A blessing for 2017

Happy New Year from Middle East Media!

This powerful promise in Isaiah is something we are holding onto for the year ahead. Throughout MEM's history, God has a habit of making a way in the wilderness where it seemed impossible! We are believing this for 2017 too - in the increasingly conflicted, suffering and desperate 'wilderness' of the Middle East, God will make a way for his hope, love and justice to flow like rivers. 

Please pray for Middle East Media for the coming year, that God will use our work to bring refreshing and plant seeds of transformation in a thirsty place.

Look out for the upcoming edition of Prayer & Praise, which will further unpack these verses in Isaiah and their relevance to our work, particularly in the Gulf!

We pray this blessing will be true in your own lives, too - that you would be rivers in the desert wherever you are, and that God will make a way for you in whatever wilderness you may be facing.

Thank you so much for your continued support of MEM and our work as we head into a New Year.

URGENT: Call to prayer for Cairo's Coptic Christians

Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

Please join us in praying urgently for the Coptic Christians of Cairo, following a bomb attack in the Coptic cathedral complex yesterday morning.

At least 25 are dead and many more wounded, including women and children. The bomb exploded at 10am on Sunday 11th in the Church of St Peter, a time when many people were attending church. 

Both Christians and Muslims have gathered to denounce the attack. Egypt's Ahram Online reported the scene in Cairo after the violence:

"Hundreds of Muslim and Coptic protesters gathered at the cathedral, chanting against the attack on the church in a show of both anger and unity... Hospitals where the injured are being treated, including Dar El-Shefaa and Ain Shams University Hospital, have called for blood donations, while calls on social media for people to donate have gone viral."

Egypt's President, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, has also denounced the attack and has declared a three-day period of national mourning. 

One of our contacts in Cairo, an Egyptian Christian, has asked us to pray for them:

Prayer is what is needed now. People are confused, hurt and upset and the situation is really messy. I would particularly ask you to pray for the ability of Christians to love and forgive in the middle of this hurt, so that the heart of Christ - who forgave those who crucified Him - would be seen and touched. It is very difficult right now, but please pray that this will be possible. Our nation needs to touch the heart of Christ and such painful times are priceless opportunities for that.

Here are some more ways Egyptian Christians have asked us to pray, via Middle East Concern:

a. for God's comfort for those who lost loved ones and for full recovery of the injured
b. for comfort and encouragement for the wider Christian community and God's protection over his church in Egypt and other targets of these attacks
c. that the perpetrators of these violent attacks will be found and brought to justice. 

Thank you so much for your prayers for Egypt's Christians. You can find out more about the story here.

Concealing violence against women: A call to prayer for shifting attitudes

Women in Cairo protest against violence against women, June 2014. (Reuters)

Earlier this week, a Moroccan state TV channel aired a makeover tutorial for women, showing them how to cover their facial bruises with concealer. 

“Good morning!” The host began. “Today, we’re going to move to a topic that is saddening, but on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, I’m going to show you the makeup that can cover bruises from the hits a woman may experience. It’s a topic we shouldn’t even have to discuss, but unfortunately, this is what it is.”

— Moroccan state TV segment on concealing the bruises of domestic violence

Moroccan women were quick to show their outrage at this terrible error in judgement and demanded an apology from the TV station. But the fact that it was aired highlights that domestic violence is still seen as normal, and that the effort is on the woman to conceal the problem, rather than on men to stop carrying out the abuse.

The price of no change is unacceptable

“We believe in and work for a world where women and girls can flourish and prosper peacefully alongside men and boys, sharing in and benefitting from societies that value their skills and accept their leadership. Violence against women and girls has a devastating impact on individuals and on the society.

Women and girls who experience violence lose their dignity, they live in fear and pain, and in the worst cases they pay with their lives. Violence cuts deeply into the liberties we should all have: the right to be safe at home, the right to walk safely on the streets, the right to go to school, to work, to the market or to watch a film. We should be able to expect that attackers will be punished, that justice will be done, and that we can get care and support for injuries... Change to these elements has a cost, yet the price of no change is unacceptable.”

— Statement by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women

Last week marked the start of the UN's annual 16-day campaign to End Violence Against Women and Girls. In the Middle East, 37% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner at some point in their lives, and 125 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to Female Genital Mutilation.

