NEWSLETTER

7/30/2008
Dear Intercessor Friends,

The last letter closed by saying that at last we managed to slow down a bit.
By now we must admit: that did not last long, the last four months have been some of the most intense of the last years.
Walking through our agenda and skipping all details, will give you a picture of the amazing things God is doing and involving us in: Reconciliation is very much on His agenda, but there were also surprises.
These are the topics
- EU-prayer gathering
- Book week.
- ”Spirit of empire”. .
- Egyptian Prayer Conference.
- Teaching at YWAM.
- Caribbean Prayer Summit. .
- Six Nations Rhine Project.
- Wall Street Initiative, New York.
- The 4th Europe - Africa Conference, Kinshasa. .
- Double anniversary.
Pay special attention to the last two events: New York and Kinshasa!

Leap-year baby. The 29th of February our seventh grand child was born, Julie Elinor, daughter to our son Tijmen and his wife Nicolien! We were again surprised and overjoyed by the smallness, vulnerability, loveliness and liveliness of such a new creature.

EU-prayer gathering. From 5-8 March, the annual EU-prayer gathering took place, in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as always, in the EU-nation that is in the chair. Helene represented the Dutch monthly EU-prayer-group; it was a time of networking and learning. One thing that was hardly mentioned in the media was that, with the independence of Kosovo, there is now a Muslim nation on European soil, all the more surprising (and hard to swallow for Serbia) while this independence was pushed through by the bigger powers, not conform international rights. The intercessors of the region were very much aware of this; strong intercession erupted. Index

Book week. From 10-15 March I had a bookweek. Last year I finished Part 2 (http://www.servingthenations.org/booktcc.htm) of the planned trilogy "The City Redeemed". During this week I produced two thirds of part 3 (which will not be a separate volume, but the last chapter in vol. 2). Content-wise I am quite happy, but our Sounding Board thinks that Part 2 is way too abstract still. I must first write what is on my heart, and then will make a decision on how to proceed. Index

”Spirit of empire”. From 20-26 March a prayer conference took place in Brussels, Belgium, led by Rusty and Janet Richards, an American couple, who were convicted that the ‘spirit of empire’ in Europe, and in the church worldwide, had to be addressed and exposed. Over the years Rusty had done thorough research. Worship, he felt, is the main way to start, and that we did. He is a wonderful worship leader. As part of that we went to Aachen, Germany, where Charlemagne had his throne (the throne is still there); the act of the pope crowning Charlemagne emperor of ''the Holy Roman empire'', AD 800, established the spirit of empire in the European church and in Europe. This is one of the roots of the historic church-state dilemma.
We were a small but in a way a hand picked group, from all the continents. There were times of painful stagnation, when the ‘spirit of empire’ tried to manifest itself also in our meetings, through which the Lord tested the team and helped us focus on the cause. More than that we had wonderful times of worship. Out of it we were led to do warfare: a flood of confessions of all kinds of empire behaviour erupted: in our own lives, in our families, in the church, from individual misogyny and paternalism, to national crusades and colonialism. It was really deep, sincere, anointed, intense, focused and complete. (Spiritual warfare can have different forms. Identificational Confession of sins is a foundational ingredient).
We felt as if we were in the heavenly court room, hearing the verdict against that spirit until he was utterly silenced. We believe an European evil was effectively addressed.
In Brussels, through a divine appointment, an important contact was re-established with the leader of the Wall Street Initiative, see below. Index

Egyptian Prayer Conference. From 1-5 April a National Prayer Conference took place in Alexandria, Egypt, with about 5000 Egyptian believers and believers, in a huge tent in the desert, eager to worship the Lord, to hear the Word and inspired teaching and encouragement. It was fantastic. There was evident unity among the very diverse leaders and between church and prayer-movement, an example for Europe! What impressed us is that many leaders have a responsible position in society, yet they take risks as they ''are not ashamed of the gospel''. We heard many testimonies about discrimination, (though not from the platform!); persecution is on the increase; ''the influence of Islam is advancing by the hour"! The poverty in the nation is cruel, many people suffer from famine. The hopelessness that we saw on many faces of people at the roadside is heart-breaking. The vision to establish a permanent house of prayer "in the midst of Egypt" indicates that Gods children are filled with hope. The leaders of the conference were very glad and encouraged with the foreign presence. But we also were blessed and encouraged to have been part of it. Index

