"That very church which the world likes best is sure to be that which God abhors." - Charles Spurgeon
FROM THE DESK OF: the Director of Communications
Weird week around the office - multiple staff members are heading out of town, wrapping up law school finals and preparing for our big international staff conference. So we are a little scattered, no one is operating on a normal schedule or in their normal lanes but we're excited about things coming together and launching into the summer.
For the Win[dow],
Bubby Bryan
VERSE OF THE WEEK: Matthew 11:28
"Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."
COUNTRY OF THE WEEK: Pakistan
The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world and dating back at least 5,000 years, spread over much of what is presently Pakistan. During the second millennium B.C., remnants of this culture fused with the migrating Indo-Aryan peoples. The area underwent successive invasions in subsequent centuries from the Persians, Greeks, Scythians, Arabs (who brought Islam), Afghans, and Turks. The Mughal Empire flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries; the British came to dominate the region in the 18th century. The separation in 1947 of British India into the Muslim state of Pakistan (with West and East sections) and largely Hindu India was never satisfactorily resolved, and India and Pakistan fought two wars - in 1947-48 and 1965 - over the disputed Kashmir territory. A third war between these countries in 1971 - in which India capitalized on Islamabad's marginalization of Bengalis in Pakistani politics - resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. In response to Indian nuclear weapons testing, Pakistan conducted its own tests in 1998. India-Pakistan relations have been rocky since the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, but both countries are taking steps to put relations back on track. Nawaz SHARIF took office as Prime Minister in 2013, marking the first time in Pakistani history that a democratically elected government completed a full term and transitioned to a successive democratically elected government. (CIA World Factbook)
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for breakthroughs in reaching spiritually oppressed people living in areas currently beyond the reach of a Christian witness.
- Pray for leaders of integrity to carefully navigate ongoing tensions with neighbors which threaten the nation’s stability.
- Pray for the strongholds of Islamic extremism and terrorist violence to be broken and rendered powerless.
- Pray for our Uttermost workers on the field.
- Pray for our US office.
- Pray for our Uttermost president's health.