Afghanistan
Suicide bombings and other attacks by the Taliban continue to kill many Afghans. Please pray for the dissolving of this extremist group of Islamists that want to take over this land and bring it under their retrogressive and barbarous ideology.
Pray for the Afghan government and army who are now taking over the main military operations against the Taliban from the tens of thousands of the 48 nation-coalition forces that have fought this battle for 12 years and are due to begin the process of withdrawing. May the Afghans be wise, effective and united in their fight to defend the nation from the Taliban threat.
There is also the possibility of direct peace talks with the Taliban by the United States. Let’s pray that through these talks the Taliban will give up their intention of overthrowing the Afghan government and taking over the nation.
Global Day of Prayer, Pakistan 2013
National Prayer Network of Pakistan Report
The National Prayer Network of Pakistan (NPNP) in collaboration with Local Churches and Ministries was able to arrange eight events to celebrate the Global Day of Prayer this year. Four events were held for adults and four evens for children were also held.
GDOP EVENT FOR CHILDREN IN ISLAMABAD:
Each year the National Prayer Network of Pakistan holds a Global Day of Prayer event in the capital of Pakistan, following the tradition and keeping in mind the importance of holding event in Islamabad. On 18th May, a prayer event for children was organized in partnership with Shine Kids Ministries and Shine Society. The event was held in a marginalized community area. The Children were taught about the importance of having a relationship with the Father Lord through prayer, how this relationship would be maintained, improved and fostered and what taints this relationship. Creative praying methods were practically demonstrated and practiced. Along with that, children prayed using maps on local, national and international prayer points of the GDOP.
GDOP EVENTS LAHORE 19th May 2013
Lahore is the 2nd largest metropolitan city in Pakistan; we were able to hold four events in Lahore. Three events focused on children and one general event was also held.
GDOP PRAYER EVENT FGA CHURCH BAHAR COLONY, LAHORE
A prayer meeting was held at the FGA church on 19th May, more than 300 Intercessors, pastors, evangelist’s and leaders attended this meeting. People were blessed by the prayers, and city prayer leaders and pastors committed that they would continue to gather in prayer all the year around and not just on events like GDOP and the recent Election Prayer Campaign. One of the most important things was the move of the Holy Spirit that made it possible for 17 ministries/churches to collaborate in the GDOP event, an important breakthrough which shows the work of the Holy Spirit in breaking down denominational walls. The participants prayed in details on the GDOP prayer points and experienced an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
GDOP PRAYER EVENTS FOR CHILDREN IN PRAYER LAHORE
Three events were organized with the partnership of Shine Kids Ministries. The children were encouraged to pray and taught the importance of corporate prayer and various methods of prayer. The young teachers who led the sessions were recently trained at the Children in Prayer Network (CIPN) Sunday School Prayer Training Camp in April. These teachers very amicably used their newfound knowledge of creative praying and guided the children to pray and develop a relationship with the Father Lord.
GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER EVENTS SINDH
Three meetings were arranged by the National Prayer Network of Pakistan Team in three different cities of Interior Sindh...These meetings were very blessed many participants were blessed with the Holy Spirit. 8-10 people dedicated their lives to the Lord and received water baptism after the meetings. The Holy Spirit moved so powerfully in these meeting that many could not stand on their feet. The meeting witnessed some intense intercession and prayer.
North Korea
As we think of North Korea these days, are hearts are heavy with thoughts of the sentencing of Kenneth Bae to 15 years of "hard labor" and the repatriation of nine refugees taken in Laos and returned to China from where they were then sent back to the North. Here's an article about Ken Bae's sentencing and his efforts to share Christ in North Korea. The case of the "Laos Nine" is generating anger among activists and, a bit surprisingly, in China as well. Here is a picture of that includes the group ranging in age from 15 to 23. (http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk03100&num=10617)
We are also concerned for the people in North Korea these days who have been struggling with a whole series of mobilizations ranging from being called up to "prepare for war", to the spring "rice planting battle" and a number of other special projects as well. These mobilizations interfere with ordinary life, which is difficult enough as it is--especially things like getting food.
The closing of the Kaesong Industrial Complex has also added its share of problem, especially for the 53,000 North Korean workers who no longer have jobs. Of course it has also been a big blow to the South Korean companies that invested there and have lost their assets and income. The longer it stays shut, the less likely these companies will be to risk future investment as well. Closed for 60 days as of June 1st, there doesn't seem to be any likelihood of it opening soon.
