Revive- April 2012

Revive Magazine April 2012

In This Issue Interview with Joel Davis of Ascend the Hill “So I’ll Stand”

by Sophie Mcdonald Prayer Focus: Somalia “Fear, And Our Response To It” by Kevin McMahan Praying Promises of God

A

p U r o rm

Coming Soon The New Study from

Emergency visit www.bethedomino.org/emergency

Examining the Heart

Index

In regards to worship, Martin Luther said the following:

Caring for the Poor

“to have a god is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts.

Thus it is with all idolatry; for it consists not merely in erecting an image and worshiping it, but rather in the heart. Ask and examine your heart diligently, and you will find whether it cleaves to God alone or not.

If you have a heart that can expect of Him, nothing but what is good, especially in want and distress, and that, moreover, renounces and forsakes everything that is not God, then you have the only true God. If, on the contrary it cleaves to anything else, of which it expects more good and help than of God, and does not take refuge in Him, but in adversity flees from Him, then you have an idol, another god.

Whatever we base our identity and value on becomes “deified” this object of worship then determines what we hold in glory and live for.

If that object is anything other than God, we are idolaters worshiping created things.

If you don’t live for Jesus, you will live for something else. If you live for your career, and you don’t do well, it may punish you all of your life, and you will feel like a failure. If you live for your children, and they don’t turn out all right, you could be absolutely in torment because you feel worthless as a person.

If Jesus is your center and Lord, and you fail Him, He will forgive you. Your career can’t die for your sins, and your children can’t die for you sins.

Worship Defined: Meet Ascend the Hill

Today’s Choices 4-5 6-13

Watch and Pray CURE International

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Access to God

15

So I’ll Stand Watch and Pray Joshua Project

16-17 18

Romans 13:13-14 Let us behave properly, as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealously. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, in regards to its lust.

We are told to live upright lives. We are told to clothe ourselves in the Lordship of Jesus. We are to stop putting the focus on our sinful self.

Today’s choices

Watch and Pray Gospel for Asia

19-21

Watch and Pray Open Doors

1) A full day of walking in uprightness under the lordship of Jesus.

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Watch and Pray Compass Direct

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2) Spending part of the day feeding your desires.

Make no provision for the flesh.

What does that look like in our lives?

What am I allowing in, that is making provision for the flesh? What do I need to do in order to make no provision for the flesh?

Fear, And Our Response To it

24-27

Revive

28-33

Prayer Focus Operation World Somalia

34-38

Foxes Book of Martyrs

41-42

Puritan Vision

43-44

for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, (Ephesians 5:8-13)

A Haitian girl carries clean, fresh water for her family past an 8,000-gallon Food For The Poor water tank in Port-au-Prince.

What does it look like to

be in need? In Haiti this is more than just a picture.

It is an every day event for thousands who have to carry clean water back to their homes each day.

Statistics tell us that 1.1 billion people don’t have safe water and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation, but they don’t tell you their stories do they?

They don’t tell you what a struggle it is every day to worry whether or not they will have clean water for their families. Statistics don’t tell us what these families have to endure. www.bethedomino.org/revive

Many of us are fine with that, we’d almost rather not know.

I used to feel that way as well, but the more I read about, and understand the situation, the more heartbroken I have become over it.

Dirty water and poor sanitation account for the vast majority of 1.8 million child deaths each year from diarrhea - almost 5,000 every day - making it the second largest cause of child mortality.

Poor sanitation and drainage contribute to malaria,

which claims the lives of 1.3 million people a year, 90% of which are children under the age of five.

It’s hard for me to fathom the spiritual depth of those statistics. It’s even more challenging for me whenever I look and see what God’s Word has to say about the poor, and how we are to respond.

The Bible contains over 300 verses that talk about how we are supposed to help the poor. Often we take those Scriptures as ideas or suggestions, without ever truly knowing what God has to say

about this.

What does the Bible have to say about helping needy people — the poor, the homeless, the orphans, and the widows?

Are there Bible passages which say we are supposed to have compassion and to be giving to the less fortunate?

What biblical foundations are there for service to others?

Let’s allow the Word of God to shed some light on this subject.

Caring for the Poor A look into the Psalms “The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.”

Psalm 9:9 “But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.”

Psalm 9:18 “ Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise, says the LORD, I will protect them from those who malign them. “ Psalm 12:5 “You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge.”

Psalm 14:6

A look at what God’s Word says about caring for the poor, the homeless, the orphans, and the widows.

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”

Psalm 68:5

“But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.”

Psalm 107:41

“Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, 0 God, you provided for the poor.”

Psalm 68:10

“For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him.”

Psalm 109:31

“The poor will see and be glad — you who seek God, may your hearts live! The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.”

Psalm 69:32-33

“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.”

Psalm 112:9

“Yet I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD , do not delay.”

Psalm 70:5

“This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.”

Psalm 34:6

“He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.”

Psalm 72:4

“My whole being will exclaim, Who is like you, 0 LORD? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.’”

Psalm 35:10

“For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.”

Psalm 72:12-13

“The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.”

Psalm 37:14

“Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace; may the poor and needy praise your name.”

Psalm 74:21

“Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.”

Psalm 40:17

www.bethedomino.org/revive

“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;” Psalm 113:7 “I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food.”

Psalm 132:15 “I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.” Psalm 140:12 “He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free” Psalm 146:7 “The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.”

Psalm 146:9

“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Psalm 82:3-4

Worship Defined Meet Ascend the Hill

Feature Interview www.bethedomino.org/revive

A.W. Tozer said, “thirsty hearts are those whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them.” Our desire is that every person who comes in contact with our music will have the opportunity to be “wakened by the touch of God, and will never be the same for it.”

Meet Ascend the Hill. Four great guys with a mission statement that is bold, encouraging, and humbling.

them. It’s all about Him. They don’t want fame or fortune, they want the name of Jesus to be known. Their music is more than songs, it is pure worship.

From their website: “Ascend The Hill exists for a purpose far greater than our own selfish endeavors…we exist to make much of the name of Jesus. Without Him in our midst we’re just another social gathering, and we’re wasting our time.”

Their release - Hymns: Take the World, But Give Me Jesus is a collection of old hymns that they have taken, and made their own, transforming them into a powerful worship experience.

This isn’t just some great sounding phrase they came up with, these guys are living it out. Partnering with Come&Live playing free shows, giving away their music for free, spreading the word of Jesus across the country, they are living day to day as musicianaries by the provision of God. They are depending on Him to meet their needs.

