JUNE 2019
ISSUE 22
K I NGFI S H E R FAMILY International Day of Prayer 2019 “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16) This month marks the 5th International Day of Prayer throughout the Kingfisher Family. Each year, for one day, believers in countries stretching around the world come together in prayer for this world, for the countries represented by Kingfisher, for the mission and ministry of the churches in those countries.
The world at its worst desperately needs the Church at its best
make? All the difference in the world! “For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18:20, NLT) This June 30th, let’s bring Jesus into the picture through gathering together in prayer. We may not be able to join together physically, but we can certainly pray in our local congregations, knowing that thousands of others are doing the same around the world, knowing that I Am is there among us, bringing His Kingdom to bear on this fractured, hurting, lost world.
With an increasingly hostile environment in the UK surrounding Brexit, with the There has never, in living reelection of a pro-Hindu, antimemory, been a greater urgency Christian government in India, for united, believing, focussed with cyclones wreaking havoc in prayer for this world than now. Mozambique and Malawi, the Open Doors revealed in a recent temptation is to ‘circle the “Your Kingdom come! Your will be wagons’ and just look after report that one in three done, here on earth as it is in number one. In the words of Christians face persecution in Heaven!” (Matthew 6:10) Cain, when asked by the LORD, Asia. India has entered the top ten countries where Christians “ ‘Where is your brother? Where is experience significant Abel?’ ‘I don't know,’ Cain persecution for the first time. responded. ‘Am I my brother's Five years ago, they were in 28th guardian?’” (Genesis 4:9, NLT) position. China continues to increase its persecution of Our response to that question Christians, with at least 50 from Cain - a question that Kingfisher Family million believers expected to defines the generation in which International Day of Prayer experience some form of we live - is the International repression this year. Some Day of Prayer. We cannot church leaders there are saying just sit idly by as our brothers that persecution is at its worst and sisters around the world are Sunday 30th since the Cultural Revolution being persecuted, tortured, June 2019 ended in 1976. In fact, Open seeing their churches burned Doors estimates that 245 million down, being forced to convert to Christians worldwide face high another religion, living in fear of “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” levels of persecution this year, up their lives. What good is one day (James 5:16) from 215 million last year. of prayer? What difference can it