CSW Observes Global Day of Prayer for Burma
A UK-based human rights charity working on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs observed a Day of Prayer for Burma this past weekend.
A UK-based human rights charity working on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs observed a Day of Prayer for Burma this past weekend. According to its organizers, Saturday’s Global Day of Prayer for Burma aimed to mobilize Christians in the United Kingdom to pray for these forgotten and greatly suppressed people.
"[Christian Solidarity Worldwide] believes that prayer changes things in ways beyond our imagination,” stated Mervyn Thomas, chief executive officer of CSW, in a news release earlier last month. “Burma is a country that needs prayer – for the regime, for those suffering oppression and for those helping to change people's despair to hope."
Gathered under the theme Unity in Diversity, over 100 Christians from the UK with members of several different ethnic groups of Burma prayed together for the millions of displaced people inside Burma and all those suffering under the oppressive military regime. They prayed for those in camps along the borders, those affected by the widespread human rights abuses, including victims of forced labour, ethnic cleansing and rape. Other topics included religious freedom inside Burma, the rulers of Burma and all who are seeking to help those oppressed by them.
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The one-day event included both prayers and speeches delivered by prominent Christian leaders. Baroness Caroline Cox, President of CSW UK; Harn Yawnghwe, Director of the Euro-Burma Office in Brussels; CSW Advocacy Officer Ben Rogers; and CSW National Director Stuart Windsor were invited to give keynote speeches.
The event was held at St Paul's Church, Robert Adam Street, in Central London and co-hosted with Karen Aid, the Karen Action Group and the CIDKP (Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People). Other separate events were held around the UK and the rest of the world as part of the Global Day of Prayer for Burma.
CSW is one of several agencies that have closely followed and reported on cases of abuse of human rights and ethnic discrimination in Burma.
According to CWN News, while some Burmese Christians can sing praise songs and worship openly government-approved churches in Burma's capital city of Rangoon, other Burmese Christians don't have that freedom. Government officials have shut down the independent churches and have disallowed the construction of new church buildings.
Officials also limit the number of Bibles allowed to be imported, and even in-country printing of Bibles and Christian literature is restricted, CWN News reported.
However, the news agency says that while public evangelism is prohibited in Burma, the church is reportedly growing there among Protestants and Independents at a rate of about five percent per year.
Currently, about 83 percent of the Burmese people say they are Buddhist, and about 9 percent say they are Christian.
