Several flashpoints could erupt into a global conflict involving the US, China and Russia, it is claimed.EXCLUSIVE
BY COREY CHARLTON 7th September 2016, The Sun, UK Edition
THE world is closer to a catastrophic and bloody World War III than at any other point in the past 60 years, experts have warned. Russia and China, both of which are pumping vast amounts of money into their militaries, could soon rival the US in terms of power and prestige. Potential WWIII triggers are located in Poland, Syria and the South China Sea.
Experts believe there a re a number of trigger points that could set off WWIII
All three nations want to remain a global superpower – if not the only one – and are preparing for war, it is claimed. But they oppose each other on a swathe of issues across the globe, creating a delicate political balance that could collapse and engulf nuclear states and alliances such as NATO. A range of experts have identified several flashpoints across the globe which are today the most likely triggers for such a war…
The proximity of NATO and Russian bombers flying over Syria, Vladimir Putin’s aggression in eastern Europe, and China’s movements in the South China Sea are among them.
Experts have also raised concerns about the instability of nuclear-power Pakistan as extremist factions and terrorist groups within the country grow in power. Adding to this is these groups’ sworn opposition to neighbouring India – which holds its own much-coveted nuclear arsenal.
Britain’s Admiral Lord West told The Sun Online: “Basically none of us know what is going to happen but we are in a more dangerous, chaotic and unpredictable time than any other in my 50 years in the force. 14
“I believe that because of Brexit, I think Europe is very flaky, I think it is unfortunate that we didn’t stay in, because they actually need our military expertise.
“I can see bits of Europe breaking up and when Europe gets into a mess, twice in the past we’ve had to go in there and clear it up with immense loss of blood and lives.”
He warned that Britain was not sufficiently investing in its defense – and in particular, its Royal Navy.
The investment required to maintain its strength had not materialised in the years since the Falklands War, he said, leaving Britain in a precarious place.
RUSSIA AND THE BALTIC STATES
In July, a 25-page report by the US-based think tank Atlantic Council warned of Russia’s growing threat to NATO. NATO has been Europe’s primary military alliance since WWII – all 28 member states have sworn to respond as a group if a single member is attacked. The council’s report warned that Russia was an “existential threat to the Baltic states and Poland” and an annexation could be implemented “with great speed”.
It continued: “This might come at a time NATO and the EU are distracted by another crisis, or it might relate to some particular high profile event, the outcomes of which Moscow wants to shape.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin is becoming increasingly aggressive towards the NATO-aligned Baltic states
“It might also result from a misperception of NATO’s activities and a miscalculation of the Alliance’s resolve.”
Admiral Lord West also said: “Russia under Putin is becoming quite aggressive, it’s spending a large amount of money on its military capabilities.
“Putin has said he believes in using tactical nuclear weapons if there is a war. That is highly dangerous.
“There’s little debate that he thinks of the Baltic states and possibly Poland as a Russian sphere of influence. They are NATO countries – I find that extremely dangerous.”
“I think people like Putin understand robust responses, they understand military power. I think he thinks he’ll pick (the Baltic states) off one-by-one.”
CLASHES OVER SYRIA
Another point of simmering tensions is Syria, where US and Russia are both carrying out airstrikes in support of opposing groups. While they share a common foe in ISIS, the US has backed Kurdish and moderate Syrian rebel groups against President Bashar al-Assad. Russia, on the other hand, is backing al-Assad against the rebels. With both countries carrying out air raids across the relatively small area, the chances of accidental clashes and misperceptions is high.
Peter W. Singer, a leading expert on future war, wrote in The Daily Telegraph last year: “As in the past, it is perfectly possible that a third world war could start with a small event, or even by accident.
“One of the many Russian bomber planes now probing NATO’s borders could collide with an RAF Typhoon, prompting an aerial skirmish the likes of which the world has not seen for decades. A Russian fighter jet was shot down by Turkey last year in a frightening example of how small incidents can quickly escalate
The downing of the jet triggered a massive diplomatic fallout between the two countries
“Indeed, the skies over Syria are starting to get dangerously crowded, with Russian jets flying near US planes on bombing runs, and sparring with NATO air defences in neighbouring Turkey.”
Such an incident – albeit on a much smaller scale – was seen in November when Turkey downed a Russian jet it claimed it had encroached on its airspace during raids in Syria. The incident led to a collapse in diplomatic relations between the two countries and sparked weeks of mudslinging between Ankara and Moscow.
