Silk Road prayer
04 Oct 2019
The ancient Silk Road connected east and southeast Asia with Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, and Southern Europe. Recently, after Central Asian pastors and leaders fasted and prayed for three days, a vision to raise up strong, unified, consistent prayer for this region of the world was ignited. With Central Asian Consultation, they are launching ‘Silk Road Prayer’, sending out regular prayer updates with specific information on how to pray for current needs in the region, and using social media to spread information for focused prayer. Intercessors everywhere are invited to join them in this effort to see God move in a new and unprecedented way along the ancient Silk Road. May believers and churches facing persecution across the region have His great strength to stand strong. Current needs are for churches in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to have registration to meet freely without persecution and a Kazakh church to have justice in a court case.
Egypt: thousands jailed after protests
04 Oct 2019
Selahattin Demirtas stood against President al-Sisi in the last election before he was arrested on terrorism charges. He is still there along with thousands of other ‘terrorists’. Businessman Mohamed Ali accuses al-Sisi of wasting public funds on vanity projects despite widespread poverty. The former military contractor, living in self-imposed exile in Spain, has called for a ‘million-man march’ to topple al-Sisi in a video that has gone viral. Demonstrators have been responding to Ali’s call that ‘all squares are Tahrir Squares’. On 25 September Egyptian authorities arrested 1,100 people, including several high-profile individuals. Two days later, they arrested a further 2,000 nationwide but acknowledged only 1,000. News and political websites are now blocked, and the internet services that protesters relied on to communicate and document government abuses are interrupted. Security forces have deployed armed masked men and riot police to prevent further challenges to the regime, at least for now. See
Cameroon: Boko Haram cut off women’s ears
04 Oct 2019
Boko Haram terrorists abducted three Christian women from their homes in a night-time raid on a mainly Christian town in the far north of Cameroon. They dragged their victims to the outskirts of the town, where they sliced off one ear from each victim. They then released the women, threatening that they would return in the future. The injured women were taken to a clinic about 160 miles away, where they received medical treatment. Boko Haram, operating in the region surrounding Lake Chad, has stepped up attacks on Christian villages in the north. Some villages have been repeatedly targeted, and Christians taken away into captivity. Pray that the cruel extremists will be brought to justice. May the extremism that is now rife in West Africa diminish. Pray that love will conquer hate, and that peace will reign.
According to a Human Rights Watch report, survivors of human trafficking are being locked up in shelters by the Nigerian government. 76 of them are women suffering from depression, anxiety, insomnia, flashbacks, aches and pains. Despite attempts to combat human trafficking and provide support for survivors, care for victims is still severely lacking. Nigerian authorities are illegally detaining traumatised survivors, and inhibiting their recovery from the experiences they went through. They are not allowing survivors to leave at will, in violation of the country’s international legal obligations. The detentions overwhelmingly affect women and girls between the ages of 8 and 17, putting their recovery and well-being at risk. Some were promised well-paid jobs as domestic workers, hairdressers, or hotel staff but were then tricked and trapped in exploitation, and forced to pay back huge ‘debts’ for their travel.
China: TV - a weapon in an arsenal of repression
04 Oct 2019
Since Hong Kong’s anti-government protests began, Beijing’s state TV (CCTV) has gone to great lengths to demonise protesters and mislead Chinese and international audiences about the nature of the movement. CCTV’s flagship news programme runs segments denouncing the protests, claiming they are linked to ‘external forces’. It also reported that a protester had blinded a woman, whereas she was actually struck in the eye by a police bean-bag round. The station’s international arm released videos and graphics on YouTube and Facebook, comparing protesters to Islamist militants and claiming they are backed by US spy agencies. Recently a news video platform urged its 89 million followers to identify, investigate, and publish online the personal information of Hong Kong protesters and journalists - thus targeting the political enemies of the Communist party, which celebrated its 70th anniversary on 1 October. It has taken China less than 70 years to emerge from isolation to become one of the world's greatest economic powers.
Four power struggles
04 Oct 2019
In North Korea leaders put workers' wages into a government fund used to strengthen defence power, including nuclear development, importing luxury goods, operating the Labour Party, and constructing political achievements. Workers’ complexes are surrounded by barbed wire and under military surveillance, like labour camps. Peru’s power struggle is creating the worst political crisis in decades, with both the president and the vice-president claiming to be the country’s rightful leader, and its congress closed while surrounded by riot police. Peru’s dysfunctional and corruption-ridden political system has courted crisis for years, with three of its past presidents under investigation and one dead after shooting himself during his arrest. In Iraq at least ten are dead and 286 wounded, after riot police fired on thousands of demonstrators against unemployment, government corruption, and poor services. In Cape Town civil unrest and anarchy on the roads is being created by taxi operators displeased by strong-arm police tactics over their reckless driving. See also and and
Crosswinds is pioneering the PrayerHub.TV project in partnership with a number of our prayer and mission colleagues around the world.
We are inviting friends who share our vision for connecting, informing and mobilising prayer internationally AND are interested in joining our team as Country Editors, Continental Editors, Proof Readers or Media Teams to get in touch!
Please go to this page and then click the link to complete the online form. We will get back to everyone as soon as we can.
For further information about the PrayHub.TV project, visit the website HERE.
Now is the time to register and make your plans to be with us on November 7-9, 2019 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The meeting place, Apostolic Church of Thessaloniki, is reserved. The worship teams are preparing. Already people are starting to pray for this gathering which will be the 4th Balkan Call so far.
For those of you hearing about the Balkan Call for the first time:
The Balkan Call Prayer Event is a 3 day (6 session) call to prayer to all believers everywhere in the Balkan nations who are hungry and desperate to see breakthrough and revival come to this region.
6 Steps to being with us at the Balkan Call:
- Pray and seek the will of the Father. If you have confirmation from Him then you can trust that He will guide you and provide for your way.
- See if there are others who also feel called and want to travel together.
- REGISTER TODAY at: www.balkancall.org
- ON YOUR OWN make lodging reservations. Some options are listed on the website or check out:
www.booking.com or airbnb.com - Recruit a prayer team to be praying for you and the Balkan Call 2019 gathering!
- Consider coming early and/or spending time in the dedicated 24/7 Balkan Call prayer room.
Click here for more information: Balkan Call Prayer Room
Questions?
- Read over the website completely.
- Still questions? Send email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.