It’s now nearly three months since the military coup in Myanmar. The junta has intensified its crackdown on protestors, with around 600 people now believed to have been killed. For the country’s minority Christian population, there continues to be fear – not just for their safety but of forced recruitment to the army. In this update, Christians in the country share experiences and fears, as well as gratitude for your ongoing prayers. All names have been changed to protect identities.

Given the communication restrictions in Myanmar, it’s hard to obtain information from Open Doors local partners in the country. When contact is made with believers, the fear and uncertainty speaks louder than their words.

“Every day I hear gunshots and sound grenades near my house,” shares Min Naing* from Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. “The sound comes only one bus stop away from my house. At night, most homes do not turn on lights after 8pm. And nobody makes any noise. This has been happening for about two weeks. Sometimes I hear gunshots in the evening and around midnight. We also stay indoors during the day. We cannot go out except for putting out rubbish and shopping for groceries. I live in the middle of Yangon without security. Please pray for the safety of me and my family.”

Pastor Kyaw* leads a church in a township where martial law is imposed. Because of the daily gunfire near the church building, it’s been impossible to organise church activities. “My wife has not been able to sleep for two weeks,” the pastor shares. “That’s why we fled to another town. When we arrived in the town, I had to flee again after two days, because the army was recruiting more soldiers.” Thankfully, the couple are now home and safe, but without internet. The pastor is concerned about not having access to the news.

Believers hiding in the forest

Others are also at risk of being forcibly enlisted into the army. “In a remote village, a pastor is leading a small church,” Brother Lwin*, an Open Doors local partner reports. “There are no soldiers or police in their village so regular prayers are held every night. Last week, the village chief was asked to recruit 30 men for the military in their village. Now the believers, including the pastor, are hiding in the forest.”

Brother Lwin and others live and work under enormous stress because of the uncertainty and rapidly changing situation. Nobody’s safety is guaranteed. But one thing is for sure: Brother Lwin and the other believers know they are not alone. “Thank you for standing with us during this crisis,” Brother Lwin shares. “We don’t know how or when this will be over. Please pray that the believers will stand strong in their faith, and non-believers – of who many are frustrated and hopeless, even with their own faith – will come to know the true and living God.”

*Names changed for safety of individuals

More at: https://www.opendoors.org.hk/en/christians-in-myanmar-fear-for-safety-and-forced-recruitment-to-army/
Pray for the violence and extra-judicial killings of peaceful protestors to stop.
Pray that the international diplomacy and sanctions along with the strong will of the people of Burma will bring the Junta to stand down and free the democratically elected leaders.
Pray that Beijing does not take advantage of this instability.
Pray in more depth using these resources: Prayer Guide  |  Operation World  |  Joshua Project  |  Open Doors

A vaccine against malaria has been shown to be highly effective in trials in Africa, holding out the real possibility of slashing the death toll of a disease that kills 400,000 mostly small children every year.

The vaccine, developed by scientists at the Jenner Institute of Oxford University, showed up to 77% efficacy in a trial of 450 children in Burkina Faso over 12 months.

The hunt for a malaria vaccine has been going on the best part of a century. One, the Mosquirix vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, has been through lengthy clinical trials but is only partially effective, preventing 39% of malaria cases and 29% of severe malaria cases among small children in Africa over four years. It is being piloted by the World Health Organization in parts of Kenya, Ghana and Malawi.

The Oxford vaccine is the first to meet the WHO goal of 75% efficacy against the mosquito-borne parasite disease. Larger trials are now beginning, involving 4,800 children in four countries.

Prof Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute, where the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine was invented, said he believed the vaccine had the potential to cut the death toll dramatically. “What we’re hoping to do is take that 400,000 down to tens of thousands in the next five years, which would be absolutely fantastic.”

Other interventions, such as impregnated bednets and malarial drugs, have reduced the death toll from a million a year, he said, and those must continue. But, if the vaccine could cut deaths to the tens of thousands, they might be able to look towards “a greater goal – eventually eradicating malaria”.

