By 2 April, there were 5,999 recorded coronavirus cases in Africa. 374 were in East Africa, a region already severely impacted by a plague of locusts and a food security crisis. WHO warned that Africa must ‘wake up’ and ‘prepare for the worst’ against the coronavirus pandemic. The UN has warned of an impending food crisis in East Africa, and concern is growing for Christians in affected regions, many of whom already face marginalisation and persecution for their faith. Pray for all people in East Africa as they are doubly tested by the coronavirus outbreak and the terrible locust swarms. Ask God to meet their needs and may they be comforted in the knowledge of God’s love for them. South Sudan is currently virus-free; may it remain so.
Global: children praying
27 Mar 2020
Currently 3,000 children are uniting to pray for the nations on Whatsapp. Royal Kids Ministries, started in Chennai in 1991 with one orphanage, have expanded into Children House of Prayer (CHOP), with prayer rooms at many orphanages. Their vision is Malachi 4:6: ‘He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers’. ‘The aim is to raise up young intercessors as worshippers and as a prayer army to cry out for revival, and also to call forth spiritual parents to support and cover children with prayers: in essence, to bring revival through orphans.’ This vision has spread; today there are CHOP in eight countries praying every day, and in eight more praying once a week. The aim is to have every orphanage turned into CHOP prayer rooms in every nation of the world.
Beholding His glory in an unprecedented time
26 Mar 2020
Malcolm Duncan, the key speaker at the recent WPC prayer conference, took 200 intercessors on an encouraging journey of encountering the glory of God. All across the UK churches are being called to prayer as never before. Virtual prayer meetings are taking place as the Holy Spirit raises up an invisible net of prayer, here and in many other nations. Each one of us is part of this! Our prayers for our loved ones, our streets and communities, our nations and their leaders and our world, are part of this. Ask the Lord what He wants you to pray into and follow His leading. Those not at the conference can listen here
An encouraging message
26 Mar 2020
Wherever you are reading this across our UK nations and across the globe, no doubt you are in some stage of ‘physical lockdown’ because of the coronavirus pandemic. Our culture of daily life and our gathered worship patterns are being reshaped. We are all being forced to look at what are the real priorities in our lives. But the wonderful truth is that as followers of Jesus Christ we can never be in ‘spiritual lockdown’. There is no situation, no place, no time zone, no age limit, no health scare, no financial pressure, nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:38-39). So today and over these coming weeks, we want to encourage you to keep remembering that our God - the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ - is on the throne, and He is sovereign over all of the shaking.
Volunteering and keeping together in crisis
26 Mar 2020
The Queen said ‘We salute you’, after 405,000 individuals stepped up to support the NHS just two hours after the government made an appeal for helpers to deliver medicines to the vulnerable and do shopping. Boris Johnson said the number of volunteers was equivalent to the population of Coventry. Meanwhile people are finding new ways of being together while apart. Isolated elderly are becoming adept at meeting friends, neighbours, and prayer groups by Skype, Zoom and Messenger. There are wonderful examples of acts of kindness, generosity, and compassion that demonstrate the underlying unity that humans feel for each other. We can pray according to Psalm 5:11 that God’s protection will spread over all who are currently volunteering and showing unity and kindness.
City missions and homeless
26 Mar 2020
London City Mission cares for sick and marginalised Londoners. Pray for churches in lockdown as they adapt to share the gospel of light in the darkness of this crisis. May Christians be beacons of light so that God’s grace is apparent in London and the nation. Pray for people like Kris, homeless and a Big Issue vendor, who can’t sell his magazines and relies on one meal a day. Pray for provisions to be made for the homeless in lockdown A Glasgow homeless shelter had to close when a staff member and a service user caught coronavirus. They tried to prevent people from being left without shelter, but those with insecure immigration status or complex background issues are sleeping on the streets after the council said they did not have a statutory duty to accommodate them. Pray for councils and police to care for self-isolating homeless. See
Immigration detainees must be released
26 Mar 2020
In this crisis, the Government has released 350 people from immigrant detention. But hundreds more are still being held in removal centres, pending ‘imminent’ deportation; human rights charities are calling for them all to be released. On 25 March the High Court was told by Detention Action that under British law the Government cannot continue to detain these people if they are not about to deport them. The case is vital as detainees are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus, living in big groups and unable to take ‘social distancing’ measures. They are living in unsanitary and unsafe conditions, with people displaying symptoms of the virus kept in the detainee population, and some even undertaking functions such as cleaning or serving food.
Pastor’s warning from intensive care
26 Mar 2020
Mark McClurg, an Elim pastor, is in intensive care at a Belfast hospital after becoming infected with coronavirus. In a video posted on social media from his hospital bed, he said, ‘This coronavirus is deadly and is dangerous. It wants to kill you. It wants to take all the life out of your lungs so that you cannot even breathe.’ He wants people to take the virus seriously. He praised the nurses and doctors who had cared for him day and night despite the risk to their own health. ‘They have saved my life,’ he said. ‘I am grateful that I am living. Don’t think this won’t touch you. Don’t think for a moment that this is just a cough and a cold. Look at me and listen. If you get coronavirus and go into an intensive care unit, you are going to struggle to breathe, you could go on a ventilator, so please listen to all the Government’s advice.’