15 December 2015
Kachin State and Shan State, Burma
Burma Army intensifies attacks against ethnics in spite of elections.
During October and November 2015 the Burma Army increased their attacks against the Shan, Ta’ang Kokang and Kachin peoples, displacing 10,000 people in Kachin State and Northern Shan State, Burma. In spite of elections and talks of ceasefires, the Burma Army troop presence, reinforcements, and resupply in Kachin and Northern Shan States has risen to levels not seen since the Burma Army broke the 17-year ceasefire agreement with Kachin State in 2011. Similar to the 2011 offensive, the Burma Army has employed helicopter gunships and fighter jets to target ethnic resistance groups. This heightened aggression came both prior to and after the November elections and indicates a desire by the Burma Army and Burma government to gain complete control over the ethnic peoples. And it terms of the transition to democracy, General Min Aung Hlaing, commander of the Burma Army, was recently quoted by the editor of Network Myanmar as saying : “We must change gradually. Right now we are not ready for change”.
Attacks: In October, the Burma Army conducted a large-scale ground offensive against the Shan and especially against the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) Headquarters in Wan Hai, Northern Shan State. Intermittent clashes in the Wan Hai, Mong Hsu, area continued throughout October and November displacing over 10,000 villagers. In Mid-November the Burma Army launched a coordinated ground and air campaign against Kachin Independence Army (KIA) 8th Brigade Headquarters in Mohnyin Township, Kachin Township. In November the Burma army also launched attacks against the Ta’ang and Kokang people of Northern Shan State.
For more details see this website and do pray with our brothers and sisters in Christ for Christ’s peace, reconciliation and healing to cover Burma and its diverse tribes. Pray that the new democratic government will be able to end the ethnic conflicts in the land that have ravaged it for so many years.
Locations of Major Aerial and Tank Attacks in Kachin State and Northern Shan State; Location of heightened aggression in Central Shan State, where clashes have resulted in thousands of new IDPs.
The Rev. John Greenfield, an American Moravian evangelist, published his book "Power On High" in 1927 on the 200th anniversary of the Moravian revival. The information in this article is from that book, now out of print. The Moravians, a refugee colony from Bohemia, settled on the estates of Count Nicholas Zinzendorf in Herrnhut, Germany, where a powerful revival began in 1727. It launched 100 years of continuous prayer and within 25 years 100 Moravians were missionaries, more than the rest of the Protestant church had sent out in two centuries.
The Holy Ghost came upon us and in those days great signs and wonders took place in our midst. From that time scarcely a day passed but what we beheld His almighty workings amongst us.
A modern Pentecost
A Moravian historian wrote that Church history abounds in records of special outpourings of the Holy Ghost, and verily the thirteenth of August 1727, was a day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We saw the hand of God and His wonders, and we were all under the cloud of our fathers baptized with their Spirit. The Holy Ghost came upon us and in those days great signs and wonders took place in our midst. From that time scarcely a day passed but what we beheld His almighty workings amongst us. A great hunger after the Word of God took possession of us so that we had to have three services every day, viz. 5.0 and 7.30 a.m. and 9.0 p.m. Every one desired above everything else that the Holy Spirit might have full control. Self-love and self-will, as well as all disobedience disappeared and an overwhelming flood of grace swept us all out into the great ocean of Divine Love.
No one present could tell exactly what happened on that Wednesday morning, 13 August 1727 at the specially called Communion service. They hardly knew if they had been on earth or in heaven. Count Nicholas Zinzendorf, the young leader of that community, gave this account many years later:
We needed to come to the Communion with a sense of the loving nearness of the Saviour. This was the great comfort which has made this day a generation ago to be a festival, because on this day twenty-seven years ago the Congregation of Herrnhut, assembled for communion (at the Berthelsdorf church) were all dissatisfied with themselves. They had quit judging each other because they had become convinced, each one, of his lack of worth in the sight of God and each felt himself at this Communion to be view of the noble countenance of the Saviour. O head so full of bruises, So full of pain and scorn. In this view of the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, their hearts told them that He would be their patron and their priest who was at once changing their tears into oil of gladness and their misery into happiness. This firm confidence changed them in a single moment into happy people which they are to this day, and into their happiness they have since led may thousands of others through the memory and help which the heavenly grace once given to themselves, so many thousand times confirmed to them since then .
Zinzendorf described it as 'a sense of the nearness of Christ' given to everyone present, and also to others of their community who were working elsewhere at the time.
The congregation was young. Zinzendorf, the human leader, was 27, which was about the average age of the group.
