A Ugandan pastor, severely injured by Islamic opponents of his faith, made an appeal for British Christians to help their persecuted brothers across the world. Umar Mulinde was badly burned by an acid attack outside his church. During a brief tour of the UK he spoke out - a challenge which coincided with reports of an assassination attempt on Baroness Caroline Cox in Nigeria by Fulani Islamic militants. Baroness Cox, a committed Christian, is a religious freedom campaigner and cross-bench member of the House of Lords. Umar’s plea also comes amid ongoing violence against Christians in Uganda. He warned, ‘Even in the UK, former Muslims who have converted to Christianity are not safe.’ He mentioned Nissar Hussain whose family had to be moved under police protection following years of harassment. ‘No country can say they are safe. It’s a matter of time. This is not prophecy; it’s reality. The UK is sitting on a time-bomb.’

Recently Prayer-Alert readers were asked to pray about the BBC reduction in Christian programming: http://www.prayer-alert.net/british-isles-ireland-pa-site/item/8828-bbc-reduction-in-christian-programming. This week BBC producer and presenter Roger Bolton said the BBC is ‘failing at a time of global crisis to take religion seriously’, adding, ‘it’s essential for the public, young people and immigrants to understand the crucial role of Christianity in the formation of British culture’. Many believe the BBC’s programming policy should reflect the core values of this nation - as unique to, and derived from, Christianity. They also believe that Christianity should be given more airtime than minority faiths. Bolton also said the lack of an experienced, dedicated head of religion and ethics was a strange contrast when BBC has ‘editors for almost everything under the sun’. Voice for Justice UK said this week, ‘Christianity has been ‘ideologically downgraded and marginalised in the media in recent years.’ They have now released a petition for Christians to sign on this issue, to be sent to the Government minister for culture, media and sport.

Corruption, family breakdown, immorality, poverty, debt, addictions, and crime affect and ruin people’s lives. Praise God that the Christian voluntary sector is doing much to alleviate needs and improve situations, but the Church also needs to develop a more powerful prophetic voice. Pray for Christians working in commerce, industry, government offices, NHS, social services, police, and wherever God has placed them, to speak out against injustice and corruption in the workplace and their communities. As the prophets were unafraid to say, ‘Woe to you who call evil good and good evil’, may we make our voices heard in the midst of today’s noises. Pray for a fresh anointing of power and love on intercessors to plead for our nation and the people around us. As we pray, ‘Lord, do something’, may we also pray, ‘Lord, what can I do?’

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, is providing a daily online reflection throughout Advent. The Archbishop said, ‘I love Advent, it’s a wonderful season of watching and waiting.’ Across the country denominations and organisations like Bible Lands, Salvation Army, Embrace and many more provide carol services, carol sheets, tips for organising community carol services or outreach nativity services, all-age church resources, and prayer booklets. They also offer many creative ideas for talks, schools resources, and Christian craft activities. Please pray for all the variety of Christmas outreach events organised for 2016. Also, remember those who find Christmas a difficult and challenging season, and those spending Christmas at home alone, or worse still on the streets and without a home. Pray for organisations like Shelter, Alabare, Crisis at Christmas, and churches supporting and helping vulnerable people at this time of year. See also:-http://www.alabare.co.uk/

Christian TV broadcaster SAT-7 broadcasts in the Middle East and North Africa and has just announced record viewership numbers of 21.5 million for its Arabic-language channels. Its audience has increased by 76% in the past five years. This remarkable growth is very encouraging, especially at a time when you would expect people to be preoccupied with hard-news channels due to the ongoing turmoil in the region. ‘One explanation for the growth might be that many people are deeply distressed by the situation in the Middle East: they have lost trust and hope in both their religious and political leadership, and they are looking for divine help and guidance. Many are emotionally tired and are searching for something to lift their spirits; some positive news; something that can encourage them. The messages of faith and hope that we broadcast are very attractive to many,’ says Dr Terence Ascott, founder and CEO of SAT-7.

Intercessors have been fervently praying for the Muslim world, and God is answering. Bibles for Mideast were miraculously protected when Muslim terrorists interrupted a mass baptism for fifty new Christians. A large dust storm quickly moved in, blocked the militants and drove them away, saving the believers. 10,000 Muslims across the Near East study the Bible together each week, according to Cry Out ministry. Prayer movements are sweeping across the region. Churches are going through renewals as they reach out to migrating Middle East and North African refugees. In Kurdish Iraq, the first Christian church in 1400 years has opened. In Iran, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan, many are coming to Christ. 500 churches are planned to open next year in Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Egypt. In the Middle East people look for churches and Christians after having a vision of Jesus.

Canon John Simons and Andy Page were privileged to attend the World Prayer Assembly in May, where John helped staff a Prayer Alert stand and Andy did some presentations on Using Technology for Prayer.

