In the traditional calendar, “All Saints Day” and “All Souls Day” stand out in the month of November, set apart to remember the saints of the church and the souls of those who departed this world. It is fitting, then, that the modern church has set apart the month of November to remember and pray for the persecuted church, through the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP).

There are many countries in the world today where Christians are martyred for their faith. Believers in Afghanistan are facing death threats; Christians in Uzbekistan, Nigeria and many other countries all around the world face violence, imprisonment and even death. There are other places in the world such as North Korea where acts of persecution take  place, but we don’t see or hear of it. Brother Andrew of Open Doors once said, “Our heroes are not with us simply because they are in prison.”

IDOP is a time set apart for us to remember thousands of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who suffer persecution, simply because they confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

We invite you to explore this website (www.idop.org) and hope you will join Christians worldwide in praying for persecuted Christians in November. Please note that while Sunday, November 13 (Sunday, November 6 in the UK and Ireland) is the designated date for IDOP, you are free to choose another date if you wish. See their resources that can be downloaded from this website to help your prayer group or congregation pray in an informed manner: www.idop.org
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Join a Worldwide Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Christians

More than 25 pastors are killed in Colombia every year, simply because they lead churches. Right now, there are over 2,000 Christians in prison in Eritrea, just because they are Christians. In Iran, Pastor Nadarkhani is facing execution for apostasy (abandoning Islam).

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

On 6 November 2011, there will be an International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). It is a special opportunity for the global Church to unite in prayer, raising up situations just like the ones above.
http://www.csw.org.uk/pray

The Global Day of Worship (GDW) is a call for a unified, global worship movement to see the name of Jesus Christ lifted up throughout the earth. It will be a day that will unify many denominations within the body of Christ while embracing and celebrating the differences in our expressions of love for Jesus Christ. Through a unified celebration and adoration of the name of Jesus, the world will see that we are His disciples.

Join us on November 11, 2011 – from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in each time zone – for a wave of worship and adoration that will span the globe and unite all believers as one body. Utilizing 24 time zones, we will agree with and join the 24 elders, spoken of in Revelation 4, who are already worshiping Jesus around the throne. It is when the worship of heaven meets the worship of earth that spiritual climates of nations will shift as we serve faithfully here and now in preparation for His return.

There will be a huge coordinated day of prayer and repentance for the national transformation of Egypt. Let’s pray with our brothers and sisters in Christ there for His breakthrough in their situation. Lord, have mercy and bring deliverance as only you can!

Please keep praying for the WPA! 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.

In early November, it was my honor and privilege to take part for the second time in an ongoing joint prayer/action initiative between Mexico and the USA called Dos Naciones, Un Proyecto (Two Nations, One Project) aimed at bringing an end to three awful scourges afflicting both nation - drugs, violence and human trafficking. Both times, groups of American Christian leaders have ventured down to Mexico City to meet with President Calderon and other public figures as well as with local Christian leaders and intercessors in an effort to bring God’s deliverance to this critical and tragic situation affecting both sides of our border.

It has been a great blessing and honor to meet with President Calderon and Alexander Poire who provides leadership to the government in the areas of national security and intelligence. We have been helpfully briefed and also encouraged to do all we can on our side of the border to end the flow of illegal weapons, especially assault weapons like the AK-47, that since 2004 have been freely available through U.S. gun shops and shows to drug criminals from Mexico who use them to assassinate public officials, military and police as well as those from competing cartels and many innocent people caught in the crossfire.

70% of such destructive weapons have been traced to the USA. Consequently, over 45,000 people have lost their lives over the last 5 years in this mindless violence that we as Americans bear a great responsibility for since our government lifted the ban on assault weapons and has allowed the flow of such destructive weapons into Mexico. Local police are simply outgunned by the much better equipped criminal cartel members who seek to take over whole communities and subject them to their rule of organized crime.

President Calderon is a very admirable, intelligent and committed Christian who seeks the Lord through daily Bible reading and prayer. He has also asked us to pray for God’s solution, realizing that without His help through prayer, there can be no real transformation of the horror that is the current drug war, including the related phenomenon of human trafficking, that his nation is battling.

