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AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

NON STOP PRAYER MOVEMENT GRIPS ATHEIST CHINA

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, thousands of Christians are meeting in a corner of northeast China for an unprecedented prayer movement. What started as a small gathering six years ago has become a nationwide prayer initiative uniting hundreds of Chinese churches. For years, the Chinese government tried to snuff out Christianity. In the late 1940s, some 500,000 Chinese Christians were killed because of their faith. Now decades later in what is officially still an atheist nation, Christianity is the fastest growing religion. "We had a dream that someday we would build a church focused on prayer for China and the world," prayer leader Ha Bining said. Ha Bining and her husband Feng Kai are witnesses to this profound move of God across China.

In 2000, the Christian couple had a dream to turn this piece of land in a corner of northeast China into a place of prayer. "My tears fell like the rain and I started praying," Bining said. "God gave us a vision to help bring churches across China together for 24-hour non-stop prayer for our country and the world." Nine years later, with construction on the property almost complete, the couple sent out email and text messages to friends and pastors inviting them for a prayer meeting. "We didn't know who would show up or how many. I was praying that at least people from seven churches would show up. To my absolute amazement 70 churches joined us that day," Bining said.

One believer prayed. "The glory of this present house will be greater than the former house. May this place be a new lamp that lights up China and the world." "We were overwhelmed at the response," Binning said. "It was totally beyond our expectations." The prayer centre started in June 2009. Since then, 617 churches from across China have signed up to pray 24 hours a day. Bining said they have three main objectives. "First, that this will be a place where people can make peace with each other. Second, that God will use this place for churches to repent and reconcile with each other. And third, that this will be a place where people can make peace with God," she said. Christians from more than 100 countries have also visited the prayer centre.

"Every day we receive guests from around the world. It's so exciting to see people pray," Jian Yanchang, a 24/7 prayer intercessor, said. These intercessors know God is doing something special in China. And they are praying that way. "Lord, the number of Christians in China is increasing. What should we do Lord? What's our job? How should we expand your Kingdom to gather more people? Lord, we pray that you will place your mission into each of our hearts," one pastor said. When the Communists took power in the 1940s there were roughly 4 million Christians in China. Today, well over 100 million are followers of Jesus Christ. And if current growth rates remain, experts say in less than two decades, China will become the world's most populous Christian nation.

In return, Feng Kai said God will use China to be a blessing to the nations. "I believe our life as Christians should be a blessing to others. God told Abraham, 'I will bless you. I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.' God blessed Abraham; he is blessing the Chinese church," Kai said. Kai and others believe prayer initiatives like this have been key to church growth in China. "Twenty-four hour non-stop praying is not an easy task to accomplish, but it is a happy thing for us to do, to enjoy 24-hours of God's presence in prayer," Dong Lili, another prayer intercessor, said. "We are in need of prayers," Elder Wang, a regular attendee at the 24/7 prayer centre, admitted. "Through prayers our heart is broadened; we learn to care for others and for the world. As time goes by, prayers inspires us to love each other."

In 2011, a new seminary and Christian college were established on the grounds of the prayer centre to train the next generation of pastors and business leaders to change China for Jesus Christ. "I will follow Lord Jesus my whole life for you are my Lord. I will carry my cross my whole life. Since the moment I met you, worldly pleasures became flavourless to me. I will follow Lord Jesus my whole life for you are my Lord. I will carry my cross my whole life," they sing. For Ha Bining and her husband Feng Kai, this place is a God-given dream come true to unite churches in China and help bring news of Christ's love to the ends of the earth. "This is the core of Christianity," Bining said. "We are all on our knees, lifting our hands and praying that the Gospel will continue to spread around the world and also here in China."

Source: CBN News

CANADIAN DOCTORS REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE IN EUTHANASIA EVEN AT COST OF JOBS

Two long-practicing Winnipeg doctors have said they would refuse to assist suicide, even if it meant being losing their jobs. Doctors Mark Kristjanson and Larry Rados are speaking out because the Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons is seeking input for a new policy on assisted suicide and euthanasia. The policy is being formulated as the moment of truth imposed by the Supreme Court of Canada approaches when the Criminal Code provisions against both measures will be nullified. "The Hippocratic Oath is the foundation of medicine. And part of that tradition explicitly regards the patient, one's fellow human being, as sacred," Dr. Kristjanson told the CBC. "There is a very explicit commitment to not take the life of a patient. It's distressing, it's disturbing and saddens me it has come to this."

It has come to this because of a group of university academics calling themselves "The Conscience Project." This group has persuaded the colleges of physicians and surgeons in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta to require doctors to refer patients requesting procedures that violate their consciences to other doctors they know will perform them. Larry Worthen, head of the Christian Medical and Dental Association of Canada (CMDS), said that any regulatory college that required doctors to either perform or refer against their consciences would "absolutely be in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms." Earlier this year the CMDS joined with the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians Societies and the Canadian Physicians for Life to challenge the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons in court.

"And we are looking at challenging the Saskatchewan College," said Worthen. Freedom of Conscience is one of the fundamentals of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, said Worthen, and the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled "there must be a very compelling reason to restrict freedom of conscience, and whatever restriction must be kept to a minimum." The Saskatchewan and Ontario colleges have recently followed the template provided by the Conscience Project in requiring doctors to perform abortions in a medical emergency despite their moral objections if no one else is available, and at all other times to refer patients seeking abortions to doctors who will do them. Ontario has applied the same formula to euthanasia.

Dr. Rados said "I take the view that a referral to another doctor is equivalent to a recommendation for the procedure. Why would I make a referral for assisted suicide if I don't think it is in the patient's best interest?" But the Conscience Project believes doctors' consciences are trumped by patients' rights though the latter have no recognition in the Charter. Patients' rights are now ensconced in doctors' ethics codes in some provinces. Dr. Rados believes this reduces doctors to the role of waiters in restaurants. Doctors are sworn to protect their patients' best interests, in spite of the patients' wishes. "Every doctor that has been around for a while knows there are times when you say no. We say no when a patient asks for narcotics and doesn't need them. We should be allowed to also say no with regard to referring patients.

Source: LifeSiteNews

WOMEN MARCH FOR FREEDOM IN SAUDI ARABIA

For the first time in history, Saudi women have been allowed to register to vote and run for election. Saudi Arabia is one of the last countries to allow females the vote. Women also are not allowed to drive, to travel outside the home without a male escort, to wear anything but a burka whilst outside, and more. Traditional social customs prove difficult to change. So, how was the right to vote won? In the political arena, royalty has encouraged women's empowerment. Women themselves worked hard offstage to prepare the social path. Women educators contributed greatly, as did women in the business and private sectors. Princess Rema worked in the public arena for suffrage, as well as on broader freedoms for women. She urged women to register and vote, even offering to provide transportation for some.

The UN awarded her the goodwill ambassador for women's empowerment efforts. She also worked to enhance Saudi labour policies pertaining to women. However, Princess Rema was not the only Saudi royalty to encourage women's empowerment. When the late King Abdullah took the throne in 2005, he worked towards liberating women, appointing 30 women to the Haj ministry. In 2011, he declared that Saudi Arabia would implement suffrage in 2015. The current King Salman also actively supports the women's freedom march. Prince Alaweed owns a television network that featured a new drama premiered during Ramadan, which challenged Saudi stereotypes and taboos. The storyline of the show called Sponsored Women, followed 4 Saudi women who move to America and experience freedom.

This year he donated a large portion of his US$32 billion estate to the empowerment of women. The freedom march still has a long way to go. Changing cultural norms is the greatest hindrance, even with royal support of women's empowerment. Progress is happening though. For example, 70 women are prepared to run in the December municipal elections as candidates. Eighty women have already registered as campaign managers. Two car booking services offered free rides for women wishing to vote in the upcoming municipal elections. Nonetheless, out of 10 million Saudi women, only a handful were able to register. Women still face hindrances like driving taboos, finding voting registration centres or proof of residency. It is still complicated. Yet, Saudi women have proven great resilience and perseverance.

Please Pray:

* that as women gain freedom, they will use their empowerment to openly seek truth about Jesus

* that Christ will reveal Himself to Saudi women as their true liberator

* that the underground church of Saudi Arabia implements effective ministry to women and raises up more female leaders

Source: Windows International Network

TWO IN FIVE BRITS THINK JESUS IS A MYTHICAL FIGURE

A joint study from major Christian organisations has found while 57% of people in England call themselves Christians, two in five think Jesus wasn't a real person. The research of 3,000 people, conducted by the Church of England, the Evangelical Alliance and Hope, also found one in five people who aren't Christians would be happy to learn more about the faith after hearing other Christians talk to them about it. Most people in the study knew at least one Christian, and were most likely to describe them as 'friendly', 'caring', 'good-humoured', 'generous' or 'helpful'. Overall, 43% of respondents believed that Jesus rose again from the dead. However there were less encouraging statistics for the Christian groups too.

More than a third of people (39%) thought Jesus was a mythical figure, rather than actually existing in history. This was particularly the case for under-35s, who were 25% more likely to think Jesus didn't actually exist than those aged 36 and above. And while the study found 57% identified themselves as Christians, less than one in ten (9%) described themselves as "practising", defined in the study as regularly praying, reading the Bible and attending church at least monthly. The study found the same proportion of practising Christians among under and over-35s, while also finding that under-35s were more open to Christianity and Jesus than their older contemporaries, signalling that as time goes on the number of practising Christians may well go up.

Dr Rachel Jordan, the national adviser for mission and evangelism, said Christians must not assume that people know Jesus was a real person, and make it a priority to talk about him in a relevant way. Dr Jordan was also encouraged that younger generations were as likely to be practising Christians as their older counterparts, but also that they were more open. She also said it was the job of Christians to explain to non-practising Christians what it actually means to follow Jesus. She said: "They think we're friendly, caring and good-humoured, and they like being around us, which is great news for Christians to know. We're liked, in fact, we're loved. "We think because people grow up in this country, they'd know that Jesus was a real person... so it's a challenge to make sure that news actually gets to people.

Source: Premier News Service

GUATEMALA ELECTS CHRISTIAN COMEDIAN AS PRESIDENT AMID MUCH PRAYER

Guatemalan voters have chosen a comedian with studies in theology as their new president. Jimmy Morales was initially considered an outsider but surprised the nation by leading the first round of elections, easily qualifying for the runoff. Morales ran on a platform of conservative values, opposing gay marriage, abortion, and the legalization of marijuana. "According to my belief, my ideology, I would have to veto such laws," the president-elect said. "I think in Guatemala we will not have this because of conservative thinking. In case Congress approves such laws, my position would be against them." Morales presented himself as a champion against corruption, with the slogan "neither corrupt nor a thief."

The election followed months of political crisis, including the resignation of outgoing President Otto Perez Molina and his arrest on fraud and corruption charges. With a jailed president, the country teetered on the verge of social and political chaos. The Guatemalan church played an important role through the crisis, holding prayer meetings like one held every Saturday morning at the Central Park. The "Guatemala Prays" movement mobilized more than 700 churches for prayer vigils and fasting. For 40 days they prayed for a peaceful solution to the crisis. "God put His hand in Guatemala, it's a miracle what happened," prayer participant Marco Antonio Ruiz said. "We came together as the Church and cried out with one voice. God heard the voice of all those who joined us in prayer."

"The role of the Christian Church is to be the bride of the Lamb, a role of service and devotion," Morales said. "Also to evangelize, train and improve the talents of people. So, it's a fairly large role." The church's active participation was also reflected in a debate held days before the election. The event, organized by the country's main evangelical organizations, was broadcast on national television and by satellite on the Christian network Enlace. Both Christians and non-believers agree that the peaceful solution to Guatemala's crisis and the entire electoral process offers a lesson to other nations. Christians in this election have affirmed that Guatemala begins its road to recovery as a direct answer to prayer.

