MAKING NATIONS OUR PRAYER PRIORITY Issue 1/2016. Our Contact Details

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1 UPFSA NPO Newsletter - July 2016 IN THIS ISSUE Our Mission UPF endeavours to impact the nations of the world through prayer initiatives, resources, information and research so that strongholds that keep the nations in bondage can be brought to destruction and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ can transform all unreached parts of the world. Our Contact Details Leon: upfsa@absamail.co.za Crystal: nations@upfsa.co.za Telephone: Office: Fax: and PO Box Erasmusrand 0156 UPFSA ROC Join UPF as we ROC our city. Page 2 Making it count In the past few months I have pondered the importance of investing one s life in the things God ordained, rather than doing good things that resemble His authentic designs. We only have one lifetime on planet Earth. We are granted a single existence wherein we need to uniquely bring honour to God and impact men with the redemption that Christ provides. As I am growing older and see how quickly years pass by, I challenge myself to question the way I am spending this Godgiven opportunity. I believe UPFSA is a specific ministry vehicle that God provided for many of us to discover and invest into our personal and corporate spiritual calls. This further forces me to reflect and meditate on what the Godshaped dream is that was released from the heart of the Father to bring us to this configuration that is now Unlimited Prayer Frontiers (South Africa). When God met with Gideon in the winepress, He roused him to the divine intention to use the least of the least in human terms to bring deliverance from the enemies in the land and restoration to the nation of Israel. Gideon had to grapple with the immense paradox that heaven saw him as a mighty man of valour while he was stuck in a victim mentality, just getting by and merely expecting more of the status quo, considering that no new interventions from the hand of God have been reported in the preceding seasons of Israel s history. Likewise, Moses got jolted from his mundane existence in the back side of the desert when God showed up at a burning bush and instructed him to upgrade his life vision and pursuits to incorporate and prioritise the absurd and impossible task of delivering a nation of slaves from the 450-year-old domination of the super power of his day. Immediately Moses was made aware of his failures, weaknesses and disqualifications that made such an idea unattainable and worthy of outright rejection. How can a nobody, accustomed to herding sheep, unable to express himself effectively, with no resources, nor qualifications, lacking an army or any political clout, walk into the palace of the supreme ruler of Egypt and deliver a nation from his power? Humanly speaking, this scenario could not get more ludicrous. Continued on page 2 Praying with brothers and sisters in the DRC Page 4 First prayer journey to India. Unlimited Prayer Frontiers Account Details: Account Name: UPFSA Account no.: Bank: ABSA Branch: Brooklyn Branch Code: (Swift Code: ABSAZAJJ for international donations) DONATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS Page 6

2 Continued from page 1 To add insult to injury, the only resources God gave Moses was an enigma of a name to reference the deity he represented in petitioning the powers of Egypt and a neat magic trick that at least would entertain the court, as this seemingly mad man launched himself into a clear suicidal endeavour that would guarantee his demise at the hands of the powerful and ruthless Pharaoh. Oh, how both of these two men s lives changed unalterably as the perspective of heaven was thrust into their existence and they started investing into the immense ordination that heaven demanded for the earthly reality of these two heroic biblical figures. I believe the time has come for us to allow the immensity of God to liberate us, as individuals and a ministry, from living doable lives where we invest our time to bless people and do good works, towards a position where we will accomplish impossible exploits that will extravagantly honour God and radically impact nations, altering the lives of millions. This is the immensity that God is placing before us and we are challenging and rallying all of you to join with us in running into the Himpossible that was written over our lives in Christ from before creation. Leon Coetzee Close to home... Important UPFSA meeting Do you want to be part of UPFSA endeavours and exploits in the years to come? Then you are invited to attend the following important meeting about the UPFSA vision and future. We are very excited to have this opportunity to share the things that God has been revealing to us. The time has come for us to invest fully into God s plans and to run the race He has set Focused prayer requests Please believe and pray with us: We are trusting God for office space to expand the ministry office and activities. Additional provision of R a month would be needed for this move to be realised. The Academy of Prayer Module 2 video series in Afrikaans needs to be finalised. For this we need a further R to complete video editing and production. Redeem Our City prayer initiative ROC The Pretoria Prayer Force (PPF) is a group of inter-denominational believers committed since 2011, to pray regularly and constantly for the city of Tshwane/Pretoria under the auspices of UPF. As part of the continued prayer process, the PPF has devoted itself to a systematic prayer process and wants to mobilise and activate more believers in the city to pray focused prayers for the city as a whole. To invest in this long-term process, the PPF has launched city-wide prayer projects under the Redeem Our City (ROC) prayer initiative. before us with conviction and boldness. Please let us know if you will attend so that we can make the necessary preparations for your participation. We hope to have you along on the journey that lies ahead! Date: Saturday, 23 July 2016 Place: Jericho Walls Conference Room (C/o. Daventry and Ringwood, Lynnwood Manor). Time: 09h00-12h00 Pray with us for an increase in financial support so that we can increase the remuneration for those that labour fulltime in the ministry. UPFSA is compiling the grand vision God has ordained for the ministry. For this we will need different individuals to volunteer their professional services so that plans and marketing materials can be drawn up for future fundraising initiatives. Born-again believers from all denominational backgrounds are invited to become part of these projects so that an army will arise to pray strategically and corporately for issues that spiritually influence our metropole. Project 1 completed: Restoring the Foundations On 2 May 2016 born-again believers from all denominational backgrounds joined together as a spiritual army, moving across Pretoria/Tshwane to pray strategically and corporately about foundational issues that spiritually influence our metropole. Foundations are the beginning of any structure, and we cannot pray for any part of the city before we have effectively interceded for the very substructure on which later developments were constructed. Continued on page 3

