Students for the Relief of the Oppressed

Libya: Prayer Answered

2009-04-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

In Islamic countries, converting to Christianity can carry severe penalties. Around three months ago, four believers in Libya were imprisoned because of converting from Islam. In a wonderful answer to prayer, they were recently released from prison. What a reminder to be thankful that the LORD our God cares for every land on earth, that his eyes see everything, that his ears are attentive to our prayers, and that his hand is mighty to save.

Pakistan

2009-04-14T00:39:00.000-07:00

On Monday the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, signed a bill regarding Swat Valley and surrounding areas which puts this north-western area of Pakistan under Islamic law. This constitutes a concession to the Taliban and bad news for Christians in the region since the Taliban openly acknowledge that the penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity is death. Please pray for this situation, that Christians would be bold, even to death, and that before long the Taliban would be overturned.

March Matching Fundraiser

2009-03-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

Here in America, we feel like we're hitting rough times economically. It's hard to show Christian generosity when your stock just lost nearly half its value, and your retirement keeps moving further and further off. So we tell ourselves, forgetting that Christians in Pakistan face death daily for Christ's name, while we hesitate to give even out of our abundance for his sake.

During the month of March, we are trying to raise money for an emergency relief fund. This will give us the resources to offer immediate assistance to persecuted Christians around the world, when and where they have the most pressing need. Thanks to a generous donor, any gifts made to SRO in March will be doubled, up to $2,000, and put towards our emergency relief fund, so please consider contributing this month.

"Then the righteous will answer him saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'" Matthew 25:37-40

Christians in Pakistan

2009-03-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Being a Christian in Pakistan has been difficult for a long time. In recent weeks their plight has grown even more difficult, as the Taliban are increasingly trying to enforce Islamic beliefs. The extreme application of sharia law will give rise to many serious problems for Christians, with the most serious application being death for converts from Islam.

Please pray for the safety of the Christian community. If you would like to help the Christians practically then please get in touch with us, and we can provide you with further details.

Violence in Nigeria

2009-03-03T01:17:00.000-08:00

In the province of Bauchi, Nigeria, there has been a worrying incident of violence. The Barnabus Fund reports “An outbreak of violence on 20 February between Muslims and Christians in Bauchi city, the capital of Bauchi state in Northern Nigeria, has left at least nine Christians dead. Six of them were shot and three killed with machetes. At least six churches, perhaps as many as 13, have been burnt down, as well as three mosques.”

Please keep the families of the murdered Christians, their churches, and all other believers in that area in your prayers. Ask that peace would be restored, and that the Nigerian Christians would resist the desire to return evil for evil.

The Plight of Christians in Burma

2009-02-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

“There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practiced.” This was the opening line of a document, leaked a couple years ago by the government of the military regime in power in Burma since 1962. Burma (Myanmar) is listed 5th on the Restriction of Religious Freedom Index, only behind such anti-Christian countries as Saudi Arabia and Iraq. At least four to six percent of the 55,390,000 population of this country is Christian. The majority of the rest of the country’s population is Buddhist. The government has restricted the building of churches and in 2004 it was illegal to print or import the Bible into Burma. More recently there continues to be censorship of local publications of the Bible. In 2007 a Buddhist monk, backed by the military burned down a church and in ongoing ethnic struggles, 27,000 of the predominantly Christian Karen tribe were driven from their homes.
In a more recent example of the persecution of Christians in Burma, pastors in Rangoon were forced to sign papers that they said they would stop holding their church services. The Kyauktada Township “Peace and Development” Council summoned more than 40 local church leaders, forcing them to sign the papers, which said that pastors would be punished and even jailed if they failed to comply. The military government, or junta, of Burma has in past years issued permits to churches, but since the late 1990’s have no longer issued these permits, so churches are forced to meet covertly in residential apartments.
In early May 2008, the cyclone Nargis left tens of thousands dead, including many who died from the lack of relief following the disaster. The government prohibited the aid that was offered by other countries and organizations and, only when it was too late to save many, allowed agencies to help. As reported by World magazine, the government has barred help to the Karen minority. And yet, this tragedy has swelled the numbers of the church in Burma, with private Christian aid helping to bring in the gospel.
SRO has sought to get involved in aiding suffering Christians in this oppressed country, and has found an excellent avenue in the ministry of Sabbath House, an organization based here in Moscow. Sabbath House has sent funds raised by SRO to its contacts in Rangoon (Yangon), to supply medicine for clinics in northern Burma, and to cover basic needs for Mercy Children’s Home, an orphanage in Rangoon. Moscow locals became familiar with the faces of these orphans over the summer and fall, as they were displayed on the poster at SRO’s Farmer’s Market table. SRO’s army of volunteers faithfully baked goodies and staffed the table from July through October, bringing in more than $1200 for Mercy Children’s Home. All told, SRO has send about $1900 to Burma over the past nine months, helping to meet most of the orphanage’s pressing needs. SRO is committed to continuing to search out opportunities to minister to the oppressed throughout Burma and we pray weekly for their deliverance.

