India: politics, pandemic, pleading for oxygen
07 May 2021
Hospitals rely on daily oxygen deliveries, but they are constantly sending desperate messages for extra supplies. A doctor described the situation: ‘Once you've emptied your main tank, there is nothing to fall back on’. Delhi is running out of cremation space for Covid dead. Pyres burn in families’ gardens. One doctor says hospital patients dying without oxygen prevents him sleeping: ‘I should be concentrating on treating my patients, not running around to get oxygen.’ Many hospitals face the same ordeal. Federal officials reported ‘no shortage of oxygen’, and say the challenge has come from transportation. People are paying a price for political wrangling between the state and federal governments. The price is their life. In November a parliamentary standing committee on health warned of inadequate oxygen supplies and ‘grossly inadequate’ government hospital beds. On 5 May the Supreme Court decided against immediately punishing Indian officials for failing to end an erratic supply. However, significant amounts of oxygen and ventilators are now reaching India from Europe and the USA.
USA: pray for America
07 May 2021
6 May is the National Day of Prayer in the USA. It comes at a complex time in American history, with political division, racial tension and violence, and a global pandemic and its devastating consequences. The deep divisions feel insurmountable. The hurts and griefs seem unresolvable. Many Americans feel powerless. But we serve an all-powerful God. With one word from His mouth, America’s entire spiritual trajectory can be reversed. If a move of God is America’s only hope, then prayer is the most important thing we can do. Pray for a move of the Holy Spirit that replaces national indifference with widespread repentance. Pray for radical love for God and people to heal and unite a divided Church. Pray for godly men and women to take courageous and humble leadership. Pray for vast resources to be leveraged for God’s glory among all nations.
Israel: state inquiry into Meron crush
07 May 2021
45 people were crushed to death and over 150 sustained injuries in Israel’s deadliest civilian disaster when a stampede broke out at a densely-attended celebration. Search and rescue authorities struggled to evacuate trapped people after some revellers slipped on steps, causing dozens more to fall over and be crushed. The police commissioner said the handling of the site was deeply flawed. On 3 May the Knesset held a memorial for the 45 victims of the Meron disaster. Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the special session. He was moved by his hospital visit to the injured, saying that Israelis, Jews and Arabs alike, have shown mutual responsibility and a huge heart in their response to the tragedy. ‘The families are not alone, and this is the most important thing.’ He vowed that the government would help them. and the incident would be investigated from every angle.
Global: fourth week of Ramadan
07 May 2021
Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern and western India are some of the most dangerous places on earth to be a Christian. Over 325 million Muslims call this region home. If anyone chooses to follow Christ, they face intense opposition, even death. However no nation is closed to prayer. No people are outside his reach. And absolutely nothing is impossible with him. Muslims have spent four weeks fasting, praying and doing good deeds to be closer to God. They are looking for assured salvation. Pray for the Holy Spirit to meet their needs and for Jesus to permeate every unreached corner of the nations, including large industrial cities and rural tribal areas (especially in western south Asia). Pray for grace and love to extinguish all unbelief in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Pray for the Christians living in Muslim communities to have the courage to continue to follow Christ regardless of intense persecution and to share God’s grace and love.
17-year-old Hereiti lives on the largest of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. She says the ocean is the ‘lifeblood’ of her community, and that when it is ‘healthy’, the people are too. But she worries that rising sea levels and pollution are threatening the health of the ocean. ‘Life Below Water’ is goal 14 of the UN’s sustainable development goals, a set of targets announced in 2015 to transform lives around the world by 2030. The UN wants to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, and significantly reduce marine pollution by 2025. In 2015, world leaders agreed to 17 global goals (officially known as the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs). Five years on, there is more work than ever to do. Reaching these goals has the power to create a better world by 2030, through ending poverty, fighting inequality, and addressing the urgency of climate change. See
Burkina Faso: more attacks generate more fear
07 May 2021
The army in Burkina Faso needs to contain spreading violence by al-Qaeda and IS. More than thirty men, women, and children were killed by 100 rebels burning down homes and shooting people trying to escape. Survivors are praying for peace and are very afraid. One week earlier two Spanish journalists and an Irish conservationist were killed, and a soldier went missing when an anti-poaching patrol was ambushed by rebels. Another 18 people were killed in a different village. Last year the government enlisted volunteer militiamen to help the army, but they incurred retaliation by the rebels attacking them and the communities they helped. Armed groups have driven religious and ethnic tensions between farming and herding communities in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to boost recruitment among marginalised communities. The UN said worsening violence has led to one of the world’s most acute humanitarian crises.