Each time we have gone down to Mexico, we have also engaged in an all-out prayer gathering with several thousand on-fire believers the final evening of our stay. These have been powerful, moving times of united intercession that we believe God has used to bring about the arrest of 21 of the most wanted 37 drug lords. Of course, He works through the public authorities, military and police efforts which have been enormously beefed up by the Calderon government; however, it is clear from both Scripture and history that the Lord requires prayer by human partners for His intervention into human affairs. This is the awesome privilege and responsibility we have as those who stand between heaven and earth as His intercessors.

John Wesley, the great revivalist/reformer of 18th century England, based on his experience of seeing his nation saved from the bloody revolution that engulfed France at about the same time, affirmed from his experience that “God does nothing on earth apart from believing prayer.” He saw that we as God’s children are also His regents on earth, expected to pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Much as He turned Israel’s enemies into confused fighting against one another, so, I believe, He is causing these wicked, ruthless cartels to fight it out among themselves, so that they are weakened and defeated.

Transformation is a process that is dependent on our ongoing, specific prayer about particular issues. God loves us to be specific, united and continual in our focus (see for example Isaiah 62:1-8, Luke 18:1-). Praise God that we are now seeing signs of His deliverance and shalom coming upon Mexico! The economy is growing at over 5% per year in the midst of worldwide recession. Almost all Mexicans are now covered with universal health care, and all will be very soon. Thousands of schools and open spaces have been made safe for children, with recreational programs to prevent them from being lured into the cartels’ grip.

We were so impressed to hear how the Calderon administration has worked perseveringly in many sectors of society to bring sustainable development as well as doing all they can to build up the federal police and military to interdict drug shipments. New laws have been passed and the constitution reformed to prosecute those who engage in human trafficking. Young women and children who have been kidnapped, raped and trafficked around Mexico and across the border into the USA are being rescued and given new hope through the efforts of Rosi Orozco, an outstanding Christian congresswoman and leader of these anti-human trafficking efforts. She and her husband Alejandro Orozco also lead the Dos Naciones project.

Please pray for the following:
1)    For President Calderon and his administration (including Orozcos) and others), during this final year of his administration that they will see God’s peace and healing will come fully upon Mexico through their efforts.
2)    That they will see full deliverance from the scourge of drugs, arms and human trafficking.
3)    That God will give them wise and effective strategies to prevail against the criminal cartels and that these cartels will collapse, dissolve and their leaders will be brought to swift justice. (See attached list of remaining cartel leaders that we need to focus our prayers on.)
4)    Pray also that the U.S. Congress and other public officials will be sensitized to our responsibility as good neighbors to do all we can to effectively work with the Mexican government and specifically to re-implement the ban on assault weapons and ensure their flow to Mexico is cut off.
5)    That the Lord’s hand will be upon the current presidential election campaign, preventing corrupt and wicked people from coming to power and raising up someone of integrity and honesty to carry on the excellent work of the Calderon administration.

Thanks so much for continuing with us on this journey of prayer for the deliverance of Mexico.

Please pray:

•    “By Name” for the exposure and removal of these remaining “most wanted” cartel leaders.
•    Strategic success and protection of the Mexican and US military and law enforcement.
•    Disruption and dismantling of all drug trafficking routes and seizure of all illegal drugs.
•    For God to capture the hearts of these cartel leaders and turn their live around.
(We agree in prayer with the many family members who are interceding for these cartel leaders to come to salvation in Christ Jesus.)

Thanks to the Bridgebuilders Leadership Network This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for supplying this information.

This is an international call to protest on December 9th, 2011, 63rd anniversary of the United Nations Genocide Convention which North Korea is violating in every possible way (For more information, please see “North Korea and the Genocide Convention”:
http://hir.harvard.edu/north-korea-and-the-genocide-movement).
 
Please organize protests and hunger strikes in front of DPRK/PRC/UN offices (or other location), and let us know about your demonstration at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..


