Christian leaders call for global prayer efforts on behalf of Sudan

Christians around the globe are being urged to pray for Sudan as the southern Sudanese on Sunday began a seven-day referendum to vote whether to remain united with the North or become independent.

This referendum marks the end point of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that itself brought to an end 50 years of bloody civil war between the predominantly Muslim North and the mainly Christian and animist South.

Southern Sudanese are widely expected to vote for independence from the North, which they say treats them as second-class citizens.

On Friday, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, said Jan. 9 was an “immensely important day for Sudan.”

He called upon people around the world to stand with the Sudanese people “to ensure that the referendum takes place peacefully and that the process and the results are fully respected.”

The Church Mission Society which is based in the U.K. called on churches to devote time during Sunday worship to pray for Sudan and the referendum, while Anglican churches in Salisbury and the Diocese of Connor in Ireland put up prayer walls and resources on their websites to encourage people to pray for African nation.

In Australia, Dr. Julianne Stewart, programs director of the Anglican Board of Mission in Australia, said, "We are asking all Anglicans in Australia to pray for peace in Sudan. Whatever the outcome of the referendum, our hope is that the millions of people who have suffered amidst the conflict of the past few decades will come to know lasting peace."

The World Evangelical Alliance has urged its members worldwide to pray for a “free, fair and safe” referendum.

“While many seem confident that separation of the South will be the outcome of the January referendum, the hope for a peaceful acceptance by all parties seems much less probable,” they said.

Discovery Channel and the Vatican plan ‘The Exorcist Files’

Bizarrely, it seems an exorcism reality show is currently being plotted in a joint-project between Discovery Channel and the Vatican.

‘The Exorcist Files’ will recreate real-life cases of demonic possession and hauntings that have been investigated by the Catholic Church. In an unprecedented gesture, the Vatican will allow Discovery Channel access into their case files, as well as interviews with the Church’s top exorcists.

"The Vatican is an extraordinarily hard place to get access to, but we explained we're not going to try to tell people what to think," Clark Bunting, president and general manager of Discovery said. "The work these folks do, and their conviction in their beliefs, make for fascinating stories."

If the first season proves successful, the network plans to ramp up the partnership to a new level by sending a TV crew along with the Catholic exorcist specialists on their visits to suspected demon-oppressed subjects and other supernatural problem cases.

What do you think of this proposed TV series? Send us your opinion in our Feedback section.

Praying for Sudan: A crucial moment arrives in the life of a war-torn nation

To say that Sunday is a crucial day in the life of Sudan is to risk a crass understatement. The 9th of January 2011 sees the end of a five year peace period after 50 years of brutal war; and part of the agreement was that at its conclusion the 8.2 million southern Sudanese would be permitted a referendum vote: whether or not to pursue independence from the dominant north.

Sudan has more than 600 tribal groups who are further subdivided by colour, language, religion and geography. The biggest area of conflict has always been between the dominant north made up mainly of Muslims, and the south made up mostly of Christians and followers of animist religions. Fifty years of war has taken over 2 million lives and plunged millions into poverty. The peace pact brought a short period of respite - for many Sudanese it was the first time in their lives that they knew an era of peace. Yet, there are very real fears in the south that their right to vote for independence will not be respected and that violence will return to their lives.

Despite this most southern Sudanese seem determined to take the leap and separate, a point of view that is firmly supported by the Christians leaders among them.

"It is our golden choice. It is time to choose now," said Joseph Garang Atem Zorial, the Anglican bishop of Renk, who will be joining hundreds of religious and political leaders working to make the election fair and fraud-free.

Bishop Joseph believes that this is an ideal opportunity for southern Sudan to grasp control of their own destiny after having being subject for decades to rule by an Islamic majority.

"I am campaigning for separation," Bishop Joseph said in an interview with Christianity Today.

A recent survey backs his opinion in that a majority of southern Sudanese support political independence.

