Prayer Alert News: UK, Europe, and Worldwide

For the past eighteen years, the ministry of The Call has filled stadiums with a message of prayer and fasting, believing that America would turn back to Jesus. Then God spoke to its leaders, saying that a shift was coming that would give birth to a new sending movement. The shift began as 70,000 people raised their shoes in response to a call to go anywhere for the gospel. This gathering, called Azusa Now, catalysed a grassroots movement activating believers to evangelism and mobilising missionaries all over the world. In response to Azusa Now, national ministries gathered together in Florida to seek the Lord, believing that the momentum must become a national movement. The Send was born. On 23 February 60,000 youths were mobilised into mission! Believing now is a tipping point of action to reach this generation in five mission fields: schools, universities, colleges, friends, and neighbourhoods.

Praise: God that The Send is all over the internet and social media, and is growing. (Psalm 150:1,2)
More: thesend.org/

Mostafa travelled to Cairo with the intention of killing his cousin Mohammad for converting from Islam to Christianity. He found him in a worship service and waited to make his move. The songs and prayers he heard in that service appealed to him. He approached Mohammad with tears in his eyes, ‘I came from our village to spy on you and see if you had become a Christian. I should tell your family what I saw, but I just can’t. I think the choice you made might have been the right one. Can you tell me more? Why did you leave Islam for Christianity?’ The cousins spent hours discussing the Gospel, and that night Mostafa dreamt of Jesus on the cross looking at him and saying, ‘I did this because I love you, and I want you to be free from your sins.’ Mostafa told Mohammad his dream. The following month he was baptised, with Mohammad standing next to him.

Praise: God for the miracle of dreams and visions of Jesus. (Acts 2:17)
More: www.christianpost.com/news/muslim-who-sought-to-kill-christian-cousin-embraces-faith-after-jesus-appears-in-dream.html

A shooting range which provides ‘family fun’ for adults and children aged six and over announced a new target in a tweet. ‘Hot off the press’ showed an image of Shamima Begum and the hashtag ‘no remorse’. 19-year-old Shamima is in a refugee camp, asking to return to the UK after living with IS terrorists for four years. The home secretary removed her British citizenship for the public good, and suggested she apply for Bangladeshi nationality as her mother is a Bangladeshi. There are questions around citizenship, justice and reconciliation in the aftermath of the most brutal conflict so far this century. Our moral reasoning and response to those complicit in IS evil will be debated in the law courts. Our government has responsibilities to protect citizens, administer justice and look after those who have suffered. What would Jesus do? For background, see

(Linda Digby – Prayer Alert team)

Pray: for God to restore and heal victims, and perpetrators. (Matthew 5:43,44)
More:

The former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said he was deeply concerned that the UK’s export credit agency had provided billions of pounds in recent years to support businesses involved in oil and gas schemes around the world. ‘These figures and policies are hard to reconcile with the UK’s commitments under the Paris agreement,’ said Ban, referring to the international climate deal he forged in 2015 as UN chief. ‘The time has come for the UK to change course, in the interests of the whole world,’ he wrote in a comment for the Guardian. Pray that the Government’s priority, at home and abroad, will be to forge opportunities for UK businesses to resist investing in or funding fossil fuel projects. Recent projects supported by the UK include oil and gas fields off the coast of Ghana, a major gas pipeline in Oman, and software for an oil firm in Argentina.

Pray: for God to lead the UK into high standards of environmental management. (Psalm 24:1)
More: www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/24/ban-ki-moon-britain-stop-invest-fossil-fuels-overseas

Research has found that 24% of boys aged 16 to 24 in the UK self-harm. Sadly, the culture of men not showing emotions or talking through their emotional concerns has a direct link to the suicide rate in older men. Young men need to talk about their feelings and emotions before they become men who haven’t learnt how to, and feel they have no way of coping but to take their own lives. Self-harm in young men and teenage boys may exhibit differently from females. Males self-poison with paracetamol or ibuprofen as a way of coping with daily anxieties and fears; the next highest form of self-harm in young men is cutting and hanging. Punching walls or regularly fighting are forms of self-harm that are missed because the behaviour is seen as aggressive rather than emotional.

