Displaying items by tag: peace
UAE: two summits as Bahrain and Israel meet
The kings of Jordan and Bahrain flew to Abu Dhabi for an important meeting with crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as Bahrain’s foreign minister Abdullatif al-Zayani was in Israel meeting his Israeli and American counterparts. These important and unprecedented meetings illustrate the tectonic changes emerging in the Middle East. The tone was different in Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi. A Gulf Air flight which arrived in Tel Aviv, with Zayani and US envoy Avi Berkowitz on board, was the first of its kind; very likely Gulf Air will soon join Flydubai and Etihad, which have announced regular flights to Israel. Meetings about peace and the brave new world illustrates how Israel and the Gulf States are moving toward. This area improvement has been midwifed by the USA.
Russia 'Biggest Obstacle' To Ukraine Peace (Lithuanian FM)
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says Russia represents the biggest obstacle to the peace process in Ukraine, as it misleadingly represents itself as a “neutral party” in the conflict. “Perhaps the greatest obstacle in this [Ukrainian peace] process is that Russia is positioning itself as a neutral party while it is an active participant of the conflict, although officially they are not being treated as such,” Linkevicius said on November 5 in an interview in Prague with Current Time TV, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
Linkevicius said Moscow tells separatists in Ukraine that "you need to reach agreement, and we will help, while exactly the opposite is happening on the ground.” Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people since April 2014.
Moscow has repeatedly denied that it has provided weapons, training, and personnel to support the separatists. However, independent observers, journalists, and official monitors, have gathered a substantial body of evidence to the contrary.
NATO and European Union member Lithuania, which has an ethnic Ukrainian population of some 44,000 people, has expressed strong support for Ukraine in its battle against Russia and has sent military equipment to back Kyiv’s efforts in the war.
Four-party talks -- with Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany, and known as the Normandy format -- have sought to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
"These Normandy [format] talks and a search for a compromise are on everyone's lips. I understand that it is very difficult to do all that, but I felt current [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr Zelenskiy's] sincere intention to resolve this issue. It is hard to say, though, how successful he will be,” Linkevicius said.
Washington Ally
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko on November 1 said the timing of a four-way summit aimed at resolving the conflict depends upon Russia. Prystayko's statement came after he voiced hope on October 29 that Zelenskiy would meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, soon for peace talks under the Normandy format.
Putin on October 30 said he was ready to have a meeting with the leaders of Ukraine, France, and Germany. But he added that such a meeting "needs to be well prepared and produce specific results that will help the settlement."
Lithuania remains a close ally of Washington and is temporarily hosting some 500 U.S. soldiers in the Baltic nation to help bolster NATO's eastern flank near Russia's borders. Russia has accused NATO of destabilizing Europe by moving troops closer to its borders.
Pray: for a resolution to this long-running dispute to be achieved diplomatically.
Pray: for an end to the bloodshed.
Pray: for wisdom, honesty and openness to compromise - for those involved in the summits and negotiations.
Pray: that Russia will be transparent in accounting for its involvement in the conflict.
Prayer for Bosnia
Your Peace Returns to You
Our last prayer topic was praying about finding a house were your peace would remain. In that house was a person of peace who would be key in moving forward the Good News in their family, with their friends and in their village. This prayer topic is about giving wisdom and freedom to the pioneer missionaries to move on to another village, town or city. Jesus tells His disciples,
"But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’" Luke 10:10-11
Pray for pioneer missionaries to grow in knowing the Lord's peace
Pray for them to know when that peace has not returned to them as a sign to move on to the next village.
Pray for the disciples advancing the Gospel to have much wisdom in all of this.
Pray for cities to desire to repent.
Readers are invited to consider praying for a special project that will kick off on Monday, December 3rd. If you’d be willing to intercede for Bosnia for 31 days from December 3rd to January 3rd, please print the ATTACHED PDF and put the 31-day guide with your quiet time or Bible study materials.
Prayer is such a crucial component in the breakthrough work we are asking God to do.
On December 4th, we will once again begin using social media to creatively find spiritually seeking people in two Bosnian cities, Sarajevo & Tuzla. As you know, we tested this media approach last May and we were greatly encouraged by what God did in that 30-day test run. As our team begins to talk with people online, our goal is to move the conversation offline and meet them for face-to-face discipleship.
Please print the PDF on the link below and join us as we pray over the different facets of this initiative. There is great potential for Kingdom expansion!
