Prayer and ministry leaders from Canada, Mexico and the USA will gather near Santa Fe, New Mexico (USA) to pray for our three nations and continent for the sixth time we have been together. This occasion, we will also be blessed by having brothers from other parts of the world to share their hearts with us: Anton Cruz (Royal Kids, India), Peter Sekhonyane (South Africa transformation prayer movement), Brian Mills (Interprayer and IPC) and Matteo Calisi (Catholic Charismatic Renewal and Reconciliation).
Please pray with us for a magnificent time of encountering the Lord together and praying out His heart for North America. May many new things be birthed through the Spirit’s work among us!
If you are a ministry or marketplace leader, a youth or child leader, you are invited to be a part of the World Prayer Assembly, May 14-18, in Jakarta, Indonesia. You can register to participate at www.wpa2012.org.
In a series of Jakarta meetings with the Indonesian national committee August 18-22, colleagues and I heard encouraging reports about the progress being made by the youth, children, and marketplace tracks as well as about the significant mobilization effort for the WPA happening within their country. There is no doubt in our minds that the WPA is a real “God-thing”. His hand is so obviously upon the planning process, and He is bringing so many diverse leaders, networks and movements together to make it happen, not just in Indonesia but from throughout the world. We believe it will be not only a historic convergence of the prayer, mission and marketplace movements, but also a history-changing encounter with the Lord and one another that will rock our world.
Youth and children will be a central part of the Assembly. Youth and children’s track leaders announced that they are now making arrangements for 40,000 youth and children to take part in the May 17 national stadium meeting that will occur during the WPA. That evening, 100,000 will gather in the stadium to pray together for Indonesia and our world. It will be carried live on national TV to an estimated 5 million other participants in 200 cities of Indonesia where there will be similar gatherings. Through satellite TV, the broadcast should reach around the world to tens of millions more in what will be one of the largest, perhaps the largest, prayer gathering in history.
Please continue to pray for:
1) His guidance and help for the international planning team with our various task forces
2) the Indonesian national committee working on all the logistics
3) those whom God is calling to come from every nation, even the small island nations
4) His provision of the financial needs of participants, speakers and facilitators as well as for the extra costs to arrange the WPA (about $2 million still needed)
5) His protection from radical elements that would try to oppose and hinder and for the goodwill and support of the authorities.
Thanks so much for your vital support!
New Video on the Children’s Track of the World Prayer Assembly
You can receive the just released WPA children’s movie with English subtitles when you connect to
http://www.easy-share.com/1917741659/WPA#
When you enter this address, there are 2 options: left side (premium – you must pay) and right side (regular download for free). Allow a few seconds for the regular download to load so you can click it. You can then choose the regular download for free. It will take approximately 13 – 15 minutes for the download (9.2 MB), depending on your internet speed.
Enjoy the video and please pray that the children God is calling from within Indonesia and around the world will be able to take part in the WPA.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy…Your young men will see visions. – Joel 2:28 NKJV
The first two Global Summits in New York were built mostly around vision casting and providing a venue for networking. The third 4/14 Global Summit in Singapore will serve as a platform for 10 Global Tracks to significantly expand their reach in advocating for the 4/14 Window movement through their track forces.
During the 4/14 Window Global Summit III, Christian leaders from around the world will dialogue to determine the strategic opportunities before us and will develop specific strategies to rally the Body of Christ worldwide to prioritize the 4/14 Generation as our missional focus.
For more information, see http://4to14window.com/
Please pray for His anointing and guidance for those gathering in Singapore that there will be effective outcomes to raise up the children and youth of our world as agents for His Kingdom!
Several hundred South Korean church leaders, along with international intercessors and prayer leaders, will gather near the DMZ, the border between North and South Korea, to pray for the Lord’s deliverance and transformation of North Korea, probably the most oppressive and evil situation on earth. It has been called a vast prison camp in which the most awful suffering is being experienced by the great majority of the population. Government officials like Kim Jong Il live the luxurious life while millions starve.
Please pray with us for His anointing, guidance and unity in the Spirit for this crucial initiative. May we will all have His heart for North Korea and pray out His prayers together for breakthrough.
New Prayer Documentary Video on North Korea a “Must See”!
Here is the link for the just completed prayer video on North Korea that we are using in conjunction with PINK, Prayer Initiative for North Korea, Sept. 18-22, that will happen in South Korea shortly. This hard-hitting, heart-stirring video was produced by Ken An and SohMyoung Lee, Korean film producers with the Pan Pacific Film Festival in Los Angeles. Please see it, let your heart be broken, and pray fervently with us for the liberation of North Korea and reintegration with its southern sister of South Korea. Share the video with intercessors and prayer leaders you are in touch with. We want to use it to build united prayer throughout the world for a change in NK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv6E2ReEbGI&feature=youtu.be
Live-in couples more likely to divorce
Couples who live together before marriage are at significantly greater risk of divorce, a recent report says. ‘Those couples who have lived with each other are noticeably (around 15 percent) more likely to divorce; couples who have previously lived with a different partner before getting married are around 45 percent more likely to divorce,’ report authors Dr. John Hayward and Dr. Guy Brandon in ‘Cohabitation: An Alternative to Marriage?’ released by the Jubilee Centre, About 55 percent of cohabitations now lead to marriage, while 45 percent end in separation, they said, adding that even those couples who do separate and go on to other live-in arrangements, later marrying their second (or subsequent) partner, are far more likely to divorce. Since the early 1980s, cohabitation overtook marriage as the most common form of first live-in relationship. Marriage remains by far the most common family form of choice overall, the report concluded.
