Annahita Parsan has led over 1,500 Muslims to Christ. She leads two churches and trains other churches how to reach out to Muslims and disciple Muslim background believers. She believes Jeremiah foretold these days when he said God would restore the fortunes of Elam. Elam is Persia. It's happening now. No one would guess an Iranian woman trying to stay alive in an abusive marriage would one day lead churches, bring over a thousand former Muslims to Christ, and be invited to speak before the Queen of Sweden. As a young woman in a Muslim culture, her journey to Christ led her across two continents and included several brushes with death. Her story could be the plot of a Hollywood movie.

The Archbishops' anti-racism taskforce report calls for urgent changes. Failure to act could be the ‘last straw’ for many from the UK minority ethnic (UKME) backgrounds. Setting out 47 action areas across participation, governance, training, education and young people, the report states that racism is a sin. The church has been discussing the issue for 44 years. The nine-strong taskforce was set up in autumn 2020 to review previous reports of racial justice, discover whether their recommendations had been implemented, and prepare the ground for the establishment of a longer-term Commission on Racial Justice. One of the report’s main recommendations is the recruitment of more bishops and senior members of the church from UKME backgrounds, with suggested quotas. It highlights the fact that the new Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, is the only UKME bishop in the Church of England. 

On 16 April university students had a day of action to demand fee refunds because Covid-19 has affected their education. When they signed up for university they were promised sufficient access to facilities, course equipment, and social contact to help them achieve their degrees. But they were limited to internet zoom lectures of variable standard and still expected to pay the full price. The Write Off, Right Now (WORN) group is applying pressure on the government to refund fees because they did not receive value for money. WORN asked students nationwide to ‘take over’ social media to spread the message of the unfair demand for full fees. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson instructed the Office for Students ‘to take swift action where quality and academic standards have dropped’. An online petition, calling for tuition fees to be cut had received over 580,000 signatures in three days.

1 Cor 3:11 tells us, ‘No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ’. Years ago, Scotland was the ‘Land of The Book’. A Bible would be open on many kitchen tables, but today the word of God lies mainly forgotten and unused on shelves (as in the rest of the UK). When Holyrood opened, everyone believed MSPs would act and pass laws according to the words on the ceremonial mace: ‘Wisdom, Justice, Compassion, Integrity’. However, departing from God’s word has resulted in declining personal and national morals, with lawlessness increased, as predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2. The media regularly expose lack of righteousness in many areas of society today, including politicians. A recent newspaper article stated, ‘We deserve the politicians we get’. We can ask God to lead Scotland to select MSPs who hold dear to Christian values and place serving others above their own interests.