North Korea Update
“There are both some hopeful things coming out of the North and the ongoing difficulties...
On a positive note, it seems that China is seeking to do more in the way of investment in North Korea which will help the economic situation some… We are also beginning to see some hopeful signs that Kim Jong Un may really be interested in opening up to other foreign investment and creating a more open business environment. If he does follow through on this, it could mean not only a better life for the people but also gradual lessening of repression and restriction as happened in China (although China still has a long way to go.)
On the negative side: The country has beefed up their identity card system to make it easier to control people, especially those who have been involved with activities that the government frowns on. Four North Koreans returned from China were recently executed and a number more put into prison camps.
We also have the increasingly serious drought situation in the North, especially in the main bread basket area of Hwanghae Do where farmers have just about given up on this summer's crops and beggars have been dying of starvation. The drought has even affected the capital where many residents are having difficulty getting water.
It has not been easy for people in China and elsewhere seeking to help those leaving NK in search of food or a better life. Four South Korean activists have been detained in China for a few months now although there are hopeful signs that they may be released. An activist has also recently been arrested in Vietnam as well.
The people of North Korea need your prayers. Please keep praying.”
Afghanistan: Taliban Execute Woman to Send Afghans a Grim Warning
Many Afghans are very afraid that the Taliban will come back again and where they control areas inside Afghanistan. Pray that this would never happen again. This is an example how brutal they are:
Taliban execute a woman to send Afghans a grim warning of life without the West.
Video of the brutal killing is released on the same day as donors promise 10 billion pounds of aid after troop withdrawal in 2014. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/taliban-execute-woman-to-send-afghans-a-grim-warning-of-life-without-the-west-7923566.htm
An Afghan woman accused of adultery was executed by a purported member of the Taliban as a crowd of about 150 men looked on and cheered in a killing captured in video footage that surfaced at the weekend.
The slaying occurred just an hour’s drive from Kabul and is a grim reminder of the hard-line group’s brutality, under whose rule from 1996 to 2001 women suffered severe privations, including being banned from attending school. It also highlights the expanding presence the Taliban has throughout the country beyond their traditional strongholds in the south and east.
As international troops start to leave in advance of total withdrawal in 2014, concerns are mounting about whether the fledgling Afghan National Security Forces will keep insurgents at bay.
The video, obtained by Reuters, shows a woman in a shawl kneeling in the dirt. A turban-clad man approaches and fires on her at close range with an automatic rifle. Another man is heard saying, “Allah warns us not to get close to adultery because it’s the wrong way. It is the order of Allah that she be executed.”
The woman involved – either by consent or force – with two Taliban commanders was killed in order to settle a dispute between them, according to Parwan’s Provincial Governor Basir Salangi. According to Agence France Presse, the woman was a 22-year-old called Naliba. The fate of the Taliban commanders is not known.
“When I saw this video, I closed my eyes,” Mr. Salangi told Reuters. “The woman was not guilty; the Taliban are guilty.” The footage is thought to have been shot about a week ago. Mr. Salangi added that the Taliban have considerable influence in his province…
“Afghan women and girls were looking to the international community to protect the progress they have made in the last decade, and they have been let down. Some important steps have been taken, notably in a renewed commitment to their constitutional rights and better implementation of laws. But this is still not enough to entrench the fragile gains that have been made so far. There are not enough concrete steps or firm affirmations of how women will play a better role in the transformation phase of their country”.
Please pray for the safeguarding of women and children’s rights and the gains that have been made since the Taliban were overthrown. Pray that they will not be successful in regaining control over the nation to reestablish their tyrannical and oppressive rule.
The Church in Wales unveils major overhaul
The Church in Wales has unveiled radical plans to ensure its future ahead of its centenary in 2020. The Church makes 50 recommendations for change in a published report. Recoromendations.include setting up supersize parishes run by teams of vicars and lay people. These would replace parishes with larger ‘ministry areas’ and mirror the catchment areas of secondary schools. Recations are intended to address the problem of small, unsustainable parishes and overstretched priests having to serve multiple parishes. The report also recommends that churches invest in ministry to young people and come up with ‘creative ideas’ to ensure they stay at the heart of their communities. To implement the vision, churches are being asked to allow their buildings to be available for use by the whole community. Other recommendations include: training lay people to play a greater part in church leadership; developing new forms of worship to reach out to those unfamiliar with church services; encouraging tithing.
Pray: for the Church in Wales to rise up and meet the challenge. (Mt.16:18)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.in.wales.unveils.major.overhaul/30316.htm
Russia: New law could restrict ministries
Russia's parliament has passed a law restricting international support to work of non-government organizations work. The bill forces groups to register as ‘foreign agents’ and file quarterly reports about their activities. Failure to comply can result in large fines and possibly jail. Critics say the law is aimed at making the work of NGOs more difficult, to intimidate them, and tarnish their image. The U.S.-based group Russian Ministries, working with church leaders throughout the former Soviet Union, believes it will impact their ministry and other NGOs in similar work.
Pray: that God will strengthen Christian ministries throughout the region as they face the implementation of this new law. (1Cor.1:27)
More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/July/New-Law-Could-Restrict-Ministries-in-Russia/