Christianity Today lists a number of factors that make separation necessary, according to southern Sudanese Christian leaders:

“Poverty: Sudan's national government exports about $35 million per day of crude oil, mostly from the South. Very little of the oil wealth gets shared with southerners, despite the 2005 peace agreement that required the North to do so. More than half of southern Sudan lives on less than $1 per day. Economic development has stalled for decades.”

“Religious discrimination: Sudan's national leaders support a version of Islamic law (Shari'ah) that creates a climate of chronic discrimination against Sudanese Christians and other minorities, especially in the areas of housing, employment, and education.”

“Political repression: President Omar al-Bashir is under criminal indictment by international courts for using the military to suppress minority groups throughout Sudan. He faces charges ranging from ordering genocide to committing war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region, where at least 200,000 have died since 2003.”

"We don't want to go back to war," Bishop Joseph said. "[But] the unity we had been looking for has failed, so now it is time for separation."

Sudanese religious leaders are convinced that prayer is a vital if they are to successfully and peacefully negotiate this extremely tenuous juncture in the life of their nation.

As Bishop Joseph said, "Muslims and Christians have a strong commitment to prayer. We say to the Muslims, 'You pray according to your way. When you go to your mosque, pray for a peaceful referendum.' We believe in the power of prayer. It is the only weapon we have."

This call to prayer was emphasised by the Sudanese delegates at the World Evangelical Alliance at Cape Town 2010. Twenty-eight Sudanese men and women were asked to share their hopes and fears as they approached the January 9 referendum on separate statehood for southern Sudan, and every single one of them urgently requested the international community to pray for a fair and free election, without violent incidents or intimidation.

It seems that the very least the international community can do is heed this call.

Various faith leaders express support for bombed church

Faith leaders from around the globe and across the full religious spectrum have united together to condemn the bombing of a Coptic congregation that left at least 21 people killed and 90 wounded.

Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America, released a statement on Monday, calling the bombings “absolutely reprehensible.”

"It is a sad day for all people when a simple act of worship or community celebration is marked by violence and innocent deaths. ISNA asks Muslim community members and organizations in Egypt and Nigeria to lend support to the families who lost loved ones during these attacks and urges Muslim Americans to join them in prayer for God to ease the suffering of all those affected by this terrible tragedy," said Magid.

The statement went on to declare that these acts of violence should lead us to doubling “our efforts in promoting religious harmony and the right of people to worship free from fear and violence everywhere in the world.”

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs also conveyed their solidarity with the Coptic Church.

“We are pained to see the New Year begin with such blind hatred, bigotry, and wanton disregard for human life,” said JCPA President Rabbi Steve Gutow. “The targeting of any people because of their faith is an attack on all people of faith and indeed all humanity. Coptic Christians have had a peaceful home in Egypt for centuries. Their pain is our pain.”

The National Council of Churches also responded through their general secretary, the Rev. Michael Kinnamon who said:
“Christians, Jews and Muslims around the world are united by their outrage and condemnation of this soul-less act.”

"It is simply agonizing to think that many around the world will mistake this horror as the attack of one religious community on another,” he added.

(Image shows a woman mourning during Sunday Mass at the bombed Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria, Egpyt).

Second Choice Worlds and God

Some of you may have been reading through this week’s devotions and thinking to yourselves, “Well this is all ok for God. He never has to deal with unwelcome changes, or a second choice world not of his choosing. God is powerful enough to sort it all out with just a wave of his hand”.

If we have ever found ourselves thinking like that, we would have of course, been forgetting about the Garden of Eden. Remember that? God’s first choice world is seen in the Garden of Eden – a place of beauty, justice, peace, love and deep communion between God and humanity. This peaceful place was, however, fractured by humanity’s poor choices, and thereafter sin entered the picture.

It is interesting to note what God did at this stage. God did not in his righteous anger destroy us with a click of his fingers. Nor did God give up on us by turning his back on us and leaving us to our own devices. No, God in passionate love, decided on an entirely different, yet far more difficult way. God chose to sacrificially enter this “second choice world” through Jesus and to impact it. God faced human temptations and shared human sufferings. God did this so that he might show us a way back into relationship with him, and so that he might restore us into Life as he originally created us to live it. It was the long way round but God saw us as worth it.