Things to keep in prayer
--Thanksgiving for God’s provision, through SRO and others, of Mercy Children’s Home’s major needs.
--Thanksgiving for Pastor Naing Thang’s ministry to Christians throughout Burma
--Prayer that God would overthrow the oppressive regime that has killed and impoverished millions in Burma for the past 60 years.
--Prayer that God would give peace to the Karen people of eastern Burma, most of whom are now refugees.
--Prayer for the continued success of Mercy Children’s Home’s ministry, and for their protection from disease.
--Prayer that God would bring the plight of Christians in Burma to the attention of more Westerners.

Reference Links
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14809
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/1514-rangoons-christians-banned-from-worshiping.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1540121/Burma-'orders-Christians-to-be-wiped-out'.html
http://www.persecution.org/suffering/countryinfodetail.php?countrycode=12#Articles
http://www.barnabasfund.org/pdfdocs/LOP32_IG3.pdf

by Becca Hurt, SRO Columnist

Crisis in Somalia

2009-02-05T08:51:00.001-08:00

Somalia has not earned for itself an enviable reputation over the past two decades. The country has suffered from border disputes, drought and war ever since its independence and has not had a functioning government in almost twenty years. It is a nation well-known for its warlords, Islamist militia and, just recently, pirates. Last November Somali pirates successfully captured and held ransom the Sirius Star – the largest ship ever to be captured. The Saudi oil-tanker was released this last month. Other than the occasional mention in the news, most people probably associate Somalia with Blackhawk Down, a movie documenting the downing of a Blackhawk helicopter and the killing of U.S. Army Rangers by Somali militias in 1993.

The newly formed government based in Djibouti has just elected Sheik Sharif Ahmed, a more moderate Islamist leader, as their president. However, he and his government face a hard task ahead of them as the Islamist militia in Somalia (Al-Shabab) are unlikely to recognise their authority. Moreover, the challenges of famine, poverty, insecurity and lawlessness, not to mention the shadow of many failed peace-attempts, dim any hope Somalis might have for the future.

Al-Shabab are an increasingly radical Islamist group that controls most of southern Somalia, including the capital, Mogadishu, the city of Baidoa, and the port of Kismayo. In terms of size, organisation, financial and military strength, they are probably the most powerful group in Somalia, and certainly the biggest threat to the new government. They are also the biggest threat to Christians as they have imposed strict Sharia Law in their territory and plan to extend this to other areas that come under their control.

Only last September the world saw what this meant with the killing of a Christian aid worker not far from Baidoa. Mansuur Mohammed, a World Food Program worker who had converted from Islam to Christianity earlier in 2005, was beheaded in a public execution. The Islamists gathered the villagers telling them they were going to give them a feast. An eyewitness reported what happened next:

“Five masked men emerged carrying guns, wielding Somali swords and dragging the handcuffed Mohammed. One pulled back Mohammed’s head, exposing his face as he scraped his sword against his short hair as if to sharpen it. Another recited the Quran as he proclaimed that Mohammed was a ‘murtid,’ an Arabic term for one who converts from Islam to Christianity.

The Muslim militant announced that Mohammed was an infidel and a spy for occupying Ethiopian soldiers.

Mohammed remained calm with an expressionless face, never uttering a word, said the eyewitness. As the chanting of “Allah Akubar [God is greater]” rose to a crescendo, one of the militiamen twisted his head, allowing the other to slit his neck. When the head was finally severed from the torso, the killers cheered as they displayed it to the petrified crowd.