Lead Singer Joel Davis will tell you that it’s not about www.bethedomino.org/revive

I was blessed to be able to go to see Ascend the Hill last year at the Anchor Fellowship in Nashville for their finale show of the Slaves Now Sons Tour with Great Awakening.

For me, this show was a dream come true, because both bands have been in heavy rotation on my mp3 player. Ascend the Hill’s self-titled release and their latest one Hymns have been a dominant force to be reckoned with in my music library.

When Ascend the Hill took the stage the entire atmosphere of the Anchor changed. The band started with their title track to Hymns “Take the World, But Give Me Jesus” and the words to the refrain kept playing all throughout my head.

Oh, the height and depth of mercy!

Oh, the length and breadth of love!

Oh, the fullness of redemption, Pledge of endless life above!

Joel prayed and spoke to the crowd about how we have put limits on our worship with God, either knowingly or unknowingly, and for many different reasons.

His prayer was that we would no longer be held by the limitations of our perception of worship, and to come to God freely, without restraint.

Whenever he prayed, I prayed that God would have His www.bethedomino.org/revive

way with my life in regards to how I perceive worship.

Lately I’ve felt as though there has been no freedom to worship, the way that I wanted to worship Him. There are times at church that I feel as though I need to get down on my face before Him, yet I do not, because of what others in the church would think. There was an awakening in my heart that night.

I never realized just how much I desired to be free in my worship, how I longed just to sit at the feet of Jesus.

During “Spend my life” I felt this huge weight pulling me down. As we sang the words “ Let Your Spirit take me over God” my legs began to buckle. When the band started playing “Hallelujah, What a Savior” I couldn’t keep my composure any longer. I fell to the ground at the foot of the stage, on my face to worship my Savior. While I was praying I felt as though He was

was speaking to me “It’s easy to worship Me, whenever the music is great, or you’ve had a good day, but this is what I want for you to do. I want you to worship Me in Spirit and in Truth.”

that you can expect to happen at one of their shows.

If you are going to see one of their shows, and all you walk away with is a great night of music, you have missed it.

I’ve stayed there on my face, praying. There could have been a band playing, a crowd behind me, I don’t know, because to tell you the truth, at that moment I felt as though I was in the presence of God, and it was just me at His feet.

Be prepared to encounter something greater at work, than just a band playing some great songs. When you come to an Ascend the Hill show expect to encounter Jesus, which brings us back to their mission statement as a band.

No one else, Just me. Just Him.

A.W. Tozer said, “thirsty hearts are those whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them.”

During that time, the band, the crowd, everything disappeared. My gaze was fixed only on Him. Whenever I finally did get back on my feet I saw guys all around the foot of the stage on their faces.

From what I have read about Ascend the Hill, from what I have heard about from others, this is something www.bethedomino.org/revive

The desire of the band Ascend the Hill is that every person who comes in contact with their music will have the opportunity to be “wakened by the touch of God,” and will never be the same for it.

Interview with Joel Davis Tell us about the band. How did you guys get started?

It all happened pretty organically. Joel was a worship pastor at our local church and would get calls and invites for regional worship events and whatever friends were available to play would go with him. Eventually it turned into a full blown tour (our first) in October of 2008, and with the exception of our bass player Hayden, that crew is still the band. It wasn’t until after partnering with C&L! and our second tour that we actually became a band and got the name.

How did you get connected with Come and Live?

We did a few dates in Florida with the Glorious Unseen back in ‘08, and developed a good relationship with Ben Crist. He told us about his friend Chad, who was leaving his well-payed industry job to start a non-profwww.bethedomino.org/revive

it, ministry label of sorts and asked if he could forward our music on...of course I said YES! In January of ‘09 my wife and I (Joel) were in Nashville with friends for new years, and we got the chance to meet up and share our hearts. It was an instant connection of heart and spirit and a bond that we still enjoy today!

You guys have such an original sound, what are some of your influences?

We all have a pretty diverse musical background, which probably explains some of our “original” sound, although I don’t really think there’s anything new under the sun ha. I come from a punk, hardcore, indie background...Seth’s closely the same too...although he listens to some pretty terrible grind stuff haha.

Jonathan was actually a jazz/pop/fusion drummer pretending to be a rock drummer...such a unique style and flavor for what we do but we love it! Hayden, our bass player came out of the hardcore/metal scene and played in a bunch of Tampa’s finest in that genre.

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What are some of the challenges your band faces out on the road?

It’s hard work, but we love it. We love each other, we have issues but we have fun you know? I’d say the hardest part about touring is just being away from home. Our friends, our family, wife, fiance, our comfort...it just gets hard.

What can someone expect when coming to see one of your shows?

They can expect to meet with Jesus. That’s not because we have any special powers or anything, but the Bible says that where 2 or more gather in His name, He dwells in the midst of them.” We don’t take that promise lightly.

Our heart and desire is that in any gathering, any opportunity that we have to worship, people would have that moment to encounter a very real, and living God who made access to Himself possible through His son Jesus. www.bethedomino.org/revive

They can expect to find 4 real, ordinary dudes who don’t claim to be special, we’re just doing our best to make ourselves available to the Lord. Sometimes we’re good at it...sometimes we suck at it haha.

Your last release (Hymns) is fantastic. What gave you the idea to cover some of the older hymns?

Thank you. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do forever, and had been through my worship pastor role at Ecclesia. When I brought the idea up to the dudes, it was kind of like a no-brainer!

We all spent the next few weeks on our own reading through old hymns online and in books, everyone brought a handful to the table and we started reworking and rewriting...just asking God to breathe new life into these amazing old songs that do so well to teach of the nature and Character of Christ.

He did.

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What is it like for you guys to perform them on stage?

You can’t sing the gospel that potent every night and it not have an effect on us. Every night is different, we don’t have a “stock” set that we go to every night, although it seems like we go through seasons of leaning towards a certain few. We try to be open to the Lord with where He wants to go with it, and a lot of times it changes mid set. It’s a beautiful opportunity to engage with the Lord every night and be open to His voice and leading.

What are you guys working on currently?

Touring touring touring ha. We’re on the road through August with summer tours etc. In the fall we’ll take some time off for Hayden to get married and to write a new record!

What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

Define worship in your own words.

More than a song, more than words on a screen...worship is a life lived for the glory and pleasure God. Be the domino that God uses to touch the lives of others. What does that mean to you personally?

Live love.

Thank you Joel for taking the time out of your touring this summer to answer these questions.

I am excited to see how God is going to use your ministry.

