To all the Saints around the world. It is with mixed feelings I am writing to you all, the joy of the birth of the newest country of the South of Sudan, and with sadness of what is happening right now in this new country.
I feel very strongly that God is calling us, leaders of the faith to take practical steps to bring the true peace of the prince of peace to the situation in the south of Sudan.
1. First we will start with 3 days of prayer and fasting.
2. Secondly a peace conference.
Our prayer theme: 2 Chronicles 7:14: "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land".
1. Repentance.
Pray that all the Sudanese will come to acknowledge that they have sinned against God.
2. Forgiveness.
Pray that every family that has lost someone will find grace from above to forgive.
3. Reconciliation
Pray that a true reconciliation with God and one another takes place during these times of prayer and fasting.
4. Unity
Pray for a true spirit of unity, that the wall of tribes will come down and a true unity based in Christ Church will take place across the nation of the south of Sudan.
5. Rebuilding a broken nation
Pray that every Sudanese in the south will receive from the Lord a spirit of ownership to build the nation in every aspect of life.
Rev. Jeremiah Dawood (Armeia)
East Ham Baptist Church This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday warned officials in the embattled Central African Republic not to repeat the mistakes that led to the Rwanda genocide 20 years ago.
In a speech to the country's National Transitional Council in the capital city, Bangui, the leader of the international body also urged the world not to "look away" from the nation's turmoil. "Some say this is a forgotten crisis," Ban said. "I am here to help make sure the world does not forget."
The Central African Republic, a former French colony, plunged into chaos last year after a coalition of mostly Muslim rebels ousted President Francois Bozize. They have since been forced out of power, but Christian and Muslim militias continue to battle for control. Thousands have died during the fighting and 2.2 million people, about half the country's population, are in need of humanitarian aid, according to the U.N. More than 650,000 people are still internally displaced, and nearly 300,000 have fled to neighboring countries in search of refuge...
In 1994, Hutu extremists in Rwanda targeted ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus in a three-month killing spree that left an estimated 800,000 people dead. After his visit to the Central African Republic, the U.N. Secretary-General travels to Rwanda for the ceremonies observing the 20th anniversary of the genocide there.
1. Please pray for CAR political officials, the African Union-led peacekeeping force, as well as the French forces, to be effective in maintaining order in the country.
2. Pray that the Christian and Muslim militias will be moved to lay down their weapons and seek peaceful solutions to their differences.
3. Intercede for effective humanitarian relief to half the population needing assistance and that they can return to a normal, peaceful life again soon.
A special prayer initiative with an international team is being planned for the last week of May in Baghdad. Please pray for the organizers, the arrangements, participants and the team as preparations are made for His guidance and protection.
Our Iraqi brothers and sisters in Christ need our prayer support for the following as well:
- For the election of the Iraqi parliament by the end of this month.
- Reconciliation between the central & the Kurdish governments.
- Standing against spirit of Islam, bloodshed, Satan worshipping.
- Spiritual hunger to know the Lord among the Iraqi people.
- Support & protection for the believers from a Muslim background. One brother, a young man, was killed in Mosul by his relatives two weeks ago, 12 bullets!
- Reconciliation between believers and collaboration in prayer networking.
- For the Catholic & Orthodox bishops, to be open to the Lord's work through other Christian organizations.
A Christian worker in Istanbul shares recent news and prayer topics.
Last week we had another great day of outreach in a busy section of Istanbul. Dozens, maybe hundreds received tracts, and dozens heard the gospel clearly presented by our team of over 15 believers. One man became angry after my sketch board presentation, saying I should leave and not do "missionary" work (a bad word to many) there...
This day, unlike most, we saw a larger percentage of opposition and spiritual blindness, which saddens us.
David
1. Let us continue to pray for Turkey for the binding of spiritual forces as well as the weakening of cultural and historical prejudices that blind people to the glory of Christ.
2. Pray that the brothers and sisters in Christ will be bold in sharing His truth with the Turks and that there will be many opportunities to do so. May many have dreams and visions of the Lord that open their hearts to know more and become His followers!
