Vanuatu: Cyclone Pam and disaster relief
Last Friday, 13 March, the President of the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu travelled to Japan to attend the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction which opened the following day. For most of Friday and Saturday cyclone Pam pummelled the Vanuatu nation. Sixty-five of Vanuatu’s islands are inhabited by small communities; a total 260,000 people live in flimsy homes built mostly of thatch. Reports from islands so far visited reveal everything flattened and thousands of families made homeless. A state of emergency has been declared. Yesterday the conference on Disaster Risk Reduction ended. We can pray that decisions made concerning workable guidance on reducing mortality and economic losses from disasters will be successfully implemented for those recovering from Cyclone Pam.
Suggestions for a Prayer Strategy to Counter Radical Islam
"The ISIS cancer has metastasized," proclaims a Wall Street Journal article on March 23rd. The Islamic state is building a regional and global network to recruit from and attack other nations. Their strategy, according to the article, encompasses three geographical rings: Iraq, Syria and other Levant nations like Jordan, Lebanon, Israel-Palestine; other parts of the Middle East and North Africa, extending over to Afghanistan and Pakistan; and the rest of the world, namely Europe, the USA and Asia.
In spite of what governments and political pundits say in politically correct ways so as not to offend the great majority of "peaceful" Muslims, the Islamic State leaders and their increasing number of followers are being rigidly and uncompromisingly Islamic in the way they go about things. They are actually trying to emulate their prophet Muhammad in all they do. According to Graeme Wood, they are "authentic throwbacks to early Islam and are faithfully reproducing it's norms of war", including slavery, crucifixion and beheadings (The Atlantic magazine March 2015). They hope to return to 7th century Islamic sharia law and eventually bring about the apocalypse. In this effort, they are committed to "purify the world" by killing large numbers of people whom they regard as infidels.
Because ISIS is metastasizing and threatening an increasing number of countries in its bid to become a global movement and caliphate, it is essential for us to mobilize prayer at this tipping point so their goal of world domination can be blunted and overthrown. We must remind ourselves that intercessory prayer has been the decisive factor many times before both in Scripture and history. Intercessors are the shapers of history in God's hands. In partnership of the Holy Spirit, we need to develop an international prayer strategy to combat the scourge of Islamic terrorism. Indeed, this was one of the main reasons the IPC came into existence just after 9/11 when a group of international prayer leaders met near Ground Zero in New York City to launch a prayer network that would focus on global issues like terrorism.
Here are some suggested elements for such a strategy as well as some basic prayer points we should be able to implement to counter the growing threat from radical Islam in which some see the dark clouds of World War III:
Let's work together to mobilize any prayer groups, churches and other intercessors we are in touch with to really pray with this focus for the rest of this year. Persevering, informed intercession will make all the difference!
Supply these praying people with current information and prayer requests. For this purpose, please educate yourself about radical Islam, its objectives and activities so you and others can pray intelligently.
Meet regularly in person or over the phone with a few others to pray in depth about specific aspects of the radical Islamic threat that you discover.
Some recommended prayer concerns to get you going:
1. Pray that the radical Islamic movement increasingly coalescing around ISIS as its standard bearer will degenerate into factions, dividing from one another and even fighting against each other.
2. Pray that radical Islamic leaders and their followers will have revelations, dreams, and visions of Christ and make an abrupt turnabout like the great Apostle Paul did. He repented from persecuting and killing Christians to become the most dedicated and effective of missionaries, probably in all history.
3. Pray for the international community to put real military teeth into what is now a paper coalition of 60 nations. May they recognize the urgency and commit every bit of funding and military force necessary to fight and defeat ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and other radical groups across the whole world.
4. For President Obama and the US government to fully commit and provide unwavering leadership in order to subdue and eliminate radical Islam and terrorism.
5. For the cutting off of funding flowing from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Muslim nations that are supporting ISIS and other terror groups.
6. That Iran and the West will reach an effective deal on the Iranian nuclear program so that Iran finally gives up trying to build nuclear weapons.
7. Aggressively and authoritatively bind the principalities and powers behind these Islamic radical groups in Jesus' name so that the power and influence of the devil will be broken over them.
8. That huge numbers of Muslims will become disillusioned with all the hate, violence, and death in Islam and come to faith in Jesus Christ. In Matthew 17:20, Jesus exhorts us to release our faith to move mountains. God will work redemptively even through such evil to bring tens of millions of them to faith as we join Him by prayer and witness.
Let's agree for these things in prayer. Remember that history belongs not to the politicians or to the radical Muslims but to the intercessors!
The Growing Threat of Islamisation
(Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat, 2010)
Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest Form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life. Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and Military components. The religious component is a beard for all of the other components.
