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Last Sunday Christians from inside and outside Japan asked Christians globally to pray ‘with Japan’ asking if mercy can triumph one more time over justice and to bring the current situation before God from a place of national repentance and a capitulation of its leaders before the King of Kings. According to leaders in society, business and politics, the Church, as it is, has next to no voice nor influence in the Japanese society. As intercessors however we have huge privileges and can and should pray for repentance and forgiveness, asking God to shorten the days of tribulation (Mark 13:20) and stand in the gap for a nation that God is calling back to himself. This would mark a historic chance for a new beginning, and could be the beginning of liberating the nation of Japan to stepping into the historic role. Pray: for a spiritual reconstruction based on the foundations of the Kingdom of God.(Ex.34:17)
Workers briefly entered Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant measuring radiation levels and checking damage as they attempt to bring the reactors to a stable, cold shutdown by January. It was the first time anyone had entered reactor two building. There are signs that damage to the nuclear plant was worse than initially thought. Radioactive runoff has leaked from dousing operations into the sea causing 620 fishermen to halt fishing and demand damage payment. However from May 20th, fishermen will begin harvesting seaweed for public consumption from the 12-mile territorial waters. Greenpeace research indicates a significant risk that this seaweed will be highly contaminated as they have detected radiation far above legal limits in seaweed 40 miles off Fukushima nuclear plant and are calling on Japan's government to undertake comprehensive radiation testing of seaweed along the Fukushima coast. See:
Pray: for God in His mercy to minimise the ongoing repercussions from this disaster. (Ps.86:8-9)
On Wednesday Japan's nuclear regulator upgraded the rating of a leak of radiation-contaminated water from a tank at its tsunami-wrecked nuclear plant to a ‘serious incident’ on an international scale and castigated the plant operator for failing to catch the problem earlier. The 300-ton (300,000-litre, 80,000-gallon) leak probably began a month and a half before it was discovered - exposure levels among patrolling staff started to increase in early July. The regulator said there is a much larger on-going problem of massive amounts of contaminated ground water reaching the sea that cannot be rated under the IAEA's International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale because it is unknown exactly how much ground water is escaping, how contaminated it is and what effect it is having on the sea and marine products.
Pray: for honest and honourable appraisals of this latest challenge to the containing contaminated of waste from land and sea. Pray for wise and effective measures to be implemented. (Pr.4:13-14)
More: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/japanese-regulator-raises-alert-nuclear-leaks-20089403
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama announced his resignation after eight months in office, citing a broken campaign promise regarding the removal of a western military base from Okinawa to be the reason for his resignation. With parliamentary elections scheduled for July, Hatoyama ‘faced growing pressure from his own party to step down.’ The escalation of tensions between North and South Korea were among the reasons Hatoyama listed for keeping the base. He said shutting it down would only further destabilize the region. Hatoyama is the fourth Japanese prime minister to resign from office in just four years.
Pray: that hearts will turn from national instability to matters of eternity, and for God to establish leaders to guide Japan with integrity and humility. (Ecc.3:11 & Dan.2:21)
On March 14th four ‘Christian Relief, Assistance, Support, and Hope’ teams (CRASH) travelled to set up six relief team base camps in the earthquake zone. CRASH works with leaders in each area to ensure the relief camps are safe places through which volunteer teams can operate effectively distributing fresh fruit, butane stoves, diapers, baby milk, etc. Missionary Phillip Foxwell recently returned from working in Takayama where he grew up and spoke of the disaster, ‘All I can say is there is devastation beyond anything I've ever even imagined. Absolutely every single building is wiped out. The situation is so much worse than the news broadcasts. It’s like a warzone and I can’t wrap my head around it.’ CRASH teams in the area who are talking with people and praying for and with them said, ‘We pray for them and by blessing them we’ve been blessed more than we can imagine.’ Pray: for CRASH Japan volunteers and other Christian agencies as they identify pressing needs and mobilize teams in each area. (Ps.112:4) More: http://crashjapan.com/
Earlier this year post-disaster Tokyo pastor Jonathan Wilson urged ‘outward-looking’ missions to reach Japanese for Christ. Christian leaders call Japan ‘a hard soil to plant the Gospel.’ We can pray for Japan to become good soil that will eagerly receive the Good News of Jesus Christ (Mat.13:23). The Japanese continue to see Christianity as a Western religion. We can pray for the Church in Japan to add more Japanese culture and hymns to its worship services (Ps.117:1-2). This week Japan's prime minister appealed to the international community to help fix the on-going crisis at its damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. We can pray for the Christian Believers who are still engaged in relief efforts and ministry more than two years after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. (1 Cor.15:58) The following link will lead you to some of the many Churches ministering in Japan’s hard spiritual ground:- http://across.co.nz/churches.Japan.html and http://win1040.com/page.php?id=558 will aid informed intercession.
