AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

PRAYING FOR THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES
AMAZING ACCOUNTS OF SCORES OF MUSLIMS COMING TO CHRIST
SYRIA: AN URGENT CALL FOR PRAYER
SECURLARISTS USING CHRISTIANITY AS SURROGATE FOR ISLAMIC RADICALS CLAIMS ARCHBISHOP
ONE IN FIVE TEENS ENGAGE IN TECH SEX
CHUCK COLSON DIES AGED 80
PRAYING FOR THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES

The following prayer request has been received from within the British Prayer Movement asking for Australian Christians to stand with them in this important year for their nation.

With less than 100 days before the commencement of the 2012 London Olympics,the movement of prayer in the British Isles and Ireland wish to welcome the rest of the world to join us on the journey. We welcome prayer groups,praying communities, prayer movements, praying churches and praying individuals to join in with us to strengthen our hands in God during the coming months. Above all we are praying for the presence of God to be experienced in unprecedented ways in these island nations.

Key dates:
Olympic Torch Relay: 19th May-27th July;

Olympic Games 27th July-12thAugust;

Paralympic Torch Run 24th August-29th August;

Paralympic Games 29thAugust-9th September
Background

In 2005, we believe God showed us that it would take seven years of prayer and praise – particularly around the coasts of Scotland, England and Wales – to prepare this nation, so that, when the nations of the world arrive for the Games, we would be in a right place with God and with one another to welcome them and for them to encounter God here. This revelation has been echoed in many ways since. Only two weeks afterwards a young man was the subject of a television interview for having completed a prayer walk of the entire coast of Great Britain. Since then many others have walked and prayed along their part of the coast, and along rivers. A spiritual “coastguard” has been raised within the Lydia movement. Many prayer centres have been started around our coast also.

In addition, the Scripture 1 Chronicles chapters 9-23 has been important for us. Gatekeepers were to stand guard at the gates of the temple – north, south, east and west – in order to maintain the temple as a place where people could encounter God. They were to be involved in praise and worship and in prophesying. They were to prepare for the ark of God’s presence to be brought back. We have therefore been praying that when the nations come to the UK for the Games they will come into a nation where they can encounter God – a nation where the presence of God can be experienced. We want to be a blessing to the people from the nations. We actually deserve the judgement of God – but we have been praying repentantly for God to have mercy, forgive our sins and heal our land.

More than Gold (the charity set up to co-ordinate the Christian response to the Games) has a Prayer Programme team amongst the 22 programme teams, and has welcomed the whole prayer strategy that has been emerging since 2005. The theme verses for 2012 are Isaiah 60: 1-7 and the prayer strategy for 2012 is called ‘A Time to Shine.’ http://www.morethangold.org.uk/
This year is being called ‘a year of prayer’ with many churches, organisations and prayer ministries being called by the Holy Spirit to mobilise different seasons and initiatives. This is unprecedented here! Information on http://www.prayerforum.org/
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. This will be celebrated throughout the year but especially from 2-4th June with many nationwide events. The Big Lunch will take place on Sun June 3rd where we are praying for 6 million people to be fed across the nation as the church provides lunch for its community. So in your prayers of blessing on this nation, we humbly ask for her and her family to be included. http://www.hopetogether.org.uk/

The Olympic Torch Relay 19th May-27th July. Many know that the Olympic Torch is lit in Olympia, Greece – at a temple to Zeus. It will arrive in Land’s End in Cornwall (the extreme South-West tip of England). It will then go to over 1,000 communities throughout all parts of the British Isles, stopping each night at 70 key towns and cities. Interestingly, about 70% of the overnight stopping points are coastal towns and cities. We believe God knew this before the route was formally planned, and has been preparing the ground through His people.

Favour of God. The first few months of this year has revealed an extraordinary level of favour that God has begun to give us. Here a few of the headlines..

* More than Gold has been equipping over 3000 churches throughout the country to make the most of this open door to do service, mission and hospitality in a variety of ways. All the main Christian denominations and over 80 organisations are working together..