The militants allowed one of their accomplices to take a video of the slaughter using a mobile phone. The video was later circulated secretly and sold in Somalia and in neighboring countries in what many see as a strategy to instill fear among those contemplating conversion from Islam to Christianity.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that a similar incident took place in Lower Juba province of Somalia in July, when Christians found with Bibles were publicly executed. Their families fled to Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, and such killings are forcing other Christians to flee to neighboring Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

(This account was taken from the Christian Persecution Info website. http://www.christianpersecution.info/news/somalia-christian-aid-workers-beheaded-for-converting-from-islam-16822)

The situation is only a little better for Somali Christians who are refugees living in neighbouring countries. Many of them live in daily fear of being attacked, and in the U.N. refugee camps things are not much better - Christians have been beaten and stabbed, despite supposedly being under U.N. protection. The administration over these camps is powerless to guarantee their safety, and all too often turns a blind eye to threats.

In spite of all this, more Somalis are becoming Christians and are faithfully following Christ. There is increasing evangelism among Somalis in Kenya and Ethiopia. Somali Christians are showing God’s lovingkindness to their fellow Somalis through the way they live their lives. In Nairobi, Kenya, there are a number of ministries reaching out to Somalis in the Eastleigh area (where a large portion of the Somali population lives). There is also outreach to Somalis at Kijabe hospital, which is run by Christians and is well-known by Somalis (both in Kenya and Somalia) for the excellent healthcare provided there. Many Somalis go there to get treatment and are also blessed with spiritual treatment. A number of Somali Christians have helped to set up a Christian radio station in Ethiopia. This is able to reach much of Somalia where it would be far too dangerous to go. Their evangelistic broadcasts in Somali have been met with some exciting responses. There are still a good number of Christians deep inside Somalia who are being faithful in spite of their persecution.

Please pray for these people and their nation.

Things to keep in prayer
• 1.3 million Somalis are displaced – pray for Somali refugees scattered across the globe.
• 3.5 million need food aid (43% of the population) – pray that God will provide food for those in need
• Since 1991 Somalia has lacked a central government – pray that peace will come to this war-torn nation.
• The spread of Sharia Law – pray that a more moderate government would come into power.
• Somali Christians – pray that they would stand firm and be faithful in spite of so much persecution and opposition. Also, pray that they would be living testimonies to the love of God and His life-changing power.
• Ministries to the Somali people – pray that they would be fruitful and that many Somalis would be brought to faith in Christ.

by SRO correspondent Sam Bussey (01/31/2009)

Remembering the Holy Innocents

2008-12-28T13:10:00.000-08:00

Today, December 28th, has traditionally been celebrated as the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the day when the Church remembers the babies so brutally slain by Herod in his quest to kill the Christ. This day serves as an opportunity to remember, honor, and pray for all those whom the tyrants of this world destroy in their quest to steal Christ's crown and stamp out His Church. As we reach the end of another year in which our brothers and sisters have suffered and died, often unknown and unheeded, let us not forget to pray constantly for those who still suffer and bear witness for Christ, and to honor the memories of those who have been faithful unto death.

Let us remember that Herod and all his imitators have been dethroned by Christ, and pray that we would see this made more and more visible as the saints bear witness to King Jesus.

Raking Roundup and Radio

2008-11-16T14:33:00.000-08:00

There's been lots more to report on the raking front. On Saturday the 8th we raked at least as many leaves as the first week and made even more money--around $1100. In this two-week fundraiser, SRO raised as much as in the previous six months combined! And upcoming events look very promising as well.

This Wednesday, SRO will be featured on 92.5 FM around 2 PM. Be sure to tune in to hear about us and our ministry!

Raking for India

2008-11-02T20:58:00.000-08:00

This website has been terribly un-updated, because we never assigned anyone as the designated webmaster. But that shall change.

SRO has been doing some wonderful work lately, in particular, a leaf-raking fundraiser for Christian refugees in Orissa, India, where Hindu extremists have been killing Christians and driving them out of their homes in a terrible outbreak of violence these last two months.

We had many great volunteers out working their tails off for hours on Saturday, even in the rain, and we far surpassed our fundraising goal.

Here's some fun statistics:
7 (or so)--tons of leaves we bagged up
25--number of folks who helped out; and number of yards raked
123--number of phone calls to and from my cell-phone over the seven hours I was coordinating the project
300 (or so)--number of bags chock full of leaves we filled up
1000+--number of dollars we raised
10000 (or so)--number of gallons of leaves we bagged

It was wonderful to know that, by the labors of our own bodies, we were helping to ease in some way the sufferings of the bodies of our brothers thousands of miles away. It was truly a blessing to be able to express such solidarity with them. A major purpose of SRO is to give students such opportunities to express unity and love toward our needy Christian brothers.

