This month's deadly attacks on the Afghan Parliament and foreign embassies in Kabul showed the determination of the Haqqani network to resist diplomatic efforts to bring about a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan and instead step up violence to hasten the withdrawal of NATO forces. The attacks also raise serious questions about the way ahead in Afghanistan a month before a crucial NATO meeting that President Obama will host in Chicago on May 20 and 21.
Pray for the break-up and overthrow of this evil group and that the authorities in both Pakistan and Afghanistan can bring them to justice.
Chuck Colson, known worldwide for founding Prison Fellowship and several other ministry outreaches, has gone home to be with the Lord.
Intercessors for America at one point in our history shared office space with Prison Fellowship in Reston, VA. Intercessors for America laments the passing of Chuck Colson and will miss his wonderful insights into the world as to how Christians should decipher world events and be salt and light in a world that needs Jesus. IFA's Executive Chairman of the Board John D. Beckett hosted a memorable interview with Chuck Colson a few years back entitled LIVING THE GOSPEL/DEFENDING THE TRUTH where they addressed the topics of Biblical Worldview, Islam vs. Christianity, the Role of the Church in this Society, the Role of Democracy, and the War on Terror among other subjects.
On March 31, the 80-year-old Colson had surgery for a pool of blood on the surface of his brain. In the days following surgery, he seemed to improve slightly each day but took a turn for the worse late Tuesday (April 17). Family members were called to his bedside. He passed away Saturday afternoon shortly after 3:00 p.m. (Eastern) at a northern Virginia hospital.
In a tribute by Dr. Michael Milton with Reformed Theological Seminary he says, "Chuck Colson was truly a new man. His life forever will be remembered, not in a legacy of political intrigue, but with a legacy of new life in Jesus Christ that overflowed to the world with a robust intellect and dynamic message lived out in a heart of deep, demonstrable compassion. Yet the new life that transforms old legacies of shame into legacies of faithfulness is available to all who call, like Chuck, on the name of Jesus Christ in repentance and faith."
Pray for Chuck's family and for Prison Fellowship Ministries. Give thanks to the Lord for a wonderful testimony in a life redeemed by the hand of God. Please keep the prisoners that Chuck left behind in your prayers as the Lord leads.
"And he did not permit him but said to him, 'Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.'"(Mark 5:19)
Thanks so much for your strong prayers for the WPA. It was an awesome time in the presence of the Lord that we believe is sending out the “New Wave” of His Spirit through the prayers of the 9000 participants from 86 nations and the millions of those who also took part on May 17 in 378 cities of Indonesia and around the world through satellite TV and Internet. You can see the plenary sessions on the WPA website www.wpa2012.org under "media" and also the May 17 stadium event will be rebroadcast this Sunday, May 27, as part of the Global Day of Prayer.
May we ask you to give thanks to the Lord and also continue this journey in prayer with us and to intercede for the following things as we all move forward into the coming season:
1. Give thanks to the Lord for all the magnificent things He did among us. His presence was so strong and enabled many, many connections and outcomes for His Kingdom as prayer, mission, marketplace leaders along with youth and children met to seek His face and pray for our world last week in Jakarta.
2. Give thanks for the Indonesian national committee and pray for their continued unity, humility and good working relationship so that the My Home Project (Indonesians adopting their streets, offices, schools, etc. for prayer and loving action to neighbours and colleagues) will prosper and spread to all the islands, cities and towns of the nation and around the world.
3. Pray for all 9000 participants as they return home that the fire of His Spirit will continue to be upon them and that they will be carriers of His glory, implementing what He has given them to do for their own families, towns and nations.
4. Pray for this great tsunami of the Spirit, a new Pentecost, to sweep over all nations, bringing His revival and transformation in ways we cannot even imagine as people catch the vision of united prayer and the actions that flow from it in mission and the marketplace. We are already getting some initial reports about this happening, praise God!
May the Lord bless and encourage you that He has answered and will answer all our prayer.
Yours in Christ,
John Robb
For the International Coordination Team
The World Prayer Assembly was an awesome time in the presence of the Lord. There was such a canopy of His peace and grace over everything due to the strong prayers of the Indonesian intercessors and others around the world who were covering this once-in-a-generation event. Even our glitches in organizing it were covered by His glory, and things just went so well in spite of twice as many coming as were originally expected – 9,000 came, and 2,000 were on the waiting list to get in.
God by His Spirit was working so many agendas in the lives of those who took part that it is impossible to recount all that happened or was reported. So many said their lives and ministries would never be the same. We have received encouraging reports from a number of nations as participants have begun to implement strategies of prayer mobilization and other actions that they were inspired to undertake during the WPA. Praise God for all He did and continues to do through this gathering!
Thanks so much for your strong prayers for the WPA. We believe that the "New Wave" of His Spirit is flowing out to the nations through the prayers of the participants from 86 nations and the millions of those who also took part on May 17 in 378 cities of Indonesia and around the world through satellite TV and Internet. You can now see all the plenary sessions and the sensational May 17 event with 100,000 in Jakarta’s national stadium on the WPA website www.wpa2012.org under "Media".
