Europe: trends which are opening doors for Christian witness
Operation World (OW) reports on socio-cultural trends that are opening doors for Christian witness. There is disillusionment with the emptiness of enforced secularism and hyper-modernity, leading to a new interest in spirituality and the supernatural. OW believes that, presented rightly, Jesus is of great appeal to such seekers. Due to the upheaval and uncertainty in economics and politics, civic disintegration, crime and violence, many are asking questions about morals and meaning. In some parts of Europe, militant atheism with strong anti-Christian, anti-religious rhetoric is strident and ugly enough to cause people to reconsider questions of faith and God. Christian immigration has brought the presence of dynamic and lively congregations into nearly every part of Europe. Alongside this, the influx of non-Christian religions raises the issue of the religious identity of Europe, both in history and for the future.
Kosovo: opposition has unsettled parliament since October
Opposition MPs disrupted the Kosovo parliament again on Monday by setting off tear gas in chambers - the latest in a series of violent incidents against the government and politicians. Over last weekend several government-owned cars were set on fire by protesters. Such incidents began after the 25 August agreement between Pristina and Belgrade to establish Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo to champion minority Serbs’ interests. The three opposition parties in Kosovo’s parliament strongly oppose it, claiming Serbs will have too much power. The opposition parties also reject a border agreement reached with neighbouring Montenegro in Vienna in August, through which it says Kosovo is losing territory. (Kosovo’s population is predominantly ethnic Albanian. It declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade rejected the move and still considers the breakaway territory as its southern province.)
Christians in politics developing their faith
In recent months a Bible study group for all parliamentary staff has started on Monday lunchtimes, meeting for 45 minutes in Portcullis House. Christians in Parliament have also started a new political theology reading group which meets once a month to help develop a deeper understanding of the interaction between theology and politics. Additionally, a series of videos of MPs and peers sharing what being a Christian means to them and how it impacts Parliamentary work has been prepared for distribution. In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus calls on his disciples to be 'salt' and 'light' in the world. We can praise God that our current Christian politicians are working towards bringing out the flavours and colours of God in our politics, giving a voice to the voiceless and helping those in need.
Former Miss Ireland unashamed that she was healed by God
A former Miss Ireland has spoken of her divine healing after being angered by the treatment of schoolboy Joshua Martin who spoke publicly about his faith that God was going to heal him. Rachelle Liggett told the Belfast Telegraph how she had been diagnosed with an acute form of leukemia at the age of ten. ‘I was then sent to the haematology ward of the Children's Hospital in Belfast, where I was to live for the next few months. However, during prayer, when the hand of a Christian was laid on my head, I could feel my fingertips and legs and toes tingle with pins and needles. I believe this was the cancer exiting my body. After this, everything in my life changed. My appetite returned and I started to put on weight. The doctors never again found a cancerous cell in my body.’
IS commander searches monastery for weapons, finds Bibles
Sister Hayat, an Iraqi nun, lived a quiet life of devotion in a Dominican monastery near Mosul. She worked in an orphanage and taught anthropology at a local university. Then IS overran the city and the nuns packed their bags, prayed, kissed the floor one last time and fled to Erbil, where they care for elderly nuns. Later an IS commander called the nun to taunt her: ‘I’m sitting in your chair now and am running things here.’ Then he demanded to know where they kept their weapons; he couldn’t conceive that such an important building in the community would be without an armoury. She directed him to the library. He called her back, noticeably upset. ‘There are no weapons here, just books’, he shouted. She explained that the Bible is the sword of the Spirit and is able to change a person from the inside. ‘The Bible is the only weapon we use; I encourage you to start reading it.’
North Korea: digging a new nuclear-test tunnel
Satellite photos show images dating from October and early November of the addition of a fourth tunnel at test site Punggye-ri, on North Korea’s east coast. The new tunnel is under mountains where North Korea conducts nuclear tests, and the images showed significant construction since April. While there are no indications that a nuclear test is imminent, the new tunnel adds to North Korea’s ability to conduct additional detonations at Punggye-ri over the coming years if it chooses to do so. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean government source as saying there was active movement of workers and vehicles working on a new tunnel at the site; this indicated an intention to conduct a nuclear test ‘at some point’, though this did not appear to be imminent. North Korea is under United Nations sanctions that ban trade which could fund its arms programme.
Venezuela: parliamentary elections on Sunday
It has been over two years since president Hugo Chavez died, giving way to an ‘economic war’ on the Venezuelan people. Violence from the opposition has led to Venezuela looking more and more like a powder keg. Demonstrations have wracked the country. A government prosecutor fled Venezuela in October, claiming that the state had pressured him to falsify evidence against the top opposition leader. Last week the secretary of the opposition Democratic Action Party was gunned down. Sunday’s elections of new national assembly legislators are critical for the people. President Nicolás Maduro said that whatever the outcome, he will not stand down and will continue to govern in a civil-military union. There is public anger with an economic crisis caused by dysfunctional controls, plunging oil prices, high inflation, and widespread product shortages of everything from shampoo to rice. The government campaign has warned that the opposition will dismantle popular Chavez-era welfare policies, while the opposition has been lambasting the government’s economic incompetence and corruption. See also http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/30/venezuela-on-edge-ahead-of-parliamentary-elections.html
Iran: Christian prisoner denied medical treatment
Maryam Naghash Zargaran has been in Elvin prison for nearly three years. She had heart surgery before her incarceration, now difficult prison conditions have caused her health to deteriorate further. She had another heart attack, and requires regular medical appointments. She was given medical leave on 27 October, but had to halt her treatment when Tehran’s Attorney General refused to extend her leave permit. The 36-year-old Christian convert from Islam was arrested in February 2011 for converting to Christianity, being a member of a house church, establishing a house church, bringing young people to faith in Christ, contacting foreign ministries to carry out evangelism in Iran, and travelling to Turkey to attend Christian conferences. She was sentenced to four years on 9 March 2013. Also, please pray for fourteen other Iranian Christians who were arrested recently. Their families have no information as to their whereabouts.