Source: CBN News

CHINA'S DECISION TO ALLOW COUPLES TWO CHILDREN WELCOMED BY EXILED CHRISTIANS

China's decision to allow all couples to have two children, has been welcomed by exiled Christian Bob Fu. The policy had limited many urban couples to only one child for more than three decades. Bob Fu was forced to flee China when his wife Heidi fell pregnant without a pregnancy permission card. He said the announcement was a "welcome first step towards women's rights for birth freedom". The couple fled China in 1996 in order to avoid a forced termination and now reside in America where Bob is President of China Aid. Fu said China's "coercive family planning system violently regulates" the number of children parents are permitted to have, adding "the genocide of girls will not be stopped any time soon." Historically, the country's restrictions led to an imbalanced sex ratio because of a traditional preference for boys.

The Communist Party says the decision to allow all couples to have two children was to deal with an ageing population. Previous easing of the one-child policy has led to fewer births than expected, and many people among China's younger generations seem to prefer smaller family sizes. China, which has the world's largest population at 1.4 billion people, introduced the one-child policy in 1979 as a temporary measure to curb a then-surging population and limit the demands for water and other resources.The imbalance in the population between men and women which the policy generated makes it difficult for some men to find wives, and is believed to fuel the trafficking of women as brides. The recently announced decision removes all remaining restrictions limiting couples to only one child.

Source: Premier News Service

RECORD NUMBER OF BIBLES GIVEN OUT IN 2014

Last year saw the highest number of Bibles ever distributed by Bible Societies around the world. Nearly 34 million Bibles were handed out, a six per cent rise on 2013. A new report shows that in total 428.2 million Scriptures were distributed by Bible Societies in 2014. That figure includes full Bibles, Testaments, Gospels and other smaller scripture items. The Americas is the region that has reported the highest rates of distribution, with 341.5 million Scriptures, including 14.4 million full Bibles being given out. Far more Scriptures were distributed in Brazil than in any other country in the world. Its 7.6 million full Bibles account for more than half of the total Bible distribution in the Americas, and more than a fifth of last year's global Bible distribution.

It is thought that this was boosted by the many thousands of Scriptures handed out during the FIFA World Cup. Bible Society Executive Director Dr Rudi Zimmer, said: "Brazilians are football mad, and the World Cup was a wonderful opportunity to share God's Word with the many football fans who were celebrating the tournament." Cuba was another area that saw an increase in Bibles. Last year 1.5 million Scriptures were distributed there - more than double the total distributed in 2010. The Bible Society has also reported that more than five times the number of Testaments were distributed in Syria in 2014 than in 2010, before the conflict began.

Source: Premier News Service

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AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

PAKISTAN: THE BITTER FRUITS OF A RADICALISED SOCIETY

Sawan Masih is a Christian resident of Lahore. For years he has wrapped up his day by sharing a drink with friend and neighbour Shahid Imran, a Muslim. They would sit together outside Shahid's barber shop drinking locally brewed beer. Though their debates sometimes got heated, they would just sleep it off and start afresh the next day. On the evening of 7 March, the men had one of their drink-fuelled arguments. This time, however, a good night's sleep failed to clear the slate. The next day, Shahid claimed Sawan had blasphemed during their spat. The rumour exploded and spread like wildfire. When Sawan heard what Shahid had done, he fled for his life.

Later that evening, Muslims marched from a nearby mosque to the Masihs' home. Some ransacked the Masihs' home, whilst others presented the police with two alleged witnesses who claimed to have heard Sawan's blasphemy. A blasphemy charge was registered, primarily for the purpose of pacifying the mob. But registering a blasphemy complaint is hardly enough to douse a fire-storm of Islamic fury these days. With rumours circulating that worse was to come, the police advised the Christians to flee, which they did. The next day thousands of Muslims descended on the Christian colony with weapons and fuel to inflict collective punishment.

Sources said that the provincial government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had ordered police not to hinder the protesters and 'let them vent their grief and anger'. With the colony vacated and the police immobilised, the Muslims went freely from door to door, plundering and ransacking. By 11:30am the community was ablaze. By the time the fire brigade turned up at 3pm, at least 160 homes, 18 shops and two churches -- Assemblies of God and Roman Catholic -- had been looted and burnt. According to the City Superintendent of Police, up to 7000 people took part in the attack. Police are saying they have Sawan in 'protective custody'.

The Pakistan Human Rights Commission laments, 'The attack is yet another shameful incident against a vulnerable community and further confirmation of the slide toward extremism in society, and apathy and inaction that has become the norm among the police.' On 10th March Christians rallied in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Multan, expressing their fear, grief and anger over their deepening insecurity. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif told a private meeting in his home that the attack was in no way a service to Pakistan or Islam. What he really needs to do is get that message accepted in the thousands of radical mosques and madrassas spread across Punjab.

Pakistan has a population of 185 million with Christians accounting for about 2.45%. Decades of Saudi-sponsored Islamisation and Sunni radicalisation are producing bitter fruits: local Muslims prepared to kill and destroy their Christian neighbours. Shi'ite Muslims (30%) and Hindus (1.5%) are also experiencing escalating systematic persecution. Pakistan is becoming increasingly intolerant and lawless as it lurches towards collapse and disintegration. When local civilians are prepared to eliminate their neighbours on ethnic, caste and/or religious grounds, then the environment is clearly genocidal.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT THE LORD WILL --

* intervene and secure justice for Sawan Masih, as well as security for his extended family and compensation for the Christian community destroyed.

* draw the wounded and traumatised into his embrace, comforting and healing their broken hearts and providing all their needs. Awaken those who have been turned into killers, bringing a profound conviction of sin upon all who would be willing killers of their own neighbours.

* bring a profound sense of shame on Pakistan, so pervasive it demands and enables deep, risky reform at the mosque and madrassa level; may this and a sense of failure and great danger prompt many to seek out a new and better way.

Source: by Elizabeth Kendal, Religious Liberty Monitoring

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SYRIAN BISHOPS KIDNAPPED BY REBELS

Two prominent Syrian bishops, who had warned of the threat to religious tolerance and diversity from the two-year conflict in their country, have been kidnapped by armed rebels in the northern province of Aleppo according to state media. SANA news agency said the Syriac Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Archbishops of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, were seized by "a terrorist group" in the village of Kfar Dael as they were "carrying out humanitarian work". A Syriac member of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Abdulahad Steifo, said the men had been kidnapped on the road to Aleppo from the rebel-held Bab al Hawa crossing with Turkey.

Several prominent Muslim clerics have been killed in Syria's uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, but the two bishops are the most senior Church leaders caught up in the conflict which has killed more than 70,000 people. Christians make up less than 10% of the country's 23 million people and, like other religious minorities, have been wary of the mainly Sunni Muslim uprising against Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Fears for their future have increased with the growing strength of Islamist rebels and a pledge of allegiance to al Qaeda by the hard-line Nusra Front rebels two weeks ago.

Bishop Ibrahim had gone to collect Bishop Yazigi from the rebel-held Bab al-Hawa crossing. The two men were driving to Aleppo when they were kidnapped, he added. Last September Bishop Ibrahim said that hundreds of Christian families had fled Aleppo as rebels and soldiers battled for control of the country's biggest city. "In its modern history Aleppo has not seen such critical and painful times. Christians have been attacked and kidnapped and their relatives have paid big sums for their release," Ibrahim said. In the city of Homs, which saw the heaviest bloodshed earlier this year several churches and Christian centres had been damaged in the fighting.

"Until a few months ago the idea of escaping had not crossed the minds of the Christians, but after the danger worsened it has become the main topic of conversation." Neighbouring Iraq, where sectarian violence after the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein forced half the Christians to flee, offers frightening parallels for Syrian Christians, while the revival of Islamists in the 2011 Arab uprisings in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt also fills Syria's Christians with foreboding. Writing in January, Yazigi said was important that the uprisings known as the "Arab Spring" should not jeopardise several centuries of religious diversity in the Middle East.

Source: Reuters

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CHRISTIANS DOMINATE AMERICAN IDOL THIS SEASON

Season 12 of American Idol has its share of Christian contestants: Indeed eight of the top 10 are Christians. Contestants Candice Glover, Lazaro Arbos, Janelle Arthur, Curtis Finch Jr., Amber Holcolm, Angie Miller, Devin Velez, and Burnell Taylor are all in it to win it. They're also not ashamed to share their faith with the world while they're at it. Angie Miller, who many expect to be crowned winner this year, often tweets about her faith. "Church isn't the only time to worship and hear from or spend time with God. That should happen on an everyday basis," she recently tweeted.

Miller became a fan favourite after performing an original worship song called, "You Set Me Free," during the Hollywood auditions. Judges were blown away by the performance. Judge Mariah Carey later said the performance left her "clothed in goose bumps and bathed in tears." Miller also performed a slowed down rendition of "Never Gone" by Season 11 American Idol contestant Colton Dixon. Dixon, who often spoke about his faith while on the show, released a Christian album called A Messenger in January. Chicago native Devin Velez is another standout performer. Several home videos of the 18-year-old singing worship songs are posted on YouTube.

Velez also tweets about his faith. On Thursday he tweeted, " I just have to remember why I'm here, and that everything, is in HIS hands." Finalist Curtis Finch Jr., a gospel singer and worship leader, received a standing ovation from the judges and the audience. Idol Judge Keith Urban was moved by the soul-stirring performance. "Good and light and godly and whole. You have so much hope in you and we need that. Thank you, Curtis," Urban said. While these contestants are all striving to be the next big star, they appear to be grounded in something bigger than the show or their voices.

Source: CBN News

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EGYPT FORMS FIRST EVER COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

Five different churches in Egypt including the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, the Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Anglican Church have joined together to form the Egypt Council of Churches after one year of deliberations and meetings between the churches. The announcement was made in a press release by Bishop of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, and Primate of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Most Revd. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis.

The Bishop said, “It is so important that this council is born at this time while Egypt is going through a very challenging circumstance politically, socially and economically. It means a lot for the churches to face these challenges together with one heart and soul." The launch of the council was hosted by His Holiness, Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church, known as the "Mother" church of Egypt. “The first goal of the Egypt Council of Churches is to enhance the bonds of love and the spirit of co-operation among the member churches,” explained the Primate.

Bishop Mouneer said, “There are 15 different committees that will be active in the areas of faith and unity, youth, Sunday schools, community development and women among others.” The Primate acknowledged the importance of such collaboration among churches, “Each church in this council will enrich the others with its heritage,” and added, “It is important to affirm the principle of inter-dependance of each church."

Source: Arabic Christian News Service

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FRESH SANCTIONS HIT NORTH KOREA

A fresh set of sanctions agreed by the UN will impose further restrictions on North Korea and limit their ability to function in the international community. The new resolution instructs North Korea to cease all nuclear and missile testing. It will block financial transactions, impound cash, empower countries to inspect suspicious cargo, and expand a blacklist of items that North Korea cannot import. The sanctions place new constraints on North Korean diplomats, raising their risk of expulsion. But they do not allow countries to stop and inspect North Korean shipments on the high seas or force down aircraft suspected of moving contraband.

On the surface, Non-Government-Organisations such as Open Doors will not be directly affected by the sanctions. However, their work depends on Pyongyang's response. North Korea may expel charity workers and the employees of NGOs from the country. A member of the Open Doors field team said: "The situation is unclear. North Korea may not be allowed to receive any form of external assistance anymore, but since Open Doors does not have any 'above ground' projects, the immediate future our work should not be impacted by the new sanctions. We work in secret and will continue to do so."

Please pray:

• for every international leader directly involved, but especially for Kim Jong-Un and his government. Pray that they will act wisely and calmly in response to the crisis

• that the borders will not be closed and that no further restrictions will not be imposed on the movement of people in and out of the country

• for fresh energy for the Christian teams operating under ground in North Korea who are already under a lot of pressure, as they seek to minister to North Korean believers.

