MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“Officials from the Malatya Municipality have demolished three buildings, including a place of worship that was under renovation, located inside an Armenian cemetery even though the Malatya governor and mayor gave permission.

A residence for the watchman, a room to bathe the bodies of the dead and a place of worship were pulled down when nobody in charge of the cemetery was around on Thursday. The municipality officials said the place of worship was being built without official permission, and argued that there was nothing illegal about the demolishment.

Citing the intolerance towards Armenians as the reason behind the municipality’s move, Turkish media outlets reported on Friday that the municipality had the facilities pulled down because of hundreds of petitions submitted by locals who opposed the construction of a place of worship for Armenians, thinking that a church was being built.

Malatya Mayor Ahmet Çakır gave verbal permission for building the place of worship on orders by Malatya Governor Ulvi Saran. The cost of the building was met by an İstanbul-based philanthropist foundation of Malatya Armenians, HAYDER. The blueprint of the place of worship was drawn up by renowned Turkish-Armenian architect Kevork Özkaragöz.

Garo Paylan, member of the board of directors of HAYDER, said in a statement that both the governor and the municipality were quite warm to the idea of renovating the demolished buildings at the cemetery four months ago.

‘However, our cemetery does not belong to us anymore, it belongs to the municipality. Therefore, we asked the municipality for renovation, but they said they can’t do it even though they will allow us to do it,’ he said.

The renovation work started in the cemetery in Malatya, where there is only about 100 Armenians left.

‘It is important for those people to bury their loved ones according to their religious practices. Since there are no churches left in Malatya, the only place that they can have a religious ceremony is in the cemetery,’ he said.” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey: Secular Opposition Laments the Rise of Islamism in Turkish Government and Society, Christians Under Increasing Pressure – “In a Turkey with a secular constitution and a government and population of the Muslim faith, the social-democrat opposition has denounced an attack by the government and the presidency on the tradition of Ataturk festivities, symbol of the state’s secular nature. The alarm has come on a day in which a daily paper provided details on a report by the Association of Protestant Christian Churches noting numerous ‘attacks’ on Christian communities.” Read more.

By Dan Wooding – “SOUTH KORDOFAN, SUDAN (ANS) — Samaritan’s Purse has announced that a Bible school that they support, was destroyed on Wednesday, February 1, 2012, in the latest bombing raid to hit South Kordofan, an oil-rich Sudanese province that borders the newly created independent country of South Sudan.

At least eight bombs were dropped in the area of Heiban Bible College Wednesday during the school’s first day of classes, according to a statement by Samaritan’s Purse, Franklin Graham’s Christian humanitarian group, which supports the school.

Heiban Bible College operates out of a compound in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, which borders the new nation of South Sudan, and fortunately, no injuries were reported.

‘We have been working for years in Sudan,’ Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham said on Wednesday. ‘Today our Bible school in Heiban in the Nuba Mountains was bombed by the Sudanese Air Force. No one was killed or hurt, but buildings were destroyed. Please pray for the safety of believers, and that God would intervene.’

The son of evangelist Billy Graham went on to say, ‘My staff and I are deeply concerned for the welfare and lives of the people in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan who were terrorized by the bombings of the Heiban Bible College. This attack was carried out by Sudanese Air Force planes that dropped eight bombs on the school that Samaritan’s Purse, the international Christian relief organization I lead, constructed and dedicated in 2007 to train local pastors.

‘It was the first day of class for the new school year and the campus was full of students, teachers and teachers’ families. It was a miracle that no one was injured or killed.'” Read more.

Flashback: Sudan: President Al-Bashir Moves Forward with Rewriting the Country’s Constitution to Implement Sharia Law – “Sudanese leader Omer Hassan Al-Bashir is moving forward with rewriting the country’s constitution to implement Shariah law, according to reports from organizations with links inside the Muslim-dominated nation. International Christian Concern’s North Africa specialist Jonathan Racho says that a Shariah-compliant constitution will mean more suffering for Sudan’s remaining Christians. ‘This new law (Shariah compliant constitution) is going to affect a significant number of Christians who live in places like Khartoum (the capital city). There are still a significant number of Christians in Sudan,’ Racho said.” Read more.

