Nigeria: Most Sadistic Killers
Nigeria's Boko Haram has been accused of crimes against humanity. In a country where college students are lynched in tough neighbourhoods, the most depraved killers are still not considered terrorists by the State Department. The group is one of the deadliest organizations in Africa, accused of killing at least 1,500 people between June 2009 and September 2012. Its victims are the Police, Christians and Muslims it sees as betraying the true faith. They sabotage oil pipelines, take down automated teller machines and rip up telephone lines in a violent jihad against the West. This week clashes intensified between Boko Haram and Nigerian security forces as the government claimed credit for killing the group’s spokesman. Meanwhile, a series of explosions rocked the northern city of Maiduguri – thought to be more work of Boko Haram. Boko Haram’s name translates into ‘Western education is a sin.’
Pray: that Boko Haram would be designated a terrorist organization and for the world to understand there is a need for more protection of innocent Nigerian lives. (Ps.34:6,7)
Saudi Arabia: Calling Christians to pray during Hajj
Next week millions of Muslims from all over the world will be on pilgrimage to Mecca performing a sacred act called the Hajj. For many the Hajj is the pinnacle event of their lives because they are commanded to make a Hajj at least once if they are able. This year Hajj starts Oct. 24th, lasting 3-4 days. See the Hajj 2012 prayer video on the link below. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God. On the second day of Hajj pilgrims pray a prayer at noon called Muna - Arabic meaning ‘to wish or aspire’ - as they seek a closer relationship with God. We can pray that they discover and receive the free gift of communion through the Holy Spirit. On day three pilgrims stand on the ‘mountain of mercy’ and cry from noon to sunset, ’Allah I am here.’ Many then spend the night in prayer. Please pray for those seeking God to be found by the One who paid the price for the remission of sins.
Pray: for seekers to know God’s grace, and for Jesus to reveal himself through dreams and visions. (Eph.2:8,9)
West Africa: Food crisis
Over 19 million are hungry. The greatest needs are in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger and Senegal. Several seasons of crops have failed leaving nothing to harvest. In many instances this has been followedy by floods which wiped out crops and food stores. Families across West Africa have faced successive emergencies, have nothing stored to see them through another poor harvest and food prices have risen by 40%. Christian Aid has released the following prayer, ‘We pray for our sisters and brothers caught up in a cycle of drought and hunger, for parents struggling to find food and seeing their children go hungry, for farmers seeing their crops fail and livestock die. May the leaders of the nations act with insight and urgency, bringing relief to those who suffer now. We join our voices with those who call for an end to poverty. Amen.’
Pray: for God in His mercy to release the provisions needed for those caught in the poverty/hunger trap. (Ps.57:1)
More: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/emergencies/current/west-africa-food-crisis/index.aspx
Pakistan: Prayer walks and persecution
Occasionally a team of intercessors travels to Pakistan. They spend time worshipping God and praying earnestly for His will to be done in various places. Later this month a team will once again prayer walk Pakistan and we have been asked to pray for their safety. Pray that their times of worship will be sweet music to God, and that they will hear God’s heart for the people and the Land. Pray that God will move in the hearts of the local people. Also we are reminded that the ongoing violence continues to take a toll of innocent civilians, including women and children. Pray for the many families who have lost loved ones to the violence, for widows and orphans with no source of income and for those who have been severely injured or crippled. Please also please pray for 16-year-old Christian Ryan Stanten accused of sending a blasphemous text message; he has been charged with ‘blasphemy’ which carries the death penalty.’
Pray: that the Prince of Peace will bring peace to Pakistan. (Ps.147:1-6)
Pakistan: Peace march and soul searching
Recent days demonstrate a battle for Pakistan’s soul. On Sunday there was a Peace March organised by Imran Khan heading for the home of Qari Hussain (main trainer of suicide bombers) and Baitullah Mehsud (former TTP leader - Pakistan Taliban). The demonstration was in opposition to US drone strikes against Islamic militants in Pakistan's tribal regions. Many see the choice of location communicating another message. Was there support for terrorists being expressed? Or a suggestion that Imran Khan would make peace with militants showing contempt for a 'secular leader'? On October 10th a 14- year-old girl campaigning for the rights of girls to be educated was shot by a militant group. Many are asking what has led to so many being enslaved by such regressive thinking. Many in Pakistan are shocked and doing some soul searching.
