Rejoice in all that you put your hand to

About 15 years ago, one brother came to meet me and said,

“I have finished engineering. Worked in many countries. For the past 20 yrs, I have been into many businesses. But nothing prospered. I’m married but no children. I am a Christian. Why am I not prospering in my life?”

I had to sit with him, along with the Holy Spirit to make an analysis of his life. It took almost 3 hrs. When we prayed together, the Lord showed the spreadsheet of his life to him. How he was stuck up in a structural institution called “Church” all these years. The Lord convinced him that if at all he has to receive the promises and blessings of the Lord mentioned in Bible, he has to step out of the structural institution which has suppressed him, exercise the authority which Jesus has entrusted him with and work for Him. He came to understand how he was misled by the structural Church all these years, not giving any role for the Holy Spirit in his life. He admitted his failures and surrendered his life to the Lord. Next day he went to meet his Church head and made his position clear. The Church head told him, “If you are leaving my Church, please do not disturb other people. Do not try to convince them of these ideas.”

He wanted to line up his life with God’s Word and His will, allowing the Holy Spirit to redirect and reprogram his life and actions. That very moment he felt the freedom and victory.

His life started progressing. He adopted 2 children. He is working and serving the Lord as a family.

It is the will of God that we, the children of God, rejoice in His presence, come to His rest, enjoy life in its abundance, and be blessed in all the works we do. (Dt. 12:9)

Then you and your household will eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with all the works of your hand with which he blessed you”. Dt 12:7 

No Place To Hide - Facial Recognition Technology Will End Your Privacy

The Chinese police in Nanchang made news in mid April when the press reported the arrest at a concert of a man wanted for fraud. The story was significant because automatic facial recognition systems, linked through now 176 million cameras across the country (rising to 600 million by 2020), had picked the man out of a crowd of 60,000 concertgoers and allowed the police to pinpoint his location in real time. 

The episode was promoted by the Chinese government as proof positive of the benefits of the Chinese surveillance state, but the notion that an authoritarian government uses automatic facial recognition to track its citizens everywhere has sent shivers down the spine of anyone concerned about privacy and who may not have full faith in the benevolence of the Chinese government.

Facial recognition holds the promise of an incredible leap forward in law enforcement but backwards in individual rights. No longer will oppressive governments need to employ human watchers to monitor video footage. 

Now highly accurate computer algorithms, monitoring tens or even hundreds of millions of video feeds, match patterns of facial geometry to identify individuals, even if beards or makeup are used. A criminal suspect shows his face on a public street, at a shopping mall, in a bank or at a bus stop and an alert can immediately go out to summon police for arrest. 

Tellingly, the same system can be used against terrorists, political dissidents, union leaders, human rights protestors, members of the press, the poor, or ethnic minorities. As Paul Harvey used to say, you can run, but you can't hide.

Though China has made the hardest push for ubiquitous surveillance through its vast network of cameras linked in real time to computer-based facial recognition, it is far from alone. The NYPD has been attempting to gain access to the state database of facial recognition information collected for driver's licenses. 

The NYPD's Real Time Crime Center and Facial Identification Sections are not satisfied with using only the facial scans of those it has arrested but wants to link every driving adult to its camera-equipped system, the vast majority without ever having been arrested. Thousands of cameras now installed at NYC intersections, tunnels and public buildings are feeding data into automatic facial recognition systems similar to those in Communist China.

As a precursor to real-time facial recognition powered by machine algorithms, Georgetown University's Center on Privacy and Technology revealed in 2016 that 26 states are already sharing facial recognition data collected on driver's licenses and 16 of those also share with the FBI, meaning that roughly half of the adult population can already be identified through facial recognition, though only upon arrest at this point. 

Proponents of automatic recognition systems linked to pervasive surveillance point to the ability to locate missing persons, help dementia patients, identify unconscious victims and catch dangerous felons. The drawbacks are much harder to swallow, however.

Protest movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party Movement and Black Lives Matter, were all monitored by the FBI with thousands of faces being fed into federal databases, according to recently revealed information. Those attending vigils held for victims are also common targets for facial pattern collection, representing what amounts to a chilling crackdown on free speech. 

With frightening similarity to Egyptian police who manually record protest marches so they can come, often in the night, to arrest dissidents for torture in secret prisons, the creation of a government database of known protestors and blacklists of Americans is unsettling to say the least. 

The latest proposal to link such automatic systems to police body cams takes the concept even further because it makes every officer a walking eye of the surveillance state.

The recent leak of data on 87 million Facebook users is another cause for concern because Facebook, as its name implies, is currently the world's largest facial portrait database and the profile photos cannot be made private, according to company policies. 

Facebook itself ran afoul of European privacy laws in 2012 and was forced to suspend its activities after it used facial recognition automatically to tag and link photos, a dangerous proposition for those who want to stay hidden from abusive ex-spouses. 

The system showed a 97% accuracy in testing, superior at the time to even the FBI's modest 85% accuracy several years prior. Now it is reported to be ready to restart its facial recognition program for all users. 

Even more worrying, there is strong evidence to indicate that private intelligence companies have already compiled this vast trove of 2.2 billion photos for facial recognition purposes, to be sold to governments and corporations alike.

Forbes magazine reported this year on a company called Terrogence, started by an ex-Mossad intelligence officer. For the last five years, Terrogence has specialized in the construction of huge face-scan databases, compiling the data from social networks, Youtube videos, Internet forums, blogs, official records, news articles and a host of other sources. 

Terrogence has been selling cutting-edge intelligence technology and information to the NSA. So, what the government doesn't collect legally through driver's licenses and arrest data, it quietly purchases from private intelligence corporations.

Marketed as an effort to stop terrorism by tracking down jihadists solely by their faces, LinkedIn profiles and leaks from former employees, their involvement in politics appears to go much deeper, with one employee describing her job as "open source intelligence practices and social media engineering methods to investigate political and social groups." 

The company quietly boasts of infiltrating political groups with fake online personas in an effort to gather intelligence and create dossiers on possible subversives, all for profit and free from even the loose legal tethers of the US deep state. 

The American no-fly list is a famous example of a black list that, although a sensible project that started with good intentions, quickly spun out of control until it was banning toddlers with similar names. There was no way for an individual to know if they were on it, how they got there or if there was a way to get off such a black list. 

The same threat to personal liberty now exists with privatized "black lists" created from these corporate databases and, in addition to being denied access to flights, the consequences could be high-risk police stops, pervasive monitoring and restrictions on normal activities, all based on automatic facial recognition.

Communist China has made no efforts to hide what will soon be a total-information surveillance state, but the United States is quietly building out the same level of control through private contractors and a patchwork connection of corporate and government data. 

The reality is that all our unique facial signatures are likely already in a database, whether government or corporate, and those databases are being linked, slowly at first, to automatic facial recognition systems through cameras popping up around major cities.  There will soon be nowhere to hide. Comparisons to Orwell's 1984 have become cliché by now, but what else can really be said except that Orwell never dreamed it would go this far. 

PNW Staff

The 23rd Psalm

This is an eye opener; some probably never thought nor looked at this Psalm in this way, even though they say it over and over again.

The Lord is my Shepherd

That's Relationship!

I shall not want

That's Supply!

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures

That's Rest!

He leadeth me beside the still waters

That's Refreshment!

He restoreth my soul

That's Healing!

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness

That's Guidance!

For His name sake

That's Purpose!

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

That's Testing!

I will fear no evil

That's Protection!

For Thou art with me

That's Faithfulness!

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me

That's Discipline!

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies

That's Hope!

Thou annointest my head with oil

That's Consecration!

My cup runneth over

That's Abundance!

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life

That's Blessing!

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

That's Security!

Forever

That's Eternity!