Source: Open Doors

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CALL TO PRAYER FOR THE MALAYSIAN ELECTIONS

The National Prayer Network of Malaysia has asked the Australian Prayer Network to join them in praying for the upcoming elections in Malaysia which will be held on 5th May. They are praying 24/7 from now until the election date and have asked for specific cover from 2.00AM to 5.00AM Malaysian time each day, which is 4.00AM to 7.00AM in Sydney. If you cannot pray during those hours please pray whenever you can. If you wish to register your commitment you can do so at www.24-7prayer.com/signup/c80076 Prayer leaders in Malaysia report a strong spiritual battle taking place around the election including the use of witchcraft prayers against the Church.

Hundreds of cases of election violence have been reported since campaigning got under way. A total of 387 incidents were reported in the first three days of the two-week campaign and at least 15 people have been arrested over the violence police report. These elections have been long-anticipated and there is speculation of the country's first change of regime since independence from Britain in 1957. The vote pits a coalition dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) which has ruled Malaysia for 56 years, against an opposition promising a more liberalised society.

Please pray:

* that the Malaysian church will seek the face of God together earnestly and with perseverance, so that He will open the heavens, reveal His glory and pour His power upon Malaysia.

* that God will continue to bless Malaysia with strong and steady growth of the national economy so that all citizens will be blessed. Pray for the equitable sharing of this wealth among all races. Pray against the twin problems of badly formulated policies and prevalent corruption, both of which combine to adversely affect national economic growth. Pray that in the elections God will overrule to allow those who will be faithful to the mandate to rule for the good of the nation will come into power. Pray specially against the work of unseen spiritual powers that seek to keep the nation under their control through evil of all kinds.

* that the church, civil society and the people in general will defend the Federal Constitution so that fundamental liberties of all citizens, especially religious freedom, will be upheld. Pray that the government will genuinely seek to uphold the principle of equal citizenship rights for all Malaysians, which have been forged against a diverse background of race, religion and culture. Pray against all efforts made at asserting ethnic and religious supremacy which, if unchecked, will destroy the foundations of the nation. Pray for the election of Politicians who are competent, genuine, and committed to integrity and justice.

Source: Malaysian Prayer Network

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STUDY SHOWS THAT ABSTINENCE EDUCATION WORKS

A study which has just come to light shows that abstinence education is highly effective in reducing sexual activity among youth. It also showed programs promoting contraceptive use to be ineffective. The study followed students a full two years after completion of the abstinence class. One third of students showed a noteworthy decrease in sexual activity, compared with those who didn't participate in the class. On the other hand condom-promoting programs didn't affect youth behaviour at all. Students in these programs showed no reduction in sexual activity and no increase in contraceptive use.

"Finally, a study that proves what those of us who have been teaching abstinence have known for years. These programs help develop self-control and self-esteem, teaching kids they do not need to fall prey to the game of Russian Roulette with condoms," said Leslee Unruh, President and Founder of the National Abstinence Clearing House. "Abstinence programs show kids there are too many great things riding on their future to risk it to STDs, pregnancy and broken hearts. Abstinence is a message our kids want to hear—this study shows you that many youth will make healthier choices and change their behaviour in response to this refreshing message," Unruh said.

Source: Abstinence Clearing House

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Reimagine Curator April 3, 2013 10:39
AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

KOKODA PEACE AND RECONCILIATION INITIATIVE

GREENS TELL CHRISTIANS TO BUTT OUT OF EUTHANASIA DEBATE

NSW CHURCHES CALL FOR ALCOHOL HARM MINIMISATION POLICY

KOKODA PEACE AND RECONCILIATION INITIATIVE

Last year marked the 70th year since WWII took place in Papua New Guinea, especially the battle of Kokoda where thousands of Japanese and Allied soldiers as well as Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels took part in the war. Historians tell us that Kokoda was the turning point in WWII. Some of the surviving Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels tell of wadding in blood that was knee deep in some places during the battle of Kokoda. There was so much bloodshed on the Kokoda Trail. One cannot imagine that the treacherous terrain of the rugged Kokoda Track was marked by a trail of blood.

Many died in pools of blood and those who survived carried home blood stained foot prints that no cleaning agent could completely wash clean. The impact of the devastation caused by WWII on the land and the people of Kokoda has lasted even until today. Kokoda has become a by word globally. There are thousands of businesses around the world using the name Kokoda to promote their product while the land and the people of Kokoda continue to struggle in poverty without Infrastructure, quality basic services and viable economic development.

WWII ended in 1945. However, the physical and spiritual impact on the land and the people has become a generational curse on Kokoda and also Papua New Guinea that needs to be broken. Kokoda is unfinished business. The healing of the people and healing of their land is imperative and now is the time. In May 2012, the healing process was commenced among the 7 villages of Ward 7 in the Kokoda District through a week of Forgiveness facilitated by the Healing the Land (HTL PNG) team.

This was undertaken at the invitation of Benjamin Ijumi the Chief of Kokoda. Out of it came the vision for an international Peace and Reconciliation event to be attended by some of the living relatives of those who played a part in WWII at Kokoda. After months of further discussions with The Chiefs of Kokoda would like to invite Church and Community Networks in the South Pacific, Australia, NZ and Japanese friends to pray for this event and send prayer teams if possible to participate in any of the events that are planned to take place in July 2013.

How you can be involved if you feel led to participate:

1. Those that are young and energetic can join one of the over 20 Healing the Land (HTL) teams that will walk the Kokoda Track. Each team led by experienced HTL trackers will be assigned a particular village on the track and stay three days in that village to do the HTL process. After that they will prayer walk the rest of the original WWII track up to Kokoda on the Owen Stanley Ranges and join the main HTL Conference at Kebara Mission Station. The HTL trackers will start walking on the 14th July and arrive in Kokoda on the 22nd July to join the main celebrations.

2. Those people who cannot walk the trail but want to attend can fly directly to Kokoda to be part of the Kokoda HTL Peace and Reconciliation Conference from the 18-22nd July at Kebara Mission Station with local villages and other participants from PNG

3. The final event will be held on the PNG remembrance Day 23rd of July at Kokoda. The diplomatic Corps and other dignitaries will be invited to participate at this Peace and Reconciliation Celebration and the Commissioning Service to follow on the 24th of July also at Kokoda.

Summary of Events

1. Peace and Reconciliation Kokoda Trail Walk from 14th-22nd July 2013

2. Peace and Reconciliation Conference 18th-22nd July at Kebara Mission Station

2. Kokoda Peace and Reconciliation Ceremony. 23rd July 2013

3. Commissioning of the HTL Teams from the nations to the nations 24th of July.

Organisers are expecting about two to three hundred guest trackers from Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Japan, USA and other Provinces of PNG to embark on the two week program. The climax of the event will be the Peace and Reconciliation Ceremony to be held at Kebara Village on the 23rd and 24th of July 2013 This gathering is aimed at former enemies walking together in peace and having a peace ceremony at Kokoda. The sensitivity of the nations regarding WWII will be respected in the Ceremony.

Organisers intend inviting dignitaries, diplomatic corps, governors, church leaders, business leaders and others who have interest in this program to attend the two day Peace and Reconciliation Ceremony and Commissioning which will be the climax of the program. The Seven villages of Ward Seven in Kokoda District are preparing for the event and are expected to host the nations.

Further details of the Track Preparations, costs etc will be forwarded to those that are interested in this exciting Ministry event in Papua New Guinea. For further Information please do not hesitate to contact organisers at the following email address

Pastor Walo Ani (Director, Translinc PNG and Community Transformation Coordinator)
Email: waloani@yahoo.com.au

Source:

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GREENS TELL CHRISTIANS TO BUTT OUT OF EUTHANASIA DEBATE
GREENS TELL CHRISTIANS TO BUTT OUT OF EUTHANASIA DEBATE

The NSW Greens have again highlighted their anti-Christian worldview by claiming that people with religious views are blocking voluntary euthanasia laws and making the lives of vulnerable people even more wretched and should butt out. "It's time they recognised they are in the minority and got out of the way," Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said. Her comments came as she launched a photo book and an online video promoting voluntary euthanasia as part of her campaign for a Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill, expected to come before parliament later this year.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell will allow a conscience vote if the laws are debated. "I've indicated that if it should come up, members of the Liberal Party will have a conscience vote," he told reporters. Mr O'Farrell declined to outline his own views, saying it would come down to the laws introduced. "These are complex matters. You wait to see the legislation, you wait to see what's being proposed, and then you make a decision," he said. The latest Greens campaign features a video of Loredana Alessio-Mulhall, who is in the advanced stages of multiple sclerosis and wants law reform so she can die at a time of her choosing.

Ms Faehrmann said in a statement. "Loredana is given every assistance to live an increasingly undignified life, yet society is turning its back on her when all she is asking for is the right to die with dignity." Ms Faehrmann said Ms Alessio-Mulhall could not take her own life because she had lost the use of her limbs. And if a loved one assists her to die they could be tried for manslaughter or murder. State and federal parliaments (made up of a majority of members with non-religious views) have refused at least four attempts to legalise euthanasia in recent years.

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

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NSW CHURCHES CALL FOR ALCOHOL HARM MINIMISATION POLICY
The NSW Council of Churches has renewed its call for the O’Farrell Government to extend recent Newcastle trials of measures to curb alcohol related violence. New national data showed that 70,000 Australians were involved in alcohol-related disputes each year, and the estimated annual cost to emergency services was around $15 billion. “Alcohol is a popular drug that is easily accessed and easily misused,” the President of the NSW Council of Churches, the Revd Dr Ross Clifford, said.

“Alcohol consumption is a significant contributor to street violence, family violence, health problems and poverty in our communities. The O’Farrell Government is to be commended for small positive steps in the past, but we want to see significant regulatory reform this year,” “Trials in Newcastle have demonstrated that measures such as earlier pub closing times, lock-outs, and restrictions on the sale of high-alcohol content drinks late at night can significantly reduce alcohol-related violence.

It’s time for the NSW Government to extend these trials to other parts of the state,” Dr Clifford said. “We respect the right of citizens to engage in modest and responsible alcohol consumption if they choose to do so. This is not about banning alcohol. This is about an effective harm minimization and customer protection strategy,” Dr Clifford said.
Source: NSW Council of Churches Press Release

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Have you visited our Web site? Australian Prayer Network
You can print this e-mail with formating by clicking: Print This E-Mail
Reimagine Curator April 6, 2013 11:02
AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

NDOT PRODUCTS NOW AVAILABLE AUSTRALIA WIDE

NEW PRODUCTS FOR 2013

ENCOURAGE YOUR WHOLE CONGREGATION TO GET INVOLVED
NDOT PRODUCTS NOW AVAILABLE AUSTRALIA WIDE
NDOT products, with the exception of the stick on badges, have now been distributed to Koorong stores across Australia. They are available for purchase across the counter in all stores Australia wide, or online from http://www.koorong.com/

For those unable to access a Koorong Store the same products plus the stick on badges may also be purchased through the NDOT office either by email at info@thanksgiving.org.au or by phone to 02 9939.2113 Purchases made through the NDOT office cost slightly more due to having to add postage and packaging costs into the purchase price.

For full details on how to order NDOT products, to view images of them, and to obtain the cost of the respective products please go to www.thanksgiving.org.au/resources/products/

Source: Australian Prayer Network

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NEW PRODUCTS FOR 2013
Two new products have this year been added to the range of items that can be purchased to add value to your celebration of the NDOT. Two new card designs are now available. There is a new Daisy design which is a conventional card but slightly smaller than the older cards. The second is a new Bottlebrush design in a postcard style card which does not require an envelope. Both cards come in packs of 5 and retail at Koorong for $3.00 a pack or $3.50 posted to you from the NDOT office. The highly popular mini thank you cards, which sold out last year, are back and we have increased the print run this year to meet the expected demand.

And just a word regarding our best sellers from last year

Balloons

Balloons give an instant feeling of celebration, so are an ideal addition for a festival or for simply wanting to brighten up a room for a morning tea or thank you luncheon. Events involving children would obviously benefit from the addition of balloons which could also be used to add colour to Sunday Thanksgiving Services. Last year schools especially found the balloons, which come in packs of 25, an exciting and popular product.

