Prayer for persecuted Church

Today Christians around the world are being asked to pray for over 100 million suffering Christians during the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. This Day of Prayer has grown to be one of the biggest prayer events in the world since its inception in 1996.

This year we focus particular attention on NORTH KOREA where presently over 100,000 Christians languish in the most atrocious conditions in political prisons and suffer the most heinous of tortures. North Korea has been No 1 for the past six years for the country where persecution is the most severe. Public executions are presently being used to intimidate.

IRAN stands at No 3 where persecution is most severe. On September the Iranian government passed a bill by 196-7 to make apostasy from Islam a capital crime. Unless there is huge international pressure, this bill will soon be ratified. Christians and Baha'i will be worst affected.

IRAQ The church in Iraq is under fierce attack at the moment with 10,000 Christians
leaving the city of Mosul because of terrorism specifically targeting Christians. Terrorists dressed like policemen recently asked a Christian for his ID and when it revealed he was a Christian, he was shot right on the spot. At least 15 Christians have been killed in Mosul in the past month.

However 618 Christians in Iraq recently met in their fourth national prayer conference
to pray for their country. This included 50 Kurdish believers as well as 10 Muslim background believers. Special testimony was given by some who have experienced great blessing as a result of their turning to Christ.

INDIA We continue to pray for the Christians in Orissa where at least 60 people have been killed in the last two months. 14 districts of the State have ben affected by Hindu extremists and 50,000 people have been made homeless. Many have fled to the hills for safety.

Let us pray for the persecuted church.

Click here for more information: The Voice of the martyrs website

BT

John's Gospel for Groote

We have taken up a small project to help the indigenous church on Groote Eylandt.

THIS Tuesday 28th of October 12:00pm on, we are manually collating and binding 50 copies of John's Gospel in thelocal language, anindilyakwa. We need some more help if you are free and able.

We are not sure how long this will take us. This is a small we we can help the local groote people get john in their own language

let me know if you can help

Gavin

Mark this week in history

Mark this week in history

Susan and I hit 20 years of marriage.

(I told you we were married art the age of 6)

22nd October 1988 : A bicentennial project

Phew !

PS I am the skinny guy in the middle

STmatts at Rosalie update

Things are falling into place for the TenAM to move to Rosalie .

Rosalie School has confirmed and greenlighted the move on a couple of fronts. We can leave chairs set up through the Christmas holidays. The School anticipates the P&C storage shed will be built by the end of the holidays where we can store chairs from then on.

Khim Harris is advancing the purchase of chairs, the research on sound equipment needed, and the minor upgrades, in conversation with the relevant parties.

We will use the undercover area for our Christmas events, and start on the 18th of January for the permanent move.

In the next few weeks we will roll out more information on our vision for the change, and the practical ways you can help make it happen through prayer, participation, and generosity. look for the booklet and discussions at church.

Stmatts at Rosalie will be different. It is a chance for us to shape what we do to enhance our opportunities for connections with our local community.

We need your prayers and participation in the next phase of our life together.

Please see Kanishka Khim or myself if you have any questions

Gavin

Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child

Caterina Paizes is organising a collection for Operation Christmas.

The idea is to put a shoebox full of goodies together for a boy or a girl and these will be ditributed to children in third world situations.

The information brochures are in the foyer at Church or contact Katerina Paizes 92862026 for more information

DEADLINE Sunday 26th October

Click Here for website information

Gavin

Minute for Orissa State

This Blog turns our attention to India, to the State of Orissa, where a violent Hindu pogrom continues to rage. You may remember several years ago that Graham Staines and his two sons were incinerated in their van while they slept. They were Christian missionaries serving selflessly the poor of that region. A Hindu nationalist group called the BJP aims to rid India of all Christians and their activities have flared again. and has spread throughout nine districts within the State. Reliable sources are reporting that truckloads of militants from other Indian States are in support and have armed themselves with bombs, swords and guns to pounce on defenceless Christians. Recently a mob of around 2000 Hindus attacked a church service in one village. Some fled, others were forced to convert to Hinduism at the point of the sword. The police choose not to intervene. Where Christians are fleeing to refugee camps for safety, militants are seeking to foul the drinking water with poisonous chemicals and stealing the food supplies because they object to Christians 'eating at government expense'. In one particular region, a large mob of local Hindus invaded a Mission Action Prayer Fellowlship, beat the pastor and believers and burnt the church's Bibles, furniture, musical instruments, pulpit and cross. The brought a media team and all the action was telecast live. I could add more details of vicious violence but you can see that what is going on calls for urgent prayer. Let us pray for God's intervention to protect the lives of His people. Let us also pray for the Holy Spirit to bring comfort and grace to those who are grieving the loss of loved ones and for the 50,000 Christians who have been displaced. Let us pray also that the Christians will emerge from this united in brotherly love and faith in Jesus Christ. May God use the shame of this violence to trigger a national awakening in India which will reject Hindu nationalism and provide the Church with an opportunity to share the gospel in new ways.

B T

Climb every mountain

We survived holidays !

and look forward to fourth term and the new year.

You will be glad to know I conquered the Devil's slide,

(in more ways than one...)

We also conquered Bluff Knoll off in the distance...

now my calves hurt......