3 Continued from page 2 We believe that the New Jerusalem is God s heavenly blueprint for cities. Since the names of the 12 apostles were on the foundation of the New Jerusalem, ROC1 focused on 12 leading individuals that were active in the founding and early history of the city. These 12 individuals were assigned to the 12 groups constituted for this prayer action. The groups sought God concerning the contribution of each of these foundational leaders. During the month of April, the groups prayed for revelation of God s will for their intercession on the day of the prayer action. God is ever faithful and each group prepared a strategy of prayer, repenting of wrong spiritual influences and celebrating spiritual foundations that were aligned with God s Kingdom principles. On the morning of 2 May, all groups dispersed throughout the city to execute the prayer strategy at specific sites connected with each founder. The Base Camp stayed in one place and provided prayer covering. We believe that God restored many wrongs in the foundations and we praise Him for the restoration to come. Launching Project 2: Building a Holy Temple The PPF is presently studying Scripture for revelation about the Temple element of cities, to develop a strategy for ROC2. Pretoria/Tshwane believers are invited to become part of the ROC2 initiative by sending their name, cell number, , and area of residence, to ptapray@mweb.co.za or ptapray@gmail.com or with the reference: ROC2. Preparations: All participants will have to commit to be part of four preparation meetings that will happen from middle August to September Information evening: Friday, 12 August 2016, 19h00 (Venue to be announced) Prayer action date: Saturday, 24 September Consider signing up for this opportunity to allow God to establish His Kingdom in our city through His sons and daughters. It will be seeds well sown. And talking about strategic prayer... Academy of Prayer presents Module 1: The Pattern of Prayer If you are desiring a more fulfilling prayer life and long to be used by God in intercession, be sure to attend Module 1 of the Academy of Prayer (see details, right). Student workbooks will be provided as part of the course and students can look forward to the following curriculum: The first clear example of intercession in Scripture was when Abraham interceded for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Prayer for our cities is important! Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7 Lesson 8 Lesson 9 Lesson 10 Lesson 11 What is Prayer? Types of Prayer Intercession In Him The Characteristics of an effective Intercessor The Heart of Intercession Prerequisites for effective Prayer Pitfalls in Intercession Prayer and Fasting Areas of Prayer Prayer Examples in the Bible

4 Into Africa African waters around the Democratic Republic of Congo By Crystal Strydom Looking back I want to set up a stone on the banks of Lake Tanganyika and, like Samuel in 1 Sam 7:12, say "Till now the LORD has helped us." All glory to His holy name. He is good and His love endures forever! Uvira, on the western banks of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was home to two South Africans, one Tanzanian and five Congolese from 31 May to 9 June 2016 when this group gathered for a time of prayer in the third of the four nations that surround the lake. Beautiful are the feet of those The two South African ladies flew from Johannesburg, via Lusaka to Kigali, then travelled overland through Rwanda via the Kamanyola border post to Uvira, a fisherman's village. The Congolese representatives walked for three days and the Tanzanian representative spent three days on a bus and in local transport to reach Uvira. Where it began This year's prayer time was a follow up of the vision we received four years ago to intercede for the waters of Africa. Our mission started in 2013 when four of us travelled by road from Johannesburg to Mpulungu in Zambia where 12 representatives gathered for the first of the prayer times around the Lake. A year later, 25 of us gathered in Bujumbura in Burundi for an extensive time of prayer, intercession and repentance. And in 2016 Seven representatives spent an intensive time of focused prayer in Uvira, DRC. This was the year for an audience with the King for the Congolese intercessors. Because our numbers were fewer, there was ample time to delve deep into history, the foundational problems in the nation and prophetic intercession for a future beyond the status quo. For five days we were involved in focused prayer (below: the lake symbolically mapped by bags filled with bibles). On the Sunday we were invited to preach at an Assemblies of God church. They called it a small gathering, but around 500 people attended. The church service started at "half eight" which is actually 8:30 and lasted till around 14:00 a marathon, joyful, God-fearing time. We shared the purpose of our visit and our Tanzanian representative preached on the subject of our prayer outreach to remove the offences against God which prevent His blessing. He wrote the offences on paper, and asked the people if they were familiar with these sins. The congregation was asked if they recognised the offence and had to acknowledge the sin and the impact it had on their communities. God s heart for individuals After the initial five days of isolated prayer time, the door of the arc was opened People came from all over for individual prayers. This initially caught us by surprise, but after a day or two we realised that the Lord was allowing us to see people who represented the Congolese situation. Very sick people came at times we were tested in our own faith. We found one woman on the floor in our lounge one Sunday afternoon. To me she looked on the brink of death. Because of the language problem, we could not find out what she needed, but had to fully trust the leading of the Holy Spirit to guide us. We prayed for a despondent soul, heart broken, in pain, sick and without hope. We anointed her with oil, and just sat with her speaking in tongues for hours. After some time, she opened her eyes,

