Ukraine troops and rebels 'begin withdrawing'
Ukranian officials have said that government troops and pro-Russian rebels are withdrawing forces and artillery from frontline positions in eastern Ukraine in line with a peace agreement. Monday's withdrawal leaves a 30km buffer between the two sides as part of a nine-point memorandum signed on Saturday. The agreement came after a truce signed on September 5 was hampered by violations, leading to the deaths of 39 Ukrainian troops and civilians. However, reduced fire from pro-Russian rebels in recent days has allowed Ukranian forces to begin to pull back troops, said Anriy Lysenko, a Ukranian military spokeswoman. Although the withdrawal has begun, it is ‘not as large as expected’, added Lysenko. ‘We are seeing a trend that [the rebels] are reducing their use of heavy armed weaponry.’ Neither side has completed their withdrawal. The Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, said that a continued Ukrainian offensive risked alienating support from the US and other Western governments.
Iran: World’s 'fastest-growing church,' celebrates new Bible translation
A major new translation of the Bible into modern Persian, launched in London Monday, marks a remarkable transformation for the Church in Iran. According to a news release from Elam Ministries, the organisation behind the translation, at the time of the Islamic revolution in 1979 there were no more than 500 Christians from a Muslim background in the country. Now Iran is thought to have the fastest-growing church in the world. ‘A very conservative estimate puts the number of Christians in Iran at 100,000,’ said David Yeghnazar of Elam Ministries, speaking in the news release. He continued, ‘The generally-accepted estimate is 370,000. Some believe there are 700,000, some over a million. Operation World puts the annual growth rate at 19.7 per cent. If that is the case, Iran will very soon have one million Christian believers.’ Yeghnazar believes there are a number of reasons why the church has grown so rapidly.
Holy Spirit sweeps across Reinhard Bonnke crusade
We truly experienced a move of the Holy Spirit at the Reinhard Bonnke Gospel Crusade in Greensboro, North Carolina.Once again we saw hundreds of churches join together across denominational lines to rally around the foot of the cross. Over the two nights, nearly 15,000 people joined together in prayer and worship and were touched by the Word of the Lord. Each night, hundreds of people streamed to the altars to make a decision to follow Jesus as Saviour after hearing the red-hot gospel message preached by evangelist Reinhard Bonnke. What a joy to see so many people move from darkness into light! Our team is busy even now working to connect these precious people into the participating local churches for follow-up and discipleship. On Saturday night, power from on high was on full display as evangelist Daniel Kolenda prayed for every person in attendance to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Many testified to being healed instantly during times of healing prayer.'
National Prayer Assembly - USA
May I ask for your prayers for the National Prayer Assembly that those God is calling, a Gideon's Army of ministry leaders and intercessors, from America and other nations will be assembled for this crucial time of intercession for the USA at the end of next month? Also, if the Lord moves your heart to take part, you are invited to register on the website noted below.
Thank you,
John Robb
IPC Chairman
National Prayer Assembly: Seeking the Face of God for America, October 29-30, Pentagon City Sheraton, Arlington, VA.
The National Prayer Committee, Mission America, Intercessors for America, Jesus Alliance and International Prayer Council are cooperating to call together people with a heart to pray for an all-out time of prayer for the nation just before the congressional elections. We sense that the country is at a crucial point in its history with many dangers and threats from without and within that need to be confronted through getting on the Lord's wavelength with others from across America. As one theologian put it, "History belongs to the intercessors, who believe the future into being!"
