The U.S. National Prayer Committee announces the release of its new magazine, Prayer Connect. “Can Prayer Save America?” is the timely theme of the premiere issue, which will release the week of July 4. Orders are being taken now at www.prayershop.org. Click on “Prayer Connect Magazine”. (if you want to use a hot link directly to the product page of the issue, use this URL:
http://www.prayershop.org/Can-Prayer-Save-America-p/pcm-0711-mg-001.htm
Your prayer support will be all-important to the planning of this event which is intended to be a “new paradigm” for an international congress—carried out Acts 13-style—incorporating listening to God, united prayer, and strategic implementation of world-impacting action that proceeds out of that encounter with the Lord and one another.
Prayer Concerns:
1. Please pray for the eight planning task forces: Program, Logistics, Mobilization (including the Media Strategy Group), Finance, Registration/Website, Youth, Children, and Prayer Support. We need to be led of the Lord, given His creative, anointed ideas, and to all do our work diligently, joyfully, and unitedly.
2. This will not be just another prayer conference. The word “world” adds a great deal of complexity and challenge to the planning process since we hope to have 5000-7000 ministry leaders from all 220 nations. Please pray for excellent organization on the part of the Indonesians and Koreans who are co-hosting the event, for the International Coordination Team, and for the right people from every nation to hear about the WPA and be able to come to Jakarta for it.
3. The WPA Concert of Prayer in Indonesia this year on May 17, 2011. This will also serve as preparation for the WPA that is one year to follow. Please pray for further guidance, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and unity.
4. Some organizers that are key to the WPA process are: the Indonesian and Korean national committees who will co-host the event and the WPA International Coordination Team (14) that provides overall oversight. Please pray for His guidance, protection, and provision for each of us. The spiritual battle, as you can imagine, is intense.
Here are the two Scripture passages that have particularly inspired us in arranging the WPA:
• The Church Becoming United—that all followers of Christ may be one so that the world may believe. (John 17:20-26)
• Our World Being Transformed—that “the earth may be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea”. (Hab. 2:14)
Thanks so much for your gracious help through prayer that will mean so much, not just to those of us doing the planning and organizing, but also to our world that will be affected by the World Prayer Assembly.
Please also help us get word of the WPA out to “ministry leaders of influence” who will represent the “seven mountains” of society (Arts/Media, Business/Marketplace, Church, Development of the Poor, Education, Family, and Government) who should be part of the WPA. Again, for more information, please have them see www.wpa2012.org where they can also register their interest in participating.
You have an opportunity to shape history by participating in the World Prayer Assembly!
WPA 2012 will be a “new wave” to strategically connect and empower the global prayer and mission movements as 5000-6000 Christian leaders from up to 220 nations join with the Lord and each other through united prayer, leading to Spirit-inspired action to transform our world. It is being arranged and co-hosted by leaders of the Indonesian and Korean prayer movements, two of the most powerful prayer forces in the world, with the support of international prayer networks such as the International Prayer Council and the Global Day of Prayer.
The ultimate goal of the World Prayer Assembly is two-fold: to see the knowledge of the glory of the Lord filling the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14) and the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer that His followers become one so the world will know He is its Creator and Savior (John 17:21).
WPA 2012 will learn from and build upon what the Body of Christ has experienced through the worldwide explosion of prayer efforts since the last International Prayer Assembly (Korea,1984), by linking together prayer, mission and marketplace ministries from all church traditions, denominations and social spheres. In the spirit of Acts 13, together we will seek to hear from the Lord of the Church His plans to engage and direct the global prayer movement, so that every nation, city and rural area throughout the world becomes filled with ongoing intercession and Spirit-inspired action until His Kingdom’s values are fully manifested there.
Prayer networks and ministries worldwide will meet with those who are prayerfully working for transformation in all spheres of society such as government, education, business/marketplace, arts and media. Ministry leaders will learn from one another and plan new strategies. They will coordinate their efforts to advance world evangelization and the reaching of the unreached, ignite spiritual revival of the Church, as well as champion social justice and humanitarian efforts- so that His glory will fill the earth.
WPA 2012 will also encourage and launch the next generation to become cutting-edge leaders for Christ’s global prayer and mission movement, as children and youth take their positions as equal partners in helping to lead it.
In fulfillment of Jesus prayer in John 17, the WPA will unite a large proportion of Christ’s Body to cry out to God for breakthrough in the urgent issues of our time. On May 17 evening, during the WPA, 100,000 believers of all denominations, including 20,000 trained child intercessors, will gather in the national stadium of Jakarta for a massive prayer meeting. It will be linked live to 200 cities of Indonesia where there will be similar gatherings estimated at 2 million. Combining with the Global Day of Prayer broadcast through satellite TV, tens of millions of additional people will take part from other parts of the world, uniting their prayers to shape the history of our world!