Mini Thank You Cards

For those who are time poor but still want to say thank you to people they appreciate, the mini thank you cards received an overwhelming response last year. In fact we underestimated demand and ran out of stock. They were very popular because there is no writing required, no addressing of envelopes and no stamps or trundling down to the Post Office to mail your card. You simply put a pack of 30 cards in your wallet or purse and hand them out to people who give you good service or have been a blessing to your over a period of time. Ideal ways of saying thank you to shop assistants, bus drivers, tradies, doctors, dentists or anyone else who come across your path and you want to say thank you for what they do for you. The good thing is they can also be used year round!

Source: Australian Prayer Network

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ENCOURAGE YOUR WHOLE CONGREGATION TO GET INVOLVED
Most Churches are always looking for ways to get their congregations more focused on outreaching and connecting with the community they serve. There is no better, or less threatening vehicle, than the National Day of Thanksgiving to give people a natural way to be a blessing to others in their community. Why not purchase products in bulk and break them down into small "kits" for purchase by members of the congregation for use as NDOT approaches.

A pack of 5 cards, 10 ribbons and 30 mini cards could be sold to members of the congregation for $9.00. That would allow each member of the congregation to bless up to 45 people in their community by acknowledging them and expressing appreciation and thanks for who they are and what they do for others. Multiply that by the number of people in your congregation and see what an impact your Church could have on bringing smiles to faces and impacting the culture of your community. And what a conversation starter to open up opportunities to talk about the love of Jesus to non-Christians. Saying thank you opens doors that nothing else can.

Source: Australian Prayer Network

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Have you visited our Web site? Australian Prayer Network
Reimagine Curator April 8, 2013 10:45
AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

GUARD PUTS BIBLE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT CELL - MURDERER BECOMES MI...

VATICAN OFFICIAL THANKS MEDIA FOR UNCOVERING CHURCH ABUSE

URGENT CALL TO PRAY FOR PAKISTAN GENERAL ELECTIONS IN 2013

MORE ARRESTS IN LIBYA OF FOREIGH CHRISTIANS ALLEGEDLY DISTRIBUTING ...

MAJOR U.S. COMPANIES BACKING SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN U.S. SUPREME COUR...

RESEARCH SHOWS STUDENTS FEEL CLOSER TO GOD TWO OR THREE YEARS AFTER...

GUARD PUTS BIBLE IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT CELL - MURDERER BECOMES MISSIONARY

After killing a man during an armed robbery, Edward Mauricio knew he might face the electric chair in Texas. By God's grace he received a life sentence, but hated and even viciously attacked Christians who attempted to witness to him in his prison cell. Eventually, however, the power of God's Word penetrated his heart and brought changes he could never have imagined. As an 11-year old, Mauricio began to sniff glue, lighter fluid, car gasoline, and ingest, alcohol and marijuana. He then joined the Austin Street Gang, and began injecting heroin. Looking for a way out, he lied about his age and joined the Texas National Guard at 16.

Two years later he enlisted in the U.S. Army, completed his service, and received an honourable discharge. A couple of years later he got involved in a robbery that resulted in murder. The prosecutor in his case called for the death penalty to be applied." He was convicted but. "By the grace and mercy of God I was sentenced to life imprisonment," he said. A few days later he was on a bus headed for prison, handcuffed and impaired by heavy chains on his feet. Prison life was harsh. Physical beatings were not infrequent. Mauricio was required to do manual agricultural labour.

"Guards kicked and lashed out at us with bullwhips as we picked cotton, corn, beans, potatoes and other vegetables in the hot sun," he said. "I began to identify with the Brown Power movement and to subscribe to militant and communist publications," he recalled. These influences only inflamed his violent tendencies. "We began to persuade prisoners to our cause and when Christians would try to witness to me I would threaten them or beat them up. I remember beating up one Christian until blood was flowing from his head and he was calling for the guards to rescue him simply for speaking to me about Christ."

Despite his animosity toward God, during one of his periods in solitary confinement the guards left a Bible in his cell. "I started reading the Bible to pass the time," he noted. Slowly God planted His Word in Mauricio's heart. Years later he attended a prison evangelistic meeting. "A black minister preached on Saul of Tarsus persecuting Christians and about his subsequent conversion," he recalled. "That word went straight into my heart. I went back to my prison cell, got on my knees, and said 'God, I know I am a sinner and that I have destroyed my life through sin, but if you can use me in any way I surrender my life to You right now.'"

Mauricio had suffered from an infection in his throat for over a year. The infection produced a sore full of hardened white pus, which had lodged itself in his throat. Only surgery could remove it, an ear, nose, and throat specialist had informed him. "As I invited Jesus into my life all of a sudden I felt an urge to vomit and when I did I vomited a white ball of hardened pus the size of an egg out of my mouth." Startled, Mauricio looked in a mirror and saw an open wound in his throat. Forty minutes later he looked in the mirror again and the wound had disappeared. "I was completely healed by the resurrected and glorified Christ," he realized.

Mauricio was baptized in the prison, filled with the Spirit, and began to serve the Lord among the inmates. Four years later, by God's grace, he received a reprieve. "I was paroled but later permitted to return to the Prison system as a minister of the Gospel. I was led to plant a Church on the Texas-Mexico border and another a few years later in Mexico City” he said. He was given the opportunity to travel to places like Guatemala and Romania, and to tribal groups in India. "I know from personal experience that God can take a murderer and turn him into a missionary. My question to you would be, 'What does God want to turn you into?'"

Source: God Reports

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VATICAN OFFICIAL THANKS MEDIA FOR UNCOVERING CHURCH ABUSE

The Vatican's new sexual crimes prosecutor has acknowledged that the media "did a service" to the Catholic Church through its aggressive reporting on child abuse that helped the Church "confront the truth." The acknowledgement came from Father Robert Oliver, a canon lawyer from the U.S. diocese of Boston, speaking at his first public appearance since becoming the Vatican's "Promoter of Justice". "Certainly those who continued to put before us that we needed to confront this problem did a service," he said in response to a question on whether the role of an aggressive American media was, in hindsight, a blessing for the Church.

"The media helped to maintain the energy to keep the movement going so that we would, honestly and with transparency, confront what is true," he told a news conference. Since the abuse scandal erupted in 2002 and spread around the world, some Church and Vatican officials have accused the media of irresponsible journalism and exaggeration. Oliver was speaking at the presentation of a report on a conference called "Towards Healing and Renewal", held last year, on the Church's attempts to become more aware of the problem and to make a universal commitment to listen to victims and prevent future cases of abuse.

Asked whether some in the Church were still in denial about the extent of the problem, Oliver said: "Every single one of us begins with denial. I think it is one of the great things about the work that is being done here, that we all come to know that, in order to prevent this from happening, we all need to come to a better understanding." "I think the leaders of the Church, the members of the Church, we are no different from anyone else. In the beginning our reaction was 'no this is not possible, people don't do this to children,'" he said, adding that the Church had now found a proper way to respond to the crisis.

Officials said about 600 cases of abuse--most of which took place from 1965 to 1985--are being reported each year. The Church's crisis began when media began reporting how cases of abuse were covered up systematically and abusive priests shuttled from parish to parish instead of being defrocked and handed over to civil authorities. Since then, the Catholic Church in many countries has set up new guidelines to deal with cases of past abuse, prevent new cases, report abuse to police, and stop potential abusers from entering the priesthood in the first place.

Victims groups say there is much still to be discovered about how the Church behaved in the past and want more bishops who were aware of abuse to be held responsible. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, after years of legal battles, has now released files of priests accused of molesting children. The city's former archbishop has been banned by his successor from carrying out his priestly duties in public. The files were made public after Church records relating to 14 priests were unsealed as part of a separate civil suit, showing that Church officials plotted to conceal the molestation from law enforcement as late as 1987.

Source: Charisma News

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URGENT CALL TO PRAY FOR PAKISTAN GENERAL ELECTIONS IN 2013

The people of Pakistan have shown great resilience to sustain their democracy during the last 65 years. During 30 of those years they have been ruled by at least four governments in uniform. In 2013, they again go to the polls to elect a new Government after five years of democratically elected government. Against a backdrop of a continuing war against terrorism, extremism and radicalization, the nation will be seeking the kind of good governance that will bring them out of the quagmire of these problems. Election-2013 will therefore be of significant importance and have long-term consequences for democracy in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Prayer Network has started a "Prayer for The General Election 2013" campaign. This campaign seeks to motivate Christians across the nation to understand the importance of these elections. The campaign also focuses on a spiritual and moral awakening of the church which is tied to the healing of the nation. The issues facing the nation will not be resolved in the Parliament nor the Courts. Pakistan desperately needs a spiritual awakening in the Church. The Church must be awakened to the life-changing power of Jesus Christ. Such an awakening has the power to bring about true cultural transformation in the nation.

Tens of thousands of printed information flyers, prayer points, posters and other materials are being sent by post and e-mail to churches, ministries, prayer groups and individuals across the nation; special prayer events, seminars, prayer chains, prayer walks and other activities are being held to pray for the upcoming elections. Please pray for these events and material that the Holy Spirit touches the heart of the Church and the People of God understand the importance and impact of this prayer campaign for the future and for the political situation in the country.

The prayer campaign will continue until the election results are declared. Organisers believe that every Christian has the potential to transform Pakistan through the power of the Holy Spirit released in every prayer based on the scripture “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people-for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 1 Tim 2:1-2. Organisers are inviting Christians everywhere to lift Pakistan in prayer continuously so that free, fair, credible and peaceful elections can take place.

Editors note: Let us pray for this national prayer effort to be successful in uniting the Pakistanis in intercession for their nation and also for the right leaders to be raised up during the election next month. This is an extremely crucial prayer issue not only for their nation but also for the security of the rest of the world. Pray that radical Islam is exposed and discredited and that none of these radicals get into power. They would then have access to the full arsenal of nuclear weapons Pakistan has, and they would not hesitate to use them against other nations.

Source: National Prayer Network of Pakistan

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MORE ARRESTS IN LIBYA OF FOREIGH CHRISTIANS ALLEGEDLY DISTRIBUTING CHRISTIAN BOOKS

Arrests of Christians accused of proselytizing in Libya are continuing, with a total of seven now in custody. Four expatriate Christians in Benghazi were arrested and accused of proselytizing. Libya's Preventative Security Unit arrested the Egyptian, South African, Korean and dual Swedish-American Christians, who have yet to be officially charged. Preventative Security spokesman Hussein Bin Hmeid said that the four Christians originally arrested were printing books calling for conversion to Christianity. Security officers have also picked up three more Egyptian Christians but it is unclear what led to their arrests.

Bin Hmeid said Libya is 100% Muslim and that proselytizing "affects our national security." Only one of the original four arrested, Sherif Ramses of Egypt, has been publicly identified. When Ramses was arrested, he allegedly had 30,000 Bibles in storage. Ramses ran a small printing service and bookstore in Benghazi. Sources close to the arrests said that Ramses has been tortured, saying he was severely bruised. Several other sources have also reported that Preventative Security was able to get the names of other Christians in Libya from Ramses, possibly by accessing information on his cell phone.

A second wave of arrests is said to have taken place in Tripoli. Sources in Libya report that no one has been able to contact these detainees, learn their location or even get an estimate of the number arrested. A source in Cairo receiving updates from Libya said. "They were supposed to be released, but there has been no word." There has been no information about the possibility of Libyan nationals being picked up in any of the expatriate sweeps. Those monitoring the situation said that they thought all the detainees would be released except for Ramses, who will likely stand trial.

It is unclear what penalty a guilty verdict would bring for Ramses. The proselytizing law was passed under the previous regime and Libya has yet to approve a new constitution. The arrests are the latest in a series of incidents in Libya against Christians or Christian symbols. In December, two Egyptian Christians were killed and two wounded when suspected Islamic extremists threw a homemade bomb into a Coptic Orthodox Church. Several communities of Catholic nuns left Libya after receiving credible death threats. In addition, suspected Islamic militants have desecrated graves with crosses on them of Britain's war dead."

