North Korea

Current Events

North Korea has threatened to unleash “unprecedentedly persistent and strong counteractions” if South Korea and the United States carry out planned military exercises in the coming weeks, local media reported. A spokesperson for North Korea’s foreign ministry issued the warning on Friday before the annual Freedom Shield joint military exercises of South Korea and the US and accused Washington of stoking tension by conducting earlier drills which included US stealth fighters and a BI-B strategic bomber that can be equipped with nuclear weapons.

Prayers

Father, silence every threat of war against our nation, America. Let every contention that is brooding be cut off in Jesus Christ name (Psalms 83:1-2; Isaiah 41:11-12)

News Sources

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/17/north-korea-warns-of-military-action-over-joint-s-korea-us-drills

Bulgaria

Current Events

Bulgarian police have arrested four people after they found the bodies of 18 dead migrants from Afghanistan, including that of a child, in an abandoned truck near the capital Sofia, officials said on Friday. The truck was transporting timber and carrying illegal migrants hidden in compartments, the interior ministry said in a statement, adding it was found near the village of Lokorsko. The migrants crossed the border with neighbouring Turkey illegally and hid in the woods for two days before they were loaded onto the truck near the city of Yambol in southeastern Bulgaria, he told reporters. Thirty four migrants, including five children, were rushed to hospitals in Sofia and some were in a critical, but stable, condition, Health Minister Asen Medzhidiev said.

Prayers

Father, we pray for those seeking a better life in another county; father send help to them even in their home country. We arrest every unrest in their home country (Afghanistan) that causes them to flee in Jesus Christ name (Hebrews 11:16)

News Sources

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/bulgaria-police-find-18-migrants-dead-abandoned-truck-2023-02-17/

Equatorial Guinea

Current Events

On February 13, 2023, Equatorial Guinea declared an outbreak of Marburg virus disease. Confirmed cases have been reported in the Kie Ntem Province. The WHO is working with local health authorities to identify cases and conduct case investigations, strengthen surveillance, identify sources of transmission, and educate communities about the risks and dangers of Marburg virus. Travelers should separate themselves from others (isolate) and seek medical care immediately if they develop fever, chills, muscle pain, rash, sore throat, diarrhea, weakness, vomiting, stomach pain, or unexplained bleeding or bruising during or after travel (up to 21 days

Prayers

Father, awaken Your people in this nation that they will rise up and pray! Let their prayers turn this viral outbreak into a breakthrough in Jesus Christ name (2 Chronicles 7:14)

News Article Sources

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/watch/marburg-equatorial-guinea

Tajikistan

Current Events

Rescuers in Tajikistan are searching for survivors after a series of avalanches hit the mountainous eastern region, killing at least 17 people. Officials say the town of Khorog, the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region, has been the worst hit. Dozens of houses are buried under snow, and some are destroyed. Most of the impoverished Central Asian nation is covered by high mountains of the Pamir range, and avalanches and rockfalls are a constant hazard. Local officials say 13 people were killed in Khorog and another four elsewhere in the region since the avalanches began earlier this week.

Prayers

Father, we pray for those living in areas prone to natural disasters – let Your divine wisdom and protection surround them. We pray for Your mercy on those that lost there lives in this avalanche, let this bring an opportunity for their loved ones to surrender their life to Jesus, in Jesus Christ name (Isaiah 45:6-7)

News Sources

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/11/africa/uganda-ebola-outbreak-over-intl

Washington, DC

Current Events

Senator, John Fetterman, D-Penn checked himself into a hospital to “receive treatment for clinical depression,” his chief of staff Adam Jentleson said in a statement Thursday afternoon.  Fetterman’s latest treatment comes as he is still in recovery from a stroke in May that has required the use of closed captioning to help him communicate on the campaign trail and in the Senate.  He checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last night, Jentleson said.  “While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” he said.

Prayers

Father, let Your healing power flow in the lives of the leaders of this nation; show them mercy and allow the medical treatments they will receive to work, in Jesus Christ name (Jeremiah 17:14, 33:6)

News Sources

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/16/john-fetterman-hospital-clinical-depression/11274209002/

Michigan

Current Events

Three Michigan State University students were killed and five were injured in a shooting Monday, February 14th at two campus locations, police said. The wounded students remain in critical condition, according to the university. The gunman identified as a 43-year-old man not affiliated with the university died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. The attack at the large university located in East Lansing, Michigan, was the 67th mass shooting in 2023.

Prayers

Father, we pray that You protect our children, faculty, staff while they are in school; let the plans of the enemy to use anyone for evil against our schools be destroyed even before it is carried out, in Jesus Christ name. (Psalms 21:11)

News Sources

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/michigan-state-university-shooting-updates-2-14-23/index.html

Ukraine

On another front, about 50 praying Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians, Estonians, Latvians and others near the Ukraine war zone have been gathering to pray for His peace breakthrough in this ongoing pointless and destructive conflict. They realize that “our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the principalities and powers of evil that have motivated this war to sacrifice the lives of thousands of souls in this mindless and foolish war.  Let’s agree in prayer for His peace to come and that every spirit of brutality and destruction will be bound in His name so that the bombardment of Ukraine’s cities and the killing of civilians and soldiers on both sides will come to an end now.

Another manifestation of the “prince of this world” is the current effort through the World Health Organization to establish control over the health systems of 196 sovereign nations through digital health records and vaccine passports. Let’s pray and agree that the evil one will be bound and for a strong wake-up call with all-out resistance by many nations and their governments to stop this satanic agenda meant to enslave humanity.

Also join us in praying that all 4700 ethnic group yet to be reached with the gospel of the kingdom will be adopted in a worldwide Adopt-a-People effort that will bring home the King of Kings as He said would happen when His gospel is proclaimed to all the unreached ethne (Matt. 24:14).

Turkey and Syria

Our continued prayers for the relief and rehab effort in Turkey and Syria will make a real difference as these two nations seek to recover from the awful catastrophe of two weeks ago with over 47,000 having been killed and more than 80,000 more injured. An estimated 26 million need relief and rehab help. We thank God for the various Christian organizations serving there. We are thankful to the Lord for all that the local Jesus followers are doing to serve the Muslim residents of and other organization’s efforts and that many Muslim Turks, one of the largest unreached people groups in the world, will come to know Jesus.