AUSTRALIAN   PRAYER   NETWORK   NEWSLETTER

• NORTH KOREAN SUCCESSOR – KIM JONG UN
• CHRISTIANITY IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST RELIGION
• BEING A MISSIONARY WHERE YOU WORK
• WAR WIDOWS GIVEN A SENSE OF HOPE IN SRI LANKA
• GOVERNMENTS CLAMP DOWN ON CHRISTIANS IN AZERBAIJAN AND KAZAKHSTAN
• CHRISTIAN WOMEN JOIN DEMONSTRATIONS BY VICTIMS OF JAPAN’S WARTIME SEXUAL SLAVERY

NORTH KOREAN SUCCESSOR – KIM JONG UN

On Saturday, December 17, Kim Jong Il, the ruler of North Korea died, apparently of a heart attack. In the light of his death let us pray that the rogue state of North Korea and its leadership fall to their knees and acknowledge that their only hope is in Christ Jesus and His redemption. Nineveh repented and was spared, and God can spare and bless again! Pray that they will repent while there is still time. Join the millions of South Koreans who are echoing this cry before the Lord’s throne. . . . “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2)

The man named the “great successor” to take control of North Korea in the wake of the death of Kim Jong Il, is a baby-faced twenty-something with virtually no public profile outside of his home country. Kim Jong Un, known only to be in his late 20s, has gained the little profile he has over the past three years — as he has slowly been pushed forward as the man to take over from his ailing father. That transition is seemingly complete, with North Korean state media reporting that the younger Kim, born to the late leader’s third wife, was the “great successor” to his father.”

Standing in the van of the Korean revolution at present is Kim Jong Un, great successor to the revolutionary cause of juche (the official ideology of self-reliance), outstanding leader of our party, army and people,” the country’s official news agency said. “Kim Jong Un’s leadership provides a sure guarantee for creditably carrying to completion the revolutionary causeof juche through generations, the cause started by Kim Il Sung and led by Kim Jong Il to victory.” But it was only in September 2010 that the first ever adult picture of Kim Jong Un was run by state media — after he was appointed as a four-star general and given senior ruling party posts.

The photo shows a young man, who looks not much older than a teenager, standing next to his father and clapping his hands at a formal event. More recently, North Korean media has started calling the younger Kim the “Little General,” The Times reported. US intelligence agencies have closely studied Kim Jong Un for nearly three years after word came out of Pyongyang that a political transition had begun, The Wall Street Journal reported. South Korea put its military on emergency alert after the death was announced but urged its people to stay calm, and swiftly closed ranks with its close ally the United States.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency has reported that Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin and US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta have agreed to co-ordinate closely to cope with the aftermath of Kim’s death.   Kim and Panetta said they would work together to maintain a strong defence posture, while keeping a close eye on the communist regime experiencing a leadership vacuum, the defence ministry said. Seoul summoned a meeting of the National Security Council and President Lee Myung-Bak called an emergency cabinet meeting. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had increased monitoring along the border with US forces in the country but had detected no unusual activity.

North and South Korea have remained technically at war since their three-year conflict ended only in an armistice in 1953. The United States stations 28,500 troops in the South. None of the situations envisioned by American officials for North Korea are comforting. Some current and former officials assume that Kim Jong-un is too young and untested to step confidently into his father’s shoes. Some speculate that the younger Mr. Kim might serve in a kind of regency, in which the real power would be wielded by military officials like Jang Song-taek, Kim Jong-Il’s brother-in-law and confidant, who is 65.

Such an arrangement would do little to relieve the suffering of the North Korean people or defuse the tension over its nuclear ambitions. But it would be preferable to an open struggle for power in the country. “A bad scenario is that they go through a smooth transition, and the people keep starving and they continue to develop nuclear weapons,” said Jeffrey A. Bader, a former Asia adviser to President Obama. “The unstable transition, in which no one is in charge, and in which control of their nuclear program becomes even more opaque, is even worse.”

