Sudan Orders Christian Schools to Operate on Sundays

Educational institutions are not to take the day off

JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) - In an ongoing campaign to rid the country of Christianity, officials in Sudan this week ordered all Christian schools in the capital to regard Sunday as a work day, sources said.

The Ministry of General Education of Khartoum State sent a letter dated July 26 (Wednesday) ordering all Christian schools in the Khartoum area to stop regarding Sunday as a public day off, effective immediately. “In order not to affect the educational process and the ongoing plan, we ask you not to observe Sunday holiday,” the ministry’s Awadia El-Sheikh Saleh Omer wrote in the letter.
Sunday is considered a working day in Sudan, but traditionally Christian schools have not operated on their day of worship and rest. Fridays and Saturdays are public days off in Sudan, which has a sizeable Muslim majority.

The move prompted widespread outrage and led many Christians in Sudan and around the world to view it as another means of harassment and discrimination against Sudanese Christians.
“The government’s decision to abolish Sundays for Christian schools is discrimination against Christians in Sudan,” said a Sudanese church leader whose name is withheld for security reasons.
Sudanese Christians are calling on rights groups and the Vatican to intervene. Other voices are calling for national prayer and fasting.

The move comes at a time of increased government pressure on ethnic and religious minorities in Sudan. On May 7, the last remaining church building in the Soba al Arabi area outside Khartoum was demolished.

A church elder died on April 3 from injuries sustained in a raid on an embattled Christian school by supporters of a Muslim business interest in Omdurman, Sudan, sources said. Younan Abdullah, an elder with Bahri Evangelical Church, died in a hospital after being stabbed while he and others were defending women at the Evangelical School of Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC).

Christians had staged a protest against the attempted seizure of the school by a Muslim businessman, they said. Police from the Omdurman Central Division along with a group supported by Sudan’s Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment arrived at the school first and arrested all the men in an attempt to hand it over to the businessman, they said.

Advocacy group Middle East Concern (MEC) confirmed that after the arrests, about 20 men, including members of a committee the government has illegally imposed on the SPEC, arrived at the school with knives and other weapons and began to beat the women.
“Several men from the nearby Bahri Evangelical Church rushed to the church to try and protect the women,” MEC leaders said in a statement. “The armed men attacked them, and two church members were stabbed.”

Elder Abdullah later died of his injuries, and a second church member, Ayoub Kumama, was treated at a nearby hospital and has been released, according to MEC.
Abdullah is survived by his wife and two young children.

Harassment, arrests and persecution of Christians have intensified since the secession of South Sudan in July 2011. The Sudanese Minister of Guidance and Endowments announced in April 2013 that no new licenses would be granted for building new churches in Sudan, citing a decrease in the South Sudanese population.

Sudan since 2012 has expelled foreign Christians and bulldozed church buildings on the pretext that they belonged to South Sudanese. Besides raiding Christian bookstores and arresting Christians, authorities threatened to kill South Sudanese Christians who do not leave or cooperate with them in their effort to find other Christians.

Sudan fought a civil war with the south Sudanese from 1983 to 2005, and in June 2011, shortly before the secession of South Sudan the following month, the government began fighting a rebel group in the Nuba Mountains that has its roots in South Sudan.

Due to its treatment of Christians and other human rights violations, Sudan has been designated a Country of Particular Concern by the U.S. State Department since 1999, and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended the country remain on the list in its 2017 report.
Sudan ranked fifth on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2017 World Watch List of countries where Christians face most persecution.





cred: The Morning Star News

Prayer Requests

Today's Prayer Requests

Anthony Uguru  | Brethren,I am landlords having a chain of stores rented to traders. Suddenly five out of 14 stores now have been vacated. Some complained of poor marketing conditions. Pls pray for all the stores to be occupied again by credible people that will pay rent properly. Let marketers conditions get improved.

marge | please pray for my son Merle he has cancer and is in a of of pain

Melissa Gonzalez | For my son who has bipolar. He is 23. Pray the Lord heals him of it!

ramashankar premi  | Please pray for me I think  I have a bad evil in my body.i am scared of darkness.I can see evils when I closed my eyes.I think. Someone is looking at me.or watching me.coditions become. Opposite to me,when I  say or determined to do my future plan to any one...

