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Global Prayer Digest, April 26, 2003

Uighurs in China



"Isa (Jesus)...the Injil (Bible)?" Mohamed questioned. "Please come
and have some tea." The two foreigners were delighted as they
followed their new host through the back alleys, as chickens
scrambled out of the way and old men stopped their chess games to
gawk. It was obvious to the two foreigners that these newly found
friends could not pass as Han Chinese. With their brown hair, the
hosts looked just as foreign in the city of Beijing as did the
guests. In the teahouse, Mohamed started to play the video that his
guests had given him. Soon the room was filled with curious visitors,
who watched intently.

What you just read actually took place last summer! This gracious
host and his friends were the Muslim Uighurs, who number about ten
million, and can be found in many cities in China. The government
watches them with a suspicious eye, because some of them sympathize
with separatist forces. The majority of these Uighurs live in
Xinjiang Province. Xinjiang means "new dominion", being named by the
Chinese invaders who took control of this Muslim region in 1759. This
province, along with the Uighur people, have been in a state of
crisis ever since.

Pray that the Uighurs of China will face a spiritual crisis that will
lead them to Jesus.-JG



"One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ëDo not be afraid;
keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you'" Acts 18:9-10

How often missionaries, far away from their own homes, family, and
friends, become discouraged! Often the only encouragement they
receive is from the Lord Himself. Yet letters from friends at home
are also greatly welcomed by missionaries abroad, "like cold water to
a weary soul" (Proverbs 25:25). Do you have a missionary friend to
whom you could write today? A letter from you now could bring them
much encouragement. Don't neglect them.

Dear Lord, thank You for encouraging our missionaries far away from
home. Minister to them through our prayers and correspondence.




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10:29:28 PM    pray []

LAO OFFICIALS EVICT CHRISTIANS IN SAVANNAKHET PROVINCE
Repression could affect trade vote in Congress

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2003-Authorities in southern Laos have evicted three
Christian families from their homes for refusing to renounce their beliefs,
Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports. All three families, from Muang Phine district
in the southern province of Savannakhet, are now in the care of a
Savannakhet Christian church.

A State Department official said U.S. officials were aware that the three
families had been evicted from their homes in late March. William Inboden,
special adviser to the U.S. ambassador-at-large for religious freedom, cited
reports that Christians in Luang Prabang and elsewhere still face pressure
to renounce their faith--or face eviction or detention. He also warned that
such practices could hinder support in Washington for extending normal trade
terms to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

According to sources inside and outside of Laos, a local church has taken in
the three Muang Phine families.

"Frankly, we are disappointed at what appears to be kind of a regression,
where earlier it seems like some of the trends were improving," Inboden told
RFA's Lao service. Some people have been arrested "just for speaking freely
and openly about their faith.and in other parts of the country, Lao
Christians have been ordered to close their churches and to stop their
worship practices," he said.

Washington will urge Vientiane to rein in what Lao authorities describe as
"over-zealous local officials" who persecute those who practice religion, he
said. The U.S. Congress will consider religious freedom when legislators
vote on whether to grant favorable U.S. trade status to Laos, he added.

"These steps are not going to be helpful to the image of the Lao government
in Congress," Inboden said.

President George W. Bush's administration openly favors extending Normal
Trade Relations (NTR)--formerly known as Most Favored Nation trade
status--to Laos. Human rights groups and some members of Congress oppose NTR
for Laos, however, citing widespread human rights abuses there.

The State Department's most recent International Religious Freedom Report
excluded Laos from its list of Countries of Particular Concern. But--along
with its 2002 report on human rights practices around the world--it
described Laos's record on religious freedom as "poor."

The Lao Constitution provides for freedom of religion but stipulates that
the state should play an active role in managing the country's religious
affairs.

"The [Lao] Government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued
to commit serious abuses," according to the 2002 Human Rights Report, issued
in March of this year. "The Government continued to restrict freedom of
religion, and police and provincial authorities arrested and detained more
than 60 members of Christian churches, with four members of religious
communities in custody or incarcerated for their religious beliefs at year's
end."

The report added that: "During the year, government authorities arrested and
detained more than 60 Christians, at times holding them in custody for
months. In several cases, the prisoners were handcuffed, detained in leg
chains and stocks, and subjected to psychological pressure. At least one
detainee was severely beaten while in detention."

Copyright © 1999, RFA. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. http://www.rfa.org.

10:02:07 PM    pray []