Hill said the institute might apply for emergency approval for the malaria vaccine just as it did for the Covid jab. “I’m making the argument as forcefully as I can, that because malaria kills a lot more people than Covid in Africa, you should think about emergency-use authorisation for a malaria vaccine for use in Africa. And that’s never been done before.”

The institute would probably ask the regulatory bodies in Europe or the UK for a scientific opinion on the vaccine and then apply to the World Health Organization for approval for use in Africa. “They did Covid in months – why shouldn’t they do malaria in a similar length of time as the health problem is an even greater scale in Africa?” Hill said.

The vaccine will be manufactured at large scale and low-cost, say the researchers, who have arranged a deal with the Serum Institute of India, which is involved in manufacturing the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The Serum Institute has had to delay supplies of the Covid vaccine to the rest of the world because of the huge rise in cases in India, but has promised to deliver 200m doses a year of the malaria vaccine if it is licensed.

Hill said the best-case scenario was approval by the end of 2022, by which time the Serum Institute would have plenty of capacity.

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla and Adar Poonawalla, respectively chair and CEO of the Serum Institute, said in a statement that they were “highly excited to see these results on a safe and highly effective malaria vaccine which will be available to the whole world”. The project was through collaboration with Oxford and also Novavax, which is supplying the adjuvant, a substance that enhances the immune system response.

“We are highly confident that we will be able to deliver more than 200m doses annually in line with the strategy, as soon as regulatory approvals are available,” they said.

Gareth Jenkins, of Malaria No More UK, said: “We can end malaria in our generation but only if governments invest in the research needed to deliver the new medicines and products that can accelerate the end of this terrible disease.

“The Jenner Institute’s groundbreaking work on both the new Covid-19 and malaria vaccines is a great example of this and demonstrates just how much humanity’s safety is dependent on new science.

“An effective and safe malaria vaccine would be a hugely significant extra weapon in the armoury needed to defeat malaria, which still kills over 270,000 children every year. For decades British scientists have been at the forefront of developing new ways to detect, diagnose, test and treat malaria, and we must continue to back them.

“A world without malaria is a world safer both for the children who would otherwise be killed by this disease, and for us here at home. Countries freed from the malaria burden will be much better equipped to fight off new disease threats when they inevitably emerge in the future.”

MORE: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/23/oxford-malaria-vaccine-proves-highly-effective-in-burkina-faso-trial

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/podcasts/quick-to-listen/malaria-vaccine-africa-mosquito-covid-19-podcast.html

Pray for all those who suffer from Malaria each year.
Pray for the many young children who endure suffering and death at the hands of this disease.
Pray with thanksgiving for the scientists working to eradicate this disease.
Pray for the success of the vaccine and that money and politics will not hinder successful distribution.

Pope Francis’ first-ever papal trip to Iraq marked a watershed moment in relations between the Catholic Church and the Middle East. Yet for all the optimism of the Pope’s message, his visit also serves to remind us that Christianity and other minority faiths of the region are facing dark times.

The Middle East is the cradle of the three Abrahamic faiths that have more than 4 billion adherents around the globe. The region remains home to some of the world’s most ancient languages, cultures and heritage sites.

Yet oppressive governments and violent extremist movements have been busy erasing the Middle East’s diverse religious communities. Today, Syria and Yemen have lost almost all of their Jews, while Turkey has done the same with its Chaldean Christians, ethnic Syriacs who follow the Catholic rite. Iraq’s Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking community that adheres to a long-persecuted ancient monotheistic faith narrowly escaped destruction during the Islamic State’s genocidal campaign. Iraq’s Mandaeans, followers of another indigenous Middle Eastern faith, also fear extinction.

Governments should take a stand to defend diversity and pluralism in the Middle East and beyond. Security assurances to protect embattled communities from future genocidal campaigns, substantial development aid for rebuilding them and support for inclusive institutions can all play a role.

Mideast religious minorities face a particularly potent threat from the insidious collaboration between authoritarian states and violent extremist groups, as proxy wars have come to replace conventional warfare between nation-states. The growing footprint of non-state actors has exacerbated the danger to religious minorities.

