Connecting the international prayer community

Welcome!

Want a place to connect with other prayer coordinators and prayer mobilizers? You have found it! This blog is dedicated to the army of pray-ers across the world — especially those who are coordinating and mobilizing efforts with prayer as the crucial strategy for reaching the unreached. Please feel free to submit your ideas and share prayer needs and movements which will impact the world for Christ.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Betty Byrd
Director of Prayer and Operations
Team Expansion

Posted on April 25th, 2007 by bbyrd
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Update: Orissa, India

Today this world is being carried by a rushing torrent that seems by many to be sweeping out of control. There is only One Power that is available to change this course, and that is The Power of Prayer by God’s Dear Sons and Daughters.

From cover to cover God’s Word contains the record of those men & women whose Prayers have been answered and the tide of history was turned by those Prayers. These were men & women who Fervently Prayed and God answered. This is what happens when God’s Children Pray.

I also have an update for you regarding a tremendous need for our Brothers & Sisters in India that I originally brought to you back in September. The current status of Christians in the state of Orissa in India has changed in this sense and your Prayers and financial support are urgently needed; GCC contacts working to assist Christians affected by attacks in Orissa state report that more than 70,000 Christians have been displaced and forced to live in refugee camps.

“At the Peyton Sahi relief camp which houses 35 families and 130 distraught tribals, Chabila Naik, a man who ran an orphanage for 50 children in Sarangada spent three days in the jungle after their houses and churches were burned. He has not been reunited with the children.”

Stories coming from persecuted Christians in Orissa are heartbreaking. Christians spent days and even weeks hiding in the jungle following the attacks that erupted on August 24, after the murder of a prominent Hindu leader by Maoist extremists. “One family tells that they had to leave their elderly mother in the jungles while the others walked through rain and darkness for 60 hours to get out of Kandhmal.”

“We had no choice; I could either save my wife and two kids, or stay with her and ask for death for all of us. But, I am sure God has saved her, though I have no idea where she is,” the man told us with tears in his eyes.

Keep Looking To Jesus,

Posted on November 24th, 2008 by bbyrd
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Pastor Arrested

Fifty-two-year-old pastor Hamid Shabanov leads a Georgian-speaking Baptist congregation in Aliabad just outside Zakatala [in northwestern Azerbaijan]. He was arrested during a police raid on his home on June 20 and was held in detention until November 5.

[Shabanov] faces the charge of illegal possession of a weapon, which is punishable by up to three years imprisonment for those found guilty. His trial has been dragging on since July 22 amid numerous procedural violations and his detention after October 21 was illegal. In a move welcomed by church members, the judge transferred Shabanov from prison to house arrest as he awaits the next hearing.

Shabanov insists that the accusation that he possessed an illegal weapon is fabricated. “The police came into my house back in June and placed the pistol there,” he told Forum 18. “The first time I saw it was when they claim to have found it. ” He believes he will eventually be cleared. “The Word of God is stronger than a pistol,” he told Forum 18.

Baptists in Aliabad have long faced harassment from local officials, including refusal to approve registration applications, police raids, confiscation of Christian literature and denial of birth certificates to children whose parents give them Christian first names.

Full story here.

Posted on November 24th, 2008 by bbyrd
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Believers in the Persecuted Nation of Iran

“The church in Iran is like a rose petal; the more you press it, the sweeter the perfume.” This quote, stated by Persian martyr Pastor Mehdi Dibaj, sums up what has been taking place in the Persian Iranian church since the 1979 Revolution. As the government continues its push to destroy anything Western, the Persian people are meeting in secret to seek the ways of Christ.

According to Canada Free Press, apostasy is currently punishable by death in Muslim Iran, but it is not a required punishment. However, there is a proposal before the Iranian government that would require mandatory execution for those who leave Islam for another religion.

Canada Free Press reports that house churches are doubling in size every six months, although there is no way to safely verify the actual number. Police raids have resulted in members of these house churches being arrested and interrogated. If they are caught worshipping or witnessing in prison, they are punished even more severely. New believers receive training in house churches as well as by the prevalent satellite TV broadcasting.

Thank the Lord for this move of His Holy Spirit! Pray for easy flow of Farsi language materials to the right people. Pray that the Persian people will look to biblical teaching and to Jesus for life’s answers. Pray for a spiritual revolution in Iran that will lead millions of Persians to put their trust in the King of Kings.-KW

Psalms 71:19b Who, O God, is like You?

Can anyone honestly say that they created a galaxy? Absolutely not!

No one is like the Lord! But mankind is constantly trying to shrink the Lord and put Him on the same god shelf as all the others. In the interest of political correctness, Westerners refuse to acknowledge that Christ is far above all others. Members of unreached people groups have been deceived into worshipping spirits that cannot help them. To not acknowledge His superiority over all others is to lie.

Worship today, this unique and all powerful God!

Pray that the unreached nations will soon know that the Creator is far beyond any god they worship.

Posted on November 24th, 2008 by bbyrd
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Dungan People of Kyrgyzstan

When a Dungan comes to follow Jesus, he has a lot to lose. Most costly is the loss of the social and economic safety net of his whole family. To a Dungan, even the extended family will go to great lengths to supply a need. But if one turns to Jesus, that one is shunned and labeled as a traitor to Islam. Out of 110,000 Dungan of Kyrgyzstan, fewer than 50 have come to the Savior. And of the Dungan of Kazakhstan there are fewer than 100 known believers.

The Dungan are primarily farmers, but they are considered more wealthy than other ethnic groups as they have plenty of meat and vegetables. And still others are involved in opium production.

Interethnic conflict has been another problem in recent years. The Kyrgyz complain that the Dungan exploit cheap Kyrgyz labor, and bribe officials to get access to scarce resources, including prime agricultural land as well as lucrative vending spots at local markets. This sometimes leads to violence, although both ethnicities have formerly lived peaceably for decades. Teenagers in rural areas lack opportunities for education and job training, so they often get involved in racketeering and stealing, which only exacerbates the problem. The Dungan people seem indifferent to all religion until middle-age.

Pray that God will give creative ideas and strategies to workers among them to win the young generation to Christ. Pray for Dungan leaders to put their faith in Christ, paving the way for a people movement to Him.-MH

Psalms 106:2

Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare His praise?

None of us can fully fathom all that the Lord has done. Let’s face it, we can’t even fathom one light year, let alone trillions of them!

But we take it by faith that He is the creator, and we can trust His guidance and wisdom. What a privilege it is to worship such an awesome God! As you worship Him, remember to pray for those who have forgotten the guidance of their creator, and have settled for less.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to direct the unreached to see His handiwork, and worship their creator.

To subscribe to GPD, e-mail to:

subscribe-brigada-pubs-globalprayerdiges@hub.xc.org and nothing in the body.

Posted on November 24th, 2008 by bbyrd
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