Strategic Silk Road in China - Ramadan Prayer Update

I've been getting some excellent prayer updates from "30-days" this year during Ramadan. I will be posting the full text of the emails here so that you can pray along too. All of the following is from 30 days. Their link is www.30daysfire.net

For Sunday, 23 September, Ramadan 2007. "Loving Muslims Through Prayer"

A key staging post on the ancient Silk Road, the city of Kashgar sits on the westernmost end of the Taklamakan Desert and is arguably the cultural and religious centre of Uyghur culture.

Kashgar is known for being a hotbed for conservative Islam and Uyghur nationalist and separatist sentiment. There is considerable tension between the Chinese rulers and the Uyghur population.

With a population of around 1 million (70% Uyghurs, 30% Chinese and growing), the Kashgar district is a microcosm for the rest of Xinjiang with conservative Muslim and ‘modern’ atheist values clashing head-on.

Kashgar is a strategic city. It boasts one of the largest weekly bazaars in Central Asia with tens of thousands of people – almost entirely Muslims – coming to trade from the surrounding countryside, and neighbouring Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan & Tadjikistan.


Prayer Points


* May God break down the demonic principalities and powers. Fear and death reign unchecked; Please ask God to breakdown these ancient strongholds and release the Uyghur people into the freedom only Christ can bring.

* Lift up the city of Kashgar before the Lord.

* Pray for the completion of the Uyghur Scriptures, and their accessibility; The New Testament translation has recently been completed, but much of the Old Testament is yet to be translated and published. The Uyghur Bible is illegal in Xinjiang.

* More intercessors are needed; The spiritual barriers to this people hearing and responding to the Good News of Jesus Christ are immense. Please pray that God would raise an army of intercessors to stand in the gap for the Uyghur people of Xinjiang.


Our Interactive Flash Site: www.30daysfire.net

Light in the Darkness

How do you think your congregation would react if during a service the electricity suddenly went out? Not on sunday morning when there's abundant sunlight, but on a sunday evening when even the moonlight is clouded by pollution. On a sunday evening when it's over 90 degrees and at least 80% humidity so you're sweating through your clothes and body odor fills the air. I forgot to mention, your church doesn't have a building and you have to meet outside in an empty plot, under the company of armed guards. Would you panic? Would you decide to suspend the service until the power was back?

This weekend we were having a worship time with the body in S when the power went out. People started singing even louder than they had been when the whole worship team had microphones! We wrapped up our worship & intercession time and moved right into the teaching, which D had been asked to do. It was his first experience in a church in P, and there was he, preaching into the dark. One man brought a battery powered light to shine on D's sermon notes. As soon as the sermon was over, the lights came back on and we went right back into worship & praise.

PRAISES: (from a nearby city)

• We were able to share with the church and challenge them not to seek after idols but to instead seek after all that God has for them
• A young girl was released from demons and is starting a new life through faith in Jesus
• A woman testfied that her brother was miraculously healed from kidney stones in the name of Jesus
• A young woman from a M*slim family was unable to conceive. She sought prayer in the name of Jesus and has now given birth to twin boys.
• We were able to pray for many more people who wanted healing and some young believers who desire to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit
• D recovered from food poisoning which he got directly after the church meeting on sunday night

PRAYER:

• That the Lord would bring healing to many of those we were able to pray for over the weekend. In particular, a young couple who cannot have children and a woman who has very swollen and twisted feet.
• That the Lord would guide us in our involvement in leadership training that will be taking place in S**alkot in the near future.
• That the Lord would fill us with His Holy Spirit to heal the ear of Dr. K's relative. As far as H's limited language would allow, we understand that her ear and part of her head was chopped off in an accident with a helicoptor. She is walking and talking just fine but her ear is not there! We are fasting and praying that the Lord would give her a new ear through the power of the name of Jesus.
• That the Lord would guide us to minister to Dr. K's sister who is severely depressed and drugged out on valium. She is quite a smart woman who speaks fluent English and used to be a doctor. After a failed arranged marriage and the realization that she could not have children, she sunk into a depression. May she find hope and freedom through our Lord and Savior.
• That we would be able to meet and partner with other believers in our city
• That the Lord would provide for us in the area of transportation.

