“God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.”
FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications
Been out of the office recently - traveling to some out of town conferences. Happy to be back in the office and returning to a normal schedule. The US Office is gearing up to head to Italy in May for our bi-annual staff and sports worker conference. Stay tuned for more info.
For the Win[dow],
Bubby Bryan, DOC
VERSE OF THE WEEK: Numbers 15:41
I am the Lord you God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord your God."
COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Algeria
After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), was established in 1954 as part of the struggle for independence and has largely dominated politics since. The Government of Algeria in 1988 instituted a multi-party system in response to public unrest, but the surprising first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting led the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a crackdown on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking government targets. Fighting escalated into an insurgency, which saw intense violence from 1992-98, resulting in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s, and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000.
Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA, with the backing of the military, won the presidency in 1999 in an election widely viewed as fraudulent and has won subsequent elections in 2004, 2009 and 2014. The government in 2011 introduced some political reforms in response to the Arab Spring, including lifting the 19-year-old state of emergency restrictions and increasing women's quotas for elected assemblies while also increasing subsidies to the populace. Algeria’s reliance on hydrocarbon revenues to finance the government and large subsidies for the population is under stress because of declining oil prices.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for the Berber peoples and many other unreached people groups who span across the entire nation.
- Pray for faith-filled bold believers to persevere despite intensifying persecution by Muslims.
- Pray for those scarred by violence and war to find their healing in Jesus Christ.
- Pray for the Uttermost workers in the field.
- Pray for the US office.