In our last Connections, I updated you on the magnificent time many prayer and mission leaders had together at Herrnhut in early May. It was truly a life and ministry-changing event as we later heard from so many. One of those present who leads a large international mission effort said that it was “the most personally significant event” he had taken part in during 50 years of ministry. Another who leads a large prayer ministry said that he will be “forever changed” by what happened there. Thanks be to the Lord for how He brooded over us and inspired us during that anointed time together and also for your prayers that made such a vital difference!
I also believe that much of the reason we had such a powerful encounter with the Lord and one another is that we were focusing on three issues that are very much on His heart for this time in history. When you think about it, they are also deeply interrelated and interdependent. Therefore, if we go at all three of them together, a great deal of synergy will be released for His kingdom’s expansion around the world. It will be like the first atomic explosion that happened here in my native state of New Mexico at the site called “Trinity” on July 16th, 1945. Physicists and engineers from the secretive Manhattan Project were awestruck at the awesome, never before seen, combined forces that were released when “critical mass” was achieved. History was changed both in positive and awful ways for humanity as we entered the nuclear age, carrying a new incredibly powerful resource for either great good or maximum destruction.
We in the IPC want to be used of the Lord in facilitating progress in each of the three following directions mentioned once again below. They are all in and of themselves so valuable for the cause of Jesus Christ on earth. However, when joined together for our prayers and actions, we could reach a kind of “critical mass” spiritually. Connected closely, they are infinitely more forceful in advancing His kingdom, especially that overarching goal that everyone on earth may have the opportunity to experience His love and salvation, discovering their unique calling and destiny as human beings.
Would you please, therefore, join us in praying for the continued convergence of these three prayer and mission thrusts that are already being so greatly used of the Lord to bless our world? How can we increasingly flow together for maximum impact? How can these efforts be effectively coordinated and synergized for the greater purposes of God and the benefit of all!
Here is an excellent three-minute video that describes the impact of the Moravian prayer and mission movement from Herrnhut where we held last month’s consultation. It will help you to catch the heartbeat of what God did among us. Please share it with others and pray accordingly.
Video on Linking Prayer and Missions
“Spirit of the Moravians” Vision on Vimeo or
Here are the three main emphases I believe we need to keep our hearts, minds, prayers and actions wrapped around going forward:
1) Reaching the unreached with the Gospel- Pray for the effective linking and coordination of prayer and mission efforts for finishing the task, adoption of every unengaged unreached people group in prayer and mission in the coming 5-10 years. Let’s pray especially for the “Finishing the Task” event in early December that will bring together hundreds from the mission agencies along with a significant group of prayer leaders for the first time. You can find out more about specific unreached people groups needing to be adopted at https://joshuaproject.net/ Please adopting one yourself as your own assignment to cover that group in prayer until they are reached.
2) Raising up the “now generation” of youth and children to find their unique missions in life and impact generations to come for Christ and His purposes. Pray that in the coming decade, we will see children and youth prayer movements develop, be connected, and strengthened in every nation on earth (they are probably going in one-third of the nations so far). The Children in Prayer movement and the international team coordinating this effort and the UPRISING youth prayer movement with their team are both extending this crucial vision for the raising up of the Now Generation vision. Please pray for His provision, guidance, unity and wisdom for the leaders of both these movements.
3) Transformational prayer for breakthroughs in the socio-political realms (global institutions like the UN, “Seven Mountains” cultural spheres, regional summits, national initiatives, wars and human suffering, authoritative prayer efforts for territorial deliverance). Please pray for prayer leaders and ministries targeting those challenging socio-political issues and institutions affecting life in our various nations and world. Pray for clear discernment, guidance and power from on high to pull down strongholds and drive out forces of spiritual darkness in His authority for atmosphere-changing breakthroughs that open peoples to the Gospel and bring about major transformations in favor of Kingdom values.
All of us can be personally involved in one or more of these three crucial directions for the global Body of Christ. May we each hear His specific call and find our unique place! As we pray and take action together, may there also be a divinely orchestrated convergence, a “critical mass” that the Lord will use to hasten both the transformation of our world and His return. Maranatha!
John Robb
IPC Chairman
'The villagers started punching and kicking us, all over our bodies. They asked us to praise Hindu gods. We refused. They kicked us harder.' This is what happened to Sohan, after he decided to follow Jesus and began sharing the gospel with others. His attackers then called the police and accused him of converting people to Christianity. He was imprisoned for four days, and saw God work in amazing ways. Sohan says, 'I preached the gospel and prayed for an inmate who was sick. He was healed and believed in Christ instantly. My other cellmate was a person suffering from intense depression. He kept saying that he wanted to kill himself. I prayed for him and the suicidal thoughts left him. He also accepted Christ. I also met a young man falsely accused of raping a woman; he was very upset and felt hopeless about his life. I shared the gospel with him, and he also accepted Christ. This way I saw God's immense power and deliverance.' Open Doors partners were able to bail Sohan out of prison, and are helping him to fight the false claims filed against him.