* The London Organising Committee of the Olympic & Paralympic Games (LOCOG)have asked More than Gold for 1,000 Games pastors – to welcome people as they arrive at ports, airports and stations & to help them locate venues or accommodation. With the help of More than Gold, LOCOG have found the Christian Chaplains who will be available to help with practical and spiritual needs of athletes in the athletes villages. .

* The Police have been looking to the church for help in a number of ways as they face huge policing challenges. .

* Hundreds of people involved in drama groups are expected from the nations. Various British-based drama teams have been writing and preparing special material. Overseas mission teams are currently registering to come to partner with British Christians in faith sharing on the streets and in public squares..

LOCOG have asked More than Gold to run the Athlete Family Homestay Programme which provides living accommodation for athletes’ families from overseas. .

The Salvation Army have been awarded the contract to provide water to the athletes in all events. [William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, began his work in the East End of London, not far from the main Olympic site.].

A 70 day cascade of praise and prayer will use the Olympic Torch Relay route to mobilise the movement for prayer and the church to pray blessing over communities. This involves a number of prayer initiatives including a praise bus and a prayer relay between 70 key towns and cities.. Churches in East London are running 30 days of non-stop prayer and worship 14th July to 12th August. Many other churches, home groups, prayer groups, Houses of Prayer across the British Isles will be taking part in what we hope will become a continuous canopy of prayer & praise during both theOlympic and Paralympic Games.
Key areas for prayer:

1. That we as the body of Christ across our nations will grasp the opportunities before us to Arise and Shine and share the good news of Jesus with residents, competitors, visitors and a watching world. Isaiah 60:1-7

2. That through the praise and prayers of God’s people the Olympic Torch will be recalibrated to shine the light of Christ in every community across our nations during the 70 day cascade of prayer and praise. That through the prayer relay of blessing, ditches will indeed be dug in the spirit to prepare the way for the Lord to bless every person and every community. 2Kings 3:6-20

3. That Christians in the area of the main Olympic venues in East London will be strengthened and equipped. They have been alert to the opportunities well before the 2012 Olympics were announced and through prayer and action are working hard as they focus on the legacy of the Games for future generations. However this area is one of the poorest and most deprived in the capital and the church is arguably the weakest numerically. Yet they are full of enterprise and have been positioning themselves in the community “for such a time as this”.

4. Our nation is currently on a very high security alert. Every part of our armed forces and police are being mobilised. Annual leave has been cancelled for them all during this season. Pray for God’s mercy and protection for us; that the media will not create a culture of fear and that through a safe and peaceful Games the

. The presence of Jesus will be experienced

. The power of the gospel released to be shared

. The purposes of God will be fulfilled

Resources
If you would like to pray with us during this season the More than Goldwebsite, http://www.morethangold.org.uk/ will be uploading daily prayer pointers from 14th May linked to its Facebook and Twitter pages. Current prayer resources are on the prayer pages of the website.

(Signed) Brian Mills & Jane Holloway on behalf of Prayer Forum of British Isles & Ireland World Prayer Centre, Cornerstone House, 5 Ethel Street, Birmingham B2 4BG, UK E: [email protected]

Source:

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AMAZING ACCOUNTS OF SCORES OF MUSLIMS COMING TO CHRIST

What’s even better than one Muslim coming to Christ and being saved? A whole mosque-full of people receiving Him! As astonishing as it sounds, that is the report from a former church planter who worked among Muslims in West Africa. Jerry Trousdale, now a director of City Team International, has written a book, Miraculous Movements, that details some of the”unprecedented” events taking place among the Muslim population there. Trousdale notes that there have been “multiple cases of entire mosques coming to faith” in Christ; “tens of thousands” of Christians with Muslim background now dedicated to fasting and praying as intercessors for the Muslim people.
Trousdale said, “This is just good news that God is in the same business as He was in the book of Acts. Disciples are multiplying greatly and even priests, imams and sheikhs are becoming obedience to the faith. So I no longer doubt that we can finish the task in this generation.” One remarkable story from Trousdale’s book tells of a man who’d been a respectable Muslim businessman who had a dream that Jesus appeared to him telling him that He Jesus was the Light of the world. When he woke up from the dream he could no longer see. The dream and his temporary loss of sight impacted him so much, he converted to Christianity, and – after attending Bible studies at a prayercamp – he became an effective witness and church-planter for the Lord among Muslim groups.