China: Early Rain Church’s continued persecution
07 May 2021
Two and a half years after Chinese authorities arrested Pastor Wang Yi and over a hundred members of Early Rain Church, the congregation is still being harassed for following Christ. Last November elder Yangquan Li was detained for worshiping online from his home; local officials cut off his utilities and internet service. His landlord was also forced to evict him and his family, and they are now closely monitored by police. They are asking Christians to pray for them and for the church. ‘We pray that we depend on God when we lack, because apart from Him we have no good thing’, Yangquan said. ‘We pray God makes us put our trust in Him at this difficult time. We pray the Holy Spirit fills us to respond to our situation with gentleness and respect.’ Despite ongoing persecution, our Christian brothers and sisters in China continue to share the gospel with their neighbours.
We are pleased to bring you the May edition of IPC Connections.
As we write this introduction, several of us have just arrived at International House of Prayer, Kansas City who are hosting World Prayer Together on Saturday 1st May. This 2-hour online prayer and worship gathering launches GO Month, and includes prayers for the unreached across China, India and the Middle East.
The event is being led by a group of highly respected prayer ministry leaders from around the world and is being broadcast from IHOPKC and GODTV globally at 7.30pm in each region.
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Join World Prayer Together | GO PRAY
Saturday May 1st at 7.30pm in your region:
CLICK HERE 7.30PM SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
CLICK HERE 7.30PM DELHI, ASIA
CLICK HERE 7.30PM LONDON, EUROPE
CLICK HERE 7.30PM JHB, AFRICA
CLICK HERE 7.30PM NEW YORK, USA
Click your nearest city link above to Watch for free online
Also watch on Digital TV + GODTV APP
View on YouTube anytime from 7.30pm (UTC+1) May 1st
ABOUT US | PRAYER GUIDE | DONATE | FLYER | GO MONTH
May 1st will be English language. The event will be re-broadcast
online in multiple languages on May 7th at 12:00HRS UTC.
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Full details follow below and at www.worldprayertogether.com
In his Editorial article this month, Dr Jason Hubbard shares how the prayers and lifestyles of an eighteenth-century migrant community affected the shape of world mission with such an impact that they still inspire and encourage the Church today? Read this inspiring story about the Moravians below.
We continue our series of introductions to the IPC Council members with a profile of our friend and colleague, Onassis Jeevaraj. Onassis is based in Chennai, India and has been with IPC since 2005. He is an Exec Team member who also leads and represents IPC in South Asia. He is a humble and gracious man of God with immense giftings. Do read his testimony.
India is very much in the news at present. We have all seen in the news the shocking and desperate situation that their health services are facing in the light of the overwhelming number of covid cases that are reaching out to them for medical treatment. We are sharing below a prayer report from Rev George Henman from Delhi which can be echoed by our colleague, Onassis and many of our other contacts in India. They very much need our prayers and our practical / financial help at this time.
Whilst there is encouraging news in terms of the development and rolling out of the covid vaccine, the covid-19 pandemic has impacted many areas of life. We are highlighting a few of those impacts in this edition of Connections.
Thank you for continuing to partner with us in mobilising and informing united prayer across nations, denominations, movements, and generations for the fulfilment of the Great Commission.
May we express grateful thanks to Andy Page and the IPC Editorial Team who put this email together each month.
We hope you can join us on the World Prayer Together programme Saturday!
Every blessing,
Jason Hubbard - Director
International Prayer Connect
Please use this link if you would like to sow into IPC’s ministry with a donation
Disclaimer…
The views and opinions expressed in IPC Connections and the articles on our website are those of individuals and our partner organisations. They do not necessarily represent the policies or views of IPC or its individual leaders.
We aim to respect the diversity within the prayer movement and yet embrace our unified calling to mobilise prayer for the nations. (2 Chron 7:14) If you wish to discuss the appropriateness of any articles, please contact us.