Praise and Prayer Aug 2nd

Hello everyone,

We just awoke to read that while we slept many people plummetted to injury or death after the collapse of a Minneapolis bridge. Many of you are probably praying for the recovery of the survivors and the families of those who have lost someone. May we be encouraged by the words of the prophet Isaiah:

"He will swallow up death forever,
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people
he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 25:8)

UPDATE ON KOREAN HOSTAGES:
One more of the South Korean hostages has been shot to death by the T*leban. 21 hostages, 18 of which are women, are still in captivity. We can only imagine their living conditions and what they are going through mentally, emotionally and physically. Let us pray for the remaining hostages as well as the families affected in South Korea: May they set the Lord always before them that they may not be shaken. May their hearts be glad, and may they rejoice! Let them know that He will not abandon their souls. Oh Lord let them feel joy in your presence in the midst of this current darkness. Let them be a light to their captors. Open the hearts of those who seek to harm them. May the T*leban repent and turn to you with fasting, weeping and mourning. (Psalm 16:8-11)
News from BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6928408.stm

PRAISES:

• Last night we had a chance to share the message of salvation through Jesus Christ with Dr. K, the man who owns the house we live in. He is a man who fears God and desires to do good. May the Lord open his eyes to see that He is the ONLY way to the Father. He has read the entire Bible before and is interested to read it again.
• We have been able to reunite with more of H's friends and have been able to sing songs to them and talk about the God we serve. We are happy to share with them but we want more! We want them to come to fully understand the gospel and to come into intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
• We have been able to find out more information about jobs and contacts in the area.
• Our new office AC wasn't working and after about a week of waiting it's now up and running again.

PRAYER:

• That the Lord would fill us with His Holy Spirit to heal the ear of Dr. K's relative. As far as H's limited language would allow, we understand that her ear and part of her head was chopped off in an accident with a helicoptor. She is walking and talking just fine but her ear is not there! We are fasting and praying that the Lord would give her a new ear through the power of the name of Jesus.
• That the Lord would guide us to minister to Dr. K's sister who is severely depressed and drugged out on valium. She is quite a smart woman who speaks fluent English and used to be a doctor. After a failed arranged marriage and the realization that she could not have children, she sunk into a depression. May she find hope and freedom through our Lord and Savior.
• That we would be able to encourage believers this weekend as we travel to visit another city.
• That we would be able to meet and partner with other believers in our city
• That the Lord would bring justice to flood victims all over South Asia. Millions are currently stranded or marooned while all of their earthly possessions have been lost. Aid agencies and government officials have been unable to respond effectively to the crisis.
  South Asia floods strand millions
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6927389.stm
  
  Fury over flood relief
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6262668.stm
  
  May we cry out for justice day and night until the Lord returns (Luke 18:7-8)
  
  
  

For the would-be-or-future martyr of Islam

Today as I read in BBC News about the testimony of a survivor of Lal Masjid (Red Mosque), my heart was torn. The bold writing is from the article:

“A woman who was inside Islamabad's Red Mosque when it was stormed by Pakistani troops on 10 July has given the BBC one of the first accounts of the final hours of the siege. Unwilling to be named, the survivor said she was not held hostage by militants inside.

More than 100 people died in the army operation - she was one of only 30 women to walk out alive after soldiers went in. Following are excerpts from the interview with Rafia Riaz of the BBC's Urdu service.”

She is writing after being in the siege of the mosque for a week. During the final assault she walked out with her hands up in surrender, actually hoping to be shot by the military. She wasn’t shot but instead…

“They took us to another room and gave us food. We were crying a lot because Korans were burning inside the Red Mosque which was on fire.

We pleaded with them to let us take the Koran. We were very sad to see them being burnt in front of our own eyes. At sunset we were told that we were going to be sent home, and at night, we left the area...

After meeting my father, I was overcome by grief as I had hoped to be a martyr and come back alive.

Now they've attacked the Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa [the seminary attached to it], I hope the whole country will have Red Mosques. I will work for jihad, and open a madrassa and train people for jihad.”

