In Depth:  MERF

Middle East Reformed Fellowship (MERF) partners with Westminster Biblical Missions (WBM) to support the witness of the Bible-believing Lahore Church Council.

Lahore is the capital of the populous Punjab province next to the Indian border.

In 2011, after over two decades of civil war, the new African nation of South Sudan divided from Sudan.

All hoped for development and deliverance from extreme poverty through oil revenues. Since December 2013, hopes have been repeatedly dashed by brutal military clashes and reprisals destroying homes, crops, oil installations, and the few existing services. Thousands have been killed. Around two million fled for their lives internally to safe areas or to camps in neighbouring Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda.

After the death of Muhammad, Islam’s founder, in 632 AD, his followers disagreed over a successor (Caliph), thus ‘Sunni’ and ‘Shia’ branches of Islam were established, each later subdivided many times.

Sunnis advocated the leadership of the most qualified (Sunnis are now a strong, but shrinking, Muslim majority). Shiites insisted that the Caliph be the dead leader’s blood relative, as with royalty. Over the centuries until today, much blood has been spilled in conflict between the two groups. Although most Muslim countries contain sizeable numbers of both groups, for much of the past 100 years Saudi Arabia has led the Sunnis while Iran led the Shiites.