Prisoner Alert: Write Ilmurad Nurliev

Last week we highlighted prisoner Yang Xuan and asked you to write a letter to encourage Yang.  We started at 567 letters written and as of today we show that 586 encouraging letters have been written to Yang.  We are grateful for the 19 new letters that were sent to Yang in the last week. Praise God for your faithfulness to encourage the prisoners!

This week we would like to ask you to consider writing persecuted prisoner Ilmurad Nurliev by using our very easy Prisoner Alert program.  All you have to do is click here to access the page for Ilmurad Nurliev and click the link that says WRITE AN ENCOURAGING LETTER that is located on the right hand side of the page.   Note the nifty graphic to show you what it looks like.

Here's a little bit more information about Illmurad Nurliev's situation.  Please pray for him and his family during this hard time.

Pentecostal pastor Ilmurad Nurliev was arrested at his home in Mary in southeastern Turkmenistan on Aug. 27, 2010. He was charged with extracting money from three people. His wife, Maya, and his church members strongly deny the allegations. “All this is being done because of his faith,” said Maya. During his trial, several of the witnesses against the 45-year-old pastor were coerced into testifying.

Pastor Nurliev was sentenced to four years in prison, and his wife was forced to pay “compensation” immediately, or risk being kicked out of their home. Pastor Nurliev was also ordered to undergo “forcible medical treatment” to “wean him off his narcotic dependency,” another claim that his wife and church members reject.

In December 2010, Pastor Nurliev was transferred to Seyi Labor Camp, known for its use of psychotropic drugs on prisoners. A former prisoner in the camp described conditions “like something from the Middle Ages.”

The pastor is a diabetic, and his family is concerned about his health while he is in prison. He has no access to medical treatment.