VOM Prayer Watch

NORTH KOREA: Balloon Launches Help Spread the Gospel A VOM worker reports record launches of New Testaments into North Korea in July. For the month of July alone, 23,130 New Testaments were launched into North Korea. Through multiple launch points, workers are able to drop materials on areas that are largely unreached by the Gospel. A chief of Security Vision informed VOM partners of a North Korean website threatening organisations that launch balloons. The VOM partners were asked to refrain from launching balloons, but they were able to launch again on 11 July, releasing 2,000 New Testaments. On July 31, they launched a record 7,500 New Testaments, the largest number launched in 2013. Sources: Seoul USA, Voice of the Martyrs USA Praise the Lord for the success of these launches and pray for ongoing favourable launch conditions. Pray that these Scriptures will fall into the right hands in North Korea (Isaiah 55:11). Pray the Lord will grow His church mightily in North Korea.

CHINA: Chinese house church leader Samuel Lamb dies  One of the most well-known Christian leaders in China, Pastor Samuel Lamb, died on Saturday 3 August in Guangzhou, aged 88. Lamb was targeted by the government because of his refusal to merge his illegal house church into the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the state-regulated Protestant Church. He was first arrested in 1955 and again in 1958, he spent more than 20 years in Labour camps. He saw his wife for the last time in 1977, she died, a year before Lamb’s sentence ended. After his release, he again took up his work as a pastor, during which he was able to witness the exponential growth of the Chinese Church. In 1979 he started his house church in Guangzhou. Attendance grew quickly and he had to move his congregation to a bigger building in the same city. Today his urban house church is still unregistered, but tolerated by the authorities. Lamb became an example for millions of believers in China and around the world. Source: World Watch Monitor Thank the Lord for the life and witness of this faithful servant. Praise the Lord for the massive church growth which has occurred in China over the past few decades. Pray for the many Chinese believers currently in prison for their Christian witness.

EGYPT: Christian Girls Snatched by Traffickers One of the challenges facing Christian families, particularly in Upper Egypt, is the kidnapping of young Christian girls. It generally happens when the girls enter their teen years. Last year, a Helsinki Commission hearing revealed that the number of disappearances and abduction of Christian girls has been increasing. Human trafficking expert Michel Clark told of more than 800 cases. Still, many Islamic leaders and government officials debunk claims that Christian girls are being trafficked. They insist that the conversions and marriages are not forced; they are simply the result of amorous love between young people of different faiths. While the previous Mohammed Morsi government has done little to curtail the trafficking, the political change gives many Egyptian Christians hope. They pray the next government will force police to treat Christian kidnapping complaints seriously. Source: Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Pray the Lord will work through current and future government authorities to bring about needed protection, justice, unity and religious freedom in this nation. Pray for the Lord will protect and deliver the many young women and girls who have been abducted.