Bible Muslim World Campus Mission

FYI ---------- Weitergeleitete Nachricht ---------- Von: "Waehrisch-Oblau, Claudia" Datum: 20.01.2015 09:43 Betreff: UEM Prayer Alert: Hatred against Muslims and refugees in Germany and church responses An: "drpeterchang@gmail.com" Cc: Dear sisters and brothers in the UEM community, Today the German Region is asking for your prayers. You may have heard that in the last year, the number of refugees coming to Europe has increased greatly. Many of them come from Syria and Iraq, others from Northern Africa and Eritrea. As it is almost impossible to reach Europe legally, hundreds of refugees take to rickety little boats every day to cross the Mediterranean. Thousands of refugees have died during such attempts in the last years when their boats sank or lost power. As a reaction to the growing number of refugees, a new movement has arisen in Germany, “Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West” (the German acronym is Pegida). This movement has been staging demonstrations all over Germany, warning that the country is being “islamized”, and spreading fear and hatred of immigrants. Church leaders have spoken out publicly against this movement, and have called on Christians not to get involved with this movement and its demonstrations. Christians have also been at the forefront of numerous counter-demonstrations that are being held all over the country. As of the moment, the number of those counter-demonstrators is far higher than those taking to the street for Pegida, but after the attacks in Paris, many of us fear that hatred against Muslims could be on the rise and lead to attacks on Muslims, mosques, and refugees in general. Churches have also become increasingly active in assisting those refugees who actually reach Germany, with both EKvW and EKiR increasing funding for work with refugees even while making big cuts in other areas of their work. Many congregations have become active to assist refugees living in their neighbourhood. Churches also lobby for a more humane immigration policy which allows asylum seekers to reach Europe without having to risk their lives. And EKiR, which has just finished its annual synod, has called for a campaign “Now! Together!” (Gerade jetzt gemeinsam) to call on people from all religions to work together for peaceful coexistence in our country. On January 19, the planned Pegida demonstration in the city of Dresden was prohibited by the police as it was said that there were concrete suspicions that Muslim terrorists were planning an attack on the Pegida leadership. A planned counter-demonstration in Dresden was also outlawed. This certainly raises tensions within Germany, and strengthens prejudice against immigrants from Muslim countries. All of this has ignited a huge debate about Islam and Muslim extremism/terrorism, about refugees, and about the role of religion in public life. Please pray that this debate will be resolved peacefully, and that Germany will remain a nation in which immigrants can live peacefully and feel welcomed. Thank you and God bless you!