For more information about the World Prayer Assembly or to register your interest in participating, please see the website at www.wpa2012.org or write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Over 11 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the newly formed Republic of South Sudan have been left in need of food, water and emergency healthcare. The U.N. calls it “the worst drought for 60 years), and it is this severe drought that has forced thousands of people to flee their homes and cross their country’s borders in search of aid. Southern Somalia is already experiencing famine – the first for 19 years – and unless the international community acts quickly, it may spread to the rest of the country within months. “We still do not have all the resources for food, clean water, shelter and health services to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Somalis in desperate need,” said Marke Bowden, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia.
The long-running conflict in Somalia has made it very difficult and dangerous for aid agencies to operate inside the country, complicating the crisis. Al-Shabaab, an Islamist insurgent group linked to al Qaeda, has recently once again banned international relief efforts, making it impossible for food agencies to help those most at risk.
From an article by Bryony Jones, CNN
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/22/what-has-caused-the-east-africa-crisis/
Please pray for a lifting of this ban by Al-Shabaab and for the resumption of effective relief efforts where they are most needed. Pray for the rescue of those in the region who need food, water and emergency healthcare and that the international community will be moved to take quick and appropriate action.
A special opportunity to focus prayer on a region of the world that is home to:
• the majority of the world’s Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists
• the majority of the world’s least-reached people groups
• the poorest of the poor (more than eight of every 10 impoverished people)
• 45 of the 50 nations where Christians are most persecuted
WHEN? The first Sunday of every October. This year, 10/40 Window Sunday will be celebrated on Sunday, October 2.
WHERE? In your home, with your small group, at church…. Anywhere Christians gather to seek the Lord.
WHY? Because the 10/40 Window is the “final frontier” of world missions. In order to finish the task given to the Church, we need to pray!
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you….” – The Bible, Matthew 28:19,20
HOW? Mark Sunday, October 2 on your calendar. Tell your friends, family, small group, pastor…. Plan to join with Window International Network and countless Christians around the globe in interceding for the 10/40 Window.
You don’t have to wait until October. Start praying today! Go to www.WIN1040.com for nation profiles, prayer points, and to learn about how you can get involved in reaching the people of the 10/40 Window.
This September 19-21, several hundred local church leaders, supported by 50 international prayer leaders and intercessors, will gather in Seoul for a special prayer initiative—PINK (Prayer Initiative for North Korea). Goals as mapped out by the Korean organizers are: 1) To see real breakthroughs in the critical issues on North Korea; 2) As one of the stepping stones for the World Prayer Assembly—to connect various prayer networks before WPA and to receive strategies on global prayer issues; 3) To build up ongoing national and regional prayer networks in East Asia. If you are in prayer ministry and are interested to participate, please let our office know.
Robert Park, a Christian human rights activist who was imprisoned for three months last year by the Pyongyang regime, has repeatedly called for concerted prayer and action for the liberation of North Korea. In his April 20, 2011 article in the Washington Post, Park calls on the international community to stop the “genocide” that has been occurring in North Korea. This is also a call to prayer for God’s deliverance since Scripture encourages us to intercede for His transformation of nations. As one theologian has affirmed, “history belongs to the intercessors” (Walter Wink). Let us fervently pray with faith-filled expectation during these months leading up to September’s initiative, trusting the Lord to bring real change inside this deeply oppressed nation.
Here are a few excerpts from Park’s provocative article that should move our hearts to care and intercede:
“Holocaust” is the word used to describe the systematic extermination of millions of innocent European Jews during World War II. In the aftermath of this mammoth failure of humanity, many nations “repented” and declared that “never again” would such inhumanity and absolute disregard for human dignity and life be tolerated.
Yet on Jan. 1, the regime of Kim Jong Il warned that a “nuclear holocaust” would be inevitable if South Korea engaged the North in war. While the world watches peoples in the Middle East and North Africa rise up against tyranny, another people suffers on the Korean Peninsula. And that Pyongyang so irreverently invoked this term to describe its so-called necessary defence is a stark reminder of the genocidal and inhumane nature of Kim Jong Il’s regime and the atrocities it has committed against millions of innocents.
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, called on the international community in 2004 to investigate “political genocide” in North Korea. In response to reports of “North Korea’s use of gas chambers to murder and perform medical experiments on political dissidents and their families” and the “chilling image of the murderers coolly watching their victims’ death agonies...all too reminiscent of Nazi barbarism,” the group’s chairman, Avner Shalev, wrote to then-U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan that “the issue is all the more severe due to North Korea’s status as a member of the U.N.”