Be sure to check out their newest release “Oh Ransomed Son” available on April 17th! www.ascendthehillband.com

African or European? (Just for the record, they were asked to write their own question and answer) www.bethedomino.org/revive

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www.bethedomino.org/revive

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www.cure.org

Meet: Abraham Age: 10 Country: Honduras When Abraham was a year and half

old, he was burned by an iron. He climbed up to where he could reach it, and it fell on his hand. Although it was only seconds before his mother quickly removed it, his hand was thoroughly burned.

A few years ago, the family heard that a medical brigade was coming to one of the public hospitals here in San Pedro, so they took their Abraham there to see if he could be treated. It was there that he received his first surgery, although they were told that he would need a second one.

Since then, Abraham’s hand has been much better, but he hasn’t had the opportunity to get the second surgery that he needs. When his family found out about CURE, they came to see if another surgery would be possible. They came to the right place as we have a hand surgery specialist here.

Abraham is scheduled to have his second operation to complete his healing, and for this he and his family are grateful! He will soon have his hand close to normal again and have the function that he’s been missing since he was just a baby. www.bethedomino.org/revive

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Access to God

Is of God

Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!

(Psalms 65:4)

Is by Christ

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

(John 10:7) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

(John 10:9) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

(John 14:6) in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him. (Ephesians 3:12) For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, (1 Peter 3:18)

Is

by

the Holy Spirit

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

(Ephesians 2:18)

O b t a i n e d Obtaining mercy through faith and grace Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:2)

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Hebrews 4:16)

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

(Hebrews 11:6)

by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, (Hebrews 10:20)

Follows upon reconciliation to God

Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.

(Hosea 14:2)

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, (Colossians 1:21-22)

In Prayer

For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?

(Deuteronomy 4:7) But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:6)

To Seek Repentance

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; (Joel 2:12)

Seeking Him

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

(Psalms 27:4) My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalms 42:2) Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!

(Psalms 43:3)

So I’ll Stand Written by: Sophie McDonald

www.bethedomino.org/revive

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How often things don’t go the way I planned in my

head. I mean, there I am with this perfectly realistic scenario in my head and all too soon I’m looking to God with questions of why my scenario didn’t play out the way I intended.

My life has been full of this cycle – from dreaming about shooting in the Olympics to training for the Olympics to the painful realization that my shoulder was messed up and I couldn’t shoot without pain and my competitive rifle career was over, to looking to God for answers – I mean, I thought the Olympics was His plan for me all along. After all, didn’t He realize how many lives I could reach with the Gospel if I made it to the world’s stage?

It sounds corny and dumb, but I believed all of that.

wanted or imagined we can take great hope in knowing it didn’t take God by surprise.

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’” (Isaiah 46:8-10) He is sovereign over our lives and we can take great comfort in knowing that He doesn’t have a plan B. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21)

Even last weekend my plans and God’s plans had an“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; other head-on collision, but only one stood in the end.

He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all I was in Louisville with the Murray State basketball generations.” (Psalm 33:10-11) team for the NCAA Tournament. The Racers had won their first game against Colorado State and the day He frustrates our plans because He wants our heart, before they were going to play Marquette, two huge our dependence and the glory He deserves. If everyupsets hit the world of college basketball: Mizzou and thing went as we planned we would have no need for Duke both lost. Mizzou was in our bracket and, had evGod and we would get the glory for our lives staying as erything gone the way most people envisioned, would right as rain. But we do need Him and He loves us too have been the next “big” opponent for Murray State much not to show us that need. had both teams won.

Confidence pulsated through me when Mizzou fell. I just knew that was the Lord going before the Racers and making smooth their path, in my opinion, He had already placed them in the best possible bracket so I knew Murray State was going to best Marquette and we would be on our way to Phoenix in a few short days.

Once we arrived in Phoenix we would play Missouri then either Louisville or Michigan State in the Elite Eight, and of course beat them, then move on to the Final Four. I could see it all happening in my head.

I firmly believed this (at least the part where we beat Marquette) up until the last three minutes of the game Saturday when Marquette pulled away from the Racers and God, again, showed me His plans were not my plans and His ways were not my ways.

That lesson never gets any easier.

However, when things don’t go the way we planned, www.bethedomino.org/revive

The great news is that because He and His glorious plans (that work everything to the good of those who trust in Him, even if it doesn’t feel like it) stand, so can we.

“Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever.

Amen.” (Jude 24-25)

About the Author

Sophie McDonald, I’m 22 years old and a senior at Murray State University majoring in Journalism and Youth & Nonprofit Leadership. I have a heart for people and seeing lives transformed as they come to know the fullness of joy and plentiful redemption found only in Jesus Christ (Psalm 16:11, 130:7) as well as a desire to join God in wrapping His arms around the nations through overseas missions one day.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 16:11)

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Hajam of Pakistan

The Hajam have been a service community for centuries, and many perform hair-cutting (hajamat). Some of the Hajam have taken to varied urban occupations like selling betel leaf and jobs at hotels. The Muslim code of law is followed in matters of property. The Urdu language and Arabic script are used in the religious sphere.

Ministry Obstacles A misunderstanding of the full nature of Christ must be corrected.

Outreach Ideas Pray for workers to carry the Gospel to the Hajam, and for friendships to be developed. Good relationships are important.

Pray for the followers of Christ There may be no Christian believers among the Hajam, but pray for the believers that will one day emerge. Pray they are properly taught, and will grow strong in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Scripture Focus “All nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord, they Pray for the entire people group will bring glory to your name.�

Pray for the Hajam community of South Asia, that they will have good (Psalm 86:9) schools available for their children, adequate health care, and good employment opportunities.

www.bethedomino.org/revive

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Missionary Attacked, Hospitalized with Head Injuries

Gospel

for Asia-supported missionary David, who serves in Bangladesh, and his father are currently in the hospital after facing a brutal attack by anti-Christian fanatics. David sustained head injuries from the violence.

No specifics have been given yet as to how or why the attack happened.

David has been serving the Lord in this region for two years.

Please pray: The Lord will stretch forth His hand and heal them miraculously.

David will continue his ministry with courage once he is healed.

Pastor’s Son Fights Tuberculosis Aiman, 13-year-old son of a Gospel for Asia-supported pastor, has a severe fever, a loss of appetite resulting in weight loss and night sweats—the symptoms of Tuberculosis (TB).

He was diagnosed with TB after his father, Abhra Dutta, took him to the doctor to receive medical attention for his deteriorating condition. Aiman started six months of medical treatments to fight off TB, which is a contagious bacterial infection primarily attacking the lungs.

A tumor has also developed on the right side of Aiman’s neck, which is causing swelling and pain.

GFA Worker Jailed, Accused of Being a Rebel Jahan Malik, the secretary for the GFA-supported church in his area, has been in jail for six months under false allegations of being linked with the Maoists, a Communist rebel group in South Asia.

