The Secretary General of the UN used a London platform to encourage the UK to continue to work with the organisation. Mr Guterres spoke as the United Nations Association (UNA-UK) launched its manifesto for the 2017 general election. The executive director of UNA-UK said, ‘What happens in other countries increasingly matters to our lives. It is time to put foreign policy at the heart of the election and put the UN at the heart of foreign policy. Peace and security, migration, human rights, the environment, the UN, Britain's role in the world - these issues are bigger and more important than party politics. We need to build a cross-party consensus around them. Our manifesto calls on all political parties to commit to placing the UN at the centre of an outward-looking British foreign policy.’

Voice for Justice hope to raise 20,000 signatures on a petition calling on the National Union of Teachers to withdraw its motion to promote teaching lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) issues to children, starting at nursery. The first paragraph of the petition says, ‘The current campaign actively to promote LGBT+ issues starting at nursery is part of an ideological agenda to undermine and ultimately destroy the traditional values on which our society is based. While lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults may see the cultural and social normalisation of their sexual preferences as top priority, we maintain that to force such consciousness onto children, who by definition lack the emotional maturity to assimilate and process such behavioural “norms”, is a form of child abuse. This will inevitably encourage them to experiment with behaviours that wouldn’t normally occur at such an early age, but which carry the potential for enormous and long-lasting harm, both physical and mental.’ See also Prayer Alert world article 7, below.

A conference for prayer and mission leaders from across Europe is happening right now (4 to 14 May) in Herrnhut. They are evaluating the current position of mission to the unreached peoples of Europe and praying strategic, informed prophetic prayers for breakthrough. Pray for even more anointing of prophetic sensitivity on these leaders in the last few days of the conference. Pray for a mighty move of His Church moving forward with the gospel as a result of this event. May the prayers of God’s people pave the way for the gospel to be preached, with power and miracles following, in every European language and dialect. Pray for all the networking and connections that have happened through the course of this conference to be acted on with Holy Spirit anointing. It is crucial that these delegates connect more deeply and purposefully. May fruitful networking birth new initiatives this week through closer linking of the prayer and mission movements.

An intercessor writes: ‘Since the 1989 fall of communism, Poland has experienced unprecedented growth and prosperity. For example, during the 2008-2014 economic crisis, a time of turbulence for the world economy, Poland’s GNP (Gross National Product) grew by 25%. The prime minister during that period was Donald Tusk, now president of the European Council. Since the change of power the situation now needs much prayer. People now running the country have already destroyed the constitutional court, public media, and integral parts of our educational system, to mention just a few. We are heading towards a big crisis both economically and politically, potentially with some serious social unrest.’