Retired General Stanley McChrystal says a major withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, which the White House is considering, would damage peace talks with the Taliban and shake Kabul's confidence in its alliance with the United States.

Speaking on the ABC news show “This Week,” the former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said on December 30 that a significant troop reduction in Afghanistan would trade away “the biggest leverage point we have.”

“I think the great mistake in the president's leaked guidance is that just when we were starting to sit down with the Taliban, just when we were starting to begin negotiations, he basically traded away the biggest leverage point we have.

"If you tell the Taliban that we are absolutely leaving on a date...their incentives to try to cut a deal dropped dramatically,” McChrystal said.

The general’s comments come just over a week after U.S. media reported that President Donald Trump is considering a “significant” withdrawal of American troops currently serving in Afghanistan, which currently number about 14,000.

The Pentagon has declined to comment on the reports, but they come shortly after Trump announced that the United States would be pulling out all of its forces from Syria, a move that ignited a storm of criticism from Republican and Democratic lawmakers and former government officials.

Afghan military officials have warned such a withdrawal would pose a danger to the country's undertrained and poorly equipped forces.

McChrystal noted that it could also damage relations between the two countries at a time when U.S. officials have been attempting to push the Taliban to the negotiating table with the government in Kabul.

“Of course, I was worried about the confidence of the Afghan people because at the end of the day, that's what determines who wins in Afghanistan,” McChrystal said.

“And I think we probably rocked them -- we rocked them in their belief that we are allies that can be counted on,” he added.

McChrystal, a 34-year veteran of the U.S. Army, served as the head of the Joint Special Operations Command from 2003 to 2008 and later assumed command of all international forces in Afghanistan in June 2009.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/former-top-u-s-commander-in-afghanistan-warns-about-troop-withdrawal/29684246.html?ltflags=mailer

Please keep this troubled land of Afghanistan in your prayers that His peace may finally come and the war will be brought to an end.
Pray that radical elements like the Taliban and ISIS will give up their struggle and work with the government to better the lives of the precious peoples of this long-tortured land.

Pray for His Mighty works in Black Sea region.

Thanks and Prayer Letter of January 2019 from Samsun.

• Pray that God will continue to open doors for Gospel to be preached and for the new churches to be planted in the Black sea region
• Pray that the 2 young men, Tansel and Onur would be continue grow and be trained as future church leaders and the church planters
• Pray that God would add those who are being saved daily to His churches in Samsun and the Black Sea region

MEXICO & USA

Please pray for great wisdom mixed with compassion for both President Trump and the new Mexican president Lopez Obrador, for the resolution of the still ongoing border crisis.

Migrant caravans with multiple thousands from Central America are coming through Mexico to escape poverty and violence in countries like Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

Meanwhile, migrants who arrived with the last large caravan in October are still waiting out the asylum-seeking process at overcrowded shelters in Tijuana. Border cities like Tijuana could become, in effect, giant waiting rooms for the U.S. immigration system.

Mexico is not prepared to provide housing and other services, according to officials and migrant advocates. Officials in other border cities express similar concerns. A major shelter in Ciudad Juárez, also called Casa del Migrante, announced this week that it did not have enough resources to accept any more newcomers.

See: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6536565/Another-migrant-caravan-15-000-people-set-depart-Honduras-month.html

CANADA

For the OneAccord team who feel led to start a national movement in 2019 with Provincial infrastructure, to mobilise pastors through prayer and fasting to inspire the church to arise and wake up to the massive attack on the culture by sexual activists. The first time of D21 days of prayer and fasting starts on Monday, Jan 7th - D21 stands for Daniel Fast, 21days.

We have to pray because our Government is progressive on basic issues:

1. Bill S-206 is to take away the rights of parents to restrain or discipline their children. If this bill passes, we can expect that there will be an increasing number of children put into foster homes and the parents to be in prison or fined. 
   
