It was in 2006 that I understood in a new way, the promise children hold. The occasion was the Transform World Summit in India’s Bihar State, where 170 leaders representing 17 different tracks met to consider “Bihar.” For most who had gathered then, Bihar was termed the graveyard of missions and was referred to as the core of the core of the core of the 10/40 Window. 100 million population, 66% illiteracy rate, 35USD per capita income, 45,000 villages where 90% of the population lived and where 52% of all children under-5 were malnourished. Bihar needed help!
However, it was when a group of young orphan and destitute girls no older than ten, sang for us one evening that something special occurred. As they sang, God’s spirit moved upon the congregation, as conviction fell on the audience – their love for God, their dependence on the heavenly Father, their purity and sincerity all were evident. Spontaneously the majority of the congregation found themselves on their faces before the Lord in acts of repentance, renewed commitment and dedication. For several global leaders who had gathered from several nations of the world, this was a turning point. It was a turning point for me too.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matt 19:14)
Kathmandu, Nepal
From August 28-31, 2012, eighty-four servant catalysts representing six South Asian countries gathered to learn, plan, pray and serve together the 4/14 generation in South Asia. Six tracks including Media, Holistic Child Development, Ministry to Children, Government, Generation Y and Family served all participants including several visitors who also joined the sessions. World Without Orphans (WWO), Children in Prayer, Literature and National Facilitation Team (NFT) facilitators served the entire group.
The Call and Context
In the list of the top 10 countries in the world with children in this age group of 4 to 14, fall the three South Asian countries of India (248m children), Pakistan (38m children) and Bangladesh (36 m children). South Asia therefore assumes critical significance in this missional focus on children and her often desperate needs. The top 10 countries world-wide have a collective population of over 700m children vs. the 1.2billion of the world (58%) and together are larger by 16% of all other countries of the world put together. 1 out of every 4 of the world’s 4/14’ers are therefore from South Asia. The chart given below provides a deeper understanding of the areas of the world where the 4/14’ers reside.
322 million of the world’s 1.2 billion children reside in 3 South Asian countries alone
Foundational Assumptions
The focus of the 4/14 window initiative is to make an urgent appeal to consider the strategic importance and potential of the 1.2 billion children and youth. It is a plea to the Church to open hearts and minds to the idea of reaching and raising up a new generation from within that vast group—a generation that can experience personal transformation and can be mobilized as agents for transformation throughout the world. The vision and hope is therefore to maximize their transformational impact while they are young, and to mobilize them for continuing impact for the rest of their lives.
Jesus had an intense interest in children. He brought back to life three people, two of whom were children. He encouraged children to come to Him, and He used them as an Illustration of Simple Trust In Him. His interest in children is seen in His taking them in His arms and blessing them (Mark 10:13-16). Thus to neglect children is to run counter to what the Bible says about them.
Luis Bush says, “This requires that we become acutely aware of what is taking place in their lives. We must also endeavor to understand their nature and the essential means to nurture them. Only with this kind of informed awareness will we be able to reach them, shape them, and raise them up to transform the world.
“There are more than 1000 verses in the Bible to children”, says Dan Brewster, who also comments “that children play a significant role in the unfolding of the message of the Bible that God loves and protects them; that they are extremely perceptive in understanding the things of God; and that God often deploys them as His messengers and models – often it seems when adults may have been too corrupt and deaf to His calling…
Conclusion
The synergy developed in this South Asian region of the world is promising. The event served to be catalytic in nature, building strong inter-personal relationships towards jointly focusing on common challenges across national borders. The commitment expressed towards intentionally serving those in the 4/14 window in various states and nations through a variety of ministries was heart-warming to hear...It can be concluded that as the result of this conference, several dozen strategic ministry partnerships have been forged to serve multiple thousands of 4/14 in each South Asian country. It can also be inferred that as a result of this gathering, a key leadership group has been set in place to serve the 4/14 with greater focus, vision and commitment.
“Let the New Wave of His Glory Fill the Earth!”
The World Prayer Assembly will be a “new paradigm” for an international congress of ministry and marketplace leaders. It will be an Acts 13-type encounter with the living God who longs to reveal Himself to those who are listening and wanting to implement His strategies for “prayer-action” that will revive and transform our world. Five early church leaders at Antioch gave the Lord opportunity to speak and the result was the launch of the mission movement to the Gentiles that brought the Good News of Jesus Christ to Europe and eventually around the world, changing human history more than any movement ever. What will happen when 5000+ leaders gather in Jakarta to do the same? We believe it will be a “new wave” of His glory bringing revival and transformation to the nations as the Spirit of the Lord through the global prayer movement, joining with the mission and marketplace movements, rises up like a mighty spiritual tsunami and flows back across the nations!