The area where Jahan lives is known for its high Maoist activity, and police have been keeping close watch for any rebel movements.

Police suspected Jahan, who has a wife and a 5-yearold child, of helping the Maoists, and sentenced him to jail on October 6, 2011. Other Christians from various denominations have also been falsely accused as rebels and taken to prison.

Please pray: Jahan and his family will remain firm in their faith and cling to the Lord during this time.

The Lord uses Jahan and the other believers who have been imprisoned to be a strong witness for Him while they are in jail.

The police will have discernment to know who is truly involved in Maoist activities.

The Maoists will come to know the Lord.

Pray for the Church God will strengthen and protect the believers, and they will stand firm in their faith amid the opposition.

The church in Asia continues to grow.

Please pray: The Lord will heal Aiman completely of TB and the tumor.

The Lord comforts and encourages Pastor Abhra and his family to trust Him more in the coming days, so they are able to effectively continue their ministry. www.bethedomino.org/revive

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The church can’t hold them all www.bethedomino.org/revive

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Missionary Attacked, Hospitalized with Head Injuries March 20, 2012 – Gospel for Asia

Gospel for Asia-supported missionary David, who serves in Bangladesh, and his father are currently in the hospital after facing a brutal attack by anti-Christian fanatics. David sustained head injuries from the violence.

No specifics have been given yet as to how or why the attack happened.

David has been serving the Lord in this region for two years.

Please pray: The Lord will stretch forth His hand and heal them miraculously.

David will continue his ministry with courage once he is healed.

The rapid growth of this congregation makes it necessary for some believers to sit outside! www.bethedomino.org/revive

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World Watch List #4 Somalia Ranking: 04 Leader:Sheikh Ahmed Government: Islam Main Religion: Islam Population: 9.6 million

No one is expected to be a Christian in Somalia, so there is no organized church. Muslim converts exist as individual secret believers, and can only know a few others to make a small underground group.

The largest known group is composed of five believers. For parents, it is dangerous to raise their children as Christians for fear of being discovered and executed. In September 2011, Islamic militants from al-Shabaab beheaded a 17-year-old Somali Christian near Mogadishu.

Pray: For an end to the chronic political instability of this war-torn country That God will be with Christians who face attacks from the extremist group al-Shabaab For freedom for believers to worship and grow in their faith.

“Prayer is the most important, powerful, exciting and dynamic weapon that we as Christians can wield.”

—Carl Moeller, President/CEO Open Doors USA Visit the Open Doors website www.opendoorsusa.org

Tunisia - Many Christians in Tunisia don’t know any other believers, despite the fact that there may be other Christians in their city. Pray that these isolated believers will be connected to others in their area.

This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:6) Ethiopia - A mob of Muslim extremists burnt down the houses of two convert families. The families lost all their belongings in the fire. Church leaders have managed to evacuate the 12 members of these families to safety in a nearby village. They are taking shelter at the church compound. Please pray for the Lord’s strength, peace and courage to rule their hearts and minds.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6) Central Asia Last spring several Christians were praying and fasting for a good harvest of cotton from their fields. Their prayers were answered as they had an abundant harvest which was a great encouragement for them. As they work in the fields, they also use the opportunity to share the gospel with other people working in nearby fields. Please pray with them and ask God to encourage and bless them abundantly as many Christians often struggle to make ends meet. Jabez cried out to the God of Israel,

“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!

Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. (1 Chronicles 4:10) The #1 request from persecuted Christians is — not for comfort and escape — but for others to stand in prayer with them.

Sign up for the Prayer Force Alert

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Parents Torn over Loss of Daughter in Nigeria BAUCHI, Nigeria, March 22 (Compass Direct News)

Survivors Desperately Seek Loved Ones in Jos, Nigeria Blast JOS, Nigeria, March 13 (Compass Direct News)

Nearly seven months after their 24-year-old daugh- One man rendered a widower by the Islamist suicide ter disappeared during a wave of Islamic extremist violence here, Helen and Dakim Gyang Bot can only assume that the voice on the other end of her cell phone that told them “we have killed her” was telling the truth.

The body of Simi Maltida Kim has not been found, and those who answered the active Catholic’s cell phone shortly after she disappeared on Sept. 1, 2011 did not indicate why they killed her. But there are signs that she was one of the hundreds of victims of Islamic extremist violence in northern Nigeria last year that has driven thousands of Christians to flee.

The Bots live in an undisclosed town near Jos, in Plateau state, but their daughter was a final-year student of Science Laboratory Technology at the Federal Polytechnic, in northeastern Nigeria’s Bauchi state. An instructor there had troubled her about her faith in Christ and unduly failed her on an exam in an effort to get her to recant, her mother said. Her father said that when she did not answer her cell phone and did not return home on day she had said she would, the family was all the more anxious because news had filtered into town that Christians were being killed in Bauchi city.

The family reported the disappearance to authorities and continued to call her mobile phone; on one attempt, a female voice said, “Don’t ever call this phone number again – we have killed her, so stop wasting your time looking for her,” her father said. The priest at the family’s church told Compass that Kim might well have been killed by Muslim extremists in Bauchi.

“We learned that many Christians were killed in Bauchi at that time, so we are convinced that she must have been killed, too,” he said.

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bombing at a Catholic church on Sunday (March 11) discovered his wife had been killed only after finding her severed hand with her wedding ring on it.

Another could identify his wife only by the clothing left on her remains. Both women, 52-year-old Rose Dominic Dung Tari, and 50-year-old Roseline Kumbo Pam, had given birth to five children.

They were two of the nine Christians confirmed killed in the bombing of St. Finbarr’s Catholic Church by Islamic extremists reportedly from the Boko Haram sect.

Among those killed in the in the blast, church sources said, was Tari Benjamin, who would have been 9 years old on March 26.

Emmanuel David, 16, who like Tari was a Boy Scout helping to secure the church compound, was also killed in the blast. Tari’ mother, Rose Benjamin, told Compass that her son died at about 1 a.m. this morning.

“They were working alongside security men, screening worshippers before allowing them entry into the church, before the suicide bombers crashed into them when they refused to allow them into the church,” she said.

Several members of the church were still missing. The Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Jos, appealed for calm on the part of Christians, saying God was not unaware of their suffering.

“We have a faith that preaches the respect of the sanctity of the human life,” Kaigama said.

“We have a faith and have the ability to reason. So, we must not behave like those who believe they are serving God by killing others.”

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“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT) FEAR AND OUR RESPONSE TO IT Fear = (a) a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid; (b) concern or anxiety; (c) something that causes feelings of dread or apprehension; something a person is afraid of.