The Moravian brethren had sprung from the labors and martyrdom of the Bohemian Reformer, John Huss. They had experienced centuries of persecution. Many had been killed, imprisoned, tortured or banished from their homeland. This group had fled for refuge to Germany where the young Christian nobleman, Count Zinzendorf, offered them asylum on his estates in Saxony. They named their new home Herrnhut, 'the Lord's Watch'. From there, after their baptism in the Holy Spirit, they became evangelists and missionaries.
Fifty years before the beginning of modern Foreign Missions by William Carey, the Moravian Church had sent out over 100 missionaries. Their English missionary magazine, Periodical Accounts, inspired William Carey. He threw a copy of the paper on a table at a Baptist meeting, saying, 'See what the Moravians have done! Cannot we follow their example and in obedience to our Heavenly Master go out into the world, and preach the Gospel to the heathen?'
That missionary zeal began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Count Zinzendorf observed ' The Saviour permitted to come upon us a Spirit of whom we had hitherto not had any experience or knowledge. ... Hitherto we had been the leaders and helpers. Now the Holy Spirit Himself took full control of everything and everybody'.
When the Spirit came.
Prayer precedes Pentecost. The disgruntled community at Herrnhut early in 1727 was deeply divided and critical of one another. Heated controversies threatened to disrupt the community. The majority was from the ancient Moravian Church of the Brethren. Other believers attracted to Herrnhut included Lutherans, Reformed, and Baptists. They argued about predestination, holiness, and baptism.
The young German nobleman, Count Zinzendorf, pleaded for unity, love and repentance.
Converted in early childhood, at four years of age he composed and signed a covenant: 'Dear Saviour, do Thou be mine, and I will be Thine.' His life motto was, 'I have one passion: it is Jesus, Jesus only.'
Count Zinzendorf learned the secret of prevailing prayer. He actively established prayer groups as a teenager, and on leaving college at Halle at sixteen he gave the famous Professor Francke a list of seven praying societies he had established. After he finished university his education was furthered by travel to foreign countries.
Everywhere he went, his passion for Jesus controlled him. In the Dusseldorf Gallery of paintings he was deeply moved by a painting of the crucifixion over which were the words:
Hoc feci pro te;
Quid facis pro me?
This have I done for thee;
What hast thou done for me?
At Herrnhut, Zinzendorf visited all the adult members of the deeply divided community. He drew up a covenant calling upon them 'to seek out and emphasize the points in which they agreed' rather than stressing their differences. On 12 May 1727, they all signed an agreement to dedicate their lives, as he dedicated his, to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Moravian revival of 1727 was thus preceded and then sustained by extraordinary praying. A spirit of grace, unity and supplications grew among them.
On 16 July, many of the community covenanted together on their own accord to meet often to pour out their hearts in prayer and hymns.
On 5 August, the Count spent the whole night in prayer with about twelve or fourteen others following a large meeting for prayer at midnight where great emotion prevailed.
On Sunday, 10 August, Pastor Rothe, while leading the service at Herrnhut, was overwhelmed by the power of the Lord about noon. He sank down into the dust before God. So did the whole congregation. They continued till midnight in prayer and singing, weeping and praying.
On Wednesday, 13 August, the Holy Spirit was poured out on them all. Their prayers were answered in ways far beyond anyone's expectations. Many of them decided to set aside certain times for continued earnest prayer.
On 26 August, twentyfour men and twentyfour women covenanted together to continue praying in intervals of one hour each, day and night, each hour allocated by lots to different people.
On 27 August, this new regulation began. Others joined the intercessors and the number involved increased to seventyseven. They all carefully observed the hour which had been appointed for them. The intercessors had a weekly meeting where prayer needs were given to them.
The children, also touched powerfully by God, began a similar plan among themselves. Those who heard their infant supplications were deeply moved. The children's prayers and supplications had a powerful effect on the whole community
That astonishing prayer meeting beginning in 1727 went on for one hundred years. It was unique. Known as the Hourly Intercession, it involved relays of men and women in prayer without ceasing made to God. That prayer also led to action, especially evangelism. More than one hundred missionaries left that village community in the next twentyfive years, all constantly supported in prayer.
The Spirit's Witness
One result of their baptism in the Holy Spirit was a joyful assurance of their pardon and salvation. This made a strong impact on people in many countries, including the Wesleys.
In 1736, John and Charles Wesley sailed to America as Anglican missionaries. A company of Moravian immigrants were also on the vessel. During a terrible storm, they all faced the danger of shipwreck. John Wesley wrote in his journal:
"At seven, I went to the Germans. I had long before observed the great seriousness of their behavior. Of their humility, they had given a continual proof by performing those servile offices for the other passengers, which none of the English would undertake; for which they desired and would receive no pay, saying, 'It was good for their proud hearts,' and 'their loving Saviour had done more for them.' And every day had given them occasion of showing a meekness, which no injury could move. If they were pushed, struck or thrown down, they rose again and went away; but no complaint was found in their mouth. Here was now an opportunity of trying whether they were delivered from the spirit of fear, as well as from that of pride, anger and revenge. In the midst of the Psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the mainsail in pieces, covered the ship and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on. I asked one of them afterwards: 'Were you not afraid?' He answered, 'I thank God, no.' I asked: 'But were not your women and children afraid?' He replied mildly: 'No, our women and children are not afraid to die' (1927:3536).
