Month: September 2012

Please pray for Iraqi believers

September 4 | Iraq – Continue to pray for the struggling church in Baghdad. It’s been another challenging year. The great thing is that the church is still reaching out in an amazing way. Pray also that the media will reach many people with hope, as there is very little of it in the city.

Wikipedia contains an extensive entry on Iraq – click here – and, in summary, the current turmoil is described here.

Overwhelmingly a Muslim country (95%), Religion in Iraq is described here. However, Christianity has a long history in Iraq – predating Islam by 500 years – click here.

OPEN DOORS describes the current plight of Iraqi’s 300,000 believers here –

Sectarian violence caused tens of thousands of Christians to leave the country in 2011. Christians feel that the government fails to protect them, with individuals being threatened, robbed, raped or kidnapped and churches being bombed. Iraq’s constitution says each individual has freedom of thought, conscience and belief, but there is no article on changing one’s religion and Islamic law forbids conversion of Muslims to other religions. In August, at least four churches were targeted by bomb attacks in Kirkuk. The situation in Kurdistan, for a long time considered a safe haven for Christians, has deteriorated due to Islamic extremism.

Please pray for Iraqi belivers – for the refugees, for protection, and for strength.

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Ps. 25:5)

Please pray for Pastor Nadarkhani and the Iranian people

September 3 | Iran – Give thanks to God for the openness of many (young) people for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Please pray that this new generation will find real hope and perspective in their lives.

Wikipedia has an extensive entry on Iran (click here) and describes the religious demographics as follows:

Religion in Iran is dominated by the Twelver Shia branch of Islam, which is the official state religion and to which about 90% to 95%[230][231][232] of Iranians belong. About 4% to 8% of Iranians belong to the Sunni branch of Islam, mainly Kurds and Iran’s Balochi Sunni. The remaining 2% are non-Muslim religious minorities, including Bahá’ís, Mandeans, Hindus, Yezidis, Yarsanis, Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians.[21]

The latter three minority religions are officially recognized and protected, and have reserved seats in the Majlis (Parliament). However the Bahá’í Faith, Iran’s largest religious minority,[233] is not officially recognized, and has been persecuted during its existence in Iran. Since the 1979 revolution the persecution of Bahá’ís has increased with executions, the denial of civil rights and liberties, and the denial of access to higher education and employment.[234][235]

Hinduism in Iran has a history stretching back to the Middle Ages. Presently, Hindus are known to travel to Iran, but the vast majority consist of migrant workers from India. Out of Iran’s population of 68,017,860, there are 68,017 recorded Hindus, making them 0.1% of the total population.[236] Some of the poetry of Sohrab Sepehri shows Buddhist influence, and another major contemporary poet, Ahmad Shamlou, translated a book of Japanese haiku poetry into Persian.

Open Doors explains the plight of Iran’s 450,000 Christians click here.

UPDATE: Pastor Nadarkhani – click here – please pray for Pastor Nadarkhani and his family… and all believers who are imprisoned in Iran. For more on Pastor Nadarkhani – click here.

We loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. (1 Thes. 2:8)