Egypt: Court overrules president over parliament
Egypt's Islamist-led parliament reconvened Tuesday - challenging the generals who dissolved it last month. The Supreme Court ruled the newly elected, Islamist president illegally summoned the assembly, heightening a confrontation between the head of state and an establishment that had served Hosni Mubarak. Muslim Brotherhood officials questioned the court's right to rule against the president's decree and vowed to fight on. Egypt's troubled transition to democracy is increasingly being fought in the courts, but that masks a much deeper conflict with an establishment rooted in six decades of military rule. In a war of attrition that may play out over years, Islamists are seeking to push generals out of politics and reform a wider establishment still filled with Mubarak-era officials. More battles lie ahead, such as a debate over the writing of a new constitution.
Pray: for any legal struggles around the constitution and the law to be peaceful and result in an open and fair society for all Egypt’s citizens. (Ps.19:7)
More: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-parliament-set-meet-defying-army-044341899.html
India: Monsoon floods in Assam State
Towns and roads are underwater throughout most of the state of Assam, where the Brahmaputra river runs. Churches and Christian charities have joined the massive relief effort to an area which recently experienced a devastating flood that claimed over 125 lives and left nearly three million people homeless when torrential monsoon rains inundated thousands of villages in 23 of the 27 districts of Assam. At least 18 churches and several schools have been washed away or damaged. Reaching targeted areas is a major problem, as roads have been damaged and even washed away. 58 Gospel for Asia-supported churches have been affected. Water level is still rising. A local newspaper reported that 900,000 people are affected with at least 80,000 losing their homes. Livestock kept for food have been washed away. Food and drinking water are in short supply and many have lost their personal belongings. One pastor said the Christians are ‘tired, wet and weak’. See:
Pray: for co-ordinated work through the many agencies to swiftly bring relief to the victims. (2Sa.22:17,18)
Sudan: Refugee camp death rates soaring
Conditions in South Sudan's refugee camps continue to worsen this week with large refugee inflows and flooding from torrential rains. Health issues are a priority concern. In Unity state new arrivals have doubled to close to 60,000 - many arriving in a weak state. There is overcrowding in this limited strip of land that is already cut-off by rains. To address a sharp increase of bloody diarrhoea cases more wells are being drilled to secure clean drinking water, also jerry cans and buckets are being distributed to families with children under five. Efforts to increase awareness among the mostly young refugee population about hygiene, health and nutrition risks are also being implemented. Elsewhere in the Upper Nile State over 110,000 refugees constitute another critical challenge. Also most of the 40,000+ refugee population from Jammam are being located to other sites due to the Jammam camp being located on the edge of a malaria swamp.
Pray: for God’s mercy to provide the many aid agencies with all they need to alleviate suffering and prevent death. (2Sa.22:7
More: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/unhcr-alarm-on-health-risks-for-refugees-in-south-sudan
Hungary: ‘Thousands’ embracing Christ at Graham festival
Over 2,700 people have come forward to ‘make decisions for Christ’ at the recent three-day 'Festival of Hope' in Hungary's capital Budapest led by American evangelist Franklin Graham, his organization confirmed in comments monitored by BosNewsLife. Graham returned to the city where 23 years ago his now elderly, and frail, preaching father Billy Graham held the first open-air arena evangelism event in the then Communist-ruled Eastern Europe. Recalling the visit to Hungary in the 1980s with his father, Franklin Graham noted that Hungary and the world have changed. ‘We have great problems - economic problems, political problems - and no one seems to have the answer. And that’s because our problem is a spiritual problem,’ he told reporters. Some 312 churches from various denominations were involved in last month's evangelistic outreach at Papp László Budapest Sports Arena, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Organization (BGEA) said.
Praise: God for the way He has blessed this Festival of Hope. (Ps.33:12)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/22393-thousands-embracing-christ-in-hungary-at-graham-festival
Hungary: ‘Thousands’ embracing Christ at Graham festival
Over 2,700 people have come forward to ‘make decisions for Christ’ at the recent three-day 'Festival of Hope' in Hungary's capital Budapest led by American evangelist Franklin Graham, his organization confirmed in comments monitored by BosNewsLife. Graham returned to the city where 23 years ago his now elderly, and frail, preaching father Billy Graham held the first open-air arena evangelism event in the then Communist-ruled Eastern Europe. Recalling the visit to Hungary in the 1980s with his father, Franklin Graham noted that Hungary and the world have changed. ‘We have great problems - economic problems, political problems - and no one seems to have the answer. And that’s because our problem is a spiritual problem,’ he told reporters. Some 312 churches from various denominations were involved in last month's evangelistic outreach at Papp László Budapest Sports Arena, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Organization (BGEA) said.
Praise: God for the way He has blessed this Festival of Hope. (Ps.33:12)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/22393-thousands-embracing-christ-in-hungary-at-graham-festival
The Borderland Prayer Initiative of June 16-17 brought together about thirty local participants – Czech and Slovak leaders from four “houses of prayer” in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and their family members – along with Brian Mills (Interprayer and IPC), Sam Hofmann (YWAM and Hernnhut) and myself in the border town of MIkulov on the Czech border with Austria. It was held in a Methodist church that is pastored by a Jewish believer who was from the original Jewish population that was uprooted and destroyed during the Holocaust.