In Georgia, John Wesley sought spiritual counsel from the Moravian Bishop, A. G. Spangenberg. Back in England in 1738 the Wesley brothers became intimately acquainted with the Moravians, especially Peter Boehler who later became a leading Moravian bishop.
On 4 March, 1738, Wesley wrote in his diary: 'I found my brother at Oxford recovering from his pleurisy; and with him Peter Boehler: by whom (in the hand of the great God) I was, on Sunday, the 5th, clearly convicted of unbelief; of the want of that faith whereby alone we are saved. Immediately it struck into my mind, "Leave off preaching. How can you preach to others who have not faith yourself?" I asked Boehler whether he thought I should leave it off, or not. He answered, "By no means." I asked; "But what can I preach?" He said: "Preach faith till you have faith." Accordingly, Monday, 6, I began preaching this new doctrine, though my soul started back from the work. The first person, to whom I offered salvation by faith alone, was a prisoner under sentence of death.
Eventually John Wesley came to assurance of salvation. His own testimony reads;
Wednesday, May 3, 1738. My brother had a long and particular conversation with Peter Boechler. And it now pleased God to open his eyes; so that he also saw clearly, what was the nature of that one true living faith, whereby alone "through grace" we are saved.
Wednesday, May 24. In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.
Friday, May 26. My soul continued in peace, but yet in heaviness, because of manifold temptations. I asked Mr. Telchig, the Moravian, what to do. He said, "You must not fight with them as you did before, but flee from them the moment they appear, and take shelter in the wounds of Jesus."
The Methodists and Moravians often met together then for Bible study and prayer. George Whitefield's biographer wrote:
Whitefield began the New Year (1739) as gloriously as he ended that which had just expired. He received Sacrament, preached twice, expounded twice, attended a Moravian love feast in Fetter Lane, where he spent the whole night in prayer to God, psalms and thanksgivings, and then pronounced "this to be the happiest New Year's Day he had ever seen."
This love feast at Fetter Lane was a memorable one. Besides about sixty Moravians, there were present not fewer than seven of the Oxford Methodists, namely John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Wesley Hall, Benjamin Ingham, Charles Kinchin and Richards Hitchins, all of the ordained clergymen of the Church of England. Wesley writes: "About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of His Majesty, we broke out with one voice "We praise Thee, O God; we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord!"
What the Moravians imparted to John Wesley is summarized by one of his biographers, W. H. Fitchett:
"In substance it was three things which lie in the very alphabet of Christianity, but which somehow the teachings of a godly home, of a great University, and of an ancient Church, and of famous books, had not taught Wesley. There are that salvation is through Christ's Atonement alone, and not through our own works; that it's sole condition is faith; and that it is attested to the spiritual consciousness by the Holy Spirit. There truths today are platitudes; to Wesley they were, at this stage of his life, discoveries."
Wesley's estimate of the Moravian revival which resulted in his own conversion was prophetic. When Peter Boehler, nine years his junior, left England for America after several months, Wesley recorded in his journal:
"Peter Boehler left London to embark for Carolina. Oh what a work hath God begun since his coming into England! Such a one as shall never come to an end, till Heaven and earth pass away!"
Peter Boehler wrote to Count Zinzendorf, saying "The English people made a wonderful to do about me' and though I could not speak much English, they were always wanting me to tell them about the Saviour, His blood and wounds, and the forgiveness of sins."
Witnesses unto Me
Zinzendorf's speaking, preaching and letters were full of Christ. Everywhere the Moravians went they spoke of their Lord, sang of Him, and witnessed naturally. The Holy Spirit had filled them, as in the early church, with great love for their Lord.
Their Bishop Spangenberg, for example, told how Johannes, an Indian chief who had been a very wicked man, was converted. The chief said that once a preacher came to their tribe and proved to them that there was a God. They informed him that they were not ignorant of that and told him to go away. Another preacher came and told them not to steal, drink too much, or lie. They regarded him as a fool because they already knew that, and they sent him off to preach to his own people who were worse that the Indians in those vices.
