- Prayer Initiative for the UAE, February 18-20
It was a blessing and joy to serve with 23 others on a large international ministry team for a national prayer initiative for the United Arab Emirates held in Dubai, February 18-20. Some were colleagues from the leadership of the IPC and others were prayer leaders and intercessors that wanted to take part. About 250 local participants representing many of the 64 churches in the Emirates took part and the local organizers were so gracious and sensitive to the work of the Spirit in our midst.
The overall theme was “Uniting in Prayer, Transforming our Nation and Region”. A larger theme that under-laid and motivated the initiative was prayer for the fulfillment of Isaiah 19 and the prophesied highway that will one day link Assyria (Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and the other nations that were once part of the Assyrian Empire), Egypt and Israel to be a “blessing on the earth” (Isaiah 19:24). The highway must first be formed as a spiritual relationship, uniting the Body of Christ across the Middle East in prayer as we heard expounded by one of our team during the initiative. Certainly the UAE is a very strategic place for His people to be and to pray together in order to contribute to the fulfillment of Isaiah 19! There are more than 8 million guest workers from up to 200 nationalities and only 1.4 million Emiratis (local Arabs). If God’s people there can unite in prayer and service, a great synergy for His Kingdom will be released that will impact the whole Middle East and beyond.
I felt from the beginning that through this prayer initiative we were sowing seeds that would spring into life, both there in the UAE while the Christian guest-workers are living and working there as well as for later on when they return to their many different countries. Other images I saw as we prayed were of God stirring a large pot that was full of different people groups being melded together, then poured out in His unique purposes. On the final day, I saw a glistening crystal fountain from which living water poured forth in all directions and felt that the Spirit was saying that the UAE could become a new Antioch for blessing the nations.
Various ministry team leaders and I led the following sessions interspersed with strong times of intercession:
Isaiah 19
Prayer and Social Transformation
Reconciliation and Identificational Repentance
Prayer and Prophetic Ministry
Children and Youth in Prayer
Prayer for the Middle East Region (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Israel and Turkey)
Conflict with Spiritual Powers
God’s Promise to the Arab World
Compassion and Humanitarian Ministry (focus on Syrian refugees)
Prayer for Revival and Renewal for the Nations
Commissioning as Intercessors
Needs that were highlighted within the UAE were the serious problems of 90% of the expats being in debt, sexual immorality and drugs. There is also an ongoing economic downturn that is causing many to lose their jobs right now.
The Lord blessed and anointed our time together. Local pastors and elders were encouraged strongly to maintain the unity of the Spirit and to work and pray together as one for the future, which they committed themselves to do. Please do pray for them to be strong and united in ongoing prayer and to carry out the unique mission He has for them with great power, love and faith. May they indeed become another Antioch that the Lord will use far beyond all we can imagine to bless the UAE, the Middle East region and the nations of the world!
- Conferring with ministry leaders Israel, February 21-25
After the initiative in Dubai, Brian Mills, our IPC senior advisor, and I journeyed to Israel to confer with ministry leaders about a possible united prayer initiative to be held there in the future. On the one hand, it is encouraging to see all that the Lord is doing through His diverse Body of Messianic Jews, Israeli Arab Christians and Palestinian believers in the West Bank. There are many vital ministries with good numbers coming to the Lord. However, we heard from a number of ministry leaders about the lack of unity within Christ’s movement due to differences of perspective on politics and prophetic interpretations. The land continues to be a very sensitive issue and seems to be a stumbling block to real unity as believers have tended to line up with their governments rather than with one another.
We can rejoice that there are some significant efforts being made to bring Christ-followers together such as a recent consultation in Cyprus that included both Messianic Jewish and Palestinian Christian leaders to deliberate together how to move towards reconciliation. A group of pastors, both Jewish and Arab, called “Sitting at Yeshua’s feet” is going on as well as wonderful gatherings for youth that include participants from both ethnic groups. Please pray for these ministries to further develop and involve many more in the country.
If Isaiah 19 is to be fulfilled, the essential thing is to see real heart unity develop between the various niches and factions in the Body of Christ in the region. Israel occupies a central role in the creation of this spiritual highway that will bring great unity and blessing to the region and our world. Please pray with us for the effective building of a united prayer movement within Israel and the Middle East and that God will use such heart-connected prayer and action to bring about His agenda of revival and transformation to these nations.
John Robb
IPC Chairman
New mental trauma service
26 Feb 2016
Funding for a new mental trauma service for Northern Ireland has been announced by health minister Simon Hamilton. He said, ‘I am pleased to report that positive progress is being made. The final model will be based on the internationally-recognised Stepped Care approach, with low-level interventions provided by voluntary and community organisations, and more intensive interventions by professionals under the auspices of a new Regional Specialist Service. To assist in getting our new mental trauma service off the ground, I have invested £175,000 of funding for early set-up costs.’ The service will comprehensively address the legacy of the Troubles and unmet mental health needs, and improve individual, family and community experiences of mental health trauma care. It will offer better psychological and social outcomes for individuals and their families and communities who were traumatised at that time.