With neither side prepared to lose face, their military posturing only came back from the brink after a Russian soldier was photographed travelling through the Bosphorus Strait brandishing a rocket launcher.
THE SOUTH CHINA SEA
In the past few years China has moved aggressively to dominate the South China Sea with the construction of artificial islands containing fighter jet bunkers. The move has alarmed countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines who dispute its territorial claims in the region. Futhermore, it has aggravated Japan and South Korea – two key members of a Pacific bloc the US has sworn to protect.
China has aggressively built artificial islands, such as this one pictured, where it will base fleets of jet planes
Peter W. Singer is also among those to suggest World War III could be triggered when “a Japanese or American ship scrapes paint with its Chinese Navy counterpart amid the reefs in the Pacific that are being militarized as part of Asia’s current arms race”. Indeed, Chinese military commanders – who are pushing ahead with new submarine deployments into the US’s Pacific sphere – believe this to be a genuine and legitimate scenario.
After a close call last year, China’s naval commander Admiral Wu Shengli warned his US counterpart: “If the United States continues with these kinds of dangerous, provocative acts, there could well be a seriously pressing situation between frontline forces from both sides on the sea and in the air, or even a minor incident that sparks war.”
THE COLLAPSE OF NUCLEAR PAKISTAN
Experts have long feared the collapse of nuclear-armed Pakistan – a country rife with instability, terror groups and with a sworn hatred of neighbour India. The concern is that its nuclear arsenal could fall into the hands of non-state groups ready to use it against the West, or other proxy groups. It is feared nuclear-armed Pakistan is too unstable to keep its atomic bombs secure from extremists. Notably, Pakistan was the birthplace of the Taliban – a fundamentalist Islamic group that spread into Afghanistan and ran the country following its war with the Soviet Union.
A British Ministry of Defence report released in January earmarked the region as one that will continue to generate threats to the UK. It also warned that “inter-state conflict and internal instability” were possible.
A March report by Harvard Kennedy School stated the “risk of nuclear theft in Pakistan appears to be high”.
The authors wrote: “The trend seems to be toward increasing risk, as Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal expands and shifts toward tactical nuclear weapons, while adversary capabilities remain extremely high.
“Over the longer term, the possibilities of state collapse or extremist takeover cannot be entirely ruled out.”
WARNING
George Friedman, the founder of geopolitical forecaster STRATFOR, has warned: “Be ready for war.”
Mr Friedman has written extensively about emerging trends and international affairs. He recently told Business Insider that interstate war – such as that seen during World War I and II, is a recurring characteristic of politics.
“There has never been a century that has not had a systemic war — a systemic war, meaning when the entire system convulses.
“Do you want to bet this will be the only century that doesn’t have one? I’ll take that bet.
“When you have the countries like Germany, China, and Russia decline, and be replaced by others, that’s when systemic wars start.
“That’s when it gets dangerous, because they haven’t yet reached a balance. So Germany united in 1871 and all hell broke loose.
“Japan rose in the early 20th century, and then you had chaos.
“So we’re looking at a systemic shift. Be ready for war.” (italics and bold are ours)
Please pray about these potential flash points for World War III for His peace and goodwill to influence the relationships between these nations.
Another assembly that was very significant spiritually for the USA happened on October 21 in Washington, D.C. at the foot of the Washington Monument.
“Some prophetic voices believe the nation shifted, spiritually, Oct. 21, 2016, on what may go down as one of the most important days in American history. Largely unnoticed, 1,000 Native American Indian tribes from the United States and Canada collectively forgave the U.S. government for breaking treaties with their ancestors during a public ceremony on the National Mall.
The National Day of Prayer for First Nations, held near the Washington Monument, included intercessory petitions, proclamations and declarations of forgiveness by leaders from All Tribes D.C., a fellowship of Christians representing 1,000 American Indians from the U.S. and Canada.
A full-blooded Euchee (Yuchi) Indian, Negiel Bigpond coordinated the first-ever national prayer gathering of Native Americans in the nation's capital. Like the annual May observance of the National Day of Prayer, signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1952, First Nations intercessors will convene again in 2017 during the third week of October.
Dr. Billy Graham, whose son and daughter have served on the National Day of Prayer Task Force, is a prophetic voice who believes that forgiveness by Native Americans might be part of a spiritual awakening within the nation. "The Native American has been a sleeping giant," Graham writes. "He is awakening. The original Americans could become the evangelists who will help win America for Christ. Remember the forgotten people."