Compiled by Sr.Anita

Testimonies

• I am completely changed in Jesus name by his stripes – Sis.Jessy

• “I was in the Lord’s presence. Received many visions and prophecies. Learned the Word in depth, the solid and strong food for my body and soul. The classes touched me, molded me. Learned to fight with satan. The visions the Lord showed in the NWC was a surprise. Learned that the Army of Jesus is fully under the control of Jesus” – Reuban

• The way the Holy Spirit taught me was amazing! Each class taught me the mystery of the Word of God! The classes on prophecy really touched me – Catherine

• My heart received real peace and joy. All my worries disappeared - David Navaraj

• I came as an empty vessel. But now my cup is overflowing. I came as an ordinary man. Now going back as a soldier. This short term emergency training prepares soldiers for emergency warfare and about the strategies. In my life first time 5 days I forgot all about the worldly things and was without any worries - Seena

• Learned many new things. Got delivered me from all mental worries – Victoria J

Christian Soldier in Egypt Shot in another Mysterious Military Death

Another Christian soldier in Egypt has died under mysterious circumstances.
 
The family of Mikhail Farahat Saad received notice from the army on April 22 that their son had died in a military camp in North Sinai Governorate, near El Arish, reported Al Karma TV. He was 22.
 
When his body last week was transported to the southern Egyptian town of Qusiya, where his family lives, his death certificate stated he died from a “gunshot wound that resulted in his death,” according to Al Karma.
 
At first a nurse and a soldier accompanying the body denied any knowledge of the cause of death, but later they said he died when a rifle accidentally fired while he was cleaning it, according to Al Karma.
 
A relative who is not a member of his immediate family told Al Karma in a live phone interview on April 23, however, that a doctor at Qusiya General Hospital who examined the body said the bullet wound entered from the back and exited from the front, shattering the jaw. The entry and exit wounds indicated someone else shot him, he said.
 
The relative, identified only as Yousef, told Al Karma’s Dr. Mona Roman that Saad had spent 2.5 years in the army and was not a novice in gun maintenance and cleaning safety regulations.
 
At this writing the army has issued no official explanation for his death.
  
Saad was the latest of several Christian soldiers to die in military camp, with the army citing “suicide” as the cause of death in most cases.
 
On July 19, 2017, another Coptic Christian, 22-year-old Joseph Helmy, died in a hospital near Al-Salaam. Four soldiers were reportedly arrested on suspicions of beating him to death.
 
Other Coptic Christians who have died for their faith while serving in the Egyptian military include Michael Gamel Mansour. On Feb. 17, 2016, the Egyptian military informed his family that the 22-year-old conscript from Assuit had committed suicide. Authorities claimed Mansour, who was assigned to a unit that guards El Gomhoreya Stadium in Cairo, shot himself with a rifle.
 
On Nov. 20, 2015, the military informed Nataay Boushra that his son, Private First Class Bishoy Nataay Boushra, a second-year conscript soldier in the Egyptian army, was dead, also a victim of suicide. Boushra, 21, served in the Central Security Forces (CSF), a ubiquitous, 450,000-man unit under the command of the Ministry of Interior used to augment the Egyptian National Police.
 
According to the military, Boushra was found dead the morning of Nov. 20, 2015 in the bathroom of a military jail cell with a sheet wrapped around his neck. Officials told Nataay Boushra that his son hung himself from a windowsill.
 

 In addition to the ligature marks expected from a hanging or strangling death, Boushra’s torso was covered with bruises and huge welts from what appeared to be sustained, brutal beatings.
 
For months before his death, according to his father, Boushra endured threats, violence, intense verbal abuse and public humiliation from a fellow draftee, a Muslim known to the public only as “Mustafa.” Boushra took the abuse in stride until Nov. 4, when the Muslim soldier launched into yet another tirade against Christianity. Boushra picked up a stick the size of an ax handle and hit the other soldier in the head, knocking him to the ground, according to military court testimony.
 
The soldier was taken to a hospital for examination and then released. Both men were arrested and placed together in a jail cell awaiting a hearing in a military court. For reasons still unknown, another soldier who was a friend of Mustafa was later locked in the military prison cell with Boushra and Mustafa, the same cell in which he was later found dead, according to the military.
 
In August 2015, a Muslim soldier reportedly shot Coptic Christian Bahaa Karam, in Marsa Matruh, Matrouh Governorate, during a religious dispute. He was 22.
 
In July 2015, the army reported Abraam Girgis, 21, died after receiving multiple injuries at his post at the Central Security unit in Cairo. In June 2015, Bahaa Silvanus 23, was said to have committed suicide, but relatives denied the claim.
 
The army claimed Abou al-Khair, 22, committed suicide in August 2013. In September 2006, Girgis Youssef, 20, died from a “sudden drop in blood pressure,” according to the army, but relatives said they found injuries consistent with torture on his body.
 
In August 2006, the body of Hany Nasrallah, 21, was found in the Nile River in Upper Egypt with signs of torture.
 
Egypt was ranked 17^th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Anti-Conversion' Bill Becomes Law in Uttarakhand State, India

Uttarakhand has become the seventh state in India to put “anti-conversion” legislation in force.
 
Gov. Krishna Kant Paul on April 18 signed the “Freedom of Religion” bill (Dharma Swatantrata Adhiniyam), which the state Legislative Assembly had passed.
 
“The bill has been signed by the governor,” Ravi Bijarniya, assistant director for information in the governor’s office, told Morning Star News.
 
Despite confirmation from the governor’s office, sources at the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) denied receipt of the signed bill.
 
“We confirm the receipt of 10 bills, which do not include the anti-conversion bill,” Officer on Special Duty R.B. Pant told Morning Star News. “We had sent the anti-conversion bill for approval on April 17, and if it has been signed, we might receive it soon.”
 
While staff members of the concerned office deny receiving the signed bill, local media and Jagran, a national newspaper, have reported the news of the governor’s approval of the bill and enforcement of the act.
 
Uttarakhand now joins Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand as states that have adopted anti-conversion bills, which Hindu extremists routinely use to falsely accuse Christians of forcible or fraudulent conversion.
 
Dr. John Dayal, spokesman for the United Christian Forum and the All India Catholic Union, told Morning Star News that enacting the anti-conversion law was driven by the ruling group’s communal agenda. 
 
“It fails the very basic test of explaining to the world the need for having such a law,” he said. “There is no forcible or fraudulent conversion in the state to the Christian or Muslim or Sikh faiths shown either by the Census data or by the police statistics. In the absence of such reality, the only explanation can be that it is to threaten the minority communities or to curb the freedom of religion of the Dalit and backward communities whose rights are being crushed by the upper castes which exercise political power in the state.”
 
The ruling party came to power on a “rabid communal platform,” he added.
 
“We will challenge such a law, in the court of law and the court of public opinion,” Dayal said.
 
Regulating the Holy Spirit

The new law makes forced conversions a non-bailable offense punishable by a jail term of between one and five years. If a victim of “forced conversion” is a minor, woman or person belonging to either a Scheduled Caste (Dalit) or a Scheduled Tribe (Tribal), the minimum jail term is two years.
 
The law also makes it mandatory to obtain permission from the state government prior to religious conversion. An affidavit has to be submitted with the respective District Magistrate at least one month prior to conversion. Persons converting for the purposes of marriage also must submit the same affidavit one month prior to marrying.
 
If this procedure is not followed and conversion is discovered, it will be invalidated and considered illegal by the state government.
 
The law also requires the clergy performing the conversion ceremony to give a month’s advance notice to the district magistrate. After receiving such information, a police enquiry will be conducted “with regard to the real intention, purpose and the cause of that proposed religion conversion,” according reports.
 
The law stipulates that any marriage solemnized for the sole purpose of conversion by a man belonging to one religion with a woman of another religion may be declared null and void by the family court, according to reports. The law also allows immediate family members of a person who has been converted to register a case to nullify the marriage.
 
Swift Passage

The entire process of introducing, passing and signing the bill took less than six months in a state where Christians are just 0.37 percent of the population, according to the 2011 Census. The state is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
 
The government of Uttarakhand, headed by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, prepared a draft bill after the Uttarakhand High Court in November 2017 suggested the state legislate a “Freedom of Religion Act” to keep a check on “sham” conversions, which in some cases were “only to facilitate the process of marriage,” according to the court.  
 
