"God doesn't give us hypothetical grace in lifetime supply. He gives us what we need today - one day at a time." - Tim Keller
FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications
Over the next few weeks approximately 1.6 billion Muslims will participate in Ramadan - a season of prayer and fasting designed to draw closer to Allah. 50% of our Uttermost reps live and work in predominately Muslim contexts. As these brothers and sisters pray to draw closer to God would you join us in praying that they would draw closer to Jesus - the image of the invisible God and the exact imprint of his nature - who routinely visits these people through dreams and visions.
For the Win[dow],
Bubby Bryan, DOC
VERSE OF THE WEEK: Hebrews 1: 1-4
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs."
COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Afghanistan
Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian Empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 communist countercoup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war. The USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-communist mujahidin rebels. A series of subsequent civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US, Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Usama BIN LADIN.
A UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution, a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005. In December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan and the National Assembly was inaugurated the following December. KARZAI was reelected in August 2009 for a second term. The 2014 presidential election was the country's first to include a runoff, which featured the top two vote-getters from the first round, Abdullah ABDULLAH and Ashraf GHANI. Throughout the summer of 2014, their campaigns disputed the results and traded accusations of fraud, leading to a US-led diplomatic intervention that included a full vote audit as well as political negotiations between the two camps. In September 2014, GHANI and ABDULLAH agreed to form the Government of National Unity, with GHANI inaugurated as President and ABDULLAH elevated to the newly-created position of Chief Executive Officer. The day after the inauguration, the Ghani administration signed the US-Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement and NATO Status of Forces Agreement, which provide the legal basis for the post-2014 international military presence in Afghanistan.
Despite gains toward building a stable central government, the Taliban remains a serious challenge for the Afghan Government in almost every province. The Taliban still considers itself the rightful government of Afghanistan. (CIA World Factbook)
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for appropriate and expedient solutions to ongoing threats of violence.
- Pray for Afghans who are seeking Truth to boldly embrace a new identity in Christ.
- Pray for protection over Afghan believers and perseverance despite suffering.
- Pray for the Uttermost reps on the field.
- Pray for the US office.