God is raising up prayer all around the world - and He is clearly using children in prayer to make an impact on a scale never seen before.

The Operation World team have released a new prayer resource for the world aimed at informing and mobilizing families and children - Window on the World. Although it's full of colourful photos and interesting facts, the purpose of this resource is to nurture in kids a spirit of prayer and a missional vision for God's world.

There are over 100 two-page spreads sharing stories and prayer needs of various countries, people groups, and religions around the world. It rests on Operation World's foundations of solid research, relational networks with Christian leaders all over the world, and a Biblical worldview in step with the Spirit.

This new edition (the previous one being published in 2001) includes a number of new entries in keeping with the needs of our world in 2018 - nations like Syria and South Sudan, peoples like the Rohingya and Somalis, and issues like Third Culture Kids. But beware: using with children might lead to them becoming intercessors, missionaries, or both!

If you have any specific ideas about movements and countries that might be interesting in larger scale purchases, I would expect that we might be able to negotiate special prices, or possibly even local print runs in other countries. One of the design elements was the ability to publish in full colour or in black and white if necessary. We're very keen to see it translated into other languages and printed and distributed where those other languages are spoken, for prices in keeping with those local economies.

Window on the World was Edited by Jason Mandryk and Molly Wall.

Order Window on the World: https://www.ivpress.com/window-on-the-world

Contact Jason Mandryk / Operation World: http://www.operationworld.org/jasonow-team

Rebecca Winter Lewis, daughter of missiologist Ralph Winter, has done us all a great service to put together this Youtube video that lays out the remaining task of sharing Christ’s Gospel with the Unreached Peoples of our world.

Please have a look on the link below and use it in your prayers and mission efforts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLADjrnCuDs&feature=youtu.be

“Give up your small ambitions!” That is what the great Jesuit missionary, Francis Xavier, wanted the youth of his day to know as he pioneered sharing the Gospel of Christ among the unreached peoples of Asia in the 16^th century. He wanted them to give up those lesser intentions that were in their minds for their lives in order to get involved in Jesus’ unique missions for them.

Not that our personal ambitions are small in our eyes, but compared to the ambitions God has for us they are very tiny and inconsequential. What is the main mission to which we are being called to give ourselves? The great Unfinished Task, the mission of the ages, the reason Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Universe and Eternity, came and gave Himself on that cross of torture, shame and death was that all people on earth would be blessed, rescued from darkness and futility in order to experience abundant life here and eternal life beyond the grave.

The Moravians were some of those through history that grasped that mission and laid hold of it with all their hearts in both prayer and action. Like the early church did before them. They became militant for the Lord and His purposes for their lives. When the Spirit of God came upon them in 1727, only about 200 of them took on the world of their time, first giving themselves to prayer and then many of them went to the ends of the earth to share Jesus with those who had never heard of His love and truth. They came to grasp that this was the highest of all callings—ongoing prayer connected with life-long mission.

The IPC has sought to maintain a strong focus through the years on this same awesome Unfinished Task, the mission of the ages. Jesus told His followers in the Great Commission, “Go and make disciples of all nations”.The word “nations” there is ethne in the original language. Therefore, it is better rendered “ethnic groups” or people groups defined by their unique cultures and languages that make up the political nations. For example, in Toronto, Canada, which means “meeting place” there are now about 400 ethnic groups from around the world. In the rest of Canada and North America there are many more. The Great Commission has not been accomplished till disciples have been made in all such groups.

Across the world, there are about 12,000 such people groups, some of which have heard the Gospel and developed movements to Christ; others have still not had that opportunity. About 5500 Unreached People Groups still do not have an indigenous movement of believers with numbers and resources to reach their groups (less than 5% Christian). An even more needy subset- 4700 “Frontier” or least reached people groups are less than 0.1% Christian.The Great Commission calling is still underway and incumbent upon us as His followers until each people group has heard theGospel in a way that makes sense within their culture and worldview. Throughout the history of the prayer and mission movements, such people groups have no intercessors or churches praying for them and no known missionary force engaging them. They are still unreached and unengaged. 1600 of these groups are Bibleless people groups that still need to have God’s Word translated into their own languages.

