On 11 March 2011 (now often called by the Japanese, "3/11"), a magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by a tsunami up to 38 meters (124 feet) in height hit Eastern Japan, known as "Tohoku." These two disasters were followed by a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant which was hit by the earthquake and tsunami and consequently began to emit high levels of radioactive substances. Over 25,000 are dead or missing and over 300,00 people displaced. As of 1 May, the nuclear crisis is yet to be fully resolved.
Generous aid and assistance has come to Japan. As one small part, in March, Dr. Joe Ozawa led a team of intercessors to Iwaki, Fukushima, near the nuclear exclusion zone of the damaged reactor. and with local residents, they "stood in the gap between the living and the dead," (Nu 16). Joining with Korean and Chinese people of prayer, the Japanese intercessors then prayed over strategic points in Tokyo. Dr. Ozawa also taught many seminars on "Tohoku humanitarian emergency response: Counseling and Healing," to volunteers, NGOs/NPOs, university students, church workers, and those who were involved in disaster response.
Please pray for:
1. The love, life, and truth of Jesus Christ (John 10:10 and John 14:6) to be poured out upon the Japanese people.
2. The “deception” over the Japanese regarding “death” (esp. ancestor worship) to be broken and their eyes opened to the truth of “eternal life” through Christ.
3. Dr. Ozawa’s message that humanitarian crisis and disaster response requires a holistic approach (relief work + emotional / relational healing + spiritual development in Christ) go forth like ripples to all those in the nation to whom the Lord wants to hear this message.
4. In His divine mercy, the Lord contain any further nuclear crises and withhold any future catastrophic disasters from Japan.
Thank you,
Dr. Joe Ozawa

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly delayed his March 23 trip to Moscow following a bombing at bus stop in central Jerusalem that injured as many as 34 people. The bombing follows a series of recent mortar and rocket attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip reaching as far as the outskirts of Ashdod and Beersheba, as well as the March 11 massacre of an Israeli family in the West Bank settlement of Itamar. Netanyahu, already facing a political crisis at home in trying to hold his fragile coalition government together, now faces a serious dilemma. There were strong hints that Netanyahu may hold a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow to restart the peace process and avoid becoming entrapped in another military campaign in the Palestinian territories, but that plan is now effectively derailed. Though the precise perpetrators and their backers remain unclear, a Palestinian faction or factions appear to be deliberately escalating the crisis and thus raising the potential for Israel to mount another military operation in the Palestinian territories.”

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the calming of these rising tensions. Continue to intercede for effective and successful efforts at long-term reconciliation and peacemaking between Jewish and Palestinian governments and peoples.

About 650 Christian leaders from across the USA will gather for this "post" Lausanne gathering being arranged by the Mission America Coalition (MAC).  

Paul Cedar, Chairman of MAC has said, "One of the major ministries of the Mission America Coalition/U.S. Lausanne Committee (MAC/USLC) is to convene Christian leaders to focus upon how we can be more effective in ministering together to invite as many people as possible to become disciples of Jesus Christ…We will spend a lot of time around tables praying, interacting, and strategizing together both in our general plenary sessions and in 30 affinity consultations."

Pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with great unity and clarity for this strategic gathering. May there be valuable new ministry initiatives to reach the increasingly diverse society of Americans as well as real breakthroughs in spiritual revival and social transformation.

STRATFOR warns: “ Libya's opposition is a poorly defined group of mutually hostile factions that have not formed a meaningful military force thus far, and are even less likely to form a functioning government. The U.S., France, and Britain have intervened, and major foreign energy outlets - plus Western ideology - are at stake. Will the turmoil sweeping across North Africa end in regime change? Or will a power vacuum transform Libya into the Somalia of the Mediterranean?”
www.stratfor.com/campaign/libya-war

Let’s pray that the current oppressive regime of Muommar Gaddafi will be replaced with a government that serves its people with honesty and fairness and that radical extremist groups will not be able to get the upperhand in any intervening power vacuum.