The Islamic State, for example, recruited foreign fighters from all corners of the globe as it targeted the Yazidi community with its genocidal campaign of mass executions, rape and enslavement. As the Economist recently noted, many Yazidis who escaped the immediate threat when the Islamic State was defeated militarily are still fighting for their survival.

Although Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad presents himself as the protector of minorities, especially Christians, he has executed and tortured critics regardless of their religion. The Assad regime’s indiscriminate massacre of its own citizens with barrel bombs and chemical weapons not only received financial support from Moscow and Tehran, but also utilized Russian private military contractors and Iran’s militias recruited all the way from Lebanon to Afghanistan.

In northern Syria, according to a report of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria, Turkey’s proxies committed war crimes targeting Kurds and Yazidis, including hostage-taking, torture, rape and pillaging, in addition to violating international humanitarian law by looting and destroying cultural property.

Since Turkey’s failed coup attempt in 2016, the country’s increasingly authoritarian government intensified its scapegoating of Christians, Jews and Alevis (a Muslim minority). The revisionist historical dramas on Turkish state television have become the new means through which antisemitic, anti-Christian and anti-Western conspiracies are distributed in multiple languages around the world. Social media platforms compound the problem by amplifying hateful messages from state-funded media and the propaganda outlets of violent extremist groups.

Since the Iranian revolution, the Islamic republic has not only decimated the country’s Jewish community, taking its numbers from 100,000 to below 9,000, but also threatened to wipe the Jewish state off the “global political map.” Last year Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif went so far as to invoke the Nazi phrase “the final solution,” echoing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s vow to uproot and destroy the “cancerous tumor” of Israel. A new Anti-Defamation League study of Iranian textbooks found that the Islamic republic teaches antisemitism and incites schoolchildren against the Jewish people as well as the United States.

No scientific study, media report or opinion poll can give a more accurate account of the state of the Middle East’s minorities than demographic trends. As vulnerable minorities vote with their feet, we continue to witness a mass exodus of ancient communities. A 2019 report commissioned by the British foreign secretary warned that Iraq’s Christian population fell from 1.5 million before 2003 to possibly less than 120,000. Turkey’s Greek Orthodox, Jewish and Syriac Christian citizens are more likely to live in diasporas rather than in their original homes. Coptic Christians still number around 10 million in Egypt, but according to the Hudson Institute’s Samuel Tadros, the Coptic church is blossoming “outside Egypt’s borders.”

U.S. leadership and cooperation with transatlantic allies are imperative to reversing these alarming trends. As the Biden administration emphasizes making human rights central to U.S. foreign policy, the Middle East’s endangered religious minorities should be one of its priorities.

More: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/08/middle-easts-religious-minorities-are-facing-extinction-world-must-act/

Pray for persecuted Christians in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, Turkey and Syria

Pray persecuted believers would know the hope God brings 

Pray for international leadership from leading nations, that they may stand up for the oppressed and disempowered

Join millions of people from across the nations as we gather online for World Prayer Together / GO PRAY.  We will worship and pray for the launch of GO MONTH – a month of evangelism calling every believer to be a witness! (Luke 10:2)

Throughout May 2021, many millions of people will be evangelizing - one to one, in public and through social media and we want to cover them in prayer!

'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'   Luke 10:2

Our primary prayer focus during the 2-hour program will be evangelism and gospel movements amongst the remaining unreached peoples of China, India and the Middle-East.

World Prayer Together is being convened by International Prayer Connect and GO Movement in association with IHOPKC, GOD.TV and numerous ministries around the world.   It is part of a series of global prayer events under the World Prayer Together banner.  GO PRAY is 1^st May – and represents a day of united prayer for this month of mission.

Join us on May 1st!  -  We will be hosting this global prayer and worship event at IHOPKC, broadcasting on GODTV.

