Lifting up the shield of faith in Afghanistan, Iraq, DRC

Remember how just one month ago Afghanistan was at it’s most violent? How people wer delcaring it was unwinnable?

Take a moment to read this summary of a Canadian report on the conditions in Afghanistan between April 1 and June 30…

In a quarterly report released Sept. 22, the Canadian government said the period from April 1 to June 30 saw an escalation of violence in Afghanistan.

“This was marked by a deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, with increasing insurgent violence and intimidation targeting civilians, the assassination of several officials from Afghan government institutions and civil society, and an early escalation of the fighting season,” the report said.

The report also noted that June proved to be the deadliest month for NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Then we prayed, led by the Holy Spirit… and now?

Security is improving in the Panjwaii district near Kandahar city, the chief of staff for Canada’s Task Force Afghanistan says.

“It’s been a challenging summer, we know that,” Lt.-Col. Doug Claggett said. “But the way we look at things right now and the situation on the ground is that we’ve got a lot of positive indicators.”

Claggett pointed to the Sept. 18 election as reason for some optimism.

While the International Security Assistance Force reported more attacks by insurgents that day than on any other, the Panjwaii district where Canadian soldiers are most heavily concentrated saw no significant attacks on polling stations.

Wow. You have to admit that SOMETHING has changed. But what? The surge has only just touched down. And the forces in Khadahar are only 8,000… so not an overwhelming force.

Could it be the shield of faith that some Christian threw up over Afghanistan?

Now read this: Greenish shoots of peace in Afghanistan

David H. Petraeus, everybody’s favorite general and nobody’s fool, had just finished a tour of the detention facility near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan on Monday when he met with the press pool that was covering his visit and dropped this tidbit.

“There are very high-level Taliban leaders who have sought to reach out to the highest levels of the Afghan government and, indeed, have done that,” the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan said.

and then this…

within hours of Gen. Petraeus’ remarks, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the appointment of a 68-member “high peace council” to bring an end to the fighting.

So. That looks like a tiny bit of progress towards peace in that country. What changed the heart of these Taliban leaders?

Taliban contacts still at embryonic stage: NATO envoy – Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:49pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Some senior Taliban leaders appear to be open to reconciliation with Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government, but contacts are in the embryonic stage and not likely to bear fruit soon, NATO’s top civilian in Afghanistan said on Tuesday.

Afghan government sets up 70-member peace council -By DEB RIECHMANN (AP)

For sure we must keep praying for Afghanistan. For peace. For reconciliation. For freedom. For openness. Jesus Christ died that we may have ABUNDANT life – and especially tht people might be released from sin and death, and be free to choose to follow Him. Or not. It’s their choice.

Iraq

I saw the same thing happen in Iraq when Muqtada alSadr who had fighters in Najaf, Sadr City and Basra  suddenly ordered his 100,000 Mahdi Army fighters to put own their weapons and study the Koran (Moqtada al-Sadr announces ceasefire in Iraq) He then left to go to Iran for a few months. To my knowledge he has not resume war since then.

DRC

Remember when I wrote this blog post? Join me in praying for peace in the DRC -Posted on 17 July 2009

That was 17 July. And then 1 month and 12 days later everything had changed.

The operation, named “Kimia 2″ (“peace” in the Lingala language), launched at the end of March has enabled DR Congo troops logistically backed by MONUC forces to drive the rebels away from all urban centres in the east, Doss said. – UN chief upbeat about anti-rebel ops in DR Congo – Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP) – Date: 26 Aug 2009

And in the DRC the rebels suddenly began to accept peace deals and get repatriated back to their own countries. Again there were earthquakes in that exact region immediately before they surrendered. Within a few months Hillary Clinton was able to visit the area.

Peace in that region has spread even into Southern Sudan and Darfur. They are having an election in January – which we should pray for.

Nigeria

Please read this post to view the cascading events which have led to fighters accepting amnesty across Nigeria. We can also be praying for this country as they consider electionns and their future.

Lift up your SHIELD OF FAITH!

Believe me… faith in Jesus Christ is the only solution to the poblem of sin and death in this world. Our faith is literally a SHIELD of faith. Those who have an overcoming faith – a SHIELD – are able to shield others.

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This is a part of a series…

• Afghanistan’s second biggest insurgent group will agree to a ceasefire if… 17 Nov 2010
• Some good news and thanks for Afghanistan prayers 16 Nov 2010
• Today – Monday 11 Oct – we pray for Afghanistan! 10 Nov 2010
• Ok, one more time – let’s pray for Afghanistan 9 Nov 2010
• Let’s pray again for Afghanistan 1 Nov 2010
• Lifting up the shield of faith in Afghanistan, Iraq, DRC 29 Oct 2010
• “Almost a miracle” Afghanistan poll 20 Oct 2010
• Prayer updates – bits and pieces 18 Oct 2010
• Afghan elections tomorrow (saturday) – pls pray 17 Oct 2010
• Pls pray for Afghanistan now – 4 days to elections 15 Oct 2010
• Prayer on monday for Afghanistan 7 Oct 2010
• What we are (and ARE NOT) doing as we pray for Afghanistan 15 Oct 2010
• Getting ready to pray – print off the Afghan areas and the prayers 3 Oct 2010
• Finding a baseline for our prayers – in Afghanistan 3 Oct 2010
• Walking the talk – let’s pray for Afghanistan! 3 Oct 2010 (first in series, oldest post)

Would you like to intercede for peace in your country or in the world? All you need to do is get a map of the area you want to pray for and get this list of scriptures (or download the MS Word version) and speak each scripture out over the area you are praying for. It’s as easy as that.