Source: ASSIST News Service

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MAJOR U.S. COMPANIES BACKING SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN U.S. SUPREME COURT CASES

Some U.S. business interests have signalled support for same-sex marriage by signing on to two briefs filed with the Supreme Court, according to lawyers involved in the process. Various companies have joined separate friend-of-the-court briefs, one in a case challenging the federal Defence of Marriage Act and another in a case that questions a California law banning homosexual marriage. Major companies are to urge the court to invalidate Proposition 8, the California law in question, and strike down Section 3 of the federal Defence of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

The brief to be filed in the Proposition 8 case, has been joined by such companies as Apple, Nike, Facebook, Morgan Stanley, Intel Corporation, Xerox Corporation, AIG and Cisco Systems. The two cases are currently being argued in the court. In briefs filed in support of marriage being restricted to heterosexual unions, business interests have not been represented. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has not taken a position on the issue. In the DOMA case, a source close to the case said a similar brief with more than 250 signatories was also filed with the Supreme Court.

Attorney Joshua Rosenkranz wrote that companies believe that laws banning same-sex marriage "inflict real and unnecessary injury on business. By stopping homosexual men and lesbians from forming 'married' families, these bans stigmatize homosexual men and lesbians and deprive them of the benefits intrinsic to marriage," he added. Even if a corporation welcomes homosexual and lesbian unions, "it cannot overcome the societal stigma institutionalized by Proposition 8 and similar laws," Rosenkranz wrote. Same-sex marriage bans "can impede business efforts to recruit, hire and retain the best workers," he added.

Source: Charisma News

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RESEARCH SHOWS STUDENTS FEEL CLOSER TO GOD TWO OR THREE YEARS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

Fuller Youth Institute has released the findings of a study that shows that 2 to 3 years after finishing most high school students say they feel "closer to God." They see God as more active, involved, and important in their day to day reality the report noted. Students cited spiritual disciplines and involvement in Christian communities as sources of or support for their faith integration." I view God on a much more individual level and feel as though he is much more a part of my life,” said one student. Students who once thought God existed to serve them, now see that He is not subject to our will but we are subject to his the report stated.

Source: Christian Post

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Have you visited our Web site? Australian Prayer Network

Should you need to change any details or resign from the Australian Prayer Network, you can modify your details at our website.

You will need to log in to the website using your username and password. Your username is - phil@nppn.org If you don't know your password then please visit https://ausprayernet.org.au/member/forgotten_password.php?noaccount... Once you have logged in, please use links in the 'Member's Area' box on the left-hand side of the page to update your details and change your subsciption profile.

Should you prefer, you can still e-mail the Registrar with details of your changes at rego@ausprayernet.org.au, quoting your membership number: 00000005871.

Should this document be forwarded to you from another member of the network, please arrange with that person to alter any details.

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Reimagine Curator April 13, 2013 11:35
AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

WHY REVIVAL IS EXPLODING AMONG MUSLIMS
WHY REVIVAL IS EXPLODING AMONG MUSLIMS
By Audrey Lee a freelance feature writer.

Thousands of stories are emerging from around the world of Muslims being awakened to the gospel, literally from their dreams. It started with a dream. In A.D. 610, a man named Muhammad retreated alone to a cave in Saudi Arabia to meditate. There he believed he was visited by the angel Gabriel in a dream. It is said the disturbing experience thrust Muhammad into a depression until he received another angelic message: "O Muhammad, verily thou art in truth the prophet of Allah." This revelation was the beginning of many for him and birthed a religion-Islam-that would profoundly change the course of the world.

Today thousands of Muhammad's followers are having dreams and visions of their own-experiences that rock their world. While political revolution avalanches throughout the Middle East, tremors of spiritual change are also being felt on a widespread scale, especially within countries hostile to Christianity. Ironically, thousands of stories are emerging from around the world of Muslims being awakened to the gospel, literally from their dreams.

Karima, a Muslim, dreamed she was in a car when it crashed. She was knocked out, but when she opened her eyes (in her dream), she saw that Jesus was the driver. "Come to me," He told her, "I am with you. I love you." That experience led her to seek out a Christian church, where she responded to the gospel.

. Omar had been locked up and tortured for years in a jail cell in a nation ruled by a dictator. One night a messenger visited him in a dream, telling him he would be set free. Within days he was released from prison and travelled to America where newfound friends reached out to him. When he was given a book with a picture of Jesus on the cover, his eyes lit up. "I know him," he said. "He came to me in a dream."

Yasmin was fearful and anxious. She cried out to Allah, asking him to help her, but she remained unchanged. One night while visiting friends in the U.S., she was awakened from her darkness with an epiphany. "Walking around the house of my friend," she now explains in broken English, "suddenly I felt that I was blind, but now I can see." That terminology, though cliché to most believers, was foreign to Yasmin, who was born in an Islamic nation and was never exposed to "Christianese." "It was very obvious," she recalls, describing it as a feeling as if something literally changed inside her head. "I felt that it was Jesus who did something to me."

She later learned her sister-a Christian still living in her home country-was praying for her. Yasmin received a Bible, was baptized and began to grow with her new church family. (Her sister, now in ministry, has also had supernatural encounters, saying that she's heard the voice of God seven times, "like a man beside me, talking to me. Whatever He says to me, it happens to me," she describes.)

Testimonies of dreams and other encounters with Jesus can't always be verified because by definition spiritual experiences are personal. Further, in countries where owning a Bible is illegal, Muslim converts are subject to persecution and even death, so their stories are not always documented. But believers who work among Muslims tell of life-changing conversions resulting from dreams. Like martyrs from antiquity until today, believers who have had profound, unexplainable encounters often develop profound, unshakeable faith.

Still, if converting to Christianity comes with such high stakes, what is it about these dreams that compels Muslims to forsake their religion and embrace Jesus? "I think because it's a direct communication from God," says Craig Keener, professor of New Testament at Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky. "Some people are more open to it than others. In the Bible we see people making major decisions based on dreams." Keener has written 14 books, including one on miracles and his latest, The Historical Jesus of the Gospels.

Indeed, the Bible is replete with examples of God speaking through dreams and visions, yet one New Testament encounter demonstrates an extreme spiritual makeover. Saul, a zealous persecutor of believers, was dazzled by a bright light while on the road to Damascus. He heard a voice saying: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ... I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ... Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do" (Acts 9:4-6) Blinded and shaken, he went to Damascus where he fasted for three days.

Meanwhile, a Christian named Ananias had a troubling vision. God told him to go to a specific house to pray for Saul because the renowned enemy of the church was God's chosen instrument. When he arrived, Ananias learned that Saul also had a vision informing him of Ananias' coming. Saul's blindness was dramatically healed, both physically and spiritually. He became known as Paul, one of Jesus' most devout followers, writer of nearly half the New Testament while imprisoned for his faith, and the first apostle called to unveil the gospel to gentiles.

Clearly, God can reach anyone, regardless of how strong his or her opposition is to His Son. Although Muslims are familiar with Jesus, they believe in 'Isa (Jesus) as a prophet but not as Saviour-at least not for today. "Allah [God] sent multiple messengers throughout the years, starting with Adam," explains Abraham Sarker, founder of Gospel for Muslims in Dallas. "Every generation received a prophet-whoever followed him for that period of time will go to heaven. So whoever followed Jesus during His period of time will go to heaven."

Muhammad, meanwhile, is revered as the last prophet of Allah who came with the best and final revelation. Muhammad believed that the Bible, canonized centuries before he lived, had become corrupt over time as a result of translations. He claimed Allah's true word was supernaturally delivered to him over the course of 23 years and recorded in the Quran. According to Islam, "If we still follow Jesus, we are backward, like Windows 95," Sarker says.

Growing up in Bangladesh, Sarker was groomed to be an Islamic evangelist. He devoutly followed his religion, fasting and praying and never questioning his faith. Then, three times in one week, he dreamed that he died and went to a lake of fire. "I was very confused," Sarker says. "I was thinking, I am not sure if I die right now that I would go to heaven, and I don't know what I've done wrong." Praying all night in the mosque, he asked God to help him. Suddenly he felt drops of oil falling on him and even smelled its fragrance, he says.

He claims another time he heard an audible voice telling him to read a Bible-an abomination to a Muslim. "We would not touch a modern-day Bible," he says. "This voice immediately put a desire in my heart. It is so vivid, so clear, so overwhelming. Still today, I could not forget that voice." Sarker's faith journey took a U-turn four years later when he was in the U.S. as a Muslim missionary and came across a Bible in his own language. Reading it, he was changed: "I was so moved that my Creator loved me unconditionally." Because Muslims are told the Bible is corrupt, many are loath to read it. Some are even afraid of its power.

Khalil was being trained as a jihadist in Egypt. He was given the important assignment to write a book proving that the Bible couldn't be trusted, but he was afraid to even go near one. "Whoever reads this book comes under a spell!" he says in a video depicting his story at the websitemorethandreams.org He had no choice but to submit to his orders, but as he examined the claims of 'Isa and His death and resurrection-which aren't included in the Quran-Khalil began to question his own faith. One day after someone stole his briefcase containing his Bible and passport, he panicked and then decided to pray.

That night, 'Isa came to him in a dream, telling him, "I'm the one you've been searching for." 'Isa told him to read his Bible and that he would find his missing copy in his closet. When he opened the door, it was there. Khalil's heart was transformed from one of hate and violence to love and compassion. Though most Muslims find Jesus and the Bible as the two biggest factors to reckon with in converting, they rarely wrestle with the means through which God is penetrating the Islamic world today. Indeed, dreams and visions have been a core part of Islam since its beginning.

In today's Western world, psychologists understand dreams as a toss and turn of conscious and unconscious thoughts, and the brain's neurological activity can be measured during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, when most dreaming occurs. Still, theories about the origins and purpose of dreams abound, and there is no real consensus in the scientific and psychological communities. During ancient times, however, dreams were thought of as messages from the gods. And in Middle Eastern cultures people still regard dreams much the same as they did in biblical days, particularly in folk or popular Islam.

That's part of the reason Nik Ripken, a 28-year veteran of the mission field, believes God continues to use dreams and visions so prominently to reach Muslims. Ripken says a person's willingness to believe in the validity of dreams directly impacts his response to them. After gathering research in nearly 60 countries, Ripken says Muslims' dreams are, for the most part, like any others. "But what is miraculous is that God breaks into them!" he says. "They hear a voice without a body telling them to find Jesus; they see a bright light; they dream of a Bible, which for some reason it's almost always blue."

Ripken says 20 years ago, Christian leaders in his circle didn't buy into reports of the miraculous. They-like most Westerners whose worldview is fundamentally logical and scientific-found stories of Jesus appearing in a dream too mystical to accept. But over time the testimonies and life changes were so compelling, they couldn't be denied. "I remember seven or eight years ago when we sheepishly said, 'If God wants to do this, we'll let Him,'" Ripken says. Now he's convinced: "It's very clear ... everything that God has done in the Bible, God is still doing. God's not waiting for you and me to get there."

Even Christians who are sceptical of modern-day Christophanies must recognize the value other cultures place on dreams and the life-changing role they play, because ultimately it's not the dreams themselves that lead people to Christ; it's believers. "We do not find that dreams and visions alone ever change anybody's life," Ripken points out. "What it does, it seems, is to send them on a spiritual pilgrimage." Interfacing with messengers from heaven are ordinary people, because although many Muslims report seeing angels or Jesus in dreams, those heavenly beings often direct dreamers to a specific person who then provides a Bible or explains whom the biblical Jesus is.

As Keener says: "Ultimately, it's the gospel that converts people." For example, one man in a nation hostile to Christianity says he heard a voice telling him, "Find Jesus, find the gospel." He didn't know what Jesus was-a chair, a tree, an animal? But the voice told him exactly what city and house to go to, so he travelled for two weeks, arriving directly at the door of one of only three believers in the city. "God wants to take a people for Himself from every kindred and people and tribe and nation," says Keener, quoting Revelation 14:6.

