Source: www.csw.org.uk
Date: June 10, 2023
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Earlier this year, we asked you to pray for Reverend Samson – a pastor and human rights advocate detained by Myanmar’s military in December. On Good Friday, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment on trumped-up charges. His subsequent appeal was rejected.
This is a travesty of injustice, and it must be overturned.
Reverend Samson is one of thousands who have been detained since the 2021 military coup – a number exceeding 20,000. However, he has been targeted with a particular intensity for speaking out against the military regime’s brutal oppression of its people, particularly religious communities. In 2018, he joined CSW in a delegation of religious leaders to meet British parliamentarians and was among religious leaders from around the world who met with the President of the United States in the White House.
‘He is a man who knows God and loves God'
In an interview with the New York Times, Rev Samson’s wife, Zung Nyaw, spoke of his selfless compassion for his people, saying: ‘He is a man who knows God and loves God…He is a preacher, so he has no enemies. He is a person who sacrifices himself and helps others.’
We give thanks for Rev Samson’s tireless advocacy, and for the religious and humanitarian leaders like him who sacrifice their needs for the sake of others.
In summary, please pray for:
- The next stage of Rev Samson’s appeal to be successful, and ultimately for justice to be served and for his unconditional release.
- Pray also for the release of other religious leaders like Shwe Nya War – one of three Buddhist monks who have also been imprisoned because of their religious freedom advocacy, which the military perceives as a threat.
- Our latest campaign to #FreeRevSamson launched this month. Join us in praying that parliamentarians would use their position to campaign for his freedom, and for supporters to get involved with the campaign.
- And finally, pray for the violence to cease, and for there to be genuine transformation in Myanmar/Burma. Pray for peace to reign across the country.