Then Christian Henry Rauch, one of the Moravian Brethren, came to his hut, sat with him and told him about Jesus. Then fatigued from his journey, Christian Henry lay down and slept, unafraid of the chief. Johannes could not get the Moravian's words out of his mind. He dreamt of the cross. He told his tribe about Jesus and they repented as the Holy Spirit moved their hearts. Johannes said to the bishop, "Thus, through the grace of God, the awakening among us took place. I tell you therefore, brethren, preach to the heathen Christ and His blood and death, if you wish to produce a blessing among them."
In Europe, a Countess with close friends among kings, emperors and princes, famous for her brilliant gifts and witty conversation, found that none of her amusements and recreations satisfied her any longer. A humble Moravian shoemaker came into her presence and she was struck with his remarkable cheerfulness. She asked him why he was so happy and he replied that "Jesus has forgiven my sins. He forgives me every day and He loves me and that makes me happy through all the hours" The Countess thought about that and began to pray. Conviction led her into the same joyful faith and she became a great witness for Christ among titled people, especially in the court of the Emperor of Russia, Alexander I, her close friend.
A New Song
Then, as now, the baptism in the Holy Spirit upon the Moravians and then the Methodists, produced a flood of sacred songs. Many of the best hymns may be traced to this outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Moravian hymns were filled with praise to Christ, adoration of him as God, and proclamation of His virtues and work.
Moravian hymns were generally prayers to Christ. It was a Moravian characteristic that their prayers were generally addressed to their Saviour. Honoring the Son, they honored the Father who had sent Him as well as the Holy Spirit who glorified Christ.
A truly converted Catholic or Protestant, Calvinist or Lutheran, Moravian or Armenian, Baptist or Quaker, when baptized in the Holy Spirit and with fire often breaks out into sacred song that is prayer or praise addressed to Jesus.
This was so in Herrnhut. The chief singer then was the godly young nobleman Count Zinzendorf. He became the prince of German hymn writers.
England saw similar developments. One of the many spiritual children of Peter Boehler was John Gambold, a young clergyman of the Church of England, an Oxford graduate and a friend of the Wesleys. He joined the Moravian Church and became its first English Bishop. Some of his hymns and sacred songs became well known.
Another of Peter Boehler's English converts was James Hutton, a famous book seller. He also wrote some precious hymns.
The best known English Moravian hymn writer during the Great Revival was John Cennick. At one of Cennick's famous open air meetings, a young Scottish labourer, John Montgomery, was converted. He joined the Moravian Church and John and Mary Montgomery became Moravian missionaries in the West Indies where they died and were buried. Their son James was educated in the Moravian school at Fulneck, James Montgomery ranks with great hymn writers of that era.
Charles Wesley had more than 6,000 hymns published after his conversion in 1738 through the witness and prayers of Peter Boehler.
The majority of his hymns testify to his great experience of salvation. Peter Boehler had told him: "If I had a thousand tongues, I would praise Jesus with every one of them." This prompted Wesley shortly after his conversion to write the immortal lines:
Oh for a thousand tongues to sing
My dear Redeemer's praise
The glories of my God and King
The triumphs of His grace.
He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.
Fruit That Abides
A traveler of that period wrote this striking testimony, "In all my journeys I have found only three objects that exceeded my expectations, viz.: the ocean, Count Zinzendorf and the Herrnhut congregation." Herrnhut had become a spiritual centre visited by people from all parts of Europe seeking to be saved or to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and with fire.
John Wesley's visit to Herrnhut was typical of thousands of others. "God has given me at length," he wrote to his brother Samuel, "the desire of my heart. I am with a Church whose conversation is in Heaven; in whom is the mind that was in Christ, and who so walk as He walked." In his journal he wrote, "I would gladly have spent my life here; but my Master called me to labour in another part of His vineyard. O, when shall this Christianity cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea?"
At the end of his life, Count Zinzendorf could triumphantly say: I am going to my Saviour, I am ready. There is nothing to hinder me now. I cannot say how much I love you all. Who would have believed that the prayer of Christ, "that they all may be one," could have been so strikingly fulfilled among us! I only asked for firstfruits among the heathen, and thousands have been given me. Are we not as in Heaven! Do we not live together like the angels! The Lord and His servants understand each other. I am ready.
Over four thousand people followed his body to its resting place on the Hutberg, including Maravian ministers from Holland, England, Ireland, North America and Greenland. His tombstone bore this inscription:
Here lie the remains of the immortal man of God, Nicholas Lewis, Count and Lord of Zinzendorf and Pattendorf; who through the grace of God and his own unwearied service, became the ordinary of the Brethren's Church, renewed in this eighteenth century. He was born in Dresden on May 26, 1700, and entered into the joy of his Lord at Herrnhut on May 9, 1760. He was appointed to bring forth fruit, that his fruit should abide.
Renew Our Days
The renewal of the Moravian Church can stir our hearts to pray, "Renew our days as of old."
