the care work is during the evenings and this places more social, and sometimes marital, pressure on the reduced staff.    

Balazs is trying to find the Christianity Explored course in the Romanian language and still hoping to begin this course with the young men in May.

He also has to prepare a report for the Blythswood Trustees to demonstrate the measurable impact of the work of the Daniel Centre – i.e. its value for the money it receives – and asks for our prayers as he has to present this report on May 29/30 in Evanton.

Voice of the Martyrs, 28 April 2019

Both Malaysia and Brunei are Muslim-majority countries, and both apply their own manner of control over their inhabitants, based on their brand of Islamic law.

New believers are forced to walk away from friends and family who won’t tolerate apostates. Islamic radicalism is constantly present and is pressuring the authorities to implement more of their brand of Sharia law.

Many Christians are steadfast in their pursuit of God’s love and His presence. Praise and worship in the flourishing house church movements are electrifying with the power of the Holy Spirit – the presence of the Lord is tangible.

Christians are coping with the ever-changing pressure to renounce their faith and are overcoming these challenges by immersing themselves in God’s Word and spending quality time with Him.

The house church movement is growing rapidly, and the church needs quality leaders to undergird this growth and build a solid foundation that will withstand the constant barrage of Islamic radicalism.

The Body of Christ is healthy in these countries.

Barnabas Fund, 24 April 2019

Christians including a US woman and an Indian man who were training local pastors at a local church have been detained by police in Nepal.

The police arrested 2 Nepali Christians, 2 foreign nationals and their Nepali driver on 23 April, accusing them of “luring conversions” to Christianity, and detained them overnight.

The two Nepali Christians and Indian national await a hearing on Sunday 28 April facing charges under the new “anti-conversion” law.

The group were running training courses for pastors, but police claimed that they were trying to lure people into Christianity by offering medical care and money.

A new law in force in Nepal since September 2018 makes it an offence to “involve or encourage in conversion of religion”, meaning that any public Christian activity is potentially illegal.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, 30 April 2019

Alma and her family were thrown out of their village in Jalisco State, along with around 60 others, because they are Protestant Christians. Their homes and possessions were destroyed.

They were forced to move to a town many miles away, living with several other families in a disused church hall. She was too late to enrol at the school in her new neighbourhood and may never be able to complete her education.

José Gabriel and his family had to flee their village in Chiapas when village leaders tried to force them to renounce their Protestant beliefs, and they refused. Their possessions were destroyed, and they live, along with several other families, in a temporary shelter.

This Children’s Day in Mexico (30 April 2019), we have been making a noise that the Mexican authorities couldn’t ignore.

Please pray for us as we speak up for children in Mexico to have an equal education, whatever their faith or the faith of their parents.

Morning Star News, April 29, 2019

Family members and sympathizers have attended a funeral for eight young Christians, killed when an off-duty security officer drove his vehicle into their Easter procession.

The officer had angry words with leaders of the Christian procession that delayed him and a passenger, an off-duty police officer.

The Christian leaders of the Christian youth organization let the two Muslim men pass through, but the driver warned them he would return, made a U-turn, switched off his headlights and rammed the procession from behind.

The driver was a Muslim official of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and his passenger a Muslim police officer.

The vehicle assault also sent 12 Christians to the hospital for treatment of injuries.

The two officers were also killed when crowds that survived the vehicle assault reportedly chased them down and mobbed them.

Fraser’s upcoming trip to Cote d’Ivoire is still in the balance as he waits for funds to be released to buy his air ticket.  Please pray that he’d have peace whatever happens.  He need continuous blocks of time to produce training materials for the portal without emails or phone calls to distract him. 

It is amazing to hear the testimonies of some of the men in prison and to wonder at how God takes lives lived in rebellion and changes them beyond recognition.

Steven, after enthusiastically following God for several years, suddenly had a crisis of faith and wanted to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. But God made it very plain that Steven belonged to him.

Ayando wants God’s help to change and has re-joined anger management courses.

32 of 36 lifers in Gautang finally admitted their guilt for the first time at the end of a week-long Restorative course.

There are more opportunities than there are people to run courses.  The harvest is ready, but the workers are few.  Dawn continues to lead Bible study at Stellenbosch.  Mel and her son Liam have started coming to help.  Pray they’ll feel able to lead when Dawn isn’t there.