“Prayer lays hold of God’s plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit’s prayer.”
FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications
Everyday people are hurting. Some obviously and some subtlety. Some are caught up in global, pandemic evil, while others are dealing with intimate, personal pain. People react in different ways, but because of the fall everyone is hurting. I'm thankful we serve a God who is not indifferent to pain but came into our world to suffer on our behalf.
For the Win[dow],
Bubby Bryan, DOC
VERSE OF THE WEEK: Psalm 22:14
"I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast..."
COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan - a nation with a majority-Turkic and majority-Shia Muslim population - was briefly independent (from 1918 to 1920) following the collapse of the Russian Empire; it was subsequently incorporated into the Soviet Union for seven decades. Azerbaijan has yet to resolve its conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated region that Moscow recognized in 1923 as an autonomous republic within Soviet Azerbaijan after Armenia and Azerbaijan disputed the territory's status. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the area in 1988; the struggle escalated after both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, ethnic Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also seven surrounding provinces in the territory of Azerbaijan. The OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, France, and Russia, is the framework established to mediate a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Corruption in the country is widespread, and the government, which eliminated presidential term limits in a 2009 referendum, has been accused of authoritarianism. Although the poverty rate has been reduced and infrastructure investment has increased substantially in recent years due to revenue from oil and gas production, reforms have not adequately addressed weaknesses in most government institutions, particularly in the education and health sectors, as well as the court system. (CIA World Factbook)
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for God's love to be proclaimed in the dozens of towns and villages which have never heard the Gospel.
- Pray for enduring solutions to conflicts with Armenia and Russia.
- Pray for mature leaders, deepening unity, and increased discipleship for the growing Church in spite of government surveillance.
- Pray for the Uttermost workers in the field.
- Pray for the US office.