In 1927, 200 years after the revival in of the Moravian Church, the editor of The Biblical Review, New York, wrote:
No matter whether one is sympathetic toward the idea of revivals or not, if he wants to study the question thoroughly, he cannot afford to overlook the history and teachings of the Moravians. Theirs has been from the beginning a great Revival Church, and its service to the general cause of Christianity, and to foreign missions in particular, is deserving of wide recognition. The story of their spiritual development and its influence is one of the most inspiring in the annals of Christianity.
Their first great experience which gave the Moravians such spiritual power was a personal experience of salvation. The second great experience which gave them such spiritual power and leadership was the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Dr. J. Kenneth Pfohl, a Moravian pastor, wrote in The Moravian in 1927: The great Moravian Pentecost was not a shower of blessing out of a cloudless sky. It did come suddenly, as suddenly as the blessing of its great predecessor in Jerusalem, when the Christian Church was born. Yet, for long there had been signs of abundance of rain, though many recognized them not. In short, the blessing of the 13th of August 1727, was diligently and earnestly prepared for. We know of no annals of Church history which evidence greater desire for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and more patient and persistent effort in that direction than those of our own Church between the years 1725 and 1727. Two distinct lines of preparation and spiritual effort for the blessing are evident. One was prayer; the other was individual work with individuals. We are told that "men and Women met for prayer and praise at one another's homes and the Church of Berthelsdorf was crowed out." Then the Spirit came in great power. Then the entire company experienced the blessing at once and the same time.
In another article in The Moravian, Dr. E. S. Hagen declared: The great revival in 1727 in Herrnhut was the normal and logical result of prayer and the preaching of the Word of the Cross. "Christ and Him Crucified" was our brethren's confession of faith, and "the inward witness of remission of sins through faith in His blood" their blessed and quickening experience. Lecky in his History of Morals says of John Wesley's conversion May 24, 1738, in the prayer meeting of Moravian Brethren in Aldersgate Street: "What happened in that little room was of more importance to England than all the victories of Pitt by land or sea." A renewal of our days as of old involves a return to fervent prayer and to the earnest and effectual preaching of the remission of sins through the vicarious sacrifice and the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Revival time is coming. We cherish a high expectancy of it. Sooner than we dream of, to God's people, who give themselves to earnest, persevering prayer, and the Scriptural testimony concerning the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the windows of Heaven will be opened.
The day of revivals is not past. The Holy Spirit still waits to fill believers with power from on high.
May we ask for your prayer for the nations of Iraq and Syria that are suffering so much from the predations of ISIS? We have our attention on the recent terrorist incursions into France and the USA, but large parts of Iraq and Syria are the ISIS headquarters where everyday can be a terror for millions of people who are confined there under their brutal sway.
One of our dear Iraqi friends has just sent the following urgent prayer concerns that are being forwarded on to you to ask for your help in prayer. As we pray, things will be different. It is crucial to keep covering both of these nations in daily prayer until the situation is stabilized and these ISIS terrorist thugs are completely overthrown and crushed. We pray that in the process many of them will also turn to Jesus Christ if possible. Such praying for this part of the world will also positively affect the security situation in our own nations.
Here is our friend’s message from Baghdad.
Dear in Christ Jesus,
Greetings. The latest news does not show relief in the situations, especially after advancing of the Turkish troops from the north all the way down to nearby Mosul city (60-80 km inside the border). There are much exchange of accusations and words and warnings.
We need your prayers; supplications and intercessory:
- Keep pressure of the governmental troops on Isis all the way to drive them out of the Anbar.
- Prevent spark of clashes and exchange of fire with the Turkish troops and then have two wars within the country.
- Help us to support the huge waves of Internally Displaced Families, especially with freezing winter hitting the nation suddenly.
- The recent deteriorated situations has triggered a nation-wide move of migration of both Christians and non- Christians from all the country. We as a church works to keep them and through imparting words of hope.
We need your prayers to support us during this difficult time.
Should you receive a Word from the Lord, then feed us to be uplifted, thank you.
May the Lord Jesus Christ shine upon your life daily, Amen.
The Syrian Circle
Anniversary Edition
December 14, 2015
This month we celebrate the one-year anniversary of The Syrian Circle launch, intended to bring awareness to Christ’s Church and spark a prayer initiative for the 31 days of December 2014. As you know, God used the response of you and thousands of others to continue weekly until late 2015.
We could not have guessed all that this year would hold for the Syrian & Iraqi refugees. As things have gotten worse each week, with little hope for their immediate future – we continue to hear of the miraculous works of God in the midst of the ugliness. Looking back one year later, we have confidence that many of our specific prayers are being answered.
- His Church and the world are paying far greater attention.
