Displaying items by tag: North America

Hurricane Harvey has overwhelmed residents of Texas and Louisiana. The situation is unprecedented, and potential impacts are currently unknown. Pray for God's strength and stamina for the local search and rescue teams and the 24,000 National Guard deployed to recover the many thousands trapped in homes and torrential channels of floodwater. Pray for God’s peace and provision for weary refugees who have survived life-threatening winds and flooding, taking refuge in makeshift shelters, many having lost everything. Pray for the officials coping with a unique human crisis that is beginning to unravel; these communities will take years to rebuild. At the time of writing people have been enduring misery for seven days, they are running out of food and water and medical needs are overwhelming. But ‘love your neighbour’ community camaraderie is high - see this week’s Praise article 1.

On 30 August the Israel Rescue Coalition sent members of a psychotrauma and crisis response unit to Houston, to aid those who have been affected by Hurricane Harvey. ‘People need help on the ground,’ said Dov Maisel. ‘They need to be able to wrap their minds around what was lost, and they need assistance figuring out how to cope and where to go from here.’ Maisel’s previous experience includes serving in Haiti in 2016 following Hurricane Matthew, and in Nepal in 2015 after a devastating earthquake. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's administration has not yet decided whether to accept assistance from Mexico to help the victims. The Mexican government expressed its ‘full solidarity’ with the people and government of the US, and said it had ‘offered to provide help and cooperation’ in the wake of Harvey. In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, Mexico provided soldiers to help serve meals, distribute supplies, and conduct medical consultations.

With the second largest landmass in the world and a very sparse population, it's easy for a Canadian prayer ministry, house of prayer or city-wide worship ministry to feel isolated. ‘Ears to Hear’ responded to this need with a network which for ten years has connected and united the senior leaders of these ministries for mutual encouragement and support. As a result, they have been able to move together when a national or regional need arises, help one another grow, and endeavour to support the emerging expressions of prayer in the nation. Their website says, ‘We’re in this for the Kingdom and for the prayer of Jesus - that they might be one - to be fulfilled in Canada.’ The network meets regularly in video conference calls, praying, discerning and learning from each other.

A tweet by Barack Obama condemning racism in the aftermath of a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has become the most liked tweet ever, with over three million people endorsing the sentiment so far. The tweet, quoting the late South African president Nelson Mandela, read, ‘No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion.’ The former US president followed the tweet with more from Mandela’s autobiographical Long Walk to Freedom: ‘People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.’ Each has had more than a million likes, and hundreds of thousands of retweets.

Guam is a 210-square-mile sovereign US territory and military base in the western Pacific Ocean. 92% of the population are professing Christians. On 10 August North Korea defied threats of ‘fire and fury’ from Donald Trump, deriding his warning as a ‘load of nonsense’ while announcing a detailed plan to launch missiles aimed at the waters off the coast of Guam. This comment caused Trump’s deputy assistant, Sebastian Gorka, warn Pyongyang, ‘Do not challenge the United States because you will pay a cost if you do so.’ Meanwhile Hawaii has started preparing for a nuclear strike, starting with a new educational campaign to help residents and visitors know what to do in the event of a nuclear missile attack and they will start testing a new ‘wailing’ emergency siren on the first workday of each month. Pray for the Guam church to rise up, speaking the hope and faith into their communities that overcomes fear.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/36092282/amid-rising-tensions-north-korea-threatens-preemptive-strike-against-guam

Some of the most powerful Americans are gathering weekly to learn from God's Word. The Trump Cabinet Bible Study is making history. They've been called the most evangelical cabinet since Jimmy Carter - men and women who don't mince words when declaring where they stand on God and the Bible. Also on 11 July evangelical leaders spontaneously prayed with President Trump in the Oval Office during a day-long ‘listening session’ with the Office of Public Liaison. A former Liberty University vice-president posted pictures of the prayer time on social media saying, ‘It shows a substantive relationship between the evangelical community and this administration,’ See: http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2017/july/faith-leaders-enjoy-open-door-at-white-house.

Russia: 755 U.S. Diplomatic Staff to be Expelled, President Says. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia will expel 755 U.S. diplomatic staff and could consider imposing additional measures against the United States as a response to new U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported July 30. Moscow ordered the United States on July 28 to cut hundreds of diplomatic staff and said it would seize two U.S. diplomatic properties after the U.S. Congress approved new sanctions on Russia. Putin said in an interview that the diplomatic and technical staff would have to leave Russia by Sept. 1. When it comes to responding to Washington's actions, Moscow has creative options for retaliation.

U.S.: Bombers Fly Over Korean Peninsula. The United States flew two supersonic B-1B bombers over the Korean Peninsula in a show of force on July 30 after North Korea's recent tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the U.S. and South Korean air forces said, Reuters reported. The bombers took off from a U.S. air base in Guam, and were joined by Japanese and South Korean fighter jets during the exercise. The flight was in direct response to the July 28 North Korean missile test and the previous July 3 launch of the "Hwansong-14" rocket, a U.S. statement said.  

Another successful THAAD test as tensions over North Korean threat grows.  NBC reports the U.S. conducted a test of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) defense system in Alaska by launching a ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean.  The target was fired by a U.S. Air Force plane and intercepted by THAAD, according to the Missile Defense Agency on Sunday.  This was the second such test in a month by THAAD interceptors.  The U.S. has deployed THAAD in South Korea to guard against North Korea’s shorter-range missiles, an action that angers China, which claims the system’s radar can probe deep into its territory.  