Thankful for your partnership in prayer for Bosnia,
Pray4Bosnia Team
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Remembrance 100
From 4 August to 11 November 2018 there will be a hundred days of prayer for peace, marking the centenary of the end of World War 1. Some 65 million men were mobilised across Europe during this war. On 11 November, people will remember them, but also will pray and work for peace. On 4 August 1918, George V called for 100 days of prayer across the country. This year, throughout those 100 days, there will be prayers and actions for peace. People can sign up to take part and spend just a few minutes of their day, adding their prayers to those of tens of thousands more throughout the season of prayers for peace. The period will culminate in Peace Parties on 11 November in communities across the nation. For details of the many organisations providing resources needed to stage a local event, click the ‘More’ button.
Israel: Guatemala’s evangelicals inspired its embassy move
The USA wasn’t the only country to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this week. Just days after the historic - and contentious - opening in the holy city, Guatemala did the same. President Jimmy Morales, a strong evangelical, said, ‘We have had an excellent relationship with Israel since it was founded. I believe we will be receiving a blessing for both peoples by doing the right thing.’ Citing prayer and prophecy as their motivation, Morales and vice president Jafeth Cabrera officially recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last year and pledged to return their embassy there. ‘People in Guatemala pray for peace in this region, pray for Jerusalem, and they are excited’, said Sarah Solis, the country’s ambassador to Israel.
G20: Evangelical Alliance prayer request
The G20 results will influence the world. It is the first time that leaders like Trump and Putin will unite and attempt to create a major shift to nationalism and individualism with regards to hunger, climate, war, terror, and refugees. All kings and powers are installed by God and we, the body of Christ, have the responsibility to intercede for our leaders. Will you join us to pray while our political leaders meet together? The presidents of China, Japan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Singapore, and Australia will be there. Danger is also coming from international protest movements. Anti-fascism, anti-capitalists, militant socialist, Marxists, communist, militant Kurds and people against President Trump are preparing to block the summit and bring violence and chaos to the streets and infrastructure. Nearly all of Hamburg's denominations and prayer movements will be praying in churches and on the streets. We also need your prayers for peace.
Syria: US downs Syrian plane and drone
A US fighter jet has blown up a pro-Syrian regime drone, just two days after the US brought down its first Syrian air force warplane. No matter how much Mr Trump personally hankers after better relations with the Russians, the downing of the Russian-made SU-22 on Sunday night has effectively killed any prospect of Washington and Moscow enjoying a new era of detente. The Russian response has been to threaten any coalition aircraft which enters airspace where its forces operate. Meanwhile, an armed Russian warplane flew within five feet of a US reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea in what US officials said was a ‘provocative and unsafe’ way. Tensions between the two powers were already running high after a bipartisan group of US Senators last week voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill that expands financial sanctions in retaliation for Russia’s interference in last year’s presidential contest, as well as Moscow’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Ongoing conflict in CAR
The mayor of a town in Central African Republic (CAR) said on 21 June that over a hundred people are dead after heavy fighting broke out, despite a peace agreement signed recently in Rome. Also, several dozen wounded have been brought to the hospital run by aid group Doctors Without Borders. However, the local Catholic mission says the death toll could be higher because it has been too dangerous for Red Cross teams to recover bodies from the streets. CAR is a country teetering on the edge of becoming a failed state. Half a million of the country's people have fled to neighbouring nations; a similar number are huddled in squalid camps inside CAR, dependent on food aid and the protection of UN peacekeepers and 900 French troops. CAR has faced fighting since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in the capital city, Bangui. Anti-Balaka militias, mostly Christians, fought back, resulting in thousands of people being killed. The peace deal signed on 19 June between nearly all the country's armed groups had called for an immediate cease-fire.
South Sudan bishops (1): day of prayer a ‘mockery’
The UN warns of genocide, officials accuse the government of war crime atrocities, and Bishop Santo Doggale of Juba denounced President Kiir’s ‘National Day of Prayer’ as a ‘political prayer’. The president had called the nationwide day of prayer for peace and forgiveness on 10 March. They repented and prayed to forgive each other for problems they might have committed to each other. But the bishop told Voice of America, ‘Why should I go to pray where there is no holiness, where there is no forgiveness? It is a joke to hear the president of the country calling for prayers while soldiers are hunting people across South Sudan.’ In February, Kiir called on groups fighting his government to lay down their arms and focus on developing South Sudan but added, ‘If they don't listen to the call for peace, I will declare war against them. I don't think there is any one of you who will blame me.’
Syria: peace talks under way
UN-sponsored peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition began in Geneva on Thursday. The two sides will not meet face-to-face to begin with. Staffan de Mistura, the UN's special Syria envoy, said on Wednesday he was ‘not expecting a breakthrough’, though we can pray for one. The opposition insists that the fate of President Bashar al-Assad must be on the agenda, but the government refuses to discuss this. For the sake of the 300,000+ people killed since the war began, the 4.8m who have fled the country and 6.3m displaced inside Syria, ask God in His mercy to be in the midst of these negotiations and for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.