Pray: for young men to develop positively and walk in peace on level ground. (Psalm 143:10)
More: www.selfharm.co.uk/get-information/the-facts/boys-and-self-harm

Councils are accused of hiding the scale of the rough sleeping crisis in England by changing the way they compiled figures for the 2018 official count. For example, Southend had 72 people sleeping rough in 2017. Then in 2018 they did their street count on one especially cold night late November night and submitted a street count of 11. Official government statistics reported a 2% fall in rough sleeping in England in 2018 after seven consecutive years of rises. Critics suggest the fall in official numbers does not reflect the reality of homelessness. Homeless charity Crisis estimated that over 22,000 people spent Christmas sleeping rough or in cars, trains, buses or tents. The official figure was 4,677. We can pray that this report will highlight councils’ smokescreens, and prompt authorities to face the reality of our rough sleeping crisis and do more to eradicate it.

Pray: for more support for people sleeping in doorways, parks, tents and sheds. (Psalm 43:3)
More: www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/25/english-councils-accused-of-hiding-scale-of-homelessness-crisis

A Twitter video of a street preacher’s arrest in London has been viewed over 1.8 million times. It shows the man confronted by two police officers warning he would be arrested for a breach of the peace if he refuses to leave the area. One said, ‘You’re disturbing people, you’re causing problems, and you’re breaching their peace.’ The man says, ‘I need to tell people Jesus is the only way, the truth and the life’, to which the officer replies, ‘I appreciate that, but nobody wants to hear that, they want you to go away’. When the man told his reasons for preaching, they handcuffed him and took his Bible. The preacher said, ‘No, no, no, don’t take my Bible away!’ It is unclear what he said that triggered the incident. An eyewitness said, ‘This man was preaching and did nothing wrong, he had a hostile person near him.’ He was later released.

Pray: for an enquiry into this incident. (Isaiah 11:4)
More: www.christiantoday.com/article/dont-take-my-bible-says-street-preacher-as-police-arrest-him/131864.htm

A review was launched into working practices at Amnesty International after two staff members, Gaetan Mootoo and Rosalind McGregor, committed suicide last year. The review found that ‘organisational culture and management failures’ were the root cause of deep staff unhappiness in Amnesty’s ‘toxic culture’ of workplace bullying. Their efforts to address its problems were described as ‘ad hoc, reactive, and inconsistent’, and the senior leadership team was described as out-of-touch, incompetent and callous. There was bullying, harassment, sexism, racism, and poor management. Decentralising the organisation from its global headquarters in London had caused unnecessary turmoil and compounded job pressures. Seven management team members acknowledged that there was a climate of tension and mistrust, and have offered to resign.

Pray: for God to help the leadership team to turn this situation around, replacing pressure with a harmonious working environment. (Proverbs 14:22b)
More: www.rte.ie/news/world/2019/0223/1032309-amnestys-toxic-culture-of-bullying-report/

Unless there is a postponement or a second referendum, the UK will leave (or partly leave) the EU on 29 March. Whatever the exact outcome, this will mark a watershed in our nation’s history and lead to a time of much disruption. The call to prayer is therefore urgent. Christians are primarily citizens of Heaven, and need to be about the King’s business. Pray that the Lord will give Christians, both rural and urban, renewed strength to show exemplary love for one another (John 13:34-35), ‘preach the word in season and out of season’, and to walk as ‘children of light’ in the midst of a dark world.

