Child Victims Of war

In the 1970s, Iraq was one of the best countries in the Middle East and North Africa to be a child, but after decades of war and neglect it is one of the worst. According to the Iraqi government almost 1 in 3 children have lost one or both parents and approximately 600,000 children are living on the streets. Child labor has increased (15% of children under 14 now working). By 2008 over 2 million children had been displaced since 2003. Internally displaced children are often victims of crime, exploitation and abduction. Each year around 35,000 infants die before their first birthday, Over 1.5 million children under the age of five are undernourished; around 700,000 children are not enrolled in primary school. Thousands of children have been maimed by the war and subsequent violence. Many have lost limbs but their families are unable to afford the most basic aids such as crutches or wheelchairs let alone prosthesis. The rights of many Iraqi children to be with family and community, in good health and in appropriate education have been violated by war. Going before the Father Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children, who faint from hunger, at the head of every street. Lamentations 2:19 from Jericho Walls International Prayer Network

Day of Prayer for Syria May 11

SYRIAN CHURCHES INVITE CHRISTIANS WORLDWIDE TO JOIN THEM IN DAY OF PRAYER FOR SYRIA Most churches in Syria will unite in prayer next weekend in many places around the war-torn nation. This will be an extraordinary show of Christian unity in Syria, where the on-going civil war has claimed over 70,000 lives. Syrian Christians are asking their brothers and sisters around the world to pray and fast with them on the Day of Prayer for Syria on Saturday May 11. As Christians in Syria continue to suffer from the devastating effects of the two-year-old civil war including killings, kidnappings, homelessness, lack of food and shelter and closing of schools; they are also seeing that God's hand is at work as all denominations are joining in passionate prayer. "The Christian Church is experiencing a deep humanitarian crisis that is leading to the rapid loss of hope. In the face of violence and persecution, we are striving to keep our eyes on the Lord and seek His face for our country. Even in pain, suffering and death, God is using the Church to accomplish His plan." On Saturday, May 11, Christians from different denominations such as Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant/Evangelical are joining together in prayer and fasting to plead before the Lord for His mercy on Syria and an end to the violence. Due to the dangers of traveling in combat zones, Christians will be limited to local meetings planned all across Syria during this day. These groups will be meeting in homes, arenas and churches. Christians across Syria have asked that you join them in prayer on May 11. "Thank you for standing in the gap on behalf of the Syrian people and reflecting the love of Christ in your acts of worship." In Damascus, some of the churches will meet in an arena, but there will be prayer in several suburbs of the city. The entire Christian community in Aleppo and the surrounding area is gathering to pray. "This is a huge undertaking as a day of prayer with almost all denominations participating has never happened in Syria before," said a Syrian church leader. This is a fight for a nation that was one of the first nations in the world to be impacted by the message of the Gospel of Christ. They need us, the Global Christian Community to stand with them before God, to love and support them. Let us not let them stand alone. The Church in Syria is asking us to pray for: * The release of two Orthodox bishops, Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi,who were kidnapped April 23 in Aleppo, and many other Christians who are missing. * Counseling for children who have been traumatized by the ongoing violence in Syria and the return of peace to this troubled nation. * For the almost one-third of the Syrian population who are either refugees outside the country or homeless inside Syria. Please find a list of prayer requests bellow, directly from the Christians living in Syria. Thank you for standing in the gap on behalf of the Syrian people! • There are churches in Syria that have chosen to remain faithful to their responsibilities to reach out, despite the war. Pray for these churches. • Pray also for the churches involved in relief work to needy families and refugees: prices for groceries and other necessities rose to an ‘unbelievable level’, a pastor wrote. • There are limited quantities of food and other materials in Syria. Medication, for example, is in short supply. Pray for the Syrians that lack the medicine they need for their health. A contact reported, “A man in Aleppo saw his wife die, because he couldn't find the medicine she needed.” • Pray for women and children who always bear the brunt of war. Pray for mercy on Syrian refugees and internally displaced people as they faced a cold winter without any means of heating their homes as a result of the civil war, if having a home at all. They will be glad to anticipate the warmer summer days ahead. • Pray that the Word of God will continue to be delivered. Transportation is really difficult so pray for safety as Christian materials are being sent throughout the country. Please pray for the people that received a Bible; may the Word of God bring comfort and change their lives. • In this time of despair contacts in Syria notice that people search for the foundation in their lives; some Christians rediscover Jesus as the rock, but also Muslims discover the hope in the Gospel of Jesus and experience love from the Syrian churches. Pray for all the people who are receiving Christ during the crises in Syria. One example is sister A. in Aleppo. We cannot share her real name, but pray that the Lord will confirm His love for her. • Pray that Syrian church leaders will find their comfort in the Lord and will also find the courage to stay in Syria to teach and take care of their flocks. May the Holy Spirit encourage and keep them and position strong Christians alongside them.

