Building peace in Haiti
05 Aug 2021
15,500+ have fled Port-au-Prince. Homes, churches, businesses and schools have been burnt down or occupied by gangs. Haiti’s president was attacked in his home and killed. Tearfund works closely with the League of Pastors, a network of church leaders in Port-au-Prince. As soon as the violence escalated, they set up shelters for those who had fled, and Tearfund provided food, hygiene kits, and cash assistance for other essential needs. The shelters were soon overcrowded, so church leaders opened their homes. They also wanted to help the gang members. So the League of Pastors nominated leaders in their churches to be trained in peacebuilding and conflict-resolution skills. It is hoped this will lead to community dialogues with gang members and bring about healing and restoration in their communities and peace for Haiti. The church continues to be a refuge and a hope to people during this crisis, but the situation remains critical.
Japan: Tokyo’s hidden homeless
05 Aug 2021
When a country holds the Olympic Games, there is often a redevelopment of parts of the host city. Hundreds of homeless people in Tokyo were given eviction notices even though they have nowhere to go. Metropolitan officials cleared the area of homeless people before the Olympics, and are still doing it during the games. A 62-year-old homeless man said an official approached him on 8 July to tell him, ‘Remove your belongings by 21 July; they are creating obstacles for the Olympics’. According to a Tokyo-based support group, authorities have taken tougher approaches against homeless people since Tokyo was named the host city of 2020 Olympics. Parks are now locked and lit up at night to discourage the homeless from sleeping there. There were 1,126 homeless living in parks in Tokyo in January 2019, but only 862 in 2020. The whereabouts of the 264 is unknown. Tokyo's homeless are experiencing extreme pressure to hide.
Gulf of Oman: two tankers attacked in one week
05 Aug 2021
The Asphalt Princess tanker was hijacked and boarded by nine armed men and ordered to sail to Iran through the congested approach to the Strait of Hormuz. Israel's prime minister Naftali Bennett said there was ‘evidence’ that its long standing foe Iran was responsible. Iran's Revolutionary Guards dismissed the reports as a pretext for ‘hostile action’ against Tehran. The tanker is owned by a Dubai-based company that had one of its ships hijacked two years ago by the revolutionary guards. The following day the hijackers left the tanker. A week earlier the Israeli-owned Mercer Street was attacked by a drone, killing two security guards. The US, UK and Israel blamed Iran for the attack - a claim it strongly denies. These attacks appear to be the latest escalation in an undeclared ‘shadow war’ between Israel and Iran. For months there have been several attacks on both Israeli- and Iranian-operated vessels, which are seen as tit-for-tat incidents. See
Lebanon: Beirut marches and Israeli attack
05 Aug 2021
Israeli fighter jets have launched air raids on neighbouring Lebanon following a second day of rocket fire from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Fighter jets struck the launch sites and infrastructure from which the rockets were launched. Israeli aircraft routinely target Palestinian armed groups in Gaza and suspected Hezbollah or Iranian targets in Syria, but this was the first time since 2014 that they had hit targets in Lebanon. Previous acknowledged military actions mostly involved artillery shelling. Israel fought a 2006 war against Iran-backed Hezbollah, which is the dominant force in southern Lebanon. The border has been mostly quiet since then. The escalation came as thousands of grief-stricken Lebanese took part in a protest march on the first anniversary of a devastating explosion in Beirut that killed over 200. Lebanon’s situation has worsened since then - economic crisis, poverty, increasing, Covid, no hospital beds, no medicine, no electricity, no fuel - people feel that the government has forgotten they exist.
USA: international religious freedom roles
05 Aug 2021
On 30 July President Joe Biden announced his intention to create four key international religious freedom roles in his administration. Rashad Hussain will become ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom; he previously served in the Obama administration countering anti-Semitism and protecting religious minorities. Khizr Khan and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum will be commissioners on international religious freedom. Both have a background in human rights advocacy. Biden’s nominee for special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism is Deborah Lipstadt, who also has a strong background in advocacy against persecution and founded the Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University.
Prayer turns abusive, alcoholic father to Jesus
30 Jul 2021
Sayan’s story: ‘I am ten years old and come from a very poor family. My father was an alcoholic, and my mother worked as a maid to support our family. My father abused my mother and used the money she earned to buy alcohol. Life was very difficult for us. Thankfully, after a Christian lady met my mother and shared the Gospel with her, she repented and became a disciple of Jesus. I too have become a disciple. When she learnt of the power of prayer as a follower of Jesus, my mother began praying for my father. Soon he gave up drinking and has turned to Jesus as well. Today, I am very blessed and thankful to Jesus for bringing peace and joy into our lives. Please pray for others in our village and surrounding area who need Jesus also.‘
Disciple-making movement
30 Jul 2021
‘Every time your heart beats, someone, somewhere, has died without ever hearing the name of Jesus.’ In 1999, a small group of people read that statistic, and asked the question, ‘Am I willing to live a big life, with big Kingdom impact?’ They said yes and set out on a journey beginning in Iran and then crisscrossing the globe with the good news of Jesus Christ in a movement called Biglife. Biglife empowers believers worldwide to reach and disciple their own people for Jesus, so that God’s disciple-making movement grows, even in places where great faith is needed to be a Christian let alone share your faith. Now from Asia to Africa, Europe to the Americas, Biglife finds people of peace and empowers them to share the Good News where they live. They are reaching lost souls by shining Christ’s light into the world’s darkest places.
University students will get ‘advance warning’ if they need to have vaccines before moving to halls of residence, Dominic Raab has said. The foreign secretary said decisions will be taken in September - but he was keen to encourage vaccine uptake. Over 70% of adults have had both jabs, and Mr Raab said ‘We need to close that margin’. Currently, the Government plans to require two jabs to go to nightclubs and other crowded venues in England. The full details of the plans are yet to be seen, but the rule is set to come into force at the end of September. An NHS Covid pass - which you can obtain electronically or as a letter - will be used as proof.