This map shows the progress of the Gospel by People Group and helps us to visualize where we are in finishing this Unfinished Task. The red areas are where the priority for prayer coupled with mission needs to be focused within the band of nations from northern Africa, through the Middle East to Central and South Asia, where false religious systems of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism hold sway over the lives of most.

Asia itself, and especially South Asia, has over ¾ of the remaining Unreached and Frontier people groups needing to be reached. Who will go to share Jesus Christ with them? It will be challenging and costly, but also the most compelling and meaningful adventure of a lifetime and has to be accomplished. Are any of us ready to take it on? As Isaiah said, “Here I am, Lord, send me.”

Jesus said in John 4, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” Food is the number one drive of us humans and who doesn’t enjoy it? It brings a sense of fulfillment, satiation, sustenance and delight. For Jesus and for us, accomplishing the will of the Father should be like food. Have we discovered that? He then asks his disciples to open their eyes and look at the fields that are ripe for harvest and says that they are called to play their part in sowing and reaping the harvest, a harvest of human beings for eternal life. God has been preparing this great harvest, through all the ups and downs and good and bad of human history. What happens to individuals as well as whole nations in one vast drama of the ages is being used by Him in consummate love and wisdom to prepare this great harvest so that we humans can become His companions for eternity. Wow! Jesusalso said there will be great rejoicing among the sowers and reapers. There is no greater joy than sharing this Gospel of abundant and eternal life with those still lost in spiritual and moral darkness.

Clearly, the central, overall mission God is calling all of us to is the Great Commission-- to do our unique part to bring in the Harvest of the Ages, whether as sowers or reapers, using our particular gifts and resources to advance this most holy and’ wonderful desire of the Lord for humanity. How then do we go about it?

• Surrender ourselves through prayer for the enabling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-8, 14) In Acts 1:4-8. Jesus tells His disciples to wait until they receive the gift of being baptized with the Holy Spirit through which they will receive the power to be His witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria even to the ends of the earth. This word provoked them to seek God through intense prayer and through it they developed a culture of prayer and dependence upon God. “They all joined together constantly in prayer” (Acts 1:14). This is what readied them for the mighty outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost and all the subsequent breakthroughs in mission throughout book of Acts. When God’s people have practiced the same culture, similar breakthroughs have happened through the history of the Church and missions since. Great revivals like that which visited the Moravians came about by seeking the face of God through non-stop availability to the Lord in prayer. This is still the same explosive recipe for both revival and mission breakthroughs in our time!

• Ask for the power and guidance of Holy Spirit because the mission of bringing in the Harvest is impossible without Him. In my own experience in university, I was a terribly shy person and so scared to be a witness for Christ. In spite of great trepidation, with the Spirit’s enabling, I spoke publicly to a group of other students and the power of God came upon me, emboldening me afterwards to serve as a campus evangelist, then go to Asia as a field missionary. Since that time over 50 years ago, the Lord has taken me to over 100 nations in mission and prayer initiatives. The Lord, the God of Miracles, has given provision, help, encouragement throughout. Nothing is more satisfying and fulfilling than serving Him among the peoples of earth. These years have been thrilling ones, thanks be to God!

As we pray and surrender selves, it opens the door for the Almighty Lord to bring about transformation within us as well as supernatural breakthroughs among the unreached justas happened in the book of Acts. Through united prayer with like-minded national Christian leaders, colleagues and I have repeatedly over many years witnessed the atmosphere of cities and nations change from war to peace and from resistance or apathy to the Gospel to great receptivity, resulting in many coming to Christ. For example, in Cambodia after a1994-95 national prayer initiative backed by the international prayer movement, Khmer Rouge terrorists who had massacred their countrymen for 20 years succumbed within three months, turning in their weapons to the government and surrenderingen masse. They even put their own leader, Pol Pot, on trial themselves for his war crimes. Spiritual darkness through mass bloodshed and idolatry gave way to10,000 believers in Christ becoming an estimated 500,000 over the next 20 years (50 times). In Bosnia, after a wartime prayer initiative, a peace agreement was signed as the prayer initiative finished, and with the restoration of peace, the believers were able to take the Gospel to every home. To the glory of the Lord and only through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, eight wars have been stopped in the same way,with other major transformations occurring that have catalyzedthe mission of Christ in those countries.

