Displaying items by tag: Global

Recent revelations about Cambridge Analytica (CA) tactics to influence elections using data from Facebook accounts and its role in UK and US election votes are the tip of an iceberg. CA has been linked to elections in Czech Republic, India, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Ukraine. This is a truly worldwide phenomenon. New technologies can be a double-edged sword. Social media has transformed how the public call out the corrupt and demand change. But what happens when the data these tools generate about their users is used as part of a murky process to influence elections? Is this corruption? The now-suspended CEO of CA has said that some emails between the company and its clients automatically self-destruct, leaving no electronic paper trail for investigators looking for election fraud allegations. Also identities of companies working on elections were hidden, presumably through shell companies. ‘No one even knew they were there,’ said another CA executive of an operation in Eastern Europe. See also

Theresa May is warning leaders of Russia’s threat to all democracies; Russia has ‘shown itself to be a strategic enemy not a strategic partner’. Mrs May believes that although the attempted assassination of the Skripals took place on UK soil, the Russian threat does not respect borders and it places all nations at risk, adding, ‘As a European democracy, the UK will stand shoulder to shoulder with the EU and Nato members to face these threats together. United, we will succeed.’ Whitehall stressed the response to the Salisbury attack was carefully calibrated to remain within the law, and the UK was not looking for huge confrontations with Russia or regime change. The US, UK, France and Germany recently signed up to a very strong and uncompromising statement, and the prime minister is now using blunt language to the world and to the rest of EU member states.

Worldwide, there are approximately 42 milion victims of abortion each year. That's more people than the entire population of Iraq being killed. Abortion is not confined to one region or people group. It is a global tragedy, with roughly 83% of all abortions taking place in developing countries and 17% in the developed world. That is why it is called the silent Holocaust. 40 Days for Life continues until 25 March. This is a unified time of prayer and fasting for God's mercy, healing, and restoration - that He would bring an end to abortion. Multitudes around the world are crying out to God for an end to the shedding of innocent blood. Prayer Alert readers are invited to cry out to God for the lives of those not yet born to have a future and a hope.

Transparency International reports, ‘Countries with the least protection for press and activists also have the worst rates of corruption. Every week at least one journalist is killed in a country that is corrupt. There are journalists who wish to continue and publish their work, but they have been threatened, imprisoned or killed for attempting to speak out the truth.’ Journalists who feel threatened can now use encrypted communication to protect sensitive information and put their ongoing investigations in a safe place online. Their stories are then secured and will never be published without their agreement. If something happens to them, ‘Forbidden Stories’ will be able to finish the stories in accordance with the author’s instructions and to circulate them widely, thanks to a collaborative network of media committed to defending the freedom to inform. For insights into the worst countries, click the ‘More’ button.

In November Prayer Alert drew attention to Oxfam dismissing 22 employees over sexual abuse allegations, and you prayed for all that is hidden to be revealed in its management of overseas networks. See In 2015/16 Oxfam, the fourth biggest fundraiser in the UK, saw £553,479 go missing to fraud and corruption. It is tackling problems of sex assaults and sexual exploitation among its workforce, and a number of investigations into deaths of people driving or struck by its delivery vehicles overseas. Pray that the current scandal will not mar the public’s confidence to give to needy causes, through established charities (during 2016/17 Oxfam provided emergency support for 8.6 million people hit by conflict and natural disaster).

Over five billion people across the world are not followers of Jesus, and two billion have never even heard the Gospel. Most will never hear unless somebody tells them. Pyeongchang has welcomed the world for the 2018 Olympic Games. 92 nations are participating. The world's best athletes are competing side by side with people from every corner of the world. They represent every possible worldview, religious background, and political system. Many - maybe most - of these athletes, families, and fans have never heard the Gospel. This is a special window of time for Christian athletes and participants to shine His light to those around them. What if the Olympic Games became an open door for the message of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed to the nations? Pray for an anointing of evangelism for every Christian involved in the Olympic Games.

The following is a shortened version of a prayer given at the opening session of the Kansas Senate. ‘Heavenly Father, we ask your forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance. Your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good”, but that is what we do. We have lost spiritual stability and reversed our values. We ridicule the truth of Your Word and call it pluralism; we worship other gods, calling it multiculturalism; we endorse perversion, calling it alternative lifestyle; we exploit the poor, calling it a lottery; we reward laziness with welfare; we kill our unborn, calling it choice; we neglect disciplining our children, calling it building their self-esteem; the abuse of power is called politics; we embezzle public funds, calling it expenses; and we call bribery ‘sweets of office.’ Coveting others’ possessions is called ambition, and pornography is called freedom of expression. We ridicule our forefathers’ values, calling it enlightenment. Search us, O God, and know our hearts; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!’

What would life be without Jesus? Thousands of people have never met a Christian or heard the Good News in their mother tongue. In 2018 more people than ever will find out that God is reaching out to them. Wycliffe Bible Translators personnel work tirelessly towards the goal of delivering the message of Jesus in people's heart languages, while organisations like MAF travel across continents to deliver God's Word to new believers. Recently a South Sudanese Christian said, 'I was jealous of white people being blessed by having the Word of God in their own language. We had no Bible in Baka.’ Then he gave a broad grin: ‘Now I am happy because I have a Baka Bible. God did not forget us.’ Now Christians speaking Baka can share God’s Word with those around them who do not yet know the salvation Christ offers. See the World article ‘Praying for the unreached’, and also https://www.maf-uk.org/campaign/unreached

Volcanoes are erupting and ground is shaking in Indonesia, Japan, Alaska, the Philippines and eastern Russia. On 23 January, 56,000+ residents in the Philippines were evacuating their homes in anticipation of a major eruption by Mount Mayon volcano. On the same day a volcano north-west of Tokyo also erupted, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred southwest of Jakarta, and another hit Alaska, 173 miles from Kodiak. On 25 January there was a magnitude 6.2 earthquake off Russia's east coast. Indonesia’s Mount Agung continues to spew ash. Pray for all who are currently evacuated or in the process of cleaning up after these events. See also

Many the articles in this week’s Prayer Alert have depicted an aspect of corruption in different countries. The International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) is the world’s premier global forum for bringing together heads of state, civil society and the private sector to tackle the increasingly sophisticated challenges posed by corruption. Established in 1983, the IACC takes place every two years in a different region of the world, and hosts between 800 and 2,000 participants from over 135 countries. It advances the anti-corruption agenda by raising awareness and stimulating debate, and fosters networking, cross-fertilisation, and the global exchange of experience that is indispensable for effective advocacy and action, on global and national levels. The 18th IACC will take place in October 2018; we can begin to pray now for the delegates that God intends to participate, that He will prepare each one of them spiritually and physically for the event.