Displaying items by tag: Religion

The executive leader of the Church Mission Society, Canon Philip Mounstephen, after a recent visit to in Nepal, ponders what difference it would make to the Church in the West if it was as filled with the Holy Spirit. He said that Nepali churches have experienced sustained and significant growth over recent years, while the older UK Church is in decline, facing indifference and suspicion. The Nepali Church is a living demonstration of what happens when the holy and the human meet - a church full of the Holy Spirit and faith, resulting in a great many people being brought to the Lord. The name Barnabas means ‘son of encouragement’, and the Nepali church should encourage us to explore what happens when a Church is filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. We must begin with prayer. We must recognise our emptiness, and ask to be filled.

Europe has almost two thousand years of Christian history, from the Apostle Paul planting the first European church in Lydia’s house in Philippi through to the Moravians, Jan Hus in Moravia, Count Zinzendorf and the Herrnhut community in Saxony, Pietism in the Lutheran church, Huguenots in France, and the evangelical awakening in Britain through George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley. More recently there have been Pentecostal revivals in Wales. God is still at work in Europe today! It is said that where a revival has happened before, it is easier for it to happen again. This encourages us to hope that the recent decline in church life can turn to growth again. Pray for such a total turnaround in the spiritual situation in Europe that atheism and humanism can no longer claim to be dominant.

Intellectual and religious freedom in North Korea is atrocious, but God could use Trump and Kim’s meeting to initiate freedom from the constant oppression Christians receive for following Jesus. They are imprisoned for their faith, often entire families confined for generations. They are banned from being part of a church, or expressing their religious beliefs to their children, out of fear that they will say something to the wrong person. There are about 300,000 Christians in North Korea who hide their faith and meet in extreme secrecy. An estimated 50,000 Christians are imprisoned in labour camps or detention centres or banished to remote regions. Government propaganda calls Christians ‘deceitful and evil people, to be avoided at all cost.’ The abuse they endure is reminiscent of people being forced by Nebuchadnezzar to worship idols or be thrown into a furnace. Also, see the article in the UK section.

7 out of 10 Western Europeans call themselves Christians. However, the majority are non-practising (defined as attending church less than once a month). Across the 15 countries studied, 79% of self-identifying Christians believe in God, ranging from 93% in Portugal to 59% in Sweden. No national Christian population in Western Europe puts a high premium on evangelism; only 8% of believers say they try to persuade others to adopt their Christian convictions. Fasting during holy times and wearing religious symbols are also uncommon practices. About 24% say they tithe, ranging from 43% in Portugal to 18% in the UK. Among non-practising Christians less than half believe God is all-knowing (34%), all-powerful (26%), or all-loving (47%). Most practising Christians assert God’s omniscience and His all-loving nature, but barely half agree that God is all-powerful.

Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Imam Oumar Kobine Layama and Rev Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou have international recognition for their peacekeeping efforts, and have blamed foreign mercenaries for an upsurge in violence. The so-called 'Christian rebels', the Anti-balaka, wear occult charms around their necks and fight with knives, clubs, rifles and machetes to rid the south of Muslims. The Bambari cathedral was looted, as were the bases of nine NGOs including the National Commission for Refugees. The clerics called all armed groups to lay down weapons, stop illegal exploitation of natural resources, and have ‘frank and inclusive dialogue’. The UN reported that 37,000 people, displaced by recent violence, are living in nine camps. The Red Cross said Muslim and Christian communities in Bambari want to live peaceably but are driven apart by violence and revenge attacks that trigger more assaults, making it harder to persuade people to live side-by-side again. See

Christian leaders are being invited to a meeting in Johannesburg on 5 June to collaborate on a joint Bible-based response on land expropriation without compensation, for submission to a new constitutional review committee. After parliament’s February vote in favour of land expropriation without compensation, this committee was set up to review Section 25 of the constitution and other clauses where necessary, to make it possible for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, without compensation. Following this submission, further stages of the public consultation process will continue; the committee must submit its report by 30 August.

A next-generation prayer movement ‘Zoom gathering’ will take place on 19 June to raise up and encourage the next generation (15- to 35-year-olds) of intercessors in Australia. The event, organised by the National Day of Prayer and Fasting committee, is designed to reach more young people and alert them to all that is happening in prayer in the region. The vision is to raise up a next-generation prayer movement and spiritual awakening for Australia. Those gathered will divide into small groups of people being led by an older prayer warrior. The focus of the breakout room time will be on 50% discussion and 50% prayer. Each group will be asked: ‘What is God's vision for the Next Generation Prayer Movement, and how can you contribute to that? How can we as an older generation of prayer leaders serve you?’

We need to see change in the United Kingdom. It is time to turn to Jesus. It is time for His Kingdom to come, and His will to be done here. You are invited to join thousands of Christians praying, worshipping and declaring for God’s Kingdom to come in our families, churches and communities, praying for an unprecedented turning to God in our nation. This is the eleventh Trumpet Call that the World Prayer Centre has held in Birmingham. Speakers include R T Kendall, Malcolm Duncan and Yinka Oyekan.

Belarus has accused the UK embassy in Minsk of ‘creating problems’ by flying a rainbow flag for International Day Against Homophobia. The embassy said the banner directed attention to the discrimination that LGBT people encounter constantly. But the interior ministry said the majority of Belarusians ‘support traditional family values’, and ‘such statements are a challenge to these values’. Alexander Lukashenko, who has led Belarus for nearly a quarter-century, believes it is ‘better to be a dictator than gay’. Orthodox Christianity is Belarus’s major religion, with significant Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish communities. Homosexuality is not illegal but it is considered taboo: Belarus passed legislation in 2016 banning information that ‘discredits the institution of the family and marriage’.

The city of Afrin welcomed refugees fleeing Syria’s war, but in January Turkey, backed by Syrian rebels, took control there. Hanan, a Syrian Kurdish Christian, fears for those who converted from Islam to Christianity. Six years ago he started a church there, which now has 230 members. Many are from a Muslim background, becoming Christians when the grinding civil war drove them to the church searching for peace. Syrian rebels are now threatening to kill Kurds unless they convert to Islam. ‘By Allah, if you repent and come back to Allah, then know that you are our brothers,’ a soldier said in an online video. ‘But if you refuse, then we see that your heads are ripe, and that it is time for us to pluck them.’ There are serious fears of ethnic cleansing in the region.