3) Prayer and effective mission go together,starting with maintaining a vital connection with the Lord in prayer first. “Apart from me you can do nothing,” Jesus said (John 15:5). Therefore, let us surrender ourselves to the Master of Mission Himself. None of us has any guarantee as to how long we will live.  Let us, therefore, let Christ give us His special vision for the part of the Harvest He wants each of us to engage with, so that our lives will bring forth 30, 60 or 100-fold for His global purposes, and so that we will hear Him say “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter the joy of your Lord.”

Let us invest ourselves in prayer and mission to reach the unreached. Doors will open as we pray and make ourselves available. Adopt an unreached group as your responsibility in prayer and see how He leads you. Your prayers will help multiply the harvesters. That may include you as well as you take that people group into your heart or you may play a vital role helping others go to reach them.

Attached you will find a prayer guide for the largest unreached groups that still do not have indigenous movements to Christ and need our prayers. Start by praying for one each day of the coming month and see if God would have you to adopt one of them for ongoing prayer and mission effort. Go deeper by doing some of your own research and see if there are any from this group in your region with whom you could develop relationships.

Another way you can get involved over the next two years is through the Go 2020 mission effort. It is an international campaign to mobilize 100 million believers to share Jesus Christ with one billion unreached people by May 2020. Increasing numbers of mission and prayer organizations are cooperating to enable this to happen. A description of how to get involved is atwww.go2020.world.

Some helpful resources:

1) 9 minute version of "The Spirit of the Moravians" 2) "The 31" prayer guide https://joshuaproject.net/assets/media/handouts/the31.pdf 3) Unfinished Task maps and Go 2020 information https://www.dropbox.com/sh/chmx8y349h785of/AACOFmQvSIlEaYhKVnNuavbJa?dl=0

John Robb, IPC Chairman
(Adapted from a message given to the UPRISING Canada in Toronto, August 10, 2018

Andrew Brunson, a missionary in Turkey unjustly imprisoned there and now under house arrest, wrote the song below while he was in jail and would sing it each day. A good share of the time Andrew was in a small room with 16 or more people who were very unpleasant to him. Considering the awful condition of his imprisonment, this song is quite meaningful.

As you listen to the audio or read the words, please pray for Andrew and other believers in Christ who are imprisoned for their faith around the world. More followers of Jesus are being persecuted or killed than at any time in history.

https://m.soundcloud.com/ona-arpc/andrews-song

You are worthy, worthy of my all
My tears and pain I lift up as an offering
Teach me to share in the fellowship of your suffering
Lamb of God you are worthy of my all.
You are worthy, worthy of my all
Adopted as a son, a brother to my King
Indeed I will share in your glory if I share your suffering
Jesus, you are worthy of my all.
You are worthy, worthy of my all
But my heart faints, drowned in sorrow, overwhelmed
Make me like you, Cross-bearer, persevering, faithful to the end
To stand the trial and receive the crown of life.
You are worthy, worthy of my all
This is my declaration in the darkest hour
Jesus, the Faithful One who loves me, always good and true
You made me yours, you are worthy of my all.
I want to be found worthy to stand before you on that day
With no regrets from cowardice, things left undone
To hear you say, “Well done, my faithful friend, now enter your reward”
Jesus, my Joy, you are the prize I’m running for.
You are worthy, worthy of my all
You are worthy, worthy of my all
What can I give to the Son of God, who gave himself for me
Here I am, you are worthy of my all.

“Recently a Muslim spokesman in Tunisia named Said Khecharem, who is affiliated with the international pro-Sharia, pro-caliphate organization Hizbut-Tahrir, declared (to delighted screams of “Allahuakbar” from his audience), that the “establishment of an Islamic state…requires the conquest of America, Britain, Russia, France, and Italy – Rome and other infidel lands will be conquered, Allah willing.”