While the judges admitted that “it is not the role of the court to give suggestions to the state government to legislate,” nevertheless it justified the suggestion, “due to fast changing social milieu.”
 
The state cabinet, in a meeting led by the chief minister, cleared a draft of the bill on March 12, and it was subsequently introduced in the State Legislative Assembly and passed on March 22. The BJP enjoys a three-fourths majority in the 70-member House.
 
According to Pant, the bill was sent for the governor’s approval on April 17. Local media on April 19 reported that the governor gave his approval on April 18.
 
The swiftness of the Uttarakhand government to comply with a mere suggestion by the High Court has led many to believe the process was a mere formality.
 
Before passage, Dr. Indira Hridayesh, leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, was quoted in media as saying, “There was no need to come up with this piece of legislation; they know they cannot win the elections solely on their own work and are now going back to the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] agenda of Ram Mandir [temple] and religious conversions.”
 
She had highlighted that the bill would violate the provisions of religious freedom that allows individuals to practice religion of their choice without interference.
 
The Rev. Theodore Mascarenhas, general secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, told Morning Star News that the law empowers the government to trespass on private life.
 
“It is a complete encroachment on the private life of a person,” Mascarenhas said. “Religion and faith is something very private; it cannot be taken into public domain and controlled from the outside. These are personal decisions.”
 
Dr. Satish John, vice president of the Minority Commission of Uttarakhand, saw the law as very serious matter.
 
“This could be misused against minorities,” he told Morning Star News. “We must safeguard ourselves by approaching the Minority Commission if discrepancy is noticed in any individual case. The commission is established to make sure that such laws are not abused.”
 
Passed v. Enforced 

Anti-conversion laws are currently in force in Odisha (formerly Orissa), Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and now Uttarakhand. Arunachal Pradesh passed legislation but has not framed corresponding rules, and a bill passed in Rajasthan was not signed by the then-governor of the state.
 
The Gujarat, Jharkhand and now Uttarakhand laws necessitate prior permission in order to convert while the other six laws require notification.
 
Uttarakhand is the tenth state to pass anti-conversion legislation and the seventh since 2000. Orissa (now Odisha), Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Jharkhand have passed similar laws, with Tamil Nadu passing a law in 2002 and repealing it in 2004.
 
Though attempts to enact anti-conversion laws happened even before India’s independence in 1947, Orissa (now Odisha) was the first state to enact an anti-conversion law in 1967, ironically titling it a “Freedom of Religion” law.
 
Uttarakhand’s BJP-ruled government, led by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, completed one year in power on March 18. Rawat is a known RSS worker who has worked his way up the organization, serving as the Organizing Secretary for the RSS in the Uttarakhand region, and later the state before he entered politics through the BJP in 2002.
 
The hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist BJP, against non-Hindus, has emboldened Hindu extremists in several parts of the country to attack Christians since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, religious rights advocates say.
 
India ranked 11^th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of countries where Christians experience the most persecution.

Muslim Extremists Murder 39 Christians in Benue State, Nigeria

Still shocked over a deadly attack on a Catholic congregation on Tuesday (April 24), Christians in Nigeria’s Benue state yesterday suffered another onslaught by Muslim Fulani herdsmen that reportedly left at least 39 people dead.
 
More than 160 houses also were reported to have been set ablaze in heavily armed attacks that began late Tuesday night in the Guma area on predominantly Christian Tse-Umenge, Mbakpase and Tse-Ali villages. Dozens of Christians were wounded, and at this writing the total number of those killed was not confirmed.
 
The area is about 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the Gwer East area attacks that took place the day before.
 
A resident of Mbakpase, Alice Terwase, told Morning Star News that the herdsmen who invaded her community were dressed in military camouflage and armed with AK-47 weapons.
 
“The herdsmen destroyed more than 60 houses in our village, and three members of my community were also killed during the attack,” Terwase said by phone. “At Tse-Ali village, more than 70 houses were set ablaze and 21 Christians killed. All affected victims are members of NKST [Universal Reformed Christian Church, or Nongu u Kristu u i Ser u sha Tar] church, and the Roman Catholic Church in the affected communities.”
 
John Umenge, of Tse-Umenge village, told Morning Star News that more than 50 houses were burned down by the herdsmen in his community.
 
“More than 15 Christians were killed and 50 houses destroyed by the herdsmen,” Umenge said. “The attacks began around 11 p.m. on Tuesday night and lasted to the early hours of today [Wednesday].”
 
The attacks by the herdsmen have led to protests in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.
 
Pastors and church leaders could not be reached for comment as Benue state is engulfed in a state of emergency.
 
Nigeria’s House of Representatives on Wednesday (April 25) suspended session and invited President Muhammadu Buhari to explain why the attacks have persisted.
 
Akpen Leva, chairman of the Benue state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), last month said the herdsmen had destroyed 500 church buildings since 2011 with attacks that have displaced 170,000 people.

Assault on Displaced

Seven Christians among several hundred taking refuge in a church building were killed shortly after midnight last night by Muslim Fulani herdsmen, a local official said.
 
The attack on the displaced Christians took place at the African Church in Mbamondo village, in the Logo area of Benue state.
 
“The attack carried out by the herdsmen in the church premises of the African Church in Mbamondo took place at about 12:20 a.m.,” Richard Nyajo, council chairman of Logo Local Government Area told Morning Star News by phone. “Seven Christian villagers who were displaced in previous attacks and were taking refuge in the church premises were killed.”
 
The assailants set houses on fire and were armed with deadly weapons, he said. The wounded have been transferred to a hospital Makurdi.
 
Protests Planned

Christians in Nigeria plan a nationwide protest on Sunday (April 29) against attacks on Christian communities..
 
CAN leaders directed all churches in the country to hold peaceful protests following the attack on the Catholic church in Benue state that killed two priests and 17 parishioners. The protests also are planned to object to the continued captivity of the only Christian girl kidnapped by Boko Haram from Dapchi School, Leah Nathan Sharibu, and the remaining Christians girls abducted from a Chibok high school four years ago.
 
“CAN urges Christians in Nigeria to hold peaceful protests on the set aside date in the premises of their churches, asking the Federal government and the security agencies to stop the unending killings and bloodshed in the country,” the Rev. Supo Ayokunle, president of CAN, said in a statement. “Christians are to carry placards with inscriptions meant to address issues about sustained killings, attacks and destruction of their property in Nigeria.”
 
The government should be called upon to perform its constitutional responsibility of protecting citizens now, Ayokunle said.
 
“No excuse should be given for this wicked act again, and perpetrators must be brought to book now,” he said. “CAN seizes this medium to appeal to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to mount different effective plans aimed towards disarming herdsmen across the northern states and in communities where they have been wreaking havoc across the country in national interest.”
 
The failure of the government to stop the killings by herdsmen is the reason they have continued to kill, he said.
 
“The association also calls on the heads of the security agencies to wake up to their constitutional role of protecting lives and property across the federation while preventing Nigeria from descending into chaos and a lawless country,” he said. “CAN recalls with pains, disappointments, and worries how Nigerians in the North East, Middle Belt and southern parts of Nigeria become visibly endangered with sustained attacks from Boko Haram, herders and armed bandits.”
 
Christians make up 51.3 percent of Nigeria’s population, while Muslims living primarily in the north and middle belt account for 45 percent.
 
Nigeria ranked 14^th on Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.

Father’s House,

Brotherhood Missions,

4/364 E, Anna Salai 1st Cross Street,

ECR, Palavakkam, Chennai 600041.

Tamil Nadu, India.

National Worship Centre is a centre where the Lord of hosts, the Lord God Almighty is worshipped in His majesty all the 24 hours. Per day 12 worship teams come to worship from different parts of the Nation. One slot consists of 2 hours. The opening of NWC also turns to be the trumpet sign to start the fatal war against satan to this Nation for Christ! Do you want to join this praising Army?