- It is in the headlines. It’s both dividing nations and uniting others. It’s impacting politics in a number of nations, through pictures “going viral” of a little boy whose life was snuffed out too soon. We are grateful today it’s much harder to ignore.
- Multiple new Christian initiatives have stepped into vacuums to address issues and send workers - and many organizations have shifted to focus their prayer, personnel, programs and resources towards the crisis.
2. We asked God to bring supernatural comfort and to meet the physical needs for food, warmth and welcome. Even though there is still much need, we’ve seen many groups step into the gap.
3. Specifically responding to our prayers for God to use this crisis to open hearts to consider Jesus, we receive reports weekly that there is unprecedented response to the Prince of Peace. God is revealing himself among all age-groups, in many locations, with new disciples that includes some of the radicals themselves.
4. We petitioned together for a new generation of Syrians to be raised up who will know and follow the Lord Jesus. Large numbers of young men are making their way to Germany, where it’s possible to hear the message. A number of schools (formal and informal) have been started by believers in various locations. Along with their education, refugee children are learning and singing about Jesus.
It’s been an amazing year to see how God’s people have responded, both to giving and going – as well as praying.
We rejoice as we see God’s amazing handiwork in the midst of and in spite of the chaos. Churches, both western and national, have responded with great compassion, sacrifice and focus for aid and effective outreaches.
God’s people are generous people!
All the giving through The Syrian Circle has been distributed to effective on-the-ground teams to help with the following needs:
- Food & water
- Winterization items in the camps – hats, socks, gloves, scarves, coats, shoes and blankets
- Schooling for children – supplies and equipment.
- Vocational training for single Moms
- Bibles and audio playing units with Christian videos & teaching materials
- Evangelism & Discipleship materials
Our team is so thankful to GOD for the privilege and to YOU for being part of this season of intercession.
Because of your faithfulness, we know you are as convinced as we are that prayer is a revolution! We remember Karl Barth’s reminder that “To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.”
So what’s next?
Let’s be part of the revolution. We plan to continue to provide perspective and prayer points. However, we would like to hear from you through a short 5-question survey to determine the most helpful way to do that and serve you.
Please click here HERE to take the brief survey or paste this url into your browser https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LCHVRYR
With gratefulness,
Carol Davis, for The Chase Team
We need to continue to engage in specific ways with the threat of global terrorism that has captured international news in Paris, San Bernardino and other places. During a monthly prayer call last month with some knowledgeable friends, the following prayer concerns were raised:
- Pakistan
The military is doing a lot to take out the take out the terrorists along the border. But if peace is really to come the terrorist groups in the middle of the country are going to have to be taken down. They are the ones who supply suicide bombers, etc. to those along the border. Please pray for the overthrow of the following terrorist organizations operating in Pakistan and threatening neighboring nations like Afghanistan and the rest of our world from there:
- LEJ They are daily killing lots of military forces and elite troops within Pakistan.
- MQM used to be the biggest terror group in Karachi and Sindh. They were put down but now they have made a comeback and just won the elections in the southern part of the country.
- Jamat-Islam whose goal is to take over the Pakistan government and America. They are growing rapidly and are creating trouble throughout the country and now throughout the world. For example, the wife in the San Bernardino attack had met with them this year. It is likely that the husband as well met with them. This group seems to be tied to the Lal Musjad (the Red Mosque).
There are some good things happening in the country we can rejoice in. In Karachi, one woman is teaching a prayer course. There are some children's prayer groups meeting faithfully. In some other places, local believers have now started and are running prayer groups and children's prayer groups. We need someone in the country who will encourage people in prayer and bring this all together with strong, sensitive servant leadership.
Please pray for the Pakistan authorities and military to effectively go after the terrorist organizations operating within the country and destroy them completely. The military has been quite successful in going after them along the border with Afghanistan but now need to get those who are the real source for all the suicide bombers and funding. Pray that these organizations and their leaders will be thrown into confusion and will fight each other. Pray also that the funding from Saudi Arabia and Qatar as well as from local heroin production will be cut off.
Give thanks for the raising up of additional prayer groups and efforts and pray for the raising up of strong, united leadership within the country.
- Afghanistan
As we have prayed this year for this embattled nation, we have seen the Lord answer and raise up a strong prayer effort from within the nation by expats and locals, praise God. There is also a powerful move of the Spirit happening in the mountains with one people group. Pray that this will spread across the nation!
The new Taliban leader was most likely killed and others of their leaders have been taken out as all of us have prayed over the last few months. We pray that they may repent and come to know and serve the Lord, but if they just want to continue destroying the nation and its people, they need to be removed from the earth. Please pray accordingly.
Pray that the Taliban will continue to fight among themselves and against the ISIS movement that has entered Afghanistan as well. That the Afghan government and military will be effective in overcoming and destroying both of these terrorist movements. Also, that their support and funding from Pakistan and the Middle East will be cut off.
