ALERTTOPOn Watch in Washington - June 13, 2012
U.S. CITIES AND THE HOMELESS
Photo: USA Today

A growing number of cities across the United States are making it harder to be homeless.

"
The Coalition for the Homeless reports that more than 43,000 homeless individuals - Including 17,000 children, another all-time monthly high - stayed in shelters each night in April."

Ralph Nunez reported that
New York City's homeless problem was exploding, he wasn't kidding. Even as the city's economy improved over the past two years, the number of homeless children grew by 17% from 14,500 to 17,000 and the number of homeless individuals grew by 21% from 35,500 to 43,000. This is a problem that is not going away and shows signs of growing dramatically worse.

Philadelphia recently banned outdoor feeding of people in city parks. Denver has begun enforcing a ban on eating and sleeping on property without permission. And this month, lawmakers in Ashland, Ore., will consider strengthening the town's ban on camping and making noise in public.

And the list goes on: Atlanta, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, Oklahoma City and more than 50 other cities have previously adopted some kind of anti-camping or anti-food-sharing laws, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

The ordinances are pitting city officials against homeless advocates. City leaders say they want to improve the lives of homeless people and ensure public safety, while supporters of the homeless argue that such regulations criminalize homelessness and make it harder to live on the nation's streets.

"We're seeing these types of laws being proposed and passed all over the country," said Heather Johnson, a civil rights attorney at the homeless and poverty law center, which opposes many of the measures. "We think that criminalization measures such as these are counterproductive. Rather than address the root cause of homelessness, they perpetuate homelessness." (Contributor:
Huffington Post, Coalition for the Homeless, USA Today, Yamiche Alcindor)

  

Pray that those who find themselves in a position of not being able to have homes will be given help by merciful advocates in all of our major cities. Pray for restoration of families. Pray for adequate affordable housing. Pray for an increase in available jobs for those struggling with finding adequate employment. Pray for wisdom for those in the position of overseeing the homeless that are in need of housing and employment.

  

"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." (Proverbs 19:17)

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 4:19)

 

This article has been condensed for this alert, but you can  <Click Here> to read our full report in PDF format. 

 

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COME TO PRAY IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL
HOUSE MOVING TO HOLD MR. HOLDER IN CONTEMPT
Photo: Fox News

CBS News has learned the House Oversight Committee will vote next week on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. It's the fourth time in 30 years that Congress has launched a contempt action against an executive branch member. This is a major escalation in the separation-of-powers battle over the "Fast and Furious" scandal that the Obama administration allegedly oversaw that was botched, and now made public.

Rep. Darrell E. Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said his panel will take up the contempt issue next week, and the move has the blessing of House Speaker John A. Boehner.

House Committee and Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa, said that
he expects as many as 31 Democrats will join Congressional Republicans in finding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents relating to a botched gun-running investigation.

 

The U.S. gun operation targeted Mexican drug cartels between 2009 and January 2011 and allowed more than 2,000 guns to be carried away. Two of the weapons were found at the scene of the December 2010 murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in Arizona, according to a congressional report. Other guns were found in Mexico.

"The Justice Department is out of excuses," Mr. Boehner said in a statement Monday morning. "Either the Justice Department turns over the information requested, or Congress will have no choice but to move forward with holding the Attorney General in contempt for obstructing an ongoing investigation."

Both Holder and Obama have acknowledged the operation - which allowed guns to be sold to straw purchasers in the U.S. with the knowledge they were being sent across the border to Mexican cartels - was wrong. But they said the operation was handled entirely by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives employees, with little oversight at the Justice Department.

Mr. Issa, though, is investigating who in the Justice Department knew of the operation's tactics. He has obtained sealed affidavits supporting wiretaps that he says indicate top Justice officials knew the tactics.

His committee issued a subpoena for documents in October, and Mr. Issa said Monday that the Justice Department still is withholding information in violation of that.

"Specifically, the Justice Department has refused to turn over critical documents on the grounds that they show internal Department deliberations and were created after February 4, 2011 - the date Justice issued a false denial to Congress.  (Contributors:
Bloomberg Businessweek, Washington Times, CBS News, BuzzFeed)

 

  

Pray that this investigation will bring forth the truth concerning this issue. Pray for justice to be rightly fairly served so as to preserve the integrity of the office of the Department of Justice.   

  

"That the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." (Romans 8:21)

 

This article has been condensed for this alert, but you can  <Click Here> to read our full report in PDF format.   

 

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U.S. FAMILY NET WORTH DROPS 39% 
Graphic: MSNBC

The recent recession wiped out nearly two decades of Americans' wealth, according to government data released Monday, with �middle-class families bearing the brunt of the decline.

The
Federal Reserve said the median net worth of families plunged by 39 percent in just three years, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010. That puts Americans roughly on par with where they were in 1992.