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Israel At 70: A Prophecy Fulfilled

In 1867, a young man named Samuel Langhorne Clemens set sail from New York, bound for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. 

Clemens is better known by his pen name -- Mark Twain (although in 1867, he was still an obscure journalist who had somehow convinced a California newspaper to fund this spectacular trip abroad, in exchange for regular updates from different stops on his journey).

Twain's two most famous books, about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, were still many years away -- and much rested on the success of his travelogue. As it turned out, the five-month cruise was a gamechanger, and the resulting book, The Innocents Abroad (1869), sold 70,000 copies in its first year, and was Twain's best-selling book during his lifetime.

The most important leg of the journey for Twain and his fellow passengers was their visit to the Holy Land, then known as Palestine -- at the time a minor outpost within the Syrian province of the Ottoman Empire. Most of the tourists on Twain's trip were devout Christians on their first pilgrimage to the land of the Bible. 

Twain, who was brought up Presbyterian, was undoubtedly swept up by the excitement and anticipation of reaching the Promised Land, spurred on by his distaste for almost everywhere else he had visited along the way.

But just about every myth and expectation was dashed by the reality that Twain confronted when he arrived. "The word Palestine always brought to my mind a vague suggestion of a country as large as the United States," he began, "I do not know why, but such was the case. I suppose it was because I could not conceive of a small country having so large a history."

Unlike the grandiose palaces and churches that Twain had encountered in Europe, along with the teeming cities and towns of Turkey and Syria, the land of the Bible was not just a jarring contrast -- it was inconceivable in light of the rich history with which it was associated. 

Western civilization owed itself to countless centuries of events that had occurred in this exact geographic location, and yet it was a veritable wasteland, whose inhabitants -- of all faiths and cultures -- were primitive and unsophisticated.

"Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes," he wrote. "Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies."

Twain described in vivid, unfiltered detail, the squalor and desolation that he witnessed in every place he visited across the country, and his description of Jerusalem, once the crown of Judea, is particularly disturbing: "Renowned Jerusalem itself, the stateliest name in history, has lost all its ancient grandeur, and has become a pauper village; the riches of Solomon are no longer there to compel the admiration of visiting Oriental queens; the wonderful temple which was the pride and the glory of Israel, is gone."

The state of Jerusalem's inhabitants only underscored just how much this once glorious city had sunk into decline. "It seems to me that all the races and colors and tongues of the earth must be represented among the fourteen thousand souls that dwell in Jerusalem. Rags, wretchedness, poverty and dirt ... abound."

Twain was particularly struck by how barren the country was, and how few people there were. As he traveled through the Jezreel Valley, he noted that "there is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent -- not for thirty miles in either direction ... [and] one may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings." With hindsight, this was hardly surprising. The population of Palestine in the 1860s was 350,000; compare that to today's 8.5 million.

Twain's conclusion was that the Land of Israel was a bitter disappointment. It is "desolate and unlovely," he wrote, although "why should it be otherwise? Can the curse of the Deity beautify a land? Palestine is no more of this work-day world. It is sacred only to poetry and tradition; it is dream-land."

Twain's final analysis was that the Holy Land was a fantasy for religious dreamers looking for ghosts in a cemetery that was trapped in eternal damnation. But how wrong he was. Approximately 2,600 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel prophesized (Ez. 36:8): "But you, mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home." According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98a) "there is no greater sign of the redemption than the fulfillment of this verse." 

The Holocaust martyr, Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal, in his seminal work Eim Habanim Semeicha, wrote that the desolation of the Land of Israel, as witnessed by Twain, is an essential component of that prophecy, a precursor to the flourishing renewal of the land in Messianic times.

Seventy years after the creation of the State of Israel, we have all personally observed the fulfillment of that prophecy. And as we contrast the highly-developed, prosperous country with the dreadful place described by Mark Twain, and even with the struggling Israel that marked most of its formative years, let us all be acutely aware that the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy was highlighted by the Talmud as the greatest sign of imminent Messianic redemption.

PNW Staff

Persecution is Rising in India, but Christianity  Standing Strong

It's more dangerous now than ever before to be a Christian in India.

Open Doors has officially released its 2018 World Watch List, and India ranks number 11 out of the top 50 countries where Christian persecution is at its worst.

"Persecution of Christians is rising in India. More than ever before, the growth of radical Hinduism in the nation is fueling violent attacks, with even greater impunity for attackers as the government sides with radical groups," the organization wrote in its report.

Pastor Joseph D'Souza, who works tirelessly for human rights in India told CBN News Hindu extremists are spreading dangerous propaganda against Christians in the country.

"The propaganda that continues to go on which is absolutely not correct that Christians are involved in false and forced conversions. Nothing of that sort is happening," he explained.

"The propaganda that somehow Christians are working against India, against the interests of India by trying to be Christians, is propelling this. And a lack of control of these groups that seem to commit crimes and attack minorities with impunity," he continued.

D'Souza said radical Hindu extremists aren't just targeting India's Christians, but anyone who does not adhere to their ideology.

"It's not just related to the Christians. It's also related to the Muslims, Dalits, and now also Hindus," he said.

The situation is especially hard for Dalits -- people who rank the lowest in India's caste system and are considered "untouchable."

"India cannot continue with a caste system," D'Souza said. "While many Dalits have found freedom and dignity through Christian work and education and spiritual work, the problem is not over."

Despite the growing persecution of Muslims, Dalits, Hindus, and Christians, D'Souza said God is still at work in India.

"Persecution has never stopped the growth of the church. In fact, when we are attacked, when we are persecuted, we become stronger," he said. "They're standing strong and they're not recounting."

Pastor Murdered, Church Burned, Anti-Christian Violence on Upswing in India

India may be the world's largest democracy, but the government often falls short when it comes to protecting Christians and other minorities from attack by militant Hindus.

In 2017, Christians experienced almost as many attacks against them during the first half of the year than during all of 2016. So far this year, there are  no signs that the religious intolerance and persecution is letting up.

Just within this past week, two major incidents occurred: one in Tamil Nadu state, and another in Jammu Kashmir.

Last Saturday, parishoners of Maknayeem Church near Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu attempted to enter their church for a prayer and fasting meeting. When they arrived, they discovered the church gate was locked.
After unlocking the gate, they entered the church and found 43-year old Pastor Gideon Perisyaswamy hanging form the rafters of the church.

According to Wilson Chowdhry of the British Asian Christian Association, when police arrived on the scene they appeared "whimsical" and failed to initiate an investigation of the crime scene. Instead, they labeled the pastor's death a suicide.

Chowdhry says the church members suspected foul play because a gold ring was missing from the pastor's finger and there were signs of welts, bruising and torture on Pastor Gideon's body. 

"This was a particularly special day in which a large number of the church were about to attend for prayer an fasting. It would seem very unusual for a man to commit suicide before that without leaving a note," he said.

According to Chowdhry, the church and pastor had received several death threats from militant Hindus who were angry about the church evangelizing and converting Hindus to Christianity. Pastor Gideon had reported the threats to local police.

On January 16, 2018 in Jammu Kashmir, a Hindu mob burned Sehal Christ Church of Seri Panchayat. Several Christian businesses were also set ablaze.

Chowdhry says the militants were upset because a former Hindu was given a Christian burial. 

The woman, Seema Devi had converted to Christianity before she became ill and died. Her parents wanted her body to be cremated which is the Hindu custom, but her husband wanted the Christian ceremony because his wife was Christian.

The parents accused Rinku Kumar of murdering his wife Seema, but Chowdhry says Kumar actually prayed regularly for her healing.

Many Christians from Sehal Christ Church have fled into the woods because Hindus are forcibly re-converting many of them to Hinduism. Chowdhry says his organization has helped the pastor find refuge in a safe house about 200 miles away from the village.

We are happy to intimate to you the forthcoming 4^th anniversary celebration of National Worship Centre. 17238 slots have been completed so far .We are going to celebrate the anniversary for 7 days from 7/4/18 to 13/4/18.