We are also thankful for the opportunities this project provided to spread the word in the community, bear witness to them, and be of service to them.

The fundraiser will continue this coming Saturday, and hope to have another excellent report to give.

Successful Farmer's Market Fundraising

2008-07-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

We were blessed this morning with a successful maiden voyage of our quest to raise money and awareness at the Moscow Farmer's Market. With the aid of goodies baked by Rachel Littlejohn and Allie Bradley, we were able to raise about $95 this morning. We also disseminated 38 pamphlets outlining our ministry objectives for this summer, which will hopefully lead more donors and supporters our way soon.

All of the money raised this summer will be channeled through Sabbath House to Mercy Children's Home, an orphanage in Rangoon lacking many basic needs. Our top priority is to cover medicinal costs for the orphans, and we will determine what other costs we are able to cover at the end of the summer.

Thanks to all those who helped out this morning and those who gave generously!

Christians in Algeria

2008-05-19T08:53:00.000-07:00

Algeria has seen a sharp rise in official and unofficial discrimination against Christians over the last few months. Since the beginning of this year, some 20 churches have been closed; many of them have been operating officially for many years. There have also been numerous arrests of Christians, often on questionable charges. (Extract from recent Barnabas Fund newsletter.)

Please pray for those suffering persecution and living in the fear of such persecution. If you are able,please write to the Algerian ambassador and/or government. Details can for that are here, as is a full report on the situation in Algeria.

Cyclone Nargis - Prayer Answered!

2008-05-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

News has arrived from Naing Thang that despite the huge amount of death and devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis, both the church in Yangon and the orphanage (both in the path of the cyclone) were preserved. They are very thankful for our prayers, and we are very thankful they are safe. Please do thank the Lord for his great kindness to them.

We hope to raise money over the summer to help them in the aftermath of the cyclone. To achieve this we are asking our supporters to use a jar or tin to collect their loose change in over the summer. If you are able to help in this way, please do! Our friends in Burma will be blessed greatly by your sacrifice.

Thanks to all for a successful fund-raiser!

2008-05-05T17:27:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone who showed up for the Benefit Swing Dance on Saturday Night!

We had to lower our fundraising goals when it became clear the Benefit Concert would not materialize this term, but the Swing Dance brought in more than we hoped, netting about $250 after expenses. Along with money from the fundraising jars in local coffee-shops and a couple private donations, we have $390 to give to Sabbath House to help Naing Thang pay for the purchase of malaria medications in Burma--a sum that should go a long way in such a poor country.

Praise God and pray for even greater fruits of our labors this fall!

Cyclone Nargis--Urgent Prayer Request

2008-05-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

Some of y'all may have already heard in the news recently about Cyclone Nargis wreaking havoc in Burma. Nargis is by far the worst cyclone ever to hit Burma/Myanmar, having scored a direct hit on the low-lying and densely-populated Irrawaddy Delta region of Burma as a Category 4 storm, and then on the capital city of Rangoon/Yangon as a Category 3 storm.

Click here for video reports relating to the crisis:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/05/myanmar.relief/index.html

Thankfully, most of our contacts in Burma were likely relatively safe from this disaster, as most of the churches Sabbath House is working with were north of the storm, and Christians in the Karen state were protected by mountainous terrain. However, Naing Thang, the leader of the CREC churches in Burma, as well as the orphanage there that Sabbath House is supporting, are in hard hit Yangon. Most communications are down, so nothing has been heard from them yet.
Please pray:
1) That Naing Thang and the Christians in his churches are safe.
2) That all those suffering from this disaster might receive desperately-needed aid as soon as possible.
3) That the Christian churches in the area would be able to step up and assist those in need, and further the gospel in the process.

Refugees coming to Moscow!

2008-04-30T00:21:00.001-07:00

This just in: the Sabbath House board voted today to approve the bringing of the three refugee families from Boise up to Moscow in the near future. The plan is to move them sometime in the month of June, after which time Sabbath House and local volunteers (including SRO members) will oversee their housing and furnishing needs, as well as helping them find employment, learn English, and gain other skills necessary to adjust to life in America.
The only difficulty will be the translation issue--the plan is to translate using a phone contact during meetings with the family at least in the near term; hopefully something better will become available soon.

