Seed Co – Reminders of God’s Faithfulness
When was the last time you asked something of God with the faith-fuelled expectation that he would do it? For many believers, praying too specifically can feel arrogant and selfish. Or worse, we don’t really believe God is powerful enough to do what we ask. To many of us, having a tiny mustard seed of faith is already a stretch; we can’t imagine God will grow it any bigger, much less produce fruit! If you find yourself needing reminders of God’s faithfulness, take a few moments to read these stories that reveal how the Lord shows up when we pray.
Israel: Attacks on Christian communities
President Herzog acknowledged that ‘ultra-nationalist Jews attacking Christians is on the rise’. Attacks of stones, eggs and rotten fruit are regularly thrown into Jerusalem’s New Polish House. Aggressors broke into the sisters’ private property at nighttime, smashing pots and damaging the front door. Also, several dozen Breslov Hasidic extremists have entered a Catholic church eight times in the early hours, praying and alleging, incorrectly, Elisha’s tomb is there so they can claim Jewish rights over the church property. Police removed them. In a video, Dormition Abbey’s abbot was escorting the German federal minister of Education by the Western Wall when he was asked by an Israeli official to hide the cross he was wearing; saying the cross is ‘really big and inappropriate for this place. It's a Jewish place, you must respect that.’ Pray for God to encourage Christian communities and for church leaders to respond wisely and appropriately to opposition.
Kazakhstan: Points for prayer
Some say ‘to be a Kazakh is to be a Muslim’. Most Kazakhs follow a version of Islam influenced by shamans and indigenous practices. Other Muslim countries send Muslim missionaries to Kazakhstan, successfully converting even ethnic Russians to Islam. After the Soviet Union broke up, the number of mosques grew from 46 to 2,300 in 2020. The government keeps Islam moderate and is the only Central Asian state where Islam has no special status. Pray for freedom from historic spiritual bondages. Kazakhstan's cultural and religious diversity provides many opportunities for evangelising. A number of Kazakh Uzbeks and Uyghurs are turning to Christ and taking the gospel back to their own people. Christianity is still largely an urban phenomenon, but churches and missions (Baptists, Korean groups, Western agencies) are recruiting for village ministry. Pray that the Gospel might be shared in the listeners' language, in the many towns and villages of this sprawling land.
USA: Parents refused funds for religious schools
Six Jewish parents and two Jewish schools are suing the California Department of Education over their refusal to allow families whose children have special needs to use federal and state funds designated for such students to attend private religious schools. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the plaintiffs, said that California’s campaign against Jewish children with disabilities and the schools they want to attend is shameful and unconstitutional; adding, ‘We argued in court that the government cannot exclude religious people and schools from a public benefit simply because they are religious.’ Plaintiffs Chaya and Yoni Loffman said, ‘We want to educate our son in a safe, supportive learning environment that meets his unique needs and upholds our shared religious beliefs.’ The court is expected to issue a ruling in the case of Loffman v. California Department of Education in the coming months.
