Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Archbishop Justin Welby launched the Full Community Sponsorship scheme at Lambeth Palace on Wednesday morning. Justin Welby has welcomed this new scheme to allow community groups to sponsor a refugee family directly. Archbishop Justin Welby said the scheme would allow churches and other civil society groups ‘to provide sanctuary to those fleeing war-torn places.’ It will enable charities, faith groups, churches and businesses to take on the role of supporting resettled refugees in the UK.
Justin said, ‘Refugees, like all people, are treasured human beings made in the image of God who deserve safety, freedom and the opportunity to flourish. It is an enormous privilege to welcome a family to live in a cottage in the grounds of Lambeth Palace.’
Changes in offices of state
21 Jul 2016
Prime Minister Theresa May made six senior appointments - Foreign Office, Chancellor, Defence, Home Office and two new post-Brexit positions - Secretary of State for Brexit and Secretary of State for International Trade. BORIS JOHNSON heads the Foreign Office. He speaks five languages, including German and Russian. The latter will be helpful as he pursues positive engagement with Russia. Like Theresa May, he is pro-Israel. PHILIP HAMMOND is Chancellor of the Exchequer. Pray for him to have the great wisdom and vision that job needs at any time, but especially at this time. MICHAEL FALLON - Secretary of State for Defence. Pray for a Defence Secretary who is a man of peace and whose strength is in the Lord. He voted against ‘gay marriage’ and doctor-assisted dying. AMBER RUDD - Home Secretary voted against having a referendum at all. She voted for ‘gay marriage’ and military action in Syria. Pray for her wisdom and discernment as she holds this vital office of state. DAVID DAVIS, a veteran parliamentarian, is Secretary of State for Brexit. He is opposed to the EU and gay marriage. Pray for God to lead him as he negotiates our exit with the European Union . LIAM FOX, the new Secretary of State for International Trade, will be responding to nations across the world who want trade deals with the UK. Pray that we will do more for fair trade and that overseas aid is given wisely.
Plane crash survivor's miraculous tale of faith
21 Jul 2016
‘I have looked death in the eye and sat and glanced over the edge of eternity and I have to say, I believe that death is nothing to fear because I know that this life will just usher in the next life.’ Helen Young Hayes boarded United Airlines Flight 232 in Denver, bound for Chicago. That flight never made it. It suffered catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine and crashed in Sioux City, Iowa. Miraculously, Hayes survived. Now she is publicly sharing her remarkable story of faith. ‘I remember every minute of it as vividly as if it were last week!’ Hayes told CBN News. The harrowing experience tested the faith of the successful money manager seated in row 9, seat B. Armed with faith, she prayed the impossible. To read her story of how God led her to pray exactly what was needed at the time, and how He answered her prayers, click the ‘More’ button.
China: Next generation coming to Christ
21 Jul 2016
China's next generation is turning to Christianity, looking to the Church for answers to life's big questions. Christian leaders are hopeful this generation will bring their nation closer to God. Twenty-four million people live in Shanghai and 3/4 of them are Millennials - between the ages of 20 and 33. Many are joining the Christian community. One study from the Chinese Education Department found that 62% of China's religious believers are aged between 19 and 39. To cope with societal pressure they are turning to spirituality. ‘One day, my friend invited me to church after work. It was new to me. As I listened to the music, all of a sudden, I felt so peaceful. I felt something special,’ Li Gang, a young believer said. Another youth said, ‘Now, I am a Christian. I am not afraid of anything. Jesus is always with me. I am not alone when I face difficulties. I won't see church as a building, it means a family to me,’
How to pray over the UK
20 Jul 2016
Watching and Prayer over the UK following the EU Referendum
We now find ourselves in a period of tremendous political, economic and social change in our UK nations. This is a new time; a time of mercy and a time of shaking. We believe this is a historically significant watershed moment for our UK nations and for Europe. The EU Referendum campaign and result has exposed deep fractures in our society in all of our UK nations.
Now is the time when God is calling His people to humbly come before Him, seek His face, turn from our wicked ways and to pray. Now is the time to persevere and not to give up. Now is the time for us together, as God's people across our UK nations, to pray in unity for God to fulfil His purposes for our nations.
We commend 1 Timothy 2:1-3 as a basis for our praying as we stand guard over our elected leaders that they may give Godly leadership and so provide stability across our nations and in our communities to allow the gospel to be shared and for many people to discover faith in Jesus Christ.
HOW TO PRAY
For our elected governmental leaders:
In Scotland: Pray for Nicola Sturgeon and for wisdom and patience for the Scottish (SNP) Government, as they seek to deal with the results of the vote; especially that they will work positively with the UK Government and seek not only what is best for the people of Scotland, but also what is best for all peoples in the UK in these uncharted, challenging times.
In Northern Ireland: Pray for Arlene Foster and NI politicians for wisdom, for courage, for grace and positive leadership at this time. There is a genuine fear of the peace process being affected; a fear of the progress that has been made in moving forward toward a 'Shared Future' being undermined, a fear of the unknown. There is concern over how this will affect our relationship with the Republic of Ireland. Will there once again be border and custom checks? Pray for God's people to be in position and for His peace to replace fear.
