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MIXED OUTCOMES FOR THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT IN THE USA ELECTIONS

The 2024 USA election brought mixed outcomes for the pro-life movement, as voters in multiple states approved pro-abortion ballot measures, while similar referendums failed in other states. Alongside the presidential election, voters in nine states were asked in a referendum, whether they supported amending their state constitutions to establish a right to abortion. This resulted from  the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision, that found the US Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion.
Voters in three States Nebraska, South Dakota and Florida rejected a pro-abortion constitutional amendment, and their abortion laws – some banning abortion at 12 weeks’ gestation – are expected to remain in effect.  However as a result of the referendums, several states will have to reverse their previous pro-life policies. Arizona is expected to see its 15-week abortion ban reversed, while Missouri’s near-total abortion ban will experience a similar fate. The other 4 states approved the pro-abortion constitutional amendment
What is clear, is that the abortion question continues to divide nations. This issue, according to commentators, nearly scuttled the Liberal National Party’s win in the recent Queensland State Election. This makes the call to evangelise and to proclaim the Gospel world-wide – all the more urgent. [Sources: Christian Post and various media reports]

PAKISTAN – TWO SISTERS ACQUITTED OF “BLASPHEMY”
Another huge answer to prayer has come as two sisters, both Christians, were acquitted two months after being charged with “blasphemy” in Toba Tek Singh District, Punjab, Pakistan. Saima and Sonia were cleared by Toba Tek Singh Sessions court. On 7 August they were accused of throwing a bag containing wastepaper with pages of the Quran on abandoned land. The sisters were arrested and charged under section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code for “wilful defilement, damage or desecration of the Quran”. This section of the law carries a mandatory life sentence for those convicted. Both women had strenuously denied the accusations, insisting they were not involved in the incident. Their lawyer, Advocate Chaudhry Haneef Hameed Mithu, said that the case had been fabricated to settle personal grudges. The court granted release to the two sisters after considering evidence supplied by the district police officer. Local police and lower courts in Pakistan routinely accept the truth of “blasphemy” allegations, so it is notable that in this instance both police and court investigated properly.
Give thanks for the acquittal of Saima and Sonia. Pray for protection for the sisters, their family and other Christians from any retaliation following this verdict. Ask that God will empower His people in Pakistan to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). [Barnabas Aid news]

YOUVERSION BIBLE PASSES 800 MILLION DOWNLOADS, 2,000 LANGUAGES
The YouVersion Bible app has now surpassed 800 million downloads worldwide, and it has become so prevalent that it’s reshaping the future of Bible engagement. Before becoming one of the most downloaded apps globally, helping millions access the Bible in over 2,000 languages, YouVersion founder Bobby Gruenewald says it all started as a simple website attempting to solve a big problem  – looking for an easier way to read the Bible more consistently using technology. But the solution he envisioned hadn’t yet been invented. And so with the development of apps for the iPhone in 2008, he recruited a 19-year-old on his team to build what the world today calls the Bible app.
The Bible app was a hit, starting out as one of 200 free apps on the Apple store. In the first week, more than 80,000 people downloaded it. Today, the Bible app is opened more than 270 times each second. It supports 70-plus languages, with more than 2,000 Bible translations. [Source: CBNNews]

IRAN – TWO CHRISTIANS RELEASED EARLY FROM TEN-YEAR SENTENCES
Prayers have been answered as two Iranian Christians were each released early from ten-year prison sentences. Iranian-Armenian pastor Anooshavan Avedian, 62, was acquitted and released from prison on 24 September, one year into his ten-year sentence. Anooshavan was arrested in August 2020 for leading an unofficial church, also known as a “house church”, in Tehran.  The “house church” pastored by Anooshavan was started when the forced closure of a Farsi (Persian)-speaking church in 2013 left the congregants with nowhere to meet for worship. Unlike the historic Armenian- and Assyrian-speaking Christian communities, Farsi-speaking Christians are converts from Islam – that is, apostates – and therefore punishable according to Islamic law. The “house church” was deemed to be intent on disrupting national security “through educational and propaganda activities contrary to and disturbing to the holy religion of Islam”.
Just five days after Anooshavan’s release, an Iranian Christian convert from Islam was also released from a ten-year prison term after the same Tehran appeal court reduced his sentence. .  Mehdi Akbari, known as Yasser, was sentenced in November 2020 along with three other Christians under the same charge of “acting against national security by forming a house church”. During his imprisonment Yasser, who was a single parent, learned of the death of his only son, 18-year-old Amir Ali from underlying health issues. Yasser was informed too late to attend the funeral.
Praise God for the release from prison of Anooshavan and Yasser and that the light of His justice has shone (Isaiah 51:4). Pray that both men will recover from the ordeal experienced and know the Lord’s guidance and wisdom as they adjust to life outside prison again. Ask that other Christians in Iran who are imprisoned for their faith in Jesus will also be released. Pray that the Lord will continue to watch over Iranian believers, and that He will give them the courage and hope to persevere in their faith even amid persecution. [Barnabas Aid News]

D.R. CONGO – AT LEAST 28 CHRISTIANS KILLED BY ISLAMISTS IN ATTACKS
Our brothers and sisters in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) urgently need our prayers. At least 28 were killed by Islamists in several attacks in late September and early October. The incidents were announced on the social media channels of Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP). They reported that near the village of Anditongo in Ituri province on 3 October “Caliphate soldiers captured 15 Christians … and killed them by slaughter, and praise be to God”. The Islamists also announced the killing of three others and the burning of three houses in another village on the same day. Similar social media posts had followed earlier atrocities. Eight were killed in two armed assaults on Lubero, in the neighbouring province of North Kivu, on Sunday 22 September.
On the same Sunday another Christian was captured and killed by ISCAP in Ituri. Four days later, in the same province, the Islamists announced that they had ambushed “Christians who were riding motorcycles”, killing one and injuring two others. ISCAP has been responsible for the deaths of more than 100 Christians in just the last three months. It is estimated that they have killed more than 5,500 Christians in north-eastern DRC since 2017.
Christians are asked to pray for their DRC brothers and sisters who are suffering from these repeated Islamist attacks. Ask that the bereaved will be comforted by His loving presence and the witness of His Spirit that their loved ones gave up their lives for name of Jesus and have passed to their reward (Matthew 16:25). Pray that the response of God’s people will expose the deceit that those who kill His children believe they are offering service to a god who does not exist  (John 16:2).

– compiled by Guido Kettniss