Teaching at YWAM. From 21-25 April, Pieter taught at YWAM-Heidebeek, Netherlands. The old ties with YWAM are always alive. Once or twice a year I am teaching somewhere in Europe, this time in the School of Intercession. I always love it, the international audience and the eagerness to make a difference in the world. Index

Caribbean Prayer Summit. This took place from 2-6 May in Paramaribo, Suriname, and hosted representatives from Jamaica, Barbados, Suriname, Guyana (English), French Guyana, Haiti, Curacao and Bonaire. Quite late we were informed about this event, with the suggestion: "Since the Dutch slave trade dominated the Caribbean, and since this time this event takes place in Suriname, should not a Dutch representative be there?"
We decided that Pieter should go; two times earlier a Dutch delegation had been in Paramaribo for reconciliation, with positive response, but this was Caribbean!
The focus was Reconciliation / Transformation. The format was simple: an island shared and we prayed, straight forward and authoritative, and very informative for me as an outsider.
The "reconciliation-time" was scheduled in a public place in the evening. 800 were present and it caused a strong appreciative response. As usual: the perpetrator (-nation) manages to forget, but the victim (-nation) passes on the suffering, and can at best forget after an honest and humble apology is presented. It is painful for the Surinamese that the Dutch government is so reluctant to make significant steps towards reconciliation; in 2007 Tony Blair (UK) and Chirac (Fr) did!
Beside this, I was asked to teach on Transformation, which I love to do and for which the audience was more than ready. That was a fruitful time with intense email correspondence following. Index

Six Nations Rhine Project. The closing event of this project took place 22-25 May, Rotterdam, Netherlands. The river Rhine flows through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands, and for five years a six -nations team worked on (team building and ) research and prayer strategy. We found four clusters of Rhine-related sins: 1. idolatry and occultism of the, incl. Queen of Heaven and water spirits; 2. pride and wars over and on the Rhine; 3. abuse, incl. drowning; 4. from the Middle Ages: persecution of Jews.
Over these years we spent 10 weekends somewhere along the Rhine to strategize and pray. In 2005 we had a conference near the Bodensee, where Switzerland, Austria and Germany meet, and we did a four-day prayer outreach to the two sources of the Rhine (at altitudes of 2430 and 2800 m!). This May we met in Rotterdam, in the Rotterdam House of Prayer, located on an island in the middle of the Rhine (!) and we prayed where this awesome river reaches the German-Dutch border and where it reaches the North Sea! Though we see some changes (e.g. in Liechtenstein, where the tax-evading practices are coming to light) we cannot claim that the spiritual and political climate in our six nations has dramatically changed for good, but we can testify to so much anointing and so many miracles of a smaller scale, that we trust the Lord also for the bigger results. We thank God for involving us in this special project. Index