More than 9,000 people attended the event in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the Sentul Conference Centre - with another 2,000 on the waiting list.  Delegates were able to visit a 24-7 prayer room at the top of a Prayer Tower, which overlooks the region.

John Robb, the event organiser said after the event, 'God by His Spirit was working so many agendas in the lives of those who took part that it is impossible to recount all that happened or was reported. So many said their lives and ministries would never be the same. We have received encouraging reports from a number of nations as participants have begun to implement strategies of prayer mobilization and other actions that they were inspired to undertake during the WPA. Praise God for all He did and continues to do through this gathering! Following the conference, Crosswinds team member, Andy Page was asked by Pastor Austen Ukachi to assist him with mobilising prayer for Nigeria after a spirit filled plenary session meeting of the 30 Nigerian delegates.

The Prayer Alert Team were delighted with the interest in the project, with many people signing up to receive the weekly prayer bulletin.

Germans Opposed to Mass Migration are "Free to Leave"

by Soeren Kern  •  November 24, 2015

After factoring in family reunifications, the actual number of migrants could exceed 10 million, and some believe that Germany's Muslim population is on track to nearly quadruple to an astonishing 20 million by 2020.

N24 television news reports that up to 50% of the asylum seekers arriving in Germany have gone into hiding and their whereabouts are unknown by German authorities.

"It cannot be that offenders continue to fill the police files, hurt us physically... and there are no consequences. ... We are losing control of the streets." — Tania Kambouri, a German police officer.

"We are not excluding anyone, we are just trying to run a business. If we ignore the complaints of our female guests, we have to expect that many of our regular customers will stay away.... Financially, we do not know how long can we cope with this." — Thomas Greil, manager of the discotheque "Brucklyn," Bad Tölz, Bavaria.

"We are reproducing faster and faster. You Germans are not getting any children. In the best case you get two children. We make seven to eight children. Okay mate? And then we take four wives each, then we have 22 children. Maybe you Germans have one child and a dog. Huh? And that's it." — Video showing a Muslim threatening a German man openly on the street.

In Berlin, lawmakers are considering emergency legislation that would allow local authorities to seize private residences to accommodate asylum seekers. The proposal was kept secret from the public until November 9, when the leader of the Free Democrats (FDP) in Berlin warned the measure would violate the German Constitution. Berlin Mayor Michael Müller now wants to expand the scope for warrantless inspections to include "preventing homelessness."

"The same empathy we show for refugees we must show to our own people, the host society." — Mayor Ulrich Maly, Nuremberg.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left): "The Chancellor has the situation under control. I Have My Vision. I Will Fight For It."

Asylum seekers from Africa, Asia and the Middle East are continuing to pour into Germany in record numbers, despite freezing temperatures and snow.

More than 180,000 migrants arrived during the first three weeks of November, on track to surpass the previous monthly record of 181,000 migrants recorded in October.

With 300 newcomers now arriving every hour, Germany is expected to receive more than one million asylum seekers in 2015, and at least as many in 2016. After factoring in family reunifications, the actual number of migrants could exceed 10 million, and some believe that Germany's Muslim population is on track to nearly quadruple to an astonishing 20 million by 2020.

Please pray for Europe and its leaders trying to cope with the huge migrant exodus happening from Syria, other Middle Eastern countries as well as those from Africa and even Central Asia trying to seek a better life. Pray for the Christians and churches to know how to serve and share the Good News with these desperate people. It is a huge opportunity but also one fraught with the risk of the further export of Islamic terrorism. Pray for His protection too over these nations.

Repentance is greatly under valued in the modern church world. Identificational repentance even more so and yet repentance was the message that laid the foundation for the operation of the power of God in the New Testament.

The message of John the Baptist was "repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."Jesus message was the same, repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." Both of these messages were accompanied by open displays of the power of God. 

Peter continued the call to repentance in the book of Acts chapter 2 when he said "Repent... and save yourselves from this perverse generation," hardly a message that would see him invited to speak in many modern day churches, and yet this message released the power of God for the salvation of 3,000 souls.

In the Book of Revelation Jesus Christ called five of the seven churches to repentance, which would indicate, looking at statistical odds, that you and I need to activate repentance in our lives 71% of the time. Certainly a sobering thought to say the least. Repentance literally means in the Greek to 'have a change of mind and turn around'. But it is not just a state of the mind but a state of the heart. It has a lot to do with humility.

Nowhere is this more exemplified than when the prophet Isaiah, who we understand was a righteous man, prophesying against the evil of his day, spoke out regarding his own state: "Woe is me for I am ruined, I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell amongst a people with unclean lips." In doing so he at the least identified with sinfulness of the people of his own generation and asked God for cleansing.

The prophet Daniel who is one of the few bible characters who had no known sin recorded against him took it one step further in identificational repentance when he prayed to God in Daniel 6:9, "I and my forefathers have sinned."

