Shaking Our World Through the Prayer of Travail
Recently, a friend gave me the biography of one of the great intercessors of history, Daniel Nash. It is only 25 pages long but packs a big wallop. It mowed me down! I was "blown away" as we say here in the States by the way the Lord transformed a rejected, broken-hearted small church pastor into one of the mightiest prayer warriors in history, using his pain, brokenness and a physical affliction to do so. The booklet which you can read for yourself on the link below recounts this powerful story. Father Nash, as he came to be called, would go into towns weeks or days before the much more famous preacher, Charles Finney, would arrive as part of a deliberate strategy to prepare the ground for revival. Nash would gather with one or two other intercessors, and they would give themselves to prayer, sometimes for days, laying on their faces in the spirit of travail until the assurance came that God would pour out His Spirit upon those communities. Finney relied on these selfless prayer warriors for the convicting outpouring of the Spirit that brought thousands upon thousands to Christ (over 100,000 in Rochester, New York alone), including blasphemous haters of the Gospel. Massive transformations of individual lives and families along with major social reforms that brought about the abolition of slavery and other marvelous results were the direct result of this revival now called the Second Great Awakening. Nash only spent the last seven years of his life as Finney's partner in revival, but his quiet, behind the scenes, persistent heart-cries to God for the lost changed American history in profound ways. I was also encouraged by his obvious implementation of Jesus' powerful promise that even two or three can agree with prayers of unity and authority that will move both heaven and earth (Matthew 18:18-20). Of special relevance to those of us who work with children and youth, are these words concerning the Fulton Street Revival of the 1850's that arose in the generation after Nash and went around the world: "The youth of Nash's day were the leaders of perhaps the greatest revival of prayer in history." Please click on the link below and be stirred and challenged as I was.
John Robb
Click to Daniel Nash's biography
China: Christians protest over campaign to tear down crosses
Christian leaders, including an 89-year-old bishop, took to the streets of eastern China protesting against an ‘evil’ campaign to remove crosses. They see it as a coordinated Communist party attack on their faith. Activists say more than 1,200 crosses have been stripped from churches in Zhejiang province since the government initiative began in late 2013. There has been a spike in such actions in recent weeks. Last Friday twenty Catholic clergy staged a rare public demonstration in Wenzhou (a city known as ‘the Jerusalem of the East’). A banner unfurled outside government offices by the group read, ‘Maintaining religious dignity and opposing the forced removal of crosses’. Chinese police monitored the two-hour protest but did not break it up. Authorities say they are attacking illegal building practices not religion. Meanwhile Christian Today reports, ‘Occult beliefs are on the rise among China's communist leaders.’ See: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/occult.beliefs.on.the.rise.among.chinas.communist.leaders/60412.htm
Burundi: Vulnerable refugees need our prayers
Burundians living in refugee camps in neighbouring Rwanda are being recruited to join Rwandan rebel groups. Several people in Mahama refugee camp in Eastern Rwanda have reported being approached to join the group fighting the Burundi government. They said dozens of men had left the camp. Meanwhile in Tanzania, Burundi refugee facilities are at breaking point, and more refugees are expected to arrive as tensions spill over about the disputed presidential election. The UNHCR reported that 79,000+ Burundians have arrived in Tanzania since May. The UN estimates 500 Burundians fleeing unrest are now arriving in Tanzania every day. Médecins Sans Frontières reported that the Nyarugusu refugee camp is simply not coping with the number of new arrivals. Aid agencies are struggling to provide food, water, shelter and healthcare to those in need, with a promised second camp yet to be built. See also: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/burundi-refugees-lured-join-rebel-group-150724095201444.html
Pakistan: 69 deaths, hundreds rescued, tens of thousands homeless
A heavy monsoon is affecting various parts of Pakistan. Medical check-ups and free drugs are being provided to flood-affected people at medical camps, and ration packs and tents are being distributed. The Army is rescuing people by boats and helicopters, and are setting up free medical camps to provide further medicine packs and ration packs. Medicines were provided to 1,000 people, and 150 ration packs distributed. A further 522 people were rescued in Muzaffargarh. Hundreds of thousands have had to flee their homes and tens of thousands are now completely homeless. Link roads and bridges have been swept away, leaving families stranded. Thousands of acres of crops ready to harvest have been destroyed, leaving farmers without a source of income and unable to feed their families. Christian Aid, Norwegian Church Aid, and Community World Service Asia are closely monitoring the situation. See also: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/emergencies/areas-of-concern/monsoon-floods-hit-pakistan.aspx