There will be many internationally known men and women of God as well as many prayer, mission and marketplace networks from around the world. Some heads of state and other political officials should be coming also. However, we are not gathering around great human personalities or important networks and organizations, but to seek the Lord of all the earth, the majestic God of glory, wisdom and love, to hear from Him directly. His presence will be the main draw because we are convinced that He will speak if we give Him opportunity to do so. Every presentation will be brief and given to facilitate prayerful encounter with God around that particular issue so that we hear back from Him and get His assignments for us corporately and personally.
The WPA will be tri-generational. One-third of the participants will be under age 30 for the leaders’ day sessions and 40,000 youth and children will participate in the May 17 national stadium event that will unite many millions of praying people within Indonesia and worldwide. Youth and children will be co-leaders of the WPA along with the adults. God often uses the youngest and least known to convey His most important messages and we need to listen. As we partner with the younger generations and encourage them to share leadership, the Lord will raise up many new Josephs, Daniels, Samuels, Esthers, and Deborahs that will do exploits for Him in generations to come.
There will be approximately 40 2-hour track sessions on various international issues, models of ministry and social spheres in which participants will caucus according to their own choice and ministry calling to hear updates on what is happening in that particular arena of concern. They will then seek God with others who share their same passion for His strategies of “prayer- action” for the transformation of that issue or sphere.
The atmosphere of the WPA will be characterized by openness to God and others from diverse traditions and movements within the Body of Christ. We will meet in fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer in John 17 for true heart-unity within His Body. It will be a time of listening to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and sharing what we believe the Lord is saying. It will, therefore, be a kind of international prophetic council (Jer. 23: 18) so there will be a special Listening Team of intercessors who will seek to discern and evaluate each word that is given by God according to Scripture’s admonition (I Cor. 14).
The WPA will be saturated with prayer in many different formats and styles- personal, contemplative, pairs, triplets, small groups, as well as all together in plenary led by adults, youth and/or children from the platform, etc. We want to be open to the richness of what the Spirit is doing and saying throughout the Body of Christ, not foolishly thinking that our way of understanding and practice is necessarily the only right way.
It will be an adventure of learning from the Lord and one another, watching Him do His wonders among us as we enthrone Him and submit ourselves in His presence to the guidance of His Spirit and Word.
Welcome to the World Prayer Assembly! Welcome to a time of encounter with the Lord that we believe He will use to change the future history of His Church and of our world.
John Robb, IPC Chairman
We are in a kairos time in world history. As nations are in uproar, economies in upheaval, social order declining, and times increasingly tumultuous, God is beckoning His church to advance His Kingdom. In response, Transform World is convening a "Transform World Global Challenge Summit" November 6-9 in Indonesia. Under the Lord's guidance, anointing, and directions, 7 critical challenges facing the body of Christ will be discussed with focused visionary mobilization and engagement of the 7 spheres/mountains of cultural influence from all regions of the world. The convening will catalyze and launch a 7 year concentration on these challenges with intentional inclusion of the 4/14 window and next generation. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated for all those sacrificing their time to come. The 7 challenges and spheres are as follows:
1. Ideological challenge: Issues surrounding Islamic fundamentalism
2. Family Challenge: Focus on Christian marriage and the family with a call to integrity, purity, and witness
3. Orphan Challenge: Focus on care for the orphans with a view to world without orphans
4. Poverty Challenge: Reviewing poverty lines globally with a focus on availability of basic needs among the poorest communities in the world
5. Human Rights Challenge: Promote human rights against actions that violate and are contrary to human dignity
6. Christ’s Missional Challenge: Reaching unreached people groups
7. Celebration Challenge: Identifying, connecting, and encouraging 24/7 houses of prayer and praise to God in every nation
7 Spheres of Culture
1. Arts
2. Business/marketplace
3. Church
4. Delivery of Media
5. Education
6. Family
7. Government
Prayer focus for the summit: (We would covet your prayers…even fasting, for all those attending this strategic summit)
• Planning strategy and Participants: For those being called to prepare to build and connect with creative and effectual strategies
o Pray for hearts willing to connect and build with each other
o Pray for humility to gird and build with one another
o Participants anointed for wisdom, revelation, and agreement towards effectual visionary strategies and mobilization
• Provision for those coming particularly for funding
o Financial provision for travel (very important!)
o Spiritual provision/insight for strategy for each of the challenges and spheres for Kingdom advance
o Wisdom for implementing strategy for the summit and coming years
• Protection: Pray particularly for protection over health and finances.
