Torrential rains in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, cutting off roads and destroying homes and crops have killed 700+ people and affected eight million. The UN is ready to provide humanitarian relief. Sea surges are expected in Thailand from 28 - 30 October which could threaten to break through flood barriers. A landslide alert has also been issued for four Thai provinces. In Laos, 892 homes have been washed away and 2,500 livestock perished. In Cambodia and Vietnam access is difficult to affected zones. Heavy monsoon rains have been drenching the area since mid July. About 8.2 million people in 60 of Thailand's 77 provinces are affected by flooding, and 10 million residents in Bangkok are experiencing more surges of floodwater. Also in Central America the death toll from rains and mudslides has risen to at least 80, with El Salvador suffering 32 fatalities. The poor weather continues with international highways washed out and thousands of families homeless in a region that the UN classified as one of the most affected by climate change.
Pray: for God to come alongside all who call out to him, to strengthen rescue workers and inspire governments as they work to prevent humanitarian disasters. (Ps.72:12,13)
More: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/worst-flooding-in-decades-swamps-thailand/100168/
South Sudan: Tribal violence
26 Jan 201247 were killed in tribal violence in South Sudan on Monday, the latest in a cycle of attacks that have displaced 60,000 people. A local leader and member of parliament said a youth militia from the Murle tribe attacked Duk Padyet killing young children, women and old people from the Lou Nuer tribe. ‘They did not take cattle. They were only coming for annihilation. I'm appealing for quick measures to be taken by government of the state and national government to protect the old men and women who are there,’ he said. The government and United Nations peacekeeper forces say they are struggling to protect communities in a vast area the size of Bangladesh with barely any road access. Christian Aid has begun assisting civilians displaced by inter-communal violence in South Sudan. The government in Juba has declared Jonglei a ’humanitarian disaster area’ and has appealed for international assistance to help end the crisis. See http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16096
Pray: for sustained development of the nation and peaceful co-existence between different ethnic and faith communities. (Ps.147:14)
More: http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE80G1L220120117
South Sudan: Crisis looming
25 May 2012More than 50% of South Sudan is facing food shortages due to continuing conflict with Sudan. There are fears the situation in the South is worsening because of clashes along the contested border regions, inter-communal violence and the closure of oil production in a row over transit fees with Khartoum. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18082150 In the Nuba mountains where 90% of the population is Christian there is indiscriminate bombing by the Sudanese government due to the area being held by the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army. Consequently health workers and aid agencies are prevented from delivering vital supplies to over a million who have fled the fighting in South Sudan. There are fears that outbreaks of infectious diseases could prove devastating to children weakened by hunger and upheaval.
Pray: for the UN to implement unhindered humanitarian access to all affected areas and for missionaries to experience God’s enabling in every situation.(Ps.140:1-4)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/conflict-nuba-mountains-epidemics
Christian Aid is providing relief to some of the tens of thousands of civilians displaced by fighting in South Sudan. It has called for a ‘swift end’ to the escalating inter-trible violence in the Pipor area of Jonglei state. The fighting between the Lou Nuer and Murle ethnic groups was sparked by recent cattle raids and child abductions. Christian Aid said inter-ethnic conflict in South Sudan was being fuelled by decades of underdevelopment and the proliferation of small arms in the newly independent country's largest state. The South Sudanese government has declared Jonglei a ‘human disaster area’ and has appealed for international assistance to bring the crisis to an end. Christian Aid said the emergency in Jonglei was creating a humanitarian challenge for the country. The UN estimates that more than 60,000 people have been displaced by the latest round of fighting.
Pray: for international support to help end the conflict between the ethnic groups and to promote co-operation with one another to improve conditions for their people. (Heb:12:14-15)
South Sudan: Atrocities by both sides
09 Jan 2014South Sudan was founded on Christians praying for freedom from Muslim-governed North Sudan. Like the children of Israel many have forgotten the Lord since independence. The Dinka tribes are mainly Christian. Many roam the bush without the necessities of life. Thousands of Nuer people are also sleeping out in the open with little access to food or toilets. Nuer men say they are being approached by Dinka security forces who, in the Dinka language, ask questions. Those unable to respond in the Dinka language are executed. The present conflict is marked by ethnic violence between Kiir's Dinka tribe and Machar's Nuer community. Nuers worship a spirit of the sky. Over 1,000 people have been killed since December and 200,000 driven from their homes. see also France24.com
The head of the World Council of Churches has used a visit to South Korea to appeal to the country’s Christians to be peacemakers. The Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit challenged Christians to believe God’s promise of peace in Psalm 85 ‘God will speak peace to his people’ despite the divide between South and North Korea for the last 60 years. ‘Peace is something radical, something that has to be told and has to be believed, so that it may become possible,’ he said. ‘The Korean people have been longing for a final peace to be settled, a peace that can bring life together, make life together in peace on this peninsula possible again.' He reflected on the global need for peacemakers in light of the fighting in Syria, and recently between Israel and Palestine. ‘We live in a time when life is threatened, when injustices in the world are a reality, even a threatening reality,’ he said.
Pray: for the promises of God’s peace to be manifest through His people, (Ps.85:8)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.in.korea.hear.call.to.be.peacemakers/31545.htm
South Asia: Thousands seek God's forgiveness
03 Dec 2011‘I am Kallayya, a 45 year old man. I fell from a tree 5 years ago and had been bedridden after injuring my spinal cord. Doctors said I would never walk again. I was brought to the Crusades and laid on the floor of a nearby building. God touched me through the preaching of His Word. I am completely healed and am able to go to the fields for work.’ Thousands received Christ in South Asia in two days of Gospel Crusades last month. People learnt the simple and profound truth that God loves them and desires an eternal relationship with them. The crusades produced 3,420 decisions to follow Jesus! In a land where human sacrifice still takes place and Christians are martyred for their faith, believers are fully dependent on God as their source. Continue to pray for the people of south Asia as further Crusades are held across South Asia.
Pray: for more of God's anointed teaching, healing and deliverance in every region where people have not yet heard His message. (Mt.24:14)
More: http://www.evangelisminternational.us/ei-news/india/
South Africa: Risk for Children
11 Jun 2010
South African children’s school holiday will coincide with FIFA World Cup. Parents and caregivers are concerned how to keep them safe during the five weeks of festivities when children left to their own devices are at greater risk of abuse. President Jacob Zuma warned parents saying, ‘Children wandering alone in shopping malls and football stadiums will be vulnerable to people with evil intentions.’ There will be anti-human-trafficking task teams in the host cities but Prest Talbot described the risk of trafficking as ‘the tip of the iceberg’. ‘The biggest risk of child abuse is often on your doorstep – from neighbours or family members.’ Many South African children whose parents are unemployed or who are orphaned rely on school feeding programmes for their main meal of the day, but the schemes will be suspended during the holiday. Pray: that children looking for food will find safe places and for more holiday camps for children in low-income areas. (Ja.1:27)