For the purposes used in this article, think about fear, worry, and troubles synonymously. Fear comes to all of us at one time or another. It discriminates against no one. It has no age boundaries. The causes are as numerous as there are people on earth. Some things most of us would fear and some things cause me fear, but not you.

Fear can:

What do you fear - paralyze us today? What is - impair our decision making it that keeps you - cause us to doubt awake at night - confuse us about finding relief or that has you tossing and turning instead of sleeping? Biting your nails, grinding your teeth, strumming your fingers on the tabletop, or tapping your foot?

Maybe you’ve lost your job (or fear you’re the next one to be laid off) or you don’t know where the next house payment will come from. Maybe it’s the relationship with your spouse, with one of your children, or with a parent. Maybe there’s a sick family member or perhaps it’s you staring at the next chemo treatment. Maybe there’s a seriously ill child or maybe it’s a newborn with complications. Maybe you’re waiting on the results of a medical test or maybe you haven’t told anyone yet about that pain or that lump.

“I have told you these things so that you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

(John 16:33 NLT) The church has to claim – and PROCLAIM – God’s instructions and promises about overcoming trials, overcoming troubles, overcoming worry, overcoming fear.

It is what sets us apart! Believers have troubles just like non-believers. We too have all those same fears. The difference is that we have Christ in us. We have the Holy Spirit – the Counselor – to teach us the truth and guide us. We have God’s Word www.bethedomino.org/revive

branded on our hearts and tied around our wrists. We have other believers interceding in prayer for us. And we have a hope because we know our final destination.

Does that mean the Christian is never afraid, never in fear? No! There are dozens of times in the Bible where the Lord or His angels spoke to His people, saying, “Do not be afraid” or “Do not fear.” But it does mean that we have a response to the fear. We take that fear right to the foot of the Cross and leave it there. We pray for direction and we leave those fears with Jesus.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

(John 14:27 ESV) “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT) I recently went on a mission trip to the Middle East.

In preparing for that trip, the Counselor led me to Romans 8:37, “… we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us,” and then through the VICTORY contained in Chapter 8 of Romans. What a sweet victory it is! God promises it and He will prevail. As heirs, believers can claim that victory!

There’s a peace I’ve come to know Though my heart and flesh may fail There’s an anchor for my soul I can say, it is well Jesus has overcome And the grave is overrun The victory is won …

“I Will Rise” by Chris Tomlin Let’s look at this victory in God’s Word (from Romans, Chapter 8):

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Fear - And Our Response to It 1. God saves.

God sent His Precious Son, Jesus Christ, to take our place on the cross. He decided that all who believed and loved His son would be adopted and would be coheirs with Christ.

2. God is all-knowing.

God knows who will accept and love His Son. 3. God causes good to come from all things.

God’s plan is to conform believers into the image of His Son and this “good” work is accomplished through our experiences.

4. God gives us the help we need in this world.

He gives believers the Holy Spirit, to dwell inside us, to teach truth, to comfort and encourage, and to direct our actions.

5. God is always with us and His love is everlasting.

Nothing in all of creation – repeat, NOTHING – can separate us from the love of God. 6. God makes us more than conquerors.

His Son overcame this world! He overcame temptation, to be the one and only perfect sacrifice for our sin and He rose from death, ascended, and He sits at the right hand of God. And we too will overcome through Him.

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”

(Romans 8:31b NLT) How does the Christian claim these promises, this victory?

Some 145 years ago, Charles Spurgeon delivered a sermon where he said: “Get Christ’s love for you, in you, burnt into your consciousness, and in the strength of this, fear no difficulties, and dread no tribulations, but march on in your life-battle.”

More encouraging scripture to help with fear, worry, and troubles:

“The LORD helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads. The eyes of all look to you in hope, you give them their food as they need it. The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. The LORD protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked.”

(Psalm 145:14 NLT) “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:4-7 ESV) “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV) “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

(Psalm 23:4 ESV) “God has said, ‘I will never fail you, I will never abandon you.’ So we can say with confidence, ‘The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5b-6 NIV)

First, know it. Know the truth in your mind.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1 ESV)

Second, believe it. Believe the truth in your heart.

To claim the victory we have to

Third, live it. Live the truth in your actions.

Ask God to help you know it, believe it, and live it. www.bethedomino.org/revive

KNOW it BELIEVE it Live it

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Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.�

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39

Revive

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Praying Promises “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the Glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Read this verse carefully. All promises are YES in Christ, but they must become AMEN through us. Amen means; it is true and certain. We must take God at His Word because His Word is true and just and we must use those promises in faith when praying. We add the AMEN with our lives because a promise means nothing if we do not claim it for ourselves.

According to Everet E. Storms there are 7959 promises in Scripture made by God. If we use one promise each day it will take us 22 (twenty-two) years to use each of the promises once. Caleb lived 40 (forty years) on one promise. How may years can we live on 7959 promises?

Armin Gesswein said: Promises predict the answers to prayer. They are the molds into which we pour our prayers. They foretell what to expect. They shape our praying. They motivate, direct and determine our supplication..

This makes Christian praying different! How? In a very real sense we pray from the answer.. with the answer in mind.. from the answer to it. This is the way of The Lord, the way of faith. He promises - we believe. We act on His Word. In this way answered prayer not only satisfies us; it delights the Heart of God by fulfilling His Own Word. And this is a most important thing with God.” We must go to God with His own promises. When we pray for revival or a person’s salvation we must look in Scripture for God’s Will and then look for any promise in that connection. Stand on those promises, add an AMEN to the promise.

In Jeremiah 33:19-27 the Lord says that His promises (to David) are as steadfast as sunrise and sunset: “If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time then my covenant with David my servant.. can be broken..” See what it says in Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man that He should lie nor a son of man that He should change His mind.

Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” www.bethedomino.org/revive

To illustrate this thought more clearly we add the following quotation. The quotation is from an Armin Gesswein’s School of Prayer pamphlet.

D L MOODY said: “Each word of God can be traced back to a kneeling form.” “Tarry at a promise and God will meet you there.”

Change in thinking: Early in the ministry I had an experience which completely changed my understanding of prayer. What a transformation! I was called to start churches and had just discovered the “prayer meeting truth”: in Acts. So I started a prayer meeting - the first one I ever attended.

In came an elderly Methodist one night. When he prayed I detected something new. “I have never heard praying like that,” I thought to myself. It was not fervency - I had plenty of that. Heaven and Earth got no further apart - in fact, were moving along together!