Make no mistake, God is powerful enough to sort out the situation with a wave of his hand, but love demands following an entirely more difficult route. You see for love to truly be real, free choice has to exist. Relationships have to be chosen, they cannot be forced. This is why God did not use power to sort us out, but gave up power for the sake of love, (see Philippians 2. 6-8). God’s extravagant love for us means that he would never give up on us, that he would enter into a world comprising the very worst of our mistakes, just so that he can bring us back to him.

This should help us to remember that God can do something wonderful even in the very worst of second choice worlds. God does not necessarily give us an easy way out of a bad situation with a click of his fingers, but he does offer us all the grace and strength we need to get through it. Although the path may be narrow, God takes us by the hand and remains with us to the very end of our journey.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, we learn from the Bible that you are not necessarily into “easy-way outs” of difficult situations. For you did not abandon us when we turned from you, nor did you destroy us when we sinned. Instead you took the narrow road, the long and difficult way of love that has brought us a wonderful message of redemption and hope. Give us the strength we need to follow you always even if it takes us down some narrow roads, and help us to keep trusting in you always. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Pope urges different faiths to work together to end religious violence

In his New Year’s Day sermon, Pope Benedict XVI urged different faiths to work together for peace and an end to religious violence.

Pope Benedict was speaking from St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City when he announced his intention to hold an October summit similar to that of his predecessor, the late Pope John Paul. He said the purpose of the conference would be to “solemnly renew the effort of those with faith of all religions to live their faith as a service for the cause of peace.”

“At present, Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith,” the Pope asserted, referring to both overt and subtle attacks on Christians and Christian symbols.

These attacks, he said are an affront to all religious freedom, human rights and ultimately, society.

“I implore all men and women of good will to renew their commitment to building a world where all are free to profess their religion or faith, and to express their love of God with all their heart, with all their soul and with all their mind,” the pope urged.

“Often these forms of hostility also foster hatred and prejudice. They are inconsistent with a serene and balanced vision of pluralism and the secularity of institutions, to say nothing of the fact that coming generations risk losing contact with the priceless spiritual heritage of their countries,” Benedict added.

Latest on the Egypt church bombing

Egyptian police believe that a group of local Islamic extremists are behind the New Year's suicide bombing of a church in Alexandria, and not foreign groups as earlier claimed by the Egyptian government, says the Washington Times.

The attack on the Saints Church killed 21 people.

The bombing sparked riots and protests by Egypt's Christian minority, who believe they are targeted and discriminated against and do not receive sufficient protection from authorities.

Dozens of believers returned to pray on Sunday in the blood-spattered Saints Church - many of them crying and even screaming in grief. Security was provided for them, as there was for churches throughout Egypt on Sunday.

Inside the Saints Church, the floor was still stained with blood, two statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary were toppled and benches were scattered by the impact of the blast.

Father Maqar, who led the service, did not give a sermon, preferring to express his grief with silence.

"I tell Christians to pray and pray to ease their agony," he told the Associated Press after the service.

"Is it possible that what happened is even remotely human? We were carrying dead bodies, but in pieces. Who can fathom such a thing? Who can tolerate it?" he added.

In Alexandria, around 500 Christians staged a vigorous protest near the bombed church. They were outnumbered by riot police at least two to one and prevented from going elsewhere.

Sally Moore, a Christian protester, said Muslim and Coptic protesters were planning to unite to form a "human shield" outside major churches in Cairo on Coptic Christmas Eve on Jan. 6 in a show of solidarity.

"The security is protecting the regime, not the people, not the churches," she said.

In another display of inter-faith unity, Egypt's top Muslim cleric, Grand Sheik of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb, visited Pope Shenouda III, spiritual leader of Egypt's Orthodox Copts, at his Cairo headquarters on Sunday to offer his condolences.