Displaying items by tag: Praise

She was picking fruit on a sweltering summer’s day in June 2009 with Muslim women when a dispute arose over a shared cup of water because the Muslim women would not drink from a cup that they considered ‘unclean’ as it had been used by a Christian. This culminated in Aasia Bibi being accused of insulting Muhammad. ‘My husband was at work, my kids were in school’, she recalled. ‘A mob came and dragged me away. They made fun of me.’ ‘I am not angry at all, I’ve forgiven everyone from my heart and there is no hardness in me. I learned how to be patient after having to leave my children behind.’ These are the gracious words of Aasia Bibi, the Christian mother-of-five who spent nearly eight years on death row in Pakistan, falsely accused of ‘blasphemy’.

We recently prayed that the preliminary Sudan peace deal with the rebel Sudan PLM would stand and end nine years of fighting and poverty in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas. Now the EU is allocating €30 million life-saving assistance to address various humanitarian needs in these areas that have been cut off from international assistance for years. Over nine million people are in need of humanitarian assistance; nearly two million are uprooted from their homes, while the country hosts one million refugees relying on aid for their survival. The EU complements its funding with development assistance that helps communities build resilience to increase people's access to social protection in the long-term.

Last week Prayer Alert intercessors praised God for 115 people rescued from bonded-labour slavery in India. This week we can celebrate the release of 204 people, including 41 children, from two large Indian brick kilns in one of their largest ever joint rescue operations. Click the ‘More’ button for the heart-warming story of recovery.

The International Justice Mission writes, ‘Praise God for 115 people rescued from bonded-labour slavery just this week! These children, women and men were rescued by IJM, our partners and local authorities from six brick kilns, a rice mill and several roadside cafes. All had been forced to work in gruelling conditions for the last 2 to 10 years. Instead of going to school, many of the children had grown up making bricks alongside their parents. We are so grateful for local officials who quickly took up cases from IJM and our partners, and how they treated the victims with dignity and respect. Please pray for follow-up in all these cases and for these families to resettle safely as they begin new lives in freedom.’

At the time of writing, intercessors have been praying since 6pm on Saturday 22 February and will finish at 6pm on Saturday 29 February. They are praying the Word of God without ceasing in pre-registered one-hour slots from Genesis to Revelation. There are also seven evenings of prayer, worship and encounter meetings during this period. The prayer focuses on unity (Psalm 33), healing of the nation and the land (2 Chronicles 7:14) and revival in South Africa and the nations (Habakkuk 2:14). On Saturday 29 February prayer and prophecy will focus on repenting on behalf of the nation for bloodshed, sexual immorality, idolatry, breaking covenant with God, witchcraft, etc.

A woman who fled to China illegally was recently baptised, even though such an action could have resulted in her being repatriated and killed. Over two years ago, Bon-Hwa crossed the border into China, where it is illegal to help North Korean escapees. Despite the risk, Open Doors partners have set up ‘safe houses’ along the border for North Korean Christians, as well as for women who could be forced into a marriage. It was at one of these safe houses that Bon-Hwa became a Christian. It was too risky to be baptised in her new home town, so she and two other Christians, including the pastor, walked many hours to a remote location for the service. The pastor said he almost cried: ‘It was a beautiful moment and such a privilege to baptise a North Korean believer in these circumstances.’

Christian Aid Mission has many Bible schools in China offering one- and two-year programmes, with training primarily focused on evangelism and the cost of discipleship. Seven days a week, faculty led morning prayers at 5 a.m. and evening prayers at 9p.m. Every Saturday, students divide into groups to evangelise their community. Due to the school’s excellent standing, home churches often invite students and faculty to preach and lead worship. They travel in pairs on bicycles to over forty house churches in the school’s vicinity. Over 120 students graduate from this Bible school each year. Students become teachers at the school, return to serve in their home churches, or plant new churches in various regions throughout China.

Zabbai, son of a Jamaican pastor, used the name of God for his personal benefit. ‘I was a phony Christian, living in sin, knowing I could ask forgiveness.’ At seventeen he came to terms with the Jesus he avoided while he was smoking marijuana and chasing girls. ‘I realised that truth is not a thing but a person.’ He struggled with fitting in with his peers instead of standing out as a church goody-goody. ‘I found my identity within a love for playing the saxophone.’ One day while alone he closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, everyone was frozen. He felt a warmth from God, who said, ‘This is what my love feels like.’ ‘And with the snap of a finger, time began again. I had just encountered the Lord, and it scared me. With reckless abandon, I began pursuing the Lord.’

Newly-elected Conservative MP Stuart Anderson explained in his first Commons speech how going to church and finding faith helped him ‘see light out of the darkness’. He said he considered taking his own life after he was left ‘broken’ by his time serving as a rifleman for the Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, and Kosovo. He finished his compassionate speech by saying, ‘When I was trying to do something right by my family, I found faith. For the first time in many years, I could see hope and a future.’ Danny Kruger, in his maiden speech, told listeners, ‘Look to Britain’s Christian past to address future problems. We are children of God, fallen but redeemed, capable of great wrong but also of great virtue.’ See

17 years ago Lisa had surgery for defective activity in her heart. But recently her condition returned and she needed surgery once again. Two good specialists saw that she had grown bad electrical pathways. Before going on a mission trip she asked for prayer and Paula Davis prayed for her. Paula, who had no knowledge of Lisa’s heart condition, started praying about the mission trip, then shifted her focus abruptly. ‘Do you have a problem with the electrical part of your heart?’ she asked. ‘I do, as a matter of fact’, Paula said, ‘I saw Jesus rewiring your whole heart’. When Lisa returned from mission she went for surgery. Afterwards, the surgeon in charge of the procedure said her heart was one of the healthiest he had ever seen and declared, ‘I didn’t have to do anything!’ Lisa asked, ‘Did Jesus heal me?’ ‘Yes’, he replied.