Families' median net worth fell almost 40% between 2007 and 2010, down to levels last seen in 1992, the Federal Reserve said in a report Monday.

As the U.S. economy roiled for three tumultuous years, families saw corresponding drops in their income and net wealth, according to the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finances, a detailed snapshot of household finances conducted every three years.

Median net worth of families fell to $77,300 in 2010 from $126,400 in 2007, a drop of 38.8%--the largest drop since the current survey began in 1989, Fed economists said Monday. Net worth represents the difference between a family's gross assets and its liabilities. Average net worth fell 14.7% during the same three-year period.

Much of that drop was driven by the housing market's collapse. Families whose assets were tied up more in housing saw their net worth decline by more. Among families that owned homes, their median home equity declined to $75,000 in 2010, down from $110,000 three years earlier.

Between 2007 and 2010, incomes also dropped sharply. In 2010, median family income fell to $45,800 from $49,600 in 2007, a drop of 7.7%. Average income fell 11.1% to $78,500, down from $88,300. That was a departure from earlier in the decade. During the preceding three years, median income had been constant, while the mean had climbed 8.5%.

Family incomes also dropped the most in regions of the country hardest hit by the housing market tumble. Median family income in the West and South decreased substantially, while those in the Northeast and Midwest saw little change.

Incomes dropped the most among middle-class families. The wealthiest 10%, by net worth, saw their median income fell 1.4% over the three years, while families in the second and third quartiles experienced a drop of 12.1% and 7.7%, respectively. The lowest quartile's median income fell by 3.7%. (Contributor:
The Washington Post, Federal Reserve, NASDAQ)

  

Pray that through the economic troubles, Americans will turn to the Lord for their help in time of need. Pray that our national leaders will turn to the Lord as they seek wisdom to solve our major economic problems.

  

"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars." (2 Chronicles 16:9)

"I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from which comes my help." (Psalm 121:1)

 

This article has been condensed for this alert, but you can  <Click Here> to read our full report in PDF format.  
 

 

 


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"BABY BOXES" IN EUROPE ALARMING TREND

World leaders are increasingly concerned at the spread in Europe of "baby boxes" where infants can be secretly abandoned by parents, warning that the practice "contravenes the right of the child to be known and cared for by his or her parents", the Guardian reported this week.

The
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which reports on how well governments respect and protect children's human rights, is alarmed at the prevalence of the "hatches/boxes" - usually outside a hospital - which allow unwanted newborns to be left in these boxes with an alarm or bell to summon a child caretaker.

The committee, a group of 18 international human rights experts based in Geneva, says that while "
foundling wheels" and baby hatches had disappeared from Europe in the last century, almost 200 have been installed across the continent in the past decade in nations as diverse as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic and Latvia. Since 2000, more than 400 children have been abandoned in the hatches, with faith groups and right-wing politicians spearheading the revival in the controversial practice.

Their proponents draw on the language of the pro-life lobby and claim the baby boxes "protect a child's right to life" and have saved "hundreds of newborns". There are differing opinions on this key social issue across Europe. In France and Holland women have the right to remain anonymous to their babies after giving birth, while in the UK it remains a crime to secretly abandon a child.

However UN officials argue that
baby hatches violate key parts of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which says children must be able to identify their parents and even if separated from them the state has a "duty to respect the child's right to maintain personal relations with his or her parent".

In an interview with the Guardian, Maria Herczog, a member of the UNCRC committee, said that the arguments from critics were a throwback to the past. "Just like medieval times in many countries we see people claiming that baby boxes prevent infanticide ... there is no evidence for this."

She likened the pro-baby box movements in Europe to the religious right in the U.S. "Very similar to the United States where we have the spread of the
Safe Haven program with baby boxes in 50 states since 1999."

The committee wrote last year to the government in the Czech Republic, which has seen 44 baby boxes set up since 2005, asking it "undertake all measures necessary to end the program as soon as possible." (Contributor:
Guardian, Wikipedia, UNCRC, A Safe Haven for Newborns, Safe Haven Law)

  

Pray for Godly wisdom for leaders who are bound by an obligation to righteously administer help to the poor and needy. Pray that all children will receive the love and nurture that God has naturally imparted to parents and adults to give their children or any child. Pray that there will be no need for this system due to the loving care of natural parents assuming their rightful place in nurturing their own children.   

  

"He lifts the poor from the dust--yes, from a pile of ashes--and treats them as princes sitting in the seats of honor. For all the earth is the Lord's, and he has set the world in order." (1 Samuel 2:8)

 

This article has been condensed for this alert, but you can  <Click Here> to read our full report in PDF format.  

 


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HELPING WORKERS LEAVE THE ABORTION INDUSTRY
Photo: Coalition for Life

A former abortion clinic director, now pro-life, has a new ministry of helping abortion clinic workers who want to leave their jobs.

