If the world won’t take the refugees, then 6-year-old Alex will. At least, he has offered to take in one Syrian, the child photographed last month while he sat in the back of an ambulance, his head dusty and bloodied after a bomb hit his family’s home. Alex wrote to President Obama, ‘Do you remember the boy who was picked up by the ambulance in Syria? Can you please go get him and bring him to my home?’ Obama read the note recently at the UN leaders’ summit on refugees, and posted it online. Obama chided world leaders for not doing enough to help refugees, calling the global refugee crisis ‘one of the most urgent tests of our time.’ 65 million people are displaced from their homes; most of them come from countries of great poverty, or as in Syria’s case, that have experienced prolonged war. For a transcript of the letter, click the ‘More’ button.

Islamic law originated on the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century AD, a jurisprudence shaped by specific circumstances and therefore limited to individual cases. It is barely compatible with the requirements of a modern, technological society, but still regarded by many theologians as divinely given and therefore beyond question. A consistent application of its drastic forms of corporal punishment (amputation, lashing, execution, crucifixion, retribution) results in torture, crippling or inhuman forms of execution. The application of the Shari’a is particularly shameful where inbuilt curbs such as the requirement of four witnesses or due process are set aside, and influential rulers employ it as a means of repression against powerless minorities - often Christians. Although Shari’a has been highly controversial in the UK, harsh penalties are currently unknown. See also

Kevin Garrett and his wife Julia lived for thirty years in China, where they did missionary work and ran a Christian coffee shop. In 2014, they were arrested in Dandong, a city on the North Korean border, and accused of ‘carrying out tasks from Canadian espionage agencies to gather intelligence in China.’ Julia was released on bail in February 2015, but Kevin was kept in custody. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau helped to secure his release, and Garrett arrived at Vancouver Airport on Thursday. Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, thanked Trudeau and his government, saying,‘We are grateful for your persistence in securing Mr Garrett's freedom, and your defence of the core Canadian principle of freedom of religion.’ The Garrett family also issued a statement thanking those who worked to secure Kevin’s release, as well as those who had joined together in prayer.

On Wednesday, all around the globe and in every time zone, students gathered at their flagpoles, praying for their school, friends, families, churches, and communities. ‘See You At The Pole’ (SYATP) is an annual day committed to global unity in Christ and prayer for this generation of youth. As in all great movements of prayer, SYATP did not begin in the hearts of people. It began in the heart of God. God used the obedience of a small group of teenagers 25 years ago to ignite what has become an international movement of prayer among young people. Today SYATP is still about students uniting prayer before God, interceding for their generation. SYATP falls in the Global Week of Student Prayer, 25 September to 1 October, when students find new and unique ways, places, and times to pray throughout the week.