2 Chr 30:21, 22 In this verse we see King Hezekiah celebrating 7 days feast for the Lord. For that he called all the people of Israel. They joined together and worshiped our Lord for 7 days.

2 Chron 30:21 “..For seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests sang to the Lord every day, accompanied by the Lord's instruments of praise”.

In the same way we are going to celebrate 7 days of special worship. In the end i.e. on 13/4/18 we join together and worship our lord. We are glad to invite you for this programme. BFF trainees, troop churches, NWC regular worshipers must take part in it. Come worship our lord as a team.

2 Chron 30:27 “..God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place”.

In the same way those who attend and worship the Lord these days - their prayer will reach heaven. They will receive from the hands of the Master special blessing and promises. No doubt the nation is going to be shaken during our worship. Be ready and prepare for that, Book your Slot.

Praise God for the successful completion of 17338 slots in National Worship Centre with a Non Stop Worship (24/7)

China Pledges to Protect Religious Freedom, Days after Bible Ban

China presented an official ‘white paper’ on religion on Wednesday, 4 April, guaranteeing “protection” for religious freedom, just four days after banning the online sale of Bibles.

The policy paper, titled ‘China’s Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief’, was presented by the State Council Information Office at a press conference and followed the disbandment of the Religious Affairs Bureau.

A local source said they had not been able to find or download Bibles from a popular Amazon-like online platform and that other people had reported similar experiences on social media. Others, however, still seemed to have access to online Bibles earlier this week, the source said.

The latest developments follow the implementation of new regulations on religion in February, which some religious leaders in China said violated religious freedom.

‘ACTIVE GUIDANCE NEEDED’

According to Bernardo Cervellera, writing for AsiaNews, the ‘white paper’ signalled a shift away from the Marxist philosophy that defined religion as the “opium of the people”, defining China as a “multi-religious country since ancient times”. However, the government’s policy document added that “active guidance” was needed so religions could “adapt to socialist society”.

The ‘Sinicization’ of religion has long been a core message of President Xi Jinping. Under his rule, control of religious life has increased, causing more pressure on Christians, Muslims and Buddhists.

Five Years on, Central African Republic Crisis Deepens

A UN spokesperson has called for a new approach to end the still-deepening crisis in the Central African Republic.

The situation in CAR has been deteriorating for five years now, and in the next six months may grow even worse, according to the head of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in CAR, Joseph Inganji.

Speaking to World Watch Monitor last week, Inganji called on “all actors to sit around the table to have a shared analysis and joint planning, in order to cut the vicious cycle of violence, and respond according to each other and everyone’s mandate”.

CAR fell into chaos on 24 March 2013 when a predominantly Muslim coalition of rebels, known as Séléka, ousted President François Bozizé and took power.

Six months later, in September 2013, Séléka’s leader, Michel Djotodia, who had proclaimed himself president, disbanded the group and in January 2014 resigned as president, to be replaced by Catherine Samba-Panza.

 “Since 2013, children are no longer going to school in some regions,” he said. “Which kind of future are we preparing for this country with a whole generation sacrificed?”

Meanwhile, Imam Omar Kobine Layama, the president of the Islamic Conference in CAR, said “all our efforts remain vain because of the lack of security”.

The imam called on the reinforcement of the state, notably the national army, to accompany the UN peacekeepers already deployed in the country.

Finally the representative of CAR’s Evangelical Alliance, François Ndeckere Nzogbia, welcomed the contribution of the international community towards the resolution of the crisis in CAR, but said more needs to be done:

“We need to be supported strongly in order to stop the acts of these warlords and criminals, who continue to kill central Africans on a daily basis. But unfortunately the echo is not raised loud enough to enable the world to know that somewhere in that world, men and women continue to be killed cowardly.”

The Geneva briefing was organised jointly by the World Evangelical Alliance and the Catholic charity Caritas International.

It was also attended by various key stakeholders, including the UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic, Marie-Thérèse Keita Bocoum, who stressed the key role of the religious leaders:

“I want to insist on the importance of interreligious dialogue, which will enable each locality of CAR to move forward to listening, forgiveness and reconciliation.”

5 Countries Where Christians Celebrated Easter Despite Persecution

Easter this year was a time of mixed emotions for the Christians who live under pressure for their faith. While political and religious leaders called for peace, reconciliation and brotherhood, Christians in countries like Syria and the Philippines continued to face violence and its consequences.

Below, World Watch Monitor gives a snapshot of what Easter 2018 looked like in some of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Photo courtesy: ©Thinkstock/elinedesignservices

1. SYRIA

In war-torn Syria, the Catholic community in the city of Aleppo celebrated Holy Week with a mixture of hope and scepticism, Bishop Georges Abou Khazen told AsiaNews. The Apostolic Vicar of the Catholic Church said: “We have experienced death and destruction but at the same time we have lived great testimonies of love and solidarity. The war continues and new victims die every day, an exaggerated number of deaths. People continue to flee from the country. Faced with all this suffering we cannot remain deaf and impassive; even after eight years we cannot resign ourselves to the logic of violence and war.”

2. PHILIPPINES

In the Philippines, 7,000 of Marawi’s 400,000 displaced citizens were able to visit their homes on Easter Sunday for the first time since the Philippine army liberated the city, which is on the southern island of Mindanao, from Islamist militants in October.

It followed a day of protests on Good Friday when, according to Catholic news site UCAN, thousands gathered to demand the opportunity to visit and pray in their devastated city. The protestors also claimed displaced residents had been mistreated by the government.

3. INDONESIA

People in Indonesia defied fears of growing Islamist extremism when Muslims joined Christians in celebrating Holy Week. Following dance performances by dozens of young Muslims during a procession on Good Friday in Ambon, capital of the south-eastern Maluku Province, Bishop Canisius Mandagi told the UCAN: “This is an example of where religion becomes a unifying tool and this religious celebration becomes a bridge to strengthening relations”.

Meanwhile Jakarta’s Catholic Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo toldChristians they “should go out and mingle with people from different backgrounds. This is a very important thing to do right now”. In his Easter message he also challenged the “money, power and prestige” that, he said, have become “serious challenges to national unity in Indonesia”, as “money is spent to gain power through bribery and corruption."

4. VIETNAM

For Catholics in the mountainous north-western part of Vietnam, Holy Week was marked by the first ever visit by a bishop since Catholic communities were established in the area over a century ago, reported UCAN. Bishop John Mary Vu Tat of Hung Hoa, in Hanoi, travelled 160km north-west to Yen Bai Province, where he visited nine parishes, sub-parishes and mission stations.

He baptised and administered Confirmation to members of the ethnic minority Hmong people group during an Easter Mass at Vinh Quang Church, which was attended by 2,000 people. A Paris-based Vietnamese human rights group recently expressed concern about an increase of attacks against religious minorities, like the Hmong Christians, in the Southeast Asian country.

5. ISRAEL

In Israel, 13 church leaders in Jerusalem issued a joint Easter message on Good Friday as violence erupted between Palestinians and Israeli security forces along the Israeli-Gaza border. “We pray to almighty God that people who are walking in the way of the cross may find it the way of hope, peace, and life,” they said.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christianity’s holiest site, was visited by hundreds of pilgrims on Easter Sunday. This following its closure in Februarywhen churches protested against the municipality’s plan to end the tax-exempt status with regards to commercial properties the churches hold.

Iraqi Christian Woman is Reunited with Father after 3 Years in ISIS' Captivity

An Iraqi Christian woman who was kidnapped by ISIS in 2014, raped and sold as a sex slave, has been reunited with her father.

Rita Habib called the emotional reunion a “dream,” as there were many times during her captivity when she never expected to see her father again.

“I am very happy that after three years I reunited with my father. It is a joyous moment because he is the only family I have left," Habib said.

The Christian Post reports that Islamic extremists overran Habib’s hometown of Qaraqosh, southeast of Mosul, three years ago. Thousands of people were killed and hundreds of woman, including Habib, were taken captive.

Habib was held captive in Mosul for several months before being sold as a sex slave to Syria.