We focused some strong prayer especially on the issue of “redigging the wells of revival”. It was from that same region of Moravia that the Moravians of the 18th century under the influence of brave reformer Jan Hus developed a vital movement for Christ involving prayer and Bible study that brought a time of deep revival and renewal and later resulted in the 100-year prayer chain in Hernnhut, Germany, from which hundreds of the first Protestant missionaries went out to far reaches of the world. The Moravians also deeply inspired and impacted both England and the USA through the lives and ministries of John and Charles Wesley and George Whitfield, who were mightily used of the Lord in the mighty revival that was know as the Great Awakening and led to the birth of the Methodist Church.
The local prayer leaders also took us over the border into Austria where we prayed at the battlefield where centuries before the Hapsburg emperor defeated the Bohemian ruler and stained the ground with the blood of many thousands of the ancestors of the Czechs and Slovaks. To this day, there remains a sense of spiritual and psychological hindrance affecting the relationship of nations in the region that either ruled or were under the thumb of the Austro-Hungarian empire’s hegemony. It was an encouraging, and I think potent, time of reconciliation and repentance praying, entering into His heart for these nations together. May the Lord use it to affect them positively!
Please continue to pray with us for any attitudinal barrier between these national groups to be broken and that Hungarians, Austrians, and other nationalities in the region will be drawn together for future initiatives. Pray that the fire of the Holy Spirit falls upon His Church and that we will see His healing and transformation in this region where the wounds of history can still permeate the atmosphere.
About 400 Turkish, Korean and other ministry and prayer people took part in this prayer/mission event that turned out to be quite powerful, and I think consequential, for the nation. Without mentioning the unwelcome word “genocide”, I taught on transformational prayer breakthroughs and remitting bloodguilt on the land. Afterwards, a Turkish pastor and I facilitated a time of reconciliation and repentance between the Turks and representatives from other peoples. Many came up afterwards expressing their deep appreciation and saying it was just what Turkey needs. People have not wanted to deal with the terrible past of mass killings of the Armenians and other ethnic minorities. Pray they will take the session's teaching and the reconciliation to heart and take it back to their own cities and regions and begin to practice these things.
There needs to be a breakthrough here - only 4600 known believers among 74 million people. They complain of a pervasive spirit of fear, lying, division and oppression upon the small churches that do not yet pray together very often. Please pray with us that this kind of reconciliation and repentance will spread across Turkey, that these spiritual forces will be bound, and that a new day of liberation for the nation and church will begin.
London 2012 Olympics: Children welcome athletes with words of peace
When the world’s greatest athletes start arriving at the Olympic Village next week (W/B July 16) to prepare for the start of the London 2012 Games, they will be greeted by a special drama performance staged by young people and a rendition of their national anthem, along with the raising of the country’s flag. But perhaps the most moving part of the welcome ceremonies will be their backdrop – a 'Truce Wall’ decorated with statements from British schoolchildren expressing their hopes and aspirations for a more peaceful world. Among those statements will be one by 16-year-old Amy Wight, from St John’s RC Comprehensive School, in Gravesend, Kent, who wrote: ‘Athletes are more than competitors ... they inspire us to a more peaceful world.’ The team welcome ceremonies are repeated for the arrival of each national team. For some athletes they may be the only time they hear their national anthem and see their home flag raised during this summer’s Games.
Pray: for the final preparations for the Olympics and that the games will run smoothly without disruption and that the recent severe weather will abate in time for this important event. (1Sa.25:6)
Dear Intercessors,
Greetings from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Few churches have come together to form the Global Partnership for Church Unity to pray and work together as One Body, Various Congregations.
Every second Saturday of the month, we intercede for the nation, region and nations going through difficulties.
At the beginning of 2013, we’re arranging the:
1st UAE National Prayer Summit 2013 of the Global Partnership for Church Unity
ONE BODY, DIVERSE CONGREGATIONS INTERCEDING TOGETHER
Abu Dhabi
Saturday, 26 January, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
@ Evangelical Community Church, Main Chapel
We would like to invite anyone in the region to join us either by sending a representative or encouraging their groups to pray together with us on January 26, 2013. Would it be possible for you to publish this through your network and partnerships?
Blessings and prayers.
Prayer is requested concerning the Iranian government's campaign of intimidation against Christians and Churches.
We regret to report that one church has been forced to close. On Tuesday 5th June the Assemblies of God church in Tehran's Janat-Abad suburb was told to cease all activities, and threatened with the confiscation of its building.
Recall that in early May leaders of another Assemblies of God church in Tehran were ordered by the Ministry of Intelligence to submit the names and ID numbers of all members. Church leaders provided a list of names and ID numbers of church members who had given their consent, some of whom have subsequently been pressurised by the authorities.
Recall also that, since early February, two other legally recognised churches in Tehran have been ordered to stop holding Farsi-language services on Fridays, and that several members of Anglican, Presbyterian and Assemblies of God Churches have been arrested. Two of these are among at least 20 believers (most from Muslim backgrounds) who are known still to be detained.
Iranian Christians supporting these believers thank us for our prayers. They request our continued intercession asking that:
a. The closure order will be reversed and other restrictions on churches lifted.
b. All Christians in Iran will know the protection of the Father, comfort of the Son and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
c. They will be able to meet for worship, prayer, Bible study and fellowship with like-minded believers.
d. Those believers currently detained will know the presence and peace of Jesus and be released soon.
e. Church and fellowship group leaders will know the Spirit’s discernment and wisdom
f. All officials involved will love mercy, act justly, learn about Jesus and choose to follow Him.