World Watch 6.3.23: Prophetic, Last Days News Just Like Jesus Said

Wars & Threats of Wars

Conflicts around the world…

There is civil unrest and lawlessness in over 24 nations. I’ll just list a few. For detailed information on each of these, check out the list of sources at the bottom.

• Ukraine
• Sudan – listen to the very moving podcast below in the persecution section for an in-the-scene update.
• Iran / Afghanistan
• Muslim extremists continue terror attacks in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique and many other African nations.

Rumors and Threats

Experts are warning that there is an increased risk of terror attacks by right-wing ‘lone wolf’ actors.

• China / Taiwan
• North Korea
• Iran

Ezekiel 38

All Eyes on Israel

Find God’s promises to Israel in Genesis 12, 2 Samuel 7, Ezekiel 35-36, 37, 38 and 39.

• Hungary will be the first EU state with an embassy in Jerusalem.
• Thursday, Israel informed Egypt that both Islamic Jihad and Hamas in Lebanon are planning an attack from the north on Israel.
• Saturday, an unusual terror attack on the Israeli Egyptian southern border. At least two Israeli soldiers were injured and airlifted.
  • The Israeli Air Force attacked in the Egyptian territory of Sinai and killed the rogue terrorist who was dressed as a Egyptian soldier.
  • The Egyptian Government responded saying it was a drug smuggling event and a misunderstanding between the two parties. Yeah, right.

For up-to-the-minute, breaking news from Israel, follow Amir Tsarfati on Telegram. Here’s his recap…

Increased Antisemitism

Pestilence, Plagues and Famine

• Seaweed washing ashore in Florida contains flesh-eating bacteria.
• Phoenix metro area can’t meet groundwater demands over next century. They put a ban on new developments.
• Drug overdoses kill over 300 people a day
• 1/4 of Canadians back lethal injections for Poor and homeless
• We have a pandemic of homelessness…

It seems my hometown of Phoenix, AZ is figuring it out. Note, too, that we are a purple state. We haven’t gone fully blue yet!

Earthquakes & “Seismic”
Weather Events

The Greek word for “earthquake” is “seismos”, which refers to seismic weather like tornadoes, hurricanes and violent storms as well as earthquakes and volcanoes.

• The Atlantic hurricane season officially started on June 1 and we have the first named storm, Arlene, and it’s heading toward Cuba.
• Wildfires spread in eastern Canada, forcing evacuations in coastal Quebec where some 10,000 residents in coastal Quebec were forced to evacuate homes on Friday.
• Extreme weather conditions in Israel with sand storms and strong winds closing airports.
• Unprecedented images reveal what’s happening on the sun as it approaches ‘solar maximum’.
• Atlantic hurricane season forcast for 2023 includes 11-15 named storms, 4-8 hurricanes, 1-3 major, 2-4 with direct impact to the U.S.

Increased Evil , Satanic Lawlessness, Terrorism, Sexual Immorality, Apostasy, False Teachings, Corruption, and Deception in the Last Days

• Ontario, Canada Catholic school board encourages staff to honor ‘pride month’ in the classroom
• Dozens Of Children Go Missing In Cleveland, OH, In Just Two Weeks

The Genesis Flood

New World Order, Great Reset, Economic Chaos, Big Brother, & Government Overreach in the Last Days

Is an Increase of Evil a Sign of the Last Days?

Increased Christian Persecution

• A Christian math teacher in the UK has been banned from teaching indefinitely by the government for “misgendering” a student and expressing his Christian beliefs on marriage and homosexuality.
• Christian in Pakistan Sentenced to Death under Blasphemy Law
• USA: The Bible has just been banned from Utah elementary and middle schools for ‘vulgarity or violence’.
• Afghanistan: Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, life for Christians is difficult. Most Afghan Christians fled, but some remained. “It is very challenging for the normal Afghan and very, very hard for Christians,” a front-line worker shared. “Persecution has escalated from the government, local religious authorities, family, and community, and it is still escalating.” Remaining Christians struggle with isolation, but some cautiously reach out. “Our Afghan brothers and sisters feel pressure, like sheep among wolves, but the desperation there is leading to opportunities for them to share ‘God stories’ that can lead to conversations about Christ. Pray for the Taliban,” the front-line worker added. “They are fighters, not governors. Pray that they will lead by peace, do what’s good for the country and that they will come to Christ.”
• Algeria: Christians in Algeria report suffering from a systematic campaign of government persecution. Since the end of 2017, the government has reportedly closed 30 of the 47 Protestant churches in the country. In January 2023, a 54-year-old pastor from a Muslim background was sentenced to two years in prison for holding “unlicensed worship” and “holding worship in a building not designated for non-Muslim worship.” The pastor has been in jail since his arrest on December 30, 2022. A front-line worker said, “Please pray that Algerian believers whose churches have been closed by authorities can continue to meet together and reach out to their neighbors with the gospel despite the risks.”

