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In March Parliament made it possible for judges, prosecutors and others to be fired by the National Security Council. Since then the head of the Supreme Court, the director and deputy director of the anti-corruption agency, and the chief prosecutor and his deputy have all been sacked. Last week, 17 judges were removed from their posts. However there are still more corruption allegations swirling around dozens of members of Parliament. Eventhe president is implicated in a scandal from his time as head of the Transport Ministry. Mongolia as a Christian mission field is full of promise. From the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, the gospel is gaining momentum and reaching across rural areas. Churches welcome missionaries wanting to evangelise while meeting practical needs. Mongolian officials have expressed their desire for ‘foreign experts’ to help with pressing social problems, provide training for information technology and giving young people a safe environment. See
Between 100 - 135 people were slaughtered by heavily-armed Islamist extremists in a mainly-Christian village in the Mopti region of central Mali. Barnabas Fund described it as the ‘worst Mali massacre since 1946’. The jihadists encircled the isolated village of ethnic Dogon people at night and set fire to ‘everything’ in a ‘well-targeted attack’. All the victims were shot dead or burnt to death; some were charred beyond recognition, making it difficult to identify them. They set fire to all who ran and all who did not dare to go out. Only a few men escaped the gunfire. A survivor said, `About 50 heavily armed men arrived on motorbikes and pickups, surrounded the village and then killed anyone who tried to escape. No-one was spared – women, children and elderly.’ Since 2018 many Christians have been killed, abducted or forced to flee, with churches ransacked in an attempt to establish sharia law.
Women in Tijuana shelters fear their children will be kidnapped after seeing groups of men approaching mothers and offering to purchase their children to expedite their asylum process. When children are accompanied by adults crossing the border, current US law stipulates that they are held in custody temporarily, then released with parents or guardians with whom they arrived while they wait for their asylum cases to be processed. Authorities are investigating claims of women being asked to sell their children for $350 (£280) each. Border authorities are aware that migrants crossing the border are using children that are not related to in order to more easily enter the U.S. Tijuana, known for its nightlife and shopping, is in Baja California State, and has no way of keeping track of migrant children, according to the pastor of Agape Mission shelter in south Tijuana.
Demonstrations in Hong Kong have drawn in the youth, parents, first-time protesters and the church, while migrant workers have quietly and consistently participated since the beginning. Migrants distrust the Chinese justice system. In June a Chinese trawler rammed into a Filipino fishing vessel in the South China Sea (called the West Philippine Sea in the Philippines), over which China has claimed dominion. The Filipino boat’s 22-man crew ended up in the water, fearing for their lives, for hours as their vessel sank. They were ultimately rescued by Vietnamese sailors. Chinese officials downplayed the incident as an accident. Onlookers call it one of many dangerous disagreements where China has used its strength to strong-arm neighbouring nations, displaying unwanted authoritarian actions. One migrant said, ‘The moment you make your opposition to certain government policies known, you are treated like a threat to state security, and can be jailed for years.’
Eager to suppress religions, authorities in Xingyang city shattered numerous Christian and folk religion places of worship and there is also a systematic plan to eliminate the faith and customs of Hui Muslims by removing all Islam-related symbols from buildings. China is also separating Muslim children from their families, faith and language. Hundreds of thousands of adults are being detained in giant camps while a rapid, large-scale campaign to build boarding schools is under way. The BBC has comprehensive evidence about what is happening to children. In one township alone over 400 children have lost both parents to internment in camps or prison. The children are removed from their cultural and religious roots and being ‘educated’ by the Communist Party. ‘I don't know who is looking after them,’ one mother says, showing a picture of her daughters, ‘there is no contact at all.’ Another mother, wipes away tears. ‘I heard that my children are in an orphanage.’ See
Another war between the Greek Cypriots and Turkey is looking likely amid rising tensions over drilling rights in the Eastern Mediterranean that is drawing in regional stakeholders Egypt, Israel and Greece. Turkey’s Foreign Minister warned the Greek Cypriots ‘you can’t take the slightest step in the Eastern Mediterranean. If you dare, you will receive the appropriate response.’ He was alluding to Turkey’s 1974 military intervention on the island that has left it divided between the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus recognised solely by Ankara. Turkey’s second drill ship, Yavuz, arrived off the Karpas Peninsula on 9 July. The area was ‘licensed’ by the Turkish Cypriots to the state-owned Turkish Petroleum company, even though under international law they are not authorised to do so. Cyprus called the escalation of drilling ‘Turkey’s repeated violations of Cyprus’s sovereign rights based on the UN Law of the Sea.’ The EU and Russia are calling for restraint and respect of Cyprus’s sovereignty.
