90,000 DIY lockdown abortions?
11 Sep 2020
In March 2020, just before the national lockdown began, a notice appeared on the government website seeming to allow women to conduct their own medical abortions at home. Outcry followed and the notice was removed, the government website claiming that it was ‘published in error’. Website visitors were reassured that there would ‘be no changes to abortion regulations’. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care assured the House of Commons, ‘There are no proposals to change the abortion rules due to Covid-19.’ However, now 3 months later the government said, ‘DIY abortions could be a permanent fixture in the UK’. The media reported that up to 90,000 women have used the DIY service since it was introduced in March. The government will release official statistics next week. If 90,000 abortions took place it would make DIY abortion the biggest silent killer of lockdown, more than twice as many fatalities as Covid-19. See also
Ofcom reported, ‘the BBC is too white, middle class, and London-centric’ and the new BBC director-general believes ‘comedy output has left-wing partiality and needs a radical overhaul as TV and radio comedy are unfairly biased against Tories, Donald Trump and Brexit. He wants to restore ‘trust and confidence’ by reflecting all sides of the political divide. Tory MP Ben Bradley said that BBC comedy is Left-wing Tories and Brexit rants. ‘If they truly represent all licence-fee payers, that needs to change.’ Meanwhile, a new news channel is to be launched that will be ‘distinctly different from the out-of-touch incumbents’ and has already been awarded a licence to broadcast by Ofcom, under the name GB News. Its founder has said the BBC is a ‘disgrace’ that ‘is bad for Britain on so many levels’ and ‘needs to be broken up’. A rival project is also being devised by Rupert Murdoch’s British media empire. See
The distanced church
11 Sep 2020
The following is based on ‘Reflections on Doing Church Online’ by a researcher in digital religion who points out that people are realising that online church can spiritually interconnect us when we are physically separated. Technological social interaction is growing with weekly congregational rhythms of regular online morning and evening prayers, musical worship (streamed or interactive) throughout the week; there are daily activities for children, regular ‘Sabbath’ breaks from news and digital media; eating meals together as a family, prayer and contemplation connections; assistance for working from home, shared Bible reading, the encouragement of responsible contact with neighbours, and recruiting for all manner of community support. We can pray that pandemic lockdown re-awakens the church to her mission and calling through fresh expressions of church. Many are saying building-centred churches may never recover from low attendance, and thus low collections, compounded by pandemic-related recession.
Hope for the Middle East
11 Sep 2020
On 3rd September, a group of Christians uploaded a video on YouTube, entitled The Greater Middle East Blessing. In the video, Christians from 11 nations in the greater Middle East, sing The Lord’s Prayer and The Blessing in 8 different languages. The opening sequence of the video states that they came together across political, ethnic and language divides to pray for, and bless, their region. It communicates hope to the hearts of those who watch it and hope for the Middle East because Christ is there through His Church. May it also encourage people to pray for, and stand with, our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, as they continue to be salt and light in the region. see
Deeper friendship between Israel and Germany
11 Sep 2020
During the last two weeks in August and for the first time ever, 185 Israeli Air Force pilots went to Germany for training in joint manoeuvres with German pilots. They also joined together to remember victims of the Holocaust and the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972. This was a very moving expression of a growing trust and deeper friendship between Israel and Germany. God uses our hearts as places of transformation in order to literally turn the world up-side-down.
“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?" (Acts 7:49 NIV)
We feel the Spirit of God calling us as individuals, nations, and as a global family into a marked time of consecration. The Holy Spirit is moving upon our hearts to remember all that Jesus has done for us, transforming us into the living stones that God is using to build His dwelling place on earth. We would like to release a call to our global family to set aside time to seek the Lord's face, posture our hearts in worship, and allow Him to speak afresh.
The year 2020 has ushered us all into a new era. We are transitioning into the era of the Kingdom. There is an invitation to partner with God in manifesting His Kingdom here on earth. We feel that we are no longer living in Kairos moments but are, in fact, in a Kairos season. Therefore, we want to take the time to let the Lord speak and establish His plans and ways in our hearts.
We feel the Holy Spirit is bringing a holy alignment between the heart of God and His Bride. As we consecrate ourselves corporately, He will mobilize us as ONE army in holy array and prepare us for the days to come.
28 DAYS OF CORPORATE PRAYER & FASTING
We welcome you to join us for our 4-Part “Preparing a Dwelling Place” series that will take place in the next few weeks. As we enter into the series, we invite you to join us for 28 days of prayer and fasting from September 10th to October 8th, covering the window of time we will be gathering in consecration.
DAILY PRAYER AND PROCLAMATION
During the upcoming 28 days of prayer and fasting from September 10th to October 8th, we have invited different ones from the family to release a prayer and/or proclamation each day to lead the wider family in engaging in this period of consecration.
These clips will be released daily at 8:00PM PT (Vancouver) on our Facebook, Instagram and YouTube page. Feel free to like, subscribe, and turn on notifications to receive them immediately.
Global prayer initiatives and invitation
03 Sep 2020
There has been a sensing among prayer leaders around the world of a significant corporate calling to identificational repentance for our nations. Christians have been led simultaneously to draw the Church together to pray concertedly in the spirit of ‘If my people…’ (2 Chron 7:14) for the healing and renewing of each of our lands. This has culminated in a number of online events and initiatives that are taking place over the next two months. Some of these are detailed in International Prayer Connections Prayer-Alert intercessors are invited to join the first of these united prayer events, which will be a World Prayer Together call on 19 September. See also UK article on National Day of Prayer.
Sudan signs peace deal with rebel coalition
03 Sep 2020
Sudan’s government has reached a peace agreement with a coalition of rebel groups from Darfur and other regions in the country. The agreement, which should end a civil war that has raged since 2003 and has killed 300,000 people in Darfur alone, covers land ownership, power-sharing between all parties involved, and the return of people who have fled their homes in the civil war. Rebel forces will be dismantled, but fighters will have the opportunity to join the Sudanese military. There is hope for the future. Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs says, ‘This agreement should, at least in theory, pave the way for peaceful coexistence within Sudan. Hopefully, a nation that is not focused on fighting against others within its borders can focus instead on development and on moving forward to what we hope will be a civilian rule.’