In Wales: Pray for Carwyn Jones; for unity within the Welsh Assembly and for wisdom especially in handling the financial implications of leaving the EU that could affect the elderly and the poor.
In Westminster:
Prime Minister - Theresa May - for calm leadership, for wise advisors and for her faith to guide her day by day.
Chancellor - Philip Hammond Chancellor - that he will have wisdom, authority and boldness to expose evil financial practices, tax abuse and manipulation and corruption.
Home Secretary - Amber Rudd - for divine authority to keep our nation safe and administer true justice.
Labour shadow cabinet - that as they are shaken we will have an effective, wise and righteous opposition.
For the Church:
Pray that the Church will 'rise up' (Isaiah 60:1) and take a positive lead in promoting reconciliation, both within communities where needed and between the nations of the UK that in these uncertain times, especially at this moment of economic uncertainty, many will open up to the hope and certainty of the Gospel.
For Europe:
As we stand shoulder to shoulder with France in the aftermath of the attack in Nice, we continue to pray protection for France, for God's blessing and for her church to be strengthened and equipped to be carriers of hope and peace.
We ask for God's continued mercy and protection on our nations and wisdom for our security forces
We have compiled a list of resources available to help you post-referendum.
Canopy of Prayer over Europe
20 Jul 2016
We have heard about this new website, the Canopy of Prayer - http://canopyofprayer.eu to raise a canopy of prayer over Europe at this crucial time.
The request is that those who sign up would commit themselves to praying for Europe for a designated 15 minutes per week. They will receive an email fortnightly with information for prayer. The introduction is in German but the form is in English. The email will also have English. They were in the process of writing an introduction in English. If you use Google Chrome, it should give you the option to translate the website.
Download an example of the bulletin you will receive when you sign up.
Resources to pray for the UK
19 Jul 2016
How do we pray for the United Kingdom post-referendum?
With all the changes that are happening in the United Kingdom following the Brexit decision and with uncertainty about how things will move forward. This is also a great time of spiritual opportunity for the Church to stand and begin to pray for the future of the UK and Europe.
There are some great resources available to help you, whether you pray regularly for the nations or not.
Canopy of Prayer over Europe - European Prayer Network
EU Referendum - keep praying - Pray for Scotland
How to pray after Brexit - 24-7 prayer
Blessing for the UK - A Call to Prayer
Passion for the Nation - website and newsletter
Post-referendum prayer - World Prayer Centre
The Brexit Setup - Video by Jame's Aladiran, Prayer Storm
Blessings prayer for the UK
18 Jul 2016
The director of Norfolk group Call to Prayer, Jill Gower, has prepared a blessing prayer to speak over the nation as a response to the negativity following the EU referendum. It is available here to download.
Blessings for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
Great Britain and Northern Ireland we bless you with peace, calm and order
We bless you to know the Lord is sovereign and has all things in His hands
We bless you with patience and trust in Him
We bless you to wait upon the Lord, for His ways are greater and higher than all of our ways
We bless you with shalom – wholeness, well-being and completeness.
We bless the people of this nation to wake up and know that Jesus is Lord
We bless this land with a move of God, a turning back to Him and His purposes
We bless the land that the Light of the Gospel will break through, and no longer will we be in darkness
We bless the atmosphere over the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to be changed; for love, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit to reign.
In Jesus' name we bless the people of this great nation to unify, and for a spirit of unity to be poured out
We bless the people of this land to stand together and know that the Lord, He is God
We bless the nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to come together and to rejoice in that unity, for repentance and forgiveness to flow between us.
We bless our Government at this time, for good strong leadership to emerge
We bless the corridors of power with righteousness that exalts a nation
We bless the decisions made at Westminster to reflect the purposes of God
We bless the Christians in Parliament to rise up in the will of the Lord, and do what is right in His sight
We bless the law of the land to come back to its Judeo/Christian foundation.
We bless this nation to fulfil its destiny in God, with restoration of all that has been robbed
We bless the call of God, and His irrevocable gifts to emerge at this time
We bless the United Kingdom to rise up once again in the apostolic calling to take forth the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the nations
We bless the United Kingdom to build the Kingdom of God and not an empire.
In the Name of Jesus we call back this nation into the purposes of God, and we bless each and every citizen of the United Kingdom to live in peace and hope. We bless the people to love one another and to turn from their wicked ways and worship of idols, and look to the One who can restore all things according to His glorious will. We bless the people of this land with a spirit of humility, and dependence on God.
We bless the people of this nation to be safe and secure and to step into their personal destiny in God
We bless this nation to stand on the shoulders of those who went before us, who gave their lives for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and those who because of their great faith brought so many changes to this world.
Most of all we bless the Lord our God for the great heritage we have in this land, and the great high calling He placed on it, and we bless Him for His mercy and His grace and His unconditional love.
In Jesus' Name
AMEN
Source: www.call2prayer.co.uk