ISIS claims attack on U.S.-backed troops.  The Atlantic reports ISIS claimed on Friday to have attacked a U.S.-backed formation near Raqqa, the group’s de factor capital in Syria.  The alleged attack against Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – a Kurdish group allied with the U.S. – took place in the Homs province.  ISIS claims it destroyed two armored vehicles and killed 53 Kurdish fighters.  Meanwhile, SDF claims to have captured 40 percent of Raqqa and ISIS jihadi are in retreat.

CONSEQUENCES

Iran’s expanding influence across the Mideast.  BuzzFeed reports Iran has tens of thousands of Shi’a representatives who are armed and decisively engaged across the Middle East seeking the regime’s singular objective of growing the Shi’a crescent, stretching from Afghanistan to the Mediterranean Sea.  Those jihadi form a dominant force in the region, enabling Tehran to execute its coherent strategy, upstaging a coalition of Sunni dominated nations and the White House’s strategy for the region.  Much of Iran’s success is attributable to the secretive Quds Force of the IRGC and its commander General QassemSuleimani.

PACOM commander focuses on three major regional threats.  The Military Times reports Navy Adm. Harry Harris said his command is focused on three major threats: North Korea, China’s interactions in the South China Sea and the spread of ISIS to the Philippines.  These distinctive threats are a serious challenge to the command’s reach and stretch its resources in the vast Asia-Pacific.  Adm. Harris told the Japan-U.S. Military Statesmen Forum in Washington, D.C., on Friday that North Korea is an “immediate threat to our alliance.”  “While I don’t know if those missiles can actually hit what they’re aimed at, but like in horseshoes and hand grenades, getting close is all that’s needed when you’re dealing with nuclear weapons.”   Note: I’ve twice visited the Asia-Pacific command this year and I have seen the growing anxiety there over the many challenges on their plate.

U.S.- Iran tensions rise as Washington imposes new sanctions on Tehran.  Agence France-Presse reports Iran vows to press ahead with its missile program in spite of new U.S. sanctions, fueling the rhetoric between the two countries.  Meanwhile, Tehran and Washington accused each other of the latest provocative manoeuvres in the Persian Gulf where a U.S. helicopter deployed flares.  The U.S. Navy said it responded to an IRGC vessel that raced at high speed and came too close to one of its vessels.  An Iranian government spokesman said his country “will continue with full power our missile program….We consider the action of the U.S. as hostile, reprehensible and unacceptable, and it’s ultimately an effort to weaken the [2015] nuclear deal.”

North Korea celebrates latest ICBM Launch and warns U.S. against sanctions.  Yonhap News Agency reports North Korea on Sunday warned of “a stern action of justice” if the U.S. seeks more sanctions in response to the Friday’s ICBM test.  “If the United States sticks to its military adventurism against us and super-intensive sanctions schemes, we will respond with a stern action of justice as we have already declared,” a North Korean spokesman said.F

South Korea asks U.S. for more powerful ballistic missiles.  The Atlantic reports South Korean president Moon Jae-in asked the U.S. to open negotiations that would allow South Korea to build more powerful ballistic missiles to counter North Korean aggression.  Evidently Pyongyang’s Friday launch of yet another ICBM nudged President Moon to make the request which evidently was welcomed by the U.S. national security advisor H.R. McMaster.  This is a remarkable turn-around for Moon who won his office on a platform that favored dialogue with North Korea and opposed to hosting U.S. missiles.  Predictably the request upset China which issued a statement saying that “THAAD won’t solve South Korea’s security concerns, won’t solve the related issues on the Korean Peninsula and will only further complicate issues.”

RELATED ISSUES

Iraq: Shiite Leader Muqtada Al-Sadr Visits Saudi Arabia. Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr arrived in Saudi Arabia on July 30 in what is his first visit in nearly 11 years, Al Arabiya reported. The Saudi minister of state for Gulf affairs greeted al-Sadr on his arrival. Al-Sadr enjoys a wide base support as leader of al-Sadr political movement. Al-Sadr last visited Saudi Arabia in 2006. The trip highlights Saudi Arabia's interest in Iraq, which has developed ties with the kingdom's regional rival, Iran.

Robert Maginnis
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Pray for Canadian young people to experience a true move of God, calling them to faith. Cry out for the new edition of Youth Alpha which will be launching this autumn; may the Lord use this tool and many like it to encounter a generation. Intercede also for businesses which are dedicated to kingdom purposes to have favour, breakthrough and supernatural activity. May they have divine strategies for wisdom and timing. It is vital that the Church becomes more Christ-centred. Pray for this summer to be a season of restoration, health, relationships, unity and faith. May whatever has been worn down over the past season receive supernatural restoration. It is time to see signs and wonders following and confirming gospel preaching. Cry out for these powerful, supernatural confirmations to be released from heaven. May healings be as common in the Canadian Church as they were in Jesus' day and the Book of Acts.

Americans have become less likely to identify with an official or formal religion in recent decades, and nowhere is this more evident than in the dwindling percentage who identify with a specific Protestant denomination. In 2000, 50% of Americans identified with a specific denomination; by 2016 that figure had dropped to 30%. The result of the poll showed that ‘while many Americans remain religious in a broad sense and may continue to seek spiritual guidance and community experience, a formal structure in which to do so has become less important’.

Wildfires barrelled across the baking landscape of the western US and Canada, destroying homes, forcing thousands to flee and demolishing forests and farms. A combination of high temperatures and parched land has added to the difficulties of firefighters in California. On 19 July, in California, just one of the many fires that are currently forcing thousands to flee their homes doubled in size (48,000 acres, compared to 23,000 the day before). Over 2,000 firefighters have contained only 7% of the ‘Detwiler Fire’ which is approaching the town of Mariposa and communities in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. These blazes are part of 37 active large fires spread across 12 western states, according to the National Interagency Fire Centre. Meanwhile in Canada firefighters are contending with over 200 fires burning in British Columbia. See also and item 1 in Europe section.