Read the entire article here: BBC NEWS South Asia 'I hoped to be a glorious martyr'


Oh Lord I think about the testimony of the woman at Lal Masjid and I feel sick to my stomach. What could drive someone to carry out suicide attacks on their own countrymen? To eat leaves and honey, to spend sleepless nights, for what? For the straight path? Is that what the One True God would desire of his children? To cry over burning books but not over burning men? To grieve over not being a martyr?

I am willing to die for my faith and so is she. But she is willing to kill, to shed blood of men, women and children. She is willing to blow herself up for jihad. I think of the American missionaries who went into the Amazon to meet the Waodoni, a head hunting tribe that speared their victims. By the time the missionaries went to them, one of out two Waodoni men would be speared and killed by their own tribesmen. But the missionaries would not shoot them even when attacked. Why didn’t the Christians shoot? Because, as they said, they knew they were ready for heaven but the Waodoni were not. They did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. All of the men who went to share the hope of the gospel with the Waodoni were speared. Due to the love that the missionary’s families had for the tribe, their wives and children moved into the jungle with the head hunting tribe to share the love of Jesus with them.

So what is the difference between this woman at Lal Masjid and myself or the missionaries to the Waodoni? This woman, this Muslim woman, was not only will to die for her faith, but to kill, to steal and to destroy. And what of her intended victims? Her blowing up the unholy, the apostates, the infidels would surely not ensure THEIR eternal salvation, but only HERS. What then is the motivation for her martyrdom? For the sake of Islam, the Quran and the Prophet….no! For her own selfish desire to see paradise. I’m not quite sure what she would do with the 72 voluptuous virgins, but she did desire paradise.

I actually think I do know why she grieves though. Why she grieves over being alive and not being a martyr. She grieves for her eternal salvation. She grieves for her relationship with God. For in Islam, God is not personal. The only assurance of your salvation lies in being killed for your faith. No one can be sure whether he will go to paradise or to hell. As a Muslim, when you die your good deeds and your bad deeds are weighed on a scale. If you’ve done more good deeds and followed the checklist of things a Muslim must do (statement of faith, prayer five times a day, giving to the poor, going to Mecca, fasting during Ramadan every year) then perhaps God will have mercy on you and allow you into heaven. But, if you are to die in holy war, in jihad, you will surely become a shahid – a martyr. This gives you assurance of your salvation, no matter how many bad deeds you have done. In the name of Allah, the Qur’an, and Islam – the click of a detonator, bodies blown to bits, blood shed…Paradise.

But you and I know that this a lie of the enemy – sent to kill, to steal and to destroy. He prowls around like a roaring lion. The click of a detonator, bodies blown to bits, blood shed – end of life. Beginning of hell. Eternity without God. Eternity of pain.

So as this woman, the would-be or future martyr, jihadi, champion of the faith, grieves, so do I. She grieves for her salvation and I grieve with her.

Oh Lord, open the blinders on her eyes. Open her ears that she may hear truth. She is living for a lie. I know your heart grieves for her soul, as you desire all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of you. Jesus, rescue her. Bind the strongman and release her from this lie. May truth and light break forth in her life. May she find true salvation in you – Jesus, the way the truth and the life.

Countering the Enemy with the Word

This afternoon as we struggled to focus in prayer (this seems like the theme recently) I started to write down some adjectives to describe how we were feeling. Then we looked up Bible verses whose truths would counter the feelings that were preventing us from praying. As we read the verses aloud, prayed from them, and meditated on the truths they spoke we were able to focus on the Lord and pray together.

As we know we're not alone in our struggles to focus on prayer, worship and intercession, here is a list of the some of the feelings and the verses we used as we sought the Lord.