Here are some reflections from two of our International Coordination Team who helped provide leadership for different aspects of the WPA. In the articles that follow, you will get a feel for some of the many high points that colleagues of mine have described.
The World Prayer Assembly in Indonesia in May was the most significant international pray gathering I have ever been part of. It was truly tri-generational (Abrahams, Isaacs and Jacobs), multi-ethnic and global. Between 9,000 and 10,000 participants from 86 nations attended the Assembly.
Each morning and evening, we had plenary sessions, and each afternoon, there were two two-hour Track sessions on various aspects of the global prayer and ministry spheres, including politics, business, media, health, poverty, etc.
On 17th May, we joined with 100,000 Indonesians at their national stadium for five hours of prayer, praise and worship. This was satellited to 386 locations across Indonesia, involving a conservative estimate of 3.7 million people, and was broadcast through God TV around the world. Much of this was spectacular!
We were based at the Sentul City International Convention & Prayer Centre with an auditorium for 15,000 people. Next door, there is a 12-storey tower, the top storey of which is designated for prayer. Twenty-four-hour prayer took place whilst we were there and continues throughout the year. Every time I looked in there, hundreds were praying. This is one of the many hundreds throughout Indonesia.
Sentul City is a city in transformation, having been already declared corruption-free through the prayers of God’s children.
Everything was twice as large as anticipated and planned for. The Indonesians were overwhelmed logistically, yet managed to provide for everyone – an amazing accomplishment. Even so, over 2,000 applicants had to be refused!
There was tangible evidence of the Presence of God in the gatherings with accompanying signs. The impact is already being experienced around the world with testimonies coming in of the way God has blessed and is blessing the participants.
Five-hundred children formed the Children’s Prayer Track, and nearly 20,000 children participated in the stadium event. A 15-year-old girl told her story of how the prayers of the children over a three-year period had brought about the change of her neighbourhood with brothels closing and the area being cleaned up. Children led the praying one evening, and at our final session, they came with a rose for the adults and to pray with them as well.
Over 2,000 were under the age of 35. Each lunchtime was spent with senior leaders (including me) – they questioned us about our lives and influences. And one evening they also led the whole Assembly in praying for issues on their hearts. They pleaded with us older ones to “run with us” – don’t pass the baton and then abandon us”. They asked me publically to lead in repentance prayer and then be involved with other leaders in washing the feet of some of the young people. You can imagine how moving this was.
Large delegations came from S. Korea and from China. The Koreans, who hosted the first International Prayer Assembly in Seoul in 1984, jointly hosted this one with the Indonesians. There was a wonderful blend of honour, respect and appreciation. For most of the Chinese, this was the first international gathering they had ever been at. Those from China that I prayed with (maybe 100 in all) were deeply touched by God’s Spirit. The same was happening through the other leaders, too.
A wave of prayer is undoubtedly building. China is establishing 6,000 houses of prayer – they call them “Walls of Prayer”. One ministry alone has seen a 726% increase in the numbers of people coming to Christ in the past 7 years compared to the previous 7 years – ever since they started to emphasise prayer with their “prayer walls” (I am talking about 51 million people). Together with towers of prayer (in Indonesia) and 24/7 houses of prayer around the world, there is an exponential acceleration of the kingdom of God taking place in those nations pursuing this vision.
There is an amazing spiritual harvest being reaped in many parts of the world. Through the Internet alone, over 75,000 people per day are praying to receive Christ. Last year, 150 million people read the Gospel on the web, and over 19 million prayed to receive Christ. That is only one part of the story – the real picture is bigger still!
One well-known leader described this as the most pivotal week of his entire ministry. There were some fantastic worship times, led by international musicians, and plenty of praying in different ways. We had an excellent media team producing videos to stimulate prayer and recording everything that took place. We praise God for the many blessings flowing from this Assembly all over the world. Most of the plenary sessions and the whole of the stadium prayer rally are already available and can be viewed on the website www.wpa2012.org.
It was an awesome time, the fruit of which will be echoing around the world in the coming years.
1. It was such a blessing for the Chinese to have the biggest group of more than 600 participants among the internationals to attend this historical event of the WPA. And there are four generations walking together including many elderly, lots of adults, a group of young people and a number of children. This was made possible also because of the generous sponsorship contributed by John Robb’s 88-year-old dear father especially to the Chinese delegates.
2. Each and every one of those registered from the Mainland was able to go through the immigration without any hindrance in crossing different borders.
3. Participants from China were especially impressed by the unity that can be achieved by gathering 9,000 participants together from 86 nations around the world and the millions of those who also took part on May 17 in 378 cities of Indonesia and around the world through satellite TV and Internet, worshipping and praying passionately to the Lord in the same place, which was still not yet possible in mainland China. It was so blessed to see even different denominations, including the evangelicals, charismatics and the Catholics, standing together in unity for a bigger purpose for the kingdom of God.
