USA: recent instances of corruption
27 Oct 2017
In this fallen world people in positions of authority break laws. The following are corruption instances in a three week period. Four Baltimore police detectives distributed heroin. A congressional staffer organised fraudulent money laundering schemes. A deputy secretary of state committed perjury. A Detroit deputy chief of police committed bribery and conspiracy. A Navy comptroller accepted illegal gratuities. A state judge dismissed cases in exchange for personal benefits. A Philadelphia judge and a witness made false statements to the federal election commission. Audio evidence in a federal investigation was tampered with for financial gain. A construction company paid $1 million in bribes for Atlanta contracts. A Drug Enforcement Administration special agent obstructed justice, committed perjury and other crimes; a former Task Force officer was also charged. A Pine Bluff man stole $1 million intended to feed hungry children. A Vigo County sheriff’s deputy committed fraud. Corruption damages the economy, reputations of businesses and of those fighting for justice.
In a highly biased legal system where Christians are normally denied fair trials, the family of a Christian youth killed by police may actually receive justice. Six officers were charged with murder after they dragged Arslan Masih out of his schoolroom, intent on revenge. He had successfully fought a Muslim boy who had been bullying him, and one officer, the boy’s uncle, found it unacceptable that Arslan had stood up to his nephew. Arslan was regularly bullied and in this instance fought in an attempt to stop the daily torment and attempts to convert him to Islam. He is not the first Christian to have died in Pakistan’s police custody, but it is the first time it has happened with many witnesses.
Iraqi Christians are divided over whether their areas in northern Iraq should be a part of Kurdistan, the Iraqi central government, or an entirely new autonomous area. The Chaldean Catholic patriarch, in an interview on 16 October, expressed his concern that the Kurdish crisis would put the Christians’ presence in Iraq at risk . He said the current conflict in the disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil would impede the Christians’ return to their areas, and prompt them to rush to leave their country for good. He said they should unite and engage in dialogue to preserve the Christian component in Iraq. Nevertheless, this appeal may not gain much traction because of great differences of opinion, particularly after the Kurdish independence referendum on 25 September - see the Prayer Alert article at
First official sentenced in US FIFA scandal
27 Oct 2017
Former Guatemalan football federation official Hector Trujillo, arrested in December 2015 in Florida, has become the first person to be sentenced in investigations into corruption in FIFA. He had accepted almost $200,000 in bribes from a sports marketing company. A further forty football and marketing executives have been accused. Many of the charges involve bribes paid around the organisation of regional tournaments and World Cup qualifying games. Prosecutors in Switzerland have also been investigating, and FIFA has conducted internal enquiries.
Colombia: conflict over coca crops
27 Oct 2017
Cultivation of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine, is booming in Colombia. The government tries to slash production by employing hundreds of people and police officers to destroy crops, but armed gangs and drug traffickers oppose them. People have died in recent clashes over coca; others have been injured by landmines laid to scare people away from destroying coca plants. The minister of foreign affairs blamed coca growth on the scheming of drug-trafficking gangs and peasants planting more coca to take advantage of the new substitution initiatives under the peace accords. However, the government should be offering peasant farmers better incentives to grow alternative crops. After 200 years of reforms and many billions of pesos invested, the same inequality in agriculture persists. There is a lack of political will on the part of the state to make the peasant farmers’ economy viable. See
USA: child brides
27 Oct 2017
The BBC’s America First series reported on Angel, who was 13 when her mother forced her to marry and start a family. ‘I felt like a slave,’ she says of her childhood. Zimbabwe, Malawi and El Salvador have recently banned child marriage, but it remains legal in the USA - and half of states have no set minimum age below which you cannot get married. Recently the Independent reported that in the last fifteen years, more than 200,000 children were married in the USA. The minimum age for marriage is usually 18, but there are exemptions - such as parental consent or pregnancy - which allow younger children, sometimes as young as ten, to tie the knot. See
The London Awakening
26 Oct 2017
I believe that the revival people have been prophesying for the UK has begun.
Through the ministry of Jerame Nelson, a revival has been going on in San Diego, USA since January 2016. In June, the Lord told Jerame to go to England, so he phoned Rakesh & Preethy Kurian, the pastors of Capstone Church, Ilford to ask if he could host meetings for the following week. The meetings began June 27th, and the Glory of God came to Capstone. The meetings have been held Wednesday to Saturday ever since, and thousands have watched the meetings on Livestream and Facebook.
Why did God choose to visit Capstone, a largely Asian church in out of the way Ilford? There are of course many reasons why God visits a church, but in my opinion Capstone has two pastors who are honouring and who are passionate for revival. It has a wonderful worship team who brings one into the Presence of God and a congregation who are full of love, passion and hunger for more of God. Rakesh and Preethy Kurian were born again in a revival in India and God called them to the UK in 2005. Since then they have had just one thing on their minds – Revival.