He points out that, historically, different parts of the world have had a stronger Christian presence during different eras, even if only for a window of time. "There are places that it's just so risky, God is intervening directly," he asserts. Sarker furthers this point with a grim reminder: "Most Muslims won't ever hear the gospel, even in the West," he says, adding that this underscores the importance of Christians worldwide praying for God to reveal Himself through dreams.

Prayer certainly played a key role in the life of former Muslim Naeem Fazal. Shortly after arriving in the U.S. from Kuwait, he attended a college-campus Christian event with his brother, who had become a Christian and was praying for Fazal to follow suit. As a Muslim, Fazal wasn't impressed with the idea of a personal relationship with God, but one day during an argument he sceptically asked God, "If you're real, why don't You just show me?" That night Fazal faced a terrifying encounter in his room. What he calls a demonic presence left him paralysed with fear in his bed. He describes it as a feeling of death.

When the presence eventually left the room, Fazal's brother told him that Jesus is the only one with authority over angels and demons, so Fazal prayed, "Jesus, I don't know You, but ... if you would help me I will give You my life." Later that night he found himself staring at a very different presence. "It looked like a figure made up with light-solid, yet transparent," Fazal says. "It was an experience like no other. The peace I felt from this presence was so powerful, so aggressive ... and He introduced Himself to me and said, 'I'm Jesus; your life is not your own.' The next morning my life changed forever."

Fazal is now the pastor of Mosaic Church in Charlotte, N.C. Yet what's noteworthy about his story and people like him is that while their journeys with Christ may have launched from bizarre, otherworldly experiences, they're only furthered through the dedicated study of Scripture, personal worship and discipleship with other believers in Jesus. Though Westerners often consider these things mundane, Ripken contends that much of the world-including Muslims who have encountered Jesus in dreams and visions-marvels at doing them openly, incredulously asking, "Why do you call common in America and the West what we consider a miracle?"

"The basic is relationship with Jesus," Fazal says. "God's Word is not magical. It's too precious to become activated just by saying it. When people live it, it's supernatural." Mission researchers estimate more Muslims have committed to follow Christ in the last 10 years than in the last 15 centuries of Islam. Yet Islamic governments make up some of the worst persecutors of Christians, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Despite the persecution, reports indicate God is moving dramatically in Islamic strongholds such as ndonesia, Pakistan and Middle East hot spots:

Iran: At the time of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 there were only about 500 known Muslim converts in the country, according to missions almanac Operation orld. By 2000, there were a reported 220,000 believers, including Muslim converts Even children of government ministers and mullahs have been converting to Christ missions agency Open Doors reports.

Iraq: It's estimated that before 2003 there were only about 600 known born-again followers of Jesus Christ in the country. By the end of 2008, Iraqi Christian leaders believed the number had risen to more than 70,000. Meanwhile, millions of Arabic New Testaments and Christian books have been shipped into Iraq since the ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Egypt: Revival is reportedly widespread among nominal Christians within the nation's historic Coptic Church, whose members number about 10 million. Yet Coptic's are under severe attack, according to Voice of the Martyrs. Also, the USCIRF's list of "Countries of Particular Concern" now includes Egypt, where since January 400 Christians have been murdered, hundreds more injured and multiple churches burned.

Source: Charisma News

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Have you visited our Web site? Australian Prayer Network
Reimagine Curator April 20, 2013 10:01
AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

National Day of Thanksgiving - Saturday 25th May 2013

REMINDERS

LOOK WHAT YOU CAN DOWNLOAD FROM OUR WEBSITE

SATURDAY NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING DAY IS AUSTRALIA WORSHIPS
REMINDERS
* To purchase Thanksgiving cards and ribbons over the counter go to any Koorong Store Australia wide. The two new card designs introduced this year are proving very popular. There is the new, but slightly smaller, "Daisy" card, and the postcard sized "Bottlebrush" design.

* To purchase large quantities (over 20 packs) of cards or ribbons go tohttp://www.koorong.com.au/ and order via the internet.

* To purchase cards, ribbons, stick on badges, and bookmarks with delivery by mail, emailinfo@thanksgiving.org.au or ring 02 9939.2113 Slightly higher charges apply to cover cost of postage and packaging. Resources page of http://www.thanksgiving.org.au/ gives costings. This method is excellent for folk who cannot get to a Koorong Store.

* To download posters, Church Info Documents, School Info Documents, the NDOT logo, radio promotions, video promotions for use in Sunday services and more go to Resources page ofhttp://www.thanksgiving.org.au/

* Don't forget to organise a night of worship as part of Australia Worships on the Saturday night of the NDOT.

* Don't forget to arrange "thank you" morning teas to honour and thank those in your community who are the focus of this year's NDOT.

* Don't forget to organise home groups and/or the youth in your Church to undertake acts of kindness throughout your community on the NDOT.

* Don't forget to send cards to those who you want to say thank you to in your community this year. Do not forget those who we are especially thanking and honouring in the legal profession, the police force and those under 30 who are demonstrating leadership within their community or Church.

* Don't forget to, in your Sunday services, thank those in your congregations who have gone "the second mile" during the past 12 months.

Source: Australian Prayer Network

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LOOK WHAT YOU CAN DOWNLOAD FROM OUR WEBSITE
Here is a summary of what you can download free of charge from our website. Go and have a look, you may be surprised. http://www.thanksgiving.org.au/ under "Resources".

* How to Order Cards, Ribbons, Mini Thank You Cards, Balloons and Stick on Badges

* 2013 Audio Downloads. Listen to this year's Community Services Announcements and use them yourselves wherever you think appropriate to promote NDOT.

* 2013 Video Promotions - These may be downloaded and played during Church services or wherever you think appropriate to promote NDOT

* 2013 School Information Document - A must for schools that want to be part of the NDOT

* 2013 Church Information Document - particularly helpful for Churches wanting to start out on the NDOT journey.

* 2013 Printable Downloads - you can download free of charge and without copyright restrictions "Thank You Certificates", "Promotional Flyers", "Posters", "Name Tags" and "With Compliments" slips to assist you with your promotion of the day in your local community and Church.

* National Day of Thanksgiving Logo and Artwork - these may be used freely to promote and identify NDOT activities. There are no copyright restrictions so you don't have to worry about that.

Source: Australian Prayer Network

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SATURDAY NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING DAY IS AUSTRALIA WORSHIPS
Whilst the day time activities of the National Day of Thanksgiving are designed to say thank you to each other and to undertake special events throughout your local community to promote Christian values to the general population of your city, town or suburb, the evening is set aside to say thank you to God.

Churches across Australia are invited that night to gather together between 7.00PM and 9.00PM local time to celebrate the NDOT and say "Thank You" to God for the abundance of His blessings towards us individually and as a nation over the past year. There is no better way to thank God than to worship Him, so Pastors and Worship leaders are asked to give the lead in arranging this opportunity to allow people to express their thanksgiving to God through the worship, bible readings and declarations that have come to make Australia Worships the unique event it is.

There is no set program for the evening. Each organiser is free to give if the kind of flavour that they believe is right for their people. Suggested Bible readings and declarations will be made available on our website at http://www.thanksgiving.org.au/ in the final two weeks leading up to NDOT so that we can make the same declarations into the heavenlies right across Australia.

And don't forget to make your Sunday service a special "Thanksgiving" service!

Source: Australian Prayer Network

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Have you visited our Web site? Australian Prayer Network
Reimagine Curator April 22, 2013 11:32
AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

THE BOSTON BOMBINGS AND THE IMAGE OF GOD

CHRSTIANS IN AFRICA TARGET OF AN ALARMING NUMBER OF ATTACKS

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BECOMES LEGAL IN NEW ZEALAND

THE BOOK THAT CAN SAVE

PAKISTANI CHRISTIANS COME UNDER ATTACK

NORTH KOREA THREATS CONTINUE

GERMAN BANKER SAYS ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE THE EUROZONE

MIRACLE RESURRECTION RECOUNTED BY DOCTOR AND HIS PATIENT

GEORGE BEVERLY SHEA GOES HOME TO JESUS
THE BOSTON BOMBINGS AND THE IMAGE OF GOD

In light of the horrible tragedy at the Boston Marathon, many pundits on both sides of the aisle are voicing their opinion regarding the root cause of the incessant societal violence we face in America. One of the more salient liberal responses came from stand-up comedian Jay Mohr, who tweeted Monday night, "What bothers me most about today is that we're getting used 2 it. ENOUGH. Violence has 2 stop. Culture MUST change." So what has changed in our culture in the past generation that has opened the door to such violence and how do we deal with it?

In our opinion, Genesis 9:6 gives us the root cause of our culture of violence. It says, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image" (ESV). Essentially, this passage is teaching us that when we shed human blood, it is a direct attack on our Creator because humankind is made in the image of God. (Read Genesis1:26-27.) This is why human murder is so serious. Consequently, the more we remove God from the public square, the more respect for human dignity as the highest form of all creation is diminished, because God's image and respect for human life are inextricably connected.

Furthermore, when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, it pushed our nation as far from the biblical worldview and image of God as possible and desensitized society to the shedding of innocent human blood. Jesus called His followers the "salt of the earth" in Matthew 5:13 because the church has been commissioned by Jesus to disciple nations as His representatives (Matt. 28:19). Since salt acts as a preservative, the more society marginalizes Christianity and Scripture, the more likely society will self-destruct because the basis for valuing human life is found in the teachings of Scripture (John 3:16).

You can get rid of all the weapons in the world, but until humanity connects itself back to the image of God, people will continue to abort babies and find ways to degrade and murder their own until whole societies collapse under the weight of their own sin. The only way to reverse this culture of death is to move our nation back toward its Judeo-Christian roots and to again place a high value on Scripture in public schools and homes. Only then will the self-centred ideals that objectify fellow humans be eradicated from mainstream culture so that young people will value loving their neighbour as they love themselves as one of their highest ideals of life.

Source: Charisma News Editorial

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CHRSTIANS IN AFRICA TARGET OF AN ALARMING NUMBER OF ATTACKS

There has been an alarming number of attacks against Christians in Africa in recent months. Several incidences highlight the growing levels of persecution faced by the church in the region, and shows once again why so many African nations have risen in their rankings on the World Watch List of persecuted nations in 2013. In northern Cameroon two Christian converts known as Abdoulaye and Abakachi were shot dead when a group of Islamists opened fire on them as they walked home after attending a three-day church seminar. They had previously been subjected to death threats.

Abdoulaye's father had declared him a "traitor" for leaving Islam. Abdoulaye leaves behind a wife and 13 children - Abakachi a wife and four children. Violence also erupted in Tanzania after a non-Muslim butcher prepared meat for a funeral. Protestors took out their anger on the Assemblies of God Church, killing Pastor Kachili. Two armed men on a motorcycle also shot dead Father Evaristus Mushi as he was on his way to lead a church service on the island of Zanzibar. Two days later, arsonists set fire to the Evangelical Church of Siloam. The incidents are the latest in a string of attacks against church leaders across the country.

There has also been a massive wave of arrests against Christians in western Eritrea. Eritrean authorities rounded up at least 85 Christians from their homes and work places, marching them through town to the police station in broad daylight. This brings to 125 the total number of Christians arrested since January. Eritrean Christians are deeply saddened by their government's continued hostility against them. "Christians in general love their countryand desire an opportunity to help build a fruitful society," said a representative from Open Doors. "But they want to do so without having to abandon their religious beliefs.

Prayer Points:

* Please pray for Christians to have the grace to respond to these challenges in a way that glorifies God. Please also pray that God will comfort the families of those killed in Cameroon, Tanzania and Zanzibar, provide physical and spiritual healing for those in hospital and enable the church in these regions to stand strong.

* Pray that Christians in Eritrea will continue to respond in love and grace to the false accusations against them, and that the government will allow them to worship in freedom once again.

* Pray for all those looking to persecute believers in Africa - that they will come to know God's Word through the strength and courage of Christians they encounter.