Pray: that, as people across the nation pause to look deeply within, many will be challenged to seek the path of true peace. (Deut.4:36a)
More: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\17\story_17-10-2012_pg3_4
The impact of Alpha in prisons
Did you know that over one third of prisons in the United Kingdom currently run an evangelistic Alpha course? This ministry - Alpha for Prisons - has the vision to give every man and woman in prison the opportunity to come to know Christ through participating in the course and to transform society through the establishment of prison ministries. Prison Fellowship England & Wales, through its volunteers, works for the restoration of the lives of prisoners and victims, and their families. PF is a volunteer-led organisation with a small team of paid staff. There are over 1,700 volunteers throughout England and Wales who pray for prisoners, run Sycamore Tree courses, co-ordinate Angel Tree, write letters to prisoners and have various other roles to support Prison Chaplaincy. Over the past years Alpha for Prisons has also taken off in Africa.
Praise: God for all the volunteers bringing new life to those in prison. (Ac.5:20)
The impact of Alpha in prisons
Did you know that over one third of prisons in the United Kingdom currently run an evangelistic Alpha course? This ministry - Alpha for Prisons - has the vision to give every man and woman in prison the opportunity to come to know Christ through participating in the course and to transform society through the establishment of prison ministries. Prison Fellowship England & Wales, through its volunteers, works for the restoration of the lives of prisoners and victims, and their families. PF is a volunteer-led organisation with a small team of paid staff. There are over 1,700 volunteers throughout England and Wales who pray for prisoners, run Sycamore Tree courses, co-ordinate Angel Tree, write letters to prisoners and have various other roles to support Prison Chaplaincy. Over the past years Alpha for Prisons has also taken off in Africa.
Praise: God for all the volunteers bringing new life to those in prison. (Ac.5:20)
Olympics: The Church’s response
Churches across the UK served their communities, welcomed visitors and blessed people just as Jesus would have done. An estimated 500,000 attended church-organised community festivals. The More Than Gold Athlete Family Homestay Programme hosted 280 guests from 20+ nations in 160 homes for 2,000 nights of free hospitality. The athletes supported won a total of 45 medals including 8 gold. 300 Games Pastors provided 13,000 hours of service to travellers at 24 locations including ten major rail stations, two airports, a coach station and key tourist sites. 30+ teams of 350 musicians and creative artists from 30 nations in 40 venues contributed 440 hours of live performance and 434 days of exhibitions. Over 2,100 volunteers from 40+ countries worked with about 300 churches distributing 225,000+ Olympic and Christian pin badges during conversations, water distribution and as a gift to travellers. And much much more.
Praise: God and give Him thanks for answered prayer throughout the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
More: http://www.worldprayer.org.uk/files/2012/10/Answered-Prayers-from-The-Prayer-Baton-Relay.pdf
Olympics: The Church’s response
Churches across the UK served their communities, welcomed visitors and blessed people just as Jesus would have done. An estimated 500,000 attended church-organised community festivals. The More Than Gold Athlete Family Homestay Programme hosted 280 guests from 20+ nations in 160 homes for 2,000 nights of free hospitality. The athletes supported won a total of 45 medals including 8 gold. 300 Games Pastors provided 13,000 hours of service to travellers at 24 locations including ten major rail stations, two airports, a coach station and key tourist sites. 30+ teams of 350 musicians and creative artists from 30 nations in 40 venues contributed 440 hours of live performance and 434 days of exhibitions. Over 2,100 volunteers from 40+ countries worked with about 300 churches distributing 225,000+ Olympic and Christian pin badges during conversations, water distribution and as a gift to travellers. And much much more.
Praise: God and give Him thanks for answered prayer throughout the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
More: http://www.worldprayer.org.uk/files/2012/10/Answered-Prayers-from-The-Prayer-Baton-Relay.pdf
Christians are being beaten and threatened in several places in Pakistan. The majority is making false blames of blasphemy against them, and they are being put in jail. One boy has been murdered in Essanagri and today I am going to share the message in his memorial service where thousands will attend this meeting.
One of the Christian Scholars who is the 2nd person after me doing nearly the same work as I am doing has been threatened and fanatics made firings at his house. In Lahore openly Christians are being threatened and being asked to embrace Islam. The situation is very critical and it is dangerous for me too because I am the one who came out of them and then preaching to them. So I need your prayer support as well. Thanks for already being on your knees. It seems that Pakistan will be broken into pieces soon. Too much violence is here. So we need encouragement in this tough time. God bless you and use you for the betterment of Christians here in Pakistan.
