The United States has agreed to station "about 1,000" more military personnel in Poland as the government of the East European country seeks to counter what it perceives as a growing Russian threat.
However, the joint U.S.-Poland declaration signed by President Donald Trump on June 12 stopped short of calling it a permanent presence, potentially easing Kremlin concerns about a larger U.S. military presence near its western border.
Trump earlier in the day said the increase in U.S. forces in Poland could come at the expense of Germany -- whom he criticized for underspending on NATO defense and overspending on Russian gas.
"We would be taking them out of Germany or we would be moving them from another location. It would be no additional troops to Europe," Trump said shortly before reaching the agreement.
The United States has 52,000 troops based in Germany, Trump said. The Pentagon told RFE/RL that the sourcing of the military personnel and other details of the agreement "are still being worked out."
About 4,500 U.S. troops have been stationed in Poland on a rotational basis for the past few years in response to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and Moscow's continued military support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
NATO separately placed about 1,200 troops in Poland in 2017 as part of its efforts to beef up deterrence against Russia in Eastern Europe and recently agreed to invest $269 million to support U.S. forces in the country.
The 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act pledges the alliance to carry out its collective defense without the "additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces." However, the pledge only applied to the "current and foreseeable security environment" at the time.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the June 12 U.S.-Polish agreement was "fully in line with NATO's international commitments."
"When the world changes, we have to adapt to make sure that we can continue to protect all allies," Stoltenberg said in the statement, possibly hinting at Russia's actions in Ukraine.
Poland last year proposed spending as much as $2 billion to host a permanent U.S. armored division, which consists of between 10,000 and 15,000 troops, to strengthen its defense against Russia.
Russia, which occupied part of Poland under the tsars, "is again showing its imperial face" by its actions in Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda said at the joint press conference with Trump.
According to the agreement, the U.S. military will expand its "enduring presence" in Poland by about 1,000 personnel "in the near-term." Poland will finance that expanded presence as well as additional military infrastructure, including a U.S. divisional headquarters.
Russia could seek to build up its military presence in the exclave of Kaliningrad in response, former U.S. Army Europe commander Lieutenant General Ben Hodges told RFE/RL. He said the Kremlin could also put more pressure on Belarus to allow its troops into that country. Both Kaliningrad and Belarus border Poland.
Though the U.S. agreement fell far short of Poland's initial request, it is something that "could be scaled" up in the future should developments in Eastern Europe demand it, Eugene Chausovsky, a Eurasia analyst at Stratfor, told RFE/RL.
"This is something that the Polish government can claim as a victory of sorts," he said of the deal.
Poland helped win over Trump's support for the increased military presence by agreeing to purchase U.S. fighter jets as well as liquefied natural gas, Chausovsky said.
Trump confirmed during the joint press conference that Poland will buy nearly three dozen F-35 fighter jets -- worth in excess of $2.5 billion -- as well as an additional $8 billion of liquefied natural gas.
Poland is seeking to wean itself off Russian energy, which accounts for nearly 70 percent of its gas imports. Duda will travel to Houston with Energy Secretary Rick Perry to meet executives of U.S. energy companies during his six-day visit to the United States.
Washington and Warsaw are seeking to halt Russia's plans to build an $11 billion gas pipeline to Germany. The pipeline would make Germany a "hostage of Russia" while also supporting the Russian economy, Trump said.
"We are protecting Germany from Russia, and Russia is getting billions and billions of dollars of money from Germany," Trump said ahead of his meeting with Duda.
He highlighted that Germany was only spending about 1 percent of gross domestic product on defense, below the 2 percent threshold set by NATO members in 2014.
Hodges said moving troops from Germany to Poland would be taken as a sign that the United States was punishing Berlin for its failure to meet defense spending limits.
However, he said, maligning Berlin was not in Washington's interest.
"We have to make sure that we treat Germany as our most important ally. Spending is such a small component of the relationship. You can't put a price tag on" all that Germany does for the United States, said Hodges, who is now with the Center for European Policy Analysis.
