February 24, 2006

Dear Prayer Warriors:

I hope you are doing well.  This past weekend we completed our third Issachar School Course: The School of the Prophets I & II.  We have been thrilled not only with the response to this new school but also the level of revelation being released.  We also had our first Firstfruits Gathering of the year at Glory of Zion where I taught on how to advance in the night watches and allow the Lord to reorder our day. 
      Additionally, I have been working with Pam to complete the manuscript for our first book together, In A World of Chaos: Don’t Miss the Simple Things.  In fact, the publisher liked our initial manuscript so much they requested an additional four chapters!  So this month has been a time of focused writing as well as seeking revelation from the Lord so we can pray most effectively in this key season.  Next week you can expect to receive the next 21-Day Prayer Focus.

The ongoing port controversy is very interesting.  This is in light of the call that I received from the Lord last year to visit the major ports of our nation to pray.  He told me to “surround the nation by going to the ports because next year the ports will become a deciding force in the way the nation goes politically and economically.” 
      The Lord gave me this word at the end of the 50-State Tour in 2004 when I pulled aside for seven days to ask Him for future direction.  When I visited Seattle in October 2005, I completed my journey to the key ports.  We now see this is becoming a real issue.

At the end of 2005, I was in Houston for a meeting.  I shared several points which I feel are so important for every port city this year.  I want to encourage you, and particularly a team in each port city, to pray accordingly. 

Feel free to respond with any key information in this area that we can funnel to our state networks. 

I also have several reading suggestions to better understand how Mammon and trade work together.  These books include:

In closing, here is an excellent article on the port controversy from Gary Bergel and Intercessors for America.

Blessings,

Chuck D. Pierce

PORT CONTROVERSY: 90 TERMINALS AT U.S. PORTS ARE ALREADY OPERATED BY FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS AND BUSINESSES

The United States has 95,000 miles of open shoreline with 361 ports. Annually, 7,500 ships make 51,000 port calls and unload more than 6 million containers.

On Watch in Washington,  Editorial Team: Gary Bergel / Brian Miller / William Lee

February 22, 2006

Unless lawmakers can scuttle the Bush administration’s port deal, the Dubai-government-owned Dubai Ports World (DPW) will join a growing list of foreign-owned entities that are heavily involved in port operations across the U.S.

U.S. companies continue to operate the majority of terminals, but no U.S. company made a bid on the purchase of Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation, the current holder of the contracts.

Homeland Security officials yesterday scurried to compile a list of all terminal operators in 361 U.S. ports. The governments of China and Singapore own companies that hold terminal leases along the West Coast. Japanese businesses control dozens of terminals nationwide, and a Danish company runs nearly a dozen major ports on the East Coast.

Dubai Ports World (DPW) -- which also has trucking operations, freight transportation logistics and airport operations -- is owned by a member of the United Arab Emirates. The $6.8 billion Dubai Ports World deal, which is scheduled to close March 2, would allow DPW to add six major U.S. ports to the 22 marine terminals it already operates in 15 countries, including China, India, Venezuela and Australia.

To read the entire Washington Post editorial, (Port Security Humbug), from which a portion of this article was taken, go to the IFA website, www.ifapray.org, and click on “The New Face of War” or “Homeland Security”.

PORT DEBATE: PRO & CON

PRO:
• The United Arab Emirates is a U.S. ally that has cooperated extensively with U.S. security operations in the war on terrorism, that supplied troops to the U.S.-led coalition during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and that sends humanitarian aid to Iraq. U.S. troops move freely in and out of Dubai on their way to Iraq now.

• A goal of "democracy promotion" in the Middle East, after all, is to encourage Arab countries to become economically and politically integrated with the rest of the world. What better way to do so than by encouraging Arab companies to invest in the United States?

