Displaying items by tag: Asia

President Ashraf Ghani said Afghanistan had UN values enshrined in its constitution, but the pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities. He said: ‘The industrial revolution is a driver of inequality and unemployment and we must think ahead of our time. Violence and warfare are another source of turbulence in the fifth wave of global terrorism. Peace talks with the Taliban are not enough: we must get to the root of the terrorism blighting our region and address it as the global phenomenon and threat that it is. Climate change brings floods and drought needing regional solutions based on international models. Afghanistan is the 17th worst-affected country. All the above culminates as an explosion of inequality. But Afghanistan is in the heart of Asia. Our water ties us together; our cultures and languages give us a common denominator; South Asia needs energy resources, and Central Asia’s abundance of them makes Afghanistan a connector.’ For the full statement, see

Year after year, Uttar Pradesh is identified as the state where most Christian Indians are persecuted. 86 of the 366 violent attacks on Christians recorded in 2019 took place in Uttar Pradesh, and 2020 has seen little improvement. While the pandemic probably reduced the rate of persecution, recent reports indicate the number of attacks on Christians is increasing as India emerges from lockdown. ‘I would have been killed if God hadn’t been with me,’ Pastor Alok Tomar recently told International Christian Concern. ‘I was worried that I would not survive as the torture was so intense. Different ones took turns as I was beaten with lashes from the police belt.’ Pastor Tomar was telephoned and told to report to the police station immediately. ‘I felt safe because I was going to the police station.’ He was accused of forced religious conversions and kept in custody and tortured for three days by the police. It was another four days before he was given bail.

They are the first cases to be detected among Syrians living in Jordan-based refugee camps, the UN refugee agency in Jordan said on 8th September ‘It is a reminder that everyone has been affected by this epidemic, and solutions must be addressed through international solidarity and cooperation.’ At the time of writing the two affected refugees have been transferred from the Azraq camp to the Dead Sea Isolation Site. Testing plus isolation procedures are being implemented for all individuals who have been in contact with them. The Azraq camp is Jordan's second-largest with almost 37,000 refugees. Jordan hosts over 1.2 million Syrian refugees, including 650,000 registered with the UN. To date, the kingdom has reported 2,478 coronavirus cases and 17 related deaths.

The PLO’s chief negotiator and executive secretary expressed concern that the UAE’s peace agreement with Israel will lead to other Arab states reaching similar ‘normalisation’ agreements. The PA sees such agreements as disregarding their demand that Palestinian ‘self-determination and independence’ must precede any formation of Arab friendly relations with Israel. The PLO said, ‘It is ‘a public birth for the Arab Zionists’, and admiration or support for Israel is forbidden. There are Arab groups that say, ‘Palestine is not my cause’. Groups say, ‘The Palestinians are ungrateful and we are employing them. We’ve helped them, but Israel is a beautiful, successful state.’

While an increasing number of rape and sexual assault victims are speaking out in Iran, the legal code often prevents justice and puts some victims at risk of punishment. The #MeToo movement has finally emerged among Iranians, sending shockwaves across Persian language social media. Over the past week many women and men have come forward to talk about their experiences of rape and sexual assault by dozens of high-profile figures in the country. Although the official media remain indifferent to the stories, they have stirred public uproar to the point that the police in Tehran arrested a well-known bookshop owner accused of rape by several women. No one can doubt the bravery and courage of individuals who break the taboos and talk about their personal experiences of sexual harassment in a country where patriarchal values are reproduced and reinforced by the state.

Lebanon faces a humanitarian emergency following the 4 August blast in Beirut port, and the psychological effects will not end once the dust settles, said Dr Ahmed Hankir, a psychiatrist. Some of the initial reactions to traumatic events include sadness, agitation, dissociation, and survivor’s guilt. While most ongoing reactions are normal responses to the incident, residents are being told that seeking help from a mental health professional is advised should they persist for more than a month after the blast. Help should also be immediately sought if someone is having severe reactions, such as suicidal ideas. Mental health services are expensive in Lebanon, but several organisations are providing services for individuals affected by the blast either at a reduced price or free. Pray for God’s strength and wisdom to pour through NGOs raising awareness around mental health, for those manning suicide prevention helplines and walk-in clinics.

