Week of April 11, 2016

“At the cross, God simultaneously showed us the greatness of our sin against him and the greatness of his love for us.”

— Burk Parsons

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FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications

Watching Jordan Spieth's collapse at the Masters this weekend reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend about the brutal reality of sin -  it doesn't matter if you miss a 3 inch putt, a 30 foot chip or a 300 yard drive... it counts as a stroke against you. This spiritual reality should create gratitude in us for grace that our sin (no matter how big or small) is not counted against us but also urgency in our efforts to share this grace with the unreached.

For the Win[dow],

Bubby Bryan, DOC

VERSE OF THE WEEK: Romans 5:1-2

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Jordan

Following World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations awarded Britain the mandate to govern much of the Middle East. Britain demarcated a semi-autonomous region of Transjordan from Palestine in the early 1920s. The area gained its independence in 1946 and thereafter became The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The country's long-time ruler, King HUSSEIN (1953-99), successfully navigated competing pressures from the major powers (US, USSR, and UK), various Arab states, Israel, and a large internal Palestinian population. Jordan lost the West Bank to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. King HUSSEIN in 1988 permanently relinquished Jordanian claims to the West Bank; in 1994 he signed a peace treaty with Israel. King ABDALLAH II, King HUSSEIN's eldest son, assumed the throne following his father's death in 1999. He implemented modest political and economic reforms, but in the wake of the "Arab Revolution" across the Middle East, Jordanians continue to press for further political liberalization, government reforms, and economic improvements. In January 2014, Jordan assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2014-15 term. (CIA World Factbook)

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Pray for current religious freedom to remain despite increasing pressure to suppress it.
• Pray for the multitude of refugees who have crossed into Jordan to clearly hear the true gospel.
• Pray for Christianity to be held in high regard so that God's work in this strategic part of the Middle East would not be thwarted.
• Pray for the Uttermost workers in the field.
• Pray for the US office.

Week of April 4, 2016

“If all we needed was guidance, Moses would have sufficed. But we are so deeply flawed God himself and to come down with atonement and renewal.”

— Ray Ortland

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FROM THE DESK OF: The Director of Communications:

Last nights NCAA National Championship of North Carolina vs Villanova will go down as one of the greatest college games of all time. One amazing bucket with seconds left on the clock only to be trumped by another as time expired. Say what you will about the NCAA, say what you will about amateurism, for one shining moment last night we got a glimpse of what makes sports universally adored. What a powerful tool.

For the Win[dow],

Bubby Bryan, DOC

VERSE OF THE WEEK: Mark 6:34

"When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd."

COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Japan

In 1603, after decades of civil warfare, the Tokugawa shogunate (a military-led, dynastic government) ushered in a long period of relative political stability and isolation from foreign influence. For more than two centuries this policy enabled Japan to enjoy a flowering of its indigenous culture. Japan opened its ports after signing the Treaty of Kanagawa with the US in 1854 and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1931-32 Japan occupied Manchuria, and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and an ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, elected politicians hold actual decision-making power. Following three decades of unprecedented growth, Japan's economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s, but the country remains an economic power. In March 2011, Japan's strongest-ever earthquake, and an accompanying tsunami, devastated the northeast part of Honshu island, killed thousands, and damaged several nuclear power plants. The catastrophe hobbled the country's economy and its energy infrastructure, and tested its ability to deal with humanitarian disasters. Prime Minister Shinzo ABE was reelected to office in December 2012, and has since embarked on ambitious economic and security reforms to improve Japan's economy and bolster the country's international standing. (CIA World Factbook)

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Pray for the Gospel to take root in Japanese culture and no longer be perceived as a western religion.
• Pray for drifting, over-worked, and anxious youth to find freedom in Christ.
• Pray for the unity of God's Spirit to demolish barriers dividing the 120 different denominations.
• Pray for the Uttermost workers in the field.
• Pray for the US office.

Week of March 28, 2016

"Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden." - Corrie Ten Boom

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FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications

Yesterday a bomb exploded in Lahore, Pakistan killing 72 and injuring 341 others. It is believed that the blast was targeting Christian families on Easter. Be in prayer for these brothers and sisters as they grieve those they lost and continue to advance the Kingdom in a difficult part of the world.

For the Win[dow],

Bubby Bryan, DOC

VERSE OF THE WEEK: Isaiah 50:6

"I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting."

COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Mauritania

Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976 but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed TAYA seized power in a coup in 1984 and ruled Mauritania with a heavy hand for more than two decades. A series of presidential elections that he held were widely seen as flawed. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed President TAYA and ushered in a military council that oversaw a transition to democratic rule. Independent candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh ABDALLAHI was inaugurated in April 2007 as Mauritania's first freely and fairly elected president. His term ended prematurely in August 2008 when a military junta led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel AZIZ deposed him and installed a military council government. AZIZ was subsequently elected president in July 2009 and sworn in the following month. AZIZ sustained injuries from an accidental shooting by his own troops in October 2012 but has continued to maintain his authority. He was reelected in 2014 to a second and final term as president (according to the present constitution). The country continues to experience ethnic tensions among three major groups: Arabic-speaking descendants of slaves (Haratines), Arabic-speaking "White Moors" (Bidhan), and members of Sub-Saharan ethnic groups mostly originating in the Senegal River valley (Halpulaar, Soninke, and Wolof). Mauritania confronts a terrorism threat by al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb, which launched successful attacks between 2005 and 2010.

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

•  Pray for the Word of God to be preached among Mauritanians in their heart language.
• Pray for God’s mercy in the wake of severe drought and a poor economy that plagues the people.
• Pray for Christ’s freedom to be understood by those suffering under the bondage of slavery.
• Pray for the Uttermost workers on the field.
• Pray for the US office.