Five armed Iranian boats tried to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf on 10 July. The British Heritage tanker was in international waters when it was approached by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats and ordered to change course towards nearby Iranian territorial waters. A US aircraft was overhead and video recorded the incident. The UK's Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose was escorting the tanker from the rear. It trained its deck 30mm guns, designed to drive off small boats, on the Iranians while giving verbal warnings to back away, which they did. The UK's Ministry of Defence said ‘We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region.’ The incident is yet another flashpoint in a series of maritime episodes involving Iran that have the makings of a political storm. Iran denies all charges. The US is working to strengthen maritime security in the region.
The prophet Jeremiah felt so immature and inadequate as God called him to a ministry of prophetic prayer for the people of Israel and other nations. We often feel just the same, as if our prayers will make little difference, but they can actually have the awesome power of the Almighty to change the history of nations!
The Lord told Jeremiah that He had put His words in the young prophet’s mouth and that as that happened, He was appointing him “over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:9-10).
Modern Bible scholars say that later history demonstrated that Jeremiah’s prophetic prayers and declarations were actually fulfilled in the way things worked out for Israel and those other nations to which his ministry was directed.
For those of us who follow Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and who are also members of His eternal family, should we expect anything less to happen when we pray for nations? If anything, we ought to expect far more! According to the Apostle Paul, we have been raised in Christ to sit with Him in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). Through the Spirit and joined to our victorious King, we are actually “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion (1:20-22).
Jesus told His disciples that all authority had been given to Him, and therefore they should go and make disciples of all the ethne (people groups) on earth (Mt.28:18-20). They had also already observed that the spirits were subject to them and heard the Lord tell them: “I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy” (Lk. 10:17-19).
He had also most categorically taught them that whatever they bound on earth would be bound in heaven and whatever they loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven. In the same teaching session, He clearly tied this exercise of authority that would move from earth to heaven, affecting things there as well, to their practice of the prayer of agreement. Such authoritative praying will apply to anything His followers agree on with one another (Mt. 18:18-20).
In the case of Jeremiah, it is the presence and guidance of the Lord as the prophet prays that causes his words to carry such immense authority. However, because of our position in Christ and the resulting link with heaven itself, Jesus has extended even more authority to His own family members who are willing to exercise it. They can use this awesome power in “whatever” circumstance they face and pray about “anything” they encounter – in His name and according to His will. No limits are given by the Lord. Have we grasped this in our own experience yet, or are we holding back like the unsure and inadequate prophet of old?
In the 1990’s, while serving with an international humanitarian organization, colleagues and I were driven to desperate prayer by the number of hopeless, impossible ethnic conflicts happening in the countries our organization was seeking to serve. Our relief and development staff cried out, saying they needed prayer more than money. Although I had never mobilized prayer before and had mainly been a mission activist, I began to take ministry teams into war zones. We decided to take God’s ancient promise literally, that He would come in and heal a country when His people went through a process of humbling themselves, praying, seeking His face and turning from their evil ways (2 Chr. 7:14).
Over and over again, we were utterly amazed at what the Lord did as spiritual leaders of all denominational and ethnic backgrounds urgently came together for these national prayer initiatives. As they went through a process of repentance and reconciliation followed by united, authoritative prayer, history would be changed before our eyes. Political leaders on both sides of those hopeless conflicts would then implement what we had transacted with the Lord and one another. Peace agreements sometimes happened while we were still in the midst of the initiative or shortly thereafter. Everyone knew that it was God being faithful to His promise as His people stepped up to using the authority He had delegated.
Our teams saw at least nine such civil wars and ethnic conflicts ended this way. We also saw other marvelous transformations as the Spirit of the Lord removed wicked political leaders from power, brought about the revival of apathetic believers, and ignited mass turnings of hitherto unresponsive unbelievers to Christ. Having now done such initiatives in 61 nations, we know these things occurred not through serendipity but by the merciful interventions of God!
Let me urge you along with other brothers and sisters in Christ you are close with--even a small number will do--to take the awesome authority you have already been given and use it to transform your nation, believing God for even the biggest challenges you face. You will be amazed at how things can change, even suddenly with a whole new socio-political atmosphere becoming evident. “According to your faith will it be done for you” (Mt. 9:29)! Of course, we must be careful not to do this presumptuously or arrogantly but humbly and dependently, always relying on the guidance and anointing of the Holy Spirit to reveal how we ought to pray. We also need to be always watchful, maintaining His love and unity with all those on our team. This is a recipe for breakthrough after breakthrough as God’s people have experienced through the centuries.