John Robb from the International Prayer Council said: “The death of Kim Jong Il could open the door to significant and sudden change.   Kim’s death could provide an opportunity for change, or trigger instability and even chaos. His son, Kim Jong Un, now inherits a reclusive, unstable regime confronting political uncertainty, diplomatic isolation, economic malaise and food shortages. We need to pray that Kim’s death will lead to the people’s liberty and democracy. Many North Korean Christians are still under severe persecution. Your focused prayers at this time will make a huge difference n the way history unfolds for this long-suffering land and its people.
Please pray:

1. That the power vacuum in North Korea would be filled with leaders able to cope with the national risk, and that the imminent confusion would be turned into blessing to the North Korean people. Pray that the leaders of North and South Korea, U.S.A. China and Russia would be given wisdom in how to deal with the diplomatic and military tensions for the good of the Korean peninsula and the Kingdom of God.

2. That the Lord would bless South Korea with good, well-respected leaders who can be used for building stepping stones for the reunification of the two Koreas. Pray also that effective food aid would reach the many millions who are suffering from famine as a result of their government’s failed economic policies that have served only the political elite.

3. That Kim Jong Un, the young and untested son of Kim Jong Il, will have the courage to do what is right for his people, reversing the oppressive policies of his father; or that he will be removed in favour of new leadership that will care for the wellbeing of the nation.

Source: Intercessors for America

CHRISTIANITY IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST RELIGION

Europe was the clear centre of world of Christianity one hundred years ago, but today the Americas are home to more than a third of all Christians. In fact, the United States has the world’s largest Christian population – more than 247 million, followed by Brazil and Mexico. China also appears on the list of top 10 largest Christian populations. With an estimated 67 million Christians, China has more followers of the faith than any western European country. There are nearly 2.2 billion Christians around the world, making up about one-third of the world’s population – the same percentage as a century ago, according to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Islam is the world’s second largest religion, with about 1.6 billion followers worldwide, the Washington-based organization calculates. That’s just under one-quarter of the estimated 2010 world population of 6.9 billion. Sub-Saharan Africa has seen the biggest explosion in its Christian population in the past century, going from about 9 million Christians in 1910 to about 516 million today – nearly a quarter of all the world’s Christians. Three of the world’s ten largest Christian populations are in Africa: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.
The study, “Global Christianity,” is based on demographic and opinion data from 232 countries and territories. It’s part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, which has also included reports on the current and projected number of Muslims in the world. It does not measure practice or belief, merely counting as Christian anyone who says they are. The report calculates that half the world’s Christians are Catholic, 37% are Protestants, and 12% are Orthodox. The remaining 1 percent belong to other traditions such as Mormonism.

Please pray:
*  Pray that those who identify as Christians, but at best are cold or lukewarm, would become on fire with the Holy Spirit.
* Agreeing with God’s Word that the Gospel must be preached to all the nations before the end will come.

* Ask the Lord to help us to do our part in establishing His kingdom on the earth.

Source: Intercessors for America

BEING A MISSIONARY WHERE YOU WORK

Os Hillman, director of the International Coalition of Workplace Ministries, believes that revival in the nation will come by way of Christians purposefully bringing their faith into the 9-to-5 window. “The Kingdom is going to advance through commerce, science, the arts, and education. If all we ever tell people is that to be really holy you’ve got to have a job in the church, we’re going to continue to forfeit our influence in those areas.To see meaningful transformation of our communities we must equip, empower, and affirm those in the market place who have the ability and authority to make changes in our culture” Hillman said.

To this, Jack Munday of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association adds,”We’re not encouraging people to go to work on Monday and start preaching.” Instead, he is quoted as saying Christians must change the way we view our job, to see it not only as the place where we make our living, but where we consciously live out eternal values. Angie Tracey, who works in Atlanta, was impressed by the Holy Spirit to organize work place meetings with “spiritually like-minded CEO’s.” As to the issue of facing opposition to what she does, Tracey recounts an incident whereby she received a nasty letter from someone in the workplace questioning the legality of what she was doing.

