Russia: Increased fines for ‘extremist’ texts
Russian people and religious organisations charged with distributing banned ‘extremist’ texts face sharply increased fines after changes to the law this month. Confiscations of religious texts from all religions, mostly during raids or detentions, frequently result in prosecutions of people. Convictions have led to liquidation, or threats of liquidation of ministries. The possession of allegedly ‘extremist’ texts is not the only obstacle to exercising freedom of religion or belief. Communities face barriers to holding public events. Baptist pastor Pavel Pilipchuk was imprisoned for five days in mid-April for refusing to pay a fine for allegedly organising an open-air meeting for worship without informing the city administration beforehand. The increases are part of a number of legal changes proposed by the Communications Ministry in December 2014, which introduce specific charges for media outlets accused of inciting "extremism’ and harsher existing punishments for related offences. There have been 19 prosecutions so far in 2015.
Irish bishops urge ‘no’ vote in gay marriage referendum
On Sunday four Irish bishops simultaneously published statements urging Catholics to vote ‘no’ in Ireland's referendum on gay marriage. They defend marriage between a man and a woman as the natural order and argue that a vote against same-sex marriage is a vote for the common good. Bishop of Killala John Fleming admits that during the past fifty years there has been a great change in the home environment in Ireland. It must be acknowledged that single parents and, in recent years, same-sex parents provide children with a loving home environment. However, this does not take away from the fact that it’s the firm belief of the bishops that the traditional family environment of a father, mother and children is in fact the best environment in which to raise children, despite the fact that family life as we know it is not without its problems and difficulties.
Report from Herrnhut, Germany - praying for His restoration and revival!
“But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a child.” …Now I have put my words in your mouth. See today, I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:7, 10)
“When God gets ready to do a new thing with His people, He always sets them a-praying!” – J. Edwin Orr, scholar on the history of revivals
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Thanks for your prayers of support for the Arab Europe prayer event which concluded strongly on Saturday. It was invigorating- with dynamic, Spirit-filled worship and faith-inspired praying together for all the nations of Europe where these Arab immigrants are now living. They came to understand that they are not refugees but sent by the Lord to pray and work for His restoration and revival of this continent that in the past has so much blessed the world through its strong spiritual legacy and now needs to recover that legacy with the help of these on-fire immigrant believers. Pray with us that they will be able to start prayer groups in their towns and unite with the nationals so that they can continue the process of united intercession they began in Wiesbaden.
Yesterday, Berthold Becker, founder of Intercessors for Germany, and I were in Hernnhut meeting with the church that has begun 24/7 prayer, renewing the practice of the Moravians and Count Zinzendorf who founded this place in the 18th century. As we worshipped, I noticed lovely young children, entering into worship with joy, and some were dancing freely in the presence of the Lord in front of us. The pastor then asked us to pray fatherly blessings over the whole congregation. Berthold and I felt moved to pray that from this fabled place a new and great revival would flow out to Germany and Europe.
Later, we stood amongst the 6000 graves of Zinzendorf and the godly saints who prayed in "the Lord's watch" (the meaning of Hernnhut in German) from 1727 for 100 years. Out of only 600 people in this small village, they sent 300 missionaries to the ends of the earth. I was overcome with weeping as they told me about the children of that day who went out in the fields in the night and cried out to the Lord as adults in neighboring homes tried to get them to shut up. However, they were irrepressible and kept on praying! Along with three Hernnhutter women, one of whom is with YWAM, we prayed for the children of Germany and for the raising up of a new generation like this former one.
These same Moravian children who cried out to God in the fields at night later went out as the first Protestant missionaries, many of them never coming back to their homeland but laying their lives down for the Lord among the unreached peoples. Others returned and are buried here as well. The women who were guiding us showed us their graves and those of the great and godly Zinzendorf and his family. This humble noble was the benefactor of the much-persecuted Moravians, followers of Jan Hus, the great reformer from Prague, a Pentecostal charismatic Bible teacher who was burned at the stake for his ministry efforts to bring reform and encourage the study of Scripture. As a child, Zinzendorf was deeply influenced by Francke and Spener who were leaders of the German Pietist revival, as well as by his own godly grandmother with whom he spent some years in this same area of Saxony.
I felt the Lord stirring me that this ground still has powerful, earned spiritual authority, so that like Jeremiah was called to do, they could pray, speaking out things that the Spirit puts in their mouths for the revival and transformation of nations and it will happen. This struck me, especially after Berthold shared with them that in 1989 he was here in Hernnhut leading a prayer gathering with hundreds of intercessors who proclaimed the end of the Berlin Wall from this part of East Germany. It came down that very time as they were praying this! A young woman who now has 5 lovely children and was one of those guiding us around, told us that she had been there as a nine-year old girl and witnessed what Berthold described. "History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being!"
Today, we go to Berlin along with Sam Hofmann, a YWAM leader and colleague in many past initiatives to meet with prayer leaders there and also to pray for the government of Germany that has become so politically correct as to say that "Islam belongs to Germany" and to adopt sex education for little children, including introducing them to homosexuality. I am filled with indignation and revulsion. It is the same in the USA, the same wicked, perverted agenda that some in our own government are seeking to introduce to our nation while much of our “Christian majority” is occupied with our own comfort and entertainment. May the Lord shake us all out of our sleepy, complacent state to pray and prophesy to unjust, corrupted power like Jeremiah did!
Thanks for your continuing prayers as the Lord leads you for His revival, restoration and transformation to come upon Europe and other “developed” nations that have lapsed into paganism from the light they once knew.
John Robb
Chairman, International Prayer Council
Prostitute found Jesus when she least expected it
As darkness fell in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a ‘woman of the night’, wandering aimlessly, noticed a large crowd forming on the outskirts of the city and went to investigate. People were slowly filling up an empty field where a large, white screen had been erected. 'What is this all about?' she wondered. There seemed to be a buzz of excitement and anticipation in the air. She knew she should begin looking for her next customer, but something was drawing her to stay. She lingered a few more minutes, then sat down among the crowd. A movie began that was like no other she had seen: the JESUS Film. She learned about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, and that he reached out with healing hands to the last, the least, and the lost. On bended knee, she wept over her sins. When the invitation was given, she stood up to receive Jesus as her Saviour and Lord.
