A brother in Pakistan writes, ‘The government continues to crack down on terrorism.  In some places it has made it hard for smaller groups of Christians.  Churches and schools have to have metal detectors, high walls and an armed guard.  If they cannot afford this their schools or churches have been closed.  A good pastor friend of ours is in jail because his church did not do this. There are major strongholds that control this country. Evil is birthed from them and this evil goes out across the nation and the world.  It controls the religious and governmental systems. Pray for teams of intercessors from five different areas that will be going to major satanic strongholds controlling this country. They need heavy prayer support from Saturday, 11 April to Monday, 13 April. Pray that people would be prepared spiritually. Pray for safety for all involved.  Pray we will walk in God´s authority. May God demonstrate His power - comparable to Jericho.

Christians make up less than 2% of Pakistan's overwhelmingly Muslim population, and Christian communities are often targeted by militants. Last weekend an offshoot of the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for bombing two churches in the Christian neighbourhood of Lahore. Fifty people were hurt and fourteen killed in explosions which took place within minutes of each other. Large crowds who were already in the area to attend Sunday mass turned violent after the blasts. This is not how Christian victims usually respond to terror attacks in Pakistan, but it was the latest in a long line of horrific attacks on religious minorities. Catholic leaders asked Christians to refrain from violence and cooperate with police investigations. Last June Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the creation of a police task force to ‘eradicate a social evil that has taken root in our society in recent years.’ Please read the article below regarding intercession to eradicate evil.

Last Friday, 13 March, the President of the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu travelled to Japan to attend the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction which opened the following day.  For most of Friday and Saturday cyclone Pam pummelled the Vanuatu nation. Sixty-five of Vanuatu’s islands are inhabited by small communities; a total 260,000 people live in flimsy homes built mostly of thatch. Reports from islands so far visited reveal everything flattened and thousands of families made homeless. A state of emergency has been declared. Yesterday the conference on Disaster Risk Reduction ended. We can pray that decisions made concerning workable guidance on reducing mortality and economic losses from disasters will be successfully implemented for those recovering from Cyclone Pam.

UNICEF are once again drawing our attention to children in danger and renewing their call for an end to violence against children. Across the globe millions of children are in danger. Too many childhoods are broken by the trauma of violence. These children’s stories are hard to tell or listen to – so often we don’t. The violence feeds on our silence, allowing the suffering of children to continue and grow. UNICEF want 2015 to be the year of change and are calling on all UK political party leaders to commit to supporting a new global target to end violence against children everywhere. In September world leaders will agree new global goals that will guide the development of our planet for the next 15 years. UNICEF wants these goals to include a robust target to end violence against children, so that this becomes a priority for all countries.

Children who go missing in India are exploited and abused for various purposes - exported as camel jockeys in the Gulf countries or victims of body organ trade and even grotesque cannibalism as reported at Nithari village in Noida. There are large numbers of children running away from homes after dropping out of school or facing difficulties at home. They run to the glamorous big cities where they are exploited and employed in tea stalls, brothels, begging, etc. These children come from poorer families who do not have access to police services or whose reports are not taken seriously. When a child goes missing in India no offence is seen to be committed. Police generate awareness through the media and the police headquarters of each state has a missing person bureau, but nevertheless trafficking is the fastest growing means by which people are enslaved. Stop the Traffic reports it as the fastest growing international crime. See also: 

An illegal market in children has developed in China. Babies are being openly sold online. Police say many of the victims are from the estimated 20,000 children abducted each year - a crime with a devastating impact on separated children and parents. Thousands of Chinese parents have their children abducted every year. The Chinese government provides no figures but the US State Department estimates 20,000 children are abducted annually, that is 400 a week. Chinese state media suggested the true figure could be 200,000 per year. A baby boy can sell for £10,500, that’s double the price for a girl because there is a traditional preference for boys in Chinese culture. Boys carry on the family name and provide financial support for elderly parents. Once abducted the children are most often sold for adoption but some are forced to work as beggars for criminal gangs. The vast majority of those abducted are simply lost forever. To read the disturbing story of one father searching for his lost son click the more button.

A majority of countries have adopted legislation to prohibit or place restrictions on the employment of children, much of it guided by standards adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO). In spite of these efforts child labour continues to exist on a massive scale, in appalling conditions, particularly in the developing world. Progress has been slow,or even apparently non-existent because child labour is an immensely complex issue. In December an ILO project was approved to combat child labour in Vietnam, based on donations from the United States Department of Labour and the Government of Vietnam. The project will be implemented over five years in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, An Giang and other locations. It aims, among other things to, improve the monitoring and enforcement of laws and to raise awareness of child labour in Vietnam.

Children are especially vulnerable to malnutrition and diseases related to poor sanitation. With the breakdown of health systems there have been outbreaks of highly contagious diseases like measles and even polio. The lack of immunizations only adds to the dangers children face in a country at war. They are also extremely vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Many of the children have had no schooling for more than three years. The schools that do exist lack teachers. Many schools have been bombed and shut down. The horrific things children have witnessed and experienced have traumatized them with emotional scarring to last a lifetime. They are faced daily with nightmares and isolating behaviours that continue the cycle of damage.

A new IS video shows a child executing an Israeli Arab man accused of spying for Israel. The child shot him in the head with a hand gun. ‘So we fight in Iraq and our eyes are on Jerusalem,’ said a voice in Arabic at the conclusion of the video released on YouTube. The video also contained a lengthy confession by the victim who identified himself as Mohammed Said Ismail Musallam from Jerusalem. The Israeli government is investigating the authenticity of the video. IS has long expressed enmity toward Israel, but this would mark the first time they have killed an Israeli citizen. The use of a child executioner adds a twist to a propaganda campaign employing shock tactics to attract potential recruits and frighten enemies. The video comes a week before Israel’s general elections, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has campaigned on a platform of protecting the country from Islamists. 

Across the nations children are becoming traumatised through street violence, wars, domestic violence, kidnapping, child labour and trafficking. See the six Prayer Alert articles below. In South Africa the Petra Institute near White River, Mpumalanga, have developed a children’s ministry designed specifically to help traumatised children through the medium of play. It’s called the Walking with Wounded Children Course. The institute’s play therapy training model can be applied to any country or culture. To date the Institute has trained more than 13,000 people throughout Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the Far East. Back in South Africa Petra recently presented their course in Modimolle (Nylstroom) to fifteen participants, eleven of whom were staff from an orphanage.  After training the participants put their new skills to practice with non-competitive games that overcomes age, colour and gender differences. Children became relaxed and uninhibited and shared their emotions which is hugely therapeutic.