This was the thought at the forefront of my mind when I learned of the evil behaviour of Australian citizens in San Francisco who arguably laid the foundation of evil that San Francisco was built on in the early days of the gold rush in the 1850's. I learned this from two Australian prayer warriors Merv and Sharon Stevenson who had spent several weeks in July 2015 researching and repenting for Australia's contribution to organised crime, prostitution, sex trafficking, murder and mayhem in the early days of San Francisco. 

The port area which was the hub of the city of San Francisco and the vice capital for the city was known as Sydney Town from 1850 -1865. It later became known as the Barbary Coast, but the continuing predominance of Australian immigrants in the criminal activities was a well known fact.

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Ducks

2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Coast,_San_Francisco 

In the book "The Barbary Coast - An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld", USA crime historian Herbert Asbury said "The villainous inhabitants of Sydney-Town were popularly called Sydney Ducks or Sydney Coves, but more often the former. It was a common saying in early San Francisco whenever a particularly atrocious crime was committed, that 'the Sydney Ducks were cackling in the pond'. Unquestionably, these foreign felons gave San Francisco's underworld its initial flavour; they were the pioneers in the viciousness and depravity for which the Barbary Coast became famous, and the echo of their unholy cackling was not stilled for more than half a century."

I was shocked, to say the least, as I had been one of those who had pointed my finger in judgement at San Francisco, but typically I now found three fingers of my hand pointing back at me and my forbears. I was born in Sydney Australia and I had always thought that Sydney, being a sister city of San Francisco since 1967, had influenced us in a bad way.

Imagine my surprise to learn that it was us in Australia that had laid the foundation for San Francisco to become the immorality capital of the world in the sixties and seventies. Knowing  that we were on our way to speak at the World Congress of Families in Utah, Alison and I felt it was time to ask the people of San Francisco for forgiveness  and repent on behalf of our fathers and say sorry for their sins, not to mention my own spiritual pride.

On 31st October another Australian, my wife Alison and I gathered with seven other local intercessors from the San Francisco House of Prayer, led by Anne Trumbo. We also had Ps Jeff Daly from the USA Day of Repentance and David Bereit the Director of 40 Days for Life representing Christian ministries from all over the USA.

We prayer-walked the downtown area and then met on the 11th floor of the Trans America Pyramid, overlooking San Francisco.  A kind Christian businessman gave us access to an 'upper room'. We conducted a communion service together and we declared the forgiveness found in and through the blood of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God and jointly blessed San Francisco.

Our Australian brother, with Alison and I, washed an American brother's feet in heartfelt repentance and asked and received  forgiveness from those present on behalf of Australia. We expected God to do something but we were truly caught by surprise by what God was about to do.

San Francisco, and California, has been gripped in a record breaking four year drought, but I did not have the faith to pray for an end to the drought. My belief in the unmerited favour found in the blood of Jesus Christ and the supernatural implication of true repentance was far too limited. Thankfully God's grace is bigger than my own judgemental attitudes.

We were to witness the first part of the miracle first hand when rain began to fall within 24 hours of our repentance service in what turned out to be the largest fall of rain in San Francisco for 9 months. The good news is that San Francisco has had several more showers of rain that would appear to herald the end of one of the worst droughts on record. 1.http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_29061079/autumn-storm-prelude-but-not-yet-el-nino  

2. http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Thunder-Booms-Lightning-Strikes-Rain-Pours-in-Bay-Area-343783312.html#

Even more amazing is that at exactly the same date we were having our combined repentance service in San Francisco, Saturday 31st October, rain began to fall at Barcaldine in central Queensland in the northern part of Australia. This area was also the centre of a record breaking four year drought which has gripped central Queensland.

1. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-02/weekend-storms-outback-queensland/6904972  

2. http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/watl/rainfall/pme.jsp

Over the next two days Barcaldine recorded its greatest monthly rainfall on record. Better still more rain has fallen since and more is forecast in short term forecasts. The same is the case in northern California. It would seem that in both areas the weather patterns have changed and all things point to an end of the drought in both locations.

We cannot yet say the drought is over as we need 6-12 months of good soaking rain for that to occur. What we can say authoritatively is that both regional areas of our respective nations received an extraordinary outpouring of the grace of God within 24 hours of a combined Australian and USA repentance service being held in San Francisco. The scripture says that we serve a merciful God who sends the rain on the just and the unjust. God is Good!!!!!

It is our conviction that this rain is a miraculous display of the power of God's love released as a consequence of heartfelt repentance between our respective nations as found in 2 Chronicles 7:14  As the scripture says, "Where sin abounds there does much more Grace bound."

We pray that this natural rain is a sign of the supernatural rains of revival that the USA and Australia so desperately need. Let's continue  to covenant together to pray for revival and reformation for the USA and Australia. Soli Deo Gloria!

Much love Warwick & Alison Marsh

Australia

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