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CHRISTIANS WARNED AS SYRIA FALLS INTO CHAOS AND UNCERTAINTYAs Syria descends into uncertainty after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, persecution experts are warning about what could befall Christians and other minority groups. In the days leading up to the regime’s fall, David Curry, president and CEO of Global Christian Relief, emailed an “urgent” message to supporters, noting Christians are “caught once again in the crosshairs of war.” Already, Curry said, thousands were becoming displaced, with road closures and refugee camps swelling. Others, he said, were trapped in their homes. “The so-called ‘opposition forces,’ Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), are little more than a reconstructed remnant of ISIS and Al Qaeda fighters,” he warned. “Considered a terrorist organization, they have, in less than two weeks, ethnically cleansed the northwest of Syria, including Aleppo and beyond, of Kurds and Christians.” And Curry said it’s expected this reign of terror will only progress into other areas of Syria. “When the civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Christians comprised approximately 10% of the population, about 1.5 million people,” he added. “After years of constant fighting and persecution by jihadist radicals, that number has dwindled to just 300,000 — now there is no safe place for Kurds and Christians.”
Many Christians have reportedly fled Syria after HTS took over. Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern (ICC), told The Christian Post: “The coming days and weeks will be crucial for the fate of [the] Christian community,” King said. “Christians, with roots stretching back nearly two millennia, now face an uncertain and perilous future.” While CSI said the group has thus far treated Christians and other groups well after overtaking Aleppo last week, the past hasn’t shown the same patterns. HTS has often targeted Christians throughout Syria in violent attacks and kidnappings, repeatedly killing Christian civilians and confiscating their property.” Some Christian leaders have reportedly stayed behind to help those stuck and struggling and to encourage the faithful. Let’s pray for Christians, other minority groups, and Syrian leaders. [Source: Faithwire]

6 LAOS CHRISTIAN RELEASED FROM JAIL
Give thanks that six Christians in central Laos have been released from prison after a month’s imprisonment. Pastor Mum and five other church members had been arrested at a prayer meeting. In releasing them, the local authorities warned them to restrict their activities. Pray that all will recover fully from theirordeal and that the Lord will honour their faithfulness in strengthening His Church. Ask that they will be wise and yet innocent in taking note of threats issued and be guided to trust the Good Shepherd and be obedient to Him even in the midst of wolves. (Matt. 10.16) [Source: Barnabas Aid]

BRAZIL: MILESTONE IN PRINTING BIBLES
The Bible Society of Brazil (or BSB) is celebrating the milestone of printing 200 million Bibles and New Testaments. They celebrated the printing of the first 100 million in 2011. Erni Seibert with BSB told Christian Daily the remarkable growth reflects the increasing demand for the Bible and the enduring impact of the organization’s work. The history of the Bible Society Brazil reflects a rich diversity of Bible translations. Editions have been produced in 87 languages and exported to 122 countries. This work includes study Bibles, thematic Bibles, bilingual and multilingual editions, as well as Braille and indigenous language versions.
BSB is one of the main Bible printers supplying Latin America. Three complete Bibles are printed every second. Of the 200 million copies printed, 70% stayed in Brazil, while the other 30%—around 60 million Bibles—were sent to other countries. [Source: Christian Daily International]

MYANMAR – KILLING CONTINUES – 7 CHILDREN AMONG THE DEAD IN AIRSTRIKE
Military bombs dropped on a church, killed seven children, together with two others. The Tatmadaw bomb struck the church in Konlaw village next to a camp sheltering displaced people. “In just one family, the father, the mother, and all their kids, six people in total, died,” a local spokesman said. Eleven others were injured, seven critically, and were taken to hospital in the nearby town of Lai Zar for treatment. The airstrike occurred just two weeks after the bombing of the church in the home village of senior church leader Charles Maung Bo in Sagaing Region. No casualties were reported in this attack in Mon Hla village. “They’ve destroyed an entire side of the church, the whole right side,” said one resident. She added that both the church’s bell tower and nave also sustained damage.
Bo has spoken out passionately against attacks on churches in the past. In November 2022 he appealed to the Tatmadaw for dialogue after an earlier land and air attack on Mon Hla village in which three civilians were killed. Mon Hla is home to 3,000 residents, most of whom are Christians. It is one of the region’s historic Bayingyi villages where inhabitants are descended from Christians who settled in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Sagaing Region has been particularly affected by violence since the Tatmadaw seized power in the military coup of February 2021.
PRAY – for those who lost loved ones in the airstrike in Konlaw village. Pray that they will be comforted and that the wounded will receive healing. Give thanks that there were no casualties in the attack on Mon Hla. Pray that Christians in both communities will know the Lord’s protection in the days ahead and that targeted attacks on Christian communities will cease. [Source: Barnabas Aid]

SCHOOL CANCELS HANDEL’S MESSIAH’ PERFORMANCE AMID BACKLASH
A school in Finland has cancelled a concert of Handel’s “Messiah” performed by the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and the Helsinki Chamber Choir over concerns the recital’s Christian themes might offend some students. Officials with the school hosting the concert in question made the decision after learning about a case in a Finnish city, where a child objected to songs about the life of Jesus performed at an undisclosed school. Ultimately, the National Non-Discrimination and Equality Tribunal decided the non-Christian pupils should be compensated 1,500 euros (or $US1,562) for their offense, but the city’s Education and Welfare Committee voted 6-5 no payment was due to the offended school students.
It’s worth noting some 65% of Finns still identify as Christians, belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, one of two national churches in the country, Christian Network Europe reported.  All of this comes as former Finnish parliamentarian and an evangelical Christian – Päivi Räsänen (she was the Minister of the Interior of Finland between 2011 and 2015) – is embroiled in what has become a years-long legal battle after she shared a Bible verse on social media about homosexuality. She weighed in on the compensation conflict, and the recent concert cancellation. She said: “Has the use of common sense disappeared? At the same time, schools celebrate Halloween with witches and zombie characters. How can a song about Jesus be perceived as so dangerous?” [Source: CBN News]

FRANCE – A CRIME TO SAY THAT ABORTION KILLS BABIES
In France, part of the so-called civilized West, human rights and freedom have been protected for generations, but that nation apparently has exited that group. Because it now has censored speech to the point it is illegal to say that abortion, which causes the death of the unborn every single time the process fulfills its goal, is a “cause of death.” The analysis comes from free speech expert Jonathan Turley, who is a constitutional expert who has testified before the US Congress, points out that for generations, France’s call to patriotism has been Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. “However, in today’s France, ‘liberty’ is no longer valued. Individual rights of religion and speech are routinely sacrificed in the name of ‘equity’ and ‘fraternity,” he warned. This became very evident when the French conservative CNEWS was fined 100,000Euros and forced to apologize on air after a journalist referred to “abortion as the world’s leading cause of death, with 73 million deaths worldwide each year.” Cancer was ranked second at 10 million and smoking followed at 6.2 million. Turley said free speech is in a free fall across Europe. “The desire to silence others has now become an insatiable appetite,” he said. [Source: LifeNews (USA)]

– compiled by Guido Kettniss