Islamisation begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a Country to agitate for their religious privileges. When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse Societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some Of the other components tend to creep in as well..
Here's how it works:
As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% In any given country, they will for the most part be regarded as a Peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is
The case in:
United States -- Muslim 0.6 %
Australia -- Muslim 1.5%
Canada -- Muslim 1.9%
China -- Muslim 1.8%
Italy -- Muslim 1.5%
Norway -- Muslim 1.8%
At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytise from other ethnic Minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from The jails and among street gangs.
This is happening in:
Denmark -- Muslim 2%
Germany -- Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7%
Spain -- Muslim 4%
Thailand -- Muslim 4.6%
From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in Proportion to their percentage of the population.
For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation Jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to
Feature halal on their shelves, along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in:
France -- Muslim 8%
Philippines -- 5%
Sweden -- Muslim 5%
Switzerland -- Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands -- Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago -- Muslim 5.8%
At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia law over the entire world.
When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris, we are already seeing this. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam , with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections in:
Guyana -- Muslim 10%
India -- Muslim 13.4%
Israel -- Muslim 16%
Kenya -- Muslim 10%
Russia -- Muslim 15%
After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, Jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in:
Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8%
At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic Terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in:
Bosnia -- Muslim 40%
Chad -- Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%
From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in:
Albania -- Muslim 70%
Malaysia -- Muslim 60.4%
Qatar -- Muslim 77.5%
Sudan -- Muslim 70%
After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some state-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim. Such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in:
Bangladesh -- Muslim 83%
Egypt -- Muslim 90%
Gaza -- Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia -- Muslim 86.1%
Iran -- Muslim 98%
Iraq -- Muslim 97%
Jordan -- Muslim 92%
Morocco -- Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan -- Muslim 97%
Palestine -- Muslim 99%
Syria -- Muslim 90%
Tajikistan -- Muslim 90%
Turkey -- Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates -- Muslim 96%
100% will usher in the peace of 'Dar-es-Salaam' - the Islamic House of Peace.. Here there's supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the madrassas are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as in:
Afghanistan -- Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia -- Muslim 100%
Somalia -- Muslim 100%
Yemen -- Muslim 100%
Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons.
'Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; the tribe against the world, and all of us against the infidels.'
It is important to understand that in some countries, with well under 100% Muslim populations, such as France, the minority Muslim populations live in ghettos, within which they are 100% Muslim, and within which they live by Sharia Law. The national police do not even enter these ghettos. There are no national courts, nor schools, nor non-Muslim religious facilities. In such situations, Muslims do not integrate into the community at large. The children attend madrassas. They learn only the Koran. To even associate with an infidel is a crime punishable with death.
Therefore, in some areas of certain nations, Muslim Imams and extremists exercise more power than the national average would indicate.
Today's 1.5 billion Muslims make up 22% of the world's population. But their birth rates dwarf the birth rates of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and all other believers. Muslims will exceed 50% of the world's population by the end of this century.
Prayer Implications from Hammond's findings:
1. Let's pray for our public authorities to wake up and to deal with the threat of Islamization with great wisdom and firmness.
2. Pray for the churches in each country to also become aware of increasing numbers of Muslim immigrants in their midst and to reach out with His love and effectiveness to share Jesus Christ with them in culturally appropriate ways.
Containing Russia's Advances
(From Stratfor The Geopolitics of Russia: Permanent Struggle, April 15, 2012)
From the Russian point of view, creating a sphere of influence that would return Russia to its relatively defensible imperial boundaries is imperative. Obviously, forces in the peripheral countries as well as great powers outside the region will resist. For them, a weak and vulnerable Russia is preferable, since a strong and secure one develops other appetites that could see Russia pushing along vectors such as through the Skagerrak toward the North Sea, through the Turkish Straits toward the Mediterranean and through La Perouse Strait toward Japan and beyond.
Russia's essential strategic problem is this: It is geopolitically unstable. The Russian Empire and Soviet Union were never genuinely secure. One problem was the North European Plain. But another problem, very real and hard to solve, was access to the global trading system via oceans. And behind this was Russia's essential economic weakness due to its size and lack of ability to transport agricultural produce throughout the country. No matter how much national will it has, Russia's inherently insufficient infrastructure constantly weakens its internal cohesion.
Russia must dominate the Eurasian heartland. When it does, it must want more. The more it wants the more it must face its internal economic weakness and social instability, which cannot support its ambitions. Then the Russian Federation must contract. This cycle has nothing to do with Russian ideology or character. It has everything to do with geography, which in turn generates ideologies and shapes character. Russia is Russia and must face its permanent struggle."
Pray that the sanctions and other measures being taken against Russia will hold President Putin and the Russian government back from further aggressive moves against Ukraine or other nations in their neighborhood or globally.
