Thousands of children from India and Indonesia along with others prayed for the Consultation that happened in the little town of Herrnhut (the Lord’s watch), May 8-12. Thank you if you were part of that intercession. The Lord did far more abundantly than we could have asked or imagined! It was such a joy and blessing to be with 120 key leaders from across the world, who are on the cutting-edge of His Kingdom’s work. YWAM younger missionaries in training and members of the Jesus Haus community in the town also took part. Powerful, heart-stirring presentations from the most conflicted, challenging countries brought tears to our eyes and a strong response in united, fervent prayer.

We focused on three main themes:

  1. Reaching the Unreached- focusing on those unreached people groups that are still without a witness to Christ or those larger groups that are underserviced due to lack of mission workers. There are over 1500 unengaged people groups that are on the “Finishing the Task” list which you can get from their office plus prayer profiles to help you and others “adopt” them for prayer until they are reached. Please write to Lara Heneveld,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to get connected. A fuller article by Paul Eshleman, the leader of the Finishing the Task initiative with valuable suggestions on how you, your organization, church or prayer group can get involved in this Matthew 24:14 challenge that is so much on the Lord’s heart-- enabling a witness to go to the remaining unreached peoples before the end shall come-- is attached below.
  1. Another important emphasis was on empowering not the Next Generation but the “Now Generation”, the youth and children, each of whom has a special, unique calling from the Lord that they will discover as we encourage them. They need and want to be included them in the prayer and mission force for the transformation of our world NOW!
  1. The third major theme was on authoritative prayer for breakthroughs in territorial deliverance. We heard from Christian leaders who have led authoritative prayer initiatives that God has used to liberate places and people from demonic influence and broken through spiritual enslavement and deception so they can come to Christ.

Valuable connections were made among the participants and they engaged in productive times of deliberation and strategic planning according to the three foci just mentioned. All in all, it was an outstanding time that we believe will impact our world significantly.

Part of the success of the event was the venue. Indeed that is why we chose to have the gathering there. It was here that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Moravians almost three centuries ago. As a small community of praying people, God used them way beyond their insignificant number to impact our world. After the revival in 1727, they continued in prayer with a 24/7 chain that lasted over 100 years and sent out the first Protestant missionaries to the ends of the earth, affecting whole nations for Christ and His Kingdom. There is still a sense of hallowedness about the town and the nearby graveyard where 6000 of these dear saints, very ordinary people with an extraordinary love for Jesus, are buried.

Here is the Accord that came out of the consultation and that we commend to your continued prayers that the mission and prayer movements will fully converge, working closely together around the world until every people group and person is reached with the Good News of the Gospel:

Herrnhut Accord

International Prayer and Mission Leaders Consultation

at Herrnhut Germany, 8-12 May, 2017

In this historic place where, 290 years ago, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit gave birth to 24 hours of continuous prayer by both children and adults for 100 years, and which also launched what became known as the era of modern mission movements to the world,

We, as representative leaders of both prayer and mission movements from many nations on all continents of the world, now commit ourselves to this historic agreement and join forces and partner as the Lord leads and connects us to

Encourage, nurture and develop prayer and mission movements in the nations, with prime focus on the children and youth, preparing them to be warriors of faith, to be listening constantly to the voice of God, to be bold and courageous in the face of increasing challenges, and to reach out with the Gospel of the Kingdom, to plant churches and be agents for God´s kingdom.

Out of a place of unity with all true members of the body of Christ, regardless of denominational distinction, we commit ourselves to the unfinished task so that

Every nation, people, tribe and language group will have a sustainable and growing church,

Every enterprise in all walks of life will be served by representatives of the kingdom, with the biblical goal that "the whole earth be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord and that all nations be transformed by the Gospel and become servants of the Kingdom of God".

We commit ourselves to pray, plan and prepare for the coming of the Lord and to gather in a global harvest, that He might receive the reward of His sufferings.

We commit ourselves not to speak ill of one another but in a spirit of Christ-like love to welcome, respect and affirm the gifts and callings of each other.

We commit ourselves to help one another across the world and between the generations, to fulfil God's unique call through all means available to us, particularly where prophetic and timely calls to go to the nations are being obeyed, aiming to complete the Great Commission of our Lord.

In this context, we recognize and want to honour our older brother Israel, the first recipient of the Word and the promise. As Gentiles and first fruits of the Gospel, we are committed to love and serve Israel until we are reconciled as one new man, sharing the covenental promises.

We, from the North to the South and the East to the West, who are all "One in Christ Jesus", invite the Lord of Glory to help us fulfil all that is on His heart, through all the resources of heaven, the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and the unique gifts and callings He gives to His church, His bride.

