Driven out of their ancestral homes, killed and crucified, Assyrian Christians face execution at the hands of their Daesh captors. This latest threat is to execute 180 of the 230 who were abducted from their Khabur river valley villages in mass raids in February. Ridiculous ransoms are demanded for their lives. Negotiations led by Bishop Otnaial, head of the Church of the East in Syria, have been suspended due to "the unbearable demands of the terror group." The original demand was 23 millions dollars to free 230 people. Terrorist have "drastically reduced" their demand to 12 millions for 180 people.
Recently Daesh showed a video of three orange-jumpsuit-clad captives being executed. The video drew condemnation from watchdog groups, such as A demand for Action: "We condemn this latest act of barbarism in the strongest possible terms.... They are helpless. They are children. They are women. They are someone's father and brother." Now more than the money, the organization of the liberation is a key issue. Just last week militants claim to have kidnapped at least 220 Christian Assyrians in northeast Syria. The plea goes out to the international community to act now to save the lives of the kidnapped.
The nation of Syria is number 4 on the 2015 Open Doors World Watch List of the worst persecutors of Christians in the world. Window International Network partners pray for Syria on Day 30 in accordance with the Praying Through the Window 9: Global Terrorism and World Religions prayer calendar.
ISIS (Dash) Threatens the Execution of 180 Assyrian Christians
Let’s Pray For:
God's angels to watch over and protect these Assyrian Christians. We ask God to protect the weak and strengthen them. We pray that facing death, they will endure for Christ until the very end (The Bible, James 1:12).
The Daesh captors to be confronted by the living God as they see the faith of their Christian captives. We pray for them to be so convicted of the evil they are perpetrating that they will either convert to Christianity or desert their Daesh terrorists (The Bible, Acts 9:1-19).
The supernatural release from their captors just as the Apostle Peter when he was released from prison by God's angel (The Bible, Acts 12:1-10).
God to send his angels to slay Daesh terrorists who work as agents of Satan. Nothing is too hard for God who slew 185,000 in one night in the enemy's camp! (The Bible, Isaiah 37:36).
Sources:
ISIL Threatens to execute 180 Assyrian Christians (AINA)
ISIS Threatens to execute 180 Assyrian Christians (TheStream.org)
ISIS to Execute 180 Assyrian Christians after Negotiations Break Down (Genocidewatch.net)
Photo: Reuters
From a friend who works in the country:
“You all heard that bad news about the capture of Kunduz city by the Taliban. This has been a very significant victory for the Taliban and very big boost to their morale and at the same time discouraged the Afghan Army and Police even more. It can have a strong ripple effect like what happened in Iraq when the Army run away from the IS even through they had more solders and better weapons. Kunduz is very strategic and it is not even a typical strong Pashtun area like Kandahar or Helmand. We know that the Taliban are supported by Islamists from Tajikistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Chechenia.”
Fortunately, the Afghan army, supported by the American forces, were able to take back the city, but fighting continues in other parts of the country. ISIS is also there along with the Taliban. Pray that they will fight each other for supremacy and that both of these movements will pass away so the land can be rid of their destructive presence and influence.
Please also pray for the government of Afghanistan and the Afghan army to have wisdom and courage and a good strategy to overcome the Taliban as well as ISIS. Pray that the government can agree on a good defense minister and become united in this battle for the survival of the nation.
Pray for the encouragement and strengthening of the local prayer movement and the increasing number of those who are believers among the Afghans.
Agree in faith and His authority for the binding and overthrow of the evil spiritual forces that control the Taliban and ISIS. May they be disempowered and give up their wrong-headed, destructive cause with many of their members coming into relationship with Jesus Christ the Lord.
“Rescue operations have begun to reveal the full scale of an Afghan earthquake that killed hundreds and caused damage across South Asia. Officials said that the death toll from the magnitude-7.5 quake that struck on October 26 was continuing to rise as rescuers reached remote areas. As of early October 27, the death toll had risen to more than 300, with at least 241 fatalities and 1,600 injuries recorded in Pakistan.
In Afghanistan -- where the Hindu Kush mountain range in sparsely populated Badakhshan Province was identified as the epicenter of the quake -- at least 115 had been reported killed and hundreds more injured.
Many areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan had already been deluged by two days of unseasonably heavy rain and snowfall, triggering mudslides when the quake and its aftershocks hit. Roads and bridges were washed out in mountainous regions, hampering search-and-rescue operations.
High casualties and extensive damage were recorded in areas of northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, such as Khyber Pakhtunkwa Province's Swat and Chitral districts. A local official in the Chitral district told AFP that as many as 80,000 people there are without access to drinking water.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned from a trip to the United States and traveled on October 27 to Khyber Pakhtunkwa Province, where at least 49 people were killed, to assess the damage. During a later briefing in the capital, Islamabad, he gave assurances that Pakistan was "capable enough to rescue and rehabilitate those affected by the earthquake."
Some 330 kilometers east of the epicenter, in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region, video images emerged on social media of a landslide near a popular suspension bridge:
In the garrison city of Rawalpindi, close to Islamabad, video showed a bridge swaying when the quake struck.
Pakistan’s powerful army has taken a lead role in responding to the crisis, with extra resources being sent to affected regions.
Thousands of people in the region, expecting aftershocks, reportedly spent the night of October 26-27 outdoors in near-freezing temperatures.
Afghan officials said at least 74 people were confirmed dead and hundreds more injured, with casualties reported from around half a dozen of the country’s 34 provinces. The Kabul government has called for international aid agencies to send help.