The North has been making some noises about inviting managers back to Kaesong and possibly rejoining the Six Party Talks again, but the South Korean government is having a very hard time taking any of this seriously.
While all of this is going on, there are many signs that ordinary people in North Korea, especially in Pyongyang, are looking more and more to South Korea for the latest trends and fashion ideas…
Special Announcement: We would like to encourage you to actually take a trip to North Korea and pray in the land. You can do it! That is, if you have a non-South Korean passport. Krahun Tours is a tour company based in the Rajin-Sonbong region of North Korea that wants to encourage Believers to come in, see and experience North Korea first hand and pray for the nation. It is perfectly safe. Really. You don't need to worry about getting into trouble. Check out their website at krahun.com/visit-dprk.
Ben Torrey,
Director
The Fourth River Project, Inc.
Turkey: Understanding the Protests
By two local believers. June 4th, 2013
Today is the fifth day of protests in dozens of cities throughout Turkey. The demonstrations began at Gezi Park in Istanbul where dozens of people had been protesting government plans to remove the park to make way for a possible shopping mall. The park is a well-loved green space with some trees that were apparently planted during the era of Ataturk in the early 20th century. The original protests were generally peaceful and environmentalist in nature, but there was already a political element given the park's renown and the current government's "moderate Islamist" stance. Secularists in Turkey are normally supporters of Ataturk and his reforms and they are often at odds with the Islamists.
The police responded to the demonstration with a show of force, moving people out of the park and using tear gas and pepper spray. Word of the excessive force used by police spread quickly and images of clashes between protestors and police flooded Twitter and Facebook. Thousands of people in Istanbul were moved to action to express solidarity with the protestors at Gezi Park, and the police escalated the situation with increasing violence, including street tanks, water cannons, and more gas cannisters.
People in other cities, also outraged at the police response to the demonstrations, began to take to the streets. The protests were quickly broadened to include expressions of discontent with Turkey's current government, particularly the perceived strong-handed control being wielded by prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish police forces. Crowds in more than 20 of Turkey's 81 provinces participated in the protests. People began calling for the prime minister to resign, and graffiti related to Erdogan and the police began to appear throughout the country.
The protests have grown in intensity and clashes with police have become increasingly violent. Several political parties and causes are riding the wave of public discontent and attempting to coopt the demonstrations. And as the crowds are increasingly emboldened the destruction that they are causing also increases. It seems that the protests are losing some of the public support because of the lack of a clear message and the damage that people are seeing on the street.
These events have been a wake-up call to the ruling party and there will have to be an ongoing effort to win back the confidence of the people. Erdogan's initial statements were dismissive of the protests as he defended the actions of his government and the police. And now he is out of the country on a scheduled diplomatic trip to North Africa. The deputy prime minister made a statement, today, however, apologizing for the excessive force used to quash the initial protest at Gezi Park. This is an obvious sign that the government is now being forced to reconsider Erdogan's dismissive approach…
June 5, 2013
We wanted to let you know about the recent events in Turkey and ask you to join us in prayer. The protests are still going on 78 cities with different intensity. The hardest ones are in Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara. The protest is against the intolerance and dictatorship of the government. The people who are protesting want the government to respect their rights, instead of keeping to change the laws to control their lives. There has never been such a protest before in Turkey. The protesters are mainly college students and elderly people. They just sit, walk, sing, and talk. There is no violence or resistance on their side when the police beat them up to arrest them. They even clean the mess and bad graffiti about the prime minister every morning until 4:00PM! It’s amazing! People just want to be free from the dictatorship of the government and live in real democracy, not on paper, and they do it with a very civilized and loving attitude. They even serve food and drink to the police who are attacking them with gas bombs, water tanks, etc.
We were hoping that people would not die, but one person was killed by the police in Ankara and another in Antakya during protests. The prime minister started to threaten indirectly by saying that he has been holding 50% of his people not to get involved and do something against the protesters. He’ll probably announce what he will do on Saturday and if he releases that 50% on the protesters, a civil war will start and many people will die. Please, pray with us (and even fast if you can) that God will resolve it before many people die. May His will be done and may we believers be ready to be used by Him as He works in His sovereign ways.
Let’s join our brothers and sisters in Turkey in praying for their nation at this crucial time in its history.
