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…one of the Longest-running conflicts in the world.
Afghan Forces' Losses May Not Be Sustainable, U.S. General Warns
“The death toll among Afghanistan's security forces will no longer be sustainable unless urgent measures are taken to address recruiting and training issues, a top U.S. general has said.
"They are fighting hard, but their losses are not going to be sustainable unless we correct this problem," Lieutenant-General Kenneth McKenzie said on December 4 at a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee amid frustration among Congressmen over a lack of progress in the 17-year conflict in Afghanistan.
McKenzie, who has been nominated to lead the U.S. military's Central Command that oversees wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan, also warned against an abrupt withdrawal of American forces or change in strategy.
The Western-backed government in Kabul has struggled to counter attacks from the Taliban and other militant groups since the withdrawal of most NATO combat troops in 2014.
In October, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Afghan forces had more than 1,000 dead and wounded during August and September alone.
And Afghan President Ashraf Ghani last month said the death toll among Afghan security forces since 2015 was close to 29,000 -- a figure far higher than anything previously acknowledged…
McKenzie said that Afghan forces are still unable to effectively withstand the Taliban fighters, who now number about 60,000 in Afghanistan.
“If we left precipitously right now I do not believe they would be able to successfully defend their country," he said.
Some 14,000 U.S. soldiers are currently serving in Afghanistan, mainly training and advising the Afghan security forces, and McKenzie couldn't say how much longer the United States will remain in the country.
"I do know that today it would be very difficult for [the Afghan security forces] to survive without our and our coalition partners' assistance," he said.
"The operational military situation is largely stalemated," said the U.S. general, who also voiced optimism over invigorated U.S. efforts to settle the Afghan conflict...
BRUSSELS - A senior U.S. diplomat has called on the Taliban to seize a "moment of opportunity" to open formal peace talks with the Western-backed Afghan government and negotiate an end to the 17-year conflict.
Alice Wells, the U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of South and Central Asian affairs, told RFE/RL that the "door had opened" for a possible peace settlement with the Taliban following President Ashraf Ghani's offer of unconditional talks in February and an unprecedented cease-fire in June.
"The Afghan government is ready," Wells told RFE/RL on November 29 in Brussels, a day after she attended a UN-sponsored two-day conference on Afghanistan in Geneva. "The Afghan people, and by that I mean the Taliban also, are ready. It's a question of whether the Taliban leadership is prepared to take up this offer."
ZalmayKhalilzad, an Afghan-born former U.S. ambassador to Kabul and Iraq, was appointed in September to the U.S. State Department team that is leading the reconciliation effort and peace talks with the Taliban.
Khalilzad, who has held several rounds of preliminary talks with Taliban officials in Qatar, told reporters in Kabul this month that he was optimistic a peace deal with the militants could be reached before the presidential election in Afghanistan in April 2019.
Moment of Opportunity
Wells, who met with Taliban representatives in Qatar in July, said there was no deadline but "there is a sense of urgency because we think this is a moment of opportunity."
Ghani, speaking in Geneva on November 28, said his government had formed a 12-strong team to negotiate peace with the Taliban, but he warned that any deal must fulfill certain conditions, including respecting the constitutional rights of women.
In February, Ghani offered to allow the Taliban to establish itself as a political party and said he would work to remove sanctions on the militant group, among other incentives, if it joined the government in peace negotiations. In return, the militants would have to recognize the Kabul government and respect the rule of law.
The Taliban has refused to deal directly with Kabul, saying they would negotiate only with the United States. The militants have also said NATO forces must withdraw from Afghanistan before negotiations can begin.
Wells said the militants were "suffering enormous casualties" and "there's war fatigue among the Taliban."
In June, the government and Taliban declared a three-day cease-fire coinciding with the Eid al-Fitr holiday, the first ever cessation of hostilities between the warring sides.
Wells said the cease-fire demonstrated that the sides want to "find a way to live in peace."
"They've always said publicly that they seek peace and they don't seek to dominate Afghanistan as they did in leading up to 2001," said Wells, referring to the Taliban, who were in power from 1996 until the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. "Let's test that proposition about whether or not they're prepared to actually sit and negotiate a political solution."
Efforts to open peace talks with the Taliban come as Afghan security forces struggle to fend off attacks from the militants, who control more territory than at any time since 2001.
Afghan forces are suffering record casualties, with Ghani saying that nearly 29,000 Afghan police and soldiers have been killed in the country since the start of 2015 when Afghan troops took over primary responsibility for security.
During the same period, 58 American had been killed, he said.”
https://www.rferl.org/a/senior-u-s-diplomat-calls-on-afghan-taliban-to-seize-moment-of-opportunity-for-peace-talks/29628847.html?ltflags=mailer
The recently concluded negotiations in the UAE were promising according to the US Afghan envoy. Let’s pray that this war-weary land will finally find peace and that both the Afghan government and the Taliban will be able to negotiate directly with one another at this pivotal point in this longstanding conflict.
Prayer Topics
- Pray that God would protect all Christians in Iraq with His divine grace, so that they would persevere these hard times for His glory.
- Pray that the rights of Iraqi Christians would be voiced and improved in every area of Iraqi society through education and political changes.
- Pray that all evil spiritual forces that are attacking to kill and destroy all Iraqi churches and Christians would be bound on earth as they are in heaven.
SILK WAVE MISSION USA
Following the detention of its pastor and about 100 members earlier this week, a Christian church in Chengdu, China, is thanking God and preparing for even more hardships. Overnight on December 9 and 10, government officials arrested leaders and members of Early Rain Covenant Church, one of the country’s most prominent unregistered churches. Since then, some people have been released, while others are being closely watched. Some members report rough treatment while in custody.
(December 13, 2018)
“God has given us a reward”
“Shortly before his arrest, elder Li Yingqiang wrote a letter to his church from a hiding spot. Describing the “large-scale persecution” as a “reward,” Li expresses confidence that the detainees are within God’s “sovereign providence” during their trials.
Citing 1 Peter 4:12-14, Li asks his fellow Christians, “Are you rejoicing in the fact that you are suffering with Christ because of this church? Do you know that we are blessed?”
He then thanks God for being present during the ordeal, “for training us through these days of hardship,” and “for sculpting us through today’s persecution.” Though the future is uncertain, Li says, he expects the crackdown on Christians to “become the status quo for us in the future.”
The Church Plans to Stand Firm
In his letter, Li relays the church’s contingency plans, urging elders who haven’t been detained to continue leading the congregation. No matter what happens, Li says, Early Rain must not alter its faith statement or its “path of openness.” He writes, “We will not register with the Religious Affairs Bureau.”
China has been cracking down on churches, requiring them to register and submit to government control. Most of the country’s Protestant house churches remain underground, but Early Rain operates and evangelizes openly. Earlier this fall, it received a warning from authorities.
Saying Early Rain “will not easily relinquish our church building,” Li urges worshipers to return to the sanctuary. If necessary, he says, worship will be held at a rented location or even outdoors. The “last resort,” according to his letter, is meeting in small groups.
“We are willing to pay an even greater price to bear witness to the…gospel,” Li writes. “We are willing to have 200, 300 or 500 people arrested and imprisoned.” He encourages Chinese Christians to “welcome, filled with hope, the even heavier cross and more difficult lives that lie ahead.”
Early Rain’s Pastor Wang Yi Faces Charges of Subversion
Wang Yi, pastor of Early Rain, is being charged with “inciting subversion of state power,” according to documents his mother was shown. Wang hasn’t been allowed to meet with lawyers or relatives, and his wife’s whereabouts are unknown.
The couple’s 11-year-old son is staying with Wang’s mother, who says officials are constantly stationed outside her home. “They follow us whenever and wherever we go,” says Chen Yaxue, adding that officials are urging her to send her grandson to a local school rather than Early Rain’s primary school.
Wang, a human rights activist and scholar who converted to Christianity, wrote an open letter to church members in September, giving instructions in case he went missing. He emphasized that he’ll employ non-violent means to oppose crackdowns against his faith. “My Savior Christ also requires me to joyfully bear all costs for disobeying wicked law,” Wang wrote.
Stephanie Martin, ChurchLeaders.com
Let’s continue to uphold the Christians in China in our prayers as they seek to bear the increased surveillance and persecution of their government.
Pray for those that are being held in prison to be released and that the authorities there will realize that followers of Christ are actually the best citizens they will ever have. May China be liberated from this anti-Christian spirit that has recently reemerged so strongly!
We appreciate your prayer for Gujarat Christian Youth Festival that was recently concluded in Ahmedabad. We could see God’s presence moving in a big way throughout the conference. This time we prayed and focused on North Gujarat where the Christian population is less than 1%, churches are very small and there are two district (Pathan and Mehsana) without any Christian witness.
There were 940 participants that came from 26 Districts of North Gujarat, 110 Group Leaders and around 150 Volunteers, out of these total 513 committed their lives for the ministry. All glory to God alone for moving the hearts of the youth.
- Kindly continue to pray that these 1200 people should bring at least 4-5 non-Christian friends to Christ and out of these they should invite at least 2-3 friends to Vision India Youth Festival in 2020.
- Kindly uphold 513 youth as they have committed to serve the Lord, that they will remain faithful in their call.
- Kindly pray that at least 200 will complete the five modules of follow-up training.
- Also Please continue to pray for the remaining programs...@ 1000 youth in each program, that God will provide all that is needed resources to accomplish the remaining programs for His glory. We are focusing on the geographical area where there is less Christian population in North India…
Vijay Mohod
December 13, 2018 14:57 GMT
Afghanistan is by far the world's deadliest hot spot, with 44,655 civilian fatalities so far this year.
Yemen- pray for an end of civil war that has cost lives of tens of thousands and endangers millions
“The agreed cessation of hostilities in Yemen, beginning today [December 20th], comes at a crucial moment when an entire country is on the brink. Humanitarian agencies warned today that should the ceasefire break down again, as previous ones did, the consequences would be catastrophic.
This last year of escalated violence has meant that each day, around 6610 people were forced to flee their homes and around 25 civilians are killed or injured. A school or hospital has been attacked every three days. The number of children dying daily from preventable diseases has risen to 137, an additional 28 a day since the start of the war. More than 82 per cent of Yemenis, or 21.2 million, now depend on humanitarian aid.
In just the last two months, more than 325,700 people were displaced by the conflict, raising the total number of displaced to a staggering 2.75 million.
“The peace talks and subsequent discussions must also provide an opportunity to plan for early recovery needs as part of addressing the humanitarian crisis and paving the way for facilitating durable solutions for the affected populations,” said Lisa Piper, Danish Refugee Council’s Country Director in Yemen.
“Commitments toward restoring livelihoods and diminishing the vulnerabilities of households brought on by the devastating conflict must be considered so that Yemenis can begin to restore their lives, livelihoods, and dignity,” says Lisa Piper, Country Director for the Danish Refugee Council.
"This is a moment of truth for Yemen’s millions of civilians. A real ceasefire could be the first step towards ending this staggering yet forgotten crisis," said the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland. "If it doesn't hold, those breaking it must be held accountable for the bloodshed. The figures speak for themselves. Every day of war is another day of massive death, displacement and despair."
While an immediate cessation of hostilities is essential, it is just the first of several measures needed to stop the crisis and pave the way for long-lasting peace and recovery.
"The widespread destruction of Yemen's houses, factories, schools and hospitals will require decades to rebuild; the destruction of Yemen's social fabric and the trauma millions of innocent people are suffering will take even longer to heal," said Sajjad Mohammad Sajid, Oxfam's Country Director in Yemen. "In the more than three decades that we've been working in Yemen, we have never witnessed a crisis of this scale. The blockade, war and now a looming banking crisis risk pushing millions into famine."
The humanitarian agencies reiterated their call on international governments to fully fund the humanitarian response so that millions of civilians receive essential aid and services like food, water, medicine and housing as an immediate priority. Parties to the conflict need to allow aid agencies to reach those most in need caught in the fighting, and the most vulnerable to reach the services they need. The commercial blockade needs to be lifted so that commercial supplies are allowed into Yemen.
Save the Children's Country Director in Yemen Edward Santiago said: “As long as parties to the conflict continue to wage war and obstruct aid, millions of children will continue to go hungry or without healthcare, clean water and education. Yemenis must not be let down yet again, with more empty promises of ceasefires that fail to stop the killing. Yemeni children need more than words this time, they need action and a genuine commitment to end the violence once and for all."
The agencies warned that the upcoming UN-sponsored peace talks, due to start on 18 April, are the only real opportunity to end the suffering. Long-term solutions however must include the voices and concerns of Yemeni civil society in a representative and inclusive process.
“All Yemenis need their voices to be heard if there is any hope for these peace talks to be sustainable,” said Daw Mohammed, CARE Country Director in Yemen. “Women, youth and minority groups must be included because they will be critical to rebuilding Yemen in the years to come.”
https://drc.ngo/news/news-archive/yemen-ceasefire-must-hold-or-thousands-more-will-die
Please pray for the ceasefire in Yemen to hold and that it will lead to successful peace talks to end this awful conflict.
