AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

* CHRISTIAN FAITH IMPACTING CHINESE PRODUCTIVITY
* ARIZONA CHURCHES COMPLETE 3 YEARS OF ALMOST NON-STOP
PRAYER
* AN APPEAL NOT TO FORGET THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN
* CHRISTIAN GIRL SAVED FROM SLAVERY IN INDIA
* TALIBAN KILLS THREE CHRISTIAN AID WORKERS IN PAKISTAN
* PARENTS HAVE GREATER INFLUENCE ON MORAL VALUES OF CHILDREN THAN SCHOOLS
* BACTERIA EATING AWAY GULF
OIL
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CHRISTIAN FAITH
IMPACTING CHINESE PRODUCTIVITY
The employees work under the symbols of the atheist Communist state.
At first glance, it looks as though it could be any other factory
driving the rapid development of the Chinese economy. But this is no
ordinary enterprise because here religious faith is as important as
profit. In fact, the owner of the Boteli Valve Group in Wenzhou would
like to see all his staff convert to Christianity. And such a factory
is not a one-off: it is part of a growing number of businesses run by
Christian entrepreneurs in China, whose success is now being studied
by the Chinese government.
As he shows off the production facilities, the factory’s general
manager, Weng-Jen Wau, says that every month, $5m worth of industrial
valves are manufactured. About 40% of the factory’s output is
exported to businesses worldwide. But he seems to have limited
interest in the sales figures – he is far more concerned to
tell about the place his family’s Christian faith has in the life of
the factory. Every Monday morning, the senior managers gather
together and pray about the business.
Once a week, members of staff are encouraged to attend an on-site
Christian fellowship meeting, where they read the Bible and pray for
each other. Weng-Jen Wau believes that by encouraging increasing
numbers of his staff to convert to Christianity, his business will
prosper. He says that when staff do convert to Christianity, their
attitude towards their work is transformed. “If you’re a Christian
you’re more honest, with a better heart,” he says. “The people who
aren’t Christians aren’t responsible. I think it’s very different.

“I’m not saying those people who aren’t Christians are all bad, but
from the percentage of the workers who are Christians, they seem to
be more responsible. “Also when they do things wrong, they feel
guilty – that’s the difference,”he explains. One of the workers who
had recently converted to Christianity explained that he had known
nothing about the religion before he started work at the factory. But
he said that his new-found faith was now a source of daily
inspiration. He told me that he was now trying to convert his friends
and colleagues to Christianity.
“If everybody became a Christian, it would have a big impact, and
would really help the development of our factory,” he said. In
response to a question as to how much religion was a factor when he
was recruiting new staff Mr Wau said “Of course I would choose the
Christians first,” he said. Such comments could prompt accusations of
discriminatory practice in some countries, but he had no doubt about
the sort of impact Christianity could have on Chinese business. “I
think if all enterprises absorb this Christian culture, we will have
a much more harmonious society,” he said.
There are obvious questions about whether the staff really have
discovered Christianity, or whether they are simply responding
pragmatically to a clearly defined vision for their company. Most
seemed keen to stress the significance of their new faith, and the
lack of pressure to convert – though there was no disguising their
bosses’ clear desire to boost Christian numbers in the workforce. But
the wider role of Christian entrepreneurs in the economic success of
the Wenzhou private enterprise zone has not gone unnoticed by the
Chinese government.
Far from being regarded as a religious oddity, the impact of
Christian-run businesses is now being studied by Chinese government
officials. At the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in
Beijing, Professor Zhuo Xinping, is the Director of the Institute of
World Religions. He specialises in the study of Christianity’s
growing influence in China – and has plenty to say about Wenzhou’s
Christian entrepreneurs. He says that the city was visited by
substantial numbers of Western Christian missionaries during the 19th
Century and thus has – by Chinese standards – a long history of
Christian faith.
Today it has an unusually high number of Christians for a Chinese
city – with some estimates suggesting Christians now make up 20% of
the population. But what really interests him is the way in which the
growth of Christianity and economic prosperity have happened side by
side. The factory has a monthly output worth $5m. He tells me that
Chinese researchers are considering whether in Western history there
is a link between economic prosperity and Protestant Christianity –
and they are questioning what that might mean for today’s China.