• Work at the ports would continue to be done by unionized longshoremen, and the U.S. Coast Guard, and Customs and Border Protection still would provide security at ports. The contract to manage the ports is not expected to involve large numbers of United Arab Emirates or foreign dock workers, but will involve some United Arab Emirates nationals who are Dubai Ports World managers to direct and oversee port operations.

• A Federal Election Commission investigation has turned up no evidence of campaign contributions by DPW or its employees in the U.S.

• The CIA operates a base in Dubai, and U.S. military unmanned aerial vehicles also fly out of the Persian Gulf state for intelligence-gathering missions. "It's a country that's been involved in the global war on terror with us; it's a country that we have facilities that we use," said Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.

• The port deal was approved by a U.S. Treasury Committee on Foreign Investment, in part based on the United Arab Emirates' support for U.S. government activities in the war on terrorism. The Department of Homeland Security was the lead agency in supporting the deal, based on past United Arab Emirates cooperation with a U.S.-led shipping container security initiative in Dubai.

CON:
• Security fears about infiltration by terrorists. Intelligence and security officials opposed to the deal with Dubai Ports World said ports are vulnerable to the entry of terrorists or illicit weapons because of the large number of containers that enter the U.S., regardless of who manages them.

• A Persian Gulf state such as the United Arab Emirates could provide an infrastructure for terrorists to penetrate U.S. security as part of a major terrorist operation. One long-term worry is that al Qaeda terrorists will attempt to smuggle a nuclear device into the United States through a port via a shipping container. Allowing a Middle Eastern company to manage key ports "would be like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse," said one security official.

• DUBAI PORT CO. MAY HAVE TROUBLING TIES TO BUSH ADMINISTRATION (Washington Times, 2/22/06) Dubai Ports World (DPW) has several potential ties to the Bush administration, which approved the acquisition. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow was chairman of CSX Corp. before being appointed by President Bush to the Treasury Department. In addition, Mr. Bush late last month appointed David Sanborn, who runs DPW's European and Latin American operations to head the U.S. Maritime Administration.

• A shipping source said what is more disconcerting than the port deal is that foreign businesses and governments are sitting down with Homeland Security officials to create cargo security regulations. "As the government puts these security regulations together, also at the table are unregistered foreign agents of the government of China and Singapore making recommendations to us on cargo security," the source said.

Prayer Points:

Pray that our national leaders would have the wisdom to address all concerns regarding our national security and that misinformation, rumor and political advancement would not rule.

Pray that members of the Bush administration, Congress and all U.S. Security Agencies would be able to consider fairly all facts regarding this national debate on our ports and points of entry.

Pray that management of all U.S. points of entry -- borders, air, rail and sea -- would be manned and managed by those whose guiding principle is the protection of all U.S. citizens.

Pray for overworked Customs agents, who have the right to open any container and inspect the contents; such procedures are conducted on about 5 percent of all containers nationwide. Pray for the lack of any screening for the thousands of truck drivers, many of whom are immigrants, hauling containers from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, CA., to railway lines.

Intercessors for America
P O Box 915   
Purcellville,  VA  20134
Fax 540-751-0984    
ifa@ifapray.org    web: http://www.ifapray.org

RESOURCES TO ASSIST YOU AT THIS TIME

Pre-Release Offer:

Reordering Your Day: Understanding and Embracing the Four Prayer Watches
Do you want to know why you are waking up at certain times and feel you should get up to pray? I am completing a book that will be available shortly called Reordering Your Day: Understanding and Embracing the Four Prayer Watches.  Robert Heidler, Lindy Heidler (leader of the night watch at the Succat Hallel - House of Prayer in Israel), Linda Heidler, John & Sheryl Price from New Jersey, and others have contributed valuable current information to help you understand the power of the watches.  For a limited time you can pre-order your copy for $10.00. 

You can order any of these resources by going to www.glory-of-zion.org or by calling (888) 965-1099 or (940) 382-7231 (MC and Visa only).  Special offers expire March 15, 2006.