o For all participants, their families, and ministries: health, jobs, relationships (Psalm 91)
On behalf of “Transform World Global Challenges” and all participants:
Djohan Handojo, Chairman
Luis Bush, International Facilitator
Iman Santoso, Servant Catalyst
Fred and Susan Rowe, Transform World “Celebration” Challenge Facilitators
Thank you so much for your prayer that we had very great dedication program. Almost 160 pastors and leaders came and prayed for House of Prayer and dedicated it on God's hands. We were anointed for national leadership for House of Prayer. Senior pastor Dr. Mangalman Maharjan did it through the power of Holy Spirit. We are so much happy that God is doing in Nepal
The 'Children and Praying Together Course' (link below) has been established to help children learn to pray and to help parents and grandparents pray for their children / grandchildren. It includes helping children to understand their spiritual heart and provides suggestions for encouraging children to pray. In addition, the course offers help to parents in how to pray for their children using scripture.
http://www.praynetwork.org/groups/group/show?groupUrl=children-and-prayer-course&
The 'Praying Together Course' is an interactive course designed to help people grow in prayer and their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The course challenges one to move forward in prayer and relationship with the Lord, and it encourages joining together with others in prayer. Scriptures are used to encourage prayer and the course examines issues affecting prayer and joining with others in prayer.
Things continue to be very difficult in North Korea. In fact, so many things are causing problems from government policy to the weather that people are speaking out and complaining as never before. A recent trip to China by Jang Sung Thaek, Kim Jong Un's uncle and right hand man, far from bring better economic news (as had been hoped) has resulted in major increases in the exchange rate as people hoard Chinese money. Even the national security forces are having a hard time feeding themselves and the situation in North Korea's bread basket region of Hwanghae Do is particularly dire as flooding followed drought. Many news reports casually mention people starving to death. To make matters worse, Kim Jong Un's new economic measures include seizing private fields that people were allowed to create following the famines of the late '90s. It is these private fields attached to homes and on steep hillsides that have actually provided a significant amount of food for the overall economy in recent years. Farmers are very upset. The government's response to all this is to put in place price controls that will only aggravate the situation and prove ineffective. At the same time, the Supreme People's Assembly meets and makes some decisions about compulsory education but not a word about the economy. What the government is doing is selling gold from its reserves to raise cash needed to replace that spent on the Kim Il Sung 100th anniversary celebrations and failed missile launch. In the face of growing famine and flood devastation, South Korea offered aid but it was rejected as not what was wanted.
The reality is such that defections have been increasing including a single group of twenty who fled in September. The number of street kids or kkotjebi (swallows) as they are called, is increasing as well. Many of these homeless children cross the border and make their way eventually to refugee camps. There are some 400 North Korean kids without parents in South Korea. Pray especially for these children. They need food, health care, stability and a safe place to grow up. They need homes.
The annual Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue was just held in China. North Korea and its nuclear program were the main topic of discussion. This is an ongoing attempt to get world leaders discussing real issues in the region. We pray that these meetings and others like them bear positive fruit.
Ben Torrey,
Director
The Fourth River Project, Inc.
www.thefourthriver.org
Journalist: US Policy Must Aim to End North Korean Regime
Melanie Kirkpatrick, former deputy editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal and author of the new book Escape from North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia’s Underground Railroad, says the United States isn’t taking a tough enough stance on North Korea. “We can’t work with them and we shouldn’t pretend that we can,” she told LIGNET managing editor Fred Fleitz this week in a televised interview. Official U.S. policy, she says, should be “the downfall of the Kim family regime” and the unification of the Koreas. Also, she says, the United States should publicly denounce China for its policy of arresting North Korean refugees and sending them back to face life in prison, or worse.
From: LIGNET <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Let’s continue to agree in prayer for a new day for North Korea and for His liberation of its longsuffering people and especially its children. Pray for the reunification of the two Koreas.
Kindly note the prayer mobilization for US Elections in India.
Mobilization of Election Prayer – 4000 Church Networks (Min. of 50 People in a Church for 40 days)
Mobilization of FMPB Prayer Groups – 5000 Prayer gps (Min. of 15-20 per group) across India.
Mobilization in Standing in the Gap Prayer – 10 Districts (Min. of 5000 people) in Prayer Rallies (12 hours Prayer)
From: Onassis Jeevaraj, India National Prayer Network (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Please join in prayer for the right leaders for the USA in this most crucial election in our history which will also deeply affect the rest of the world.
Christians are being beaten and threatened in several places in Pakistan. The majority is making false blames of blasphemy against them, and they are being put in jail. One boy has been murdered in Essanagri and today I am going to share the message in his memorial service where thousands will attend this meeting.
