Week of August 3, 2015

“Of all the things Christ wants for us, loving Him and focusing our attention on Him are the most important.”
— Charles Stanley

FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications

Everyone relax. 31 days to go until football returns. We got this.

For the Win[dow],

Bubby Bryan, DOC

VERSE OF THE WEEK: Isaiah 55:1

"Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."

COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Sudan

Military regimes favoring Islamic-oriented governments have dominated national politics since independence from Anglo-Egyptian co-rule in 1956. Sudan was embroiled in two prolonged civil wars during most of the remainder of the 20th century. These conflicts were rooted in northern economic, political, and social domination of largely non-Muslim, non-Arab southern Sudanese. The first civil war ended in 1972 but another broke out in 1983. Peace talks gained momentum in 2002-04 with the signing of several accords. The final North/South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in January 2005, granted the southern rebels autonomy for six years followed by a referendum on independence for Southern Sudan. The referendum was held in January 2011 and indicated overwhelming support for independence. South Sudan became independent on 9 July 2011. Sudan and South Sudan have yet to fully implement security and economic agreements signed in September 2012 relating to the normalization of relations between the two countries. The final disposition of the contested Abyei region has also to be decided.

Since South Sudan's independence, conflict has broken out between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states, which has resulted in 1.2 million internally displaced persons or severely affected persons needing humanitarian assistance. A separate conflict, which broke out in the western region of Darfur in 2003, displaced nearly two million people and caused an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 deaths. Violence in Darfur in 2013 resulted in an additional estimated 6,000 civilians killed and 500,000 displaced. The UN and the African Union have jointly commanded a Darfur peacekeeping operation known as the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) since 2007. Peacekeeping troops have struggled to stabilize the situation and have increasingly become targets for attacks by armed groups. In 2013, 16 peacekeepers were killed, UNAMID's deadliest year so far. Sudan also has faced refugee influxes from neighboring countries, primarily Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, Central African Republic, and South Sudan. Armed conflict, poor transport infrastructure, and government denial of access have impeded the provision of humanitarian assistance to affected populations. (CIA World Factbook)

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

  • Pray for definitive peace and stability between tribal groups and military commanders who continue to vie for power.
  • Pray for government leaders to rule with integrity and justice .
  • Pray for the church to grow spiritually strong despite intense suffering and persecution.
  • Pray for the Uttermost workers in the field.
  • Pray for the US office.

Week of July 27, 2015

“The amount of time we spend with Jesus — meditating on His Word and His majesty, seeking His face — establishes our fruitfulness in the kingdom.”
— Charles Stanley

FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications

The Special Olympics are this week - 6,500 athletes from 165 countries are gathering in Southern California. It is a joy to see these athletes compete. In a time where the world's leading soccer organization is being investigated for corruption and the NFL spends more time investigating deflated footballs than domestic abuse - it is refreshing to see the purest form of sport. No pretense. No self promotion. Just the love of sport. The Special Olympic Oath states, "If I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." 

Words to live by.

For the Win[dow],

Bubby Bryan, DOC

VERSE OF THE WEEK: Luke 4:18-19

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Thailand

A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been colonized by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US treaty ally in 1954 after sending troops to Korea and later fighting alongside the US in Vietnam. Thailand since 2005 has experienced several rounds of political turmoil including a military coup in 2006 that ousted then Prime Minister THAKSIN Chinnawat, followed by large-scale street protests by competing political factions in 2008, 2009, and 2010. THAKSIN's youngest sister, YINGLAK Chinnawat, in 2011 led the Puea Thai Party to an electoral win and assumed control of the government. A blanket amnesty bill for individuals involved in street protests, altered at the last minute to include all political crimes - including all convictions against THAKSIN - triggered months of large-scale anti-government protests in Bangkok beginning in November 2013. In early May 2014 YINGLAK was removed from office by the Constitutional Court and in late May 2014 the Royal Thai Army staged a coup against the caretaker government. The head of the Royal Thai Army, Gen. PRAYUT Chan-ocha, was appointed prime minister in August 2014. The interim military government created several interim institutions to promote reform and draft a new constitution. Elections are tentatively set for early 2016. Thailand has also experienced violence associated with the ethno-nationalist insurgency in its southern Malay-Muslim majority provinces. Since January 2004, thousands have been killed and wounded in the insurgency. (CIA World Factbook)

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Prayercast Profile

PRAYER REQUESTS:

  • Pray for the Gospel to effectively permeate this culture of Buddhism, spiritism, and the occult.
  • Pray for moral conviction to fall on those who oppress others for profit via the sex trade.
  • Pray for explosive growth in the church to reach all 80,000 villages.
  • Pray for the Uttermost workers on the field.
  • Pray for the US Office.

Week of July 20, 2015

This week is already annoying. Car trouble. FedEx issues. Email mishaps. My to-do list keeps growing instead of shrinking. Sometimes the annoying stuff scares me as much as the big stuff. Somehow, I can gear up for cancer and death and mayhem. I've seen God work in and through disaster but all these tiny set backs make me think "does God care about the little stuff?" 

Week of July 13, 2015

This week concludes Ramadan - a month long season of Muslim prayer and fasting. Because of the intensity of the fast and the summer heat, much of what our reps would like to schedule has been put on hold. Its not wise to schedule tournaments and trainings when people are not eating and drinking all day. Furthermore, we want to honor the culture and contextualize our events appropriately but because the majority of our sports experts are high school and college coaches who are only available during the summers, it has been difficult to match needs with availability during this time.

Week of July 6, 2015

The US women's national team won the World Cup on Sunday, beating Japan 5-2. Millions watched the game on TV, which drew record-breaking crowds. Experts are now predicting a huge uptick in participation in youth soccer leagues across the country. Many are suggesting that the generation of girls inspired by the last American World Cup champs (1999) are now mothers themselves, pushing the momentum of women's soccer towards their own children with a renewed enthusiasm. The sport of soccer in particular and women's athletics in general are riding an enormous wave of support. 

Week of June 29, 2015

This past week, in what will be remembered as one of the most significant social shifts of our generation, the Supreme Court ruled that same sex couples have a constitutional right to marry in all 50 states. The American church's response has predictably fallen down old fault lines. The conservative right mourns the shift away from the traditional definition while the progressive left celebrates this as a long overdue correction. Our country has been trending in this direction for years (functionally, marriage was compromised decades ago) but what is problematic is not that the definition has changed, its the the State's insistence that the definition is now changeable. This opens the doors for constant and continual redefinition.