Inspirational Leaders…

The online prayer and worship gathering will be led by many inspirational prayer-leaders and teachers including: MK Bharti, Mike Bickle, Lou Engle, Dr Hormoz Shariat, Dr Jason Hubbard, Asher Intrater, Onassis Jeevaraj, Leslie Keegel, Daniel Lim, Werner Nachtigal & Eric Watt.  Worship will be led by IHOPKC.

HOW TO JOIN US…

Saturday May 1st at 7.30pm in your region:

AUSTRALIA  CLICK HERE 7.30PM SYDNEY
ASIA CLICK HERE 7.30PM DELHI
EUROPE CLICK HERE 7.30PM LONDON
AFRICA  CLICK HERE  7.30PM JHB
USA CLICK HERE 7.30PM NEW YORK

Click your nearest city link above to Watch for free online. Also watch on Digital TV + GODTV APP

View on YouTube anytime from 7.30pm (UTC+1) May 1st

May 1st will be English language. The event will be re-broadcast online in multiple languages on May 7th at 12:00HRS UTC.

Join a dedicated 24 hours in the IHOPKC Global Prayer Room online from 4pm April 30th - 4pm May 1st

Full details, timings and links to the livestreams and GOD TV regional programmes are at www.worldprayertogether.com

DOWNLOAD FLYER  |  SOW IN with a GIFT  |  DOWNLOAD Prayer Guide

Part of #hopeofharvest2021 | www.hopeofharvest2021.org

10 Days Pentecost is a 24/7, 10 Day online prayer meeting with believers from around the world.

From Ascension Thursday (May 13) leading up to Pentecost Sunday, May 23, we will have 24/7 prayer with two daily teaching times at Noon Eastern (7pm Israel) and 7pm eastern (2am Israel).

You are welcome to join for prayer at any time during 10 Days Pentecost. Each hour is facilitated by a different prayer-leading team, so please follow the lead of the leader in each hour.

Partnering with the Global Family 24/7 Prayer room, this gathering will include believers from all 6 continents and speaking many languages. The teaching times will feature powerful teachings coming from many different perspectives and cultures. You can see the schedule of who is leading prayer each day at https://globalfamily24-7prayer.org/

10 Days Pentecost is an equipping event, a gathering time to prepare people to organize 10 Day events in their own cities and regions this September 6-16.

Register today and join us for 24/7 online prayer starting at Noon Eastern US (7pm Israel) on May 13-23, 2021.

10 Days Pentecost is partnering with Hope of the Coming Harvest to see prayer and missions accelerated globally as we approach Pentecost.

More:  https://www.10days.net/   |   https://www.globalfamily24-7prayer.org/

 Part of #hopeofharvest2021 | www.hopeofharvest2021.org

Hosted by Momentum Conference Australia — UPRising Australia 2021 is a gathering of those who dare to believe that prayers are heard, of those who believe their voices matter and that with one voice, the course of history can change. We will gather those who will speak the heart of God into being.

With so many overwhelming issues, we are gathering those whose reality is not just seen with the human eyes, but those who know that there is a Kingdom that has come and is coming. We will gather. We will pray. We will see the change in our regions and our nations. This is United Prayer Rising.

This conference consists of four days of prayer, worship and intercession for change in our regions and our nations. Conference Days 1 to 3 are free of charge whilst the final day (i.e. Day 4) is a ticketed event in which we will be gathering at Rosehill Gardens for Solemn Assembly.

CONFERENCE:  29 JUNE - 01 JULY 2021 - FCF LIFE CENTRE
SOLEMN ASSEMBLY:  02 JULY 2021 - ROSEHILL GARDENS

More:   https://uprisingaustralia.com/

Australia Calls Nations of the World to Pray & Fast for the USA 30 April – 6 May 2021

Australia, for the 9^th year is calling the nations of the world to join with them in 7 days of prayer and fasting for the United States of America, from 30 April – 6 May 2021.