Pray: for British Christians to ‘lift up their eyes’ past the ‘leave or remain’ arguments, and see other European nations as fields ‘white for the harvest’. (John 4:35)
More: https://www.worldprayer.org.uk/images/PDF/Countryside/Seeds-of-Prayer-February-2019.pdf

European and Arab leaders recently held their first summit in a bid to bolster cooperation and protect their traditional diplomatic, economic and security interests while China and Russia move to fill the vacuum left by the United States. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, who organises summits for EU countries, acknowledged that ‘there are differences between us’, but said neighbours had much at stake. ‘We need to cooperate and not leave it to global powers far from our region’, he told leaders from forty countries. He did not name those powers, but an EU source confirmed he meant China and Russia. A suspected Russian spy working in the Swedish high-tech industry was arrested in Stockholm on 26 February. He was ‘suspected of being recruited as a Russian agent working under diplomatic cover’. See

Pray: for the EU and Arab states to be wise as they consider the risks and challenges of terrorism, migration and espionage. (Psalm 37:30)
More: www.france24.com/en/20190224-first-eu-arab-summit-egypt-opportunity-cooperation

In a bitter row over the sovereignty of Gibraltar, Spain has threatened to block visa-free access to the EU for Britons. Madrid refuses to back down on a controversial description of Gibraltar. Spain has made numerous attempts to use Brexit in its efforts to snatch back sovereignty of the Rock from Britain. Prime minister Pedro Sanchez faces a general election on 28 April. The British government maintains that Gibraltar is not a colony, and will continue to defend its overseas territory. During a meeting of EU ambassadors earlier this month, Sir Tim Barrow, the UK’s permanent EU representative, battled with his counterparts in protest at the move to brand the Rock a ‘colony’. ‘Gibraltar is not a colony, and it is completely inappropriate to describe it in this way. Gibraltar is a full part of the UK family’, he stated.

Pray: for alternative wording to be accepted without prejudicing EU’s visa legislation. (Psalm 112:5)
More: www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1093302/Brexit-news-Spain-Gibraltar-visa-free-travel-UK-EU-latest

Tensions bubble on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount after the ‘Gate of Mercy’ structure near the Al-Aqsa mosque was certified as another mosque. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued an order to remove equipment from the site and disallow prayer there. The structure was recently fitted with rugs and other furnishings and renovations for it to be used as a permanent Muslim prayer area. The Waqf, which oversees Muslim holy sites, comprises officials from Fatah, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Waqf breached the site two weeks ago and has appointed an imam for the ‘Gate of Mercy’ structure. Israeli police arrested its head and other leaders, following violent protests last week on the Temple Mount, but released them a short time later. After the Six-Day War there was just one mosque on the mount: if the trend continues there will soon be five mosques there. Before 2005 the compound didn’t function as a mosque, and people normally didn’t use it for worship.

Pray: for Arab citizens of Israel and Israelis to live in peace in Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:6)
More: unitedwithisrael.org/netanyahu-there-wont-be-another-mosque-on-the-temple-mount/

Persecutions of Christians in India rose last year. A report by the Evangelical Fellowship of India recorded 325 incidents where Christians were targeted using violence, intimidation or harassment. However, more disturbing was the sudden spurt of violence in districts of Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous province, and in Tamil Nadu in the extreme south of the subcontinent. The report acknowledged that its data were not exhaustive, as it relied on voluntary reporting and civil society investigations. ‘Most cases go unreported either because the victim and witnesses are terrified, or the police just turn a blind eye and refuse to record the mandatory First Information Report of the crime.’ The approaching general election in April/May has contributed to tensions. Politicians’ hate speeches are acting as a catalyst in dividing people. Christians are collateral victims. Also in the lead-up to elections the ‘cold war’ between India and Pakistan is heating up, with military from both sides launching attacks. See

Pray: for God to hide His people under His wings, giving them wisdom in all they do. (Psalm 36:7)
More: www.christiantoday.com/uk/more-christians-targeted-for-faith-says-evangelical-fellowship-of-india/131846.htm

Ever since the 1947 partition when Britain dismantled its Indian empire, India and Pakistan have been arch-rivals. The animosity, rooted in religion, is characterised by conflict over the state of Kashmir. Currently they are on the brink of major confrontation. Pakistan’s president Imran Khan has announced that Islamabad will release IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan, who was captured after an aerial combat that resulted from Indian bombing of alleged ‘terror’ targets inside Pakistan. Mr Khan urged the need for ‘better sense to prevail’, stating the need for the two nuclear-armed countries to remain cool-headed and work together against terrorism in disputed Kashmir. Pray that this latest altercation will prompt the international community to step in and bring the two historically opposing forces into agreement for a more peaceful co-existence.