Wall Street Initiative. Since 2002 we have been connecting with a Native American couple that was motivated to do research on the history of what is now New York, USA.. 1-7 June was the time for Dutch people to do on-site confessions to Native Americans.
In 1624 it were the Dutch that founded New Amsterdam, now New York. We, the Dutch, did much evil against the Native Americans. Our hosts, leaders of a "First Nations Counselling Ministries", took us to 19 massacre-sites for on site prayer and repentance, face to face with descendants of the Lenape Native Americans of Long Island and Manhattan. Especially two things stood out in the Dutch behaviour with effects till this very day.
First: the Dutch introduced alcohol, even used it to deceive Natives to treacherous contracts, and causing alcohol addiction in many, maybe all, tribes and families all over the continent.
Second: Before the Dutch landed at the southern tip of Manhattan, - A - already major trade routes merged there, and - B - it was next to Long Island where special shells were found, which were made into beads, which had become regional currency. In other words: that place, Manhattan, had already a commercial and monetary role. The Dutch "bought" the whole island (for $ 24), but - C - a contract of buying territory was for Natives just a contract for living together, because in their thinking the soil was of the Creator, and could therefore not be "owned" by persons or peoples. Then, in 1643, the Dutch governor, after some bloody tensions with the Natives, built a wall across the island, securing the southern tip “to keep the Natives out”. That wall, where is now Wall Street (!),-C-, kept the Natives out of their own soil, and -A- cut them off from their commercial - and -B- from their monetary centre!
All this is as such already very dramatic. When we stood at the plaque which commemorates the selling of the island, and when the audacity of the Dutch dawned on each of us with new force, the leader, an Iroquoi, prayed along this line: "Lord forgive us that we worshiped the soil, in stead of the Creator; may be the coming of the Dutch was a punishment". (This is an enormous prayer to pray, with a Dutch delegation around, but there was a strong presence of the Lord.) Then the following dawned on me: "Lord, we, the Dutch, by our Wall, excluded the Native Americans from their own soil, and from their commercial and monetary system. Then we, the whites, made this place into a global commercial and monetary hub, while the Lenape were pushed away to Pennsylvania, then on to Missouri and now to Ontario, Canada, so impoverished and cut off form secular wealth. In the mean time we have invited the UN to settle on Manhattan (!), who now pursues the global worship of Mother Earth, in fact multiplying the sin of the original population into a global sin. Lord, have mercy on us".
It was as if for a moment we held world's history in our intercessor's hands.
For a complete report, see "NATIVE ANERICANS, THREE DRAMA'S"
Many other things, rather: sins, are worth mentioning, but not now. God is indeed making history through intercessors. Index

The 4th Europe - Africa Conference took place 18-22 June in Kinshasa, Dem. Rep of Congo. For the first, Berlin 2005, see "EUROPE - AFRICA; Berlin Congo II: A Glorious Report" (http://www.servingthenations.org/nationsarticle.asp?ArticleID=133); for the third conference, Gabon 2007, see "NESTOR OF AFRICAN PRESIDENTS FORGIVES EUROPE" (http://www.servingthenations.org/nationsarticle.asp?ArticleID=169).
In this whole process there was evidently a beautiful build-up: from intercessors conference, in Berlin 2005, to intercessors conference with some political recognition in Harare, 2006, to a public conference with governmental endorsement in Gabon, 2007. We hardly dared to hope that this conference in the Dem. Rep of Congo could climax the 2007 event. But a climax it was. At the morning of the public confessions, broadcasted live on TV, the European delegates knelt, literally and spiritually backed up by a row of church dignitaries, fully robed and of many denominations (!), and facing the Deputy President, who was backed up by six cabinet ministers(!), and a crowd of 8000-10.000 Congolese, who, by their applauses and exuberance clearly expressed that they WANT TO FORGIVE! Moreover, the Deputy President, who expressly excused the President for not being able to attend in person because of an international commitment, at the end of his speech forgave Europe. And then...he committed the Democratic Republic of Congo into the hands of God, the Lord of Hosts!
As said, this was way beyond expectation; this was God. We were overwhelmed and cried. A full report in English, worth reading, will come on our website. Index

A double anniversary will be celebrated mid October. This does not refer to our 40year marriage anniversary; that was last year.
No, mid October it has been 25 years we had the privilege to be working full time for the Lord. And for 10 years we did so out of Serving the Nations.
We are thankful. This is time to celebrate.
You are welcome! (If you would like to come, let us know, and we will be in touch with you.)

Thank you for fellowship, with you and in the Holy Spirit.

Warm greetings from
Pieter and Helene Bos.

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