Vera Bankston-Jones | FATHER GOD, I made it because of your grace, and guidance. Continue in your love for me for I am not worthy!.......SELAH

Shalonda Jones | For me An my Family to grow closer to God on our new Journey.That we stay focused on God An not Man..Amen Amen Amen

Natasha C | Please pray for my sister Nicole and me for removal of any inference of our bond and friendship. Pray for unity and peace between her and her children ( Tone & Riah). God bless!

david smith | got fired from my job for hearsay. need another job. a pray to get right with God. to strengthen my relationship with my girlfriend because we argue a lot. and forgiveness for the sins that i am weak in. thank you God bless

Arlene | Please pray that God healing power will penetrate thru the bones of my wrist,having great pain.after a fall,also pray for my daughter,that healing will take place in her body,pray that God will continue to keep a hedge of protection round about our families,church family ,and keep our Bishop covered in Jesus name.thank you and I say a prayer for you that God keep you and your family well and safe in Jesus name.Amen

Charles Fischbein | I have suffered a failed spinal fusion surgery. Lost feeling in my feet which caused an infection and toe amputation. I am 72 and was very active till the surgery. I feel my life is over as best doctors cannot relieve my pain. I need prayers for God too help me and return me to health so I can go on with teaching which I had to stop. Please pray for my recovery. God Bless

Acts of Kindness

Bible Verse of the Day: Ruth 2:12 (KJV)

12 The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Wisdom's Warning on Sexual Sins

Today's Scripture: Proverbs 5

Proverbs 5 (KJV)

1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

Scripture Meaning

Exhortations to wisdom. The evils of licentiousness. (1-14) Remedies against licentiousness, The miserable end of the wicked. (15-23)

Verses 1-14: Solomon cautions all young men, as his children, to abstain from fleshly lusts. Some, by the adulterous woman, here understand idolatry, false doctrine, which tends to lead astray men's minds and manners; but the direct view is to warn against seventh-commandment sins. Often these have been, and still are, Satan's method of drawing men from the worship of God into false religion.

Consider how fatal the consequences; how bitter the fruit! Take it any way, it wounds. It leads to the torments of hell. The direct tendency of this sin is to the destruction of body and soul. We must carefully avoid every thing which may be a step towards it. Those who would be kept from harm, must keep out of harm's way. If we thrust ourselves into temptation we mock God when we pray, Lead us not into temptation.

How many mischiefs attend this sin! It blasts the reputation; it wastes time; it ruins the estate; it is destructive to health; it will fill the mind with horror. Though thou art merry now, yet sooner or later it will bring sorrow. The convinced sinner reproaches himself, and makes no excuse for his folly. By the frequent acts of sin, the habits of it become rooted and confirmed. By a miracle of mercy true repentance may prevent the dreadful consequences of such sins; but this is not often; far more die as they have lived. What can express the case of the self-ruined sinner in the eternal world, enduring the remorse of his conscience!

Verses 15-23: Lawful marriage is a means God has appointed to keep from these destructive vices. But we are not properly united, except as we attend to God's word, seeking his direction and blessing, and acting with affection. Ever remember, that though secret sins may escape the eyes of our fellow-creatures, yet a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, who not only sees, but ponders all his goings.

Those who are so foolish as to choose the way of sin, are justly left of God to themselves, to go on in the way to destruction.

Scripture Application

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue with the Book of Proverbs with Chapter 5. In our text today we see a warning about sexual sin. In making application we see that God has a plan for every aspect of our lives. When we deviated from that plan miss God's best for our lives.