Brother David
"We went through the fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance" (Psalm 66:12)
Please uphold our brothers and sisters in Christ in Pakistan who are enduring a very difficult and dangerous time in their nation’s history. Agree in prayer for the binding of spiritual forces of darkness and death that want to destroy this nation and for the overthrow of fanatical groups that are being used by these forces. Pray for the government to take a strong stand to protect the minorities, including especially Christ’s people.
Key Players in Pakistan's Tribal Belt: Update
North Waziristan in Pakistan has become a haven for militants. Tribal and local intelligence sources say some 15,000 militants shelter in this semiautonomous tribal belt. A number of Taliban leaders and others have been killed in drone strikes; however they have a refuge along the border inside Pakistan and from there they continue to mount attacks on Afghan and Coalition forces inside Afghanistan, keeping that nation in perpetual war and instability. It is essential that we pray before the foreign forces are withdrawn in 2014 that the Taliban will dissolve and be defeated and that the Pakistani government will aggressively combat them, not allowing them any more safe-haven in their country.
A friend who with a great burden to pray for these two countries, wrote: “Two weeks ago in one of our prayer meetings the Lord reminded us that he told us clearly in 2001 that we must proclaim “Taliban-time is over” and we faithfully did it and there was a powerful anointing on us when we did this. ..The message was: “spring time is coming”…And the Taliban regime began to crumble. In 2002, so many Christians came into the country and it looked like the Taliban movement was over but it was not destroyed. It regrouped and came back again and now it has become a powerful force that even NATO admitted that they can’t win this war. … We feel that we must proclaim again what the Lord told us at that time and also the other scriptures that the Lord gave us like Ps 37.
Also the word was given to us clearly about King Joash coming to Elisha and he told the king to strike the ground and he did it only 3 times and stopped. Then the man of God became angry with him. You know the story, he should have struck five or six times 2 King 13.18 ff. We did the same, proclaimed for a while and then we stopped. This word came clearly to us and we repented, also on behalf of others that have just turned away from the land and thought “it was done”. Let’s proclaim again and strike the ground again. It is not too late even though in the natural things look like a big disaster coming... The key is also to pray against the demon powers that rule over and through the Pashtun. About 20 Christian workers were lost in the last 6 – 7 years, and all were killed by Pashtun.
Many times the Lord spoke to us to pray against these demonic alliances like between the Pakistan government/army and certain Taliban groups, Haqqaanis, Gulbadin and Al Qaeda. These groups work together and build a strong unity against the government of Afghanistan… This needs to be broken.
Let’s pray also that their power would be broken. That the people themselves would stand up against the Taliban and say: enough!! This happened in a few areas and may it become a movement. Pray that many Pashtun Tribal leaders would stand up and turn against the Taliban. God can do it. As quick as this movement came the Lord can cause it to die out. We must specially pray for that…
More workers are needed for the Pashtun and also in general. Many workers have left and organisations pulled out. We need strong people that know how to stand against such pressures and know how to pray. Also that many of the Pashtun would come to the Lord and they would see signs and miracles and many visions and dreams. Keep praying against lawlessness and for real peace and security in Pakistan.
The situation in Pakistan is getting worse almost on a daily basis. Al Qaeda and the Taliban are carrying out more and more activities, with a weapon of fear, in an effort to bring down the country. Fanatics are also using this weapon of fear and using every way possible to force people to their way of thinking. The blasphemy law (misuse of the Koran with its death sentence) is being falsely used against Muslims and Christians. Most recently against a young Christian girl in the capital city (Rimsha Masih). It was an effort by the fanatics to see how far they can go.
Pakistan elections are formally to take place next February. The government that will most likely be next is promising Muslim law. Unrest is everywhere. A change of government usually takes place through discord and fightings in an effort to close down the government and businesses. Parties who are trying to seek leadership often do so by bringing discord and nasty demonstrations.
PRAY now for these elections, for the spirit of fear to be broken: Government, fanatics, Taliban, Al Qaeda. The world is afraid of one Iranian nuclear bomb being made. Pakistan has hundreds of these bombs. May they not fall into the wrong hands.