“An estimated 1 million innocent men, women and children have been murdered in North Korean political concentration camps since 1972, academics believe. Virtually nothing has been done to speed the closure of these camps since 2004, though the testimony of tens of thousands of refugees provides mounting evidence of crimes against humanity and genocide.
Outside observers and nongovernmental organizations estimate that 3.5 million North Koreans died of starvation between 1995 and 1997. They continue to die in huge numbers in a government-organized famine akin to the Holodomor famine-genocide in Ukraine (1932-33), which was orchestrated by Joseph Stalin. Billions in humanitarian aid have been shipped to North Korea, more than enough to feed the nation’s population, but government and academic studies have revealed that North Korea systematically diverted the aid, using it to bolster its military might while millions, for whom the aid was intended, starved to death. “
“North Korea has been considered the world’s worst persecutor of Christians for many years by objective
researchers of religious persecution such as Open Doors and Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Soon Ok Lee, one of the few survivors of the North Korean concentration camp system, has testified before Congress and later told MSNBC that “since the Korean War—in Korea they call it June 25 War—the No. 1 enemy is God. Kim Il Sung hated God most.”
It is common knowledge among refugees and people who follow North Korea that those discovered to have any kind of faith or religious belief—and their families, to three generations—are executed or sent to concentration camps for life. This constitutes genocide under Article 2 of the convention; consequently, the world has not only the moral duty but also the legal right and obligation, under Article 8, to intervene.”
Please pray with us for the liberation of North Korea and for the effective planning and success of this crucial initiative!
Zetas cartel founder Jesus Enrique Rejo Aguilar and Pedro Ortega Herrera were arrested Sunday. “Mexican authorities said Monday that they had arrested a Zetas drug cartel leader who was connected with the killing of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent this year. Federal police captured Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar, known as "El Mamito," Sunday, a top official with the agency said.
Rejon is suspected of being behind numerous deaths in northeastern Mexico, where the Zetas have been engaged in a turf battle with their former allies, the Gulf Cartel. He is also "connected to the attack against agents" of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that killed Agent Jaime Zapata in February, a statement from Mexico's public safety secretary said. Mexican authorities called Rejon "one of the leaders and founders of the Zetas criminal organization." They said he was the third most powerful leader of the drug cartel, which was created by deserters of the Mexican Army's elite forces.
Rejon is also being investigated for the deaths of dozens of Central and South American migrants whose bodies where found in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas at a ranch just 100 miles south of the U.S. border. His arrest was called "a triumph for the Mexican government.”
By Rafael Romo, Senior Latin American Affairs Editor, CNN
July 4, 2011
Late breaking news from CNN on July 25 says that over 1000 involved in human trafficking have been arrested in Juarez and 20 young women were rescued from their grip. President Calderon has given Mexico's Congress 180 days to approve a new nationwide human trafficking law that will greatly streamline how authorities handle such cases across the country”. With increasing frequency, he said, criminal organizations that ship and sell drugs and weapons have added human trafficking to their repertoire. "There are thousands and thousands of cases, in a society that is still unaware of the seriousness of this crime," he said. "We have to break through this curtain ... that is hiding from the Mexicans a criminal reality that is in front of us."
Mexican President Felipe Calderon
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/07/25/mexico.human.trafficking/
Praise God for these wonderful answers to prayer and please keep praying for the arrest of drug and human trafficking criminals and the overthrow of this horrific crime against women and children.
Pray for President Felipe Calderon, his colleagues and officials that they will be given God’s wisdom and protection as they fight this battle with terrible evil. May they experience victory after victory until Mexico is fully delivered!
Bridgebuilders Prayer Network from Arizona reports the following answers to prayer in the Mexican drug war. Praise God for His intervention as we pray!
Praises!:
• Mexico’s federal police have caught the top hitman for the Knight Templar drug gang in the western state of Michoacan, authorities said Wednesday.
• Also in Michoacan, authorities announced the seizure of 44 metric tons of chemicals used to produce methamphetamine.
• Mexican solders found the largest marijuana plantation ever detected in Meixo, a huge field covering almost 300 acres (120 hectares), the Defense Department said Thursday. The plantation is four times larger than the second biggest marijuana fields ever found by authorities.
• Pinal county deputies seized more than 1,800 pounds of marijuana in the Vekol Valley, a well-known smuggling corridor. The marijuana had a street value of more than $1 million.”
They ask our continued prayer for the following issues:
Pray:
• For officials to see the plans of the smugglers with new eyes. May they be alert to all situations and not become complacent in their watching.
• For freedom from drug addiction so there will be no need to supply the demand.
• Especially for the young people to not be drawn into this lifestyle.