A starving North Korean refugee.
http://www.northkoreanrefugees.com/refugee-pix.html

Confirmed Protests So Far:

New York City, United States
12:00 pm: Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan, silent march to DPRK Mission to the UN
1:00pm: Demonstration at DPRK Mission to the UN
Speech by North Korean Defector Activist Ji Seong Ho (President of NAUH)
Event Coordinator: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For Interviews, contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Seoul, Republic of Korea
3:00pm ~ 4:00pm: Demonstration at Seoul Station Plaza
4:00pm ~ 5:00pm: March to UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees)
7:30pm ~ 8:30pm: Candlelight rally in Seoul Plaza
Event Coordinator: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Berlin, Germany
3:00pm ~ 6:00pm: Demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate
Event Coordinator: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Tokyo, Japan
12:00pm ~ 12:50pm Demonstration at Hachiko Square in Shibuya, Tokyo
1:30pm: Demonstration at Chongryon
Event Coordinator: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
London, UK
1:00pm ~ 3:00pm Demonstration at North Korea Embassy
Event Coordinator: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

There are three main objectives of these international protests on December 9, 2011:
1)    To bring unprecedented pressure upon not only the NK regime but the international community to meaningfully address the horrific crimes being perpetuated systematically.
2)    To influence and awaken global public opinion to the real, genocidal nature of the NK regime.
3)    To create a watershed movement for the liberation of NK itself.

LETTER OF DEMANDS TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
(to be read at the protests):

To the Leaders of Korea, America, China, Russia, Japan, the United Nations and the Entire International Community,

We Refuse to Allow the North Korean Genocide to Continue Any Longer. Over 4,000,000 Innocent North Koreans have been Murdered by Kim Jong-Il’s regime since 1995, and an estimated 1,000,000 North Koreans have been Murdered as a result of Slave Labor, Rape, Torture, Starvation and Execution in North Korea’s Political Concentration Camps. The Very Existence of these Concentration Camps makes the North Korean State Illegal, Illegitimate, and Criminal, and Demands The Immediate Intervention of the International Community.

Our Demands, based upon the foundation of International Law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are as follows:
1)    The Immediate and Total Liberation of All North Korean Political Concentration Camps
2)    Compensation and Re-imbursement to All North Korean Victims of Slavery, Starvation, Torture, All Concentration Camp Survivors and Their Families for Immeasurable Loss and Suffering
3)    The Immediate Stepping Down from Power of Kim Jong-Il and North Korea’s Leaders
4)    Prosecution of Kim Jong-il, Kim Yong-nam, Chang Sung-taek and All Individuals Responsible for Commissioning or Carrying Out Acts of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
5)    Through the Guidance and Oversight of a Coalition of North Korean Refugee Leaders and Human Rights Activists, in Partnership with President Lee Myung Bak and the International Community, WE DEMAND THE LIBERATION AND REBUILDING OF NORTH KOREA BASED UPON THE FOUNDATION OF ENSURING AND GUARANTEEING WITHOUT FAIL THE HUMAN RIGHTS AND SAFETY OF EVERY NORTH KOREAN INDIVIDUAL ACCORDING TO THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, WHICH WAS COMPOSED TO PREVENT THE ATROCITIES OF NAZI GERMANY FROM EVER OCCURRING AGAIN. WE, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, HAVE ALL FAILED TO KEEP OUR PROMISE AND UPHOLD INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND MOST MISERABLY IN THE CASE OF NORTH KOREA.

From This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please pray for the success of these public demonstrations for North Korea and its suffering people.

Lord God,
I pray that you bless all of the protestors in Seoul, New York, Berlin, Tokyo and London and all other regions. We ask that December 9th you will do a great miracle to liberate the North Korean people. Please heal all those who have suffered so much because of Kim Jong-il’s evil regime. We ask that you open North Korea now. Please heal Mr. Park and all of the North Koreans who have suffered torture and lost everything. We ask that you will do a miracle. Thank you for this incredible work and miracle in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Prayer submitted by Rita Vasquez

This is an inspiring music video with lyrics composed by Simon Ådahl from Sweden and sung by him and his brother, Frank. Please listen with your heart, pray for Korea and share it with others.