“The amount of time we spend with Jesus — meditating on His Word and His majesty, seeking His face — establishes our fruitfulness in the kingdom.”
FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications
The Special Olympics are this week - 6,500 athletes from 165 countries are gathering in Southern California. It is a joy to see these athletes compete. In a time where the world's leading soccer organization is being investigated for corruption and the NFL spends more time investigating deflated footballs than domestic abuse - it is refreshing to see the purest form of sport. No pretense. No self promotion. Just the love of sport. The Special Olympic Oath states, "If I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."
Words to live by.
For the Win[dow],
Bubby Bryan, DOC
VERSE OF THE WEEK: Luke 4:18-19
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Thailand
A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been colonized by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US treaty ally in 1954 after sending troops to Korea and later fighting alongside the US in Vietnam. Thailand since 2005 has experienced several rounds of political turmoil including a military coup in 2006 that ousted then Prime Minister THAKSIN Chinnawat, followed by large-scale street protests by competing political factions in 2008, 2009, and 2010. THAKSIN's youngest sister, YINGLAK Chinnawat, in 2011 led the Puea Thai Party to an electoral win and assumed control of the government. A blanket amnesty bill for individuals involved in street protests, altered at the last minute to include all political crimes - including all convictions against THAKSIN - triggered months of large-scale anti-government protests in Bangkok beginning in November 2013. In early May 2014 YINGLAK was removed from office by the Constitutional Court and in late May 2014 the Royal Thai Army staged a coup against the caretaker government. The head of the Royal Thai Army, Gen. PRAYUT Chan-ocha, was appointed prime minister in August 2014. The interim military government created several interim institutions to promote reform and draft a new constitution. Elections are tentatively set for early 2016. Thailand has also experienced violence associated with the ethno-nationalist insurgency in its southern Malay-Muslim majority provinces. Since January 2004, thousands have been killed and wounded in the insurgency. (CIA World Factbook)
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for the Gospel to effectively permeate this culture of Buddhism, spiritism, and the occult.
- Pray for moral conviction to fall on those who oppress others for profit via the sex trade.
- Pray for explosive growth in the church to reach all 80,000 villages.
- Pray for the Uttermost workers on the field.
- Pray for the US Office.