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Khecharem also said: “After the laws of Allah were abandoned, and the heretic regimes were imposed on the Muslims, the most important thing to do is to restore the rule of the Muslims, through the Quran and the Sunna, in order to renew Islamic life and to deliver the Islamic message to the world. My brothers, the implication of this today should be the establishment of an Islamic state over all the lands of the Muslims.”

And no call to restore the caliphate would be complete without a swipe at the Jews, whom the Qur’an designates (5:82) the worst enemies of the Muslims. Khecharem predicted that “this will happen, of course, after the elimination of the filthy Jewish entity, and after liberation of the lands under direct colonization, like Kashmir and others.”

If Said Khecharem were a non-Muslim saying that Muslims needed to destroy “the filthy Jewish entity” and conquer America, Britain, Russia, France, and Italy, he would be accused of “Islamophobia” and “bigotry.” But no one will take any particular notice of this.

They should, however. Khecharem is not some deluded fanatic raving on a Tunisian street corner. He was speaking at Hizbut-Tahrir’s International Caliphate Conference; although Hizbut-Tahrir is banned in many countries, it still has an international presence, and recently held a conference in Chicago.

Nor is the desire to establish a global caliphate limited to Hizbut-Tahrir alone. The word khalifa means “successor”; the caliph in Sunni Islamic theology is the successor of Muhammad as the military, political, and spiritual leader of the Muslims. As I show in my book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, the great caliphates of history, from the immediate post-Muhammad period of the “Rightly Guided Caliphs” to the Umayyads, Abbasids, and Ottomans, as well as other Islamic states, all waged relentless jihad warfare against non-Muslims, subjugating them under the rule of Islamic law and denying them basic rights.

These weren’t the actions of a “tiny minority of extremists,” abhorred by the vast majority of peaceful Muslims for “hijacking” their religion. This was, for fourteen centuries, mainstream, normative Islam, carried forth by the primary authorities in the Islamic world at the time. The History of Jihad shows from the accounts of eyewitnesses and contemporary chroniclers through the ages that in every age and in every place where there were Muslims, some of them believed that they had a responsibility given to them by Allah to wage war against and subjugate unbelievers under the rule of Islamic law. And so it is today: Said Khecharem has enunciated that responsibility more clearly and directly than most Muslim spokesmen do these days, but he is by no means the only one who believes that it exists.

What is noteworthy also about The History of Jihad is something that it does not contain. As the jihadis move against non-Muslim states without any letup, pause, period of coexistence, period of tolerance, reformation, or reconsideration, there never appears any force of Muslims to oppose them. While it is undoubtedly true that not all Muslims in any given age have ever waged jihad, there has never been in Islamic history an Islamic entity or organization that was opposed to waging jihad and dedicated to stopping those who were waging it.

So it is today. Islamic groups in the West issue pro-forma condemnations after every jihad terror attack, but are doing little or nothing to try to prevent the next one. There is still no mosque or Islamic school in the United States that teaches young Muslims why they should reject the understanding of Islam taught by al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other jihad terror groups.

Meanwhile, Said Khecharem and other Islamic spokesmen openly call for Muslims to engage in jihad conquest. Western authorities should be pondering his words, and their implications, very carefully. Instead, if they have taken any notice of him at all, which is unlikely, they have dismissed him as an “extremist.”

They have yet to come to grips with the fact that “extremism” is and always has been so distressingly widespread in Muslim communities. But they will.

Jihadwatch.org

The book,The History of Jihad from Muhammad to ISIS, mentioned above is excellent and demonstrates that jihad consisting of terror and war has always characterized Islam and those who practice that religion. Let us pray for Muslims to be set free from delusion and for those in authority, especially in North America and Europe, to wake up to the serious threats they face from those who espouse true Islam.

August 21, 2018 | By Charlene Aaron

Offer thanks to the Lord for His faithfulness and awesome power to save!...

Only Jesus has the power to save! His name is the only one in all the world that can save anyone.
(Acts 4:12)

“A US Army Chaplain says a revival is taking place on the base of Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

Since March nearly 2,000 soldiers have reportedly come to the Lord.