Worship is a very important part of the meetings. The weighty Presence of God results in many people being ‘slain in the Spirit’ and other manifestations of God’s love are many people laughing in the Spirit and people being healed. There have been a number of testimonies of changed lives and increased giftings as a result of attending the meetings and through watching on social media.
I asked Preethy what they felt God had been doing these last 16 weeks and what they believe God has in store for the immediate future. This was her reply:
“The London Awakening has been an outpouring of God’s glory and manifested weighty presence. People from all over the country and even abroad have been visiting Capstone Church since the end of June. We have people viewing on social media from around the world. It’s been amazing! People are encountering God, getting set free, healed, and committing their lives to the Lord. We see people getting refreshed, supernaturally ignited and taking the fire back to their homes and churches. We are truly humbled and honoured by what God is doing.
I believe God is looking to invade our time and space to reveal Himself to us. Every move of God results in a revelation of God. I believe God is looking for a place that will host His presence, a house for His abode, where His children can come in and encounter Him, get filled with His glory and purpose and carry the glory of God into their spheres. What we are doing here is simply hosting His presence. His presence indicates that He is looking to move in this nation and He is looking for fire catchers and carriers. He is looking for a new wine skin to host His new wine.”
In my opinion we have a ‘fire’ burning in London; where the Presence of God is being hosted. The Presence of God is what this ‘revival’ is all about. The more time we spend with God, the more we will be carriers of His Presence and, as we go out into the world, people will be impacted by what we carry. It is important that as many people as possible visit the ‘fire’ and take away what God is offering there.
A pastor recently came from Preston and took the ‘fire back to his church, which caught ‘fire’ and they been having two extra meetings a week ever since. Another example is the leader of the UK Four Square group of churches who has been several times to Capstone church and he is now taking the ‘fire’ wherever he goes and he has started ‘revival’ meetings in his church. This proves the ‘fire’ is transferable and contagious.
This is tangible evidence that time in a Holy Spirit charged atmosphere can result in transference and release of new levels of anointing. Transformed lives will transform communities, which will transform cities, which will transform nations.
Come and catch the revival fires.
Michael Marcel’s heart is to see revival come to our nations. He is the author of ‘Prepare for Revival’. Find out more info www.ukrevival.org.
Time for our nation to turn back to God
26 Oct 2017
What a time to be alive! Everything around us seems to be going from bad to worse. I just heard that in one area close to where I live 75% of the people are classified as "deprived and living in poverty". And this is in modern Britain!
What has gone wrong and what can bring about change?
Wherever we look – in every walk of life, in every sphere, in multiple communities - standards are being ignored, morality is being turned on its head, truth is flying out the window, violence is increasing, and things increasingly look desperate. People are asking "is there a way out of this mess?"
I am not a prophet of doom. I am aware that God always has an answer. Historically, in times of desperation and decline, God has stepped into situations to bring about radical change and to herald a coming harvest. He does this despite our sinfulness – because He wants to be merciful.
Think of the prophet Jonah sent to Nineveh (in modern-day Iraq) – described as a "very wicked city". Jonah didn't want to go because of what it was like there, but God wanted to show mercy. He doesn't do this however, without His people. He chooses to use, and to bless us in the process.
The book of Romans is addressed to those who are "loved by God and called to be His holy people" (1:7)
What a wonderful description of us, of me, of you! So we can ask ourselves – is this true? Am I loved by God – truly loved by God – a God of fullness, of righteousness and holiness? Am I one of His holy people? Am I holy? If not, what can I do to change that? Holiness is the character of God – "Be holy, for I am holy", says the Lord (1 Peter 1:15-16).
But the rest of that first chapter is about the depravity of mankind. It reads like a description of our modern times. Three times Paul writes "God gave them over" – to whatever was the issue – sexual immorality and idolatry, shameful lusts (as in same-sex relationships), and to depraved minds – when everything got out of control. Read verses 28-32 to see what I mean.
I believe God has reached the stage of giving us over to our wayward sins. So, what is the answer?
I need to be put right first of all; to get rid of everything that offends God and ask Him to give me a thorough overhaul – a full service – a new engine or heart, one that pursues Him and His holiness.
Secondly, society around me and individuals and families within society, whether the community I live in or the one I work in, need to discover God is for real. The Gospel is the answer. God's love is the answer. And prayer is the key. When we begin to pray for our neighbours, our colleagues, and our family with both faith and passion and do it from a place of unity, as in prayer triplets – things will begin to change.
God is looking for an unprecedented harvest – and you and I are the key. We are the workers, the labourers in His Harvest. It is time to turn back to God, to pray in desperation for things to change, and to be willing for God to use us as His instruments of change. These are the ingredients for what I am calling "a new Pentecost".
Pray for an Acts 2 encounter for your community!
Brian Mills is passionate about prayer and is an Executive Member of the International Prayer Council and a partner of Interprayer International Partnership. He is the author of the book God is Still Speaking.