A day of mourning has been declared for the victims of killings in Kaduna, which is to be observed on Sunday, 8 January, 2017. This is following a massacre that occurred on the evening on Monday, 26 December, 2016, in the Sanga Local Government Area of the state. The Secretary General of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Musa Asake, made the call for a special prayer for the victims, reported to be 38 in number. ‘In view of the present predicament, the president of CAN has directed that Sunday, 8 January, be declared a national day of mourning by all Christians. We are to pray fervently for our southern Kaduna brothers and sisters who are victims of these wanton killings and also for the peace of our dear country, Nigeria.’ Asake thinks the presidency is not doing anything substantial in response to the mass killing of innocent people. ‘While we commend President Muhammadu Buhari for waging war against the Boko Haram fundamentalists since his assumption of office, his silence in the ongoing genocide in the last few weeks speaks volumes over the perceived official endorsement of the dastardly and ungodly acts. The security operatives in the area appear to be turning blind eyes to the killings.’

Get ready for action! 2017 is a year of great spiritual change. It is a year of presence, promise and prayer. It is a year when God is mobilising His Church. We will see extraordinary blessings but also extraordinary challenges.

We are encouraging every Christian to pray for God’s presence where they live, where they work or study, in their family and in their community. For some this will mean taking possession of the land - prayer walking the boundaries of your community, praying for the King of Kings to stand in your local churches, and praying for His peace and presence in local schools and homes. We are going into a fight and there will be times when we need the shield of faith to guard against attacks through sickness, tiredness and discouragement. The Lord will strengthen our use of the sword of the spirit – going deeper into God’s Word and using it to give us authority as we pray.

2017 is a year of promise. 2017 is the 500th anniversary of the reformation, that shook the world and reshaped history. It is 70 years since Smith Wigglesworth’s prophecy - "When the Word and the Spirit come together, there will be the biggest movement of the Holy Spirit that the nation, and indeed the world, has ever seen. There will begin a missionary move to the ends of the earth.” It is 50 years since Jean Darnell’s prophecy. She spoke of a renewal of life in the church which would spread outside resulting in a public awakening. This awakening would move into every level of the nation’s life; on the campuses, universities, colleges, schools etc., into the media and in the government. There would be so many conversions that it would actually change the character of the nation of Britain and determine the future move of God in Europe. Malcolm Duncan spoke in 2016 about a powerful move of God bringing substantial change to the church, and nation and reaching into Europe.

Our focus is simple. We want to pray for these prophecies to be fulfilled and for God’s awakening to flood our nation. We recommend people have copies of these prophecies to hand (download a copy) and pray into them regularly. Our prayer is the prayer of the Welsh revival,“More Lord” and then “Even More”.

Our third focus is prayer. We are praying for renewed prayer foundations. ‘Lord, anoint us for your purpose. We pray for a depth of collaboration, praying with others with power and authority. We pray for greater vision and expectation. Lord, stretch our faith’. This is a preparation time for the church. Recent prophetic words talk about the church being frozen, of a need to re-discover the wonderful dynamic power of the gospel, and pray for a revival that fills us with compassion and a deep passion for the lost. We pray for a mighty mobilisation of prayer.

We are praying for more victories. For many of us expectations have been lowered and prayer diminished. It is time for victories. We want to pray with renewed conviction for the prodigals to come home, for our family and friends to come to Christ, for healings, for the blind to see, the deaf hear and the lame walk.

Just as deep will be victories in our own lives - an end to insecurity and an opening up to God’s deep love for each of us and out of us to others. Let the church see our extraordinary God glorified in 2017.

We look forward to going forward on this journey with you. It is a time for more. It will not be easy – it will be a time of shaking, and increasingly God is asking His people to stand on the front line. For us in WPC, we will start the year focusing on presence, promise and prayer. We encourage you to stand with us as we enter this momentous year.

It is with great sadness that we write to inform you of the death of our much loved brother in Christ, Archie Gilmour after a short illness. At this time our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Janet and the whole Gilmour family. He died peacefully with his family around him on 22 December.

We first got to know Archie in 1979 and over the ensuing years built a wonderful friendship and working relationship as he helped us in so many ways as a Trustee, Company Secretary and Adviser to Cornerstone and Cornerstone Quest and of course up to the present World Prayer Centre vision and April ’97 Trust as Trustee and Hon Treasurer.

If you asked Archie about his priorities in life he would always say, Jesus first, Janet and his family next, relationships with wider family and friends and then whatever work he was involved in at a particular time. Archie was not an upfront person but he was VERY influential. Archie loved to use the word ‘Very’ especially when talking about the goodness of God, or thanking you for work done or kindness given. He was a man who always thought of others first and how he could help, support, bless and encourage; our lives are richer because of his amazing friendship.

Archie was a remarkable man for detail. Those of us who live broad brush stroke lives would often get a bit frustrated by Archie's attention to detail, but we always gave thanks as his attentiveness saved us from many mistakes and pitfalls, especially with Charity law and financial issues.

Of course his passing leaves a huge space in the lives of Janet and the family, but also in the lives of all who knew and loved him. His work, his life, his testimony and his generosity directly influenced many people and indirectly touched the lives of countless thousands in this nation and around the world.

On our way to visit Janet we drove through Harvest Fields estate and gave thanks for the vision Archie and Janet had carried and seen fulfilled with houses and a centre that influences so many lives for the Kingdom of God; an amazing legacy.

So we sorrow but not as those without hope. Many years ago Archie gave his life to Jesus, knowing in that simple act of faith; he also received the sure and certain hope of eternal life. Archie has started a new chapter in his eternal journey. His final words to us when we visited him in intensive care were, “I have a VERY wonderful God, a VERY wonderful wife and family and VERY wonderful friends.”

We shall miss him VERY much.

Marvin Lahoud, a 26 year-old volunteer with a Lebanese church serving Syrian refugees, was in charge of food voucher distribution. On this day, Marvin discovered that one of the refugee families returned to Syria leaving him with an extra voucher to distribute to another family.

He scanned the wait list. The first family he called—also returned to Syria. The second family didn’t answer the phone. Further constraints led Marvin to dismiss the third and fourth families from the wait list. Marvin finally decided to make his way over to the house of the fifth family.

A little boy stood at the entrance of the basement space his family called home, looked up at Marvin, and smiled. Matter-of-factly the Syrian boy said, “Come in. We were expecting you.”

Marvin looked at him—puzzled. He hadn’t told anyone he was coming; much less contacted the Muslim Syrian refugee family. How could they have known he was coming?

The young Syrian boy’s mother beckoned Marvin into their home and asked the boy to explain.

“Yesterday”, the little boy said, “I had a dream that was so vivid I thought it was real. I was walking on the shore of the sea and saw a man standing in the sea with water up to his knees. He was clothed in a bright white robe. His face shined so bright, I couldn’t see the details of his face. His hands were noticeably tender. I asked him who he was. He said, ‘I am Jesus.’ I said, ‘What do you want?’ Jesus said, ‘I want you to believe in love, have faith and keep hope.’ And Jesus continued to say, ‘Do not be afraid. Help is on the way. Tomorrow, a man will come over called Marvin and he will help you and your family.’”
And now you are here, said the mother to Marvin.

Source: Providence Magazine

Photo Credit: Rawaa, 21, a mother of three from Aleppo, draws water from a storage tank in her tent at an informal tented settlement for Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, in July 2014. Photo by Sam Tarling for Norwegian Relief Council, posted by Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), via Flickr.