Things in North Korea seem a bit murkier than usual, not that it is ever very clear what is going on up there. 

The latest big questions have to do with Kim Jong-un's health. There are knowledgeable friends of mine who are very sure his health is not good and it stands to reason that his life-style is not a healthy one, yet there are mixed signals and confusing reports. 

A former aid to former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung insists that the leader has been in a coma since March and that the various reports of his activities and photos are all fake.  Some are saying that he is either sharing power with his sister, Kim Yo-jong, as indicated by the South's National Intelligence Agency, or that she is second in command.  However, this is not getting much credence in the South where the government insists that he is still very much in control and active. And, she failed to appear at a recent Politburo meeting. There was serious flooding earlier this month in Unpa County.  Kim Jong-un showed up driving his luxury SUV to survey the damage in a photo that it seems would be very difficult to fake.  He insisted that food supplies be sent to the stricken county for which people express great gratitude--but it's still difficult there.

While things are unclear at the highest levels, the Covid-19 situation is equally as obscure. As we saw last month, Kim Jong-un stated that there was no Covid-19 in the North until a former defector re-defected to the North from the South bringing in the virus, while the South Korean police insist he was virus-free.  Now the authorities have locked down the cities of Samjiyon and Hyesan because a woman crossed the border from China. They have also suspended all trade across the border with China and have halted major building projects all because of the pandemic. The hits on the economy are serious threats to the Leader's position. Prior to the arrival of Typhoon Bavi, Kim Jong-un called for three major crisis meetings about Covid-19, the coming storm and the need to continue restoration work from flooding earlier in the month.

As if all of this is not enough trouble in the North, there was a massive gas explosion in the city of Hyesan that levelled many houses, left a number of people dead and injured more.  It appeared that little, if anything was being done by the authorities in response.

Finally, we continue to be concerned about the civil rights situation in South Korea where the government continues to crack down on North Korean defector and human rights groups as well as continuing its anti-leaflet campaign.  Here is a two part article (Part 1 and Part 2) on Voice of the Martyrs Korea and their efforts to get Bibles into North Korea.  Please pray that the Word of God get into this land that cannot stand for knowledge to enter the country.

Remembering Our Brothers in Prison 

We've been praying for six South Korean missionaries held in the North, Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kuk-gi, Choi Chun-gil, Kim Won-ho, Ham Jin-woo and Ko Hyun-chul.  We are excited to share that a new effort is underway urging that they be repatriated.  You can join the campaign by signing the petition here. There are some young men who are on a pilgrimage to raise awareness of the situation. We continue to pray for Daily NK journalist, Choi Song Min (alias). Here's information on the pastors and others who have been detained and released.  Please remember them in your prayers.

Calling our Nations to Repentance

40 days of worship and prayer from September 1st to October 11th calling Korean Christians to return to their first love and to carry the Gospel into all the world.  Please check out the 40 Days website.

The Fourth River Project, Inc. - www.thefourthriver.org

See our Prayer for Korea article below, prepared by our colleagues at NGI

As we focus our prayers on the Korean peninsula, we share these prayers that have been collated by our friends at NGI:

Dear God, our Father in Heaven!

1. We Pray for North Korea and its People!

'I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.' Phil 1: 20-21

The North Korean leadership has been more strict on its sanctions like prohibiting the entrance of foreign books, but we fixate our faithful eyes on the ways of the Lord who works above all circumstances humans can merely perceive.

We pray that every family in North Korea gets to own a Bible.

• According to Release International, an international organization that monitors and reports persecution of Christians worldwide, 250,000 prisoners in 14 prison camps are suffering from disease, hunger, and physical abuse, and about 70,000 of them are estimated to be Christians.

We pray that Christian prisoners there never give up on their faithful walk-on following Jesus.