5 MAKING NATIONS OUR PRAYER PRIORITY Issue 1/2016 smiled, got up and walked out. The next day she came to say thank you. Her eyes were open, she was alive and full of life (see the woman in the yellow and green dress, photo below). We rejoiced in our Father's faithfulness and the healing power of Jesus Christ! Lake Tanganyika from the DRC. The lake is 660 km long, approximately m deep and between 16 and 72 km wide. It is bordered by the DRC, Tanzania, Burundi and Zambia. People came with insomnia. Others are haunted by visions of trauma they have experienced, many have diabetes, some are troubled in their dreams by demonic attacks; witchcraft haunts just about everybody. Unemployment is a recurring refrain and yet, there remains the hope to find a job, to marry well and to have a good life. During our visit the country were under military curfew. That served as a blessing in disguise. People had to be in their own homes and off the streets from 22:00 to 6:00 the next morning. That left us with a reasonable time to recover for the days ahead. The core problems tackled during our stay were bloodguilt, immorality, idolatry and injustice (broken covenants). The theme for our prayer times revolved around Isiah 25 and 45, and Psalm 66. Stone with scripture to proclaim God s Word in the lake. Final lasting impressions Travelling on the roads in the South Kivu province is not for the faint hearted. Both driver and passenger need faith and endurance! A 125 km journey takes five hours to complete. Prophetic action on the mountain. Going or supporting we pursue the same vision We were blessed by a group of intercessors who carried us in prayer. We thank you from our hearts! Your faithfulness in support and undergirding us with prayer is known to God and we trust Him for your reward. In terms of financial provision, we are so aware that only the Lord knows how expensive these journeys are. For example, the visas for this year's visit cost us R1500 each and the transit visas for Rwanda cost us US$60 each. Our heartfelt appreciation to every person who contributed towards travelling costs, fuel, food, accommodation and support for the thousands of orphans. May the Lord, who sees in secret, reward you in public. One more nation remains to be visited: Tanzania. We trust the Lord that we would be able to round off prayers for Lake Tanganyika in Kigoma, on the eastern banks of Lake Tanganyika in June The hospitality of the Congolese nation is of world renown and now we too can vouch for that. We were loved, well taken care of and blessed out of our socks. Food for the road: mealie, cooked plantains and injera (a pancake-type bread). Even though the economic situation is not at all sound, there is the God-given gift of good soil and the tropical climate that allows the local population to live and eat off the land and utilise the lake for fishing. We serve a merciful God.

6 Upcoming prayer journeys... India When: 29 September 14 October 2016 Dates are provisional and may change slightly. What: Strategic intercession and prayer. Why: To pray for the nation of India specifically the northern province of Bihar, one of the least evangelised, poorest and most populous regions. It is situated in the Hindu belt and is bound by many demonic practices. Who: Christian, born-again believers with an interest in prayer and a heart for the nation of India. It is essential that team members should be fit and healthy. Cost: R (excludes visa fees, includes all tour costs and R1 200 non-refundable deposit). Essential preparation and training: Weekly preparation meetings for 12 weeks before leaving for India. France, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia When: 3 20 November 2016 (Dates are provisional and may change slightly.) What: Strategic intercession and prayer for European capitals. Why: To pray with YWAM Europe intercessors in the capitals of Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. The trip will include prayer training in southern France. Who: Christian, born-again believers with an interest in prayer and who has a calling to pray for the nations of Europe. Cost: R (excludes visa fees, includes all tour costs and R1 200 non-refundable deposit). Essential preparation and training: Weekly preparation meetings for weeks before leaving for Europe. Closing date for registration: 30 August 2016 Become a UPF member Believers can become members of the UPF NPO by filling in a registration form and paying R150 annual membership fee. Members participate in the decision-making processes of UPF, receive discount in prayer journey registration fees and pay 10% less for resources sold by the organisation (such as CDs, DVDs and other research and teaching materials). Send an to: upfsa@absamail.co.za to request a registration form. For more information and registration documentation, contact Leon Coetzee (see page 1 for contact details). You have an opportunity to invest into these projects. Register to be a participant, sow much-needed finances to these projects or become a home-base intercessor who will pray for the teams. To donate to these projects, make use of our bank details on page 1 with one of the following references: India2016 or EU2016. Visit UPF in cyberspace The UPF website offers valuable information and links to partner and like-minded organisations and initiatives. Join us on Facebook (search for UPFSA or follow the link) to be informed about international and local strategic prayer initiatives. To quote from a recent post: Intercession transforms our hearts, renews our faith, and gives us an inheritance in the people and places we pray for. (International House of Prayer)