School 'reputations put before abuse victims'
10 Aug 2018
Pupils at two leading Roman Catholic schools, Ampleforth and Downside, were subjected to appalling sexual abuse over 40 years, a report says. The schools ‘prioritised monks and their own reputations over the protection of children’. Both institutions attempted to cover up the allegations but ten individuals, including monks, have been convicted or cautioned for abuse.
‘Prospects’ groups are based on two main principles. Firstly, that all people should have an opportunity to hear the Christian message including those with learning disabilities, and secondly, all people are capable of responding to the Christian message because it is a matter of belief and trust, not intellect and ability. In the UK one in fifty people have learning disabilities and Prospects seeks to befriend such people, explain the Christian message in a relevant way, and provide a sympathetic environment where people can grow in their understanding and respond to the message. Prospects meetings can be held in church halls, for meeting-centred ministry, or in the home of a helper, or a residential home for friendship-centred ministry. Helpers make home visits, take people out, provide transport and above all engage in personal discipleship in a way that people with special needs can respond to.
Modern Slavery
10 Aug 2018
More than 5,000 potential modern slaves were referred for help last year but the CPS only prosecuted 239 suspects, a small fraction of potential cases flagged to authorities. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it was committed to improving its response to forced labour and sexual and criminal exploitation after MPs warned that a national strategy had ‘yet to result in coherent action’. Alison Saunders, the outgoing director of public prosecutions, said, ‘Modern slavery has a devastating, lasting impact on its victims. There is no place in our society for those who enslave others, whether for work, sexual or criminal exploitation or domestic servitude. Referrals to the CPS from police and agencies rose by a third and prosecutors said the increase was part of a ‘dedicated drive to clamp down on slavery-related crime’.
New Wine testimonies
10 Aug 2018
God spoke to us, used us to pray for others and healed some of us during this first week of New Wine 2018. Ben Williamson from Christchurch Woking said, 'I prayed for someone whose hands had no movement or feeling and both were healed and restored while I prayed. It was awesome to see God's power at work so clearly in front of my own eyes.' Steve said, ‘I want to praise God and thank New Wine for providing a ‘thin place’ where I have felt the healing power of the Spirit. Six months of kidney and back pain gone completely, I feel so liberated.’ Sanna said, ‘I came here, widowed 10 months ago, broken-hearted and missing my other half and best friend. To my surprise, my venue was all about restoration. I have been so blessed and I’m so very happy that I picked up the courage to come here with my teenagers.’
In 2016 you prayed for Nurse Sarah Kuteh who was dismissed from her job after talking to patients about her Christian faith and giving a Bible to one patient. After dismissing her, Darent Valley Hospital reported Sarah to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), questioning her 'fitness to practise'. For nearly two years the NMC has held a series of hearings to determine whether Sarah would continue to be able to practise as a nurse. Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, the NMC panel unanimously ruled that Sarah was fully 'fit to practise' and revoked all restrictions on her nursing practice.
Astounding acts of kindness in face of adversity
10 Aug 2018
In the midst of horrific destruction, where thousands of homes were burnt to the ground by wildfires in Reading California, 67 hospital staff still went to work. All doctors, nurses, volunteers and office personnel made sure that patient care did not suffer. ‘Some people have slept on the floor,’ the hospital chief executive said. ‘The Reading police chief lost his home, as did two of his officers, but they still went on duty to save others at risk. It was a similar story with at least one firefighter. But it wasn't just the thousands of first responders who put their own loss and devastation to one side and stepped up to help their neighbours. Many ordinary folk took in people who had lost homes, provided food, donated supplies and offered any support that they could. Hollywood movies show society falling apart when disaster strikes, but the opposite happened; people wanted to band together and help.
6-10 November 2018
Beloved, Grace in the matchless name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST.
The attached flier serves to remind us of the above consultation coming up in November 2018 at Nairobi, Kenya. We appeal and request for the following actions from YOU ALL.
- Those Who have not registered should do so.
- Spread the information about the Consultation to other Intercessors, mission workers and organizations, missionaries and Church pastors.
- Undergird this consultation in your daily prayer. Pray for safe travel for those who would be coming. Pray for provision for those who want to come. Pray for the atmosphere of prayer during the Consultation.
- Pray about the focus of the Consultation, which is: the Unreached People Groups, The BIBLELESS peoples of Africa, The Persecuted Church, Revival of the Church, the 24:14 Inherit the Nation, GO 2020 and other global prayer initiatives.
- Stay in touch and join in the monthly prayer conference call for the UPGS, the Bibleless Peoples and the Persecuted Church, etc.
For more registration info, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU.
IN HIS KINGDOM SERVICE,
AUSTEN C. UKACHI
The broken cup
03 Aug 2018
A recent Barnabas Aid editorial reads: ‘CH Spurgeon often said that before God could use someone He had to first break that person into pieces. Jeremiah knew the truth of this. From his youth (Jeremiah 1:6), he was called to do an impossible task that involved grief, suffering, abuse and rejection. He is known as the weeping prophet. The Lord reminded Jeremiah, as he watched the potter at work, that it was His sovereign choice to destroy and remake His people, as the potter reworked the soft clay from one shape into another (Jeremiah 18:6). He also used the image of a pot, shattered to pieces and impossible to repair, as a warning to the people of Jerusalem in their iniquity (Jeremiah 19). And yet God did restore His repentant people and, in the end, brought them back to Jerusalem out of their Babylonian captivity. God took the broken fragments and restored them into something useful. So brokenness does not have to be the end. It can be the prelude to glory. God can restore even the broken cup and use it for His purposes.’