Russia: St Petersburg bomber was from Kyrgyzstan
07 Apr 2017
The safety of the Russian people depends upon President Putin’s response to the St Petersburg attack. If the President rounds up more Chechen activists or pounds what’s left of Syria’s cities, then he will only provoke another murderous attack on a train. Russia’s involvement in Syria’s war is one motive, the long-running conflict in Chechnya another. Whichever group may have been responsible, or whichever terror organisation inspired some lone individual, the response of Russia, many believe, is likely to be one of further repression and an appeal to nationalist sentiment. This has been the Putin way for as long as he has exercised power in his land. Pray that this event would not bring another twist to the cycle of violence in the region.
Venezuela: Church supports right-wing violence!
07 Apr 2017
82% of Venezuelans live in poverty. Opposition lawmakers attempted to fire judges accused of a judicial ‘coup’ to keep socialist President Nicolas Maduro in power. Youths build barricades, burn rubbish and hurl rocks at soldiers and police, who respond with tear gas and water cannon, in the political turmoil. This violent political crisis is raising concerns for democracy and stability in this volatile major oil-exporting country. While Venezuelan churches usually ask parishioners to help spread peace and love throughout their communities, now in Caracas the Episcopal Church’s bishops are calling parishioners to support violence against the government. They handed out leaflets last Sunday, calling on members to participate in civil disobedience against President Maduro and the ruling United Socialist Party. The leaflet said, ‘It is time to ask very seriously and responsibly if civil disobedience, peaceful demonstrations, just claims to national and international public powers, and civic protests are not valid and timely.’ The Church called the government ‘morally unacceptable and therefore reprehensible.’ See
Paraguay: unrest
07 Apr 2017
In 2014 shocking corruption was reported in Paraguay. The frontrunner in the presidential election, Horacio Cartes, described as a homophobe, was jailed after accusations of currency fraud, investigated for alleged tax evasion, and widely accused of drug trafficking. He is now President Cartes, attempting to run for office again in 2018. This decision led to protests and violent unrest. Police killed one protester. Cartes’ attempt to seek the second term in office has been through behind-the-scenes wrangling. By constitutional law he should not run for office again. The first round of talks to settle the volatile political crisis around his attempt for re-election ended with no progress on Wednesday. Oxfam reports that 90% of the land is owned by 5% of the population. The government talks about presidential re-election and constitutional amendments while the people are without schools or health services. See
Malaysia: full sharia law?
07 Apr 2017
Moves are under way in Malaysia that could see parts of the country implement full sharia law with inhumane punishments; there are reports that the Deputy Prime Minister could agree to support this in parliament. Currently sharia courts have limited jurisdiction in family matters, with the main criminal courts operating at federal level making decisions based on the constitution. Even this situation can create significant problems for Christians, particularly converts from Islam. Their conversion is not recognised in the sharia court system, so they are still officially Muslims. Christian women converting from Islam cannot legally marry a Christian man, as sharia forbids Muslim women from marrying non-Muslims. There have been several previous attempts to extend the jurisdiction and sentencing powers of the sharia courts, with bills that included amputation of limbs for theft and death for blasphemy and apostasy. Government can only implement this if parliament changes the constitution.
Africa: rehabilitation of child slaves
07 Apr 2017
A worker for International Justice Mission (IJM) writes, ‘Please pray for our aftercare team who are teaching children rescued from slavery in Ghana about their rights to freedom. It became clear that many had no concept of what it meant to have rights under Ghanaian law, or that the law should protect them from abuse. Our aftercare team partnered with a Ghanaian artist to create a beautifully illustrated curriculum called ‘I Am Worthy’, which talks about rights in a way that children can understand. Pray that this curriculum will help survivors understand their own stories and believe in their inherent dignity and worth. We can praise God that a partnership has been formed between IJM and the Anglican Church of Uganda. The church’s vision of opening legal chambers will grow its role in serving widows and orphans in the community, by providing legal services to victims of property-grabbing.’
Nigeria: this food is not for you
07 Apr 2017
What makes you angry? I'm not talking about that frustration you feel when you've just missed a train, or your computer crashes - I'm talking about the kind of deep anger that rages against the injustice we see in our fallen world. When I heard about the situation facing our church family in northern Nigeria, that's how I felt - angry and sad. There is a humanitarian crisis in the region, leaving millions on the brink of starvation. This is bad enough in itself. But thousands of Christians, who have already been forced to flee their homes to escape Islamic fundamentalists, are frequently being denied access to the vital aid that they need to survive by local leaders, simply because of their faith in Jesus. Some of our brothers and sisters have been eating leaves - they had nothing else to eat.
Canada / USA: climate change and fuel
07 Apr 2017
At a ‘creation care fair’ at St Cuthbert’s Church in Toronto, Anglicans and community members had opportunities to ask church and secular leaders how they were responding to the challenge of climate change, with many questions about whether or not the Anglican Church of Canada will divest from fossil fuel companies. Its General Synod will be making a decision about this in 2019. While the Canadian Church and government address environmental challenges, President Trump signed an executive order to return to coal fuel. The order directs the US Environmental Protection Agency to begin re-evaluating immediately the Clean Power Plan that was published just ahead of the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in France. The Plan was to reduce US power plant emissions dramatically over 25 years, and was a bargaining tool when negotiating the Paris climate accord. See:
Healing the Land
05 Apr 2017
Teaching and prayer days - May 2017
We invite you to join us as we welcome Alistair and Marie Petrie from Partnership Ministries to share their wide experience of seeing how healing the land can release evangelism and bring transformation to lives, communities, cities and nations.
Healing the land is intimately connected with people. What people think, do and say has a direct bearing on either the extension of the Kingdom of God or the resistance of others to it. Alistair’s book’s including Releasing Heaven on Earth and A Sacred Trust interactive workbook will be on sale at all venues
Working with our partners, South East Prayer Leaders Network and Community Watchman Ministries and with other UK leaders and members of the World Prayer Centre team, we hope to see representatives from many churches, networks, towns, cities and regions as possible to come so we can learn and be equipped how to pray more effectively. We believe the Petrie’s visit is timely. God is changing things in our nation and this is an opportunity to be equipped and engaged.
You can opt to register for days in Canterbury May 12-13, Liverpool 19-20 or Birmingham 23 May 2017. We do need you to register for the days in Liverpool and Birmingham – click here for full details.