It is all from Him, through Him and to Him--glory be to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
John Robb
IPC Chairman
Global Outreach Day, is a global missions network that calls the church worldwide to focus on praying and sharing the gospel with the unchurched in the Month of May each year! This next year, May 2020, the vision is to mobilize a hundred million people in united prayer for the global harvest!
Watch the video here:
4 minute full version: https://vimeo.com/342384375
60 second short version: https://vimeo.com/344032191
We are calling this initiative Go2020! Already Christians in 250,000 churches and 140 nations are part of this global outreach strategy to pray and witness towards the fulfillment of God’s Great Commission. This is not just for the adults, we want to invite the Children and the Youth to be full partners in this initiative! We want to call every One to be a praying, witnessing disciple for Christ!
At the Lausanne International Congress on World Evangelization in 1974, Billy Graham made the mission clear, “The whole church must be mobilized to bring the whole Gospel to the whole world. This is our calling!” GO2020 could be the catalyst for the fulfillment of this in our lifetime as believers from every nation unify in the clarion call of "Every Believer a Witness". Imagine ONE Church sharing ONE Message during ONE Month, May 2020.
And we know this will only happen through United Prayer! God releases his power through the prayers of his people! As Dick Eastman says, “The degree to which prayer is mobilized is the degree to which the world will be evangelized!”
Would you be 1 of 100 million in united prayer? Could you commit to Pray Now and share your faith with 5 others in your circle of influence who don’t know Christ through the month of May?
We have listed 5 opportunities to begin praying now through the Month of May 2020. The Lord may lead you to commit to just one of these or all five. Pray and ask the Lord how he wants you to be involved!
#1 PRAY FOR FIVE
Our first strategy is to call each one of us to people in our circle of influence (neighbors, co-workers, friends, family members). We want to Pray daily for these people and for opportunities to reach them for Christ’s love.
#2 PRAYER TRIPLETS
Pray with two other believers weekly. Connect through Skype, Zoom, telephone, Facebook, or personally meet. Pray together for God’s Spirit to produce a global and local spiritual awakening and for the salvation of those on each person’s list who don’t know Christ.
#3 24/7 Prayer Mobilization
It is Jesus’ vision that every church in every nation be a house of prayer. It’s our aim to see united 24/7 prayer in cities, regions and nations leading to GO 2020. Help mobilize your city, region or nation to adopt a monthly day of prayer.
Join with World Prays, a prayer network that asks that every church adopt a 12- or 24-hour time one day each month to pray. Members can pray for 30 or 60 minutes from anywhere--home, school, dormitory, workplace, church or with the people in their small group. Through doing so, churches develop a culture and regular rhythm of prayer while providing a prayer “covering” over geographic areas.
Go to www.worldprays.org for more INFO or to sign up,
#4 Prayer for People Groups
Adopt an unreached people group for prayer and mission outreach. There are 4700 people groups on earth that have less than one believer per thousand people. They will remain unreached and cut off from Christ’s Gospel unless churches and prayer groups pave the way by adopting them for regular intercessory prayer. Focused prayer for the unreached is a strategy of the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers and prepare the hearts of these people who otherwise wouldn’t hear the gospel. Provided are resources to help you or your church find a people group to adopt or to guide how to pray for the least reached. You can sign up to adopt and unreached people group at this website! http://joshuaproject.net Also, see: https://inheritthenations.net/
#5 GO 2020 Prayer Gatherings - May 1, 2020
And finally, we want to call families, churches, cities and nations to gather on May 1st of 2020 in united prayer gatherings! Would you be willing to mobilize your church or your city to join in prayer with believers worldwide on May 1st in your region, asking God for a massive Christ awakening in the nations of the earth?
In the words of the Moravians call to action for both prayer and mission... “May the Lamb who was slain receive the due reward for his suffering.” -Rev. 5:12
Dr. Jason Hubbard
Tom Victor from The Great Commission Coalition and the IPC Leadership team shares our plans to mobilize children to be "Full Partners" in the Go 2020 Initiative.
Here's our "Simple Strategy" for Kids.
And as you read this, I encourage you to ask God if there are ways you can engage your kids, your grand kids, your neighbors, church or ministry. This could get exciting and you might just change a life - forever!
Go 2020 Kids "Simple Strategy"
1.Kids are invited to make a list of 5 others they want to reach through Go 2020
2.Kids pray over their list using the Prayer Covenant for Children Prayer Points
3.Kids ask God to help them share The Best News Ever with those on their list
4.When other kids (or adults) receive Jesus, kids begin a "Prayer Covenant" with them
5.Kids invite these new believers to make their own list of 5 they want to reach
6.Parents, grandparents, siblings, children's worker and others pray and encourage kids
During a mission conference in May in New York, I shared our "Simple Strategy" with Emma, taking her through the Prayer Covenant for Children and The Best News Ever.