Chaplain (Capt.) Jose Rondon ministers at the base each week and has been posting testimonies and baptisms of new converts on his Facebook page.

“Today, 380 soldiers came to salvation in Christ once and for all,” Rondon says in one post. “Thanks CH Tony Cech for the excellent, clear, and powerful messages during the 3 services.  Since March 11, 2018, we have seen 1,839 soldiers coming to Christ. God’s doing an unbelievable work through our military at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. May God bring the same powerful conviction of sin and love for Him that we are experiencing at Main Post Chapel all throughout our Nation and His world.”

In an interview with The Baptist Press, Rondon said that being intentional in sharing the gospel has been key to the conversions….

“To be intentional is to be faithful to Christ and obedient to His Great Commission,” Rondon said. “But we will not succeed in making disciples until the lost make the first step to follow Christ as their Savior. To be intentional not only means to preach Christ’s Word in the chapel, but to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit to share His message of reconciliation if, and when, the time fits.”

In a video showing hundreds of soldiers singing “Amazing Grace,” he commented, “I’m excited about the future of our military for millions of our Warriors who will sing GOD’s Amazing Grace. Glory to Christ, the only God, Savior, and Lord in this life and the one to come.”…

… Rondon credits the record number of salvations to the prayers of those who have been praying and encourages them to not stop.

“I want you to know that God is doing great things,” he said. “I’m asking you to please pray and help us to see not only today and since March 11th with almost 2,000 people coming to salvation in Christ Jesus, that the Lord is good and he desires not only to reconcile us, to reunite us to himself, through his death, burial and resurrection but also that he desires for the whole world and mainly our country, United States to know that if he’s doing great things in the military, he’s going to keep doing great things, in and throughout us for his glory in our society so in need of Christ Jesus our King.”   (Excerpts from Charlene Aaron article on CBN News)”

Ifapray.org

Let’s pray for the outbreak of similar revival not just among our various nations’ militaries but also in other spheres of our societies!

U.S. President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)… which includes a $550 million assistance package to Israel and temporarily halts the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. This comes amid tensions between the United States and Ankara, which is currently holding an American pastor hostage, among other political moves.

The $717 billion measure includes a bipartisan measure honoring a decade-long memorandum of understanding between America and Israel, with the United States giving $3.8 billion annually to the Jewish state.

The NDAA, titled the “John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for 2019,” authorizes funds for research and development pertaining to weapon-defense systems, including the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems told help Israel defend against missile and rocket threats. Additionally, the law provides $50 million for joint U.S.-Israeli work on counter-tunnel technology, which has emerged as a major security threat to Israel in recent years from the Palestinian terror group Hamas.

The annual military blueprint also temporarily blocks the U.S. delivery of the F-35 fighter jets to Turkey in response to the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, whom the country accuses of participating in the failed 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Earlier this month, the United States slapped sanctions on two top Turkish government officials involved in Brunson’s detention. The White House also placed aluminum and steel tariffs on Turkey, and Trump said last Friday that he approved a doubling of those tariffs. The tariffs and sanctions have caused Turkey’s currency, the lira, to crash.

Diliman Abdulkader, director of the Kurdish Project at the Endowment for Middle East Truth, helped advise lawmakers regarding the Turkey provision in the NDAA and supports the current U.S. measures against Turkey.

“The F-35 is a big step in basically telling Turkey you’re not too big to fail,” Abdelkader told JNS. “Yes, they are a NATO ally, but the United States is also concerned for its own national security interests, and based on the rhetoric coming from Erdoğan, he seems to be threatening not only NATO interests but the United States as well.”

“[The] United States must adapt to the reality that we are not dealing with the same Turkey as in the past. Turkey under Erdogan is aggressive and contradicts American interests both in Europe and in the Middle East,” said Abdelkader. “Therefore, we have to change our foreign policy accordingly that will further isolate and pressure Turkey. We have to keep in mind all of Turkey’s internal and external problems are the doing of the Turkish government themselves, not the United States.”