Praise God for this opportunity to serve and pray that all would go smoothly.

Upcoming Benefit Dance

2008-04-30T00:15:00.000-07:00

SRO had been hoping to pull together a benefit concert this term to raise several hundred dollars to provide anti-malarial medicines to church clinics in Northern Burma, but unfortunately impracticable this term. By the Lord's providence, however, another opportunity presented itself--the end-of-the-year swing dance organized by Ben Nieuwsma. Ben has agreed to let us advertise and run the swing dance as a Benefit Dance, charging $5 for admission, about $3 of which will be able to go to funding the medicines. The Dance will be this Saturday evening. Pray that the Lord blesses the event.

A Benefit Concert is still in the works, being planned for this Fall.

Pictures (finally)

2008-04-26T00:37:00.000-07:00

I've finally got the pictures uploaded from the Boise trip. See them here:

Report on the Boise trip

2008-04-20T22:18:00.001-07:00

The trip to Boise by Rusty Olps, Sabbath House board member, and I (Brad--I'll go ahead and speak in first person for this post) was a resounding success. Htee Khu (Beth) remembered me very well (much better than I remembered her, I must admit), and warmly greeted us. We were introduced to her aunt, uncle, and cousins, who, with her, are relocating to a new Karen community in Sault St. Marie, Michigan. She then took us next door to meet three families which are hoping to be able to relocate to Moscow (she had wisely assembled them from their apartments scattered around Boise so we could meet them all at once). They were very friendly and eager to meet us, though they spoke only a few words of English. One family had six kids--an 11-year old girl and then 5 boys aged seven and under (these had a rather violent streak and enjoyed swarming all over me and taking turns pretending to choke me); another had two toddler girls, and the third had one toddler boy and another on the way, as well as a young adult brother of the father who was with them. They had all been brought in by different agencies within the past couple months and were all from Mae La refugee camp in Thailand, a massive refugee camp for displaced Karen villagers, and they are all Christians. Rusty interviewed them and made copies of their paperwork to take back for the Sabbath House board to consider. The refugee aid organizations that have brought them in have taken no steps to aid them in becoming integrated in a local church community (nor have any of the churches in their area reached out), and have not helped them in finding jobs, which they are eager to do, but are finding difficult, given their inability to speak English. Their financial support will dry up soon and leave them destitute, so Sabbath House hopes to be able to resettle them up here as soon as possible. However, nothing is definite until the board of Sabbath House meets this week.

Pray that it will be feasible for Sabbath House to assist them, in which case SRO volunteers will have many opportunities to pitch in and show Christian love to them. Pray that God would meet their immediate needs, and would enable Sabbath House to find a translator and all the other things that will be necessary for relocating them here. Thank God for arranging everything so providentially so far, and for such a productive trip on such short notice.

I will post photos and video on photobucket soon, and link to them from here. For now, though, I will share a picture of my favorite kid, a little guy who seemed obsessed with tortilla chips and kept refilling the front of his shirt with a load of them the entire time.

Update on Boise refugees

2008-04-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Things are moving along quickly with regard to the refugees in Boise. Brad Littlejohn, SRO's President, has been invited to accompany Rusty Olps of Sabbath House to Boise on Saturday the 19th to meet the refugee families and assess their needs. Pray for a safe trip and a productive conference.

Refugees in Boise

2008-04-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

We've just learned from our friends at Christian Freedom International that three families of Karen Christian refugees recently arrived in Boise, Idaho. The Karen (pronounced "Kuh-renn") are a mostly Christian tribe from Burma that have been largely driven into refugee camps in Thailand through 50 years of war and oppression by the Burmese government. CFI has been working with this tribe for some time and is currently resettling a number of refugee families to Sault St. Marie, MI. One of the families in Boise--Htee Khu (see picture below), her aunt and uncle, and cousins--will be moving to Sault St. Marie in May. After recent conversations between CFI and Sabbath House, Sabbath House is hoping to resettle the remaining two families in Moscow next month. Pending an official decision from Sabbath House, SRO is making plans to assist these families in adjusting to their new homes. We are hopeful that the Lord will work everything out for this exciting ministry opportunity. Pray for each of the families, and that the Lord would prosper this work.

Htee Khu "Beth"--a Karen orphan whom Brad Littlejohn, our President, knew years ago while working at the Karen refugee school in Thailand, now living in Boise.