*Name changed for security reasons

More on Christian Persecution

• Day of the Christian Martyr
• Praying for the Persecuted Church
• Open Doors 2023 World Watch List on Christian Persecution

God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

¹¹ “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. ¹² Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

Matthew 5:10-12 NLT

• Nepal: Give thanks for a bible seminar, held recently in Kathmandu, where 37 pastors and leaders came together for three days of training and encouragement in the scriptures. Please pray for them as they return to serve in their churches in remote parts of the Himalayan mountains.
• West Asia – Wycliffe Bible Translators: Praise God that funding has been secured for the next three years for the Magend* translation project in West Asia. This spring the team is working on the remaining New Testament books. The Magend team needs more translation checkers. Please pray for more qualified checkers in the coming years.
• Central Asia: Please remember AsiaLink staff in your prayers today as they travel to Moldova to meet with students who are studying in preparation for ministry in their home countries in Central Asia. Pray that it will be a helpful and encouraging visit and beneficial for the furtherance of the gospel.
• Central Asia: Open Doors helps Christians in Central Asia with vocational training and microloans. Praise God that a group of women recently completed vocational training. Many of them are the only Christians in their families, but this programme encouraged these women and gave them new hope.
• Philippines: Give thanks, the church is very strong in the Philippines and evangelical Christians represent almost 14% of the total population. However the country also contains 9 frontier people groups where there is no church and no missionaries working among them. Please pray. 
• Middle East – IFES: Praise God for recent training for existing and potential student leaders from a specific city in a Middle Eastern country held outside their home country. Pray that they would be able to use the training to share their faith wisely and guided by the Holy Spirit with student friends and disciple those who have chosen to follow Christ.

*Name changed for security reasons

Help Spread the Good News of Jesus Christ all over the World!

Report from Bangladesh

A friend of mine with Scriptures in Use, one of the mission ministries I support, finished giving a training in storytelling in Bangladesh. He is now in Vietnam. He is teaching local Christian leaders how to tell stories to help spread the Gospel in cultures. Here are some success stories from Bangladesh…

We started our 2nd training today. Man it was awesome. This group got trained by us through Zoom back in 2020 because of the pandemic. They ran with it and planted almost 60 churches in the past 3 years. 10 of the 50 participants are alumni. Many of the rest are new believers that have come to faith through the storytelling and are now making disciples and planting churches themselves. Here’s one of the many testimonies I captured today:

One of the ladies in our training is a Hindu Background believer that was lead to faith with storytelling from those that received the SIU training in 2020. Even as a newer believer, she’s got right to work in her heavily Hindu populated area of Bangladesh. She has seen an incredible response to the stories, especially ones of the miracles of Jesus and casting out of demons. The people are deeply impacted by these stories and many have believed. When we pressed her for more information, she said she’s lead 40 families to faith and disciplining them, all since she became a believer 3 years ago!

(In fact most of the 13 ladies in the training have all become believers recently through storytelling!)

Lots of energy in this group. Pray for them! They memorized their first stories today and their homework is to go share it with someone. Well give them chances to share what God did tomorrow morning. This is where fireworks start to happen. Pray for miracles and people to meet Jesus this week!

First Time Sharing!!!

Several of the ladies in the training are brand new believers. One of them this morning told how she had shared the parable of “the rich man and Lazarus” (Luke 16:19-31) with a Muslim lady out in the market. Her mentor (who is also in the training) shouted out that this was the very first time she had shared her faith! Everyone clapped, and it was awesome to see her be encouraged for her obedience and courage.

Several of the participants have been telling people they are getting storytelling training and non believers are wanting to come to the training to hear more stories themselves. Ha ha! We’re encouraging the trainees to return to them tonight with more stories.