   
2. Bill C-32 has been introduced to lower the legal age of consent for anal sex from 18 to 16. Would this be the beginning of legalization of pedophilia if the bill passes?  The newly created term for pedophilia is “pedosexuality”. 
   
   
3. Legalization/decriminalization of all illicit drugs, including cocaine, heroine, etc.
   
   
4. Changes to doctor assisted suicide to include minors, the disabled and the mentally ill
   
   
5. Leniency towards crime and terrorism with reduced sentences.
   
   
6. Sovereignty eroded by signing onto the recent UN Global Compact For Migration.

Lord have mercy on Canada and the Nations - mulitudes in the Valley of Decision (Joel3)

Don’t Question . . . Or Else

by: John Stonestreet &  Roberto Rivera 
Category: Christian Worldview, Life and Human Dignity

January 3, 2019

“There are a growing number of people who transitioned from one gender to the other, only to regret it, and then try to reverse the process. Why aren’t we hearing their stories?

Here’s a fun fact: the word “taboo” came to the English language from natives on what is now the nation of Tonga. Believe it or not, when British explorer James Cook first visited the remote island, he noticed that certain things, in particular certain foods, were strictly off-limits. When he asked why, they replied these things were “taboo,” which meant “consecrated, inviolable, forbidden, unclean or cursed.”

Now in English parlance today, we tend to use the word “taboo” as a figure of speech or hyperbole. We don’t think of whatever is being referred to as literally being “consecrated,” “inviolable,” “uncleaned” or “cursed.”

Or do we?

A recent article in Canada’s National Post identified something it called the “new taboo.” It’s off-limits to even talk about the increasing number of people who, having undergone gender-reassignment surgery, now not only regret their decision, they want to reverse the procedure.

Five years ago, Dr. Miroslav Djordjevic, described in the article as “the world-leading genital reconstructive surgeon,” met a patient who had undergone the male-to-female surgery at another clinic but now wanted it reversed.

It turned out to be only the first of many stories Djordjevic would hear “about crippling levels of depression following their transition, and, in some cases, even contemplated suicide.” He told the National Post “It can be a real disaster to hear these stories.”

Why then are these disaster stories so rarely heard? Because they are taboo.

The very same article told readers about allegations that Bath Spa University in England turned down “an application for research on gender reassignment reversal” because the project was deemed ‘potentially politically incorrect.’” Or perhaps a more accurate word would be the one chosen by the National Post: “taboo.”

Recently on BreakPoint, I told you about a stunning piece in the New York Times written by a man planning to have gender-reassignment surgery. In it, he not only admitted the surgery would not make him happier, he admitted that the very prospect of the surgery made him more depressed and suicidal.

The author deserves our pity, but the decision to run the article without even questioning what on earth is going on, is the very definition of something being “taboo.” Questioning the sacredness and inviolability of the desire to transition invites the digital equivalent of the wrath of the gods that ancient Polynesian feared for violating taboos.

That’s hyperbole, you say. Is it? Because there are many more examples. Like the July/August issue of the left-of-center publication, the Atlantic Monthly. It contained an article that merely counseled caution in treating young children who claim to be transgender.

It didn’t matter that the author, Jesse Singal, was on solid scientific ground to urge caution. It didn’t matter that a 2013 study found two-thirds of pubescent children who experience gender dysphoria no longer have those feelings five years later. Singal and the Atlantic violated the taboo, and they were digitally stoned for it.

In fact, this cultural taboo is so strong, it can cost parents custody of their children. Recently, a Christian family in Ohio lost custody of their 17-year-old son because he wanted to begin hormone therapy. A family court awarded custody to the child’s grandparents, because they were more amenable to his desires.

Instead of asking the more obvious question—Can’t we just wait a year and not do anything drastic until he’s 18 and doesn’t need parental permission?”—the judge removed a minor from his home. This is taboo in action.

All who interfere with one’s desires to transition these days are simply considered cursed. Meanwhile, victims’ stories go unheard.”