He had it taped or so it seemed to me. The Holy Spirit was right here, in action, giving him assurance of the answer even while he was praying! When I prayed God was “way out there”,: listening in the distance somewhere. The answer too was in the distance, totally unreachable.

Discovery! Eager to learn his secret I went to see him one day. His name was Ambrose Whaley and everyone called him “Uncle Am”. He was a retired blacksmith - also a Methodist lay preacher. I soon came to the point: “Uncle Am, I would love to pray with you”.

At once he arose, led me outside across the driveway into a red barn, up a ladder, into a haystack! There, in some old hay, lay two big Bibles - one open. “What is this?” I thought. I first prayed, as I recall it. I poured out my heart, needs, burdens, wishes, aspirations, ambitions to God. Then he prayed - and there was “that difference” again.

There, in that hay, on our knees, at eye level, I said: “Uncle Am, what is it? You have some kind of secret in praying... Would you mind sharing it with me?”

I was 24 (twenty four, he was 73 (he lived to be 93) and with an eagle-look in his eyes, he said: “Young man, learn to plead the promises of God!” That did it! My praying has never been the same since. That word completely changed my understanding of prayer.

It really revolutionized it! I “saw it” as soon as he said it. Saw what? Well - when I prayed there was fer-

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Praying Promises vency, ambition, etc. (The Lord does not put a perfect “squelch” on these either.) But I lacked faith. Prayer is the key to Heaven, but faith unlocks the door. There must be faith.

Where does that come from? From hearing...the Word of God. Uncle Am would plead Scripture after Scripture, reminding Him of promise after promise, pleading these like a lawyer does his case - The Holy Spirit pouring in His Assurance of being heard.

This man knew the promises “by the bushel”. He did not seem to need those 2 Bibles in that hay! I soon learned that he was a mighty intercessor. He prayed “clear through”. He prayed using the Bible as a basis on which his prayer were built. He taught me the secret of intercessory praying.

How can I ever thank God enough for leading me to such a prayer warrior!

What happened? With this discovery, God really gave me a new Bible! I had not yet learned how to make the Bible my prayer book. It gave me a new motivation for Bible study. I began to “dig in”.

I would now search the Scriptures...meditate... mark its many promises... memorize, memorize, memorize!

There are thousands of promises; a promise for every need, burden, problem, situation.

“Young man, learn to plead the promises of God!” These words keep ringing in my soul! A practical tip: Underline all the promises you read in Scripture with a blue pen/pencil. Doing this illuminates the promises and makes looking them up much easier.

Tips for Praying the Word by Pastor John Piper 1. Realize that there is a direct connection between the degree to which our minds are shaped by Scripture and the degree to which our prayers are answered. Jesus said, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7).

2. Remember that, as D. M. M’Intyre says, God only answers petitions that his Son has had a hand in formulating. “If we ask anything according to his will he hears us” (1 John 5:14). www.bethedomino.org/revive

3. Note that the early church prayed Scripture. For example, the prayer of Acts 4:24-31 quotes Psalm 2. Also Old Testament prayers like Ezra’s prayer in Nehemiah 9:6-37 are rehearsals of biblical history and biblical texts.

4. Praying the Word means reading (or reciting) Scripture in a spirit of prayer and letting the meaning of the verses become our prayer and inspire our thoughts.

5. There are many possible ways to do it, not just one.

It can be done alone or in groups. You can pause after each phrase, or each sentence, or each paragraph, or each chapter.

6. I would suggest the following as a starter: Find a quiet time and place.

Begin with a brief prayer like, “O Lord, I need you, I come seeking you and needing help. Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of the word” (Psalm 119:18).

Read a chapter of an epistle quickly to get the gist of it.

The reason for this is that the meaning of the individual sentences is controlled by their context. We must not make a verse mean anything we like.

If anything has “jumped out” as especially relevant to you, dwell on it and let it inspire and shape your prayer even before you go back to read a sentence at a time.

If you bump into difficulties you can’t understand, make a mental note of it for later thought and research. Be honest. But then move on to what does seem clear.

Now go back to the first sentence and read it with the question: If this sentence were to become a prayer about my life, what would it sound like? It may convict you and lead you to a prayer of confession and repentance. It may inspire you to pursue a new act of obedience and lead to a prayer for power and enablement.

Try running the verse through your day and seeing its relation to breakfast and work and leisure plans. Try seeing it in relation to different people at home, work and church. You will find one verse can produce a half hour of prayer when viewed from a dozen different situations and relationships.

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Praying Promises Try to build biblical ways of speaking into your head and heart. Especially important here is the need to enrich our vocabulary of praise. The psalms are great for this.

If this all seems difficult, try the simplest form of praying Scripture first: namely, praying Scripture prayers, like Acts 4:24-31; Ephesians 1:16-23; 3:14-19; Philippians 1:9-11; Colossians 1:9-14; 1 Thessalonians 3:1113; Hebrews 13:20-21; Revelation 4:8, 11; 5:9-10, 1214, etc.

All you need to do here is pretend that you are the biblical author and then read it as your own, perhaps changing some pronouns.

If you have a list of concerns that you want to pray for, read the chapter a third time for clues as to how these things should be prayed for.

Promises about Salvation “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

(John 3:16-17) because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

(Romans 10:9-10) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

(Ephesians 2:8-9) This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

(1 Timothy 2:3-4) so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

(Hebrews 6:18) www.bethedomino.org/revive

Promises About Freedom and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

(John 8:32) So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

(John 8:36) For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

(Romans 6:14) But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

(Romans 6:21) There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

(Romans 8:1-2) Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

(2 Corinthians 3:17) Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, (Acts 13:38) I confess, declare and believe that You are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in love and faithfulness (Exodus34:6). That is why we ask that You will be patient with us in this country of ours.

We ask that You will not condemn us in Your wrath, but patiently draw us to You. May You overlook our ignorance, and may Your Spirit call out in people’s hearts all over the country that they must repent (Ezekiel 20:17). We confess that in His goodness, God wants to lead people to repentance (Psalms 103:8-10).

When we pray for the Church and for our country, we call upon the fact that You are long-suffering and patient

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Pray For an End to Human Trafficking Nandi is eleven years old and the fourth daughter of a family living in the Eastern Cape. Her dream is to go to school, but her family does not make enough to pay school fees for the girls. In fact, they often do not have enough to buy food.

An old family friend returned from Cape Town for the December holiday. He has an uncle who knows many rich families living in the suburbs of Cape Town. Nandi is a pretty, shy girl who could easily find work and live with one of those families. Most importantly, she could go to school while being a domestic worker in the afternoons. She would have food and clothes given to her and even be able to send most of her earnings back home. With that money, the whole family could eat everyday!