Overall attitudes towards violence against women do seem to be shifting in the right direction, but as the Moroccan TV blunder shows, there is still a long way to go. 

How can we pray?

• Pray that attitudes would continue to shift against violence towards women and girls. Please pray that violence against women would not be seen as normal, but would be increasingly challenged and condemned.
• Pray for our development organisation in North Africa as they use media to promote gender equality. We have an educational curriculum to teach men and women in civil society to prevent violence against women, and want to use this curriculum in our work with refugees where rates of domestic violence are often high. Please pray for them as they run these training sessions, that they would be instrumental in changing attitudes in North Africa and beyond.
• Pray that more women would seek help in situations of domestic violence - currently only 40% seek help, and only 10% report the abuse to the police. Pray that women would find safe ways to seek help and that support would be available to them.

Read more about the impact of domestic violence, attitudes towards it, and the UN Women's campaign against violence here.

Join with Iraqi Christians in their day of prayer for their nation

Up to 50,000 Iraqi Christians are expected to join together in Erbil today to pray for their country. 

Among them will be some of the thousands of persecuted Christians who were displaced by ISIS, and some of those who escaped will share their testimonies. The event will be broadcast live on SAT-7, one of our partner organisations.

ISIS has been losing territory in Iraq for the past year. Recently many Iraqi Christians were able to return to their homes, and were able to once more ring out the church bells which have been silent since the occupation began.

Please join with Iraqi Christians today in praying for the nation of Iraq:

- Pray for the liberation of the Iraqi town of Mosul. Mosul is the last ISIS stronghold in Iraq, and Iraqi forces have been battling to free the city for the past several weeks. Their are upwards of 700,000 people still trapped in Mosul. The liberation of the city is likely to take several more weeks or months, but please pray for a swift end to the conflict and safety for those who are fighting and for those who are longing to return home.

- Thank God for the faithful witness of Iraqi Christians! Many Christians have stayed in Iraq despite intense persecutions, and are now attempting to rebuild their towns, homes and lives. Pray for their safety as they meet together today to intercede for their homeland. We can also thank God for the many Christian towns and villages which have already been freed from ISIS control.

- Pray for the healing of the land, and for the people. One of the aims of today's day of prayer is to pray over the land that was defiled by ISIS, to reclaim it for God's glory. Join Iraqi Christians in praying for spiritual healing for the land, its towns and its people, many of whom will be traumatised after living under tyranny for over 2 years. 

- Pray for the future of Iraq, and the Middle East. Fabian Greche, a Christian leader in northern Iraq, told CBN News: "We easily get affected by darkness around us. It affects us, but if we look at Jesus and at His Word we see that God wants to pour out His Spirit. He's coming back for a Bride and He will have one in the Middle East." 

Amen.

For more information on the Iraqi's day of prayer and more ideas for how to pray for Iraq, visit SAT-7's website here. 

Image: Huffington Post

Pray for Middle Eastern school children

A rare glimmer of hope in the Middle East is the children who keep returning to school to receive an education, despite the conflict, devastation and hopelessness around them. But there are many more for whom it is simply too dangerous to get to school, or there are no schools left.

It is estimated that 40% of Middle Eastern children are unable to attend school because of ongoing conflicts, as populations are displaced and schools themselves are either damaged or being used as shelters and makeshift hospitals.(1) 

“In the midst of violence and instability, school is a place of learning and opportunity, a sanctuary for healing and health, and a haven of normalcy and hope for the future. Education not only increases the chances that, someday, children will be able to support themselves and seek a better life for their families; it also provides them with the skills to rebuild their societies. And it can instill in them a desire to seek reconciliation when the conflicts have been resolved and the catastrophes have ended.”

— Anthony Lake, Director of UNICEF

Please pray for education in the Middle East:

• That conflicts across the Middle East would come to an end, to allow life to return to normal and children to receive an education
• Thank God for the brave teachers and children who continue to pursue education, despite the dangers around them, and pray for their protection
• For those who are unable to attend school, that they would have access to other means of education such as books, media and TV shows
• For our North Africa team and the Serving Refugees project - one of the aims is to provide education to children in refugee camps. Read more about our work with refugees here.

If you're interested in reading more, take a look at the following links:

BBC Report "Back to school in the Middle East: a glimmer of normal life" 
UNICEF Report "Education Under Fire: How conflict is driving children out of school across the Middle East"