IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: CHRISTIANS ESSENTIAL TO IRAQ

Excerpt from AP story: "Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday ordered security officials to work for the release of a kidnapped Chaldean Catholic archbishop, calling Christians 'an essential component of the Iraqi society.' Paulos Faraj Rahho was kidnapped and three of his companions were killed Friday when gunmen attacked them soon after he left Mass in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the latest in what church members called a series of attacks against Iraq's small Christian community. Al-Maliki 'has issued orders to the Interior Minister and the security officials in Nineveh province to meticulously follow this issue and work hard to release the archbishop as soon as possible,' a statement by the prime minister's office said....'Christians in Iraq are an essential component of the Iraqi society and a part that cannot be separated from the Iraqi people and civilization. Any assault on the Christians is an assault on all Iraqis,' the prime minister's statement said."

* Please pray for the release of the Archbishop.

* Please pray for courage for all of followers of Jesus in Iraq.

* Please pray that the Lord would mobilize more evangelicals around the world to pray for and practically support our brothers and sisters in Iraq.