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Pray for His deliverance of those who are gender confused and tormented by the evil one with this perversion of their true identity as God’s beloved children.

Pray for those who seek to counsel and bring freedom to those who are bound and are harming themselves with such a lifestyle.

“Islamic party of Ontario to run in next election, says Islam is Canada’s native religion, “anti-hate” groups silent.

The Islamic Party of Ontario, is a new political party that plans to run in the next Ontario provincial election.

Among the party’s principles and policies:

Islam is the only and oldest DEEN of GOD brought and started by Adam (p.b.u.h.), the first man and the first messenger of God, created by God without mother and father. It is the same DEEN brought by Jesus (p.b.u.h.) before Muhammad who born without father. It is a misconception that Islam is a “religion” created by Muhammad. Islam is the only way to attain peace and justice and provides laws without any prejudice….We understand and believe that Islam is the native DEEN of Ontario and Canada .

This did not happen overnight. Due to the ongoing silencing of critics, promotion of Islamic supremacists and “anti-racism” peddlers (very different from true human rights advocates), the Islamization of Western societies is advancing. In Canada, it’s progressing fast, especially following the passage of anti-Islamophobia Motion M03 by Parliament.

Social media and email correspondence is abuzz with the revelation that the Islamic Party of Ontario plans to run in the next Ontario provincial election, but who is to blame? Is it really Islamic supremacists who have long spoken openly about their global agenda? Or is it their Leftist water carriers and other enablers who have facilitated them in chipping away at the cornerstones of democracy, primarily the freedom of speech?

The second article below focuses upon the “Curious Lack of Response from Anti Hate Media Regarding Exposé of Hate Speech from Islamic Organizations.”

What isn’t yet understood is nonetheless a simple phenomenon: Islamic supremacy is no respecter of (infidel) persons. Its proponents utilize the victimology subterfuge while the willfully blind help them do so in the name of tolerance and diversity. (Ironically, Sharia respects neither of those.) These enablers are generally employed in the “anti-racism” industry.

Leftist hypocrites are forceful opponents of “hate,” yet the “anti-hate” industry is dominated by the worst purveyors of selective hate and propaganda. The “anti-hate” peddlers benefit from their status as leaders in a sphere that thrives on maintaining and manipulating victimhood for the benefit of certain individuals and groups. While they fan the flames of the worst kind of bigotry — the bigotry of low expectations of visible minorities — they care very little, if at all, about the intolerance and bigotry that define normative Islam.

Their careers are defined by their lambasting of white people against essentially everyone else (visible minorities), and assume and insist that white privilege is to blame for the world’s woes. Never mind 1400 years of jihad. So Islamic anti-semitism, Islamic bigotry against gays and blacks, Sharia supremacy of men over women, and even the color prejudice that exists within Islam (and also other visible minority groups) are ignored as a matter of course by these self-styled “anti-racism” crusaders.

These types, however, smear and bully those who call out the abuses and those who even attempt to engage in facilitating real dialogue. They routinely resort to name-calling, defamation and falsehood. As the Center for Investigative Research Canada pointed out about the Antihate.ca  group, which has been focusing its attention on maligning those who call out actual hate:

Antihate.ca is an organization in Canada intent on exposing hate speech and action. They have been focusing on organizations that expose actual hate speech coming out of the Islamic community.

The safest haven for every race and creed is a free, democratic society, of which free speech is the cornerstone — a safeguard against the fascism that endeavors to muzzle and control citizens.

Calling out abusive ideologies is not hate. It is acting to prevent hate. With regard to Islamic supremacists who are adept at the victimhood narrative, a former imam and member of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, captured the reality well in reference to accusations of “Islamophobia”:

This loathsome term is nothing more than a thought-terminating cliche conceived in the bowels of Muslim think tanks for the purpose of beating down critics. Muslims are everywhere in this country, doing practically everything. There are Muslim doctors, lawyers and businessmen – like Park51 developer Sharif El-Gamal, who went from waiting tables just a few years ago to being a multimillionaire. There are Muslim soldiers and CIA agents. Could this be possible if America were Islamophobic?...