IS frees 40 Assyrian Christians
26 Feb 2016
Forty kidnapped Assyrian believers have been released by IS. They were among the 230 taken a year ago. Millions of dollars were paid in ransom. The captives were released and sent to the town of Tal Tamr, after mediation by a top Assyrian priest in northern Syria. IS had demanded a ransom of £12.77 million for the group: this figure was later lowered following negotiations, but the final amount is not known. A Syrian Christian said the worldwide Assyrian community had launched a campaign for the captives' release shortly after they were abducted. A bank account was opened in the Iraqi city of Irbil and donations began to flow in from around the world. ‘We paid millions of dollars for their release, but it was less than half the amount asked for,’ said the spokesman.
France: anti-Semitic terror
26 Feb 2016
‘I had to cover my kippah with a cap to be safe in public,’ said Lev, a young Jew from Paris, ‘and I worried that someone would kill my daughter at her school.’ Lev’s family are now safely starting a new life in Israel: they went on a sponsored Wings of Eagles Freedom Flight. Lev was overcome with gratitude when this help was made available: ‘Thank you for helping us leave the fear and terror behind!’ He brought his family to Israel before both the kosher supermarket attack that killed four and the heinous Charlie Hebdo massacre that left the people of Paris paralysed with fear. Such fear and terror is being felt today not only in France but also by Moldovan, Turkish, Venezuelan, Spanish and other Jews. It is growing across the globe as Islamic terrorists slaughter the innocent.
Europe 'shameful' over refugees, terror response
26 Feb 2016
European countries' shameful response to the migrant crisis and their counter-terrorism policies risk undermining their historic commitment to human rights, Amnesty International warned on Wednesday. They used their annual report to take some of the world's oldest democracies to task. Several countries in the EU passport-free Schengen area have re-imposed border controls in response to refugees fleeing war and persecution. ‘That Europe, the richest bloc in the world, is not able to take care of the basic rights of the most persecuted people in the world is shameful’, said Amnesty. It called for safe, legal routes for people to reach Europe and said they should be treated on a case by case basis, not subjected to ‘collective punishment’. Amnesty was alarmed by the counter-terrorism laws being introduced across Europe, in particular the state of emergency implemented in France. ‘The system that has been built over seventy years to protect human rights now needs to be protected from a wholesale attack.’
Muslim leader warns British Pakistanis
26 Feb 2016
Muslim leader warns British Pakistanis
There have been three cases recently where Asian men have been convicted of rape or sex trafficking offences. Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, has made what some consider controversial statements regarding members of the Pakistani community involved in grooming girls, saying they harboured racist attitudes towards white girls. He observed there is an over-representation of Pakistani men convicted of child sexual exploitation and on-street gang-grooming in which the majority of victims are white. He warned British Pakistanis against ‘burying our head in the sand’ regarding grooming gangs operating in their communities. See also:
EU renegotiation
26 Feb 2016
The Fresh Start group of Conservative MPs has dismissed David Cameron's EU renegotiation as a failure across a series of policy areas, saying many goals had not been attempted or only partially achieved. They said, 'The Prime Minister has now come to the end of a hard-won renegotiation. It has taken place during a period of great change within Europe, and his own negotiating position was backed up by the certainty of a UK referendum. This gave the best possible chance for change in Europe we are likely to see for a generation. So was the EU able to rise to the occasion and show that it is capable of fundamental reform?’ Over 140 Conservative MPs (out of 329) are expected to vote to leave the EU, with dozens still undecided. Attitudes are changing: last week six cabinet members said they would campaign for withdrawal, as did Boris Johnson, mayor of London.
Jesus depicted as a transgender woman
26 Feb 2016
A play called ‘The Gospel according to Jesus, Queen of Heaven’, performed in a Manchester C of E church and portraying Jesus as a transgender woman who refers to God as ‘mum’, has been called a sacrilegious effort to promote homosexuality. The play is a one-woman show performed by Jo Clifford, an acclaimed Scottish playwright and professor who has changed gender from male to female. Dr David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, said that an artistic performance offensive to Christians does not of itself amount to grounds for seeking to prevent it taking place. Former Bishop of Rochester, Rt Revd. Michael Nazir-Ali, said, ‘It is clear from the Gospels that the identity of Jesus is male, his ‘mum’ is Mary, and he always refers to God as 'Father', so to suggest otherwise is contrary to Christian teaching.’ See also: