Displaying items by tag: Asia

Greetings in the name of our mighty Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we had blessed prayer meeting in House of Prayer. Yes, God is continuing His works in Nepal through His people.

Please pray for our newly formed central government and the 7 states of Nepal, very small country but more states.

Pray for rain in Nepal now very much dry allover the Nepal.

Please pray for sustainable country of Nepal and good government. 

Please pray for God's hand for prosperity and blessing upon our country.

We are so much thankful to your regular prayer and love for Nepal. We honor your heart for the Lord!

Thank you for loving us and praying for us and investing us for His Kingdom.

May the Lord bless you

Govinda and Sujita

China’s Xi Jinping is now ‘president for life’, which many believe will cause NZ prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s government to change its Asian foreign policy and identify potential new paths. President Trump has been inconsistent in Asia as he aims to meet US interests. Ardern’s government identifies nuclear disarmament and climate change as key areas for international engagement. Australia does not support nuclear disarmament in the same way NZ does, and its action on climate change domestically is comparatively modest. Maintaining the rules-based order in the region will depend on partnerships with the US, Japan‚ and (increasingly) India. Many believe established traditions will be tested, but not abandoned altogether. This dynamic is not exclusive to NZ, with the current geopolitical changes in the new era.

South Korea has some of the longest working hours in the world. Government employees work approximately 2,739 hours a year, 1,000 hours more than workers in other developed countries. The Seoul metropolitan government is introducing an initiative forcing employees to leave work earlier. Computers will be powered down at 20:00 on Fridays to stop a ‘culture of working overtime’. The shutdown comes in three phases, beginning on 30 March with computers switched off by 20:00. In April employees computers will be turned off by 19:30 on the second and fourth Friday, then from May onwards all computers will power down by 19:00 every Friday. 67.1% of government workers have asked to be exempt from the forced lights-out. Numerous surveys across the nation have found that stress and long hours of modern office jobs destroy not only health but family life.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the Bundestag in Berlin on 21 March and condemned as ‘unacceptable’ Turkey’s military offensive in Syria’s northern town of Afrin. She criticized Russia for ‘just watching’ the continuing attacks by Syrian forces on eastern Ghouta. The previous day the UN called for full access to civilians in both places. Ankara said its military operations are defensive and criticised Berlin for not doing more to crack down on supporters of the PKK in Germany. Turkey’s response to America arming Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces in the area is to launch military operations against the Kurdish-controlled Afrin region, risking further confrontation.The lives and safety of 350,000 Afrin civilians are at risk. Pray for the families who are being charged thousands of dollars by Syrian forces for safe passage into government-held areas. See also:- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-turkey-germany/germany-condemns-turkish-military-offensive-in-syria-idUSKBN1GX1EI

Please stand in solidarity and prayer for Christians imprisoned in Iran on false political charges because of their faith. These include: Maryam - house church member, in Evin since July 2013, serving a four-year sentence. Ebrahim - house church member, in Evin since August 2013, serving a one-year sentence, followed by two years’ exile to a border town. In March 2015 he was given a further five years' imprisonment. Behnam - house church leader, in Ghezel Hesar prison since May 2011, serving a six-year sentence. In 2014 he was given a further six years. Vruir - an ordained pastor, currently under house arrest for 3-5 years. Three of his congregation are believed to be in prison. Shahin - given 2.5 years’ sentence in July 2013. Released in December 2013 and then taken to serve his sentence in April 2014. Mohammad was imprisoned on 5 July 2014 for a six-year sentence. Massoud began his five-year sentence on 9 November 2014.

An Iranian writes, ‘My generation is called the “burnt generation”. We had to endure the brutality of the Islamist theocratic regime from the cradle: this meant cruel mass executions, ruthless determination to establish power, imposing barbarous restrictive norms, brainwashing children, and indoctrinating youth with extremist ideology, promoting slogans like “Death to America”.’ The regime, fearing an uprising, sends dissidents to Evin prison, where they are at the mercy of brutal prison guards. Teachers, writers, journalists, students, lawyers, academics, Christians, and anyone perceived to speak out against the regime go to Evin without legal representation. Hygiene there is poor, summer heat reaches 45 Celsius with no air conditioning, water quality is poor, and there are meagre portions of barely edible food. Often outside world contact is forbidden. Human rights activists’ words fall on deaf ears. See also: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11889/iran-history-lessons

Thousands of Christians are persecuted every day. Each one has a story of how God works in and through them: not just stories of persecution, but stories of faith, courage and opportunity. This is Stephen’s story. Stephen is a young Burmese man living where many Christians face persecution from the government and their communities. He is full of faith, with an incredible vision to see God bring thousands of Burmese to Christ! Through reading the Bible, he heard God’s call to serve Him and began praying for the many tribal groups of Burma without a Bible in their own language. He became the answer to his prayers and went to Bible college. When he arrived, he could not speak Burmese or English, only his tribal language. It was very difficult. But today he is teaching theology and English and declared, ‘A great field is before us. Many try to hinder God’s work, but Burmese hearts are not closed to God.’

No US president has ever met a North Korean leader. Madeleine Albright visited North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, but Bill Clinton was unwilling to go unless it was clear what such a meeting could achieve. A meeting with a US president is valuable to the North Koreans, but America has always declined an official visit unless a deal that will deliver a significant return is on the table. President Bush engaged North Korea in the six-party talks (two Koreas, Japan, US, Russia and China), thus avoiding Pyongyang incitements to secure its goal of direct talks. Barack Obama came to power vowing to talk directly to America's enemies, but concluded it was wrong to pander to North Korea's provocations. Trump’s potential visit (or meeting elsewhere) has given North Korea’s dynasty the prestige and propaganda that it craves, and is consistent with Trump's vow to be a disruptive global force, able to unpick one of the world's most intractable conflicts.

A Christian retreat centre west of Tehran was closed on 10 March. It was accused of being funded by the US through the CIA to infiltrate the Islamic world, and particularly Iran, by conducting evangelistic activities. The caretakers of the Sharon Retreat Centre handed it over to an organisation presided over by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The property has been owned by the Council of Assemblies of God Churches since the early 1970s. The Iranian revolutionary court system which closed the centre is designed to try those suspected of trying to overthrow the government, blaspheming Islam, or inciting violence. The closure was not only a takeover of a property by corrupt judiciary and Intelligence officials, but yet another move in an ongoing and systematic campaign by the Iranian state to uproot Protestant Christianity.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US president Donald Trump are to meet in person by May, it has been announced, an extraordinary overture after months of mutual hostility. This news came after South Korean officials had held talks with Mr Trump at the White House. They passed a verbal message from Mr Kim, saying the North Korean leader was ‘committed to denuclearisation’. Mr Trump hailed ‘great progress’ but said sanctions would remain in place. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said the news was like a miracle. ‘If President Trump and Chairman Kim meet following an inter-Korean summit, complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula will be put on the right track in earnest’, he said. China welcomed the development, saying the Korean peninsula issue was ‘heading in the right direction’. However, correspondents say the North has halted missile and nuclear tests during previous talks, only to resume them when it felt it was not getting what it demanded. The dramatic announcement came days after a high-ranking South Korean delegation had met Mr Kim in Pyongyang. See