She recounted some of the horrors she saw and experienced while in ISIS’ captivity:

"I was bought and sold four times. They did evil things to us. They beat us and raped us. The worst of all was girls aged nine who were raped. Girls would be sold for 4,000 to 15,000 dollars."

Habib was rescued several months ago as ISIS' stronghold in the region began crumbling. Now that she is back home and reunited with her father, she says she wants to begin rebuilding her life and community. She also hopes to help other women who were kidnapped.

The World Against Israel - 70 Nations Call For Creation Of Palestinian State

On Sunday, the 70 nations that gathered in Paris for a conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict unanimously agreed to call for the creation of a Palestinian state.  The joint declaration that was issued at the conclusion of the conference also endorsed UN Security Council Resolution 2334 which was adopted on December 23rd and the six principles that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry laid out in his 71 minute speech on December 28th. 

The good news is that this conference did not immediately recognize a Palestinian state, nor does it appear that additional action will be taken at the UN Security Council before Donald Trump is inaugurated on Friday.

It had been feared that this conference may attempt to impose some sort of a solution on the Israelis and the Palestinians, but that didn't come to pass. Instead, the conference participants agreed to work toward "a negotiated solution with two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security".

So the global community has clearly reaffirmed their commitment to a Palestinian state, but the outcome of this conference was not nearly as bad for Israel as many had been anticipating.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council will meet to further discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the Jerusalem Post is reporting that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has promised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there will not be any more UN Security Council resolutions regarding Israel before Trump takes office...

Israeli sources said Kerry called Netanyahu from the conference to brief him on the efforts the US was taking there to soften the language of the final statement. According to the sources, Netanyahu told Kerry that damage had already been done to Israel by the anti-settlement resolution that the US allowed to pass in the Security Council last month, and that no more harm should be allowed to be caused from the Paris summit.

Kerry assured Netanyahu that there would be no follow-up to the Paris conference in the Security Council, according to the sources. Even though that bullet has been dodged, we should still acknowledge that what just happened in Paris, France was extremely significant. It seems a very odd coincidence that exactly 70 nations gathered in Paris. It could have easily been 69 nations or 71 nations, but instead it was precisely 70.

According to Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, the author of The Harbinger and The Book of Mysteries, the number 70 represents all the nations of the world in ancient Jewish tradition..."It is interesting to note that the rabbis spoke of the world consisting of 70 nations," he observed. "This is linked to the 70 sacrifices offered in the Feast of Tabernacles. So now to have the nations of the world, specifically 70 nations, gather together over the issue of Jerusalem, is most striking. 

One could say that the 70 nations are a representation of all nations, and coming together clearly set against the word of God which clearly ordains that Jerusalem is given by God to only one nation - Israel.  "As to the Abrahamic Covenant, that what a nation does to Israel will be done to that nation, what America under Obama did to Israel at the United Nations - namely abandon it - was significant," he said.

Without a doubt, all of the largest and most powerful countries were represented at the conference. So what we just witnessed in Paris was essentially the whole world coming together to decide what should be done with the land of Israel. And by unanimously agreeing that the land of Israel should be divided and that a Palestinian state should be created, these global leaders are in great danger of literally cursing the entire planet.

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote an entire article about how those that bless Israel will be blessed and those that curse Israel will be cursed. I would venture to say that now the entire world is on the wrong side of that equation as a result of this conference in Paris. In a previous article I detailed 10 specific steps that Trump should immediately take to try to reverse the curse that Obama has put on America. One of the steps that I recommended was moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and this is something that Trump's team is actively talking about.

However, other global leaders are warning Trump not to do this. For example, on Sunday French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told the press that such a move would have "very serious consequences"... A "stubborn" proposal by President-elect Donald Trump to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would involve "very serious consequences" and damage efforts for peace in the Middle East, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Sunday.

And of course the Palestinians are threatening widespread violence if the U.S. embassy is moved to Jerusalem, but meanwhile the Palestinians have no problem opening up new embassies of their own. In fact, on Saturday the Palestinians just opened up a brand new embassy at the Vatican. Donald Trump may never have anticipated this, but the truth is that the relationship between the United States and Israel is likely to be one of the defining issues of his presidency.

Allowing UN Security Council Resolution 2334 to pass without a veto was the worst decision that Barack Obama made during his entire time in the White House, and it represented the greatest betrayal of Israel in the history of the United States.

In just a few days, Donald Trump will have an opportunity to begin repairing the immense damage that was done by that resolution, and it sounds like he wants to have a very positive relationship with Israel.

But it can't just be words. Politicians have a habit of telling us what we want to hear, and now Donald Trump will get his chance to show the world that he is not just another typical politician. The Times of London is already reporting that Donald Trump plans to task his Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner with mediating a peace agreement to end the conflict. Trump has previously suggested that Kushner could take on a role as Middle East peace envoy, telling The Times in November that he would be "very good at it." "I mean he knows it so well. He knows the region, knows the people, knows the players," Trump said.

My hope is that Donald Trump will truly be a friend to Israel in both word and deed, because that is what is desperately needed at this moment in history.

PNW Staff

He made you go hungry, He did this to teach you - _{Deut: 8-3}

It is written in Exodus chapter 15 and 16 that the Israelites walked through the desert for three days and did not find any water. It is also written that they starved in the desert without food for some time. Have we ever starved for food? Have we ever gone without water after a long walk? How will we respond if we starve and thirst with uncertainty surrounding our survival? Isn’t it natural for an unbeliever to complain at this point?

Exodus : 16 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

Why did the almighty God allow his people to starve and thirst? The Lord was definitely with the Israelites and still they went starving and thirsted for a while. If the Lord is with you is it possible for you to starve and thirst? Will Jesus allow this to happen?

The book of Deuteronomy, chapter 8 verse 3 says “He made you go Hungry, and then he gave you manna to eat, food that you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did this to teach you that man must not depend on bread alone to sustain him, but on everything the Lord says”.

In the desert when the Israelites thirsted and found bitter water they complained. It is written in Exodus 15:25 that the Lord made it fit to drink and then he gave them the law to live by. The Lord is commandments are to be learnt. The people would not have learnt the commandments if they were satisfied with food and water. The book of Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 11 says “make certain that you do not forget the Lord your God when you are sufficient with everything”.

This gives us serious thought.A self sufficient Christian tend to forget the Lord and a starving person tend to learn the way of the Lord! And the Lord allows his children to be tested.

The book of Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 5 says “remember that the Lord your God corrects and punishes you just as a father disciplines his children”. The book of Hebrews chapter 12 verses 7 and 8 says

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?

8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 

The above verses say hardships are for legitimate children of God If we are without hardships then we are in the danger zone of forgetting our Father! But if the Lord has permitted some hardships we are sure we are learning his decree.

The Israelites after learning the decree of the Lord the hard way were ready to take over the entire land of Canaan. The book of Joshua chapter 2 verse 9 says “all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you”.

The above is true for us; we have to endure hardships to become strong and to learn the decree of the lord, so that the people of the land may know that the Lord is with us, he will give us this land. Very soon the land will become our Lord’s possession (Genesis 48:20).

Paul while teaching Timothy says that a good soldier of Jesus Christ will endure hardship(2 timothy 2:3), because a battle field is not a comfortable place and only a person who has learned to endure hardship can sustain in the battle, hence hardships are training given by God for battle against the evil one. People who cannot endure hardship are unfit for battle.

One of our brothers used to say “the most uncomfortable place for a true Christian is a comfortable place”. I used to think why he says such a thing? But now I understand that a good Christian is used to the battle against the dark forces and he is trained for hardships hence he is not comfortable in a comfortable place.

Battle and warfare is inevitable for a true Christian. So without undergoing training he will not be ready to face any warfare.If we are undergoing hardships, it is nothing but training given by God to us. Hence let us endure hardships as a good soldier for Christ. Let us not complain about our hardships like the Israelites did, Even the hair in our head is counted; the Lord knows our needs even before we pray! So let us leave our hardships to Jesus and prepare ourself for battle for the Kingdom of heaven is near.