3. Pray that the united prayer movement in the nation would blossom fully and cover the whole nation in ongoing united and authoritative prayer for His reconcilation of all the peoples of the land and transformation.
Please pray for these issues in this crucial time for the nation:
1. The Church in Mozambique should stand in the gap for Mozambicans instead of going along with political ills.
2. Pray that Renamo and FRELIMO government make progress in resolving contentious electoral law.
3. This is an election year, Mozambicans need peaceful elections.
Mapanza Nkwilimba
Country Director, Food for the Hungry
Maputo
We are so excited about all the countries that will come to Brazil, what an opportunity! Please pray with us specially for the 32 nations that will come with their teams to play the Football / Soccer World Cup from the 12th of June to the 13th of July in 12 different cities all through our nation. You can see the power point slides here. Thirty two slides, one for each of the nations that will come to the World Cup.
There are different ways you can use this material which contains information and prayer point.
1. Share it with as many other prayer warriors as possible
2. Use it for specific times of intercession.
3. Project it during prayer meetings in your youth group, church, cell group, YWAM base, DTS, etc.
4. Print out each slide and put them on the wall in classrooms or prayer rooms, and pray in groups for each of the nations represented by the pictures posted on the walls.
5. Share the series on social media networks.
But whatever you do, please pray for these nations and the Brazilian church, as we will be receiving many people from those nations on our door step. Pray that many international teams will come and help the Brazilian church share the Gospel to all those nations. Note that atleast 8 of these nations are predominantly Muslim, or have a big Muslim segment of their population.
May God bless you as you make yourselves available to intercede for the nations.
Johan Lukasse and the Kickoff team
JOCUM YWAM JMEO Belo Horizonte, Brazil
PrayerFocus Hinduism/Buddhism
March 2014
A prayer leader friend focusing on Pakistan writes: "We have been focussing prayer on 8 pir sites in the form of an 8-pointed star with the Uch Sharif shrine (#9) in the middle. All of these shrines are located in Pakistan.
At the beginning of this prayer action the Lord showed the following to one intercessor: "I saw the map of Afghanistan and Pakistan and overit was a huge hand holding an uprooted plant. This plant was extremely ugly, with profuse black, dried up branches and leaves, twisted and matted. But the root was one huge long white taproot...."
There is an ancient, pre-islamic religious, spiritistic root in these nations that has more to do with Hinduism/Buddhism. And there are very powerful pirs, both dead and alive who keep this spiritism alive. Such pirs, islamic spirit mediums, have a huge influence over political leaders and also empower the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Now is the time for this huge long white taproot to be uprooted by prayer.
1. Pray for the Light of the Gospel to penetrate these places and that God will send prayer teams to these sites.
2. Pray for the protection, health and growth of local Christians.
3. Pray that the power and influence of these pirs and pir sites will be broken over the government and people of Pakistan. May many of the pirs and their followers, including politicians and business people, turn to Christ.
We live in a world where over a third of all births in urban areas are not registered, where 61 million primary-aged children are not enrolled in school and where 275 million children witness domestic violence each year. Through no fault of their own, tens of thousands of vulnerable children live day-by-day without the love and support of others.
The theme of this year's World Weekend of Prayer - held on 7-8 June 2014 - is 'child-friendly communities'. Our desire is to turn to God together in prayer for a change of attitude and action by all communities around the world towards their children.
We're calling on Christians wherever they are that weekend to join us in praying that marginalised children would be loved and protected, that leaders would be wise in creating policies, and that churches would have a heart for children in their communities.
Please be part of this global prayer campaign, which brings together over 140,000 adults and children from 40 countries, praying in 24 languages. It's very powerful when vulnerable children take part in praying for children at risk in other countries, as well as for adults and leaders in their own communities.
At www.worldweekendofprayer.com you will find various resources, including our resource guide - which I've attached here - plus activities for all ages, a meditation video and a theological reflection. Translated materials will be available in May.
Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/WWPrayer
Andrew Dubock Communications Manager, World Weekend of Prayer