Trousdale cautions against “marketing” the Gospel, and instead cites some important factors of disciple-making as part of the reason for the incredible movement. “The irony is that Muslims in scores of different people groups are submitting their lives to Jesus at rates that are much faster than most church growth in North America,” Trousdale said. “And it is happening, not by making the Gospel journey somehow easier to traverse, but by focusing from the first day on making obedient disciples who are daily seeking to follow Jesus and obey His will. That is the pathway over which hundreds of thousands of Muslims have to come to Jesus”.

Source: Christian Post

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SYRIA: AN URGENT CALL FOR PRAYER

Syrian Christians are in desperate need of prayer, as violence in the country continues. Killings and kidnappings are becoming a familiar occurrence in Syria, where Christians form just under 10 per cent of the population. Kidnapping is mainly targeting children and because of that some people have stopped sending their children to school. Few families have emigrated but many are working to find a way to leave. Christians as a minority fear for their future. The situation is particularly bad in the city of Homs, where sources report that more than 80 per cent of Christians have fled to surrounding villages or Damascus. Some pastors have stayed and continue to hold Sunday morning services, but the few Christians who remain have only limited means of safe transportation to church.

The capital Damascus, however, is more stable. “Churches have kept their services intact and schools are running well, except on Friday,” a pastor says. “Still, people don’t leave home after sunset, unless they go to areas they know well and have easy access to.” Under the regime of President Assad, the almost two million Christians in Syria had a certain freedom and tolerance as a minority religion. But based on the current situation and after more than a year of protests and violence, it seems the days are numbered for Assad’s presidency. Following the recent examples of Egypt ,Libya and Iraq, many Christians fear that if President Assad’s government is overthrown, the church’s situation could change dramatically.

“The church is praying non-stop,” says a pastor from Damascus. As another Syrian Church leader concedes; “In Iraq hundreds of thousands of Christians left that country due to the violence targeting them. But where will a Syrian exodus lead to? Which country will welcome hundreds of thousands of Syrian Christian refugees?” Please pray that God would hear the cries of His people in Syria, give wisdom in the choices they have to make and protection as they travel. Pray that the growing international pressure on the Assad regime would bring an end to the shelling of Homs and other major cities and that the distribution of Bibles and planned discipleship training workshops would be able to continue, and the church would be strengthened in this critical period.

Source: Open Doors

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SECURLARISTS USING CHRISTIANITY AS SURROGATE FOR ISLAMIC RADICALS CLAIMS ARCHBISHOP

Christians are being targeted by “anxious” atheists because the rise of radical Islam and terrorist attacks have created a deep-seated suspicion o religion, the Archbishop of Canterbury claims. Dr Rowan Williams said Christians are being viewed with growing suspicion and treated as “surrogates” for some extremist branches of Islam in the minds of “anxious secularists”. He also accused the Government of assuming all vicars were “imams in dog collars” while imams were “vicars in turbans”. His outspoken comments came during his first public service since the announcement of his decision to stand down as Archbishop at the end of this year. They come amid signals that he intends to use his final months in office to speak out forcefully on issues on which he feels passionately.

Dr Williams said: “The last decade has seen a great rise in anxious secularism, a real suspicion of religion in public. I think it is 9/11 that has brought that to a head. We are also in a culture where a lot of people simply don’t know how religions work. “They assume either you are a sort of committed fanatic who wants to subvert everyone to your agenda, or you are a sort of woolly liberal who can be persuaded to go along with whatever is happening in society. “The Church isn’t either of those things, it is the assembly of Christ’s friends with good news to share.” In a signal that he will not shy away from controversy in his final months in office, he said that one of the things that had sustained him so far was a belief that he is “answerable” to God, not the editors of newspapers.

