In February of 2011, the World Health Organization dubbed Moldova the world's leading nation in per-person alcohol consumption, reports Mission Network News. Reports show that the average Moldovan consumes 18.22 litres of alcohol annually--three times more than the average of 6.1 litres. Other former Soviet nations on the list of heavy alcohol consumption included Russia, Ukraine, Estonia and Belarus. In Moldova, there is a special provision in the government budget for treatment of alcohol, but that government provision is not enough and churches are stepping forward to help alcohol abusers as well. Slavic Gospel Association reports that its affiliated evangelical churches are deeply grieved at the level of alcohol abuse in their communities. In response to the crisis, many SGA churches have begun Bible-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation ministries, which SGA partners help support when possible. These programmes not only provide care for overcoming the addiction, but they provide the life-changing Truth of the Gospel message as well. Pray: that the work of the Church programmes will have a significant effect among those in need. (Ro.12:21)
‘We're living in globalised times causing groups to feel insecure about their identity which has become radicalised and closed rather than open to others,’ said the director of the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC). In early April the CEC launched a ‘Euro-Arabic Dialogue’ in Crete to determine how Christian and Muslim groups can build on existing relationships of trust. ‘In Europe where religion has often been seen as a problem public opinion hasn't been concerned about the fate of religious communities. This is changing now as false images of religion give way to a greater awareness of its contribution to the common good. It isn't up to churches to suggest practical action, we're calling for a clear warning of consequences to continued persecution.’ Some say Christians present a soft target because they don't fight back - but many Muslims view Christians as a strong missionary network and are on the defensive. Pray: for decisions made by this group and other similar meetings to usher in God's spiritual provision over Europe. (Ps.125:3)
Church planting in France
29 Nov 2012Next year's World Day of Prayer will be focusing not on Malaysia, Chile or Cameroon (as the last three did), but on our neighbouring France. While France is often thought to be a Catholic country, now only five per cent of the country would identify themselves as such, and 74 per cent of French people have never opened a Bible. And although when thinking of France we often imagine great food, good wine and a long cultural history, it also has the highest rates of depression in the world. Over 90 per cent of the country's towns and villages have no evangelical church. However, the evangelical church has seen a growth of nearly 10 times since 1950, and half of this number are younger than 35. And there is a new evangelical church planted somewhere in France every 10 days.
Pray: that our prayers will help towards a revival of the church in France. (Ps.85:6)
More: http://www.eauk.org/current-affairs/news/church-planting-in-france.cfm
Church of Cyprus has offered to help.
21 Mar 2013‘The entire wealth of the Church is at the disposal of the country so that we c
an stand on our own two feet and not relying on foreigners,’ Archbishop Chrysostomos said after meeting Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades early on Wednesday. The Church of Cyprus is a major shareholder in Cyprus's third-largest domestic lender, Hellenic Bank. Unless Europe, the International Monitory Fund or Russia give Cyprus more money or the banks will go bust. Cyprus has become the tax evasion centre for Russian oligarchs. It is doubtful Angela Merkel would agree to a bailout blueprint that causes German taxpayers to subsidise Moscow billionaires with a German election looming this autumn. Anastasiades - a month in the job - gathered party leaders and the governor of the central bank at his office on Wednesday and was due to hold talks with officials from the EU, European Central Bank and IMF while Finance Minister Michael Sarris was in Moscow negotiating a Russia bail out to safeguard high levels of Russian deposits in Cypriot banks.
Pray: for God in His mercy to sort out the looming turmoil that would affect ex-pat European citizens. (Ps.20:1)
More: http://news.yahoo.com/cyprus-throws-bailout-disarray-seeks-russian-help-074339638--sector.html
Christmas omitted on EU school diary
17 Jan 2011The European Commission has come under fire for producing more than three million copies of an EU diary for secondary schools which contains no reference to Christmas. More than 330,000 copies of the diaries, accompanied by 51 pages of glossy information about the EU, have been delivered to British schools as a ‘sought after’ Christmas gift to pupils from the commission. But Christians have been angered because the diary section for December 25 is blank and the bottom of the page with Christmas Day is marked only with the secular message. While the euro calendar marks Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish and Chinese festivities as well as Europe Day and other key EU anniversaries, there are no Christian festivals marked. If the commission does not mark Christmas as a feast in its diaries then it should be working as normal on December 25.
Pray: against the authorities that keep undermining the Christian faith. (Ps.28:18)
Christians' future in secular Europe
03 Dec 2011Christians have been told they must find a framework for promoting their beliefs if they are to confront the challenge of aggressive secularisation and the erosion of Christian values across all spheres of life. Opening the Beyond Individualism conference on Friday, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali said it was ‘amazing’ that a Christian nurse in Britain today could be suspended for offering to pray for a patient, when it was Christians who had set in place many of the institutions and public services now taken for granted. He warned that the Christian values inherent in Europe’s heritage have been eroded by a process of ‘aggressive secularisation’ that Christians must understand if they are to challenge it. While politicians offer ‘thin’ values like respect and tolerance, the bishop said such ‘political mantras’ were ‘not enough for society to be cohesive’.
Pray: that the Church will take its rightful place in Europe and not give way to aggressive secularism. (Ep.3:16)
Christians are Europe’s ‘reservoir’ of values
11 Aug 2011The vice-president of the Italian Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies has called on Christian politicians to ‘make sacrifices’ and value their conscience more than their position. In an interview with Catholic News Agency published last Thursday, Professor Rocco Buttiglione, a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, said that Christian people must enter politics to play an active role forming ‘the future of the land. I think the great reservoir of values today is in the Christian people and we must tell them, you must make politics, you must enter into politics, you must make with your hands the future of the land,’ said the politician and academic. As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, Buttiglione became the focus of controversy in 2004 after critics blocked his appointment to the European Union Commission for his statements that homosexual acts are morally wrong.
Pray: for God’s people to take up the challenge and sacrifice position and value their conscience.(2Pet.3:17)
An Austrian think tank and non-governmental organisation is warning that freedom of religious expression is ‘at risk’ in Europe from secularist intolerance on the left. Public expressions of religious belief by Christians are growing in Western Europe, the cradle of Christendom. Gudrun Kugler, a lawyer and director of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe says that ‘Europe Christianity is hated because it is the last obstacle to a new vision of secularity which is so politically correct that it verges on totalitarianism. Christians are increasingly marginalized and are appearing more often in courts over matters related to faith. So I think that we are heading for a bloodless persecution.’ Dr Massimo Introvigne, of the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe, said this week that European Christians are not being ‘oversensitive.’ Discrimination against Christians in Europe, he said, ‘is more subtle’ than in countries where they are outright persecuted, but it is real. Pray: for all Christians as they battle secularism and anti-Christian persecution across Europe. (Ac.4:29)