One of the Christian Scholars who is the 2nd person after me doing nearly the same work as I am doing has been threatened and fanatics made firings at his house. In Lahore openly Christians are being threatened and being asked to embrace Islam. The situation is very critical and it is dangerous for me too because I am the one who came out of them and then preaching to them. So I need your prayer support as well. Thanks for already being on your knees. It seems that Pakistan will be broken into pieces soon. Too much violence is here. So we need encouragement in this tough time. God bless you and use you for the betterment of Christians here in Pakistan.
Brother David
"We went through the fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance" (Psalm 66:12)
Please uphold our brothers and sisters in Christ in Pakistan who are enduring a very difficult and dangerous time in their nation’s history. Agree in prayer for the binding of spiritual forces of darkness and death that want to destroy this nation and for the overthrow of fanatical groups that are being used by these forces. Pray for the government to take a strong stand to protect the minorities, including especially Christ’s people.
Key Players in Pakistan's Tribal Belt: Update
North Waziristan in Pakistan has become a haven for militants. Tribal and local intelligence sources say some 15,000 militants shelter in this semiautonomous tribal belt. A number of Taliban leaders and others have been killed in drone strikes; however they have a refuge along the border inside Pakistan and from there they continue to mount attacks on Afghan and Coalition forces inside Afghanistan, keeping that nation in perpetual war and instability. It is essential that we pray before the foreign forces are withdrawn in 2014 that the Taliban will dissolve and be defeated and that the Pakistani government will aggressively combat them, not allowing them any more safe-haven in their country.
A friend who with a great burden to pray for these two countries, wrote: “Two weeks ago in one of our prayer meetings the Lord reminded us that he told us clearly in 2001 that we must proclaim “Taliban-time is over” and we faithfully did it and there was a powerful anointing on us when we did this. ..The message was: “spring time is coming”…And the Taliban regime began to crumble. In 2002, so many Christians came into the country and it looked like the Taliban movement was over but it was not destroyed. It regrouped and came back again and now it has become a powerful force that even NATO admitted that they can’t win this war. … We feel that we must proclaim again what the Lord told us at that time and also the other scriptures that the Lord gave us like Ps 37.
Also the word was given to us clearly about King Joash coming to Elisha and he told the king to strike the ground and he did it only 3 times and stopped. Then the man of God became angry with him. You know the story, he should have struck five or six times 2 King 13.18 ff. We did the same, proclaimed for a while and then we stopped. This word came clearly to us and we repented, also on behalf of others that have just turned away from the land and thought “it was done”. Let’s proclaim again and strike the ground again. It is not too late even though in the natural things look like a big disaster coming... The key is also to pray against the demon powers that rule over and through the Pashtun. About 20 Christian workers were lost in the last 6 – 7 years, and all were killed by Pashtun.
Many times the Lord spoke to us to pray against these demonic alliances like between the Pakistan government/army and certain Taliban groups, Haqqaanis, Gulbadin and Al Qaeda. These groups work together and build a strong unity against the government of Afghanistan… This needs to be broken.
Let’s pray also that their power would be broken. That the people themselves would stand up against the Taliban and say: enough!! This happened in a few areas and may it become a movement. Pray that many Pashtun Tribal leaders would stand up and turn against the Taliban. God can do it. As quick as this movement came the Lord can cause it to die out. We must specially pray for that…
More workers are needed for the Pashtun and also in general. Many workers have left and organisations pulled out. We need strong people that know how to stand against such pressures and know how to pray. Also that many of the Pashtun would come to the Lord and they would see signs and miracles and many visions and dreams. Keep praying against lawlessness and for real peace and security in Pakistan.
The situation in Pakistan is getting worse almost on a daily basis. Al Qaeda and the Taliban are carrying out more and more activities, with a weapon of fear, in an effort to bring down the country. Fanatics are also using this weapon of fear and using every way possible to force people to their way of thinking. The blasphemy law (misuse of the Koran with its death sentence) is being falsely used against Muslims and Christians. Most recently against a young Christian girl in the capital city (Rimsha Masih). It was an effort by the fanatics to see how far they can go.
Pakistan elections are formally to take place next February. The government that will most likely be next is promising Muslim law. Unrest is everywhere. A change of government usually takes place through discord and fightings in an effort to close down the government and businesses. Parties who are trying to seek leadership often do so by bringing discord and nasty demonstrations.
PRAY now for these elections, for the spirit of fear to be broken: Government, fanatics, Taliban, Al Qaeda. The world is afraid of one Iranian nuclear bomb being made. Pakistan has hundreds of these bombs. May they not fall into the wrong hands.