Abby Johnson (
Coalition for Life) The ministry is called And Then There Were None. The idea is to attract workers out of the abortion industry because as they convert to a pro-life way of thinking, the industry could collapse on itself.

The ministry founder, Abby Johnson, was once involved in the abortion industry herself, and she tells
OneNewsNow many of those who have worked in abortion clinics are quite aware of misdeeds in the clinics.

"When they have been basically duped by an industry -- something that they thought that they should believe in, sometimes for many years -- these workers come out and they want to share what they know and they want to right their wrongs," she says.

Johnson points out that there are many ministries for victims of abortion, the men involved and help for women in crisis pregnancies, but nothing for abortion clinic employees. The first step will be to provide them with free legal representation.

"You know they're just kind of sorting through things that they've seen at the clinic," she explains. "We want them to know that they will always be represented. So if Planned Parenthood tries to come after them, if the abortion clinic they work for tries to come after them, if anything is ever said and they need legal representation, they're going to be covered."

According to Abby Johnson, emotional and spiritual counseling will also be available, as well as the equivalent of three months' salary, if needed, as they make the transition out of the abortion industry.


Being pro-life should be about the peaceful cessation and eventual outright banning of all legalized abortion. Turning the pro-life movement into a massive collective therapy session will not bring us a step closer to ending abortion. We should rejoice that people do the right thing, but we should not have to thank them. If people who work for abortion providers want to leave that occupation, they are more than able to do so. We don't owe them anything for doing so. We should pray that they leave this heinous occupation, but we should not entice them to do so beyond the normal expected demands of their human conscience: People should leave the abortion occupation for one reason and one reason alone: Because it is the right thing to do! (Contributor: One News Now, Charlie Butts,Coalition for Life, Rights of the Unborn)

  

Give thanks to the Lord for citizens like Abby Johnson who have devoted their lives to helping to reduce and hopefully remove the abortion industry from the United States. Pray for wisdom and Godly counsel for all those who have already left this industry.

  

"Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk ... and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit." (Job 10:8-12 NIV)

 


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POLL: 60% "OBAMACARE VIOLATES INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS"

Nearly six in ten American voters want the Supreme Court to overturn at least part of the 2010 health care law, according to a new Fox News poll.

The Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision on the law by the end of June.


The poll, released this past Friday, finds 38 percent of voters think the Supreme Court should toss out the entire law, while another 21 percent would keep most of the law, but invalidate the mandate for Americans to buy health insurance. Three voters in 10 think the court should let the entire law stand (30 percent).

When asked directly if the requirement to buy health insurance is a violation of individual rights protected by the Constitution, 60 percent of voters say yes -- almost identical to the number who think the court should overturn at least that part of the health care law.

Nearly nine of 10 Republicans (87 percent), two-thirds of independents (66 percent) and a third of Democrats (33 percent) think the individual mandate is a violation of individual rights.

Democrats (53 percent) are more than twice as likely as independents (22 percent) and five times more likely than Republicans (10 percent) to think the Supreme Court should let the health care law stand.

A 65-percent majority of Republicans and a 40-percent plurality of independents want the law overturned completely. Some 14 percent of Democrats agree.

In general, more voters oppose the new health care law than favor it (49-40 percent). In April, soon after the court heard oral arguments, 53 percent were opposed and 40 percent favored it.

Slightly more voters say they trust Barack Obama (43 percent) than Mitt Romney (40 percent) to handle the health care issue. Nine percent say "neither."

The poll asks about the Obama administration requiring all employer health plans to provide birth control coverage as part of preventative services for women. Catholic and other religious-affiliated hospitals and universities say the requirement violates their religious rights under the Constitution. Nearly half of voters -- 47 percent -- agree with the government, and 41 percent with the Catholic Church.

Men are more likely to side with the Catholic Church (49 percent), while just over half of women say the government is right (51 percent). Catholics overall, by a 7 percentage-point margin, say the government is right. Practicing Catholics are much more likely to say the Church is correct (by a 16-point margin).

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 907 randomly-chosen registered voters nationwide and is conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from June 3 to June 5. For the total sample, it has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

 

View the Poll results <Click Here.> (Contributor: Fox News, Fox Poll Results)

 

Pray that our Supreme Court justices will have the mind of Christ regarding this decision on America's health laws. Pray that our governmental authorities be given wisdom from the Lord to rightly divide the immoral from the moral. Pray that our national civil liberties are not reduced or diminished by any fundamentally flawed mandates.