Spiritually Dry - "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. " John 7:38

Tired & Weak - "He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he inceases strength...Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will fly on wings like eages. They will walk and not grow weary, they will run and not be faint. " Isaiah 40

Distracted & Unfocused - "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to JESUS, the founder and perfector of our faith." Hebrews 12

Disconnected - "Draw near to God and he WILL draw near to you." James 4:8

Hungry - "Man shall not live on bread alone." Luke 4:14 - Jesus himself used this one to counter Satan

Discouraged - "He will not grow faint or be discouraged, til he has established justice in the earth." Isaiah 42 - If our Messiah will never be discouraged, why then should we? May the Lord help us to press in and to cry out for his justice until he comes and establishes his kingdom on the earth

We can also find comfort in what the Lord told Paul regarding his 'thorn in the flesh':

"'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, I am strong." 2 Corin 12:9

Teens Reveal Persecution in Vietnam

This week's Top Story from www.persecution.com

American Teens Find Persecution In Vietnam

June 20, 2007

(BARTLESVILLE, Okla.) As Vietnam’s president, Nguyen Minh Triet, comes to the United States this week, his focus will be on advancing trade and technology between his country and the U.S. Nguyen will try to avoid discussing human rights and religious freedom in his country.
But eight teens—six Americans and two Australians—discovered that persecution in Vietnam is real for Christians. The teens interviewed a pastor whose house church has been repeatedly torn down by the police. They were forced to flee from a Christian youth camp when police suddenly arrived.

Their adventure—Underground Reality: Vietnam—was captured on film last year and is now available on DVD from The Voice of the Martyrs, a ministry dedicated to helping persecuted Christians in nations like Vietnam.

“The president of Vietnam calls evangelical Christians law-breakers and says they should be punished,” says Todd Nettleton, spokesperson for VOM. “But the reality is these are simply Christians who want the freedom to worship God according to their conscience. They love their country; they pray for their government leaders. These aren’t trouble-makers or rebels, yet they are arrested, beaten and imprisoned. We’ve received a list of more than 100 Christians currently held in Vietnamese prisons.”

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) listed Vietnam in its May, 2007, report as a “Country of Particular Concern” in regards to religious freedom.
Underground Reality: Vietnam, which was released on DVD this month, documents first hand the reality of persecution in Vietnam as it was encountered by the teens. One teen interviewed a young girl who had been abused by Vietnamese police. The group met with the children of a Vietnamese pastor who has spent years under house arrest because of his Christian activities. A face-to-face interview with a formerly-imprisoned pastor was a highlight for some of the teens.

“We talk a lot today about reality TV,” says Nettleton. “Well, this is the ultimate reality; the reality of life and death for Christians in Vietnam. The reality of how much they are willing to pay in order to live out their convictions and serve God in the way they feel called to serve Him. What could be more real?”

“We are pleased that Vietnam’s president will be visiting the United States,” says Nettleton. “We call on leaders within the U.S. government to ask President Nguyen hard questions about religious freedom and the way our Christian brothers and sisters are being treated in Vietnam. Good trade relations, and high profits, aren’t enough to ignore the mistreatment of people of faith in Vietnam.”

The Power of the Sword

I was encouraged by looking back at an email sent to me from a friend on March 2, 2006. As we have been struggling to persevere in prayer, her words have inspired me yet again to take up my sword and keep fighting.



"As I prayed in the spirit I kept thinking about how you felt like there was a tarp over you. The Lord started to speak to me and I just wrote as I continued praying. I believe He showed me this: For the sword of the Lord is the Word-- His Word. Let the Sword rend the heavens. You carry the Sword the Spirit wields. As He rends the heavens with His sword, so you must also rend with yours. Pray the Bible. Let the Word pour forth from your spirit--- release what has been stored up."



I have remembered her encouraging works since last March when she sent them to me. The other day I was trying to pray and just feeling like I couldn't connect with the spirit. I felt very spiritually dry and my mind felt clouded. Anything I could think of was distracting me from praying, especially things regarding my work. I was trying to write in my journal, but could only get a few sentences out before thinking about something else. My Bible was lying just out of my reach and I knew I needed to grab it and start praying from the Word. It seemed like the air was heavy and it took all my strength and concentration just to grab my Bible and put it on the bed. Then I summoned the same strength, opened it, and started praying. It still wasn't easy, but my thoughts were clearer and I was able to pray in a more focused way from the Word.