Source: Open Doors

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SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BECOMES LEGAL IN NEW ZEALAND

The New Zealand Parliament has voted by a margin of 77 votes to 44 to legalise same-sex marriage, a move Australian campaigners said would encourage same-sex couples in Australia to travel overseas to formalise their relationships. Now that marriage equality is only three hours away, there will be a flood of couples flying to New Zealand to tie the knot and spend their money. The national director of Australian Marriage Equality, Rodney Croome, said as many as 1000 couples had indicated to his organisation they were prepared to travel to New Zealand to marry.'

'Most Australian same-sex partners would prefer to marry the person they love in the country they love but, now that marriage equality is only three hours away, there will be a flood of couples flying to New Zealand to tie the knot and spend their money,'' Mr Croome said. Opinion polls taken before the vote in Parliament had shown strong support for the bill. Its passing makes New Zealand the 13th country to legalise marriage for gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and intersex couples. The bill is particularly meaningful for transgender people who had been forced to divorce when they changed their gender. Under the changes, they will no longer have to do so.

Australian same-sex couples will be free to marry in New Zealand because marriage laws have no residency requirement. However, Australian law does not recognise same-sex marriages entered into overseas. The Australian Federal Parliament last year voted down a private member's bill sponsored by Labor MP Stephen Jones, which would have legalised same-sex marriage in Australia. Labor MPs were allowed a conscience vote on the bill but Coalition MPs had to vote according to the party position, which was to oppose same-sex marriage.

Source: Compiled by APN from media sources

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THE BOOK THAT CAN SAVE

When I was a child I worshipped Buddha. I tried to do as many good deeds as possible, because I believed that if I didn't, I might be an animal or a ghost in my next life. But I wanted a better future life. There was always this question in my heart about whether my good deeds would be enough. I was so afraid of dying! One day, I had a strange dream. In my dream, I went to a village. But it was so quiet in this village, nobody was there. I started shouting, 'Hello, is anybody there?' Suddenly, a man appeared in front of me. In his hand, he held a book. He told me that all the people had died already. So, I found myself asking him a stupid question. 'Did you kill them?', I asked.

He assured me he did not, and then he observed, 'I think you are afraid of dying, aren't you?' I was very surprised that he knew and I had to admit it was true. He said to me, 'If you don't want to die, read this book', and he gave it to me. When I started to open the book, suddenly many people who had died rose again and became alive. But the man suddenly disappeared and Iwoke up. After this dream, I always wanted to find out about this book. I knew that it could save me. About three months later, I joined some English classes on Sundays and after a while, I decided to stay back for what they called a Sunday service.

It was during this time that one day, I realised the book I had dreamt about was the Bible. At first, I did not dare tell anybody about my discovery. I simply prayed and I asked God to touch me if He was real. As I did that, I heard God calling me.

* Please pray for the many young people who go to English classes at different meeting places, that God will reveal himself to them as He did to the girl who shared her story and who now faithfully serves her new Lord.

*Please also pray for their families, as they often find it very difficult when one of their children chooses a new way of life.

Source: Pray for Myanmar

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PAKISTANI CHRISTIANS COME UNDER ATTACK

Pakistan's government should take legal action against Islamist groups and others responsible for threats and violence against minorities , Human Rights Watch (HRW) demanded in the aftermath of attacks on the Christian minority in Lahore. International and Pakistani human rights groups have long called for the repeal of the blasphemy law. It has come under renewed scrutiny after a mob torched dozens of houses located in a Christian neighbourhood in Lahore, forcing hundreds of Christians to flee. An enraged mob attacked the houses following allegations of blasphemy against a Christian man. "

The Punjab government has spent almost its entire 5-year term in office denying the threats to minorities," said Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan directorat HRW. "Law enforcement authorities must put aside their prejudices and protect religious minorities who are clearly in danger," he said. Persecution and discrimination against religious minorities has become particularly widespread in Punjab. The HRW has urged the provincial government, controlled by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), to investigate and prosecute as appropriate campaigns of intimidation, threats, and violence against Christians and other minority groups.

The HRW has also urged concerned governments and intergovernmental bodies to press the Pakistani government to repeal sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, which includes the blasphemy law. Pakistan's "Blasphemy Law," makes the death penalty effectively mandatory for blasphemy. "The ugly fact is that the blasphemy law is an enabler of mob violence against vulnerable groups," said Hasan. "As long as such laws remain on the books and the authorities remain unable to rein in mobs playing judge, jury and executioner, Pakistan will remain plagued by abuse in the name of religion", he added.

Source: Masanku Network

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NORTH KOREA THREATS CONTINUE

North Korea has encouraged all foreign companies and tourists to evacuate South Korea and suspended operations in the Kaesong industrial centre located in South Korea. It has also put the international community on alert by openly displaying a missile which they have threatened to fire on U.S. bases in Guam and Hawaii while hinting at war with South Korea. International reaction has been low key and restrained. Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "A conflict on the Korean Peninsula would make Chernobyl look like a children's story". North Korea is believed to have some crude nuclear weapons. South Korea has stated the North plans to launch a missile soon.

Michel O' Hanlon a US foreign policy expert said, "We need to try and give President Kim Jong Un an incentive to walk back from the brink even as we show firmness in our response." In Rome, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the situation in North Korea as "very dangerous". Any small incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgement" could "create an uncontrollable situation." The boisterous statements by President Kim Jong Un of North Korea are striking fear into the hearts of people throughout the region and in the West. We must react in faith with prayer, crying out to God intervene in this situation.

PLEASE PRAY FOR:

* the deliverance of Christian Believers in North Korea who are tortured for their faith. Pray for their protection from the Korean State and leadership.. Pray for food, water and decent living conditions for the people of North Korea who are believed to be living in desperate conditionsof squalor and poverty..

* North Korea to be at peace with South Korea and other nations and for North Korea to open its doors to the preaching of the Gospel. Pray too for the salvation of President Kim Jong Un.

* The protection of the targeted nations (South Korea, Japan, and USA).Pray that Christian Believers in the nations threatened by North Korea's leadership to humble themselves before God and pray for divine intervention.

Source: Windows International Network

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GERMAN BANKER SAYS ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE THE EUROZONE

In a shock speech made recently by Deutsche Bank's global head of Foreign Exchange strategy, Bilal Hafeez, he stated that only Jesus Christ can offer a positive "role model" and save the Eurozone from disaster. In his speech Hafeez said "Who else has entered the terrible teens? The Euro-Area! It was born in 1999 and so is currently fourteen years old. It has all the hallmarks of teenage angst. It is ridden with internal conflicts, it is groping around for structure, and it is suspicious of authority. So who can be a positive role model for the Euro-Area?" he asks.

"Well, it cannot be the 'fathers '- Germany or France. It has to be an external figure that all Europeans respect and whose character was beyond dispute. That rules out anyone living, as even the most competent person will have made mistakes or have something from their past dredged up to undermine them. That leaves us with historical figures whose lives have been judged by history. I can only think of one that is respected by most Europeans and has never sinned," he concludes. "Jesus!" Hafeez went on to suggest that if everyone lived by the injunction to not be the "first to cast stones unless they were without sin" then the "constant accusations would stop."

Source: Business Insider

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MIRACLE RESURRECTION RECOUNTED BY DOCTOR AND HIS PATIENT

Ken suffered a massive heart attack and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Meanwhile Tina, his wife gathered with her family, pastor, friends, and intercessors at the hospital to pray. For 45 minutes Ken did not have a pulse. At the behest of the attending Doctor prayer was called for. Then, out of nowhere, the team detected a pulse. "This is remarkable. This was a man who the day before had been purplish blue from the waist up. By all measures he should have died" said the Doctor. "But he didn't. He physicallyand mentally survived and was talking the next day. I can't imagine that this is anything more than divine intervention" he said.

Source: CBN

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GEORGE BEVERLY SHEA GOES HOME TO JESUS

George Beverly Shea, 104, of Montreat, North Carolina, the beloved soloist of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, died on Tuesday, April 16, 2013, following a brief illness. Since George Beverly Shea first sang for Billy Graham in 1943 on the Chicago radio hymn program, "Songs in the Night," Shea has faithfully carried the Gospel in song to every continent and every state across America. Graham's senior by ten years, Shea devotedly preceded the evangelist in song in nearly every Crusade over the span of more than one-half century.

Source: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

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Have you visited our Web site? Australian Prayer Network
Reimagine Curator April 29, 2013 13:02
AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

PAKISTAN: THE BITTER FRUITS OF A RADICALISED SOCIETY

SYRIAN BISHOPS KIDNAPPED BY REBELS

CHRISTIANS DOMINATE AMERICAN IDOL THIS SEASON

EGYPT FORMS FIRST EVER COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

FRESH SANCTIONS HIT NORTH KOREA

CALL TO PRAYER FOR THE MALAYSIAN ELECTIONS

STUDY SHOWS THAT ABSTINENCE EDUCATION WORKS

PAKISTAN: THE BITTER FRUITS OF A RADICALISED SOCIETY

Sawan Masih is a Christian resident of Lahore. For years he has wrapped up his day by sharing a drink with friend and neighbour Shahid Imran, a Muslim. They would sit together outside Shahid's barber shop drinking locally brewed beer. Though their debates sometimes got heated, they would just sleep it off and start afresh the next day. On the evening of 7 March, the men had one of their drink-fuelled arguments. This time, however, a good night's sleep failed to clear the slate. The next day, Shahid claimed Sawan had blasphemed during their spat. The rumour exploded and spread like wildfire. When Sawan heard what Shahid had done, he fled for his life.

Later that evening, Muslims marched from a nearby mosque to the Masihs' home. Some ransacked the Masihs' home, whilst others presented the police with two alleged witnesses who claimed to have heard Sawan's blasphemy. A blasphemy charge was registered, primarily for the purpose of pacifying the mob. But registering a blasphemy complaint is hardly enough to douse a fire-storm of Islamic fury these days. With rumours circulating that worse was to come, the police advised the Christians to flee, which they did. The next day thousands of Muslims descended on the Christian colony with weapons and fuel to inflict collective punishment.

Sources said that the provincial government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had ordered police not to hinder the protesters and 'let them vent their grief and anger'. With the colony vacated and the police immobilised, the Muslims went freely from door to door, plundering and ransacking. By 11:30am the community was ablaze. By the time the fire brigade turned up at 3pm, at least 160 homes, 18 shops and two churches -- Assemblies of God and Roman Catholic -- had been looted and burnt. According to the City Superintendent of Police, up to 7000 people took part in the attack. Police are saying they have Sawan in 'protective custody'.

The Pakistan Human Rights Commission laments, 'The attack is yet another shameful incident against a vulnerable community and further confirmation of the slide toward extremism in society, and apathy and inaction that has become the norm among the police.' On 10th March Christians rallied in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Multan, expressing their fear, grief and anger over their deepening insecurity. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif told a private meeting in his home that the attack was in no way a service to Pakistan or Islam. What he really needs to do is get that message accepted in the thousands of radical mosques and madrassas spread across Punjab.

Pakistan has a population of 185 million with Christians accounting for about 2.45%. Decades of Saudi-sponsored Islamisation and Sunni radicalisation are producing bitter fruits: local Muslims prepared to kill and destroy their Christian neighbours. Shi'ite Muslims (30%) and Hindus (1.5%) are also experiencing escalating systematic persecution. Pakistan is becoming increasingly intolerant and lawless as it lurches towards collapse and disintegration. When local civilians are prepared to eliminate their neighbours on ethnic, caste and/or religious grounds, then the environment is clearly genocidal.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT THE LORD WILL --

* intervene and secure justice for Sawan Masih, as well as security for his extended family and compensation for the Christian community destroyed.

* draw the wounded and traumatised into his embrace, comforting and healing their broken hearts and providing all their needs. Awaken those who have been turned into killers, bringing a profound conviction of sin upon all who would be willing killers of their own neighbours.

* bring a profound sense of shame on Pakistan, so pervasive it demands and enables deep, risky reform at the mosque and madrassa level; may this and a sense of failure and great danger prompt many to seek out a new and better way.