May 6 is America’s National Day of Prayer.  The theme is “LIFE, LOVE & LIBERTY” 2 Corinthians 3:17.

http://www.nationaldayofprayer.org

April 30 is America’s National Day of Repentance.  http://www.dayofrepentance1.org

YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/0NEOI7J-ysw

The National Day of Prayer is a vital part of America’s heritage as is the USA Day of Repentance. The first national call to prayer was in 1775 when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation.

Commissioner James Condon, Chairman of the Australian National Day of Prayer & Fasting team, said, “We have been praying and fasting on an annual basis since 2013 for revival and transformation for USA, according to 2 Chronicles 7:14. We believe in faith our prayers, and the prayers of other nations are making a difference. God is good!”

Andrew Scarborough, a member of the Australian National Day of Prayer and Fasting team said, “Both America and Australia desperately need to return to come back to God in repentance and humility. It is significant that these 7 days of Prayer and Fasting mark the beginning of GO21 in the month of May, a call for the Christians of the world to pray and share the Gospel with 5 people in the month of May. The simple goal is to reach a billion people with God’s love. We encourage each believer to accept the ‘Hope Story Challenge’ and share a video of their testimony online. Let us pray for the release of the gospel.”

Ps Warwick Marsh, also from the Australian National Day of Prayer and Fasting team, said, “We in Australia are grateful for the protection that America gave Australia and the nations of the free world during World War II. As a nation under God, USA is in a spiritual battle for its very survival. We and the nations of the world now join with them in this battle too.”

National Day of Prayer & Fasting. www.nationaldayofprayer.org.au

Hope Story Challenge: https://www.hopestorychallenge.com 

The UK is hosting the G7 in June this year (June 11-13.) It is being held at Carbis Bay near St (Saint) Ives, Cornwall, South-West England.

Cornwall is a very historic part of the British Isles with a long history of pagan worship and occult activity which is still active today.  However, Cornwall is also a county with a lot of spiritual heritage from the time of the Celtic saints through to John Wesley, William Haslam & Billy Bray.

Today, Cornwall is home to a number of houses of prayer & healing as part of a county-wide prayer initiative.  Many mission centred churches and Christian agencies are bringing the Kingdom of God into their communities.

It is also a county of outstanding natural beauty with world renowned beaches and historic communities. In the 18th century, Cornwall was the premier tin mining field in the world.  

Leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, USA, UK and Canada, the heads of the EU, India, South Korea, and Australia will attend the G7. They will bring their teams including advisors and security personnel. There will be a huge media presence. These countries represent 2.3 billion people and have great influence across the rest of the world.

World Prayer Centre would like to invite you to join with us, wherever you are, over these three days. We will be hosting 3 worship and prayer summits on Zoom:

• Fri 11 June 8:00am-9:30am;
• Sat 12 June 10:00am – 11:30am.
• Sun 13 June 8:00am-9:30am.

We will use the themes of: The Sovereignty of God; The Lordship of Christ Jesus; The work of the Holy Spirit.

Fuller information about the plans and zoom links will be sent in the World Prayer Centre, Birmingham, UK email news updates and will be on www.g7prayersummit.org  

DOWNLOAD PRAYER GUIDE

For background on the G7 see its official website: https://www.g7uk.org/

This is an invitation to join in an extraordinary 24-7 / 365 Prayer Room that is running online for the whole of 2021! It is a partnership project between IPC and a number of international ministries and organisations.

Prayer and Worship leaders from every continent are facilitating each hour in 10+ languages.

Whether you are able to drop in for 5 minutes here and there or for hours or days at a time, you would be most welcome to join us as we worship and glorify the Lamb of God – and offer our prayers for the Church and its mission and the needs of the world.

More info and sign up at: www.globalfamily24-7prayer.org/

Join us on May 17th for the Shavuot gathering at 5AM PDT Vancouver / 3PM IDT Jerusalem.

The Lord is shifting His global Ekklesia into a time of harvest and fulfillment of promises.

Just as the nations came together for Pentecost, we want to gather from every nation, color, tribe, and tongue to wait upon the Lord and celebrate all that He has done and is doing.

Stay tuned for more details!

More at: https://watchmen.org/shavuot