Charities say G20 plans for Africa are flawed
21 Jul 2017
This year’s G20 launched ‘Africa Partnership’, but charities are wary because it focuses on increasing private investment in the continent. Participating countries were invited to develop their own plans, to reduce the risk for private investors. At the summit, Britain set out proposals to build a partnership with a view to creating ‘more opportunities for London to become the finance hub for Africa’. Christian Aid described the G20 plan as badly flawed as it didn’t mention climate change. Oxfam said that it is important to recognise that growing economies will not automatically provide people with enough food to eat or life-saving medicines - especially as Africa is home to some of the most unequal countries on earth. Global Justice Now described it as ‘more like a partnership to exploit Africa - foisting the demands of international finance onto Africa in return for a bit of aid.’
North America: thousands flee wildfires
21 Jul 2017
Wildfires barrelled across the baking landscape of the western US and Canada, destroying homes, forcing thousands to flee and demolishing forests and farms. A combination of high temperatures and parched land has added to the difficulties of firefighters in California. On 19 July, in California, just one of the many fires that are currently forcing thousands to flee their homes doubled in size (48,000 acres, compared to 23,000 the day before). Over 2,000 firefighters have contained only 7% of the ‘Detwiler Fire’ which is approaching the town of Mariposa and communities in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. These blazes are part of 37 active large fires spread across 12 western states, according to the National Interagency Fire Centre. Meanwhile in Canada firefighters are contending with over 200 fires burning in British Columbia. See also and item 1 in Europe section.
Iraq: harsh treatment of IS families
21 Jul 2017
Nessrine Hamad, aged six, is covered with a painful rash and has tears in her eyes. ‘She has been like that for three days,’ her mother said. ‘It is because of the dirty water. Most of the children here have sores on their skin.’ Dozens of families accused of having relatives in IS have been forcibly displaced to Shahama camp by the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), under the control of the Iraqi army. The camp, located north of Tikrit, has been described by Human Rights Watch as ‘akin to an open-air prison’. They are prevented from coming and going freely, only allowed to leave via ambulance for medical emergencies, and even then some are rejected by the main hospital in Tikrit when staff discover they are from Shahama. Dirty water, food and medical shortages have made living conditions in the camp unbearable. People in the camp are also barred from having mobile phones.
Canada: marijuana and faith
21 Jul 2017
The government plans to legalise recreational marijuana by 1 July 2018. Pray for Canadians to use critical thinking skills as they decide what to do with their vote that could change many God-given lives. There is no shortage of easily accessible information on the topic of marijuana. In fact, there are enough facts to effectively argue two opposing perspectives on the recreational use of marijuana. Where does one go from here? Pray that the Canadian Church will research the long-term and short-term effects of marijuana use, then stand up and speak out on the subject of addiction and where it leads. What would Jesus do? Where would recreational drug use lead me?
East Africa: food crisis
21 Jul 2017
A missionary helping the 24 million people in East Africa dying of starvation has criticised the media for being so ‘distracted’ by Donald Trump that they're failing to notice the worst humanitarian crisis to hit the region since World War 2. Aid worker Paul Healy says that in his twenty years working with Trócaire, a charity set up by the Irish Catholic Church, he's never seen such devastation. ‘The scale of the crisis is enormous. There are 24 million people facing starvation over the coming months,’ he said. The UN has already declared a fully-fledged famine in parts of South Sudan, adding: ‘This means 20% of households face extreme food shortages, 30% of the population face acute malnourishment and there are 2 hunger-related deaths per 10,000 people per day.’. Also Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia will suffer mass death from food and water shortages if ‘prompt and sustained humanitarian intervention’ doesn't happen soon.
Prayer Power Points
18 Jul 2017
We are launching our new 'Prayer Power Points' which are in PowerPoint slide or PDF formats with prayer points that can be downloaded by individuals, churches and groups to use in your prayer meetings.
We realise that we are all busy so we have done the work for you. We will produce PowerPoint slides on various topics which we feel God is leading us to pray for. This will help anyone struggling with prayer to know what to pray for.
We will also provide Prayer Power Points after our gatherings so you can join with us in prayer.
Prayer Power Points from our recent Prayershift gathering. Click image below to download PDF and download Powerpoint here.
Here's our first to download from our recent It is Time! gathering. Click on the image below to download a PDF file and Download powerpoint here.
The Turning Walsall
17 Jul 2017
At the end of May, the churches in Walsall in partnership with the Turning team from Reading went out on the streets of Walsall using the ‘The Turning model’ of evangelism.
At 10.00am every morning, we met at the Rock Church for worship and training and in the evenings at a couple of local churches for worship and testimonies.
After the training session in the mornings, we would then go out in pairs on the streets, parks and market place. We followed a script that tells people of God’s love for them, briefly outlines the Gospel and ends by inviting them to accept Jesus. For everyone that prayed that prayer, we asked for contact details so that someone from a local church can follow them up.
Our first day was Bank Holiday Monday and over a hundred people turned up to go out on the streets. At the back of everyone’s mind was ‘will this really work’, ‘will God show up will He use me’. The answer was a resounding YES!
At lunchtime when we gathered back, everyone had an amazing testimony. There were some rejections but with those that made a commitment, it was so easy. Some people only got as far as saying ‘God loves you’ and people burst into tears.
A number of us witnessed whole families giving their lives to Christ, old people who were very near the end of their lives wanting assurance that they would go to heaven when their time comes. Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims came as well as people of no faith.
Young people and one man told of an accident he had had 10 days before in which he had an out of body experience where he was told that it wasn’t his time and that in 10 days time he would be told what to do. It was exactly 10 days when he was approached by two of our team and gave his heart to the Lord.
I could go on with testimony after testimony. God was definitely moving on the streets of Walsall.
Walsall will never be the same again, the churches will never be the same again and neither will I. As the great hymn writer says, ‘My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!’
Sheila Hendley
Academy for Life
Making God’s love known through prayer
17 Jul 2017
A weekend to make God’s love known to those around you. On your street, in your community, with your prayers. We believe that local people praying for their community can change lives. The idea is simple. The National Prayer Weekend is an opportunity to gather prayer requests from people in your local area and introduce them to a God who loves them through the power of prayer.
Jesus clearly commissions us to love those around us, He tells us to love our neighbours and the National Prayer Weekend is a direct response to His command. We want to show God’s love to everyone around us. We know that God can do immeasurably more than we can even imagine and are been really excited to be hearing from Christians all over the world who are joining in with the National Prayer Weekend 29 September–1 October 2017.
The following testimonies were sent in from people who took part in the National Prayer Weekend last year and prayed for people in their local communities:
‘I visited the little shops, hotels and businesses in our village and handed out prayer requests. I went back a few days later and collected the prayer request. I am delighted to say I was received well by all who I spoke to.’
‘The National Prayer Weekend has inspired us to consider making this a more regular offering to our community.’
‘It was great to know that here in our small community of around 5,000 people in the South West corner of Australia that we were sharing in prayer with thousands of others across the world.’
Do you want to join in?
Visit www.national-prayer-weekend.com to sign up. Access free resources, to help plan your prayer weekend, get your pin on the prayer map and make your mark on your local community for God’s glory.
SPREAD THE WORD:
Follow the National Prayer Weekend on Facebook and Twitter to add your voice to a worldwide praying community sharing stories, pictures and prayer ideas.
We believe that local people praying for their community and neighbours can change lives. One life, one street, one community at a time.