Logos Hope Passenger Ship Safety Certificate

On 3rd December the surveyor will arrive to begin the process of providing the Passenger Ship Safety Certificate for Logos Hope. The process will take up to six days. I would certainly appreciate it if you could spend time on each of these days praying for the team who will be working with the surveyor on Logos Hope and for the right outcome from it all. As we pray we must certainly also be giving thanks to God for His incredible goodness to the ship ministry in recent months. I must say that at the beginning of 2012 I just wondered where we would be in this ministry by the end of the year. God has provided in so many ways, giving people who have tirelessly labored especially through this dry-dock period, giving finances the like of which we could not have imagined at the beginning of the year. There have, of course, been tremendous struggles and stresses over the past year, but God’s faithfulness has been evident to all. If, therefore, between 3rd and 9th December we could spend some time each day in thanksgiving and intercession for the ministry, I would deeply appreciate it. Peter Maiden

In The Midst of Great Hardship

A man from a Christian relief team recently delivered food to a Syrian widow living in a rural Muslim village near the border. When the anxious widow opened her door to him, the Christian explained he had come out of love for God. She told him about her encounter the previous day. While she was sleeping during the night she responded to a knock on the door, but no one was there. After a while she heard the same knocking and went to sit next to the door where she eventually fell asleep. While she was sleeping someone put His hand on her shoulder. He said, 'You don't know Me. You have passed through a great pain. I experienced a great pain, also. But I will not leave you alone. Tomorrow, I will send you someone who will tell you about Me. Listen to him." The widow then began to weep and begged her Christian visitor to "tell me about this Person that I saw in my dream."

Barrenness is a requirement

“God’s first requirement in ministry is barrenness. God looks for people who are incapable of producing life on their own, those who have come to the end of their own striving and honestly admit their true condition. Most of us, not wanting to bear this reproach, go around feigning ‘life.’ Our activities become the substitute for the anointing. Programs replace productivity and prayer. Life seems to abound everywhere, until one looks below the surface and realizes it’s only a veneer - a form of godliness that lacks power. Why does God insist on barrenness as a prerequisite for blessing? Simply because no flesh can glory in it… God has to strip us first so that He alone is glorified.” David Ravenhill

Keeping Prayer Vital, Fresh and Enjoyable. Part 3 Desperate

3. Desperate Having been arrested by the authorities in a Mid East country for witnessing and passing out some scriptures, I learned early on in my missionary life about desperate prayer. Being threatened with expulsion from the country, I cried out in desperation in the men’s bathroom (“toilet” to non-Americans!) for God to give me wisdom in getting out of this situation. And as clear as anything God gave me the words to use and I was able to stay and fulfill my commitment in the country. The Bible shows us that David had instances of desperate prayer, as well as Hannah when praying for a son. Joy Dawson asks the question, “Why Desperate Prayer?” and answers it: • Because the world’s unreached multitudes are in desperate need. • Because hell is desperately real. Hell is desperate people, eternally trapped, with no hope of relief. • Our desperate cries to God on their behalf powerfully influence the lost to make the right choices. Heaven is then more populated and Hell less. • Desperate people pray with intensity and are not self-conscious. As we pray for the issues on our campuses, in our cities and nations, ask God to give a burden so that as we pray we are not just uttering words but our heart’s cry, and we feel the pain and see the lostness and hopelessless of those without Christ. And it rises up in a desperate cry for God to act. Rhonda Hughey writes, “The key of holy desperation for the presence and ministry of Jesus is required in order for us to move out of our complacent, satisfied existence. Desperation is the underlying fuel that ignites our hearts for unity, prayer, worship, and repentance. If we aren’t longing for Jesus, our ministry activities will be routine and hollow. There is certainly no shortage of ideas, plans, methods, books, teachings, programs, and activities in the church; what we are suffering from is a drought of desperation for God!”

Keeping Prayer Vital, Fresh and Enjoyable! Part 2 Passionate

2. Passionate “Fan into flame a passion for your name,” sings Tim Hughes, a worship leader from England. This is a prayer I pray many times: “Lord, fill my heart with passion for You and Your presence.” The villagers that night were passionate in their prayers and relationship with the Lord. It was not just a matter of duty but a passionate desire for Him. Just how passionate do we want to be? It is you and I who make that decision, not God. We set the limits, not God. We can go as far as we want, but so often we put barriers up and allow other things to captivate and fascinate our hearts. We are content with so little of God when there is so much more. He is the God of all pleasure. “In your presence there is fullness of joy, and at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11) As we meditate on this God of all pleasure and beauty, our hearts cannot fail to grow in our passion and love for Him. It’s what we do in our own time that prepares us for the group times of prayer. We cannot be worshipping idols of entertainment and then expect to be full of passion for God in the prayer room. As our hearts are moved in His presence, everything else pales in comparison. One of the best ways I have found to deepen my passion and love is regular fasting. While fasting is voluntary weakness, it reveals so much the true intents of our hearts. It also makes a statement that I am serious about this relationship and want to grow deeper into the things of God.