Regarding U.S. sanctions and tariffs against Turkey, Abdulkader said that this pressure campaign cannot be limited to the country’s custody of Brunson.

Afghanistan and the US turned down invitations for the meeting but Taliban were willing to attend.

Afghan President Ghani wants talks with the Taliban 'to happen in presence of the Afghan government' [Mohammad Ismail/Reuters]

Russia has postponed a multilateral Afghanistan peace conference that was scheduled to take place in Moscow next month.

The meeting was scheduled to take place on September 4. Russia invited 12 countries to the conference. While Kabul and the US turned down the invitation, the Taliban said they were willing to attend.

On Monday, President Ghani spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "to iron out the differences and ensure talks with the Taliban happen in presence of the Afghan government", a senior Afghanistan president official told Reuters news agency.

"The president of the IRA [Islamic Republic of Afghanistan], supporting in principle the idea of a Moscow meeting, proposed postponing it due to the need to develop Afghanistan's consolidated position on this issue, taking into account the ongoing personnel changes in the leadership of the Afghan ruling bloc," Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. 

Lavrov assured Ghani that the summit dates "will be changed to ensure Afghanistan's participation", the official said.

In the official statement from Kabul, President Ghani was said to have hailed Moscow for its efforts for peace in Afghanistan.

"In the telephonic conversation, it was decided to postpone the Moscow conference so that the two countries can coordinate on further preparations and effectiveness of the process," the statement from Kabul added.

Earlier this week, Afghanistan's ambassador to Russia, Abdul Qayyum Kochai, said "Russia wants to use the Taliban against [ISIL]", according to comments carried by the Russia-focused Interfax news agency.

Lavrov brushed aside the comments, saying it would be "hypocritical" for "Russia to use the Taliban movement for the fight against [ISIL]".

This year, Moscow rejected an accusation by NATO's top commander in Afghanistan that it had been supporting and even supplying weapons to the Taliban. 

The group is fighting to remove US and other foreign forces and defeat Afghanistan's Western-backed government.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/08/russia-postpones-afghanistan-peace-conference-180828055705001.html

Please pray for the peace of Afghanistan. The current war has gone on for 17 years and needs to be brought to an end in a way that will keep the radical Islamists (Taliban and ISIS) from taking over the country. Pray for these peace talks and others that are necessary to bring this conflict to a just and proper conclusion that will benefit the Afghan people.

Just a few days ago we sent a mail to you and asked you to pray for the city of Ghazni as the T*liban stormed the city on exactly a week ago. The Police chief of Afghanistan says that about a thousand fighters stormed the city and captured key buildings and installations, like the police headquarter, an army base, the prison and a number of other places. 

Hundreds of people were were killed, residents of Ghazni, soldiers, police and Taliban. The T*liban burnt part of the city down and looted many shops etc. It  looked like they would capture the whole city. They brought in many more fighters from surrounding areas while the Government struggled to bring in reinforcements but they were ambushed on the way to Ghazni. As many started to pray there was suddenly a turnaround and the Afghan Army and police gained the upper hand and drove the T*liban out of the city. Now most of the city is freed but many people lost their lives and the city has been badly damaged in a number of areas. 
 
The next horrible attack was carried out in Kabul by the IS on  Wednesday the 15t of August: 
“Kabul suicide bomber kills 48 in tuition centre attack” - BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45199904?ocid=wsnews.chat-apps.in-app-msg.whatsapp.trial.link1_.auin
A suicide bomber walked into the center while the teaching was under way and detonated his bomb belt. It was reported that 48 people were killed and 67 injured, many of them seriously. Horrific secenes were witnessed after that attack. Most of the people killed were young students. This attack was in the Shia neighbourhood of Dasht-e-Barchi in Kabul and has seen several attacks already in the last year including a sucide attack in their mosque with many killed.
 
THANKS
Thank you for your prayers for the city of Ghazni. We strongly felt the Lord turning this hopeless situation around and caused the T*liban to flee. We trust that this is a turning point in the battle against the T*liban in this region
 
Please pray with us…

• that the T*liban and IS movements would be completely destroyed in the land.
• For the Afghan Army and Police to capture the areas under their control.
  