 

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." (James 1:22-25)

 

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His Land, Our Land III Conference   

June 28-July 1, 2012   

with    

Lance Lambert and David Kubal

  

The Inn, 234 Watchman Lane, Franklin, NC 28734

For more information, please call 828-524.5741

 

 

 


Prayer Surge NOW! Saturday 6/16

Joint National Conference Calling  

Prayer Meeting Across America  

"Partnering with CHRIST for REVIVAL  

In the Middle East AND America"
7:30am-11am Eastern & 4:30am-8am Pacific

Connect using 712-432-0075 & code 6149782#

<Click here>to see this week's prayer agenda

     

 

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CONGRESSIONAL PRAYER CAUCUS - ISSUES FOR PRAYER

Veterans Affairs Subcommittee Hearing Focuses on Religious Freedom for Veterans and Families - On June 6, 2012, the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability and Memorial Affairs held a hearing on several bills including H.R. 2720, a bill introduced by Rep. John Culberson to clarify the role of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in veterans' burial services.  Rep. Culberson testified that he crafted the measure in response to religious censorship that occurred during veterans' burial services at the Houston National Cemetery in 2011.  He said the measure would ensure an "absolute zone of privacy around every American that the government cannot penetrate-including the right to conduct a funeral in the way that you see fit between you and your God." 

Kelly Shackelford, President of the religious liberty law firm Liberty Institute, also testified at the hearing in support of the bill, explaining the need to codify these protections to ensure that the situation that occurred at the Houston National Cemetery never happens again.  A lawsuit filed last year by veterans groups against the Houston National Cemetery ultimately was settled when the VA
agreed that it would not ban or interfere with prayers or religious expressions at burial services; would not censor private religious speech; and would not interfere in the distribution of cards and gifts containing religious messages.  Liberty Institute represented the veterans groups in their significant victory against the VA in that case.

A video of the hearing is available here:
http://ow.ly/br7Tx  

 

Remembering D-Day - Thursday marked the sixty-eighth anniversary of the date on which Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy in a pivotal display of resilience.  Many lost their lives in that crucial fight for freedom.  Although the mission seemed impossible, General Dwight D. Eisenhower said we would "accept nothing less than full victory."  On that day, June 6, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a prayer to the nation.  The House of Representatives recently passed the World War II Memorial Prayer Act (H.R. 2070), introduced by Prayer Caucus Member Rep. Bill Johnson, which directs the Secretary of the Interior to install a plaque or an inscription of the prayer in the area of the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC.  Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate (S.3078).  President Roosevelt's prayer began, "Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces.

Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph."

The full text of President Roosevelt's prayer, entitled "Let Our Hearts Be Stout," is available here:
http://ow.ly/bsrom  

 

You can weigh-in on the legislation to add the D-Day Prayer to the WWII Memorial here: http://ow.ly/bsrsK  

 

 (Contributors: U.S. Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation)

This article has been condensed for this alert, but you can  <Click Here> to read our full report in PDF format.  

 




INTERCESSORS FOR AMERICA JUNE PRAYER LETTER

In preparation
for our First Friday prayer we would like to offer you an opportunity to download our June 2012 Prayer Letter.

The file is 2.9 MB in size and may take a while to download.

You can download our
June Prayer Letter "The Connecter"  PDF version by
going here.







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WHAT DOES F3 MEAN?



F3 (First Friday Fast)

You may have missed this month's First Friday opportunity to fast and pray for America with other believers across the nation, but that does not mean that you cannot unite with believers to fast and pray for America on our next First Friday!

 

For more information about how to join an established F3 group

or to start your own F3 group, go to Get America Praying!


Printable Version

Click the button above to download the printable version of this prayer alert!



First Friday Prayer Conference Call 
Friday July 6th   
 
Dear Praying Friend,
    There are only five more First Fridays until the most important elections in our country's history. Please take the time to join us the First Friday of July as we continue to connect through prayer - our live First Friday Conference Call!

 

When:  
Friday, July 6, 2012 at 12:15-12:45 EST; 11:15-11:45 CST; 10:15-10:45 MST; 9:15-9:45 PST

How:  
Call in at (712) 432-0075. When prompted, enter access code 1412452#
for the call.

Who:  
Anyone can join us. You can choose to voice your prayers, or just listen and agree with us in prayer.






IFA
SPECIAL REPORT

Elena Kagan
Religious Freedom
Anti-Religious-Liberties Agenda

Contents
U.S. CITIES AND THE HOMELESS
COME TO PRAY IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL
HOUSE MOVING TO HOLD MR. HOLDER IN CONTEMPT
U.S. FAMILY NET WORTH DROPS 40%
"BABY BOXES" IN EUROPE ALARMING TREND
HELPING WORKERS LEAVE THE ABORTION INDUSTRY
POLL: 60% "OBAMACARE VIOLATES INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS"
His Land, Our Land III Conference...June 28-July 1, 2012
PRAYER SURGE NOW!
CONGRESSIONAL PRAYER CAUCUS - ISSUES FOR PRAYER
INTERCESSORS FOR AMERICA JUNE PRAYER LETTER
WHAT DOES F3 MEAN?
Printable Versions
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