India: Hindus
Hinduism has roughly 1 billion followers, 94% in India. Hinduism is growing slowly, but is still winning followers from those searching for life’s answers in religion. There are approximately 140,000 Protestant missionaries across the nations, but only 2% serve Hindu people. Despite this, Hindus from all castes are coming to Christ after hearing Bible stories they were able to relate to. In one instance an entire village turned to Christ after hearing His Word preached in their language! Pray for the Bible translators researching people groups and their languages to produce accessible Bibles. Leaving Hinduism means persecution, even to death. New believers are considered threats to Hindu society and are relentlessly pursued, violently attacked, or shunned from the community. Doubt and fear follow them because they accepted Jesus into their lives and became outcasts in their world. Pray for the new house church movement, welcoming recent converts.
EU facing a crisis? French candidates for 2017
Far right Front National leader Marine Le Pen is a strong candidate for the French presidency, according to a recent poll. Her main opponent will be François Fillon, a former prime minister, who has won the presidential nomination for the conservative party. He opposes multiculturalism and has called for a new understanding with Vladimir Putin's Russia. Ms Le Pen is adamant that the same anti-establishment anger which saw Britain vote to leave the EU and Americans elect Donald Trump could sweep her to power. Do the forthcoming elections spell the end of the Eurocrats’ dream?
EU facing a crisis? Italy’s Five Star Movement
After thirteen years of a struggling economy and unemployment at 40% among the young, 107,000 youth have left to seek work abroad. The average family income is less than it was in 2007. On 5 December Italy will vote in Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s referendum on constitutional reform. Mr Renzi has promised to resign if the referendum fails. Many believe that quitting would make way for the Eurosceptic Five Star Movement (M5S) to gain power. M5S was launched by Beppe Grillo, a youthful political rabble-rouser of the centre-left Democratic Party who proposes to limit the powers of the senate by cutting the number of senators from 315 to 100. All would be appointed (rather than elected as at present), and he would restrict their power to influence legislation. First Brexit, then Trump. Is Italy entering the west’s populist wave?
EU facing a crisis? German call of the watchmen
We see success in the arrests of key people in Germany’s Islamist terrorist arena, and the banning of the Salafist organisation calling itself ‘the true religion’. Plans for distributing the Qu’ran by this organisation under the banner ‘Read’ (which in German is the word ‘Lies’ but pronounced ‘Leese’) will not now be allowed. After the UK’s Brexit vote and the US election, Germans are asking the question, ‘What are YOU doing here, Lord?’ This is a time for us not only to pray for Germany, but also for the UK and the USA, and for God’s purposes for these three countries to be fulfilled through these events this year.
