Thousands of British Muslims are gathering at a mass peace rally in Surrey aimed at promoting religious tolerance and rejecting extremism. An estimated 5,000 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA), considered the biggest Muslim youth group in the United Kingdom, will participate in the three-day event starting on Friday to promote dialogue about peace and rejection of religious extremism. ‘The Ahmadiyya Youth at the rally will be reminded of their duty, as Muslims, to serve their country and play a positive role in society,’ the AMYA said in a press release on Friday. Rafiq Hayat, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, said that the community was ‘troubled by the violence and terrorism that is based on a highly toxic extremist ideology that uses religion to further a fascist agenda. We share Prime Minister David Cameron's concern about how events in Syria and Iraq can have a potential impact on the UK,’ Hayat said.

A former LA deputy sheriff arrested while street preaching in Scotland has been told by police he will no longer face charges. Tony Miano was arrested in Dundee after a member of the public complained he had been using ‘homophobic language’. He was on a weeklong street-preaching mission in the city in January with evangelist Josh Williamson when he was arrested under hate-crime legislation. (See Prayer Alert 2.2014). The Christian Legal Centre, which represented him, said he was held by police for 24 hours and that they refused to watch video footage of his street preaching. Mr Miano, 50, said it ‘took months’ for the prosecutors to watch the footage. ‘When the prosecutors finally managed to get the video footage off my camera they could plainly see that the accuser had made allegations about my speech that were simply untrue,’ he said.

When children pray, God seems to move more powerfully. John Robb, chairman of the International Prayer Council, shares this observation with confidence. He witnessed it when he was director of prayer at World Vision, a large international development and child-care organization. ‘Staff often observed the Lord’s miracles when our project children prayed. We actually surveyed this phenomenon in five very poor countries where staff asked the kids to pray for specific infrastructural changes, such as the resolution of community splits, and many other needs. They did this for two years, and all were astonished by the miracles that occurred. When the children prayed, the parents got healed from terminal illness, governments chose those villages for the wells or the clinics, or the terrorists were kept out of those communities where the kids were praying.’

Last weekend Britain’s multinational churches took to the streets to celebrate the birth of Christianity in vibrant style. Pentecost festivals called 'the Biggest Birthday Party Ever' took place across the country drawing on the culture of some of the world’s fastest growing churches – sharing free food, dance and music as expressions of their Christian faith. For example churches in Islington, London, staged a free multi-cultural festival in Caledonian Park with music, dancing and food from almost every continent. There was a Ghanaian choir, Argentine opera, Ethiopian and Eritrean traditional music, Mexican music and dance, a Spanish choir and Brazilian traditional music as well as jazz, soul, gospel and folk. Coventry's Big Birthday Bash run by HOPE Coventry organised a free BBQ funded by the local churches, including African drumming, a Chinese choir, and a huge birthday cake cut by the Lord Mayor. The events were linked as part of HOPE.