Over the past several weeks, we have also learned of current and former operations of a mosque based in Scarborough, Ontario, Salaheddin Islamic Centre, a mosque that hosts and has hosted guest Imams, Imams that call for the death of non Muslims and Jews. Imams that suggest that it is not good to be friends non Muslims “Allaah also forbids the Mu’mineen [Muslim believers] from taking the kuffaar [disbelieves/ infidels] as their confidantes…”…..

Source: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2019/01/islamic-party-of-ontario-to-run-in-next-election-says-islam-is-canadas-native-religion-anti-hate-groups-silent

Jihadwatch: JAN 3, 2019 9:00 AM BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS

Let us pray for the exposure of radical jihadists in North America and Europe and other nations where they are active.

Pray that governments will stop them, overthrowing their efforts to infiltrate and subvert democratic institutions.

Pray that the apparent alliance of Leftists and Muslim activists will be frustrated and brought to an end. Pray also that these jihadists will encounter the Lord Jesus as many other Muslims are elsewhere in the world through visions and dreams as well as prayers and loving outreach of His followers living among them.

We would encourage our prayer partners to watch, and share the links to these excellent newly re-mastered videos entitled ‘Reaching the Unreached – Prayer that Empowers Missions’ - that focus us on the need to pray for the 4,700 unreached peoples' groups.  They were produced by the acclaimed Videographer / Director, Michael Lienau, a friend of IPC.  There is a 3 minute and 9 minute version: 

Play / Download 3 minute version:  https://vimeo.com/311331983

Play / Download 9 minute version: https://vimeo.com/311342648

Most of us recognise that we live in a very big, very complex world where there’s a lot going on in the global church that we’re not aware of or that we don’t quite understand.

Most of us also recognise that God desires his people to pray for his will to be done, and his kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven.

And a lot of the time, we don’t really know quite how to put these two together.

That conundrum is why Lausanne and Operation World have partnered to put together what we hope is a step in the right direction.

We’re pleased to share the launch of a new resource for churches around the world. It’s called Praying for the World, a series of 52 weekly inserts for church bulletins (printed or digital), which, over the course of a year, will take you and your church on a journey of exploration of how God is working in the world. It is a unique opportunity to get an overview of the global church, learn about the greatest challenges and opportunities for global missions today, and be inspired about how to pray for them. It’s short (one A5 sheet, double sided), it’s simple, and it’s free.

Once a week, subscribers will receive a brief summary of at least one country or region of the world, highlighting how believers can pray. It will also feature a thematic topic that affects the world beyond one specific geographic area. That might be something like human trafficking, least evangelized peoples, children at risk, or creation care. We always try to keep it interesting, informative, and simple, and we always shape the material to lead toward prayer. View a sample and learn more about Praying for the World.

All Praying for the World bulletins will be made available as they roll out, so you can either follow our yearly schedule or begin at any time and go at your own pace. Our original vision is that this bulletin insert would become a regular part of congregational prayer life, but the materials are designed so they can be used in any way that people imagine, such as in small groups or for your own personal prayer time. If your church does not have a printed bulletin, you can incorporate either the PDF or the text version in an email newsletter or other digital format. For Operation World (OW) users, the selection of countries in Praying for the World synchronizes with the OW prayer calendar, so you can join in with thousands of others around the world each week in praying for the same countries.

Praying for the World is just one of several ways that Operation World and Lausanne are collaborating together for the Great Commission. But this particular resource was the result of a God-ordained meeting. A Greek pastor and a Canadian missionary—that is, Sotiris Boukis and I—met at the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering in Indonesia in 2016. We discovered that we both shared the same vision for a weekly church bulletin insert that would help to inform and inspire churches to engage with the world through prayer. With the support of Lausanne (including a Spark grant), with persistence, and with the help of several others in Operation World and Lausanne, this vision is finally becoming a reality.