Two rescues from trafficking
30 Jun 2017
Recently, after an anonymous tip-off, anti-trafficking authorities in the Dominican Republic, working in cooperation with International Justice Mission (IJM), found two young girls and their mother - who was exploiting them - in a crime-ridden and impoverished neighbourhood in Santo Domingo. The mother was arrested, and IJM social workers are working to ensure that the girls will recover from the trauma they endured. In another story, in South Asia, IJM and police had been investigating a sex trafficking network for over a year. On 25 June the team successfully rescued two young girls from a private brothel and arrested four suspects. Please pray for follow-up on the legal case, and pray for comfort and healing for these girls as they settle into a loving aftercare programme.
Friday Focus: prison chaplains at work
30 Jun 2017
Being a prison chaplain is like no other ministry I know. Every day they work tirelessly to offer hope, support and care to some of the nation’s most vulnerable people and those who keep them in custody. Every day they get the opportunity to see Jesus in the eyes of the prisoner. Do you know a chaplain at a prison you could pray for?
(written by Bob Wilson, Free Churches Faith Advisor to NOMS and Prison Hope)
Head of Grenfell inquiry named
30 Jun 2017
Retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick has been chosen to lead the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire. Eighty people are now presumed dead after the disaster in west London on 14 June. Born in Wales and educated at Cambridge, the 70-year-old is said to be highly respected in the profession and ‘intellectually superb’. But leading barrister Michael Mansfield QC, who has met survivors of the fire, has said it is ‘unbelievable that lessons are not learned’ from the earlier inquiry into child sexual abuse, which he claimed had not consulted the families or the survivors. ‘The same thing seems to have happened all over again’, he said. Local residents are unconvinced that the inquiry will attribute responsibility as well as identifying the cause of the blaze. Meanwhile, tests have shown inflammable cladding on 120 tower blocks in the UK, and that number is expected to rise. Aluminium composite cladding has been widely blamed for the speed with which the Grenfell Tower fire spread. See
Six to face trial for Hillsborough
30 Jun 2017
On 28 June the Crown Prosecution Service announced that six people will face trial for the Hillsborough disaster - including match commander David Duckenfield and former chief constable Sir Norman Bettison. Duckenfield, 72, faces trial for the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 of the 96 Liverpool fans who died at the FA Cup semi-final in 1989. Bettison, 61, faces four charges of misconduct in a public office, including two of lying about his role to further his career. However, the FA and Sheffield Wednesday FC avoided action, despite the withering assessment of their conduct which emerged in the Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP) investigation of 2012. Families of the Hillsborough victims broke into applause when they were told Duckenfield faces charges. Margaret Aspinall, whose son James died in the tragedy, said: ‘No-one should have to go through what the families have gone through for 28 years to try to get to the truth.’
Government backtracks on pay policy
30 Jun 2017
The Government’s austerity policy descended into chaos on 28 June as it first seemed to suggest it would abandon its one per cent cap on public sector pay rises, then denied it. Three Cabinet ministers appeared to have been briefed that the pay cap was coming to an end as they openly talked about lifting it, and Sir Oliver Letwin, the influential backbench MP, even went into detail about how taxes would have to be increased to fund it. However, only hours later Downing Street insisted that the cap would remain in place until 2020. This reversal was blamed on the ongoing ‘war’ between Theresa May and Philip Hammond, with the Treasury reportedly demanding a retraction of the announcement. It led to speculation that the Chancellor had intended to claim credit for the policy change at his next budget. Tim Farron, the outgoing Liberal Democrat leader, said: ‘The Tories are in utter chaos. They have U-turned on their own U-turn within the space of a few hours.’
Youngest bishop to be new Primus
30 Jun 2017
The Scottish Episcopal Church has elected Rt Rev’d Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness, as Primus. Bishop Mark, 56, the youngest of the bishops, was consecrated in his current diocese in 2007. He said: ‘I am humbled by the confidence shown in me by my colleagues, and I will seek to serve the Church with love and strength. It has been 82 years since a Bishop of Moray became Primus, and I pray that I may be worthy of this trust. I will continue to serve in my beloved Highlands while I also step out into new and exciting journeys of faith in both Scotland and the wider international church.’ He takes up this role as a Primate within the Anglican Communion at a time when the General Synod of his Church has voted to permit same-sex marriage. That decision is expected to be on the agenda of the forthcoming Primates’ meeting in Canterbury, which he will attend. He is married to Jane, a teacher, and they have a son and two daughters.