VOM-USA Prayer Update for September 16, 2011

Every Friday we ask you to pray for specific needs we have here at The Voice of the Martyrs.  Below are three specific prayer requests we ask that you pray for and have your friends and church also pray for. Thank you again for your care for suffering Christians.

West Bank—Lives Touched Through VBS
VOM Sources

Colossians 1:24

Pastor Stephen Khoury, a VOM partner, has successfully completed a summer VBS program in the Bethlehem suburb of Shepherd’s Field, despite opposition from neighbors and local authorities. On the first day of the VBS, Stephen was accosted by a neighborhood woman and her two sons, but the Holy Spirit enabled Stephen to respond wisely and to calm the woman. Over the course of the five-day event, the leaders’ car tires were slashed and the building and landscaping of the youth center were vandalized. But Stephen and the other Christian workers were encouraged. “We had more than 78 kids come, and more than 25 kids from different religions received Christ, ” Stephen said. “Lives were changed forever.” As a result of their VBS success, a new outreach meeting will be held each Friday at the center. Continue to pray for those conducting outreach through the Shepherd’s Field center. Pray that they will not falter in sharing the message of Christ.

Turkey—Government Returns Seized Property
VOM Canada, Compass Direct

Leviticus 25:12-13

In a surprise decision, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Aug. 28 invited Turkey’s Christian and Jewish communities to reclaim long-confiscated religious property. The decree came 75 years after the Turkish government seized land and buildings owned by the Greek, Armenian, Syriac and Jewish communities. The seized property included schools, churches, cemeteries, stores, hospitals, orphanages, houses, apartment buildings and factories, which the Turkish state had re-registered as public or foundation property. The new decree states that owners of property that was sold by the state to third parties will be reimbursed at market value. Thank the Lord for this development. Pray that the transition will go smoothly and that there will be no resistance or negative reaction to the decree.

Tanzania—Persecution Increases on Zanzibar
Compass Direct

Hebrews 11:16

Christians on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar are facing increasing opposition from the Muslim majority. In June, recent convert Yusuf Abdalla, 23, fled to mainland Tanzania after he was severely beaten by family members. Earlier this year, 28-year-old Ramadhan Hunda Tuma was compelled to enter a guilty plea to charges that he burned a Quran rather than face an enraged mob calling for his death. More than 50 Muslims packed into the courtroom on Feb. 21 to hear the judge’s ruling. “Due to the conditions prevailing then, Tuma pleaded guilty because he feared for his life, ” said a pastor who requested anonymity. “He chose to go to jail rather than to be released only to be killed.”