Bigpond agrees that Native Americans have taken a good first step toward aiding national awakening by extending forgiveness to the nation. "We chose to forgive the U.S., whether it asked for it or not," said Bigpond, a fourth-generation pastor who offered forgiveness and spoke blessings over the nation alongside other tribal prayer warriors. Bigpond, who has evangelized on 143 reservations, believes the U.S. has suffered spiritual consequences for breaking treaties with Native Americans.
In Scripture, breaking a vow or treaty brings a curse on the land, and the U.S. government broke every treaty it made with the Native American tribes, according to prophetic voice Rick Joyner, who called the prayer event one of the most important in the nation's history from his ministry headquarters in North and South Carolina. "This is very real," Joyner said. "National injustices are a major issue we're facing now, whether we want to or not, and this is a big one."…"We believe this has shifted the nation and we are already feeling the effects of what was accomplished in D.C.," said Faus, who is the director of a house of prayer in Pennsylvania and lead intercessor with husband Jon at Hope of Nations Christian Center.
Joyner agrees that forgiveness and love are major weapons in waging spiritual warfare on behalf of the nation.
"This is one of the most noble acts of true Christian charity I have ever heard of by any people group," Joyner said. "Very few may even know that anything special happened. "Some of the greatest things happen that way, and only a very few who have their eyes open looking in the right direction, see them," Joyner said.
Portions of a proclamation posted on the All Tribes D.C. website were read by tribal leaders gathered on the National Mall.
The proclamation reads in part, "We forgive every atrocity and broken covenant ever designed to destroy us as a race of people. We break every curse and renounce every lie purposed to decimate us as human beings. "We forgive the government, the church and the educational system for the use of residential schools that attempted to destroy our culture and silence our voice as people by stealing our language.
"We stand in the gap for those who are unable or unwilling to forgive, and call upon the Master of Life, to forgive us for harboring unforgiveness, resentment, hatred, bitterness and rage.
"We repent of every curse spoken over America by our ancestors and we release the power of forgiveness to bring healing and the peace of Creator God to this land.
"We declare and decree that our voice will no longer be silenced and that this nation and the world will hear our voice as we speak life and blessings over the Americas and the world.
"We stand in faith believing that our citizenship lies in heaven, and we too, all await the return of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Being all of one mind and heart, having compassion for one another, we declare our love as brothers; not returning evil for the evil perpetuated against us, but on the contrary we choose to release a blessing, knowing that the Father of us all has called us as his children to bless and not curse, that we may inherit a blessing. Amen."
AllTribesDC.org
Thanks so much for standing with us in prayer for the NPA last week. There were a score of nations doing so through a live Zoom link and by Skype at times. A group of Canadians that spanned the whole of their nation from Vancouver to Newfoundland came to be with us as did others from abroad. There were deep times of corporate repentance on our knees and united prayer for breakthrough.
Excellent and brief presentations were followed by all-out intercession and then times of answering the question together, "What is the Lord saying?" Those spontaneous times were wonderful as was the participation of youth and children leading from the front. I felt so proud of the Body of Christ and how the Spirit can work though us all in such diversity, bringing about His unity. The Lord was in the room, which looked out from the 16th floor over all of DC and our government institutions!
We were praying for breakthrough in the many issues the nation faces but not in a political way. We were challenged to pray for the candidate we most disliked, so many of us were praying accordingly for both presidential candidates. Then the news broke that the FBI was reopening the case of Hillary Clinton’s emails when they found many tens of thousands of them (possibly some or all of the 33,000 she and her aides tried to destroy) on the computer of her closest aide and her husband. There is now just one week left for such a tumultuous and worrisome election.
A Word from the Lord received by some participants of the NPA
November 8, 2016 … “GLORIOUS DAY”
A DECLARATION of a pivotal day for the United States of America…and for Our Father’s world. This will be a time of spiritual convergence that will usher in the breakthrough the Church has been praying for and the world has been longing for. On this GLORIOUS DAY, we will at long last see the birthing of a new era for the sons and daughters of God, who will radiate and show forth their Father’s MANIFEST PRESENCE in the earth, and bring forth the global harvest HE has been longing for! Alleluia!
As representatives of the ekklesia, believers, called out from the world and into the Kingdom of God’s love, we have come together in this Malachi moment, in the Lord’s Presence, to discern His will and receive our marching orders! What has been revealed under the direction of the Holy Spirit, we now release to you. This is a "Call to Arms” for the upcoming elections in the United States of America, issued on behalf of our nation and the nations of the world!