“It’s very important to find the secret of social development, the
so-called potential forces for a nation,” he says. “When it comes to
Western countries, the majority of Chinese understand that this
potential force is Protestant Christianity.”Christian faith may sound
like an unlikely component in China’s future economic success. But
the notion that new-found faith can inspire a workforce to increased
levels of productivity is being taken seriously not only by Christian
businessmen, but by China’s Communist – and officially atheist –
leaders.
Source: BBC
News
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ARIZONA CHURCHES
COMPLETE 3 YEARS OF ALMOST NON-STOP PRAYER
The Church in the State of Arizona has now been praying non-stop
almost three straight years. The “Torch” non-stop prayer initiative
has almost completed its 3rd Year with great momentum. It doesn’t
seem possible that on New Year’s Eve almost 4 years ago, it began
with just 15 people gathered in a small prayer room in Phoenix, AZ to
“Launch the Torch.” A humble $20 camping light represents the “Torch”
that has passed, much like a baton in a relay race, from location to
location.
The initial vision was to organize and equip 52 prayer teams who
would each cover one week of non-stop prayer in 2008. For each prayer
team’s assigned week, they would cover all-day, all-night prayer at
a pre-determined location. “Our desire was to see non-stop prayer
happen in churches, businesses, hospitals, universities, or wherever
else the Lord had in mind” said an organiser. At that time, we had 13
churches committed and a whole lot of faith for the Lord to fill all
52 weeks of 2008 with churches and ministries who were hungry for His
Presence.
More than 100 churches, ministries, and market place locations have
participated. There has been non-stop prayer occur not only in
churches, but also in every sphere of society, including schools,
businesses, a radio station, TV station, hotel, government offices,
hospitals, a county jail, and even a casino! A second “Family Torch”
was launched in January encouraging families to come together and
host the presence of the Lord in their homes. There have been
healings, deliverance and testimonies of reconciliation within the
families who have hosted the “Torch”.
In one city a mayoral proclamation was made announcing a “week of
prayer”. The City of Phoenix has reported that the murder rate
dropped over 40% between 2007 and 2009 and the violent crime rate
dropped 18% in 2009. There have been many changes and testimonies
continue to be received on a weekly basis of how the Lord is
encountering individuals, churches and communities as they host their
week of non-stop prayer. This is some of the tangible fruit
being seen as a result of continuous prayer and worship that is
changing the atmosphere over Arizona!
Source:
Litethefire.org
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AN APPEAL NOT TO
FORGET THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN
Millions of people have had their homes washed away by the floods in
Pakistan with at least 2,000 killed. The disaster is on par with the
2004 Boxing Day tsunami and this year ¢â‚¬â„¢s Haiti earthquake. The scale
of need for shelter, food, clean drinking water, medicines,
toiletries and clothing is incomprehensible. Yet the international
response has been slow and the UN is struggling to raise the $460
million it says is needed to ensure a full recovery for Pakistan. The
floods have wiped out millions of homes, some 17 million acres of
agricultural land, and more than 100,000 animals.
International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance, Dr Geoff
Tunnicliffe, said:  ¢â‚¬Å“This  ¢â‚¬Ëœcreeping tsunami ¢â‚¬â„¢ impacting the lives of
millions of people in Pakistan must be met with a robust response
from the Christian community worldwide. It is critical that we stand
with the small minority of Christians in Pakistan as they seek to
demonstrate God ¢â‚¬â„¢s love and care for the suffering. ¢â‚¬  Associate
International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance, Gordon
Showell-Rogers, said:  ¢â‚¬Å“The vast suffering in Pakistan is, for most of
us, unimaginable. The incredible statistics mask the individual
pain.”
The Evangelical Alliance Pakistan said:  ¢â‚¬Å“The floods are far worse
than any of us first imagined. Meeting the immense needs of the
survivors is an uphill struggle. Many families have nothing left but
the clothes they were wearing.  ¢â‚¬Å“One tent village with 150 families is
still waiting for help. We have been able to help a little already
thanks to the kindness of supporters but much more remains to be
done. ¢â‚¬  The floods are the result of unprecedented monsoonal rains and
bad governance, for Pakistan has one of the highest rates of
deforestation in the world with less than 5% forest cover left.