Emma - age 10
Emma is ten and she lives in Asia. When I asked Emma if she thought she could be a Go 2020 Kid, her eyes got big and she said, "Yes, I can do this!" The next day Emma came up to me and shared that she already had three of the five names on her list. She was so excited and kept coming up to talk with me every day.
At that NY conference I also shared with 77 kids about how they could be missionaries and share the Good News with other kids, taking them through The Best News Ever book.
Luke - age 7
Afterwards Luke, age 7, who lives in New York, came up to me and said he wanted to be a Go 2020 Kid. His mother then shared this story. Luke's grandfather was paralyzed and about to be taken off life support in the hospital. But grandpa had not received God's gift of love in Jesus. Luke decided he needed to go to the hospital and read his Bible over his paralyzed grandfather. Then he began to "declare" God's word to his grandfather.
That's when a miracle took place. Luke's grandfather lifted up his paralyzed arms toward heaven, took his last breath and, we believe, entered heaven.
Luke believes God can work through kids - just like him!
Ruth - age 7
My friend Chris heard the stories of Emma and Luke and decided to share about being a Go 2020 Kid with his daughter, Ruth, age 7.
They read The Best News Ever together. As she prayed the prayer in the book, Ruth said she felt God speak to her to apologize to hermother and brother for some bad behavior.
Jonathan, her brother age 3, then asked Ruth to read him The Best News Ever.
Chris shared how Ruth began not only to read to Jonathan, but, because of what she had just experienced with God, when she got tothe "hearing God" part of the book, she started teaching him, "Jonathan, you can pray and ACTUALLY hear God's voice!"
A powerful moment took place when Ruth got to the prayer page to surrender your life to Christ. Jonathan said, "I WANT to pray!" He then shot off the couch and went on his knees. Ruth led him in the prayer to receive Jesus word for word.
Scaling Up To Encourage Children - Everywhere
Last week I was in Colorado with Rick and Becky Olmstead, our new 4 to 14 Window Movement leaders. Becky is the author of The Best News Ever. For three days we worked on plans to make her book available sothat50 million children around the world could become Go 2020 Kids.Imagine 50 million Emmas, Lukes and Ruths!
Rick and Becky were about to go share at a Camp in California with children ages 4 to 11. As we talked about Go 2020 and their book, they decided to revise the end of their camp presentation. Becky would share The Best News Ever book with the children in different age groups.
As she did, of the 550 children attending the camp, 197 prayed to receive Christ for the first time! Wow!
But here's even better news! All of the children were invited to pray and ask God who He wanted them to reach with The Best News Ever. They were told to write one or more names on a cup and bring it forward. Of the 550 children in attendance, 504 wrote one or more names on a cup. That's over a 91% response.
Here's one. . .
While this was happening in California, I was in Colorado Springs talking with ministry leaders about putting The Best News Ever in different formats (both digital and print) as well as languages. Some friends in the Philippines on the Go 2020 Kids journey couldn't wait.
They made photo copies (with permission) and included a page inviting the children to share The Best News Ever with other children.
Meet Rachel from the Philippines. She's one of several who prayed to receive Jesus last week after hearing The Best News Ever. She wrote in her book the date of her "new birth" in Jesus.
Friends,God is opening up amazing doors to mobilize the Go 2020 Kids vision. Several international and domestic trips are planned for the second half of this year. So many churches, ministries, denominations, networks and movements are engaging. But how about you?
Is there one child - or more, that you could empower to be a Go 2020 Kid? Maybe it's your own child or grandchild. Maybe it's someone in your neighborhood or your church. Why don't you pray about who you can "empower" to be "On Mission - With God!"
You might just change their life - forever! You might just change your own!
One Final Story:
Rachel in the Philippines accepted Jesus on June 21 as The Best News Ever was shared with her. Four days later she said these words over breakfast.
"I'm Jesus' daughter. How about you, dad and mom?"
They replied, "We are Jesus' children too."
Rachel said, "Me too. I had a spiritual birthday. I'm born again."
Mom said, "Wow! Yes. You were born again."
Rachel said, "Mom, how about a cake for my spiritual birthday? An angel cake?"
Mom says, "Who could say no to that!"
Final Comment:
We're working on the website to provide access to both the "Simple Strategy" and the "Tool Box" resources to mobilize Go 2020 Kids. But, if you are like our friends in the Philippines and you just can't wait to get started, send me a note and we'll do our best to help you "jump in now!"
Thanks for "dreaming God's dream" with us through your ongoing prayers and support.
Gratefully His and Yours,
Tom Victor – The Great Commission Coalition / IPC Leadership Team
More at www.go2020.world