Pray with us that God will use this humble little project to grow greater passion to impact the world among the churches that use the bulletins—both for the congregations corporately and for individuals within them. Surely a growth in prayerful, missions-focused churches is an outcome that pleases him! Additionally we believe that an increase in prayer for the nations will eventually bring an increase in answers to prayer for the nations. May God work powerfully through the prayers of his people!

Pray with Us

Lord, we are grateful and humbled that you have chosen to entrust your heart for the nations to your church. What a beautiful privilege to be your ambassadors to the world. What a responsibility to stand in the gap for the lost, broken, and needy! May you awaken global vision in every congregation of believers who meet to worship you. May you stir up a spirit of prayer in every person who follows after you. And may you use our responses to bring glory to your name.

Jason Mandryk is co-director of Operation World and author of the 7th edition of the publication. Born and raised in Canada, and residing in the UK, he has been serving with the Operation World ministry for 20 years.   Jason is on the IPC Leadership Team.

Read more Give Your Church a Vision for the World

'God's Word In Every Language'

Seed Company is at the cutting edge of bringing the Bible to people who have never had God’s Word in a language they understand.

Working with over 1400 global partners, they serve the local church by providing training, consulting, funding, and project management that leads to a meaningful, accurate translation in the local mother tongue. Thousands of prayer partners provide a solid foundation for the work.

With over 2100 language groups without a single verse of Scripture, we invite you to join us to end Bible poverty, now!

There are at least 100 MILLION PEOPLE who do not have one scripture they can understand.

YouCanChangeThat!

Sign up and get your FREE 2019 Prayer Guide.

The Guide Includes:

Interactive ideas for growing in prayer

Amazing stories of God transforming lives through Bible translation

Urgent, up-to-date, prayer points to bring God’s Word to ALL

Sign up here: http://www.prayforzero.com/

God is relentlessly pursuing His purpose to gather back to Himself a family from all the peoples on the face of the earth. He will not fail to fulfill all that He has spoken in scripture. In these days of uncertainty, I want to encourage you to pray with unwavering hope that our Lord will bring forth all He has promised.

We don’t always know what is coming, but we do know who is coming. The prayers in Seek God for the City are focused on Christ fulfilling the Father’s global purpose in local settings. Seek God for the City helps people pray in the beauty and authority of biblical promises of Christ bringing His life to our communities in the power of the gospel.

Now is the time to order the booklets at the same low prices as previous years. A Spanish translation will be off press within days. Unite your praying with Spanish-praying people of your congregation or Spanish-speaking churches in your community. Download the children’s version at no cost from our website.

I’m thrilled with the new app. The Seek God 2019 app is now available from iTunes or Google Play for your smartphone or device for only $0.99. This app links to the awesome Prayercast videos and puts the rich info of Operation World at your fingertips.

Check out our website for these and other great tools and resources.

I urge you to join me, and many thousands of others, as we seek God for the transformation and blessing of our cities. The prayers of Seek God for the City begin in early March. Order today to be sure you get all the books you will need to equip the people you are leading.

“Rejoice in hope! Endure in troubled times! Be persistent in prayer!” (Romans 12:12)

Gladly in His grace,

Steve Hawthorne - WayMakers

https://www.waymakers.us

One fourth of the world's households live in Frontier People Groups - with virtually no contact with believers, and no sign yet of a gospel movement bringing God's promised blessing to their families.

Half of these households live in these 31 largest Frontier People Groups.

This is a Prayer Guide for the 31 – an invitation to the

Body of Christ to Pray for the Harvest.

Download the PDF guide from this link below.  Print copies are available.

https://inheritthenations.net/resources/the-31-a-prayer-guide/