“Last year facing the UN, President Trump spoke of nationalism over globalism. This year he spoke of patriotism over globalism –essentially the same concept.
Are we for globalization? We certainly believe in an age of world peace as described in Isaiah 2 and Micah 4. Yet we know that this will only take place when the Messiah returns and rules and reigns from Jerusalem in the Millennial age.
In the meantime, and even into the Millennium, there is a purpose for nations staying separate. Trump spoke at the same time as the Torah portion Ha’azinu was being read in Jewish synagogues: “When the Most High gave inheritance to the nations, in separating the sons of Man, He established boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel” (Deuteronomy 32:8).
The global national boundaries are seen as a parallel inheritance to the Israelite ownership of the land of Canaan, in accordance with, and as an extension of, God’s covenant multiplication of the people of Israel.
The peoples, or nations, are defined by tribal distinctions, physical boundaries, and language (Genesis 10). The apostle Paul expands on the verse from Deuteronomy when preaching in Athens:“He made from one man, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 17:26).
Thus, according to the Bible, it is God’s will and plan that there should be borders and distinctions among the nations, to preserve order and to protect each one’s unique inheritance.
Aligning with His Plan
We are for a vision of global Messianic peace and for a spiritual global family among believers of every racial background. However, we are against globalization in terms of a one world government, religion, or culture.
Nationalism, in the here and now, is not meant to be nations trying to conquer other nations, but rather each nation respecting one another’s borders and rights. It is the opposite of colonialism, Nazism/fascism, communism or radical Islam.
Most of the prophetical books in the Bible include descriptions of an apocalyptic world war immediately before the coming of the Messiah. All the nations will be united in an attack against Israel. At that moment God will intervene to stop the war and establish the Messiah’s kingdom on earth (Zechariah 14, Ezekiel 38-39).
In order for a united attack to take place, there would have to be at least two elements:
- An organization of some sort uniting the nations of the world with a bent against Israel.
- A worldwide philosophy or religion inciting people to try to destroy Israel.
In our day, the UN seems to be fulfilling the first, and radical Islam the second. The bizarre partnership between the radical Left and radical Islam is a dangerous, yet biblically coherent, combination.
Power tends to corrupt. Therefore, God has designed a system of division of spheres of authority, with checks and balances between family, business, religion and governments. When one tries to take over the other, there are usually destructive results.”
Asher Intrater,
https://tikkun.tv/globalization/
Please keep the United Nations and other international organizations in your prayers. There are very subversive elements at work in them that want to bring about a “New World Order” that will be a fitting control mechanism for the one the Bible calls the Antichrist. Totalitarian regimes in which power is concentrated in the hands of an elite tend toward dominating and reducing their populations to slavery. How much more awful will be a world-controlling dominion of the kind that the globalists have in mind! Pray that totalitarianism in whatever form, whether from the socialist/communist Left or radical Islam or other such ideologies will be resisted and overcome.
“Every once in a while, we’re offered a peek behind an ideological curtain. That’s what happened last week in the New York Times.
If you were a surgeon and someone asked you to perform a surgery that would not heal, would not help, would not make them feel better, and would leave the patient with a permanent wound, would you do it? Is there any area of medicine where such a request would even be considered?
The answer to the first question is, of course, no. No one should perform a surgery that does not help, does not heal, does not make someone feel better, and that would leave a permanent wound. The answer to the second question – does any field of medicine perform such surgeries—is yes. One. Only one.
In the case of gender dysphoria, doctors perform a surgery that, in effect, amputates perfectly healthy body parts. This kind of surgery is not performed in the case of any other type of what’s called “body dissociative disorder,” cases in which patients believe they were born into the wrong body. For example, there are those who believe they should be without an arm or a leg. But their requests to become an amputee are not honored, nor even taken seriously.
However, in the case of gender dysphoria, amputative surgery will, we’re told, “align someone’s physical body with their internal sense of sex and gender.” We are told that without this surgery, they’d be a high risk of suicide and other mental health risks.
At best, this is pseudo-scientific. Dr. Paul McHugh, longtime chair of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School, has argued for years that such procedures ignore and may even aggravate underlying psycho-social troubles. In fact, those who undergo sex-reassignment still have a suicide rate nearly twenty times that of the general population. That’s why McHugh famously called transgender medicine “cooperating with mental illness” and that’s why he put an end to surgeries at Johns Hopkins.