Like the Jews in Susa at the time of Esther, we are facing an imminent threat which seeks to destroy us and thwart God’s intended purposes and plans for our nation! We know that our lives and futures depend on what we do at this very hour! We have appealed to and have been heard in the Courts of Heaven. Our loving Father has always protected and made provision for His people; He has granted us the legal right to fight to defend ourselves and our country at this crucial hour in history!
This is a spiritual battle of epic proportions! We are not at war with our neighbors, but with fierce dark forces in heavenly places. We acknowledge Almighty God as the Supreme Judge and Lawgiver and declare that He alone he has the right to govern over His creation. We fight from this place of Truth! It is not only our right, but our responsibility to fight…for our eternal lives, the lives of future generations and the Kingdom plan to bring forth the world harvest, which will be ushered in as the King’s candidate is elected.
To fight such a spiritual battle, not a physical one, we need a divinely inspired, strategic battle plan! This is one that “seems good to the Holy Spirit and us”. Like the people of Israel repairing the city’s wall, we have been watching as we have rebuilt, with both trowel and sword in hand! While repairing the breaches in our nation’s walls, we have seen the enemies approaching our gates. We have built; now we must fight! Like David's mighty men, we will take a stand and hold firmly to our ground! “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.” Nehemiah 4:14
Therefore, this day, we summon the Church of the Living God to awaken, arise and adore the Lord, to consecrate ourselves to Him anew, and engage in spiritual battle as never before…over our lives, our families, our homes, our communities, cities, states and nation! We exhort every spiritual leader, to stand up and speak up as the Black Robed Regiment of old, defending truth, justice and mercy! We appropriate and receive all that our heavenly Father has for us as He positions and anoints us for this battle, which is the LORD’s. It is He Who will defeat every enemy. Our assignment is to enter into His rest and to trust that He will deliver us. We do only that which we see Him doing, and speak only that which we hear Him saying, and release the authority of Heaven into the earth. This “Call to Arms”, a call to action, requires a response on our part!
For three days, November 6th-7th-8th, 2016, we will engage corporately in an Esther fast, with no food or water. We will “Fast, Pray and Fight” and ultimately experience THE GLORIOUS DAY on November 8th, rejoicing as we stand and see the deliverance of the Lord! Remember the powerful spiritual principle of Matthew 6…Prayer, Fasting, and Giving. We fight by giving; doing acts of kindness and love, showing mercy and charity to those in need, and blessing your enemies. When we operate with this powerful trio, the hand of God moves and we receive a spiritual upgrade in our authority and anointing, which in turn gives us the Faith to move mountains!
This will be a universal spiritual battle. On November 8th, we will see the breakthrough as our God moves. As this official “summons” is sent around the world, believers will unite in the nations, to engage in the greatest spiritual warfare of our time…for the very souls of our nations! The God-of-the-Angel-Armies is with us, commanding His ministering spirits to go forth and accomplish His will! He will prevail! This call must go out to all the nations. To those who receive it, translate this “trumpet call” into your language, so the people of your nation might be alerted and take up their positions. “When you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies.” Numbers 10:9.
“Thus they set out from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord journeying in front of them, seeking a resting place.. The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp and Moses said, “Rise up, O Lord! And let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You.”
Numbers 10:33-35
Please answer this call to battle and pray for the USA and its election on November 8 as well as for your own nation. What happens in the American election will affect the rest of the world through the geopolitical interconnection we all have now.
By Enoch Era, a preacher and teacher from India
I have been following the prayers that are going on at this time in USA both in the context of the Presidential Elections and the Global political situation. I do not claim to see in visions and dreams but as a preacher called to the nations ( Jer 1: 5,9 - 10), I make scripturally reasoned and spiritually discerning observations, analysis and conclusions about situations and conditions of both church and the world. Here is what I want to say about the situation in America and by implication other parts of the world as well.
To begin with: In my reckoning one conclusion that can be drawn regarding America is that there has been a progressive ascendency of evil spiritual powers over America over the last several decades. This is clear from the presidential candidates we have this time, whatever their public or private stance regarding the Bible. In fact this ascendency has been happening over the last several presidential elections. This conclusion can also be drawn from the way evil in its various forms has been on the rise. Notwithstanding all the prayers and claims among Christians. In fact as I see it, both the presidential candidates personify the spirit of America! So its not a surprise at all!
