Chinese teachers give instruction for 12 hours a day and Chinese schools are at the top of international ratings in maths, sciences and literacy. Recently, five Chinese teachers spent a month teaching in a Hampshire school analysing teaching methods in the UK. The teachers found their group of 50 children, aged 13 and 14, were disruptive and unable to concentrate. Li Aiyun said, ‘When I gave out homework sheets, I expected everybody to be concentrated on the homework. But when I returned to the classroom students were chatting, some were eating and somebody was even putting make-up on her face.’ The Chinese teachers blamed ‘lack of motivation’ on poor performances. Science teacher Yang Jun said, ‘In China we don’t need classroom management skills because everyone is disciplined by nature, by families, by society - whereas here it is the most challenging part of teaching.’ The Chinese methods are to be screened in a BBC Two documentary, Are Our Kids Tough Enough?
Speaking with the backing of the Church, the bishop of Dover accused the Government of forgetting their humanity and attacked the media for propagating a ‘toxicity’ that spread hostility towards migrants. The Right Rev Trevor Willmott urged Mr Cameron to upgrade his rhetoric after he described migrants as a ‘swarm’ and promised to introduce strong-arm tactics in Calais. Willmott said, ‘When we become harsh with each other and forget our humanity we end up in stand-off positions. To put migrants and refugees in that very unhelpful phrase categorises people.’ Save the Children echoed Willmott’s call to remember that the migrants were humans and many were refugees fleeing horrific abuse or extreme danger. The deputy mayor of Calais called the prime minister ‘racist’ and the UN special representative on migration said Britain’s attitude towards the crisis suggested the lessons of Nazism had not been learnt.
The Catholic Church will apply nationally a project that pro-actively approaches sexual abuse by clergy. A recent pilot of the system resulted in doubling the number of people reporting abuse in a nine-month period. A Survivors’ Advisory Panel will assist the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission in England and Wales. A ‘Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors’ spokesperson said allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church and the Church of England should be dealt with independently. ‘Whilst both Churches have improved their policies and guidance there are really strong concerns about how policies are implemented. It’s down to individual bishops to decide when to report allegations to the police and what action to take. The increased number of prosecutions of clergy for abuse suggests this is an ongoing problem and the response of the Churches in the past leads us to believe they cannot be trusted to police themselves.’ See also http://www.worldprayer.org.uk/pa-british-isles-ireland/item/6803-statement-from-the-mill-gathering.
Probe over ex PM, devout Christian Ted Heath
06 Aug 2015
The handling of a child sex abuse claim involving former Prime Minister and devout Christian Sir Edward Heath is to be investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Police are to be probed after allegations made by a retired senior officer were referred to the IPCC. It is alleged that a criminal prosecution was not pursued, when a person threatened to expose Sir Edward Heath’s possible involvement in offences concerning children. Sir Edward was the editor of the Church Times between 1948 and 1949 before his election as Member of Parliament in 1950. Police say they would like to hear from anyone who has any relevant information that may assist them in their enquiries. The NSPCC said, ‘Whether abuse happened in the past, or is occurring today, whether those being accused are authority figures or not, allegations of crimes against children must be investigated thoroughly.’
German MP opens home to two migrants
06 Aug 2015
German conservative MP, Martin Patzelt, has taken two Eritrean refugees into his home and is helping the young men find jobs locally. Mr Patzelt lives near Frankfurt in eastern Germany. The Eritreans have been staying with him for a month. Such initiatives help to ‘get rid of the polarisation and hostility’ towards migrants, he told German TV. Eritrea has an authoritarian government which forces citizens into military service - often for many years and in deplorable conditions. Generally Eritreans and Syrians are granted refugee status when they reach Germany, allowing them to stay there. However Germany is gripped by an intense debate over migrants. Numbers have soared this year due to boatloads crossing the Mediterranean. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Patzelt said many admired his commitment, but his motivation was political, not religious; hostility towards the influx of refugees could only be solved by engaging ordinary German citizens.
Germany: Heavy Metal festivals – Summer 2015
06 Aug 2015
Large ‘Heavy Metal Festivals’ take place in Germany in the summer. These festivals are really Satan worship, even though many taking part are not actually aware of it. The spiritual consequences within Germany should not be underestimated. From August 13-16 in southern Germany, the Death Metal Festival takes place. Last year there were 35,000 visitors. This year 80+ bands are performing. The style of music is Extreme Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal and Thrash Metal. The lyrics express a destructive worldview – denial of every order that relates to our existence, knowledge, values and societies – often combined with total resignation. Song themes are often about death, disease, war, torture, horror and societal abnormalities, and extend to hatred of humanity and promotion of Satanism. Please pray for the spiritual protection of dedicated Christians evangelising at these festivals with the ‘Metal Bible’ (a modern translation with many testimonies from people out of the Metal music scene- see Praise article 1)
Morocco: People reaching out with the Gospel
06 Aug 2015
Melilla is located on the Mediterranean Sea coast on Moroccan Land, but has been under Spanish rule for hundreds of years, defying Morocco's claims to it . This city is an open door for the Gospel, and a way into North Africa. In recent years Melilla has been adopted by several groups worldwide, where teams would be sent to evangelise and distribute Christian material to North Africans. Lebanon is one of the countries that have adopted Melilla. 2015 would be the third year teams go to Melilla from Lebanon to distribute New Testaments and different evangelistic tools. Almost 700 evangelistic packages have been distributed to bless and change people’s lives, and many positive conversations were had. This August, eleven college students will spend time in Melilla, sharing their faith and giving away Bibles and other Christian items. They’re praying for hearts to be softened and many respond to the gospel.
Metal for Jesus
06 Aug 2015
Heavy metal music has roots in psychedelic rock, with amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, loud satanic lyrics and names like Black Sabbath. Rivalling satanic music since the 70’s have been Christian metal bands, also known as white metal or heavenly metal. It’s a form of heavy metal music defined by a Christian message in the lyrics as well as the dedication of the band members to Christianity. Many Christian bands are evangelists. There is also a Metal Bible that has been used by Christians to reach this ‘lost tribe of music lovers’. The Metal Bible was recently released in Danish, where 9,000 were distributed at the Roskilde Heavy Metal Festival. This Bible is available in English, Spanish, German, Swedish, Danish, Polish and Dutch. Versions in Russian, French, Portuguese and other languages are on the way. (See also Europe article 1)