• It has already been 18 years since UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) endorsed the resolution to denounce the unjust circumstances of human rights in North Korea, but there has not been any promising news or improvements to the situation there. North Korea has continued to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, participate in ongoing extortion, oppression, and persecution all while allowing the decline of the North Korean people’s welfare and food provisions.

We, with deeply sorrowed hearts, pray that God pours just, righteousness, and knowledge of God in North Korea.

As COVID-19 lingers, Jangmadang (North Korea’s marketplace) has been temporarily shut down, and the common people’s economy has continued to decline, causing growing hunger and poverty. It is not clear how many are suffering from hunger due to North Korea’s exclusivity and extreme secretiveness.

And though it seems as though there is nothing we can do to help, we as believers in Christ CAN and MUST PRAY.

2. We Pray for South Korea and its People!

 'If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.' 2 Chron 7:14

 God of Ebenezer, who has always protected South Korea by your big guiding hands, we earnestly seek your forgiveness of our complaints and resentment despite your grace.

• Please forgive our leaders who are corrupted and have fallen into sinful ways; we pray that you enlighten them with your wisdom and revelation so they become pathways of your blessings.
• We pray for your forgiveness of all your people who have left your ways and leaned on their own understanding in their lives.
• Please forgive all the churches who have committed a sin of ‘forgetting to pray for the nation and its people.’
• We pray that the crisis we are currently facing turns into an opportunity for peaceful reunification, which eventually becomes the pathway of world evangelization.

Please help NGI’s ‘Nehemiah One Million Prayer Petition Campaign. (www.pray4nk.org) Raise awareness of it among those who love North Korea and always remember its people in their hearts. Lead more people to commit to this campaign and lift up their prayers to God.

We pray that each and every one of 5,455 individuals that have signed up for Pray4NK Campaign would continue to remember the people in North Korea, as God always remembers them, and pray for God’s big, mighty hands to work in the lives of North Korean people.

Our beloved prayer warriors, please spread the word about NGI’s prayer petition campaign. (www.pray4nk.org) Invite your family members, friends, whoever is around you who can be one in heart and pray for the souls and the difficult lives of the people in North Korea.

Afghan officials say they have released about another 100 Taliban prisoners as part of a prisoner swap meant to clear the way for the start of peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban.

Afghan officials have described the remaining prisoners as the most dangerous, accusing them of masterminding attacks on embassies, public squares, and government offices, killing thousands of civilians in recent years.

The release of 400 Taliban prisoners was approved last month at a consultative Loya Jirga in Kabul. Eighty of them were released last month.

The decision came more than five months after Washington and the Taliban made the release of prisoners by both sides a condition for the talks between the militant group and Kabul.

A government official who did not want to be named told RFE/RL on September 1 that the release of the prisoners will be completed in the next few days and that talks between the government and the Taliban will begin in Qatar.

The official said the process could be completed by September 2 and that an Afghan government delegation will immediately travel to the Qatari capital of Doha for negotiations with the militant group.

The release of the prisoners is the last hurdle to opening peace talks between the internationally-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban under a peace deal signed in February between the militants and the United States.

More Info

Pray that this release along with reciprocal releases by the Taliban will lead to fruitful peace talks.

Pray that these hardened militants will be supernaturally prevented from taking up arms again.

Pray for all sides to take this situation seriously and for the right people to be appointed to the High Council for National Reconciliation.

Pray for the people of Afghanistan who have suffered for so long, that they will know lasting peace and that their nation will once again prosper.

The draft religion law now in parliament would, in defiance of human rights, continue to ban all exercise of freedom of religion without state permission, banning teaching about religion without state permission, continuation of compulsory censorship of all religious materials and to ban sharing of faith. ‘There's not much difference between the draft law and the current one’, commented human rights defender Bahodyr Eliboyev. Although the draft reduces the number of adult citizens required to apply for a community to be allowed to exist from 100 to 50, it would retain the registration process and most of the restrictions. ‘The state must not be afraid of giving full religious freedoms,’ insists Abduvohid Yakubov, an independent rights defender from Tashkent who is also critical of the draft law.