Pray: for the Holy Spirit to bring restraint to both sides of the border. (Ephesians 4:3)
More: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/will-free-iaf-pilot-abhinandan-tomorrow-pak-pm-imran-khan/articleshow/68202107.cms

Iran has a horrific track record of putting juvenile offenders to death, and Amnesty International has called on the authorities immediately to halt plans to execute three juveniles – Mohammad Kalhori, Barzan Nasrollahzadeh and Shayan Saeedpour. They were all convicted for separate crimes committed while they were under 18, and are now at risk of imminent execution. Mohammad Kalhori was only 15 when arrested. Iran is one of a handful of countries that execute young offenders, in flagrant violation of international law. In the past three years the authorities have stepped up such executions. Amnesty said there is an alarming pattern of scheduling juvenile executions at short notice to minimise interventions to save lives. More than ninety people are currently known to be on death row for crimes committed while a juvenile, though the real number is likely to be far higher.

Pray: for Iran to recognise delinquents’ right to life, whatever their offence. (Exodus 20:13)
More: www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/iran-three-juvenile-offenders-risk-imminent-execution

By a vote of 53-44, the Senate failed to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would have required doctors to provide medical care to infants born alive after an attempted abortion procedure. The bill needed sixty votes to overcome the legislative filibuster. Currently, medical professionals are not required to treat and save a baby that is still living after an abortion procedure. However, three days before the vote, the Trump administration issued a draft proposal to cut millions of dollars in federal funding to abortion providers, who currently receive $250m for clinics providing birth control and abortion services. The draft rule would also prevent funding being given to organisations that refer women elsewhere for abortions. See

Pray: for the US health authorities to recognise the sanctity of life of babies that have been born in spite of attempts to kill them. (Psalm 139:16)
More: www.nationalreview.com/corner/born-alive-bill-fails-to-pass-senate-vote/

The Christ-centred National Land Summit (28 February to 1 March) is calling South Africans with faith like Joshua and Caleb to contribute towards a national Kingdom consensus for addressing land reform and rural systemic poverty. Kingdom-minded, faith-filled, positive people who are active in their communities, building bridges and creating solutions to local challenges, have been urged to attend. Jan Oosthuizen, the organiser of the event and facilitator of the New Nation Movement agricultural think-tank, said, ‘We appreciate the obedience and work God has established in His people all over South Africa, and believe that a cross-section of their contributions for overcoming the challenges that face agriculture and rural poverty will be invaluable.’

Pray: for God to lead delegates into solid solutions to inequalities in agriculture and rural communities and bring life and restoration. (Revelation 22:1)
More: gatewaynews.co.za/summit-seeking-national-kingdom-consensus-on-land-reform/

Opposition leader Juan Guaidó was prevented from delivering aid across Venezuela’s border recently, and twenty-five wounded protesters were treated in Brazil. Now President Nicolás Maduro is seeking to raise capital amid tightening sanctions. Eight tons of gold were removed in government vehicles from the Venezuelan central bank’s vaults while its head was abroad on a trip. No security guards were present. The gold will be sold abroad to raise funds. Production of oil, the country’s biggest export, has collapsed, plunging the country into a deep economic crisis. Meanwhile, in Brazil, Mr Guaidó met EU ambassadors, then President Bolsonaro, in an attempt to drum up international pressure on Maduro to step down. He has vowed to return to Caracas soon despite the risk of imprisonment. See

Pray: for Mr Guaidó as he seeks to generate international pressure on Maduro to stand down peacefully. (Psalm 90:16,17)
More: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-crisis-gold-central-bank-maduro-sanctions-guaido-a8801091.html