In this issue
- Ending the Famine
- A New Song Arises
- Worship at Tiferet Yeshua: An Oasis in the Desert
- What is J Street?
- Biblical Reasons to Stand with Israel
Action Packs are a tangible way of reminding our persecuted family that Christians in New Zealand have not forgotten them. Each pack provides much-needed practical items and medical necessities for Christians in need in Syria. This month, with the chance to add a photo or personal note you can show your love and give some much-needed encouragement to Christians who are suffering in the Syria conflict. Will you help?
You have the opportunity to send some personal encouragement to Christian families in Syria by sending a family photo or note along with a Family Medical Action Pack. Here’s how:
Category: Restricted
Major Religions: Islam 90.1%, Christianity 5.9%
Prevalent Ideology: Islam
Leader: President Bashar al-Asad
Large swaths of Syrian territory remain in the hands of Islamist rebel groups since the 2011 uprising. More than 4 million refugees have fled the country, and many more remain displaced.
Life for Christians
Syria was once religiously diverse and protective of Christians’ rights. But today both Orthodox and evangelical Christians are targets of the Islamists. Christian villages have been overrun, churches destroyed and believers abused or driven out.
VOM Work
VOM is heavily involved both inside and outside the country, providing Bibles, support to churches, blankets, food, water and more.
Thank you for your prayers for Maryam Naghash Zargaran, an Iranian convert to Christianity, who, we are delighted to report, was released from prison on Wednesday (NZ time).
Maryam has served a four-year sentence in the women’s ward of Evin Prison in Tehran. She was imprisoned in July 2013 after being found guilty of ‘propagating against the Islamic regime, and colluding to undermine national security’.
Maryam suffers from heart disease, for which she requires regular medical attention. Harsh prison conditions have also resulted in her suffering from depression.
Please join Iranian Christians in thanking God for her release and continue to pray for her health and well-being: that the Lord will strengthen Maryam mentally and physically, that she will receive the medical attention she needs and that she will adjust well to ordinary life after her long prison sentence. (Source: Release International, Middle East Concern)
What VOM does in Iran: VOM is sponsoring the printing and distribution of at least 137,000 Bibles in Iran. VOM also supports training focused on discipleship and church planting, as well as Christian satellite broadcasts into the country.
Christina Abada, a 6-year-old Iraqi girl, was reunited with her Christian family on June 9 after being held by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS) for three years. While Christina is in good health, it is unclear what she may have endured or witnessed while in captivity, and she has no memory of her mother and father. Her family, originally from Qaraqosh, currently live in a camp for displaced Iraqis in Erbil. On June 9, they received a call alerting them that Christina had been found in a poor neighbourhood of Mosul that had been recently liberated by Iraqi forces. Please pray that Christina will be restored spiritually and emotionally and that she will fully reconnect with her family.
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