Article by Todd Prince
Big Win for Hindu Nationalists
Narendra Modi was recently sworn in for a second term as India’s Prime Minister. His party, the BJP, won a resounding victory in parliamentary elections.
As Indian pundits – a word that is, by the way, of Indian origin – will tell you, if Modi and the BJP were the obvious winners, their political rivals, the Congress Party, were the big losers. But there’s another potential loser in these elections, one that should especially concern American Christians, and that’s Indian Christians.
To understand why, you need to understand Hindutva, which is the BJP’s governing ideology. It literally means “Hinduness,” and defines what it means to be an Indian in religious—to be specific, Hindu—terms. Hindutva regards Christianity and Islam as foreign religions, and therefore any Indian who claims to be a Christian or a Muslim is less than truly Indian. According to this ideology, Hinduism is central to what it means to be an Indian.
While most of the world mistakenly sees India as a land of Gandhi, gurus, and nonviolence, there’s nothing peaceful or tolerant about Hindutva. For instance, the man who assassinated Gandhi was an adherent of Hindutva who felt Gandhi had betrayed the Hindu community.
In the run-up to the election, one BJP candidate called Gandhi’s assassin “a patriot.” Though Modi denounced the comments, they are consistent with the principles of Hindutva. More concerning are the many examples of Hindutva-inspired persecution of Christians in India, especially in the five years since the BJP first came to power.
In the weeks before the election, there were reports of “food deprivation, beatings, and jail” directed at Christian converts in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.
As Open Doors put it, “because radical Hindu nationalists view followers of Jesus as alien to the nation, all Christians in India are suffering persecution. Driven by a desire to cleanse their country from Islam and Christianity, nationalists do not shy away from using extensive violence to achieve their goals.”
Part of their campaign to cleanse India of Christians involves anti-conversion laws. At least six Indian states effectively prohibit conversions to Christianity. I say “effectively,” because Hindu nationalists there have found a way around the freedom of religion guaranteed in the Indian constitution. Any conversion that results from “force, allurement or fraudulent means” is illegal. Given the vagueness of these terms, Indian law empowers ideologically-driven local officials to view all conversions as guilty until proven innocent.
For all these reasons and more, India currently ranks tenth on Open Doors World Watch List—which is eleven spots higher than when the BJP first assumed power.
All of this may come as a surprise given what we often hear or read about India in mainstream media outlets. For example, a recent discussion of the Indian election on a New York Times podcast explained the threat to Indian Muslims, but made no mention of the persecution of Indian Christians.
To be fair, India does have the second-largest Muslim population in the world, and the most visible religious conflict there falls along Hindu-Muslim lines. Still, there are more than 30 million Christians in India, and there’s some reason to believe that this number may be significantly understated. Muslims aren’t the only targets of Hindu extremism. Indian Christians are rightly concerned about what Modi’s triumph means for them.
We should be concerned as well. After all, contrary to Hindutva ideology, Christianity is no European import. It existed in India before Paul reached Rome. Some churches in southern India even worship in an offshoot of Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.
We must pray for our Indian brethren, asking God to preserve the faith in a subcontinent where it is every bit as native as that which seeks to drive it out.
Reported by JOHN STONESTREET WITH ROBERTO RIVERA
More at: http://www.breakpoint.org/
At least 30 people have been killed in a triple suicide bombing outside a video hall in north-eastern Nigeria, emergency service officials say.
Another 40 were injured in the attack in Konduga village in Borno State, the officials said.
There are conflicting report about whether the blast occurred while people were watching football or a film.
Militant Islamist group Boko Haram is being blamed for the attack. There was no immediate comment from the group.
Formed in Borno State, the group has waged a brutal insurgency across the north-east for a decade.
Ali Hassan, leader of a self-defence group in Konduga, told AFP news agency that the owner of the hall had prevented one bomber from entering.
"There was a heated argument between the operator and the bomber who blew himself up," he said.
Two other attackers who were nearby then set off their devices.