Our Lamb has conquered. Let us follow Him, around the throne, around the clock, around the globe!

Herrnhut/Germany, 12 May, 2017

 

Acts of kindness

26 May 2017

Monday’s devastating attack in Manchester can cause us to think that there is nothing good in the world. It can feel paralysing not to be able to do anything, but it is good for the soul to hear of small kindnesses. In between spreading fake news, social media has been filled with examples of helpers supporting the emergency services, and their community. Here are some examples:. #RoomForManchester saw people and hotels offering up their spare beds. #Anybody stuck in Manchester tonight I have a spare room and I just made some really nice soup. #I live 5 mins from the Manchester Arena. I have sofa bed, food/drink and phone chargers if anyone needs any help. Cabbies offered their services free to get people back to where they needed to be; some even drove from Liverpool to help. People queued to donate blood, or brewed tea for the police and emergency services still on call.

Last Monday In Rome, thousands of Italians marched against abortion and euthanasia at their annual March for Life. Participants included Cardinal Raymond Burke, Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Kazakhstan, and Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former Apostolic Nuncio to the USA. The march is ‘taking on a life of its own,’ said a commentator. There were various groups of priests, Franciscan friars, youth groups, families, a group of bagpipers from Tradition, Family, Property, the Italian branch of Rachel's Vineyard, and many other Christian organisations. The march ended with a rally at which abortion survivor Gianna Jessen urged pro-lifers to be ‘unashamed of Jesus’.

Protection

26 May 2017

A declaration posted on Passion for the Nation states, ‘In the Name of Jesus, we release hope, healing and comfort to all those affected by Monday's terrorist attack: victims, families, young people and all the emergency services. We come into agreement with God’s word in Job 22:28, ‘You shall declare a thing and it shall be established’. As Your Ekklesia, we stand and declare over our nation that ‘God’s plans are for good and not for evil’. In the Name of Jesus, we enforce God’s original plans for peace, mercy and hope over and against every plan and purpose of Satan to bring death or destruction and we declare this nation will be a place of safety. We declare that You, Lord God, are the one in whom we put our trust. We declare to every enemy cell, group, network and structure that exists within our communities, regions and nation – your relationships will falter, arguments and disagreements will increase and funding structures, recruitment structures and internet connections will dissolve.’

Prayer happens when we have a challenge we can’t meet by our own resources. As none of us has the resources to bring someone to faith in Jesus Christ, we have to ask the Holy Spirit for help. Thy Kingdom Come is an invitation to do just that - so that through our witness others can come to know Jesus Christ.

(written by the Thy Kingdom Come team)

The UK terror threat is at its highest level of ‘critical’ after the Manchester bombing. There are fears that more attacks may be imminent. IS praised the Manchester bomber, and promised ‘more severe attacks on the worshippers of the Cross and their allies’. Pray for secular and Christian event organisers as they work with police and paramilitaries reviewing security ahead of the summer season of celebrations. Pray for the stalls of exhibitors to hold no secret devices, and for tent event activities and outdoor celebrations to be unhindered - for example at the ten-day Hay Festival, from 25 May to 4 June, which draws crowds of thousands. See

Every election is important, and many believe this next government will be strategic in this season of praying and working towards a harvest. Across the UK we are seeing significant numbers of people becoming Christians, more unity between churches and organisations, and people of other faiths having visions of Jesus. But there is growing uncertainty, with more mental health issues, homelessness, poverty, addiction, and broken families. Elections are contested spiritually. Satan will be resisting God’s sovereign purpose. It is time to pray that our extraordinary, merciful Father will touch our nations. Paul reminds us that it is God’s plan to have the right people in authority to enable people to be saved (1Timothy 2:1-4). With this in mind the World Prayer Centre has put together a document with prayer points for each day from 25 May to 12 June. To access this resource click the ‘More’ link.

One in eight young people seeking asylum in the UK are from the impoverished Balkan state of Albania. There is little to do in Skenderbeu, a remote town in the mountains where jobs are few and poverty rife. Edison sees only one way out: ‘I want to go to England for a better life. I’ll do any work. My brother and my friends have already gone. I’m jealous. This is my dream.’ His brother left the town four years ago, one of hundreds of boys from this region - some as young as thirteen - whose families pay thousands of pounds to people-smugglers to take them to Britain. Every family seems to have at least one relative in London, many of whom end up working illegally on building sites or in car washes. The little town survives on money sent from Britain. Officials estimate youth unemployment in Albania could be as high at 80%.