• For comfort for all the people that lost their relatives, especially the relatives of the students that have been killed in Kabul and the injured to recover.
  
• For many Afghans that have seen this demonic attacks in the name of their religion to turn away from the deception they believe in and to find the one that loves them and gave his life for them.
  
• Pray for our local brothers and expats that are trying to help and to reach out to them*.

We thank you for standing in prayer with the suffering people of this war-torn country. We have seen again the power of prayer turning a hopeless situation around!

(From some praying friends with great compassion for the people of Afghanistan)

According to an alarming UN report, “ISIS is back…regaining strength….ready for war” and has “gathered 30,000 fighters and could be preparing for a wave of offensives around the world”.

This comes as no surprise to those who understand the reality of jihad terror.

Meanwhile Al-Qaeda also remains dangerous, with powerful franchises in Yemen, Somalia and parts of north Africa.  According to the report Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri is “projecting his authority more effectively than he could previously”.

According to the UN report, “there are also fears that ISIS fighters returning from Iraq and Syria could carry out attacks, especially in Europe.”

Jihadists everywhere, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood, are being increasingly emboldened worldwide while too many Western leaders are terrified to be branded with labels which are intended to manipulate people, such as “populist,” “racist,” “Islamophobic,” “anti-immigrant,” and the like.

Muslim Brotherhood operatives also work tirelessly in Western countries to indoctrinate people with the idea that violence is separate from Islam. Yet there is a superabundance of writings by Muslims clearly stating that it is the duty of Muslims to wage jihad in expanding the House of Islam. “Taliban Hamsa,” who was in charge of indoctrinating and recruiting for the Islamic State, “dared the police to call in a religious expert to prove his assertion that the “ISIS is true Islam.” Even a WaPo article entitled “Does ISIS really have nothing to do with Islam” stated:

If you actually look at ISIS’s approach to governance, it would be difficult – impossible, really – to conclude that it is just making things up as it goes along and then giving it an Islamic luster only after the fact.

The truth is that the Islamic State rigidly adhered to Islamic texts and represented (and still represents) a reformist movement harking back to Islam’s early roots of conquest. This is precisely what makes it most troubling and also attractive to its zealous following.

The Islamic State, despite efforts to make it appear to be an aberration of Islam, garnered state support from Turkey — a country that is ambitiously moving toward EU membership. There were also “suspicions of Turkey recruiting ex-Isis fighters by the thousands to attack Kurds in Syria.” Islamic State sex slaves were also being auctioned off in Saudi Arabia.

The UN report warned:The underlying drivers of terrorism are all present and perhaps more acute than ever before.

“‘ISIS is BACK’ – Terror group ready for WAR with 30,000 fighters according to UN report”, by James Bickerton, Express, August 15, 2018:

The dramatic report claims ISIS is regaining strength in the deserts of western Iraq and eastern Syria, with between 20,000 and 30,000 fighters in the region.

According to the report these include: “A significant component of the many thousands of active foreign fighters.”

ISIS fighters are also “hiding out in sympathetic communities and urban areas” as the group focuses increasingly on guerrilla warfare.

The report claims that ISIS is particularly gaining strength in western Iraq, though it retains sizeable pockets in Syria.

The past 18 months have seen ISIS suffer a stunning series of defeats, with the group losing much of its self-styled state.

In July 2017 Iraqi and Kurdish forces, backed by Western airpower, recaptured Iraq’s third city of Mosul after a fierce battle.

This was followed by the fall of Raqqa, which ISIS had made its capital, to a coalition of Kurds and Syrian rebels in October.

At its peak around 10 million people lived under ISIS control, which extended from north of Baghdad in Iraq to the suburbs of Aleppo in Syria.

jihadwatch.org, August 16, 2018

Please pray that those caught up in this violent movement of war and murder so controlled by the devil will be set free, coming to faith in Christ. Pray that the nations of our world will effectively and successfully fight against this false ideology and that it will lose its grip on the minds of its adherents and be destroyed.