"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." - Elisabeth Elliot
FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications
Our beloved president is in town this week. He's passing through on his way to Indianapolis to do some pre-Final Four networking. It's a nice change of pace to have meetings face to face rather than via Skype or email. He and the rest of the international staff headquarter about 6000 miles away so its nice having him around. He never stays anywhere for too long, he's constantly globe trotting - connecting with sports officials and administrators around the world. Nice to have him local... at least for a couple of days.
For the Win[dow],
Bubby Bryan
VERSE OF THE WEEK: Hosea 2:19
"And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and mercy."
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 counter-coup. 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 mujahedin 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 Osama BIN LADIN. The 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 re-elected in August 2009 for a second term. Despite gains toward building a stable central government, a resurgent Taliban and continuing provincial instability - particularly in the south and the east - remain serious challenges for the Afghan Government. (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 workers on the field.
- Pray for the US office.