He said that when he was criticised he drew inspiration from the words of a man he had met who had suffered terribly for taking a stand against apartheid in South Africa. Dr Williams said: “He said ‘you get to the point where you know that they can’t touch you ‘ – he knew who he was answerable to. In a tiny way I understand what that means.” He was also bullish about the future role of the Church in British society adding that the recent controversies over secularism had led to a “stirring” within Christianity. “I am hopeful, because I see so many good things at grass roots and the sense that the Church is stirring in all kinds of ways,” he said. “The Church remains and continues, often in the most deprived and challenging communities, to be a place that people can trust.’

Source: The Telegraph

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ONE IN FIVE TEENS ENGAGE IN TECH SEX

One in five US teens has sent nude or partially nude images of themselves to someone by email or mobile phone and twice as many have sent sexually suggestive electronic messages, a survey reveals. A majority of American youngsters aged 13 to 19 admit tech sex can have “serious negative consequences” on them. The survey commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (NCTUP) revealed 8 in 10 teens said they would be concerned about sending a sexy image of themselves or racy message because they “might regret it later,” while nearly 70 per cent said they were worried it could “disappoint family.” Particularly worrying was that more than 38% of teens say exchanging sexy content makes physical sex with others more likely.

“That so many young people say technology is encouraging an even more casual, hook-up culture is reason for concern,” said Marisa Nightingale, senior advisor to NCTUP. Although teen pregnancy and birth rates in the United States have dropped by one-third since the 1990s, they remain high compared to other developed countries and carry high costs to the teens involved, their children and society. “The US birthrate of 41 per 1,000 was much higher than England and Wales’ 27 (the highest rate in Western Europe), and the Netherlands’ five (the lowest rate in Western Europe),” said NCTUP. More than 30% of girls in the United States become pregnant before they reach age 20, according to NCTUP. Nearly half of all 15 – to 19- year-olds in the United States have had sex at least once.

Source: Intercessors for America

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CHUCK COLSON DIES AGED 80

Chuck Colson, known worldwide for founding Prison Fellowship passed away on Saturday 21st April after surgery to remove a pool of blood on his brain. In a statement, Jim Liske, CEO of Prison Fellowship, said Colson was one of the most eloquent and influential voices in evangelicalism today. Colson was special counsel to President Richard M. Nixon from 1969 to 1973. After pleading guilty for his role in the Watergate scandal, he served seven months in prison — becoming a Christian while serving his sentence. Out of that experience, Colson founded Prison Fellowship and the Colson Centre for Christian Worldview. Colson is survived by his wife of more than 45 years, Patty, and three children.

Source: OneNewsNow

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Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 158 | Wed 09 May 2012

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INDIA: HINDU NATIONALISM FUELS VIOLENCE & INJUSTICE
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by Elizabeth Kendal

Hindu nationalism – the idea that India should be a Hindu State – is the
political construct of India’s high caste Hindu powerbrokers who pursue
political power for the purpose of perpetuating their own power and
privilege.

Hindu nationalism works to dragnet the votes of India’s Hindu majority (74
percent), primarily through promoting Hindu supremacy and to effect
religious conversions for political gain through fear-mongering amongst
India’s indigenous tribal peoples who are traditionally non-Hindu. The
Hindu nationalists tell the indigenous tribals that their nation is under
threat from seditious elements (Muslims and Christians) who they say are
in the pay of foreign enemies like Pakistan and the CIA. The only way to
protect India from separatism and colonialism is for the tribals to join
the Hindu mainstream and fight politically and physically. This Hindutva
propaganda goes largely unchallenged and is responsible for the dramatic
escalation in dangerous communal violence right across India, a situation
that is further fuelled by the impunity with which attackers are rewarded.