There are several prayer movements concentrating on specific sins of America as a nation and engaging in repentance, confession and prayer for America. I am not against prayer nor against confessing and identificational repentance. But I believe there is much more than what we think are our national sins, which require repentance and confession in order to regain our authority and witness. It is as if Samson (in OT) wishing to engage in confessing and repenting for the sins of Israel, having given away his hair to Delilah In allowing Delilah to cut his hair whether consciously or otherwise, he not only compromised his calling but lost his identity. I believe this image explains much of what is going on today in the church both worldwide and the American.
The people of God, practically the world over have compromised their calling 'to be God's own people' and in the bargain have lost their identity as 'God's own people' and thus have lost their witness. There might be exceptions but I am talking in general. There is gross worldliness among God's people today. Worldliness in the form of 'middle-class lifestyles' that practically everyone of us have adopted, pursued and celebrate, with very few exceptions. We have not cared to see that such lifestyles are a result of capitalism which itself is a dubious economic model passed off as scriptural since it came through the backdoor of Puritanism and on a faulty interpretation of scriptures. Today, it is not just our lifestyles but even our churches and ministries are being run on the same model of private entrepreneurship, which is a euphemism for private business. Several so-called big ministry leaders have built their private fiefdoms in the name of ministry. Since they have the numbers and the big national and global sized structures to show - everyone is awed into silence. And both the rank and file as well as the leaders claim to have prayed and quote scriptures as proof of Lord's leading to do what they have done - we sit in silence lest we fall into the trap of becoming judges of our own sisters and brothers. (If the largeness of numbers and structures is the criteria for deciding that God has lead them, one has to only come to India to see the kind of numbers and structures some Hindu gurus draw and built. One could even site the temples built by some Hindu groups in your own back yard - in New Jersey and California. When will the church learn that numbers and size don't matter to an eternal and infinite God. By adopting such models as proof of God's blessing upon one’s ministry have we not undercut our own witness and authority? If these mattered in the Kingdom of God, why would Christ be born the way he did? We have lost our vision of the Trinitarian God and the incarnation of His Son. Until this is recovered, we shall continue to grope around like blind Samson, looking for a pillar to pull down the strongholds of evil. Actually the fiefdoms and dominions we have built in the name of 'ministry' have in themselves today become strongholds of the evil one. I strongly believe that we have established newer principalities, powers and dominions and are enslaved to them!
Having lost our spiritual authority, we have courted the political and economic power centres of the world in order to gain acceptance and credibility. We have solicited and feted the ill-gotten wealth of the so-called 'Christian businesses' (in my reckoning the term is an oxymoron). When has mammon become necessary for the building of the Kingdom of God? Who sits in White House has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God. We haven't learnt this from Jesus or Paul! And some of today's leaders preen in this borrowed glory from the world - strutting about in the dignity and confidence of gaining the world. Does their confidence spring from knowing Christ and denying everything that the world has to offer?
This is the reason why I say that the people of God are actually 'cohabiting with the world'. In the 1980s John White, writing about personal morality, the quest for affluence and the worship of success among Christians, said that we were ‘flirting with the world’. In the 1990s, Os Guinness writing about the mega-church and mega-ministry movements said that they were ‘dining with the devil’. But I want to say that we have not only been flirting and dining but have been cohabiting with the world for a few centuries now! The fruit of this illegitimate relationship is all around us to see both in terms of mal-formed ‘Christians’ and several illegitimate activities passing off as ministry! I am referring to all the ministries that have been spawned to serve needs arising from pursuing the world. My point is that most of these so-called ministries have sprung up to serve the needs of those pursuing the world’s agenda. And I do not just refer to the prosperity gospellers (at least they are shameless and open about it) but to the main line evangelicals and to all those who have egged Christians on, to pursue capitalism driven middle class lifestyles in terms of educational, career and material prosperity.
You see what I mean? Most of us have adopted unquestioningly career-driven, middle-class lifestyles as a given. We have not raised a question nor batted an eye-lid to wonder if this was a biblical or Christ-given model for life. In so doing we have not only brought in the world among us but have compromised our calling and lost our identity. In fact, having acquired and attaining the securities and identities offered to us by the world, we have practically obliterated the line of demarcation that should have existed between us and the rest of the world. Neither does the world see any difference between us and them except our religious or spiritual jingoism.
