Displaying items by tag: Middle East

The Bedouin are traditionally Arabic-speaking nomads who live in tents throughout the deserts of the Middle East. In recent decades many have settled into small villages within their tribal territories while continuing to shepherd herds of goats, sheep, and sometimes camels. Culturally they have stronger ties to their families, tribal customs, and traditions than with conservative Islam - though all would declare themselves Muslim. They are very cordial. Even the poorest family will offer a cup of tea or coffee to their guest. Often behind that generosity there is a family suffering from degrees of brokenness and hopelessness. Desert life is difficult. They accept their fate ‘ordained by God and unchangeable’. Because they live in remote areas, they are hard to reach and many have never met a Christian; however, what may seem impossible for us is possible for God. Pray for the Lord to send His rain to soften the dry ground of people’s hearts, sending dreams and visions for people to talk about.

For many years intercessors have prayed that Christian persecution would be replaced by interfaith tolerance. Recently the king of Bahrain took unprecedented action in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region and issued a declaration of interfaith tolerance that he believes will promote similar action in other MENA nations. Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars reviewed the king’s declaration and hope it will gain sign-offs globally from leaders of all faiths. Individual religious freedom is specified as one of the five points in the declaration. Terrorism, suicide bombing, sexual slavery, inciting extremism, and the abuse of women and children are specifically disowned. Preaching hatred and violence in the name of God is condemned as a desecration of His name. The king has also promised to build a museum of tolerance.

In 1867, two visitors to Ottoman Palestine separately showed that Palestine had declined since the Jews had left. First a British archaeologist, Charles Warren, conducted major excavations of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and found relics of King David’s city; then American writer Mark Twain, after visiting the Holy Land, wrote a hugely popular travel memoir entitled ‘The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrims’ Progress’. In 1917 the British defeated the Ottoman Empire and took control of Palestine. On 2 November 1917 they issued the Balfour Declaration pledging to support the establishment of a Jewish national home in the territory. In 1948, Zionists drove the British out of Palestine and founded the state of Israel. Then, when Israel captured eastern Jerusalem and its holy sites from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, some claimed the messianic era was nigh.

Paul, a convert from Islam, now works distributing food to newly-arriving Syrian refugee families. Recently, he gave out the last food package he had for the entire month. The lady next in line started crying when she realised there was none left for her family. She told Paul that she and her children were desperate. Paul said they were out of food packages, but offered to pray for her. He also told her how he came to Jesus. As they finished praying, Paul’s phone rang with the unexpected news that another 35 food portions were available. The mother, full of wonder and gratefulness, praised God for how Jesus had answered their prayer. A few weeks later, her husband (who had been fighting with IS) came to meet Paul. He said, ‘I heard what you had done for my family. I thought about how I was in Syria killing people in the name of religion, but you love in the name of Jesus. I left the other fighters to come and meet the man who loved my family, and to learn about Jesus from you.’

Prime Minister Theresa May hosted her Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration. It was a British pledge that paved the way for Israel's creation by supporting a Jewish national home in Palestine. Israel and Jewish communities view the pledge as momentous, while Palestinians regard it as an historical injustice. The UK has rejected calls to apologise for their actions and support of Israel as a nation and has said it is proud of its role. Mr Netanyahu had dinner with Mrs May and the shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a long-time critic of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, declined an invitation to attend. The Balfour Declaration was meant to bring peace between two peoples, but 100 years later there is still no peace.

Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s nuclear programme chief, said on 29 October that Iran can begin producing weapons-grade nuclear material quickly if the nuclear deal with foreign powers fails, and insisted that international inspectors would not be given access to Iranian military sites. In early October President Trump told the world, ‘Iran is not in compliance with the deal, and it needs to be renegotiated even though our allies, and even our enemies, do not agree.’ Mr Trump said that the agreement had not curbed Iran’s missile programme and destabilising activities in the Middle East. Mr Salehi said that, although Tehran prefers to keep the agreement intact, they could quickly ramp up uranium enrichment to produce 20% enriched uranium in four days. He made these comments after meeting the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano. Mr Amano also met President Rouhani and foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. See

Jordan is a destination for women and men from south and southeast Asia for the purpose of forced labour. There have also been reports of women from Morocco and Tunisia being subjected to forced prostitution after coming to work in restaurants and night clubs. Women from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and the Philippines migrate willingly to work as domestic servants, but some are subjected to conditions of forced labour, including restrictions on movement, withholding of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse. $90 is the average cost of a human slave. Pray for Malays and others from different nationalities who get trapped into forced labour. Pray for God to open the eyes of the world to this enormous issue that is happening in Jordan and the surrounding countries.

For three weeks in November, a team will be traveling along the refugee trail through Europe. They will be posting first-hand stories and sharing from their experiences as they travel from Greece to Northern Europe. They hope that their account of travelling alongside the refugees will inform us all how to pray more specifically and continue to advocate for the Syrians and other peoples from the Levant region. People can follow along, through the stories they will post online and pray with up-to-date insights by clicking on the ‘More’ link. Syria remains a nation in devastation as war and violence continues.

International news outlets tell us that the Syrian crisis has created a lost generation of children. But we can pray that this generation will be found by Jesus. Mission agency Cry Out Now has prepared a 30-day prayer guide to help us pray for Syrian children. Its vision is especially that other children will pray for them. God sees children’s faith when they pray; often it is very powerful! Our God is a God of hope, and His desire is that out of the turmoil and chaos of the Syrian crisis, He will have a people that belong to Him.

Syria needs to be rebuilt. The economy needs to be re-established. New jobs and new opportunities need to be created. Business people from China see this as a golden opportunity to do business and make money, an opportunity to sell their products, technologies and services. The risk is high, but they are willing to come. Are Christians willing to say yes to this challenge? Are believers willing to say that we will take the risk, step out in faith and see a nation restored? This is the moment and the opportunity to help in the reconstruction and rebuilding of lives and communities, while having the opportunity to share God’s love in Syria’s time of need.