4. The 24-7 Prayer Tower was one of the greatest highlights for so many of the participants from HK and China. The Chinese enjoyed so much in staying inside the Prayer Room in worshipping and praying with the Indonesian saints and with the nations in the strong presence of the Lord. One big group even had a very special encounter with the Lord while they prayed overnight there together.
5. A lady pastor from the North Eastern part of China was told to be suddenly “dead” one morning while their group was on the bus to the SICC due to a sudden heart attack. She was found to be breathless and pulseless for 2 hours and was said to be brought to heaven for some time and saw some visions there. She was then “resurrected” after being prayed for by the whole group of participants on that bus. She was discharged from the hospital after a few days of treatment and was able to attend the May 17th Stadium gathering together.
6. Many had physical illness, including respiratory problems and food poisoning in the very hot and humid weather, but God protected us and gave us speedy recovery even when we slept only a few hours a day!
7. Many were highly stirred up by the Holy Spirit, and a new strong hunger for His revival and transformation in their own locality into actions of mission and the marketplace through united prayers was created among the Chinese. Several hundred leaders had also publicly expressed their willingness in their commitment of building Walls of Prayer in their area. Many Chinese also mentioned about the encouragement of knowing that the 24-7 prayer movement is rapidly spreading all over the world, and they want to further commit themselves to multiply Walls of Prayer inside different provinces of China.
8. The young people were very blessed especially by being embraced and prayed for by their previous generations. They were very much encouraged as they came into a new understanding of the significance of inter-generational reconnection. This also motivates them to seriously pray for actions in taking the steps of how to love the children.
9. A rainbow appeared both on the first day in Sentul City before the opening of the WPA as well as on the day on their arrival of return to HK. It was amazing that the majority of the Chinese saw this on the first day, and the delegates from HK not only witnessed this when they returned but also found it to be wonderfully reported in the HK newspaper on May 20th! (http://news.sina.com.hk/news/3/1/1/2667829/1.html) It was such an obvious sign of God’s delight on us as well as this historical even of the WPA.
10. Breakthrough has begun in the NE Asia Region as more than a thousand delegates gathered on that day of regional prayer networking when representatives from Korea (N and S), China, Japan, Mongolia, HK, Taiwan, and Macao reconciled with each other with tears and repentance. Not only pastors and ministry leaders but also youth and market place leaders are beginning to network with each other for the future development of this region.
The Lord is using the prayers of children to shape a new nation in Myanmar (Burma)!
“Here are some pictures taken on May 1, 2012. The multiple denominational children intercession conference was held in Yangon. We were more than 3600 participants (mostly children, their teachers, leaders and pastors) from more than 100 churches and more than 20 orphanages.
We were blessed to receive the visitation of the Holy Spirit while praying.
Thank you so much for your prayer support.
Blessings!
From a local pastor who with his wife helps lead the growing prayer movement
Please see this disturbing message from Juba on the situation in the Nuba Mountains. Right now many people, including children, are facing a life/death situation. Norman Johnson who leads a prayer network for Sudan writes: “May we be moved by the love of Christ to compassion for these people. Please lift them to the Father’s throne of grace and for an outcome for the situation in the Sudan. Pray for the fulfilling of God’s destiny with the nations of Sudan/South Sudan.” He has included this letter from a ministry leader inside Sudan who describes the current conflict and suffering of the people:
Dear Norman,
I have seen what happens when the world turns its back and looks the other way. For 20 years, I have worked in Sudan, helping its people struggle through the horrors of starvation and murderous attacks. During Sudan’s civil war, the people in the south were being butchered. Shocking, it took the deaths of more than 2 million before the world finally called it genocide.
When President George W. Bush came to office, he didn’t look the other way. Instead, he engaged all parties and forced them to sit down to negotiate what we hoped would be an end to the violence. Those discussions resulted in the agreement that led to the independence of South Sudan.
I was in President Omar al-Bashir’s office on the day the International Criminal Court indicted him for war crimes. I pleaded with Mr. Bashir to continue the peace process, explaining that although he could not change what he had done in the past, he could set a new course for his people by working for a lasting peace. Two years later, on July 9, 2011, I was in Juba sitting behind Mr. Bashir as he gave a speech during the Republic of South Sudan’s independence ceremonies. He spoke of peace, but within days, he began to attack his own people in South Kordofan and the upper Blue Nile.
Last week, I traveled to South Kordofan where 800,000 people slowly are being annihilated, victims of ethnic cleansing. According to Mr. Bashir, their only crime is that they are black and they won’t bow to his radical Islamic government. For the past nine months, the world has largely looked the other way with this humanitarian crisis.
The situation is desperate. I personally saw children starving to death last week while in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. All they had to eat were insects, leaves from thorn bushes, roots and tree bark. It is only going to get worse.”
Please pray for an end to the conflict that restarted after some years of peace and the partition of Sudan into two nations. May healing and reconciliation come to these two nations that have so many reasons to cooperate for the betterment of both.