Flashback: Sudan: Authorities Threaten to Arrest Church Leaders Involved in Preaching or Evangelistic Activities – “Sudan’s Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments has threatened to arrest church leaders if they carry out evangelistic activities and do not comply with an order for churches to provide their names and contact information, Christian sources said. The warning in a Jan. 3 letter to church leaders of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) arrived a few days after Sudan President Omar al-Bashir told cheering crowds on Jan. 3 that, following the secession of largely non-Islamic south Sudan last July, the country’s constitution will be more deeply entrenched in sharia (Islamic law).” Read more.

Flashback: Sudan: Christianity No Longer an Accepted Religion, Muslims Attack Christians Trying to Rebuild Church – “Emboldened by government calls for a Sudan based on Islamic law since the secession of South Sudan, Muslims long opposed to a church near Khartoum have attacked Christians trying to finish constructing their building, sources said. The Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) congregation in Omdurman West, across the Nile River from Khartoum, has continued to meet for Sunday worship in a building without a roof in spite of opposition from area Muslims and local authorities, the sources told Compass. Claiming that Christianity was no longer an accepted religion in the country, Muslims in the Hay al Sawra, Block 29 area of Omdurman West on Aug. 5 attacked SCOC members who were constructing the church building, the sources said.” Read more.

AP – “A Catholic church in Nigeria still in mourning after a Christmas Day bombing by a radical Islamist sect buried its dead Wednesday amid wails of grief and under the watch of security agencies that still fear more violence.

Neatly dug graves awaited the corpses in a vacant dirt lot in the church’s compound, now turned into a mass tomb. Church officials said that of at least 44 people who died in the violence at St. Theresa Catholic Church, some still remain unclaimed and unrecognizable after the Dec. 25 attack by the sect known as Boko Haram.

Inside the church, whose front steps have been barred off by iron fencing, red bunting hung above the altar over a crucifix and a painting of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, his hands open wide, his face serene. About 2,000 mourners and priests surrounded the caskets placed there.

One casket, covered in Nigeria’s green-and-white national flag, had a pair of black boots sitting atop. The body within belonged to a young Boy Scout.

‘As I look at you, I am consoled and comforted. As I looked at the caskets here covered in white, I am comforted and consoled because from the day of our baptism we were given a white cloth,’ Bishop Martin Uzoukwu said.

The bishop called on the crowd to forgive, as well as praise God.” Read more.

Al-Qaeda’s hand in Boko Haram’s deadly Nigerian attacks – “The radical Islamist group, based in northern Nigeria, once specialised in robbing banks and attacking defenceless Christian congregations. In the past month, however, its gunmen or suicide bombers have struck 21 times, killing at least 253 people. The Daily Telegraph understands this transformation has come about partly because of the help Boko Haram has received from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a branch of the international terrorist network based in the Saharan states of Mali, Niger and Algeria. Boko Haram demonstrated its new potency on Jan 20, when at least 100 of the movement’s fighters executed eight assaults in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano, overwhelming the security forces and killing 185 people. This operation bore all the hallmarks of al-Qaeda: a mixture of suicide bombers and gunmen, some in police or army uniform, carried out multiple, carefully coordinated attacks on hard targets.” Read more.

Nigeria: Boko Haram – Delta Churches Acquire Bomb Detectors – “In response to the growing insecurity in the country, churches in Delta State have taken measures to protect their premises and congregations from bomb attacks. The churches have therefore acquired bomb detecting machines or Friskers. LEADERSHIP checks revealed that in the last few weeks major congregations have been enveloped in fear of the unknown and had acquired bomb detectors as the only solution to the spate of bombings in the country. Sources said while most churches in Asaba and Ibusa had acquired the friskers, others have resorted to using private security personnels and may have concluded plans to acquire theirs too. Dependable sources said that Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) worried by dastardly acts perpetrated by Boko Haram, especially the Madalla Christmas Day bombing, has encouraged church leaders to enhance their security either by private arrangement or in concert with the formal security agencies.” Source – allAfrica.com.