Welcome back to our audio weblog entitled 2012 in the Church of Jesus. This is a weekly report put out by Voice of the Martyrs. It can be accessed at the VOM website www.persecution.com. You can actually have Voice of the Martyrs send it to your email every week. For example, when it comes to my email, I just print it out I share it with you and then I pray for those nations that are on that list all week long until the next report comes out. Today we start in the Philippines. The Philippine government reached a peace deal with the largest Muslim terror group last week, ending 40 years of conflict between the two groups. The government conceded another autonomous region in Mindanao to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, MILF. While most Filipinos are Catholics, in the Mindanao region, Muslims are the majority. The MILF has long agitated for an independent state, but the agreement to give Bangasamoro leaders more political and economic freedom appears to have pacified them. What's not clear is how this will affect Christians in the Mindanao region. Christians have long been the victims of violence and land grabs. So pray for the protection of Christians in the region that God will strengthen them in His power. In Iran, a Christian convert from Islam was sentenced to six years in prison after he was charged with crimes against the regime and caught trying to flee the country. Alireza Sayedian is 37 years old. He's been a Christian since 2006. Last year, authorities found a video of his baptism in Turkey on his laptop, which had been seized in a raid. In December 2011, he was charged with crimes against national security and propaganda against the regime. The judge cited his baptism in Turkey as evidence that Alireza was trying to express dissatisfaction with the regime. He was also accused of hosting a house church. and distributing Bibles to youth. In March, Alireza was caught fleeing to Turkey and was brought back to Iran to Avon prison. He's being held in the section for political prisoners. So pray for Alireza. Ask God to strengthen his faith. Give him endurance. Indonesia, bomb attacks on Christian targets in the city of Poso. have revived painful memories of religious violence in central Sulawesi. Explosives were detonated outside a Christian's home just after 8 p.m. on October 9. Then, about an hour later, a bomb went off outside Emmanuel Church in nearby Taripa, Pomona, Timor. Police said the house targeted in the first attack was that of Ofrikfil Mamawaya, a Christian working for the local government. No one was injured in the blast, but they have alarmed Christians in an area blighted by religious conflict in the past. Groups such as Laskar Jihad have carried out jihad, or holy war, against Christian communities, particularly in the Moluccas and central Sulawesi between 1999 and 2002. Pray that Christians in Poso and other parts of central Sulawesi will know God's peace and love. And thank God that His perfect love drives out fear. In Vietnam, pray for tribal Christian training centers operating in Vietnam. The centers provide materials and training for 400 rural and tribal Christian pastors with the goal of strengthening house churches in rural areas which face more persecution. And don't forget the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church coming up. It's November 11, 2012. Pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ. And if you want a speaker to come to your church, contact Voice of the Martyrs. If you live in the northern Illinois area and would like me to come and share with your group of any size, I do represent Voice of the Martyrs. I would be glad to do that. Just contact me. You can email me at diakonos3diakonos3gmail.com Thank you for joining with me today in concern and prayer for the persecuted church. We hope to, Lord willing, return next week at about this time so we can keep you in touch with what deeply touches God's heart. I'm Bob, although I am an Area Representative for VOM, this is not and official VOM presentation. God bless you today. Be sure to check out the rest of this series and my other series on sermon audio. Bye bye.