Students for the Relief of the Oppressed

“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 si...

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 recog...

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.

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!

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 ...

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!

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.