United Kingdom
Though long a bastion of Christianity, now much of the population of the United Kingdom is only culturally Christian at best. The Muslim population is growing rapidly due to immigration and to a Muslim birth rate that is three times greater than the rest of the population. There are presently over 1.6 million Muslims in UK and at least 1,689 mosques. Mosque attendance is growing 10 times faster than attendance at Christian churches.
Government authorities find it very difficult to cope with Muslim traditions that contradict their laws. More than a dozen women have been slain in honor killings in the last year alone. Many others are lured back to Muslim countries where they are then murdered for disgracing their families. The government is hampered in its ability to protect women by laws protecting freedom of religion, and by the government’s decision to allow Sharia courts authority in Muslim domestic cases involving divorce, custody, and spousal abuse.
Security agencies are especially concerned about the use of Saudi imams and oil money in London mosques to indoctrinate youth in radical Islam and support for Al-Qaeda. Already, 37% of UK’s Islamic youth would prefer to live under Sharia law rather than UK law. One third believes those who leave Islam should be executed.
Prayers for persecuted Christians in U.K.
Teacher Silenced
A Christian teacher in the UK was asked by a student whether the God of Christianity and god of Islam are the same God. She answered that they are not. When the student asked how they are different, the teacher explained her faith without trying to give offense. The students’ Muslim parents complained, and now the teacher is forbidden from sharing her faith, even if students ask a religious question.
Ask God to encourage the teacher and give her wisdom. “You are the LORD, You alone.”
Islamic Gang Violence in UK
In the UNITED KINGDOM Muslim gangs in prisons are creating a growing problem. One former prison inmate has admitted his violence toward anyone who dared to “disrespect” his religion.
Pray for God’s protection for Christian converts in the prisons. “For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and on them He has set the world.”
Teenager Forbidden to Attend Church
In the UNITED KINGDOM, a Christian foster care worker was deregistered when a 16-year-old Muslim converted to Christianity under her watch. The MBB attended church on her own initiative and decided to be baptized, but officials say she must stay away from church for 6 months.
Pray that she will grow in her new faith. “For God . . . has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Teacher Suffers Verbal Abuse
Muslim students verbally abused a teacher in the UNITED KINGDOM. He tried to stop them from proclaiming in his class that they hate Jews and Christians. They lauded suicide bombers and called believers their enemies. He says the school’s hostility and refusal to take action gave him clinical depression, and now he has lost his job.
Pray for encouragement for the verbally persecuted. “It is the LORD who goes before you.”
Evangelists risk "hate crime" in England
Two Christians evangelizing in a heavily Muslim area of one British city were threatened with arrest for committing a "hate crime" and told they could be beaten up if they returned.
Pray for freedom to proclaim the Gospel, even where it is unpopular. "And he will declare to you the things that are to come."
Taking the Gospel with them
A Muslim-background believer from Syria was threatened with death by his own family, and fled to the United Arab Emirates. But as he and his wife shared their faith, they continued to receive threats, including the video of a beheading.
Praise God that, in a landmark case, this couple has been granted asylum in the United Kingdom. Pray that their continued evangelistic work will bear much fruit. "And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards."
Punished for refusing to pray to Allah
Two British boys were given detention because they refused to pray to Allah during a "religious studies" class at school.
Pray that the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will be unleashed to draw British boys and girls to the knowledge and love of Him. "I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him."
Islamists recruit in jail
Islamists in British jails are regarded as heroes, and recruit heavily among other prisoners. Pray that Christians will reach out to imprisoned Muslims, and many prisoners will come to know Jesus as Savior. "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you."
British convert forced into hiding
A British Muslim, "Yasmin" came to Jesus after seeing him in a vision. Her mother told the local mosque her daughter had gone crazy. "A campaign was set up against me; people would come and bang on the door every ten minutes during the night." Her husband demanded custody of their children, harassed her and hired someone to beat her. When her son finally went to stay with his father, the man said he had hired someone to kill Yasmin. She went into hiding.
British Pastor Beaten and Robbed
A Pakistani pastor in the United Kingdom received several hostile calls from Muslims on his television show. Soon after, a man walked up to his car to ask directions--then suddenly grabbed his hair and tried to beat his head against the steering wheel. Two more men approached as the cross was torn from this pastor’s neck. They swore at him, stole his laptop and Bible, and said "If you go back to the studio, we'll break your legs."