On paper, Mr Obama should have been in trouble. He became the first president to achieve re-election since FDR with an unemployment rate of 7.9 per cent. A swathe of statewide ballots culminated in US states supporting legalizing marijuana for recreational use, allowing gay marriage and rejecting a call to ban public funding for abortions. These moves were decided among more than 170 ballot initiatives and referendums held across the country. The upsides of Mr Obama's victory ensures the survival of healthcare reform bringing the US more or less into line with other rich countries providing guaranteed coverage, if and when implemented, for all their citizens; and American foreign policy will be in the hands of a leader of proven cool and sound judgement, who no longer has to worry about his next election. Mitt Romney urged his supporters to set aside partisan differences and Barack Obama also stated his desire to work with Mitt Romney to take the country forward.

Pray: the President to have a united government that will successfully implement solutions to the challenges ahead.(Eph.4:3)

More: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/obama-wins-four-more-years-as-romney-challenge-is-crushed-8289578.html

Last week a tornado outbreak of 440 warnings in five states killed 39 people and completely flattened whole townships. Meteorologists say this only comes along once every 10 or 20 years. The Salvation Army has sent in Emergency Disaster Service teams from nearby New Albany to the badly damaged town of Henryville in Clark County, where mobile canteens have been set up. Another team is providing food for 200 people at the Red Cross shelter in Charlestown. In Washington County, they are providing food for nearly 400 victims. The Salvation Army is assessing what's needed and providing support to the victims of these storms, and believe they will be meeting needs for a long time.’ Father Schaftlein in Henryville, a town severely affected said, ‘Although the response to provide help to those people affected has been significant, sustaining that outreach over the course of several months will be vital.'

Pray: for excellent communication between the various service providers, enabling swift, successful and appropriate aid wherever it is needed. (Php.4:19)

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/salvation.army.aids.tornadoaffected.communities/29423.htm

Congress is divided amid warnings of dangers to the world economy. The financial crisis deepened after President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner accused one another of failing to negotiate to avert an unprecedented debt default early next week. Chiefs of the International Monetary Fund and credit rating agencies such as Standard & Poor's and Moody's warned they will downgrade the United States' top credit rating if an agreement isn't reached by Tuesday. Also on Tuesday the Arab League will meet in Cairo at the request of President Mahmoud Abbas due to a funding crisis causing them to be unable to pay employees salaries. A funding crisis crippling the West Bank government is due to pledged aid by the Arab League not materializing. PA staff receive half-pay until funds arrive, if the crisis continues the government will take additional austerity measures. See http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/07/2011726172640853156.html

Pray: for God to give his wisdom to the nations who have chosen to spend beyond their means. (Pr.21:1)

More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/07/2011726172640853156.html

The wives of the British and German ambassadors to the United Nations have written an open letter to the wife of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad, asking her to call for peace in her country. In the unusual move Sheila Lyall Grant, wife of British ambassador Sir Mark Lyall Grant and Huberta Voss Wittig, wife of German ambassador Peter Wittig, made the letter into a short video and posted it on YouTube, urging women all over the world to sign a change.org petition strongly encouraging Asma al-Assad ‘stand up for peace - for the sake of your people’. ‘We are asking Asma Assad to take a risk and to say openly, ‘stop the bloodshed, stop it right now,’ Lyall Grant and Vos Wittig said.

Pray: pray this may go viral and that the voice of millions will be heard and acted upon for the sake of the Syrian people. (Ps.9:16: 11:7)

More: http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16210802

66,000 Congolese refugees have crossed into Uganda in recent days, following fighting between Ugandan rebel group Allied Democratic Forces and the Democratic Republic of Congo's national army. Their arrival has left the Ugandan government and humanitarian agencies struggling to meet the refugees' needs.The UN Refugee Agency in Uganda said, ‘We don't have the infrastructure to support this huge influx of this scale in an area where we didn't have a presence in the past.’ Uganda already hosts more than 200,000 refugees and asylum seekers, over 60% of whom are from DRC. The refugees are in dire need of water, health supplies, sanitation, and shelter. On July 15th the UN delivered enough food for 20,000 people for five days. More food is expected to arrive. Uganda's military has beefed up security at the DRC-Uganda border to ensure ADF rebels do not infiltrate the country. More refugees are on the way.

Pray: for the villages and transit centres and for NGO-ministries in the area to know God’s provision and protection. (Is.16.3b)

More: http://www.irinnews.org/report/98417/uganda-unprepared-for-influx-of-drc-refugees

A Ugandan pastor, who was the victim of an acid attack by Muslims, told International Christian Concern (ICC) that he doesn’t hate his Muslim attackers and wants them to believe in Jesus Christ. ‘My message to my attackers is simple, I hold no grudge against them. They wished me death but I wish them life today and forever in Christ Jesus our Lord,’ said Pastor Umar Mulinde in his statement to ICC. Pastor Mulinde was a Muslim leader before he converted to Christianity and started a church. He successfully brought many Muslims to Christ and openly opposed the call for Sharia law in Uganda. He was attacked last Christmas and is currently receiving medical care in Israel. Pastor Umar’s message to Christians around the world warned of the danger of radical Islam, ‘The vision of Islam is all about world dominance and no country should think itself to be safe from radical Islam.’

Pray: for the persecuted Church in Africa and the Middle East to experience God's provision (Ps.17:8-9) and to be able to forgive those who hate them. (Lk.6:27-31)

More: http://blog.godreports.com/2012/08/pastor-hit-with-acid-attack-forgives-muslim-attackers/#more-2001

Fishing communities in Uganda do not have adequate access to life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), posing a possible setback to the country’s fight against HIV, new statistics reveal. As of June 2012, just 15 percent of 6,225 fisher folk - considered one of the country’s most at-risk populations - in need of ARVs were receiving it, according to the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) in its annual review of the Uganda National AIDS Strategic Plan. Officials blamed low literacy among this segment of the population as well as the remoteness and inaccessibility of the islands where many of them are found. ‘Our HIV intervention among the fishing community in Uganda remains low and a big challenge. Most of these people stay in islands, which are hard-to-reach areas. Most of the islands lack health facilities,’ Peter Kyambade, most-at-risk populations coordinator at the Ministry of Health, told IRIN/PlusNews.

Pray: that the authorities will find the necessary funding to reach these remote fishing communities. (3Jn.1:2)

More: http://www.plusnews.org/Report/96894/UGANDA-Fishing-communities-missing-out-on-HIV-treatment