Two days later, Nandi gets on board a taxi van full of other children headed to the suburbs of Capt Town.

Nandi’s parents never see or hear from her again.

When Nandi gets to Cape Town, she is lined up with the other children to be looked over and then purchased for R700 (U.S.$ 94). The family that bought her explains she cannot quit until she pays back the 700 Rand. She is not allowed to talk to anyone outside the house or to use the phone.

Children are trafficked to work as: *prostitutes and in child pornography *vendors on the street *beggars *into gangs to sell drugs or be to used for other criminal activity *manual labourers (boys) *factory workers (girls) *gardeners and farm hands *domestic workers

Nandi is paid R150 (U.S.$ 18) per week for the 15 hours of work she does each day. She then has to pay for her room, food and clothing. There is no money left to send to her family. She works so hard, she has no time for school. When she complains, she is beaten.

But, she was lucky. Some of the children were forced to live inside factories, where they work like slaves. Most of the children were sold to brothels where they are kept captive and prostituted.

Pray Pray for human trafficking to be exposed so that it is brought to the attention of the public and public awareness of what is happening is increased.

Victims are often recruited by taxi cab drivers, truckers or someone known to the family, usually a local.

Pray that people will raise a standard of prayer about this issue in our country.

Children are often sold by their family to the trafficker because of poverty.

Pray for the church to reach out to victims of human trafficking with sensitivity and great compassion.

More than 247,000 Children are involved in exploitative labour. (Network Against Child Labor, 2004)

Pray for justice. Pray for healing for those who are being abused. Pray for an end to this horror.

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Pray with faith. God promised – therefore I believe, for God cannot lie.

Pray with hope. Nothing is impossible for God.

Pray humbly.

Pray boldly, reminding God of His promises.

Trust in the power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Trust in the power of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Base your prayer on the love, mercy and grace of our heavenly Father, who wants people to turn to Him, repent of their sin,receive His forgiveness and be saved.

Trust the Holy Spirit to pray through you. www.bethedomino.org/revive

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Prayer Focus Somalia Christian 30,883 Evangelicals 4,263 Muslim 9,327,719 Population: 9,358,602 99.67 % Muslim 22 People Groups 77 % unreached.

An infant Somali Church is emerging amid

great tribulation. Somali Christians are despised and heavily persecuted, even martyred, but are also growing in faith and in vision. Burdened for their country, they are leading more boldly and will clearly not just disappear. Those in power admit that Somalis are no longer 100% Muslim but more stridently insist that all Somalis remain Muslim.

The role of Islam is a troubled one. Radical Islamists contribute to the present troubles. Many jihadists flood into Somalia, eager to fight against the government. The Islamic courts have restored order in their spheres of influence, but by the most ruthless means, imposing strict shari’a on all. Pray that Islamist plans will be thwarted and a new religious tyranny prevented.

Somalia is on the easternmost part of Africa. It has the Indian Ocean to the east, Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden with Yemen to the north, and Kenya to the southwest. Its total area is 246,200 square miles. It has an estimated population of 10 million.

The literacy rate in Somalia is 24%.

Somalia was divided into parts, north and south Somalia, until 1960. In 1960 both parts were united and an independent Somali Republic was formed under a civilian government. Mohamed Said Barre came to power in 1969 and established the Somali Democratic Republic. In 1991 the civilian government collapsed and Somali Civil War broke out. www.bethedomino.org/revive

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The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia. It began in 1991, when a coalition of clan-based armed opposition groups ousted the nation’s long-standing military government.

troops, African Union peacekeepers and air support by the United States, the reconstituted Somalian military managed to drive out the rival ICU and solidify the TFG’s rule.

Various factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum that followed, which precipitated an aborted UN peacekeeping attempt in the mid-1990s.

A period of decentralization ensued, characterized by a return to customary and religious law in many areas as well as the establishment of autonomous regional governments in the northern part of the country.

On January 8, 2007, as the Battle of Ras Kamboni raged, TFG President and founder Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a former colonel in the Somali Army and decorated war hero, entered Mogadishu for the first time since being elected to office. The government then relocated to Villa Somalia in the capital from its interim location in Baidoa. This marked the first time since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 that the federal government controlled most of the country.

The early 2000s saw the creation of fledgling interim federal administrations, with the Transitional National Government (TNG) established in 2000 followed by the formation of its successor the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004.

In 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), an Islamist organization, assumed control of much of the southern part of the country and promptly imposed shari’a law.

The Transitional Federal Government sought to reestablish its authority. With the assistance of Ethiopian www.bethedomino.org/revive

Following this defeat, the Islamic Courts Union splintered into several different factions. Some of the more radical elements, including Al-Shabaab, regrouped to continue their insurgency against the TFG and oppose the Ethiopian military’s presence in Somalia. Throughout 2007 and 2008, Al-Shabaab scored military victories, seizing control of key towns and ports in both central and southern Somalia. At the end of 2008, the group had captured Baidoa but not Mogadishu. By

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SOMALIA, BUR AKABA. Feeding center for the persons displaced by the civil war in July 1992 www.bethedomino.org/revive

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January 2009, Al-Shabaab and other militias had managed to force the Ethiopian troops to retreat, leaving behind an under-equipped African Union peacekeeping force to assist the Transitional Federal Government’s troops.

controlled by the Islamist al-Shabab. Some 12 million people across the region were in need food aid, the UN says.

Due to a lack of funding and human resources, an arms embargo that made it difficult to re-establish a national security force, and general indifference on the part of the international community, President Yusuf found himself obliged to deploy thousands of troops from Puntland to Mogadishu to sustain the battle against insurgent elements in the southern part of the country.

Financial support for this effort was provided by the autonomous region’s government. This left little revenue for Puntland’s own security forces and civil service employees, leaving the territory vulnerable to piracy and terrorist attacks.

Pray for effective ministry amongst Somalis living in refugee camps.

A recent famine has ravaged many of the countries in Africa during 2011. The UN says tens of thousands of people have died after what is said to be East Africa’s worst drought for 60 years.

Bay becomes the sixth area to be officially declared a famine zone - mostly in parts of southern Somalia www.bethedomino.org/revive

Prayer Points

Pray for peace in Somalia. Call upon God to touch the hearts of all parties in the Somalia conflict, compelling them to work together to resolve conflict and achieve long-standing peace.

Pray for wise and effective handling of the piracy situation.

Pray for the thousands of families affected by the drought of 2011, and who are still suffering today.

Pray for food and clean water for the people of Somalia.

Pray that they may come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

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“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.