Pray too for the protection and strengthening of the believers and for a powerful prayer and worship movement within the country to cover the land and be used of God to change the spiritual atmosphere.
- ISIS and the global terror threat
ISIS and its network is spreading rapidly in Europe after the Paris massacre and through the continuing refugee flow into that continent. One German colleague reported that there are an estimated 11,000 potential terrorists in Paris alone and about 2000 in the UK; however they are setting up operations in virtually all the nations of the region. Quite a few Syrians who are coming as refugees are among them.
The FBI here in the USA is actively investigating suspected ISIS operatives in all 50 states and feels overstretched. The couple in San Bernardino were not even one of those being watched.
Pray for the authorities in Europe and the USA to realize that they are engaged in a conflict with the ideology of radical Islam, to throw out political correctness and go after those who are controlled by this ideology, arresting them and foiling any planned terrorist attacks. Pray that the misguided idea that Islam is a peaceful religion will now be discarded and that government officials will understand that this is the kind of Islam that Mohammed himself practiced- violent jihad and widespread murder of those considered to be “infidels”.
Pray that the coalition of nations will soon put boots on the ground, even in many thousands, in a strong, effective collaboration to overcome ISIS in Iraq and Syria and to restore those nations and their territories to peace and good governance.
1) UPRISING: World Youth Prayer Assembly, July 26-30, 2016, South Korea. Up to 2500 youth and young adults supported by adults and children (three generations together) will gather near the Demilitarized Zone with thousands more from South Korea to seek the Lord together for this important middle generation, its unique mission for our world as well as the calling He has for each of those participating. An important aim is mobilising young people to initiate prayer around the globe.
Registrations are now live at www.unitedprayerrising.com along with other important information. Please pray for Jerome Ocampo, the convener and the International Dream Team of younger leaders who are planning this event along with the local Korean team. Pray for His wisdom, unity of heart and provision of funds for the event and all those who take part.
2) One of our Middle Eastern colleagues asks us to pray for raising up the Watchmen on the walls and altars of prayer on every street. There is a need for a global call to the church to come together to seek the Lord for an end to the bondage due to false religion and the related radical ideology that causes terrorism. It is also “time to rise up against winds blowing in Europe” he warned and challenged us to pray particularly for Europe and not just the Middle East. Another prayer leader from the Middle East received a word from the Lord that we are heading towards an extraordinary time in many aspects. He saw crisis gatherings for every continent / region, covering arts, media, education etc. with groaning and travail coming out of them as well as rains of revelation and heavenly strategies.
Some of these gatherings are already being planned. June 16-19, 2016, in Milan, Italy, 1,000 people will gather for prayer and fasting for Europe. See http://www.riseup-now.com. Arabs and Europeans will join hands. In addition, there will be a number of national/regional prayer initiatives in Dubai (February), Egypt (March), Turkey (May) and Israel (May) to seek the Lord for the healing and transformation of the Middle East region.
Would you please pray for Europe and the Middle East regions at this crucial time? Pray for His people and for the authorities to cope effectively with the huge stream of refugees, for national security of those nations taking them in and for the reaching of many Muslims with the love of Christ. Pray too for powerful, region-changing prayer initiatives being planned in both Europe and the Middle East that we may see His breakthroughs in 2016!
3) Prayer is requested for the effective implementation of a vision for an international community of prayer, worship, research and mission to be in the UK near Heathrow. Please pray for the guidance of the Lord and provision of the funds needed to acquire the property.
4) Please pray for GIG (Global Issachar Group) prayer gathering for Europe along with the ICCC leadership, Feb. 4-7, seeking God for a strategy this continent in this challenging time.
Nowadays, there is a lot of talk about entitlements, those perks and privileges, usually of a material kind that are meted out by our governments to those who either have genuine needs or clamor the loudest and most persistently to get them. In the book of Revelation, the one who has overcome, the risen Messiah, offers the ultimate entitlements to those who will be like Him and overcome a world that is hostile to their faith. To each of the seven churches, Christ describes and offers a different aspect of the privileges that His followers can expect as they share His throne with Him in the coming age.
One of those awesome privileges that He promised to the Church of Thyatira is authority over the nations: “To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter. He will dash them to pieces like pottery.’” Quoting Psalm 2:9, one of the Messianic passages, He includes His people in the exercise of divine authority. What an amazing entitlement that is!
However, we don’t need to wait to the sweet bye and bye to begin to exercise such authority. It is even available to us now if we apply it through prayer. Through prayers of faith we connect with the One who has all power and become His partners and conduits of that power to bring healing and transformation to our world.