Source: World Evangelical
Alliance
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CHRISTIAN GIRL
SAVED FROM SLAVERY IN INDIA
Nearly two years after anti-Christian violence broke out in India ¢â‚¬â„¢s
Kandhamal district, Orissa state, a team working against human
trafficking have rescued a 16-year-old Christian girl  ¢â‚¬“ one of at
least 60 people sold into slaveryafter the 2008 attacks. The recovery
of the girl represented the cracking of a network that has trafficked
Christian girls and women from Orissa to the national capital,
sources said. The girl, whose name is withheld, is a tribal Christian
who was sold into slavery along with her 19-year-old sister and two
other girls, all victims of the 2008 violence.
They were trafficked from the Daringbadi block of Kandhmal district
to the capital in December 2009, according to the Human Rights Law
Network. Her sister and the other two girls remain missing.  ¢â‚¬Å“Human
trafficking agents operating in the tribal belt of Orissa have
targeted the Christian girls who are displaced by the Kandhamal
communal violence  ¢â‚¬“ we have been receiving complaints of missing
girls from Kandhamal after the violence broke out in 2008, ¢â‚¬  said
attorney Lansinglu Rongmei, one of the rescue team members.

Prasant Vihar Police Station House Officer Sudhir Kumar confirmed the
rescue team ¢â‚¬â„¢s accusation that he refused to register a complaint in
the girl ¢â‚¬â„¢s case.  ¢â‚¬Å“The victim is from Kandhamal, let her go back to
Kandhamal and register her complaint there, ¢â‚¬  Kumar told Compass.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Sukhvir Singh told Compass he had no
explanation why the girl ¢â‚¬â„¢s complaint was not registered, but he
insisted on having her and the rescue team return.  ¢â‚¬Å“We will file
their complaint if they come back to us now, ¢â‚¬  he said.
Source: Compass
Direct
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TALIBAN KILLS
THREE CHRISTIAN AID WORKERS IN PAKISTAN
Authorities have recovered the bodies of three Christian relief
workers who had been kidnapped and killed by members of the Pakistani
Taliban in the flood-ravaged country, area officials said. An
official at the international humanitarian organization that employed
the workers withheld their names and requested that the agency remain
unnamed for security reasons. Military sources who withheld news of
the deaths from electronic and print media to avoid panicking other
relief workers.
The foreign aid workers had been working in Mingora and the
surrounding areas, and had just returned to their base when a group
of Taliban attacked their vehicle. They injured five or six people
and kidnapped the three foreign humanitarian workers later found
dead. An army Inter-Services Public Relations source said rangers
have been deployed in Swat and other potential target areas to help
provide security for relief workers.  ¢â‚¬Å“The Taliban had warned about
attacks on foreigner aid workers and Christian organizations, ¢â‚¬  the
ISPR source said.
Source: Compass Direct
News
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PARENTS HAVE
GREATER INFLUENCE ON MORAL VALUES OF CHILDREN THAN
SCHOOLS
A recent national study in the USA on abstinence, has found that
‘adolescents and parents generally oppose pre-marital sex,’ with
adolescents only slightly more permissive in their views than their
parents. “The report found that approximately 70 percent of parents
were morally opposed to their teens having premarital sex, while just
over 60 percent of teens agreed that only married persons should have
sex. The report also indicated that parental and social attitudes
toward sex and abstinence were far more influential than classroom
education, even when abstinence-based.”
Source: LifeSite
News
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BACTERIA EATING
AWAY GULF OIL
Researchers have found that bacteria are consuming the oil in the
Gulf of Mexico from the BP spill, and appear to have consumed almost
all of the enormous plume of oil that was grabbing headlines just
weeks ago. A team of scientists has discovered evidence of
bacteria rapidly eating away at the oil. The scientists now say that
the plume is undetectable. The report raises hopes that the Gulf
Coast can recover more quickly than some have feared. Give thanks for
God’s design for nature to heal itself!
Source: Intercessors for
America

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