Displaying items by tag: North America

While everyone was preoccupied celebrating the New Year, Planned Parenthood hoped nobody would notice that they released their 2016-2017 annual report to little fanfare.

Planned Parenthood committed 321,384 abortions last year alone – nearly identical to the number of lives they ended through abortion each of the previous two years.

Not only that, but Planned Parenthood raked in $1.46 Billion in revenue including over $543 million from U.S. taxpayers.

Despite the fact that Americans elected a pro-life Congress and president who pledged to defund Planned Parenthood, you and I are still being forced to funnel our money to the nation’s largest abortion vendor.

But there’s one more thing that scares me about this annual report.

It’s that Planned Parenthood states they received nearly $87 million more in “Private Contribution & Bequests” from their previous report – a whopping 20% increase!

After Congress’ failure to live up to their promises to defund Planned Parenthood, the abortion lobby now believes the political winds are shifting in their favor.

So it’s more important than ever that we double down on our efforts in 2018.

Pray: Ephesians 6:12 into the fight to end abortion. Let’s call upon God to grant us powerful prayers over the evil of abortion.

Pray: positive impact and success for Students for Life of America and other campaigners and advocates – that God’s will is done through their efforts.

For Life,

Kristan Hawkins
President, Students for Life of America
Students for Life of America
4755 Jefferson Davis Highway
Fredericksburg, VA 22408
Website

Donald Trump has enthusiastically expressed personal admiration for notorious authoritarian leaders. Recently he sent a message to Philippines president Duterte: ‘I want to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem.’ Duterte’s crackdown on the drug trade has included extrajudicial killings of 7,000+ people. On President al-Sisi of Egypt, Trump said, ‘He has been very close to me from the first time I met him. He’s done a fantastic job in a very difficult situation’. Al-Sisi has a stranglehold on Egypt’s political system, and is actively crushing any civic groups or media outlets that criticise his rule. Trump also described the president of China as ‘a good person who wants to do right, representing his people’. China’s one-party state aggressively censors the internet, persecutes ethnic and religious minorities, bans all political opposition, and recently cracked down on human rights lawyers attempting to defend the victims of such abuses.

Mount Mayon, in the Philippines, is erupting like a fountain. By 18 January, forty thousand villagers had been evacuated. People expect volcanic mudslides and roofs collapsing from accumulated ash and rainwater. Pray for those living in fear. In North America thousands are still engaged in search and clean-up efforts from last year’s wildfires, followed by huge mudslides. Pray for those who have lost everything. In Africa humanitarian aid takes months to reach people. 15 million people need aid in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia; pray for better aid agency networking. Europe has experienced devastating floods. Pray for the 80,000+ who were evacuated and are still receiving relief efforts. In Australia temperatures of 47.3 degrees necessitate a total fire ban. See and also

Canadian father Steve Tourloukis - who featured in television commercials for the Coalition for Marriage - has been fighting a legal battle since 2012 to protect his parental rights and religious freedom. The legal battle has just come to an end, but not in the favour of Mr Tourloukis - or Canadian religious freedom. He initially sent a letter to the school board asking that his children be opted out of the sexual education programme, since many of the messages in the class directly conflicted with his religious beliefs. He specifically mentioned that he was concerned about the ‘discussions or portrayals of homosexual/bisexual conduct and relationships and/or transgenderism as natural, healthy or acceptable’. When they refused his request, he took them to court, but Ontario’s appeal court has ruled against him, and against the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Hundreds of firefighters are working around the clock to battle fast-moving wildfires in southern California, and wind gusts of 80mph are expected to make matters worse. Wildfires across hillsides quickly incinerated neighbourhoods; over 110,000 people were evacuated in one county on 6 December. Prayer is needed for the overworked firefighters coping with explosive fire growth; for the crews from other states and the National Guard giving assistance; for the thousands of families now sheltering in community buildings, and the provisions needed for their comfort; for those who have had their homes destroyed; and those mourning lost families and friends. Ecologist Alexandra Syphard said, ‘Canyons cutting through the hills align diagonally with the direction of the Santa Ana winds and turn into fire funnels. Fire is part of life for the cities spread across the hills. At the end of a summer of droughts, with Santa Ana blowing, we have ideal conditions for the type of wildfires we’re experiencing every year.’ See

600 or so mission leaders and others will gather to focus on the remaining 1347 unengaged unreached peoples that need to be adopted for prayer and mission.

Pray: for the organizers, especially Paul Eshleman who is battling some illness and is one of the main speakers.

Pray: that a new close convergence between the prayer and mission movements will happen and that all these UPGs will be adopted and reached even by 2025.

For more details, see http://www.finishingthetask.com

Nearly 7,700 homes and buildings burned in Northern California’s unprecedented wildfires. Like many others, they had minutes to grab important documents and photo albums. ‘The day after the fire my mother-in-law spent the afternoon searching through rubble. She returned weary but eager to show me one find; her mother’s porcelain Christmas ornaments, still dusted in ash. This struck me as a picture of grace. At Christmas we decorate trees. As Christians, we do this in celebration of God’s merciful plan for redemption - Christ   came to earth to die for sinners, the just for the unjust, making good the destruction sin has wrought. Yet, how often do I sing ‘Amazing Grace’ without amazement, blinded by comforts and my perceived self-sufficiency. Thank God for being at work in trials and suffering. Praise Him whether you are in plenty or in want, whether well fed or hungry.

Sony’s new animation picture, The Star, was released on 17 November. The film’s director said they are preparing for the movie to be this generation’s Christmas classic. It is the first faith-based animation film to hit cinemas since Prince of Egypt in 1998. The director added, ‘We’re living in divisive and stressful times, and we read about violence continually. The power of this story is - many people from different walks of life. The “three kings” are upper-class foreigners, and the local shepherds are the bottom of the working class, making note that Jesus brought people from all walks of life together. The Star is “the greatest story never told”’.

Jack Phillips, a Christian bakery owner, is appealing a recent ruling against him after a complaint filed by a gay couple who sought a wedding cake from him - but he refused because of his religious beliefs. His case will be heard before the US supreme court in December. He is receiving support not only from Christians but also from many in the gay community who have spoken out in support of his religious freedom rights. One video says, ‘I'm TJ, and I'm Matt; we're gay and we're here to support Jack Phillips, to buy stuff from him, and support him because we don't think any artist should be forced to create for something that violates their beliefs’. The video was posted by Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative legal firm defending Phillips.

On 5 November Devin Kelley killed 26 worshippers in a Texas church. Pray for the Sutherland Springs community trying to cope with the tragedy. Pastor Frank Pomeroy knew Kelley as ‘not a good person’ but said, 'How do I turn him away?' Kelley had a violent history that was left out of a gun background check system. Pray for the such checking systems to be fit for purpose. Kelley left the air force in 2014 with a bad conduct discharge and the air force has previously requested a broader review of criminal record reporting across the defence department. The FBI said that there were missing records, bad procedures, and faulty reporting in the air force’s dishonourable discharge records. See https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/06/texas-shooting-suspect-devin-kelley-domestic-abuse-background-check