Pray: that this report will raise awareness and the importance of marriage in relationships. (Heb.13:4)
Fears that change to ONS figures sidelines marriage
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has changed the frequency with which figures are published concerning children born outside of wedlock. Critics say that the changes are part of continued efforts to marginalise marriage as an institution. Figures for children born to unmarried mothers and those born to parents in ‘legal partnerships’ will now be released on an annual, as opposed to quarterly, basis. An ONS spokesperson said that the adjustments were due to spending cuts. There are fears that changing the publication of data in this way will make it harder to demonstrate the benefits of marriage for children. Patricia Morgan, of the think-tank Civitas, said: ‘This is a way of crossing marriage out of the public consciousness. It has been done one step at a time. The evidence that marriage is better for families and children is overwhelming, but if you don’t have the evidence you can no longer prove it’.
Pray: that despite these changes marriage will not be sidelined but the truth will out. (Ps.103:2)
Pre-abortion counselling could cut abortions
Members of the British Parliament are looking at a plan to require that all women in England considering an abortion undergo pre-abortion counselling - a move they say could stop as many as 60,000 abortions annually. Abortion counselling is currently only offered by abortion businesses, which have a financial incentive to ensure they do not talk women out of having an abortion by emphasizing the numerous alternatives available to them or offering any non-abortion pregnancy assistance. However, the proposed legal changes would have abortion businesses following laws similar to those in the United States that require them to mention other options. Such laws have proven to reduce abortions. Tory MP Nadine Dorries will file the amendment to the Health Bill later this week that would put the abortion counselling rules in place. ‘Abortion has become a factory-efficient process that denies women the right to independent, professional counselling,’ she said.
Pray: that this proposal will be successful and lead to many lives being saved. (Job.12:13)
Commission wavers over Christian cases in Europe
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has changed its mind over how it will intervene in the four cases of discrimination against Christians that will be heard in Europe soon. (See Prayer Alert 23-2011 & 34-2011) The EHRC said in July that it would intervene on behalf of Nadia Eweida, Shirley Chaplin, Gary McFarlane and Lillian Ladele in the European Court. It also said that the British courts had got it wrong in these cases, stating in a press release that ‘Judges have interpreted the law too narrowly in religion or belief discrimination claims’ and that the courts had given ‘insufficient’ protection to those manifesting religious beliefs. However, in a subsequent consultation document, the EHRC has said that it will now act to support Chaplin and Eweida (relating to the right to wear a cross) but will oppose Ladele and McFarlane (relating to providing certain services to homosexual couples), stating that the ‘domestic courts came to the correct conclusions’ in these two cases.
Pray: God for this initial success but now pray that the EHRC will reconsider Ladele and McFarlane’s judgement. (Ps.9:19)
Parliamentary inquiry to assess Christian freedoms
Are Christians being marginalised in public life? Is it becoming more difficult to speak freely or be authentically Christian in the workplace? What does the law actually have to say about these issues? These are just some of the questions a cross-party group of Christian MPs and Peers are attempting to address as part of Clearing the Ground - a parliamentary inquiry to see how the law treats Christians. The All Party Parliamentary Group 'Christians in Parliament' has launched the inquiry to seek clarity regarding what Christians can and cannot do within the law. It will cut through the claims made in the media and by opposing campaign groups to consider whether Christians are finding their freedoms eroded. Gary Streeter MP, who is chairing the inquiry, said: ‘There has never been a more significant time for Christians to make a positive contribution to our society.’
Pray: for God’s wisdom to prevail leading to positive contributions and clear understanding. (Col.2:2)
Estonia: Spirituality in the world's 'least religious' country
Estonians were recently asked whether religion played an important part in their life, only 20% said yes. Suggesting the Baltic country is, statistically, the least religious country in the world. Spires decorate the old town, bells ring out Sundays as visitors walk in and out. A closer look reveals that many of these visitors are tourists. Tallinn's large Lutheran Church almost all of the 70 congregants turned out to have travelled from the Netherlands. A handful of people standing at the back - 15 at the most - were the sum total of regular Estonian church-goers. As the dean of the church, Arho Tuhkru, explains: ‘People believe, but they do not want to belong to the Church.’ The Lutheran Church accounts for only 13% of the population. Fewer than one in five Estonians say religion plays an important part in their lives. In schools religion does not feature on the curriculum.
Pray: for people of Estonia that God would send His Holy Spirit to reveal the fullness of the Gospel. (Eph.3:19)