Today we see homosexually, fornication, and other sexual sins produce many who are suffering the consequences of disobedience. This is not God's plan and if we follow His plan and Wisdom we will experience His best. How about you? Do you follow God's plan for relationships? Let us learn from our text today to follow God's plan for sex and avoid the problems that arrive from sexual sin

7 Reasons WHY Great Sex Is A Must In Your Marriage

Great Sex Is A Must In Your Marriage

One thing I noticed is: when you talk about sex, it gets a big reaction. (Tweet This!) Some good and some bad, and while I totally understand this is a sensitive topic, ultimately we want to see people having great marriages, and an important part of having a great marriage is having great sex. Why?

Here are 7 reasons:

1. Great Sex Is A Must In Your Marriage From The Disconnect Caused By Everyday Life.

Wow! That’s wordy especially for me. Here is a shorter way to say it: sex helps couples resolve a conflict. Don’t believe me? Try having sex while you are mad with one another. It is easy to get busy and stay busy and get mad and get madder. When things like that happen in life, sex gets put on the back burner and you stay disconnected. If you are working on having great sex and trying to have sex multiple times a week at least, I believe it’s going to force you to pay more attention to each others’ needs and feelings - and clear the air on things a bit quicker then you would. Make-up sex is amazing as well, so that is a plus to resolving your conflict.

2. Sex Fulfills a Basic Need/Want.

I hate reading things or talking to people who just assume men are the only ones that like to have sex. Women like sex, too! At the core, sex is something that is desired, longed for, and needed. If you are married and not doing it, then you’re simply missing out on one of the joys of marriage. One of the love languages is “Physical Touch” and last time I checked, sex counts for physical touch. If this is your spouse’s love language, then they “feel” loved when you make love. Also, as my friend Shaunti observed in her book For Women Only: men especially feel like they can conquer anything in the workplace if they feel like they are winning in the bedroom, so your husband’s self-esteem can even go up the more you have sex.

3. Sex Creates Intense Intimacy Like Nothing Else

Sex unites you. Sex builds physical intimacy. (Tweet This!) It’s when my wife and I are “closest” both figuratively and literally. It bonds the couple together. For women, a powerful bonding hormone called oxytocin is released in the brain during only two activities: breastfeeding a baby or sexual orgasm. Sex connects a husband and wife on a physical, emotional and spiritual level. It mirrors the kind of spiritual intimacy we can have with God. Need I say more?

4 Sex lowers stress in Life and In Marriage.

Sex can be an escape at times, something that temporarily dims the cares of the world and releases stress. Sexually satisfied couples are less likely to be stressed out and angry. (Tweet This!)

5. Sex is Fun… Irreplaceable FUN

FUN, FUN, and MORE FUN. It’s fun, and we need more fun in our marriages! The act is fun. The memories of the activities are fun. The visuals from the act are fun. The workout, the exploration of each other’s bodies. The experimenting. The practice. I know for me and most guys I know, we want a naked visual or mental replay of sex to have with our wives as the star. If no sex happens, then the images that pop up are not of their wife. (Incidentally, my friend Shaunti and I just finished writing a book for women about the visual nature of men that will be out next year; can’t wait for you all to read that.)

6. Sex is The Best Feeling Ever.

There is a reason sex drives so much of our culture and what we do: it feels amazing. Seriously. It’s awesome and is a gift created exclusively for married couples to enjoy together, so why wouldn’t you? It’s good for you. There have to be plenty of studies to back that up!

7. Sex Protects Both Partners From Sexual Temptation Outside The Marriage.

If none of the above is met, then you’re roommates at best; your spouse will eventually look elsewhere to find validation and love. This is tough to hear, but if you were able to read my emails and hear the conversations I have, you would see how important it is to be having sex. Now, I have also talked to several people who claim to have a great sex life but still had a partner who cheated, so I am not saying sex is a guarantee against adultery, BUT frequent sex will lower the risk and temptation. There are a number of needs that need to be met in marriage - physical, spiritual, and emotional - and you need to be careful that you are meeting all of these not just concentrating on one.





By Craig Gross