On 12 April Hindu militants went to the home of Pastor Ratnababu in
Kakinada, East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh. They seized Pastor Ratnababu’s
son, Madhu, whose mouth they stuffed with cloth before tying his hands and
legs, sprinkling chilli power in his eyes and stabbing him repeatedly.
Pastor Ratnababu and his wife were also savagely beaten. The militants had
come with a gas cylinder intending to set fire to the house when
neighbours, hearing the commotion, came to the family’s aid and forced the
attackers to flee – praise God! Despite the militants being identified by
name, the police filed the complaint as being against ‘unknown persons’,
thereby guaranteeing their impunity. Pastor Ratnababum, who has served the
Christu Asinadu Prarthana Mandir church for 15 years, has received
numerous death threats and survived three attempts to burn his church. The
Evangelical Fellowship of India reports that the 500-strong congregation
is traumatised.

Not only is basic law ignored but one very bad law is continually
exploited. Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code criminalises ‘deliberate
and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by
insulting its religion or religious beliefs’. This law, which is
essentially an anti-blasphemy or anti-defamation law, is constantly
exploited to silence religious dialogue and persecute religious believers,
supposedly in the name of communal harmony, but usually for religious or
political gain. Truth is not a defence. Suresh Bhat, a member of the
People’s Union for Civil Liberties in Mangalore, has authored several
books on communalism. Speaking by phone to Tehelka in late April, he
accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, the Hindu nationalist political
party) of running a nationwide campaign to file cases against Christian
workers. According to Bhat the police department in BJP-ruled Madhya
Pradesh has issued a circular directing police to keep an eye on Christian
missionaries.

On Thursday morning 10 April Pastor Victor Babu (45) was driving 23
children in a bus from Kundanhalli village to the Hebron Pentecostal
Church in Marathahalli, an eastern suburb of Bangalore in BJP-ruled
Karnataka. All but a couple of the children were from church families and
all 23 had enrolled to attend the church’s Vacation Bible School. However,
the bus was stopped en route by a group of villagers led by local BJP
leader Rajshekhar Reddy, who accused Babu of ‘forcible conversion of
children’ and had him arrested. Babu was subsequently charged under
section 295A of the Indian Penal Code for ‘outraging religious feelings’,
and remanded to judicial custody. Whilst Reddy claimed to have acted
because he ‘could not bear to watch innocent children being brain washed’,
he was in reality inciting religious tensions purely for political and
personal gain: to make himself politically powerful so he can perpetuate
his own caste privilege.

For more examples of persecution in India, see Compass Direct News
http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/india/

To see this RLPB with hyperlinks go to
http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com.au
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL –

* awaken India’s long-downtrodden tribals and Scheduled Castes to the
truth that radical transformation, justice and equity are found in the
gospel of Jesus Christ and not in perpetuating the obscenely racist
Hindu caste system.

* bless all courageous gospel witness with the Holy Spirit’s effectual
power so that multitudes might be liberated from darkness and come to
know the Saviour.

* motivate the federal government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Congress Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to confront the Hindu
nationalist propaganda that is fuelling dangerous communalism and
anti-Christian violence across India.

* watch over and guard his Church, preserving his precious faithful ones
and revealing his power and glory to all those watching. May the Lord
‘bring forth justice to the nations’ and ‘open the eyes that are
blind’. (Isaiah 42:1d,7a)

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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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HINDU NATIONALISM FUELS VIOLENCE & INJUSTICE IN INDIA

Hindu nationalism – the idea that India should be a Hindu State – is the
political construct of India’s high caste Hindu powerbrokers who pursue
political power for the purpose of perpetuating their own power and
privilege. Hindu propaganda promotes Hindu supremacy and demonises
Christianity as a threat to national security. Not only does Hindu
nationalist propaganda go unchallenged, but the impunity with which
violent attackers are rewarded is fuelling the escalation in violence
against Christians. Pastors, Christian workers and even humble worshippers
are routinely charged and imprisoned under Section 295A of the Indian
Penal Code that criminalises their so-called ‘deliberate and malicious
acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its
religion or religious beliefs’. Please pray for India’s persecuted Church.

——————–

We suggest that churches and fellowships using the above Summary might
also provide a copy of the listed prayer points to be used in their
worship by people who are leading in prayer.

For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal’s
blog ‘Religious Liberty Monitoring’ <http://elizabethkendal.blogspot.com>.

Previous RLPBs may be viewed at <http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com/>.

This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious
Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international
religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC team.