                                                                                                                             -    Dr Benedict Aruldas

We are happy to intimate to you the forthcoming 4^th anniversary celebration of National Worship Centre. 17238 slots have been completed so far .We are going to celebrate the anniversary for 7 days from 7/4/18 to 13/4/18.

2 Chr 30:21, 22 In this verse we see King Hezekiah celebrating 7 days feast for the Lord. For that he called all the people of Israel. They joined together and worshiped our Lord for 7 days.

2 Chron 30:21 “..For seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests sang to the Lord every day, accompanied by the Lord's instruments of praise”.

In the same way we are going to celebrate 7 days of special worship. In the end i.e. on 13/4/18 we join together and worship our lord. We are glad to invite you for this programme. BFF trainees, troop churches, NWC regular worshipers must take part in it. Come worship our lord as a team.

2 Chron 30:27 “..God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place”.

In the same way those who attend and worship the Lord these days - their prayer will reach heaven. They will receive from the hands of the Master special blessing and promises. No doubt the nation is going to be shaken during our worship. Be ready and prepare for that, Book your Slot.

Praise God for the successful completion of 17338 slots in National Worship Centre with a Non Stop Worship (24/7)

Father’s House,

Brotherhood Missions,

4/364 E, Anna Salai 1st Cross Street,

ECR, Palavakkam, Chennai 600041.

 Tamil Nadu, India.

National Worship Centre is a centre where the Lord of hosts, the Lord God Almighty is worshipped in His majesty all the 24 hours. Per day 12 worship teams come to worship from different parts of the Nation. One slot consists of 2 hours. The opening of NWC also turns to be the trumpet sign to start the fatal war against satan to this Nation for Christ! Do you want to join this praising Army?

Book your slots

Tel : 7708505152

Email ID: worshipcentreindia@gmail.com

This Month in NWC we are worshipping for “Chennai”. Book your slot for worship. No doubt the nation is going to be shaken during our worship. Be ready and prepare for that.

Testimonies

1) Riya : I learnt how to pray and hear the voice of God

2) Rithisha : I learnt God can talk to us.I frequently use my father's mobile now I decided not to use whatsapp and my father's phone

3) Kamatchi : I accepted Jesus Christ and removed all idols from my house but fearing my house owner I kept all the idols again now have decided to remove them permanently after a strong warning from God..I have decided to live for Christ

4) Santhosh : I came to this class with a lot of problems.After this class God taught me the way and the solution to sort out my problems

5) Indhuja : I came to this class with a lot of confusion .God warned me to leave the company of bad friends and frequently I used to hear the music and used whatsapp I have decided to stop using them

6) Tamilvanan: I never used to read the Bible now I have decided to read the Bible

7) Iniya: I used to think that prayer is  making requests.Now I have learnt that prayer is also listening to the voice of God

8) Guru prasad: I had lot of anger inside me. Now I decide to control my anger and learnt about prophecy

9) Vishwa : Now I have learnt how to transform the city and nation  by sealing with the blood of Jesus (decree).

10) Ranganathan:  I learnt that God will talk to me

11) Pavitra : I understood about fear of God and I have decided to control my anger

12) Manimozhi: I used to disrespect my husband by calling him by name. Now I have realized my mistake. I have decided to control unnecessary word from my mouth

13) Velvizhi: I used to hate worship now I have realized that Jesus is true God and God spoke to me about forgiveness

14) Maryamma: I just wanted to see what is going  on in this class.Now my faith in God has increased.

15) Vanaja: I used attend prayer in my Office in which I have seen people prophesy. But today I learnt I can also prophesy and God talks to me.

16) Ayesha: After coming to this session I realised that Jesus is the only true God.That prophecy is real and God talked to me.

17) Leelama: I'm happy for today's session. I'm eager to conduct more classes in the future. God revealed to me that I should control my mouth.

18) Cyril: God warned me about the company of bad friends.

Father’s House,

Brotherhood Missions,

4/364 E, Anna Salai 1st Cross Street,

ECR, Palavakkam, Chennai 600041.

 Tamil Nadu, India.

National Worship Centre is a centre where the Lord of hosts, the Lord God Almighty is worshipped in His majesty all the 24 hours. Per day 12 worship teams come to worship from different parts of the Nation. One slot consists of 2 hours. The opening of NWC also turns to be the trumpet sign to start the fatal war against satan to this Nation for Christ! Do you want to join this praising Army?

Book your slots

Tel : 7708505152

Email ID: worshipcentreindia@gmail.com

This Month in NWC we are worshipping for “Chennai”. Book your slot for worship. No doubt the nation is going to be shaken during our worship. Be ready and prepare for that.

Praise God for the successful completion of 17170 slots in National Worship Centre with a Non Stop Worship (24/7)

Somalia: Impoverished Secret Church Reaches Out to Persecuted Orphans

Orphans in Somalia whose parents were killed for their faith by Islamic extremist, Al Shabaab rebels are becoming more numerous – and hungrier, an underground church leader said.

The pastor started a care center for the orphans three years ago in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, as more children of secret Christians were orphaned.

“Last year we lost a Christian family killed by the Al Shabaab, and the number of children rose from 30 to 35,” he said. “The Al Shabaab are now hunting down the children in Mogadishu, and we have moved the care center to a bit safer location.”

The leader has taken the children in because they had nowhere else to go, but he lacks resources to take care of them – the Christian orphans are crying for food, he said.

“The children look devastated and malnourished, so we as a secret church do appeal to our brothers and sisters in the free world to consider extending a hand to these persecuted children,” the pastor said.

The children receive little support from Somalia’s impoverished underground Christian community, and their needs are increasing as some have begun attending school, he said.

“If we can get at least $1,000 dollars a month, that will really lighten our burden,” he said. “Please pray for the future of the Somalia underground church. The orphaned children will form the future of Somalia's underground church.”

The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law according to mainstream schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda adhere to the teaching.

Somali law and societal tradition create an atmosphere of hostility toward non-Islamic faiths similar to that created in regimes that execute apostates. The country’s Provisional Federal Constitution (PFC) does not explicitly prohibit Muslims from converting to other faiths, but leaving Islam remains socially unacceptable in all areas, according to the U.S. State Department’s latest Report on International Religious Freedom. 

The PFC provides for the right of individuals to practice their religion but prohibits propagation of any religion other than Islam, and it makes Islam the state religion. All laws must comply with the general principles of sharia (Islamic law), the report states.

The past few years Al Shabaab has lost ground to government and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeeping forces.

Rebels from Al Shabaab, which is allied with Al Qaeda, in February 2017 shot to death an underground Christian woman and her son and seriously wounded her husband. The family was asleep at their home at dawn in Afgoi, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Mogadishu, when at least four armed men attacked them shouting the jihadist slogan, “Allah Akbar [God is greater],” and, “We cannot allow the defiling of our religion with a foreign, Western religion,” according to the wounded husband.

The assailants killed his wife, 35-year-old convert Faduma Osman, and the couple’s 11-year-old son, Ahmed Suleiman. The couple’s two daughters, 13 and 7, and their 9-year-old son were able to escape out a backdoor.

Somalia is ranked third on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List of countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian.

Xi Jinping, Lifer: Bad News for Christians and the World

In the wake of Mao Zedong’s disastrous 27-year rule over the People’s Republic of China, his successors pushed through a series of reform measures to ensure that Chinese history wouldn’t repeat itself.

At the heart of these reforms was a provision that the Chinese “state chairman,” or in other words the state leader, could only serve two five-year terms.  The system worked as intended for three decades. While China’s human-rights record remained abysmal, at least the cult of personality that grew around Mao never developed under his successors.Until now.

China’s “well-choreographed annual parliament,” is set to remove the two-term rule for president in order to allow president Xi Jinping to rule for life.

Given the importance of China in the world’s economy and on the global stage, its slide towards one-man dictatorship is troubling enough. But even more troubling is the kind of dictatorship Xi seems intent on creating.

