Prayer for Kazakstan

[CarlaSun@aol.com]

Dear Prayer Partners,

Here is a very serious request for prayer from Kazakstan.  The news is a 
little late (it is not always easy to get news from that part of the CIS) on 
this but tomorrow (March 16) is a critical day and your prayers are needed!!



In a private committee a new law has been drafted on freedom
>of conscience
>and religion for Kazakhstan. In this bill are several points
>that would
>very adversely affect the Body of Christ of all Protestant
>denominations.
>The bill forbids all evangelism, distribution of literature,
>humanitarian
>aid by chr.stian religious organizations, missionary work,
>and so on. This
>proposed law violates the Kazakhstan constitution and breaks
>all human
>rights treaties signed by Kazakhstan in the last few years.
>
>Several times in the past few years, the Christian community
>of Kazakhstan
>has faced the consideration of legislation that would limit
>freedom of
>religion. Each time when the proposed legislation came to
>the attention of
>Christian leaders and lawyers (both secular and
>non-secular), the
>legislation was dismissed as unconstitutional. However, this
>latest
>attempt at limiting the freedom of religion is the most
>devious attempt
>yet. The draft of this bill has not been made public and the
>general
>population of Kazakhstan is unaware of the bill's character
>and of how it
>infringes constitutional rights.
>
>Attempts are being made to pass this legislation on the 16th
>of March
>without a public reading. Although the bill was drafted in
>private, there
>is a provision in the law that states that if 9,000
>signatures are
>received then any legislation must be brought before the
>public for
>review. As soon as the evangelical and charismatic pastors
>of this region
>heard of this bill they decided to act quickly. This past
>Sunday, the 3rd,
>a massive sign-up was conducted by all churches of every
>denomination.
>There is absolute unity in the Body of Christ on this
>matter, and all
>churches and pastors are participating. The required 9,000
>signatures have
>not yet been obtained, and this week they must be presented
>to the proper
>office in the capital, Astana. Please pr.y that all
>necessary signatures
>from throughout Kazakhstan would be obtained by Wednesday
>night, March
>7th!
>
>The whole Christian community will pr. y and fast on Friday,
>March 9th and
>the Christian Protestant leaders will present their
>objections to the
>proposed law to President Nazarbayev. There will be an
>all-city pr.yer
>meeting of all pastors and ch.rch leaders at Grace ch.rch in
>Almaty at
>6:00 PM on Friday night, March 9th, to intercede and beseech
>the Lord to
>nullify this law. On the following Friday, it is expected
>that this law
>will be read before the Parliament and then President
>Nazarbayev will be
>presented with 5 variants of the law, one of which he is
>supposed to sign.
>All the variants are filled with anti-chr.stian points.
>
>To appeal to the President for public reading of the law and
>to request
>the dismissal of this legislation from the docket of
>Parliamentary
>consideration, a representative of the evangelical and
>charismatic
>churches of Kazakhstan will appeal before the government in
>Astana. Please
>pr.y for grace and favor as he and others stand to make
>their appeal to
>the President. pr.y that they will be given ample
>opportunity to
>adequately represent the benefits of a free Christian
>community to the
>country of Kazakhstan. pr.y that, according to Proverbs
>21:1, the "King's"
>heart will be like channels of water in the hand of the
>Lord, and that He
>will turn it wherever He wishes.
>
>This is a very serious matter, for if this law is passed, it
>makes only
>Islam and Russian Orthodoxy the permitted religions of
>Kazakhstan. The
>rest are totally oppressed and outlawed. But perhaps the
>most ominous fact
>of this whole situation is the underhanded and devious way
>in which the
>passage of this legislation is being attempted. Please pr.y
>that every act
>of treachery would be exposed and that the intention of this
>restrictive
>legislation would be made clear to the general population of
>Kazakhstan.
>Please also pr.y that the Spirit of repentance and the
>Spirit of adoption
>would come upon those who have drafted the law and that they
>would long
>for reconciliation with God and love righteousness.
>