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COLOMBIA:  “We are living in fear and need your solidarity and prayers...”
Just a month after CSW returned from a fact-finding and solidarity visit to Colombia, churches in six villages in southern Cordoba, Colombia, have received renewed threats from paramilitary groups. 

As well as being forbidden from going out at night, the letter handed to a pastor, threatens: “Pastor of Corinto, we are not fooled. There are wolves in your midst, sneaky, predatory, skilled, bad …you ****** Evangelicals… Prepare yourselves. When we knock on your door, don’t resist us because [if you do] we will burn you alive in your house...”

Without your support, lobbying and prayer, the situation facing Colombian Christian leaders would have gone unnoticed and unreported. 

Your letters to MPs and MEPs, combined with CSW’s lobbying of the Foreign Office and the European Union, resulted in them recognising the persecution of Christians by armed groups – a vital step in ensuring the Colombian Government protects vulnerable individuals.
>>> Read the full letter and send hope to Christians under threat…
  

UN: Pray for key religious freedom appointment 
The UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief is a vital UN role for protecting religious freedom around the world.  CSW has nominated Lord David Alton from the House of Lord for this highly-respected role.  You can help influence this process through your prayers…
>>> Pray for the appointment of the UN Special Rapporteur…   
  

NIGERIA:  “…the lives of human beings are losing significance and people are killing at will…”
Violent attacks in northern Nigeria continued last week, with the tragic news that a pastor and his wife were hacked to death and burnt to ashes by Muslim assailants in Bauchi.  At the same time, concerns are heightening at the possible role military elements are playing in the ongoing violence in Plateau State.
>>> Listen to Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi speak of his heartbreak at the situation in Plateau State
>>> Send a letter to the Nigerian High Commission about military involvement…

“The guerrillas stood around him in the darkness, ridiculing his faith, asking him where his God was…”
The situation facing pastors in southern Cordoba sadly isn’t uncommon.  Joel Cruz Garcia was targeted by paramilitaries and they killed him in July 2007.  To his and other testimonies, buy your copy of Forbidden Faith today.
>>> Buy Forbidden Faith at St Andrew’s bookshop
  

Visit CSW at CRE and be part of a change for Burma!
Come along to CRE between 11 and 14 May and drop by the CSW stand to add your voice to growing calls for a UN Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity in Burma.  We’re at stand at S43 in Surrey Hall, ground floor. 
>>> Email to get a free ticket for CRE – last few remaining!
  

Be the voice of CSW in your church!
Whether it’s organising a card-writing session, raising funds by selling cakes, or even leading the church in prayers for the persecuted – church Representatives are a vital link between CSW and local churches. Whatever time you have available, this is your chance to spread the word!
>>> Request an information pack