WIN Email News March 2008- Taliban Is On The Rise In Pakistan And Afghanistan
WIN Email News March 2008
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In This Issue
March 2008 10/40 Window Prayer Focus: Taliban Is On The Rise In Pakistan And AfghanistanPrayer is urged for Pakistan and Afghanistan as the Taliban is gaining strength more than six years after U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan to drive the Islamist militant movement from power. Meanwhile, Taliban forces are reportedly targeting Christians in the region. Despite the presence of more than 50,000 U.S. and NATO troops throughout Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken back control of vast rural areas during the past year and now has a foothold just outside Kabul, USA Today reported. The January 14, 2008 attack on Kabul’s five-star Serena Hotel has raised questions about whether any place in the country is safe from the fundamentalists and terrorists whom the war was originally intended to eradicate. The Taliban had been pushed deep into the mountains in the years immediately following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Since then, the militant group has taken advantage of safe havens in the mountains bordering Pakistan to regroup and strike across the border at U.S., NATO, and Afghan government forces, USA Today reported. Last year was Afghanistan’s bloodiest since the year of the invasion: More than 6,500 people—mostly insurgents—died in 2007, according to the Associated Press (AP). Meanwhile, Taliban forces released hostage Reginald Humayun Zaheeruddin, general secretary of the Church of Pakistan, on January 2, 2008, but five more Christians were kidnapped in the regions bordering Afghanistan, Christianity Today reported. “It’s the same group who (Pakistan President Pervez) Musharraf has said killed (former prime minister Benazir) Bhutto,” said the Rev. Canon George Conger, who has been reporting on the Anglican-affiliated Church of Pakistan for more than a decade. “The Taliban will release those five men if six Taliban militants are released by the police.” Pakistan’s breakdown of law and order, which Bhutto warned about before her assassination on December 27, 2007 particularly harms Christians, who make up a mere 3 percent of the country’s population, Christianity Today reported. “Prominent Christians—these (hostages) are all professional men—are being singled out by the Muslim militants in this battle with the government as being soft targets,” Conger said. Intercessors worldwide can be equipped to pray against the Taliban and other and terrorist groups by participating in Window International Network’s Praying Through The Window (PTTW) 9, a two-year strategic global prayer initiative that launched October 1, 2007 and targets on Global Terrorism and World Religions along with the lawless regimes in the 10/40 Window. To order your Praying Through The Window 9: Global Terrorism and World Religions in the 10/40 Window prayer calendar, visit www.win1040.com/resources Pray for:
Sourced: USA Today, the Associated Press, Christianity Today, Open Doors USA Praise Report I: Pakistan Elections Transpired ‘Amazingly Well’ In an answer to prayer by intercessors, tens of millions of Pakistanis turned out to vote in the country’s parliamentary and provincial assembly elections on February 18, 2008. The party of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated on December 27, 2008, finished first in the parliamentary elections, while supporters of President Pervez Musharraf were trounced, prompting some opposition leaders to call for him to resign, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The parties of Bhutto and another former premier, Nawaz Sharif, are expected to form a coalition government, and nominate the next prime minister, the AP reported. Meanwhile, the elections were relatively peaceful. “Thanks for your prayers for the Pakistan election that went amazingly well,” said John Robb of World Vision. “A friend of mine who has lived and worked there for many years said there were not any major incidents at the polls and local people could not believe it. The present government conceded defeat without the usual fights and clashes. These were the first peaceful elections, he said, for almost 40 years. Praise God for this wonderful answer [to prayer].” Praise for:
Praise Report II: Authorities in Eritrea release imprisoned Christians In a major answer to prayer, security police authorities in Eritrea released 35 evangelical Christians in the port city of Massawa February 16, 2008, after holding them in custody for six weeks at a local police station, Compass Direct News reported. All the jailed Protestants were members of the government-banned Faith of Christ Church. The 35 men and women had been worshiping in a private home on January 6, 2008 when security officials raided the house and arrested those present. The group was denied visitation rights while in police custody, although official charges were never filed against them, Compass reported. On February 13, 2008, 10 members of the Full Gospel Church who had been incarcerated for five years in Assab’s notorious military prison were released on bail. The seven men and three women had been transferred from Assab to the Adi-Abyto prison six months ago, Compass reported. Praise for: Sourced: Compass Direct News Read online…Forward this email today to a friend of yours and encourage them to sign up for the 10/40 Window prayer alerts. Go to www.win1040.com and click on the SUBSCRIBE link.
www.win1040.com/donate Do you have a testimony of how the Lord used you to impact the 10/40 Window through the ministry of Window International Network or the power of prayer? Do you have a story from the 10/40 Window that you feel would be an encouragement to others?We’d love to hear from you! Click here! |
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Youssef, a young man in Morocco, picked up his phone and dialed the number for a Christian counseling center he saw on the TV screen. “I’m starving for this kind of spiritual information,” he told the counselor who answered the call. “I cannot find Christian literature of any kind, but I watch SAT-7 every day. I want you to know that at the beginning of every broadcast, I write down the Scripture verses—and now I have a little book that is like a Bible to me!” This handmade Bible was a treasure to Youssef. The main reasons for satellite TV’s phenomenal popularity in the Arab world (where more than 200 Arabic channels are broadcasting) include: illiteracy (about 50% in the region), lack of access to unrestricted information, and relatively inexpensive satellite technology. Because only slightly more than half of the people in the region can read, television is sought out as an easily accessible medium. To seize this opportunity, in late 1995, God brought into being SAT-7®, a Christian satellite network broadcasting high-quality Christian programming in Arabic, later adding Farsi and Turkish on a new 24/7 SAT-7 PARS channel. In 2007, SAT-7 launched their third channel: SAT-7 KIDS. 150 million children live in the greater Middle East. 100 million are Arabic-speaking, under the age of 15 years. Children are drawn to SAT-7 KIDS programs that speak positive messages of hope, forgiveness and love through a personal relationship with Jesus.
Become a prayer partner with SAT 7 and visit their website at: www.sat7.org. Links: |
Gateway Partner
SAT-7: DELIVERING THE MESSAGE OF HOPE TO THE MIDDLE EAST
While the primary goal of SAT-7 is to sustain Christians and encourage them, something wondrous began to happen. People in the Middle East started to watch SAT-7, and in great numbers! The rapidly growing audience is now 8-9 million known viewers.
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