GOD CAN AND DOES

PRAY WITH ME FOR AFRICA: Djibouti is a dessert country with possibly the hottest average temperatures of any country on earth. Islam is the religion of the state. Religious freedom is allowed for foreigners but conversion brings risk of intense persecution for locals. Under 2% Christian mostly immigrant groups from other Muslim countries. Mission work is taking place but please pray as they work under intense physical and oppressive conditions.

On the horn of Africa

Isaiah 40.25-31

²⁵ To whom then will you compare me,
    that I should be like him? says the Holy One. (Only God is eternal. No one is like Him.)
²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high and see:
    who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
    calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
    and because he is strong in power,
    not one is missing. (Estimates of the radius of the universe now stand at around 46 billion light-years, and no end is in sight. God created this.)

²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob,
    and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
    and my right is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰ Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹ but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint. (This eternal, creator God is willing to consider the faint, the weak, the exhausted who wait upon Him, The Lord, and renew their strength so they may walk and not faint. What an offer from a God who can fulfill His offer. After the cross and the resurrection we are called to live in Christ.)

Isaiah 57.15
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
    and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Good article I read this week: God works in wonderful ways.

NORTH KOREA: Introduced to God During Interrogation

Source: Mission Network News

Photo: Flickr / Roman Harak (cc)

"Kyung-ja" first heard of God while suffering in a North Korean prison. Prior to her incarceration, she had escaped North Korea in an attempt to earn money in China for her starving family back home. When Kyung-ja returned, however, she was arrested. According to Todd Nettleton of VOM USA, while being interrogated, she was repeatedly asked unexpected questions: "Did people in China talk to you about God? Did you meet with people who are followers of God? Did you read the book about God while you were in China?" For Kyung-ja, this topic was completely new, as she had never before heard of God.
After facing interrogation, Kyung-ja was transferred to a labour camp. Intrigued by the interrogator's questions, she asked a fellow prisoner about God. This prisoner affirmed that there was a God but was too afraid to talk about Him in the camp. Even so, a seed had been planted in Kyung-ja's heart.
If even the guards were afraid of God, Kyung-ja reasoned, then He must be powerful. And so, despite knowing nothing about God, she began to pray and ask for His help. To her surprise, Kyung-ja began to witness answers to her desperate prayers.
Eventually Kyung-ja was able to again escape North Korea and connect with her daughter who had earlier defected to South Korea. Her daughter could answer many questions about God, Jesus and the Bible. When Todd Nettleton personally met Kyung-ja in South Korea, she was able to read the Bible and understand what it means to follow Christ.
If you would like to post a prayer of praise or petition on behalf of our persecuted family around the globe, visit VOMC's prayer wall.