University volunteers leave for Mongolia
02 Aug 2010
The Catholic University of Korea has sent a 90-strong staff-student medical team to treat people in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. The team, which includes students majoring in various fields such as internal medicine, obstetrics, paediatrics and radiology, will provide medical and social services from July 25 until Aug. 4. The team will also build or repair houses, and offer educational activities for poor people in regions near the capital. During a July 24 departure ceremony, University President Father Johan Pahk Yeong-sik encouraged participants to take the opportunity to think deeply about sharing their lives and practicing the school’s ideals of truth, love and service. ‘The service you will provide will be a fundamental indicator to assist you in choosing your way in life,’ Father Pahk counselled. The university has, since 1997, dispatched similar teams to ‘Third World’ locations during summer vacation each year. That year, the school first sent a team to Papua New Guinea. Praise: God for this initiative and pray that many will be blessed. (1Cor.12:5) More: http://www.ucanews.com/2010/07/28/university-volunteers-leave-for-mongolia/
Unity for Pentecost week of prayer
01 Jun 2012Across the UK Christians have united for a week of prayer. On Saturday thousands worshipped and prayed at Leyton Orient Stadium on the outskirts of the Olympic site to worship Jesus, prophesy over the nation, declare Jesus as Lord of the London Olympics and pray for all aspects of the Games. At Ashton Gate Stadium thousands gathered to pray into all spheres of society. Churches Together in Greater Bristol spoke for the nation when they said, ‘Today is a real coming together to arise and share in an event of worship, repentance for our city and to declare that we intend to put things right through united prayer and working together.’ Across the British Isles on Pentecost Sunday many believers from different Christian traditions united in towns and cities to lift up the name of Jesus Christ. Many joined the millions across the globe as they united for the Global Day of Prayer on the 27th.
Praise: God for the ever-increasing sound of His children declaring His praise and purposes across our land.(Ps.133)
More: http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2012/s12050116.htm
A church in the Ukraine that Soviet authorities once seized for use as a ‘monument of communism’ will once again be a place for Christian worship after renovations removed a neo-classical façade erected to disguise its nature, reports Catholic News Agency. ‘The church does not look like a place of worship. It wears a mask, as it were. It is in disguise. We want to take away this mask,’ Fr Grzegorz Romanowicz, the Franciscan Capuchin provincial in the Ukraine, told the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. ‘Until now, many people do not even recognize the building as a church from the outside.’ Since 1949 the church was used as a library, a boxing hall and offices. Soviet authorities erected the façade in 1949 to hide the building’s origin as a church. That façade is set to be removed later in February.
Praise: God for this transformation from secular to Christian use. God is restoring His Church. (2Cor.3:11)
More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue15465.html
UK: New online library for evangelism
05 Jul 2012A new online library has been launched for people interested in evangelism and new forms of church, which will provide them with free access to research papers and theses. The website, SCOLER (The Sheffield Centre Online Library of Evangelism Research) is a joint initiative between the Church Army’s team of researchers at The Sheffield Centre and the Churches Group for Evangelisation. The purpose of the library is to make deeper thinking around evangelism and new forms of church available to people who want to study further, and to demonstrate this level of learning to the wider church. Each thesis, at either MA or PhD level, has its own webpage giving details of who wrote it, which college validated it, the full abstract and a free PDF to download.
Praise: God for this initiative and pray that this tool will increase and equip the saints for evangelism. (Eph.4:12)
More: http://www.churcharmy.org.uk/pub/nc/News/News2012/20120607scoler.aspx
UK touched by world events
06 Apr 2011
Those posting prayers at www.sayoneforme.org the Church of England's web-based prayer service for Lent, are valuing happiness for the world and others more than money - analysis of the first 300 prayers reveals. Just two per cent of prayers have brought money-worries before God, whereas 19 per cent have prayed for the world (over a third of them for Japan), 14 per cent for healing for others, 10 per cent for family, and nine per cent for spiritual development. The Bishop of Dudley, the Rt Revd David Walker, said: ‘It is beautiful to see people pray for the people and the world around them - and they quite naturally see beyond the realms of their own needs. ’People across the country are having the opportunity to share with God their hopes and concerns, anonymously, in the form of a prayer posted at www.sayoneforme.org until Good Friday. Praise:God for this prayer opportunity and for all those that use it. (1Ki.8:45) More: http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2011/03/praying-nation-touched-by-world-events-and-needs-of-others.aspx
UK Soccer Star wants to start prayer group
09 Nov 2011According to the Metro newspaper, English premier league player Anton Ferdinand, who is known for his spirituality, explained that at his former club a group of players would get together to pray, and said he hoped he could bring this experience over to Queens Park Rangers. Ferdinand said: 'At Sunderland we had a group who prayed. There was me, Kieran Richardson, Stephane Sessegnon, Asamoah Gyan, John Mensah, Nedum Onuoha. Hopefully I will start building that here.' The Metro reported that the sportsman also revealed his religious background, but said that he didn't appreciate the Church as much as he should have in his younger days. He credited his faith with making him 'more of a man' than he was six years ago. The 26-year-old said that he believes his career is still to peak - great news for Queens Park Rangers.
Praise: God for Ferdinand and his faith: ulfil his wish to draw others close to God. (Ps.6:1-2)
Rates of murder and violent crime have fallen more rapidly in the UK in the past decade than anywhere else in Western Europe, researchers say. The UK Peace Index, from the Institute for Economics and Peace, found UK homicides per 100,000 people had fallen from 1.99 in 2003, to one in 2012. The UK was more peaceful overall, it said, with the reasons for it varied. The research by the international non-profit research organisation comes as a separate study by Cardiff University suggests the number of people treated in hospital in England and Wales after violent incidents fell by 14% in 2012. Violent crime rate in the UK was down by about one quarter - from 1,255 per 100,000 people in 2003, to 933 in 2012. These reductions came despite a 6% drop in the number of police officers per 100,000 people, it said.
Praise: God for the reduction in violent crime across the UK. (Pr.10:11)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22275280
Two former sponsored children of charity organization Compassion have been elected into the Parliaments of Uganda and Haiti. Beguens Theus from Haiti and Margaret Makhoha from Uganda both grew up in sheer poverty, but Christian sponsors gave them a chance to rise out of that desperate situation, get an education and (through a Leadership Development Programme) go to university. By God’s grace and their own will and motivation they now reached this position of responsibility to serve their nations. ‘Giving children a chance can make a huge difference,’ says Martijn Moens, a spokesman of the charity organization in the Netherlands. ‘More than others, these new members of Parliament understand the needs of the poor and are motivated to work towards structural change in their nation.’ Compassion works in 26 developing nations and provides one-on-one sponsoring for 1.2 million children. The charity provides programmes in partnership with local churches.
Praise: God for the way He has blessed these young people. (Ps.37:5-6)
More: http://www.joelnews.org/frontpage.htm