Xi’s subordinates and Chinese media have begun to refer to him as “lingxiu,” [ling-zyoo] a reverential term for “leader” not heard since the days of Mao Zedong. The German media translates lingxiu as “Führer.”

The Communist Party proclaimed Xi as lingxiu last October. Since then, state organs have been using the honorific in ways that approach self-parody. In late February, a puff piece on Chinese television told viewers that the “People’s lingxiu is loved by the people!”

Someone seems to be trying too hard.

But it’s not just titles. The same Party Congress also enshrined Xi’s political thought in the Chinese constitution. It’s officially known as “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”

That just rolls right off the tongue, now doesn’t it?

This emerging cult of personality has even led to a ban on images of Winnie the Pooh because of jokes about Xi resembling “the bear of very little brain.”

But seriously, this is no laughing matter. Jerome Cohen of New York University and the Council on Foreign Relations has written that Xi’s dictatorship “will have a profound effect on world order.”

Under Xi, China has assumed a more aggressive posture towards its neighbors and the United States. Recently, China came close to a shooting war with India over a remote part of the Himalayas. And it’s trying to turn the South China Sea into a Chinese lake.

The situation is even more grim for Chinese Christians. As the Washington Post reported, Christians in southern China were recently told that, “Jesus Christ won’t drag you out of poverty or cure your illnesses, but the Chinese Communist Party will, so take down those pictures of Christ and put up a nice photograph of President Xi Jinping.”

It was part of a campaign aimed at “melting the hard ice in the hearts of religious believers” and “helping turn them into believers in the party.” By “the party” they mean Xi Jinping.

So what does all of this mean? Well, we certainly should expect more crackdowns on house churches, and maybe even registered churches. There’s little room for Christianity in “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” And as the Economist recently put it, we can go ahead and say that “the West’s 25-year bet on China has failed.”

The belief that China would become more democratic as it became wealthier has proven false. Instead, “repression, state control and confrontation” is on the rise, again.

Of course, this comes as no surprise to Chinese Christians. It’s the rest of us who are now catching up with reality.

Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping: The Threat to Christians

President Trump shocked the world last week when he accepted North Korea’s invitation for direct talks with Kim Jong-un, to be held in May. We were less shocked when China’s government voted yesterday to make Xi Jinping president for life.

Both developments carry enormous implications for Christians in these two countries and for the larger body of Christ around the world.

North Korean Christians risk their lives for Jesus

Let’s start with North Korea. Some analysts believe that talks between the two leaders are a positive step forward; others are far more skeptical.

In a previous article, I gave a brief overview of North Korea’s history and its drive for nuclear weapons. My purpose today is to focus on the state of the church under Kim, a dictator described by one commentator as “the criminal proprietor of the world’s largest open-air prison.”

Open Doors, an organization that advocates for persecuted Christians around the world, ranks North Korea as the worst nation on earth for believers. According to their analysis, followers of Jesus are viewed as direct threats to the government and its continued power.

As a result, North Koreans who are found to be Christians are typically deported to labor camps as political criminals or even executed on the spot. Their families share their fate as well. Meeting with other Christians for worship is almost impossible.

People can be sent to horrific labor camps simply for being in contact with a religious person. In these camps, prisoners are forced to stand on their toes for twenty-four hours in tanks filled with water up to their noses. They are stripped and hanged upside down while being beaten. Food rations leave inmates on the brink of starvation, so many prisoners hunt rats, snakes, and frogs for protein.

There are an estimated three hundred thousand Christians in North Korea. Every one of them risks his or her life to follow Jesus.

Chinese Christians face growing persecution

Meanwhile, China’s National People’s Congress approved a plan yesterday to abolish presidential term limits, paving the way for President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely.

According to one expert on Chinese politics, the move “means that Xi is now unquestionably a Leninist strongman.” Another warned: “Throughout history, only Chinese emperors and Mao Zedong had lifelong tenure until their deaths. And what came out of that was a disaster for the society and many painful lessons.”

What will this historic move mean for Christians in the world’s most populous nation?

Previous indications are not good. Xi has stated that religions which inadequately conform to Communist ideals threaten the country’s government and must become more “Chinese-oriented.” Last fall, Communist party officials reportedly visited Christian households in Jiangxi province, forcibly removing dozens of Christian symbols and replacing them with pictures of Xi.

Government authorities demolished a well-known Chinese megachurch in January. Last month, the government imposed regulations requiring all religious groups to gain government approval for any kind of religious activity, including using one’s personal home for a religious practice, publishing religious materials, calling oneself a pastor, or studying theology in school.

The Communist government’s move to monitor all citizens through technology is especially frightening. The State Council, China’s governing cabinet, has begun building a system that tracks the reputations of individuals, businesses, and government officials.

The aim is for every Chinese citizen to be identified by a Social Credit Score, an electronic file compiling data from public and private sources. The goal is to encourage behaviors ranging from energy conservation to obedience to the Communist party.

Those with high scores will be rewarded with shorter wait times in hospitals, cheaper public transportation, and even free gym facilities. Those with low scores can face restrictions on jobs, mortgages, travel, public service access, and schools their children qualify to attend. Several provinces are already using TV and LED screens in public places to shame those with low scores.

It is easy to imagine the effect of such a totalitarian system for Christians who choose Christ over Communism. Now that President Xi has secured dictatorial power unencumbered by accountability, the threat to believers in China is likely to increase.

Three ways we can help

How can American Christians respond to the persecution of our fellow believers in North Korea and China?

One: Pray for them.

God’s word commands us to “keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). It is vital that we pray every day for our persecuted sisters and brothers.

We should also pray for Kim Jong-un and Xi Jinping to come to Christ. Scripture requires that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Imagine the impact on the world if these two men met Jesus and began serving him as modern-day Apostle Pauls. Will you stop and pray for such miracles right now?

Two: Seek ways to serve them.

You may be able to help those who help persecuted Christians in these countries. You may be able to influence government officials who can influence North Korean and Chinese leaders.

Ask the Lord how you can serve our persecuted brothers and sisters. And remember that what we do for Christians in need, we do for their Lord (Matthew 25:40).

Three: Learn from them.

Many Christians in North Korea and China pay a price for their faith that believers in America cannot imagine. But the totality of their commitment to Jesus calls us to follow their example.

Oswald Chambers notes: “The only way to be obedient to the heavenly vision is to give our utmost for God’s highest.” The more we are yielded to God, the more we are usable by him.

How usable are you today?

Persecution is Rising in India, but Christianity Standing Strong

It's more dangerous now than ever before to be a Christian in India.

Open Doors has officially released its 2018 World Watch List, and India ranks number 11 out of the top 50 countries where Christian persecution is at its worst.

"Persecution of Christians is rising in India. More than ever before, the growth of radical Hinduism in the nation is fueling violent attacks, with even greater impunity for attackers as the government sides with radical groups," the organization wrote in its report.

Pastor Joseph D'Souza, who works tirelessly for human rights in India told CBN News Hindu extremists are spreading dangerous propaganda against Christians in the country.

"The propaganda that continues to go on which is absolutely not correct that Christians are involved in false and forced conversions. Nothing of that sort is happening," he explained.

"The propaganda that somehow Christians are working against India, against the interests of India by trying to be Christians, is propelling this. And a lack of control of these groups that seem to commit crimes and attack minorities with impunity," he continued.

D'Souza said radical Hindu extremists aren't just targeting India's Christians, but anyone who does not adhere to their ideology.

"It's not just related to the Christians. It's also related to the Muslims, Dalits, and now also Hindus," he said.

The situation is especially hard for Dalits -- people who rank the lowest in India's caste system and are considered "untouchable."

"India cannot continue with a caste system," D'Souza said. "While many Dalits have found freedom and dignity through Christian work and education and spiritual work, the problem is not over."

Despite the growing persecution of Muslims, Dalits, Hindus, and Christians, D'Souza said God is still at work in India.

"Persecution has never stopped the growth of the church. In fact, when we are attacked, when we are persecuted, we become stronger," he said. "They're standing strong and they're not recounting."