[committee] Fwd: Mali: blessed are the peacemakers

[Phoebe Cheung]

Hello!!

Hope you are all all enjoying the comfort of being home during the holidays!

Josué Djiré, General Secretary of GBEEM (Mali CU) has sent me two emails
recently about what is happening in Mali. The country is now going through
a period of political instability and Christians there are facing lots of
challenges.

Below is a prayer email from IFES (which you can sign up to receive at
http://www.ifesworld.org/resources/email.) This gives a good and clear
summary of what is going on in Mali, and what we can to pray for. It is
also probably a better translation compared to what Google or I can do. :P

Let's keep praying for them, and be reminded that *"**the gospel is bearing
fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing
among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace."
(Colossians 1:6)*


Happy praying!
Phoebe


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: IFES <info at ifesworld.org>
Date: Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 5:59 PM
Subject: mali: blessed are the peacemakers
To: Phoebe <phibs.cchp at gmail.com>


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  Dear friends

What is it like to be a Christian in the midst of intense political
upheaval, surrounded by violence and displaced from your home? God willing,
many of us will never personally have to answer this question. But in
numerous countries, this is an all-too-familiar situation. And right now,
students in Mali are experiencing exactly such circumstances, with a
military coup, an arrested president, and Tuareg and Islamist rebels taking
over the north of the country.

GBEEM Mali has been quick to respond. On 4 April they attended a meeting of
political parties and other associations to discuss the situation facing
the country. We spoke to Josué Djiré, General Secretary of GBEEM about what
happened next.

*‘The people in charge of organising the meeting asked us to pray for the
country. When they gave me the opportunity I said, "The bible says blessed
are the peacemakers, and asks us to seek peace in the country in which we
live." I encouraged them to avoid confrontation and to trust in God who
raises us up to face this kind of situation.** The presiding officer
responded: "With these wise words, we adjourn." We were the only Christians
among this group.*

Students and staff in the south then met on 10 April to discuss how to
express their sympathy and solidarity with their brothers and sisters who
have fled from the north. *‘On 14 April, high school and university
students along with graduates of the movement mobilised and gathered more
than 150kg of rice, 18kg of sugar, several boxes of soap, shoes, extra
clothes, and about 50,000 CFA.*

*‘Upon arrival at the place where our brothers are housed, we were well
received. A pastor representing the displaced thanked the students and
encouraged all of us in the GBEEM ministry. One of the women in charge
said: "Thank you for your gesture! Things were starting to get bad.”’*

But what’s happening to student ministry in the north? We talked to Paul
Koné, who coordinates GBEEM work there. ‘*There were some areas where
schools had already been closed since February, which is when the problems
started. We did not think it was going to get worse. I stayed until the
last minute ... but had to leave the day after the rebels took the city. By
that time most students had left already.
*
‘*I was in touch with one of the student leaders, but it's been a while now
since I’ve heard from her. With all the displacements, we have had
significant communication problems.*

*‘Give thanks to the Lord that none of pupils and students have been
injured, there were no deaths and we all arrived safely in Bamako in the
south.
*
*‘Please pray for peace, and also for the faith of the displaced students,
for their families (a lot of them were robbed) and also for the rest of the
academic year. With all these events we don’t know what will happen. Some
students are trying to register in new schools.*

*‘We commit ourselves into the Lord’s hands. Pray that the Lord may
strengthen us further, that the instability would stop soon, and that GBEEM
in the north would come back to life and that we can reach out to other
localities where there are no groups.’*

Please pray with us for the political situation in Mali, for God’s comfort
on those whose homes and property have been destroyed. Pray too for
students of GBEEM and for the people of Mali: for protection and provision
for those who are displaced, and for strength and wisdom for those who are
working to bring hope and peace to this situation.




*Penny Vinden
IFES Global Communications*

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-- 
 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the
Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the
sheep...... I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one
will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is
greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. (John
10:14-29)
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