RENEWED CALL TO WORLDWIDE PRAYER IN SOLIDARITY WITH CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

THE NEED CONTINUES

Call to specific, unified prayer January 15, 2008; originally 2006

There was little interest in 2005, and no interest (as far as I could tell) in the call issued for a day of prayer in 2006. Nevertheless, I call for a day of prayer in solidarity with our remaining brethren in Iraq and Afghanistan on the third anniverary of the original day, i.e., January 15, 2008.

Though the two nations are very different in other ways, Iraq and Afghanistan have seven very significant things in common:

1. Both countries are presently war zones occupied by large numbers of American and allied military personnel, many of whom are Christians, and also host large numbers of foreign charitable relief agency personnel, some of whom are Christians. (Still true in late 2007)
   
2. Both countries are predominantly Islamic and have long histories, millenia, of violent turmoil. (Still true in late 2007)
   
3. In both countries, the source of the violent turmoil is spiritual; it is not the people or their leaders but the ancient spirits that inform and incite them and that have been given power by millenia of living in darkness. (Recall that Babel was in what is now Iraq, that Lucifer himself is identified as the "King of Babylon" at one place in Scripture, and that Afghanistan has historically been one of the most closed areas on Earth to the Gospel.)(Still true in late 2007)
   
4. Both countries have for several years been and today continue to be at a critical stage in forming new governments, making prayer at this time URGENT. (Still true in late 2007) In Iraq, a controversial new constitution has been adopted with considerable bloodshed, but elections for a permanent government are pending and violence appears likely to continue for some time regardless of the outcome of that election. (This was true in 2005 and 2006, but now appears to have failed.) Real stability, peace between the Sunni leadership on te one hand and the Shiite and Kurdish leadership on the other hand, would be a true miracle under any constitution. All three groups are hostile to the fairly sizeable native Christian minority. (Still true in late 2007.) Afghanistan has formed a new constitution--as an Islamic republic--and elected Hamid Karzai as president under that constitution. However, his government is still far from stable, and decisions regarding the degree of official intolerance the government will show toward members of Afghanistan's minority religions (including Christianity) have not yet been made. (Still true in late 2007, except possibly for the comment about the decisions regarding the degree of official intolerance of Christianity. Some call the Karzai government "Taliban lite" due to its stance on tolerance of social or religious dissent in general.)
   
5. In both countries, there is a persecuted Christian minority. In Afghanistan, there are, by the best estimates, one to ten thousand native believers, the best estimate apparently being about three thousand. Most of these are associated with groups that were planted in Afghanistan by believing western diplomats and aid workers in the last 200 years. (There have been no formally-appointed Christian missionaries in Afghanistan in modern times). Though the present government does not place any formal criminal penalty on the practice of Christianity, Afghan believers are subject to informal execution by members of their own families or clans and the government does not attempt to interfere with this. Christian churches have not been permitted to meet openly since 1976. Nearly all of the Afghan Christians are in the major cities, principally Kabul.(All of this is still true in late 2007, though the numbers have no doubt changed.)
   
6. In Iraq, there are anywhere from 500,000 to as many as one million believers, the best esstimate apparently being about 800,000. According to tradition, the native Christian community was planted in Iraq by three of the original Apostles who ministered, mostly among the Assyrian people of the region, starting about 50-55 A.D. Most of the Christians in Iraq are memebsers of ancient Catholic, Ortodox or Nestorian communities, though Arab Evangelical churches are also present as a small minority of possibly 15,000 to 20,000, and there is an even smaller minority of believers associated with churches in fellowships associated with what Americans would identify as "mainline" denominations(All of this is still true in late 2007, though many native Christians have fled since 2005.)
   
7. In both countries, the only hope for peace is the light of Christ reflected by their Christian minorities. Military might cannot defeat spiritual darkness (as the Crusades proved). (Still true in late 2007.)
   
8. Many of the American and coalition soldiers and many of the international aid agency workers in both countries are also Christians. (Still true in late 2007, though most of the coalition has left us since 2005.)
   
9. In both countries, the native Christians are living in great privation and subject to violent, often murderous, persecution. Though the situation of the native believers in Afghanistan is somewhat worse, it is really quite bad in Iraq as well. (This is still true in late 2007, though the situation in Iraq has deteriorated substantially since 2005.)
   

For all of these reasons, united prayer for our persecuted brethren in Iraq and Afghanistan is an URGENT necessity. We must pray for their safety, for their deliverance in and from persecution, for provision of their needs, for wisdom and boldness, and most of all that peace may be restored. We must also pray that God will rule in the Iraqi elections and in the efforts of both countries to form governments. Finally, we must praye for the safety of our troops, their success in restoring peace, and the vital witness of the believers among them to their fellow soldiers and others with whom they work.

MOST OF THE INFORMATION BELOW IS NOW OBSOLETE AND WILL BE REVISED WITHIN A FEW WEEKS

Major government leaders God has appointed over Iraq and Afghanistan

These need prayer that Christians in their countries may live in peace with all godliness and honesty, see I Timothy 2:1-4

Iraq

President: Jalal Talbani

Prime Minister: Dr. Ibrahim Jaffari

Afghanistan

President: Hamid Karzai

Leaders of the two largest groups of Christians in Iraq

Chaldean Catholic: Mar Emmanuel III, Patriarch of Babylon.

Assyrian Church of the East: Mar Kh'Nanya Dinka IV, Catholicos-Patriarch

Country-specific summaries and links

Christians in Afghanistan--A Summary, information with links to other sources.

Christians in Iraq--A Summary, information with links to other sources.

REPORT OF THE JANUARY 15, 2005 MEETING IN TOPEKA, KANSAS, USA

On January 15, 2005, at 1:30 p.m., a meeting was held at the Hillcrest Community Center in Topeka Kansas, exactly as indicated in the meeting announcement that used toreside on this web page. Those in attendance prayed for our brethren in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for a believer in the U.S. Army in Iraq whose name was brought before the meeting. We also began a discussion of carrying the work of the meeting forward into the future, making additional contacts and bringing more people and churches actively into the work of praying for our brothers in these occupied countries. It was decided that the work is not done and that we should work on improving our contacts. The meeting was sponsored by Christian-oneness.org and the Topeka Evangelistic Association.

CONTACT US

Contact: Ian Johnson, 785-235-9569

To post announcements of similar meetings or activities in Topeka or Northeast Kansas, click here. Meeting notices posted to this group will be added to this page weekly.

To post announcements of similar meetings or activities outside Northeast Kansas, to post prayer requests for native Christians, aid workers or soldiers in these countries, or to post general comments, click here. Meeting notices posted to this group will be added to this page weekly.

Some Relevant Scriptures

Matthew 6:10; Hebrews 13:3; Ephesians 6:12; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2; I Corinthians 12:24-26; Matthew 5:10-16; Acts 4:23-29; I Timothy 2:1-4, 8; Isaiah 19:19-23; Isaiah 14:3, 12-15; Revelation 16:9; Revelation 17:3-6; I Peter 5:13; Daniel 4:1-37

Notices of Other Similar Meetings or Activities

Kansas

None yet reported.

Elsewhere

None yet reported.

General information

On the oneness of the Body of Christ.

On the proper definitions of the words "heresy" and "heretic."

On the love of God.

On the Kingdom of God.

On the definition of the "Gospel"

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