Another aspect of worldliness among God's people--which has not only led to compromising with the world and thus have lost their identity but has given them newer identities alien to scripture and to their calling-- is through the systems and structures they have adopted to 'run churches' and to 'do ministries'. The organizational and governing models are all of the world. In fact their origin is in Babel and not in God. By flaunting these identities we think we demonstrate God's power not knowing that God's power is demonstrated by making ourselves vulnerable, small and simple. My point is unless the people of God in America or anywhere else in the world take their calling to follow Christ serious and recognize, renounce, and repudiate everything and anything that is of the world and follow their Master by making themselves small and vulnerable, there will be no demonstration of God's power nor would they recover their witness and regain their authority in Christ. And all our efforts and exercises in prayer and intercession would remain just that...efforts and exercises...we might see some marginal changes or fringe benefits...but nothing significant as far as spiritual powers are concerned.
The 'people of God' today are drunk with the world--we are so enamored and in thrall of it that we have not only cavorted and cohabit with it--but do not wish to recognize our sin (As a drunk always denies he is drunk!). We show our big structures and numbers to show that God is on our side and have not cared to ask, if this is how and what Kingdom of God is about? If our strength, our power, our energy, our dignity and our authority is because of the bigness of our ministries/churches, or because of our education, money, influence or anything else (or even our proximity to the White House) that the world could offer, then we have already compromised. And God's 'manifold wisdom' cannot be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places' (Eph 3:10) When God's people live by their calling and derive their strength, power, energy, dignity and authority from their God alone - they will have God's power and authority at their disposal and the 'manifold wisdom of God' will be made known not only to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places but to the people around them as well.
"Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. “Is Israel a slave? Is he a home-born servant? Why then has he become a prey? The lions have roared against him; they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant." Jeremiah 2: 12-15.
See, I have spoken! The voice of one crying in the urban wilderness of 21st Century!
Incredible church growth
28 Oct 2016
Where is the greatest church growth today? In Iran. Even though Open Doors USA includes it in the top ten hardest countries to be a believer, last year Iran saw a 19.6% increase in the number of Christians, more than any other country. Authorities are working hard to eliminate Christianity, particularly Muslim conversions, and most registered churches are closed. But Iran house churches are growing the fastest. Iranian Christians say the greatest missionary there, the greatest evangelist they’ve had, was the Ayatollah Khomeini. When he took power he converted Iran to the Islamic Republic saying, ‘We’re going to run our country according to the Qu’ran.’ More than thirty years later Iranians are rejecting Islam precisely because of that philosophy. However, we need to pray for protection and comfort for Christians in prison for their faith, and for the deep hunger for the Bible to continue.
Pakistan: great church growth
28 Oct 2016
A missionary writes, ‘During a prayer seminar in one Christian church about 300 people attended. It poured with rain all day, and with it God’s spirit really descended. They were challenged to begin 24/7 prayer. They now have prayer each evening from six until midnight, many early morning prayer meetings, 24/7 prayer one day a week and once a month three days devoted to 24/7 prayer. There was training for children and now their prayer groups are expanding into other villages. They had built a church to house 350 people. Now they have outgrown the church and have a congregation of 1500. They are debating if they can get the money to buy adjacent land for expansion. God is at work; miracles are taking place; people are being healed; evil spirits are being driven out. Many converts are from the majority community who now put their trust in Jesus Christ.’
Pakistan: great church growth
28 Oct 2016
A missionary writes, ‘During a prayer seminar in one Christian church about 300 people attended. It poured with rain all day, and with it God’s spirit really descended. They were challenged to begin 24/7 prayer. They now have prayer each evening from six until midnight, many early morning prayer meetings, 24/7 prayer one day a week and once a month three days devoted to 24/7 prayer. There was training for children and now their prayer groups are expanding into other villages. They had built a church to house 350 people. Now they have outgrown the church and have a congregation of 1500. They are debating if they can get the money to buy adjacent land for expansion. God is at work; miracles are taking place; people are being healed; evil spirits are being driven out. Many converts are from the majority community who now put their trust in Jesus Christ.’
Middle East campaign launched
28 Oct 2016
Dozens of MPs attended a Hope for the Middle East event, hosted by Kate Green MP. They heard talks by Baroness Anelay, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a Syrian Christian, and Open Doors representatives. Baroness Anelay spoke on the role the UK Government plays in defending freedom of religion and belief internationally. The important historic and future value of Christians remaining in the Middle East was discussed, as was the vital reconciliation work that Christians are doing in Syria and Iraq at a local level. The findings of the Hope for the Middle East report showed that Christians in Syria and Iraq are asking for equality, dignity and responsibility. Delegates and MPs were urged to take action on behalf of Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq. To read the report on the significance of the Christian presence in Syria and Iraq - past, present and future - click the ‘More’ button.