As massive public protests sweep across the Middle East, North Africa, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Iran – many are being met with violent government crackdowns.
Pray for God’s provision to be in place as change comes to the regions.
Pray for God’s wisdom in every decision made at this time.
Libya - At a crossroads
Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi, 38,the son of Moammar Gadhafi warned that the country faces civil war and ‘rivers of blood’. Several cities, including Libya's second most populous Benghazi have fallen to demonstrators following the defection of some army units. The International Federation for Human Rights put the Libyan death toll at 300 to 400.
Media watchers are saying, ‘If reforms are not agreed we will be mourning thousands not hundreds’, and ‘The mindset of a dictator is hard to change’.
Pray for Gadhafi to be levelheaded and prudently choose an immediate and gracious stand down of all aggressive actions against his people.
British energy giant BP is preparing to evacuate some staff from Libya, which holds Africa's biggest oil reserves. Oil prices have soared since the turmoil.
Pray that financial interests in the regions’ oil reserves will not influence global governments’ attitudes and proposals in this crisis.
A privately-run Libyan newspaper reported that the country's justice minister had resigned and had sided with the protesters. He said he is trying to ‘organize good things in all cities.' He also said that key cities near Libya's border with Egypt were now in the hands of the protesters, which he said would enable foreign media to now enter the country.
Pray for God to raise up many people within Libya to work towards a peaceful resolution.
Bahrain - Calling for reform, democracy and respect for human rights
Heavily armed riot police surrounded thousands of demonstrators sleeping in the central square in the nation’s capital. Without warning they fired tear gas and concussion grenades into the crowd of pro-democracy activists that included women and children. The Associated Press reports four people were killed and hundreds beaten or suffocated by tear gas. Bahrain’s main Shia opposition group called the storming of the central square by police ‘real terrorism’. The local hospitals need blood donors to enable them to cope with so many who have lost blood. People are also bleeding in the streets.
Pray that governments and international organisations voice their condemnation, regardless of the hidden international agendas of finance.
Tunisia and Egypt
A rolling rebellion continues to unfold across North Africa and the Middle East, often amid violent repression by state security forces.
Pray - for the dust of dissent to settle quickly and that every change would be a righteous change that ushers in justice and grace for the King of Glory in previously closed or difficult areas.
More: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=361893
More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/2011221133557377576.html
More: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/empire/2011/02/20112211027266463.html
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=361893
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/2011221133557377576.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/empire/2011/02/20112211027266463.html