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THE RACE - ISSUE 11
A Neo-Cyrus?!
Lost. In Exile. The dreams of days, now, long gone.
Hopeless.
There, in Babylon, the people of Jerusalem and Judah lived.
The memories of the Temple and the land of Promise were like echoes in a
barren valley- their hearts longed to climb Zion once more.
When would
they return? What was to be the means that God would provide for
them???
Then came one named Cyrus.
The author of Second Chronicles
(36:22-23) records, "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia-- in order
to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah-- the Lord stirred
up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation
throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:
Thus says
Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the
kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in
Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people,
may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!'"
Algerians have
suffered nearly a decade of pain, fear, & death. In a land of political
& family mistrust and seemingly endless hopelessness, has God raised up
one through whom He can bring national stability and hope for
the future.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika had issued a plan to grant
amnesty to insurgents who will give up their weapons and renounce violence.
Many Algerians complied with the deal, which ended in January. Bouteflika
has also worked to reestablish economic and political relationships with
other nations, which were severed or damaged during the '90's. He appears to
be moving Algeria slowly towards civilian rule after four decades of
near total army control.
"Algeria needs a transparent and legal
framework for reforms that could threaten the vested interest of some," a
senior Western diplomat said. "But without reforms, economic and social
conditions will get worse and this might cause another crisis.
"
Throughout history, God has used men and women to accomplish His
holy purposes. Some even came to faith through their experience in seeing
God at work. Perhaps this is another such point in history. Indeed,
God desires for all Algerians to have the freedom and many opportunities
to come Jesus Christ.
May President Bouteflika say, "Whoever there is
among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go
up!'"
Please, pray for President Bouteflika that God's Spirit would
reveal the truth of Jesus Christ to him and that God's Spirit would lead
Bouteflika in making wise decisions for Algeria.
The Algerian Arab Team
therace@therace.ws
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