Tracey’s favourite tool is reportedly a set of guidelines released by the Federal administration on respecting religious practices within the federal workplace. About a month after replying graciously to the person who wrote the letter, Tracey recalls receiving an e-mail from her saying: ‘I thought you might want to know I was visiting one of our facilities and the Christian Fellowship Group there was having their Christmas party. I went for the first time, sang Christmas carols, and thought of you.'”   “It’s amazing how much influence we as employees can have in the secular world and how little we as Christians are aware of the impact of that” says Tracey.

Source: Christianity Today

WAR WIDOWS GIVEN A SENSE OF HOPE IN SRI LANKA

The civil war in Sri Lanka ended in 2009 but for many people – especially women from the defeated Tamil community – the wounds are still raw. In response, the Anglican Diocese of Colombo’s Reconciliation and Peace Desk is running a series of workshops at which war widows can find solace and practical help. One young woman told her story. At the age of 16 she had been forced to marry a soldier in the Tamil Tigers liberation army. Her parents hoped it might afford her some protection during the fighting. But the woman’s husband was killed, leaving her alone to look after a three-year-old child.

“I am now 20 years old,’ the woman said. ‘My mother-in-law doesn’t want me in her house because her husband is no longer here. My father is ill. My mother doesn’t want to look after me because she also has a small child. I don’t know what to do.’ Workshop facilitator Juliet Christeena said: ‘When the event got underway, the women began to express their bitter experiences. Some of the things they shared were extremely complex. The helplessness of the women was very evident to us. But they felt relieved having shared their feelings. We also held a session to identify their talents and strengths, and they told us we had given them a sense of hope to move forward.’

The first workshops were held with 35 Hindu and Christian women from the Manik Farm camp for Internally Displaced Persons in attendance. Women from the hosting church congregation – themselves facing many hardships – also took part and made friends with the war widows. Juliet said: ‘Here was a situation where little-privileged women from the congregation were trying to be in solidarity with gravely-affected widows. It was a symbol of solidarity. We hope they will continue to support each other.”

Source: Anglican Communion News

GOVERNMENTS CLAMP DOWN ON CHRISTIANS IN AZERBAIJAN AND KAZAKHSTAN

Christians meeting to pray in Azerbaijan, have been summoned for police questioning after threats of criminal prosecution have been made against the pastor. Authorities have “closed” the Church, and confiscated all books they could find. Officials asked for the ethnicity and full addresses of all Church members. The official responsible for the closure, insisted that: “Without registration you can’t pray. We close any place of worship that isn’t registered, including mosques.” The Church has applied for re-registration, but like many other congregations its application has not been answered. Exercising the right to freedom of religion without state permission is illegal in Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile Kazakhstan State Secretary Kanat Saudabaev has ordered the devotion of considerable resources to promoting what he claimed to be “the significance and the progressiveness” of Kazakhstan’s highly restrictive new Religion Law. He ordered not only the “observance of the demands” of the Law, but “their positive acceptance by religious communities”. A variety of religious communities are increasingly afraid to voice criticism of the new Law publicly. Christian parents have been threatened with fines or imprisonment for refusing to send their children to Self-Recognition lessons in schools.

Source: Forum 18

CHRISTIAN WOMEN JOIN DEMONSTRATIONS BY VICTIMS OF JAPAN’S WARTIME SEXUAL SLAVERY

Christians in South Korea, Japan, and elsewhere, led mostly by women, recently joined together to mark the 1,000th Wednesday demonstration in Seoul demanding dignity and justice for victims of the Japanese military’s sexual slavery during the Second World War. In Seoul, about 2,000 people participated in the weekly demonstration in front of the Japanese embassy, demanding Japan’s official apology and reparations to the victims, the so-called “comfort women.” Similar demonstrations reportedly took place in 27 other places in South Korea.

The demonstration’s organizer, the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan–led by a female Christian minister, Rev.Han Kukyom, and Yoon Mee-hyang–urged the Japanese government to “stand up for a solution of the problem.” The committee on the equality of both sexes of the Seoul-based National Council of Churches in Korea released a statement urging the Japanese government to “implement a thorough investigation into the truth of the problem,” calling for its “official apology and legal reparations” and demanding it “acknowledge it’s war responsibility in the past and make every effort for peace.”

Source: ENInews

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