Week of March 21, 2016

"Prayer... is enjoying the care of a powerful Father, instead of being left to a frightening loneliness where everything is all down to you." - Mike Reeves

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FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications

Today the President is making a trip to Cuba along with Yankee great Derek Jeter. This is a complicated and controversial trip. One side insists that the embargo hasn't worked and its time to try something new. The other side is appalled that any contact is being made with this brutal regime. Perhaps baseball can be the common ground that leads to more substantive conversation within restricted contexts. Once again, for whatever reason, sport seems to be a bridge that can lead to (if not change) improved relations. We at Uttermost want to ride that train as long as we can.

For the Win[dow],

Bubby Bryan

VERSE OF THE WEEK: 1 John 3:1

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are."

COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Nepal

In 1951, the Nepali monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system that brought political parties into the government. That arrangement lasted until 1960, when political parties were again banned, but was reinstated in 1990 with the establishment of a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. An insurgency led by Maoists broke out in 1996. The ensuing 10-year civil war between Maoist and government forces witnessed the dissolution of the cabinet and parliament and the re-assumption of absolute power by the king in 2002. Several weeks of mass protests in April 2006 were followed by several months of peace negotiations between the Maoists and government officials, and culminated in a late 2006 peace accord and the 2007 promulgation of an interim constitution. Following a nationwide Constituent Assembly (CA) election in 2008, the newly formed CA declared Nepal a federal democratic republic, abolished the monarchy, and elected the country's first president. After the CA failed to draft a constitution by a May 2012 deadline set by the Supreme Court, then-Prime Minister Baburam BHATTARAI dissolved the CA. Months of negotiations ensued until March 2013 when the major political parties agreed to create an interim government headed by then-Chief Justice Khil Raj REGMI with a mandate to hold elections for a new CA. Elections were held in November 2013, in which the Nepali Congress won the largest share of seats in the CA and in February 2014 formed a coalition government with the second place Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist and with Nepali Congress President Sushil KOIRALA as prime minister. Nepal's new constitution came into effect in September 2015.

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Pray for Jesus to be made known among unreached peoples in hard-to-access locations.
• Pray for biblical training and Christlikeness for a rising generation of church leaders.
• Pray for the Living God to restore those devastated by the earthquakes.
• Pray for the Uttermost workers on the field.
• Pray for the US office.

Week of March 7, 2016

"It is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone." - Hudson Taylor

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FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications

Today Peyton Manning officially retires. He will undoubtedly ride off into the sunset as one of the top five quarterbacks* of all time! Fun watching old number 18 play. Godspeed, Peyton.

OMAHA!!

Bubby's Official All-Time QB rankings:

1. Tom Brady

2. Joe Montana

3. Peyton Manning

4. John Elway

5. Brett Favre

For the Win[dow],

Bubby Bryan, DOC

VERSE OF THE WEEK: Mark 6:34

"When he went ashore he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd."

COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Kazakhstan

Ethnic Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes who migrated to the region by the 13th century, were rarely united as a single nation. The area was conquered by Russia in the 18th century, and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in 1936. During the 1950s and 1960s agricultural "Virgin Lands" program, Soviet citizens were encouraged to help cultivate Kazakhstan's northern pastures. This influx of immigrants (mostly Russians, but also some other deported nationalities) skewed the ethnic mixture and enabled non-ethnic Kazakhs to outnumber natives. Non-Muslim ethnic minorities departed Kazakhstan in large numbers from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s and a national program has repatriated about a million ethnic Kazakhs back to Kazakhstan. These trends have allowed Kazakhs to become the titular majority again. This dramatic demographic shift has also undermined the previous religious diversity and made the country more than 70 percent Muslim. Kazakhstan's economy is larger than those of all the other Central Asian states largely due to the country's vast natural resources. Current issues include: developing a cohesive national identity; managing Islamic revivalism; expanding the development of the country's vast energy resources and exporting them to world markets; diversifying the economy outside the oil, gas, and mining sectors; enhancing Kazakhstan's economic competitiveness; developing a multiparty parliament and advancing political and social reform; and strengthening relations with neighboring states and other foreign powers.

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Pray for Kazakh Christians to seize opportunities to evangelize Central Asian immigrants.
• Pray for heads of families to place their hope in Christ instead of in shamanistic practices
• Pray for well-trained, godly leaders despite most Bible schools and seminaries being closed.
• Pray for the Uttermost workers in the field.
• Pray for the US office.

Week of February 29, 2016

“Prayer at its highest is a two-way conversation and for me the most important part is listening to God’s replies.”

— Frank C. Laubach

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FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications

Today is a weird day. Its February 29. We have an extra day today... use it to do something amazing!

For the Win[dow],

Bubby Bryan, DOC

VERSE OF THE WEEK: John 15:9

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love."

COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Kenya

Kenya, is a country in Africa and a founding member of the East African Community (EAC). Its capital and largest city is Nairobi. Kenya's territory lies on the equator and overlies the East African Rift covering a diverse and expansive terrain that extends roughly from Lake Victoria to Lake Turkana (formerly called Lake Rudolf) and further south-east to the Indian Ocean. It is bordered by Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west,South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 581,309 km2(224,445 sq mi), and had a population of approximately 45 million people in July 2014.

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Pray for the end of government corruption that continues to broaden the gap between rich and poor.
• Pray for foreign agencies and missionaries to transition from leadership to consulting for growing national organizations.
• Pray for fresh Holy Spirit fire among the majority, though nominal, Christian population.
• Pray for the Uttermost workers in the field.
• Pray for the US office.