Yemen: Civil war threatens
26 Sep 2014In 2011, Yemen ended a 33-year dictatorship in the third successful revolution of the Arab Spring, but reconciliation did not follow revolution. Over the weekend, after a week long siege of the capital, rebels ousted Yemen’s prime minister and captured the Defence Ministry, government television station and the central bank. On Sunday their President signed a UN proposed agreement dictated by the rebels (the Houthis) calling for a new prime minister, a plan to devolve power from the capital and a reduction in fuel prices an issue the rebels seized on to justify their protests. However, the Houthis refused to sign the UN’s anticipated security clauses of the agreement calling for the withdrawal of Houthis forces from the capital, Sana, and several other areas they had seized. Many Yemenis believe the Houthis are agents of the Iranians as Iran backs them. Pray against further Houthis chaos in Yemen.
South Sudan: Four million face extreme hunger
26 Sep 2014Nearly four million people in Christian-majority South Sudan face dangerous levels of hunger after two years of violence, crop failure and disease. Acute malnutrition has doubled since last year. The UN predicted in May that half of South Sudan’s population could be either displaced internally, refugees abroad, starving or dead by the year’s end. Cholera outbreaks were reported in nine of South Sudan’s ten states by July. In the same month the UN estimated that nearly four million people (out of a total estimated population of 11.4 million) were facing ‘dangerous levels’ of hunger. An official declaration of famine was predicted for the end of 2014 or early 2015. Pray for the churches and various organisations working towards identifying, prioritising and releasing aid to the South Sudanese.
Due to drought and sanctions imposed on the Kim regime of North Korea because of the nuclear programme the population is at risk of acute malnutrition. In August the distribution of free food to citizens, which is the basis of North Korea's socio-political system, reached its lowest point in the last four years. The Government provided an average of 250 grams of food per day to its inhabitants. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, the minimum survival ration is 573 grams daily. The United Nations' food aid organisation concluded from recent data that most ordinary North Korean people are not properly fed, in danger of acute malnutrition and the group ‘calls on’ governments and non-governmental organizations to ‘find a way’ to resume the sending of humanitarian aid which was blocked after the latest military provocations by the Pyongyang regime. The current South Korean government has stopped all forms of humanitarian cooperation
Elections in the United States are being held throughout 2014, with the general elections scheduled for 4 November. During this midterm election year 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested; along state and territorial governorships, state legislatures and numerous state and local races. Leaders of four major ministry coalitions have sensed a call from God to hold a National Prayer Assembly in Washington prior to Election Day on 29-30 October and some time will be spent praying on-site in downtown Washington. The chairman of America’s National Prayer Committee believes the event comes at a crucial time in the nation’s life. It's not a time for politicking or posturing, but for passionate prayer for a fresh move of God for the transformation of America. The prayer focus will be on repentance, reconciliation and revival in the spirit of God’s restoration promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Japan: A mission field in waiting
26 Sep 2014Japan has many of the world’s largest companies, the world’s third largest economy, and educated and peaceful population and is the second largest un-reached people group in the world. 1.5 million young people (mostly men) have Hikikiimoro (an extreme depression that exists only in Japan) They completely withdraw from society. Some have not spoken or seen anyone for over two years.It's like internal suicide or living like a corpse. Japan also has the world’s largest sex industry, a significant proportion involves underage girls. (It’s largely Japanese money funding sex industries in Thailand and Vietnam.) Many Japanese live with no hope and no desire to change. 35% of high school students feel they have no worth as a person. 0.22% of the population attend church. With 100% freedom of religion Japan still has the lowest rate of Christian workers in the world. The good news is when Japanese people visit the West, a high percentage of them become Christians.
A small but high-risk group of radicals in Australia are causing concern to Corrective Services by preaching a misrepresented Islam to Aboriginal inmates in prisons. Sheikh Omar Habbouche said Islam was taught face-to-face and knowledge needed to be properly explained. He cited British soldier Lee Rigby's murder as being due to a wildly misinterpreted sentence in the Koran ‘kill unbelievers wherever you see them’. On Monday IS called for Australian Muslims to kill Australians indiscriminately. On Tuesday Melbourne Police shot dead a ‘known terror suspect’ after he stabbed two officers in a chaotic scuffle. Last Thursday 800+ police were involved in a security operation in Sydney and Brisbane to thwart an IS plot to behead a member of the public. Two men recently photographed holding the severed heads of Syrian soldiers were Australian IS members. (The Aboriginal recruitment article was reported by the Australian Prayer Network.)
USA: Ready to take the lead in Ebola fight
19 Sep 2014Ebola could become a major humanitarian crisis if it is not stopped soon enough. Political systems and infrastructures are fragile after years of civil wars. Hospitals and clinics in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are overwhelmed by what the World Health Organisation is calling the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. New cases are increasing exponentially, the situation is a dire emergency with unprecedented dimensions of human suffering, men, women and children are just sitting, waiting to die. On Tuesday America promised to send troops, building materials for field hospitals, health care workers, community care kits and badly needed medical supplies. President Obama said, ‘We know how to fight Ebola. We know how to prevent it from spreading. We know how to care for those who contract it. If we take the proper steps we can save lives. But we have to act fast.’
Saudi Arabia: Christian prayer group arrested
19 Sep 201428 Christians holding a prayer meeting were arrested by Saudi Arabian police last week. They were abducted from the home of an Indian Christian in Khafji, near the Kuwaiti border. They have not been heard from since their arrest. According to Fox News a Saudi government minister claimed to have no knowledge of the arrests, which have been reported in several Saudi news outlets. Arabic-language news site Akhbar-24 said the religious police were tipped off about the house church meeting. There are contradictory reports about the group that has been captured. Some say that just adults were arrested while the Saudi Gazette reported men, women and children were taken. Several Bibles were also confiscated in the raid.