Four promises of God that resonate with His authority can literally transform not only our own personal circumstances but also the situations our nations face as well. In 60 national prayer initiatives over the last 25 years, my colleagues and I have seen His authority flow through the united prayer of His people as they have sought His face for breakthrough in the challenging, even impossible situations of war, suffering, and socio-political chaos. Time and time again, we have seen the Lord break through, changing both hearts and headlines in unique and supernatural ways that only He can pull off.
Here are the promises that I have come back to over and over again and want to commend to for your application this year:
- 2 Chronicles 7:14 - Seeking His face through prayers of humility and repentance over personal and corporate sin towards national healing and deliverance.
- Matthew 17:20 – Authoritative prayers of faith that move mountains so that nothing is impossible to us who believe.
- Matthew 28: 18-20 - Prayers of agreement in His presence that will affect Heaven and Earth.
- Luke 10:18-20 – Childlike, authoritative praying that overcomes all the power of the enemy, giving us victory over all forms of evil.
For us all, may 2016 be a year of growth in greater intimacy with the Lord as well in the authority that flows from such intimacy. May it also be a year of breakthroughs, both personally and in the nations, as we together release our faith in Him!
Best regards in Christ,
John Robb, IPC Chairman
A year ago I wrote, “the world is becoming a more dangerous place in which to live than we have experienced before”. Nothing in the intervening twelve months has changed that - only confirmed it. We've watched as a modern-day exodus has unfolded before our eyes, with hundreds of thousands (even millions) of people trekking across Europe fleeing persecution, war, terror, and economic deprivation in countries of the Middle East and North and East Africa. We've been horrified – even alarmed - as multiple terrorism-inspired violent acts have been inflicted in many countries. The various terrorist groups have made their cause global. Nowhere is safe. Every nation is at risk. Islam is at war within. Most of the killings taking place are because of Moslems fighting Moslems.
But it is also true that every day Christians are being martyred or imprisoned for their faith. The spread of secularism in the so-called Western nations is also increasing the marginalisation of Christian belief and practice. We are being portrayed as a an insignificant minority.
Should we be in fear about the future? No! “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” There was a lot of fear around when Jesus was on earth. Yet throughout His life, God’s plan continued to unfold. A plan to demonstrate His love, to show His power (even over death itself), and to keep our minds clear.
The apostle Peter, who was no stranger to fear, wrote “be self-controlled and alert” Why? Because the devil was prowling around like a roaring lion.
Behind much of what is going on in today’s world is the unfolding schemes of the evil powers. We are in a spiritual battle, but God’s spirit of power, of divine love and of a clear/sound/alert mind is sufficient to combat the evil around. The devil wants to take over the world and gain worship for himself. He’s already influential in the global places of power. And he wants to take over the minds of the upcoming generation. But he won’t win.
Eternally, Christ has already won!
The Archbishop of Canterbury, in his new year message declared "Love is the most powerful force available to us".
That’s why the coming of Christ, who existed before the world began, was so important - He was God’s expression of holy love. God’s love, demonstrated ultimately through His willingness to die, was sufficient to overcome the power of sin and of the evil one. And God’s “incomparably great power for us who believe”, demonstrated through the resurrection, was sufficient for all of time! And only God’s presence with us, demonstrated through “Emmanuel” - God with us by His Spirit - enables us to live a fear-free life.
There is another story that is developing amidst the carnage and crisis being faced in so many nations.
There are acts of kindness and deeds of love being carried out in Christ's name among the refugees on the borders of Europe. Christians are at the forefront of reaching out to the refugees in all the countries where they end up. There are tent churches being established in the refugee camps of the Middle East. There are thousands turning to Christ at this time.
As Christians we are called to love not to hate; to pray for our persecutors, not to fight them; to be filled with faith in God, not governed by fear from circumstances; and to take our stand against the devil’s schemes. Martyrdom means dying for your faith, not killing for it.
Many are sensing that God is preparing us for an unprecedented outpouring of His Spirit in many nations. What we each see and know is only a microcosm of what is going on. Just as our newspapers and television channels only give us a perspective - not the total picture - of what is going on in the world, so it is in the Christian world. We only know in part and see in part. In reality God is doing far more than we have heard. In some parts of the world large numbers are already turning to the Lord.
In whatever country we live, do we have faith in a God of love, of power and immense mercy and forgiveness to do more than we have ever seen? Are we ready to pray with such faith? Can we see Him do what may seem as impossible to us, knowing, as we do, that "with God all things are possible".
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen” (Hebrews 11.1). God has done it before - many times. He can do it again!
Brian Mills, IPC Senior Advisor
New Year Message 2016
04 Jan 2016
Listen to our New Year message for 2016 from our founder Ian Cole. What does the future hold for the world, the nation and for WPC?