Source: by Elizabeth Kendal, Religious Liberty Monitoring

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SYRIAN BISHOPS KIDNAPPED BY REBELS

Two prominent Syrian bishops, who had warned of the threat to religious tolerance and diversity from the two-year conflict in their country, have been kidnapped by armed rebels in the northern province of Aleppo according to state media. SANA news agency said the Syriac Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Archbishops of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, were seized by "a terrorist group" in the village of Kfar Dael as they were "carrying out humanitarian work". A Syriac member of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Abdulahad Steifo, said the men had been kidnapped on the road to Aleppo from the rebel-held Bab al Hawa crossing with Turkey.

Several prominent Muslim clerics have been killed in Syria's uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, but the two bishops are the most senior Church leaders caught up in the conflict which has killed more than 70,000 people. Christians make up less than 10% of the country's 23 million people and, like other religious minorities, have been wary of the mainly Sunni Muslim uprising against Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Fears for their future have increased with the growing strength of Islamist rebels and a pledge of allegiance to al Qaeda by the hard-line Nusra Front rebels two weeks ago.

Bishop Ibrahim had gone to collect Bishop Yazigi from the rebel-held Bab al-Hawa crossing. The two men were driving to Aleppo when they were kidnapped, he added. Last September Bishop Ibrahim said that hundreds of Christian families had fled Aleppo as rebels and soldiers battled for control of the country's biggest city. "In its modern history Aleppo has not seen such critical and painful times. Christians have been attacked and kidnapped and their relatives have paid big sums for their release," Ibrahim said. In the city of Homs, which saw the heaviest bloodshed earlier this year several churches and Christian centres had been damaged in the fighting.

"Until a few months ago the idea of escaping had not crossed the minds of the Christians, but after the danger worsened it has become the main topic of conversation." Neighbouring Iraq, where sectarian violence after the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein forced half the Christians to flee, offers frightening parallels for Syrian Christians, while the revival of Islamists in the 2011 Arab uprisings in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt also fills Syria's Christians with foreboding. Writing in January, Yazigi said was important that the uprisings known as the "Arab Spring" should not jeopardise several centuries of religious diversity in the Middle East.

Source: Reuters

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CHRISTIANS DOMINATE AMERICAN IDOL THIS SEASON

Season 12 of American Idol has its share of Christian contestants: Indeed eight of the top 10 are Christians. Contestants Candice Glover, Lazaro Arbos, Janelle Arthur, Curtis Finch Jr., Amber Holcolm, Angie Miller, Devin Velez, and Burnell Taylor are all in it to win it. They're also not ashamed to share their faith with the world while they're at it. Angie Miller, who many expect to be crowned winner this year, often tweets about her faith. "Church isn't the only time to worship and hear from or spend time with God. That should happen on an everyday basis," she recently tweeted.

Miller became a fan favourite after performing an original worship song called, "You Set Me Free," during the Hollywood auditions. Judges were blown away by the performance. Judge Mariah Carey later said the performance left her "clothed in goose bumps and bathed in tears." Miller also performed a slowed down rendition of "Never Gone" by Season 11 American Idol contestant Colton Dixon. Dixon, who often spoke about his faith while on the show, released a Christian album called A Messenger in January. Chicago native Devin Velez is another standout performer. Several home videos of the 18-year-old singing worship songs are posted on YouTube.

Velez also tweets about his faith. On Thursday he tweeted, " I just have to remember why I'm here, and that everything, is in HIS hands." Finalist Curtis Finch Jr., a gospel singer and worship leader, received a standing ovation from the judges and the audience. Idol Judge Keith Urban was moved by the soul-stirring performance. "Good and light and godly and whole. You have so much hope in you and we need that. Thank you, Curtis," Urban said. While these contestants are all striving to be the next big star, they appear to be grounded in something bigger than the show or their voices.

Source: CBN News

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EGYPT FORMS FIRST EVER COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

Five different churches in Egypt including the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, the Evangelical (Presbyterian) Church, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Anglican Church have joined together to form the Egypt Council of Churches after one year of deliberations and meetings between the churches. The announcement was made in a press release by Bishop of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, and Primate of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Most Revd. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis.

The Bishop said, “It is so important that this council is born at this time while Egypt is going through a very challenging circumstance politically, socially and economically. It means a lot for the churches to face these challenges together with one heart and soul." The launch of the council was hosted by His Holiness, Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church, known as the "Mother" church of Egypt. “The first goal of the Egypt Council of Churches is to enhance the bonds of love and the spirit of co-operation among the member churches,” explained the Primate.

Bishop Mouneer said, “There are 15 different committees that will be active in the areas of faith and unity, youth, Sunday schools, community development and women among others.” The Primate acknowledged the importance of such collaboration among churches, “Each church in this council will enrich the others with its heritage,” and added, “It is important to affirm the principle of inter-dependance of each church."

Source: Arabic Christian News Service

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FRESH SANCTIONS HIT NORTH KOREA

A fresh set of sanctions agreed by the UN will impose further restrictions on North Korea and limit their ability to function in the international community. The new resolution instructs North Korea to cease all nuclear and missile testing. It will block financial transactions, impound cash, empower countries to inspect suspicious cargo, and expand a blacklist of items that North Korea cannot import. The sanctions place new constraints on North Korean diplomats, raising their risk of expulsion. But they do not allow countries to stop and inspect North Korean shipments on the high seas or force down aircraft suspected of moving contraband.

On the surface, Non-Government-Organisations such as Open Doors will not be directly affected by the sanctions. However, their work depends on Pyongyang's response. North Korea may expel charity workers and the employees of NGOs from the country. A member of the Open Doors field team said: "The situation is unclear. North Korea may not be allowed to receive any form of external assistance anymore, but since Open Doors does not have any 'above ground' projects, the immediate future our work should not be impacted by the new sanctions. We work in secret and will continue to do so."

Please pray:

• for every international leader directly involved, but especially for Kim Jong-Un and his government. Pray that they will act wisely and calmly in response to the crisis

• that the borders will not be closed and that no further restrictions will not be imposed on the movement of people in and out of the country

• for fresh energy for the Christian teams operating under ground in North Korea who are already under a lot of pressure, as they seek to minister to North Korean believers.

Source: Open Doors

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CALL TO PRAYER FOR THE MALAYSIAN ELECTIONS

The National Prayer Network of Malaysia has asked the Australian Prayer Network to join them in praying for the upcoming elections in Malaysia which will be held on 5th May. They are praying 24/7 from now until the election date and have asked for specific cover from 2.00AM to 5.00AM Malaysian time each day, which is 4.00AM to 7.00AM in Sydney. If you cannot pray during those hours please pray whenever you can. If you wish to register your commitment you can do so at www.24-7prayer.com/signup/c80076 Prayer leaders in Malaysia report a strong spiritual battle taking place around the election including the use of witchcraft prayers against the Church.

Hundreds of cases of election violence have been reported since campaigning got under way. A total of 387 incidents were reported in the first three days of the two-week campaign and at least 15 people have been arrested over the violence police report. These elections have been long-anticipated and there is speculation of the country's first change of regime since independence from Britain in 1957. The vote pits a coalition dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) which has ruled Malaysia for 56 years, against an opposition promising a more liberalised society.

Please pray:

*   that the Malaysian church will seek the face of God together earnestly and with perseverance, so that He will open the heavens, reveal His glory and pour His power upon Malaysia.

*   that God will continue to bless Malaysia with strong and steady growth of the national economy so that all citizens will be blessed. Pray for the equitable sharing of this wealth among all races. Pray against the twin problems of badly formulated policies and prevalent corruption, both of which combine to adversely affect national economic growth. Pray that in the elections God will overrule to allow those who will be faithful to the mandate to rule for the good of the nation will come into power. Pray specially against the work of unseen spiritual powers that seek to keep the nation under their control through evil of all kinds.

*   that the church, civil society and the people in general will defend the Federal Constitution so that fundamental liberties of all citizens, especially religious freedom, will be upheld. Pray that the government will genuinely seek to uphold the principle of equal citizenship rights for all Malaysians, which have been forged against a diverse background of race, religion and culture. Pray against all efforts made at asserting ethnic and religious supremacy which, if unchecked, will destroy the foundations of the nation. Pray for the election of Politicians who are competent, genuine, and committed to integrity and justice.

Source: Malaysian Prayer Network

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STUDY SHOWS THAT ABSTINENCE EDUCATION WORKS

A study which has just come to light shows that abstinence education is highly effective in reducing sexual activity among youth. It also showed programs promoting contraceptive use to be ineffective. The study followed students a full two years after completion of the abstinence class. One third of students showed a noteworthy decrease in sexual activity, compared with those who didn't participate in the class. On the other hand condom-promoting programs didn't affect youth behaviour at all. Students in these programs showed no reduction in sexual activity and no increase in contraceptive use.

"Finally, a study that proves what those of us who have been teaching abstinence have known for years. These programs help develop self-control and self-esteem, teaching kids they do not need to fall prey to the game of Russian Roulette with condoms," said Leslee Unruh, President and Founder of the National Abstinence Clearing House. "Abstinence programs show kids there are too many great things riding on their future to risk it to STDs, pregnancy and broken hearts. Abstinence is a message our kids want to hear—this study shows you that many youth will make healthier choices and change their behaviour in response to this refreshing message," Unruh said.

Source: Abstinence Clearing House

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Reimagine Curator May 10, 2013 18:11
AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

40 DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE FEDERAL ELECTION

NSW PREMIER COMES OUT IN FAVOUR OF SAME - SEX MARRIAGE

GILLARD AND ABBOTT CONTINUE TO OPPOSE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN SPITE OF...

SAME - SEX ADOPTION LAWS PASSED IN TASMANIA
40 DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE FEDERAL ELECTION

With the early announcement of the Federal Election date (14th September2013) we are able to plan ahead and announce that the Australian Prayer Network is calling for 40 days of Prayer (and optional fasting) for the 2013 Federal Election commencing on Monday 5th August and concluding on Friday 13th September.

For those individuals, prayer groups, and Churches who are members of the Australian Prayer Network (i.e. regularly receive our weekly newsletters) we will be forwarding the daily prayer points and bible readings to you on the Tuesday of each week for the week commencing the following Monday. For example we will be sending out the prayer points for the week beginningMonday 5th August on Tuesday 30th July and for the week beginning 12th August on Tuesday 6th August. This will allow Churches to include the weekly prayer points in their Sunday notices and bulletins each week for the week beginning on the Monday.

For those Churches, prayer groups and individuals who are not members of the Australian Prayer Network, and do not wish to become members, they will be able to download the prayer points from our website at http://www.ausprayernet.org.au/

Just as we have been able to prepare in advance we are issuing this advice early so Churches wishing to participate can also plan ahead to engage their whole congregations in this national initiative and encourage other Churches in their area to also plan to join in this special season of prayer at a critical time in our nation’s history. We would welcome your personal support and your efforts to encourage others to also join in praying for God’s blessing, righteousness and justice to come upon our nation, as together we cry out to Him to give us a Government that will facilitate His will and plans for our land.

Source: Australian Prayer Network

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Reimagine Curator May 13, 2013 12:03
AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER
Reimagine Curator May 15, 2013 11:10
AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

AUSTRALIAN NEWS 24th April 2013

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AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

NON STOP PRAYER MOVEMENT GRIPS ATHEIST CHINA

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WOMEN MARCH FOR FREEDOM IN SAUDI ARABIA

TWO IN FIVE BRITS THINK JESUS IS A MYTHICAL FIGURE

GUATEMALA ELECTS CHRISTIAN COMEDIAN AS PRESIDENT AMID MUCH PRAYER

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LOOK WHAT YOU CAN DOWNLOAD FROM OUR WEBSITE

SATURDAY NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING DAY IS AUSTRALIA WORSHIPS

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THE BOSTON BOMBINGS AND THE IMAGE OF GOD

CHRSTIANS IN AFRICA TARGET OF AN ALARMING NUMBER OF ATTACKS

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PAKISTAN: THE BITTER FRUITS OF A RADICALISED SOCIETY

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CHRISTIANS DOMINATE AMERICAN IDOL THIS SEASON

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40 DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE FEDERAL ELECTION

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AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER