Faith for 2019
21 Dec 2018
2018 has been a year of great triumphs and unimaginable tragedies. We have seen both incredible good and unfathomable evil. We have witnessed miracles and seen suffering. But as we look ahead, we remember and proclaim that God is sovereign over every corner of the globe. He alone is the hope of 2019 - the Hope of the Nations. Though some situations may seem hopeless, we recognise and rejoice that He reigns ‘far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title’, and that ‘all things are under His feet’ (Ephesians 1:21,22a). Nothing is impossible for Him. God reigns, and is moving today all over the world!
Yemen: pray for the first truce in years
21 Dec 2018
A fragile calm took hold in Hodeidah on 18 December, after sporadic gunfire between Houthi fighters and forces loyal to the government. Two days later it was being hailed by many as a positive step on the path to peace for the war-torn country. However the agreement is open to different interpretations by the warring parties. It talks of ‘mutual redeployment of forces’ from Hodeidah and other ports. The Houthis do not see this as meaning that they need to withdraw, while the other side thinks they must do so - a key point of contention. See. Everyone is praying that the truce will hold. The humanitarian situation is beyond atrocious. The majority of malnourished people don't know where they will get their next meal. Women can't produce milk for their children. People die daily. 22 million people need aid. 8.4 million face starvation. Pray for immediate co-ordinated availability and distribution of all that is needed.
Israel: Christmas and tourism in Bethlehem
21 Dec 2018
70% of what had been Palestine until 1949 is now controlled by Israel. After the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and the continuing expansion of settlements and military law in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority now has control over about 18% of the West Bank - which includes Bethlehem. The tourism industry there is yet another battleground of Palestinians and Israelis for controlling the narrative around the occupation. At Christmas there are strings of lights over the town's famous Manger Square, with a life-sized nativity scene, and pilgrims entering the church to see where Jesus was born. Tourists come in groups organised by Israeli tour companies, while native Palestinian local guides look for individual tourists to show them around their hometown. There is an unseen struggle for Palestinians, many of them Christians, to earn a living.
Syria: Trump’s meandering policy
21 Dec 2018
On 19 December, a week after his special coalition envoy to defeat IS said that US troops would be in Syria for the foreseeable future, Donald Trump has ordered a complete, rapid withdrawal of 2,000 military personnel. He tweeted, ‘We have defeated IS in Syria, my only reason for being there.’ Earlier this year he said, ‘I want to get out. I want to bring our troops home and start rebuilding our nation’. He has always said the money spent on the struggle would be better spent at home. Britain has distanced itself from Trump’s perception of the situation, which has also led to the resignation of his defence secretary James Mattis (see). US allies and Kurdish militias feel abandoned, as this decision hands Iran and Russia more leverage across the country. A group of Kurdish and Arab units raised by Washington specifically to fight IS said that the move would have ‘dangerous implications for international stability’. See
Missionary who uses a gun and brings a Bible
21 Dec 2018
Dave Eubank moved his family into the middle of some of the most dangerous places in the world to spread the Gospel and help others. He has been described as a Christian Rambo. Countless people caught in war zones around the globe are incredibly thankful for his outlook. Eubank achieved media fame last year when he saw IS forces shoot a fleeing family. He assumed everyone was dead, but then spotted slight movement; there was a small child alive in the midst of the horrific scene, lying under her mother’s body. With smoke screen and covering fire, he daringly ran into the open, exposing himself to enemy fire, grabbed the girl, and brought her to safety. He was seen praying for protection, crying out to Jesus, before he made the rescue attempt. Jesus is at the heart of everything Eubank does.
Canada: forced sterilisation of indigenous women
21 Dec 2018
In 2017 two indigenous women alleged that they were coerced into undergoing sterilisation at a Saskatchewan hospital. More than sixty women have now joined them in a pending class action lawsuit, seeking compensation for the violation of their rights, supported by Amnesty International (see). The legal challenge centres on whether proper and informed consent was obtained before the women were sterilised. One woman said she explicitly refused to have her fallopian tubes tied when staff suggested the procedure after the birth of her son. On 7 December the UN officially called on Canada to ‘ensure that all allegations of forced or coerced sterilisation are impartially investigated, and the persons responsible held accountable with adequate redress for the victims’. Pray for policies and accountability mechanisms across all provinces to ensure there are clear regulations around free will, and informed consent.
3 things to pray for broken families
17 Dec 2018
I am so privileged to be part of a church that has transformation at the very heart of it. My husband is an associate minister at Victory Outreach church in Manchester. Our church has victory homes for men and women who are in a life of addiction and crime.
Last weekend, I was at our victory homes Christmas dinner where families of the people that are in the recovery programme are invited to come and celebrate. Many of the people in a drug lifestyle have tense, if any relationship, with their families due to their habit. Many families have given up on their loved ones, thinking that they will never change.
Through the recovery programme, we see many addicts set free from drug addiction and people healed of hepatitis and hearts healed from the roots that caused them to spiral out of control in the first place. It is only through meeting with Jesus and allowing him to work on a deep level that real, lasting transformation happens.
Jeremiah 30;17 ‘I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord, ‘because you are called outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’ God’s heart is to not only heal us but also to restore broken families. We all want to be loved and have somewhere to belong, that’s why God created the family. So, let’s pray for struggling families for:
- Reconciliation – that in the midst of the hurt and the anger that God will release love, positivity, and hope and allow them to take steps towards fixing the relationship.
- Forgiveness – allow those involved to realise the mistakes that have been made and ask for forgiveness. Ask for negative feelings and hate to be removed and replaced with a love and kindness and a willingness to trust God. He works ALL things out for good.
- Communication – for God to open the lines of communication and for them to think about what they speak over each other. Replace anger and hate with love and respect. There are life and death in the tongue!
Natasha Ruddock
Communications Manager
China: unreported persecution
14 Dec 2018
A recent gathering of Chinese believers at IHOP, Kansas City told harrowing tales of persecution. An intercessor writes, ‘One particular Chinese brother greatly impacted us with his story. He had been in prison for many years, multiple times because of his faith, and was forced to watch his wife being tortured in front of his very eyes. He refused to denounce his faith [trust] in Jesus Christ in the midst of these unthinkable circumstances. Our perspective on God’s goodness can be greatly challenged by these types of story. The truth is that Jesus has already told us that if we lived for Him that we would suffer persecution, as He did. He told us, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven!” (Matthew 5:10-12)’ The event’s theme, ‘Resetting our focus back on the first and second commandments of Jesus’, had a strong sense of Philippians 1:8: ‘God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.’