The number of deaths was so high because emergency services arrived late to the site of the blast and were not adequately equipped to deal with such a large number of wounded people, Usman Kachalla, head of operations at the State Emergency Management Agency (Sema) told AFP.
Video halls are common across northern Nigeria. They are usually rudimentary buildings where people pay a small fee to watch football matches or films.
Boko Haram has targeted them on several occasions, saying they are unIslamic.
Konduga has been targeted before. In July 2018, eight people were killed after a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a mosque.
At least 27,000 lives have been lost and about two million people forced to flee their homes in the conflict with Boko Haram.
This latest attack comes at the end of a bloody weekend in northern Nigeria. There is rising concern of insecurity in other parts of the country.
On Friday night an armed gang killed at least 34 people in the north-western state of Zamfara, which has been at the centre of a wave of attacks by bandits since the beginning of the year.
The Boko Haram insurgency has been terrorising people in the north-east for the past decade, and has been the main area of focus for Nigeria's armed forces.
But the triple suicide bombings in Borno on Sunday reflect just how complex the security challenges are.
The government has said that Boko Haram and the rival Islamic State of West Africa Province(Iswap) group are on their last legs. But both the military and population of the north-east continue to suffer regular attacks.
Although Boko Haram has lost a lot of the territory it held in the north-east in the last four years, it is still attacking soft targets in mosques, markets and public gatherings.
Combine this with the ongoing banditry attacks in the north-west, and kidnappings across the country's highways, and the scale of the security challenge is daunting.
Analysis by Mayeni Jones | BBC
More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-48660150
Pray: That the Boko Haram group is dis-armed and those responsible for these heinous attacks are brought to justice.
Pray: That the Nigerian government and the state government and military step up their negotiations and intervention to return the affected states to safety and stability.
Pray: for all those affected by these and other attacks on innocent people.
During the European Trumpet Call worship and intercession conference at the beginning of September 2015, in Timisoara (Romania), the Lord encouraged the intercessors who had gathered together from many European nations with the word from Isaiah 62:4 'No longer will they call you Deserted … but you will be called Hephzibah (Delight is in Her) and your land Beulah (Married)'.
Then, in a prophetic act on behalf of our continent, we broke off the old anti-christian covenants and as partakers in the covenant and promises for Israel, through Christ, we made a new covenant with the Lord and re-named Europe 'Beulah' (Married). Directly after that, the great flood of refugees began to pour into Europe and since then we have been experiencing shakings in the EU at all possible levels in life, nature, society, politics and in the Church.
'Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if it were told you.' (Habakkuk 1:5)
The Lord is using these present shakings within the European nations and the EU for His purposes. It is still His desire for all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth and that we (the Church) can live in godliness and holiness and, since our lives and those of our families and churches are governed by those in authority, we are urged first of all to pray for them (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
European Union
Let us thank the Lord for the results of the European Parliament elections! A great transition is in progress. Around two thirds of the Members of Parliament will be replaced and new alliances need to be formed. Subsequently, many executives in the EU administration will also be replaced.
The following key positions are to be newly elected:
- • President of the EU Parliament – by the EU Parliament
- • President of the EU Commission – by the EU Parliament
- • President of the EU Council – by the European Council
- • EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs – by the EU Commission
- • President of the European Central Bank – by the European Council
Let us pray that as many God-fearing people as possible will be elected into office – people who have a sense of justice, wisdom and integrational strength, and who also respect and understand the cultural diversity of the nations within the EU.
Also pray that the powers striving to subjugate nations by a centrally controlled EU Empire, will be broken.
The idea of creating a United States of Europe on the model of the USA is unrealistic. The USA was created by people from many different nations – people who left their native countries for distant America and formed a new state structure with a shared language and shared core values.
The influence of God-fearing men and women in the founding phase was immense and so, within a relatively short time, a new, US American identity emerged with people who no longer thought of themselves as being British, German, Italian, French etc., but as being citizens of the USA.
Europe is very heterogeneous in that it is made up of many nations, each with their own language and culture and some with a history going back for up to thousands of years. The size of these nations and also their economic strength varies tremendously between the north and south, and the east and west of Europe.
The smaller and economically weaker nations have long perceived the EU as an 'Empire' in which the weaker nations are dominated by the stronger ones (especially by Germany) and the EU administration. They fear that they might lose their identity and freedom and that they will have to pay a high price for any advantages the EU has to offer.
This is something the Lord cannot bless. If the EU does not want to disintegrate, it must find new ways of providing regional development aid that promotes peace and not disunity between great and small and poor and rich. In addition there needs to be a clearer definition and agreement between common EU legislation and national sovereignty.
Above all, the nations of the EU need a fresh encounter with God and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fervant prayer avails much!
Brexit
Just recently, we celebrated the founding of the German State, seventy years ago, and the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day. We were reminded of what it cost the British and Americans, along with their Allies and the resistance movements within the occupied nations, to liberate Europe and establish peace.
Great Britain is the only country in Western Europe that successfully resisted the German war machine. Around 330,000 Britons lost their lives. History testifies to the miracles that gave advantage to the British and their allies, and to the importance of the nationals days of prayer called by the King, as well as the intercession of Rees Howells, and the Bible School of Wales.
After the war, the British did not seek revenge. Along with the Americans, they helped to rebuild Germany with a new constitution as a Federal Democratic Republic. Thanks to the strong Christian Values held at that time by the British and Americans, Germany was released from a huge debt, was reconciled with France, preserved its sovereignty and, eventually, was re-admitted to the community of nations.
Bearing these facts in mind, and considering the friendship built up over the last decades, it is high time for a change in policy regarding Britain leaving the EU. The present attitude of the EU leaders is: 'We will no longer negotiate and if the British do not want to accept the presented agreement, then we will treat them like the rest of the world, not even granting a transition phase.' In the light of history and for continued friendship, such an attitude is arrogant and disrespectful.
Let us pray for a positive change within the EU leadership and administration regarding Brexit.
Let us also pray for the forming of the new British government with new vision for the future and sound judgment to protect the sovereignty of Great Britain, while defining its future synergy with the EU.
Evangelisation
Germany and Europe need to be reached again with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord is mobilising a new generation of evangelists along with His Church. This was the main emphasis at a conference held by Christ for all Nations (CfaN) at the end of May, in Hamburg.
Over four thousand attended, including many young people, when the evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke‚ passed on the baton to the younger generation. This new movement needs to be accompanied by prayer!
March for Jesus
The March for Jesus movement is presently experiencing a new awakening. The Lord is encouraging Christians in several European cities to go on the streets and publicly profess His name.
The next March for Jesus will be held in Munich on the 28th of July, under the leadership of Chad Chambers and ‚Europe Ablaze’ team. More information and registration under www.europeablaze.tv
Yours in Christ
Berthold Becker
Two Resources for the Season of Pentecost
01 Jul 2019
Firstly, a ‘Prayer For Pilgrims’ with our prayer that you have a very blessed Season of Spiritual Renewal and Strength in these days of Pentecost:
Father in Heaven,
Mould me into Christlikeness;
And Stir up in me,
the Fire of Your Love.
Holy Spirit,
Fill me with Your Power;
And Help me to Tell of the Love
And Salvation in Jesus of Nazareth.
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of the Father,
Renew my Friendship in You;
And help me to Serve You
With a Quiet Mind
and a Burning Spirit.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Please Keep Me
In the Joy, Simplicity,
and Compassion
Of Your Holy Gospel. Amen
What Pentecost Did...
There are loads of posts today about the impact of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to us.
This a brilliant video map that shows us the influence of the Gospel around the world since Pentecost.
It maps the spread of the Gospel across time - all of course empowered by the Holy Spirit. It's interesting that Communism and other influences were relatively short lived, but Christianity has been pretty much on a constant march ever since Jesus came.
Just click the map to follow the link: https://www.carlbrettle.com/post/what-pentecost-did
Carl Brettle
More at:https://www.carlbrettle.com/post/what-pentecost-did
Focus: The Power of People Group Thinking, a Practical Resource for Reaching the Unreached
If you have a heart for prayer and mission for the fulfillment of the Great Commission, this book is written for you!