For Afghanistan, the challenge of mounting rescue operations will be made harder given the country’s relative lack of resources, difficult terrain, and the presence of anti-government Taliban insurgents in some of the affected areas.
The Taliban issued a statement saying its militants had been ordered to provide "complete help" to victims of the quake and to pave the way for access by rescue workers and aid organizations.
The Afghan government estimated that about 4,000 homes had been destroyed or damaged.
The quake was felt throughout South Asia, including the Tajik capital, Dushanbe; areas of southern Kazakhstan 1,000 kilometers north of the epicenter; and in India's capital, Delhi.
In Indian-controlled Kashmir, video showed a frantic street scene as the quake hit.”
Please pray for effective relief efforts and that those who have been affected by this tragedy will be brought to Jesus Christ through it all.
1. The Lord is guiding and blessing the UPrising: World Youth Prayer Assembly in South Korea where it will happen next year, July 26-30. A suitable venue near the DMZ has been offered for the WYPA with lots of possibilities for 2000 to 2500 participants with hotels 15 minutes away. Young leaders there are on board and keen to move ahead and we hope to bring more senior leaders into the process as well. Please pray for the mobilization of the right youth, children and seniors from every region of the world to take part so that it will be truly global, intergenerational and tri-generational.
2. We need about $1 million USD to pull it off including in-country costs and for partial travel subsidies for those youth who need them. Please pray with us for the release of His abundant provision to happen now.
3. Please pray for Jonathas Abdou, a younger leader in Brazil’s prayer movement and new member of our IPC leadership who wants to mobilize youth there for the WYPA. He also wants to further develop a youth prayer movement for his large nation.
4. About 25-30 younger and older leaders from the prayer movement will form the WYPA Exec Committee that will meet in Manila, The Philippines, this next week, Nov 3-6. We need to determine speakers and program for WYPA. Please pray for this process. Registration will begin Dec 1 so there is much that needs to be accomplished quickly. Please pray for His anointing, unity, clarity and wisdom for this program planning process and for the convener Jerome Ocampo and his team working on all these logistical issues.
5. Other initiatives to pray for in 2015 or 2016:
- Arab and European prayer leaders, Switzerland, Nov 18-21
- Persian Gulf regional prayer initiative, Feb. 18-21, 2016
- Turkey national prayer initiative, May 18-21, 2016
6. IPC website – pray with us for the effective launch of the new IPC website and server in the next couple of weeks.
7. Pray for the 24 members of the IPC leadership team as they lead various prayer initiatives in their regions and internationally that they will be always led of the Spirit and enabled by Him to do what they are being called to do. May they and their families be greatly blessed and be a thorough blessing to many others!
Thanks so much for your support in this way!
Please pray for a peace breakthrough
“Iran will be invited to participate in the Oct. 30 round of talks in Vienna on ending the conflict in Syria, a U.S. State Department spokesman said Oct. 27, Reuters reported. An unnamed official from the Middle East said Iran had already been invited by both the United States and Russia, and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian would attend the talks. The possible participation of Iranian Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was still under discussion, the official said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with both Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier in the day. If the Russian and Iranian efforts to stabilize al Assad's forces and restore their advantage on the battlefield prove successful, Damascus will be in a much more favorable position at the bargaining table.”
From Stratfor.com, OCTOBER 28, 2015
An airstrike by the US-led coalition last Thursday killed Sanafi al-Nasr, a Saudi citizen and the leader of an al-Qaeda offshoot called the Khorasan Group. The Pentagon commented, ‘Al-Nasr was a longtime jihadist, experienced in funnelling money and fighters for al-Qaeda, and moving funds from donors in the Gulf region to al-Qaeda leaders from Pakistan to Syria. He was the fifth senior Khorasan Group leader to be killed in the last four months, and this operation deals a significant blow to the this group's plans to attack the United States and their allies.’
Nigeria: ‘She Is in the hands of God’
23 Oct 2015
Twelve fathers of the 200+ schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram from Chibok spoke out about the dangers their families face on a daily basis, and shared their pain of not knowing what has happened to their daughters. They are refusing to give up hope that one day they will return to them. One of the fathers, when asked, 'Where do you think your daughter might be?' said, 'She is in the hands of God'. It was a sentiment echoed by all the parents. They are not going to think about any other reality. Despite the media attention on Chibok, the whole region remains under heavy threat by the Islamic militants. Some of the fathers sneak out at night to be the first line of defence against Boko Haram and to protect their families. The challenge to international organisations is that Chibok is incredibly dangerous to reach. Earlier this month it was reported that one of the schoolgirls was pregnant and carrying diseases by Boko Haram terrorists. See: http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-chibok-schoolgirls-alive-pregnant-boko-haram-terrorists-diseases-147662/
General elections with global repercussions
23 Oct 2015
On 19 October Canadians chose Justin Trudeau to be their new prime minister as Liberals returned to power. A Liberal government will change Canadian politics and be felt on the world stage as Canada ends its participation in the coalition against IS, refocuses military efforts on training local forces and humanitarian efforts, and launches a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women. On 17 October Guinea's president won re-election but the opposition leader is calling for protests against fraud. On 25 October three elections will be held. One is in Côte d'Ivoire, where the incumbent will be seeking a second term to promote stability. The Tanzanian general election on the same day could be controversial, while Poland’s election results will have repercussions beyond Warsaw - from the role Poland will play in Europe’s refugee crisis to David Cameron’s chances of success in renegotiating Britain’s status in the EU before holding an in/out referendum.