(Isaiah 42:6) I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. (Isaiah 42:16) he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

(Isaiah 49:6)

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (John 1:4-5) He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. (John 1:7-8) There it was--the true Light was coming into the world that illumines every person.

(John 1:9) When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

(John 8:12)

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

(John 9:5) I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should abide in darkness.

(John 12:46) For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ “ (Acts 13:47) that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

(Acts 26:23)

He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light. (Lamentations 3:2)

Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death. (Psalm 13:3)

You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

(Psalm 18:28)

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This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:19-21)

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.

Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. (1 John 2:9-10)

The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:12)

L I G H T The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. (Revelation 21:24)

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Foxes Book of Martyrs With millions of copies in print, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs has become a classic of magnificent courage and faith.

Beginning with Jesus Christ, this unparalleled volume traces the roots of religious persecution. Some of the heroic figures examined are John Hus, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, Anne Askew, Lady Jane Grey, and Martin Luther. Every month we will take a look back into the history of the Persecuted Church, as we continue through Foxe’s Book of Martyrs each month.

order was executed by his officers, guards, and servants. While the imperial city was in flames, he went up to the tower of Macaenas, played upon his harp, sung the song of the burning of Troy, and openly declared that ‘he wished the ruin of all things before his death.’ Besides the noble pile, called the Circus, many other palaces and houses were consumed; several thousands perished in the flames, were smothered in the smoke, or buried beneath the ruins.

Simon Surnamed Zelotes, preached the Gospel in Mauritania, Africa, and even in Britain, in which latter country he was crucified, A.D. 74.

This dreadful conflagration continued nine days; when Nero, finding that his conduct was greatly blamed, and a severe odium cast upon him, determined to lay the whole upon the Christians, at once to excuse himself, and have an opportunity of glutting his sight with new cruelties.

John The “beloved disciple,” was brother to James the Great.

The churches of Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and Thyatira, were founded by him.

From Ephesus he was ordered to be sent to Rome, where it is affirmed he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. He escaped by miracle, without injury. Domitian afterwards banished him to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. Nerva, the successor of Domitian, recalled him. He was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.

Barnabas Was of Cyprus, but of Jewish descent, his death is supposed to have taken place about A.D. 73.

And yet, notwithstanding all these continual persecutions and horrible punishments, the Church daily increased, deeply rooted in the doctrine of the apostles and of men apostolical, and watered plentously with the blood of saints.

Chapter 2

This was the occasion of the first persecution; and the barbarities exercised on the Christians were such as even excited the commiseration of the Romans themselves. Nero even refined upon cruelty, and contrived all manner of punishments for the Christians that the most infernal imagination could design.

In particular, he had some sewed up in skins of wild beasts, and then worried by dogs until they expired; and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axle trees, and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them. This persecution was general throughout the whole Roman Empire; but it rather increased than diminished the spirit of Christianity. In the course of it, St. Paul and St. Peter were martyred.

To their names may be added, Erastus, chamberlain of Corinth; Aristarchus, the Macedonian, and Trophimus, an Ephesians, converted by St. Paul, and fellow-laborer with him, Joseph, commonly called Barsabas, and Ananias, bishop of Damascus; each of the Seventy.

The Ten Primitive Persecutions The First Persecution, Under Nero, A.D. 67 The first persecution of the Church took place in the year 67, under Nero, the sixth emperor of Rome. This monarch reigned for the space of five years, with tolerable credit to himself, but then gave way to the greatest extravagancy of temper, and to the most atrocious barbarities. Among other diabolical whims, he ordered that the city of Rome should be set on fire, which www.bethedomino.org/revive

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Puritan Vision

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Puritan Vision How to Know If You Are A Real Christian - By Jonathan Edwards Part Four Satan has had years of studying of the hearts of men, his battlefield where he fights against our Redeemer.

What labours, exertions, and cares the Devil has used over the centuries as he has deceived men. Only a being with his knowledge and experience of God’s working, and the human heart, could so imitate true religion and transform himself into an angel of light.

(2 Corinthians 11:14) Therefore we can see that there is no amount of knowledge of God and religion that could prove a person has been saved from their sin. A man may talk about the Bible, God, and the Trinity. He may be able to preach a sermon about Jesus Christ and everything He has done. Imagine, somebody might be able to speak about the way of salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of sinners, perhaps even enough to show others how to become Christians. All these things might build up the church and enlighten the world, yet it is not a sure proof of the saving grace of God in a person’s heart.

It also may be seen that for people to merely agree with the Bible is no sure sign of salvation. James 2:19 shows that the demons really, truly, believe the truth.

Just as they believe there is one God, they agree with all the truth of the Bible. The devil is not a heretic: all the articles of his faith are firmly established in the truth.

It must be understood, that when the Bible talks about believing that Jesus is the Son of God, as a proof of God’s grace in the heart, the Bible means not a mere agreement with the truth, but another kind of believing. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” (1 John 5:1) This other kind of believing is called “the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness.” (Titus 1:1) There is a spiritual holding to the truth, which will be explained later on.

Some people have strong religious experiences, and think of them as proof of God’s working in their hearts. Often these experiences give people a sense of the importance of the spiritual world, and the reality of divine things. However, these, too, are no sure www.bethedomino.org/revive

proof of salvation. Demons and damned human beings have many spiritual experiences which have a great effect on their heart attitudes. They live in the spiritual world and see first-hand what it is like. Their sufferings show them the worth of salvation and the worth of a human soul in the most powerful way imaginable.

The parable in Luke chapter 16 teaches this clearly, as the suffering man asks that Lazarus might be sent to tell his brothers to avoid this place of torment. No doubt people in hell now have a distinct idea of the vastness of eternity, and of the shortness of life. They are completely convinced that all the things of this life are unimportant when compared to the experiences of the eternal world. People now in hell have a great sense of the preciousness of time, and of the wonderful opportunities people have, who have the privilege of hearing the Gospel.

They are completely aware of the foolishness of their sin, of neglecting opportunities, and ignoring the warnings of God. When sinners find out by personal experience the final result of their sin there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt 13:42) So even the most powerful religious experiences are not a sure sign of God’s grace in the heart.

Demons and damned people also have a strong sense of God’s majesty and power. God’s power is most clearly displayed in his execution of divine vengeance upon his enemies. “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath-prepared for destruction?” (Romans 9:22) Shuddering, the devils await their final punishment, under the strongest sense of God’s majesty.

They feel it now, of course, but in the future it will show to the greatest degree, when the Lord Jesus “is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7) On that day, they will desire to be run away, to be hidden from the presence of God. “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.” (Rev 1:7) So everyone will see him in the glory of His Father. But, obviously, not all who see him will be saved.

To be continued next month...

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