Pray: for God to pour out his anointing for evangelism on Christians working in Japan. Pray also for agencies to know God’s strategies on how to reach the nation. (Pr.24:3-4)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/10359894/Japan-asks-international-community-to-helpsolve-Fukushima-crisis.html
Japanese geologists calculated that Friday 11th March’s earthquake shifted the Earth’s axis by 10cm. an American source quoted in Reuters said it threw the earth off its axis point by at least 8 centimeters.
The power of the earthquake caused the shape of the country's coastline to change and the landmass we know as Japan moved by between 2.5 and 3 meters sideways in the ocean. The 24 hour day of the 11th March was increased by minutes.
Sources: BBC Radio 4 and BBC Website
A prophecy given at a Swanwick Prayer Conference on Wednesday 9th March - three days before the earthquake.
'As God revealed His Name in the Old Testament, He is revealing Himself today.
God will quickly change the character in a nation.
As in the days of Noah, I can change landscapes quickly.
The gun battles in Kingston to capture Jamaican drug lord Christopher ‘Dukas’ Coke are similar to Mexico's long war on its drug lords. See Mexico drug baron Leaders in both countries had to make courageous decisions when they decided to confront the most powerful drug lords with guns and the rule of law. They also decided to send their worst drug lords to the United States for trial. This takes tremendous courage. The drug gangs are tightly woven into each nation's politics, a co-existence ending up badly for the country, as Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding now admits. When he turned against established drug lord ‘Dudus’, the battle turned parts of Kingston into a war zone, as street battles are necessary for cleansing Jamaican society.
Pray: for a complete cleansing of Kingston, no longer labelled one of the murder capitals of the world, but called a city of blessings. (Pr.11:11) More: http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Editorial-Board-Blog/2010/0525/Jamaica-attacks-like-Mexico-s-drug-war-reveal-a-brave-stand-against-drug-lords
As Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara is officially inaugurated in front of heads of state from around the world, Oxfam warned of more than 300,000 people displaced from their homes within the country and in neighbouring Liberia being in ‘dire’ need of assistance because the conflict in the months following the presidential election triggered a severe humanitarian crisis with only 35 per cent of the UN's appeals for funds being met. The shortfall in donors amounts to a funding gap of $200 million. In neighbouring Liberia, between 200 and 400 refugees continue to arrive daily from the Ivory Coast, yet the response is only 44 per cent funded.
Pray: for funding to be released so that agencies can meet the needs of the displaced in Liberia and Ivory Coast. (Deut.25:4)
Archbishop Jean-Pierre Kutwa of Abidjan said shootings have reduced but it is a disquieting calm and very tense. People are barricaded in their homes, some without water, electricity or food as they await the finale to the battle in an indescribable tragedy. Internationally recognised President Alassane Ouattara needs to take over the presidential palace and the national radio and television network headquarters. The local Church feels, ‘Without control of these three structures Ouattara cannot establish himself in the eyes of Ivorians as the legitimate authority of the Country.’ It is reported that both sides have recruited mercenaries and militias to fight the past months battles. Pray: for all weapons and missiles to be laid down by state-run military and hired foreign militia. (Ps.118:17)