Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
In today's edition:
- Church in Zimbabwe Calls for International Day of Prayer
- Jordanian Ex-Muslim Tried for Converting to Christianity
- Slaughter of Three Martyrs in Malatya Mourned in Turkey
- Anglican Leader Pleads for Prayers Ahead of Major Meeting
Church in Zimbabwe Calls for International Day of Prayer
According to the British website www.ekklesia.co.uk, the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has asked Christians around the world to focus their prayers this Sunday on the critical situation in the country. ASSIST News Service reports that Rev. Bob Stumbles, Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Harare, described Zimbabwe as “a nation in dire distress and teetering on the brink of human disaster.” It needs to be rescued from violence, the concealing and juggling of election results, deceit, oppression and corruption, to bring about righteousness, joy, peace, compassion, honesty, justice, democracy and freedom from fear and want, the chancellor said. “Let the cry for help touch your heart and mind. Let it move you to do what you can immediately to ensure this Day of Prayer takes place in your country and neighborhood."
Jordanian Ex-Muslim Tried for Converting to Christianity
On trial for converting from Islam to Christianity, a Jordanian man may lose legal custody of his children and have his marriage annulled if found guilty of “apostasy.” Mohammad Abbad, 40, fled Jordan last month after Muslims violently attacked him and his 10-year-old son in their home and his father sued him on charges of apostasy, or leaving Islam, Compass Direct News reports. “I can’t win this case as long as I insist that I converted from Islam to Christianity,” Abbad wrote. “The court will annul my marriage, I will be deprived of my kids, I will be with no ID or passport, and my properties will be confiscated.”
Slaughter of Three Martyrs in Malatya Mourned in Turkey
A year after the martyrdom of three Christians in Malatya, Turkey’s tiny Christian community gathered this past week to honor their memories and pray for their sorrowing families, Compass Direct News reports. Turks Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel and German Tilmann Geske were tied up, taunted for their faith in Christ, tortured and then slaughtered with knives in Malatya on April 18, 2007. Murdered in the Zirve Publishing office by five young Turkish Muslims who claimed to be defending Turkey and Islam from Christian missionaries, the three men left behind two widows, five fatherless children and a grieving fiancée. Their memorials began mid-morning April 18, in a small village cemetery in eastern Turkey and continued through Sunday April 20 with a nationwide memorial service in Istanbul, which drew more than 900 Christians.
Anglican Leader Pleads for Prayers Ahead of Major Meeting
The Christian Post reports that Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams made a plea to bishops to strengthen relationships at an upcoming decennial conference rather than focus on solving problems that have conflicted the Anglican/Episcopalian body toward the brink of schism. "What I would really most like to see in this years Lambeth Conference is the sense that this is essentially a spiritual encounter," said Dr. Williams Wednesday. "A time when people are encountering God as they encounter one another, a time when people will feel that their life of prayer and witness is being deepened and their resources are being stretched. Not a time when we are being besieged by problems that need to be solved and statements that need to be finalized, but a time when people feel that they are growing in their ministry." The Lambeth Conference is a once-a-decade gathering primarily for bishops from across the 77-million member Anglican body.