So why should these surgeries proceed? Andrew Long Chu, in a stunning, must-read piece in the New York Times, ventured an answer. Chu is a man who identifies as a woman and is currently raising money for sex-reassignment surgery. In his Times piece, he says that he knows the transition won’t make him happy. “Until the day I die,” he writes, “my body will regard [the result of this surgery] as a wound… (that) will require regular, painful attention to maintain.”
Chu even admits that the transition process and treatments have made him more miserable. “I was not suicidal before hormones,” he writes. “Now I often am.” And yet he insists that he has a right to the surgery—and that no doctor should refuse. Why? Because, it’s what he wants. That’s it.
This deeply troubling opinion piece reads like a cry for help. In fact, more than a few transgender advocates have condemned it. And to be clear, not everyone who pursues gender reassignment surgery reports being as miserable as Chu. But his story is revealing something very important. Already, this is the only type of surgery that amputates fully-functioning and otherwise-healthy body parts for no physically necessary reason. The justification has always been emotional and psychological health. Now we have an individual admitting that it won’t help him emotionally or psychologically either, but that he still wants the surgery anyway. If that’s all it takes, then it’s clear: Transgender ideology isn’t really about health or scientific reality at all. What we’re doing is aiding and abetting serious problems, not helping.
As hard – brutal even – as this piece is to read, please do. It’s a look behind the curtain of a harmful ideology to which our entire culture is currently bowing down. Anyone who disagrees is a bigot. Well, read this piece, and then read Ryan Anderson’s important response to it, and see who’s being hateful and who’s being loving. As Ryan writes, the New York Times just “revealed painful truths about transgender lives.”
John Stonestreet with Shane Morris //d.docs.live.net/Users/johndonaldrobb/Downloads/This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Please pray for the overthrow of this destructive ideology that has possessed the minds of many, not only those wanting to change their gender, but also increasingly those in politics and the media. This is a prime example of how Satan seeks to pervert and destroy the goodness and wholesomeness of God’s creation.
Pray too that those afflicted by this false ideology will be set free to become all that He wants them to become, accepting themselves and their gender identity that was given to them at birth.
Seek God for the City is designed to mobilize many to pray with united, sustained vision for people of your community. The daily prayers are all new and different from last year’s prayer guide. The scriptures and topics help God’s people pray with passionate, full-hearted hope. This timely guide will help God’s people in your congregation to pray beyond themselves with confidence and clarity.
We will Seek God in two simple ways: First we will seek God’s face and then we will seek His kingdom. And as we come to God, seeking His face, then He comes to us bringing His kingdom. These are prayers you don’t want to pray alone. Invite your whole congregation to pray along with you. Even better, think about joining your prayers with a few other churches in your community.
The forty days to Palm Sunday makes an ideal time to venture into a season of sustained, hope-filled prayer. Dated March 6 – April 14, 2019.
We are able to offer a complimentary review copy to leaders in recognized positions of pastoral or prayer leadership for a limited time. Call us now at 800-264-5214 or 512-419-7729.
Also available as an app that makes it possible to help many to keep their prayers rolling in the midst of busy lifestyles and schedules
The animated version of UNDERSTANDING THE REMAINING MISSION TASK is now finally available! Please post and pass it on to others.
You will be able to see a much clearer picture of where the greatest needs are in terms of those still waiting to hear about Jesus. It will make the urgency and importance of your task much clearer. [The youtube link to the non-animated 3 minute version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLADjrnCuDs&feature=youtu.be
Here are the drop box links to the 6 minute animated version (in AVC or in MP4 formats) which you can download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z3qh670xm9s886g/Remaining%20Task%20Dec%2011%20AVC.mp4?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tambqr86jvdgphk/Remaining%20Task%20Dec%2011%20MP4.mp4?dl=0
All the maps are available at www.joshuaproject.net/frontier
And here is the link to the Mission Frontiers that will be handed out at URBANA that is focused on Frontier Peoples: Still Waiting to Hear About Jesus: http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/current
Thanks for helping in this great endeavor to ensure that all the families of the earth are blessed by Jesus!! And that the next generation pick up the vision!
PS: FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN THE DATA: Clarifying the Remaining Task which explains the new pie chart in detail and has all of the details of data (the rest of the issue is also good reading): http://www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/35_4_PDFs/IJFM_35_4-Lewis.pdf
For more information, please contact Rebecca Winter Lewis at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.