It has been put together for followers of Jesus who share His heartbeat for the peoples of the world. It is designed for you if you want to see His love, justice, and salvation begin to operate within a particular group of people for whom you are specially concerned.
If you are a missionary, an evangelist, a pastor, or a lay person who wants to better understand your target audience in order to have a greater impact, this book can help you. It will give you the tools to develop a ministry strategy that, coupled with Spirit-led prayer, will be relevant to the people you are trying to reach. Focus! will enable you to both pray and communicate the Gospel with new effectiveness and greater response. It will assist you to design ministry outreaches and programs that the Spirit of God can use to move a whole unreached group toward the salvation and social well-being He so deeply desires for them.
The author, John Robb, who serves as chairman of the IPC has devoted his life to both prayer and mission initiatives in more than 100 countries for over 50 years. Focus! went through three printings, was translated into over 20 languages, and has been used by many involved in cross-cultural missions around the world. Feel free to download it and also to share it with others who have an interest in making Christ known to those who still do not know Him.
Free Download available HERE
For 25 years, Steve Hawthorne has written and published the Seek God for the City prayer guide. Many of you have told us that you would like to read and pray through other prayers Steve has written. WayMakers has produced several other prayer guides authored by Steve. The “Ways to Pray” series of six, 16-page pocket-sized prayer guides will encourage you in on-going, sustained praying. Each of the different booklets has its own unique theme:
- • Blessings: Ways to Pray in Hope. Learn how to pray blessings by using your own words to express the goodness in God’s heart for others. Seven biblical themes with sample prayers of blessing help you pray for the fulfillment of God’s purpose for next-door neighbors and in distant nations.
- • Light from my House: Ways to Pray for God’s Light to Shine. Fight the battle of light overcoming darkness in the lives of neighbors and people in your community. Focused prayers ignite biblical passages about the light of Christ.
- • The Lord is Their Shepherd: Ways to Pray for Goodness and Mercy. Follow the 23rd Psalm as a guideline to pray for others. Pray your way into the story of what God is doing in the lives of people who are close to you, but still far from God. Pray them all the way home.
- • Open My City: Ways to Pray for Neighbors. Seven biblical themes of openness. Pray open the eyes, ear and lives of those who seem closed to Christ. Pray open the homes and hearts of Christians to welcome them.
- • Prompts for Prayerwalkers: Ways to Pray from God’s Word for your World. This booklet helps prayerwalkers to get started and veterans to keep going. Select scriptures and “street-tested” prayers equip you to pray on-site with insight. Biblical ideas help you enjoy praying with persistence.
- • What Would Jesus Pray? Ways to Pray like Jesus. Prayers Jesus actually prayed, organized around seven parts of the “Lord’s Prayer.” Pray with the same clear purpose Jesus used when He prayed for others.
The booklets are reasonably priced at $2.00 each. Significant discounts for bulk orders of 20 or more are available. You can also order mixed quantities of two or more of these booklets. Check out two sample pages of each of them and place your order today.
These days both challenge and yet strengthen our desire to spend time before God in prayer. Let’s ask God to stir our hearts and unite our faith as we seek His face and ask for His will to be done, here on earth as it is in heaven.
For His glory,
Barb Hawthorne
Stephanie Tucker
More Info and Order at:https://waymakers.org/pray/ways-to-pray/
Hong Kong: Sing Hallelujah!
27 Jun 2019
An estimated two million people filled Hong Kong streets in protests against the government, which had been pursuing an extradition agreement that could have sent activists, advocates and even foreign nationals to mainland China for legal proceedings. But even after the bill was pulled, the protests not only continued: they have grown, and through the ongoing protest, an unlikely song has rapidly become the unofficial anthem by tens and hundreds of thousands. The uniting song is ‘Sing Hallelujah to the Lord’. A quarter of the entire population sang the anthem. Praise the Lord, Hong Kong! Praise the Lord, indeed!