The Wall of Answered Prayer
15 Apr 2016
In January we featured an initiative to build a wall of one million bricks, each brick representing an answered prayer. This enormous wall will be positioned by a busy motorway where 50,000+ people drive past each day: a wonderful testimony that Jesus is alive and He has answered a million prayers. This initiative needs sustained prayer for it to move forward successfully. A website, complementing the landmark, will give details of each answered prayer - a database of a million prayer testimonies. Please pray for Christians to catch the vision and grasp this unique opportunity to buy a brick in a wall which will stand for generations. Pray also for the funding needed for an autumn exhibition by the Houses of Parliament, which will show visitors all the entries for ‘The Wall’. For more info click the ‘more’ button.
Children’s mental health in the UK
15 Apr 2016
Suicide is the most common cause of death for boys aged between five and nineteen, and the second most common for girls of that age group. MP Norman Lamb said that in his time as Minister for Mental Health he was appalled by the institutional bias against mental health within our NHS that has existed for decades and is intrinsically linked to the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems. Child and adolescent mental health services are often described as the ‘Cinderella of the Cinderella service’. He has proposed a plan to transform services, accompanied by an investment of £1.25bn over five years, to increase access to the right treatment, in the right place, at the right time. Pray for those involved in NHS mental health services to have God’s wisdom to understand and explore ways to transform the service given to children, and for young people who are currently denied timely access to the treatment they need.
British Muslims becoming more radical
15 Apr 2016
Former equality chief Trevor Phillips presented a programme on social attitudes among British Muslims on Channel 4 on Thursday. It was called 'What British Muslims Really Think' and aired Muslim attitudes to Sharia, women and homosexuality. Some uncomfortable statistics were revealed which might send shivers down spines. The pain was made worse by the fact that Trevor Phillips had been head of the Commission for Racial Equality and promoted many of the views he now dismisses, particularly about the speed with which Muslims would integrate and adopt British customs and attitudes. Nearly a quarter (23%) supported the introduction of sharia law in some areas of Britain. 31% said Muslim men could have more than one wife, with many Muslim women agreeing, and 39% saying that ‘wives should always obey their husbands’. Also if an area has at least 20% Muslim population it is likely to be more deprived than most, making extremism more attractive.
Birkenhead MP Frank Field said 154,000+ people last year waited at least ten days for their benefit claim to be processed. 44,000+ waited longer than sixteen days. He chairs the work and pensions select committee, and acknowledged progress had been made to reduce waiting time. However, for people with little or no money in the bank, to survive even a day, let alone two weeks, without an income is an almost impossible task. Further action is needed to restrict hunger. If the department could deliver all new claims within five working days it would immediately reduce the number of people relying on foodbanks by a third. Delayed benefit payment remains the most common trigger for an emergency food parcel. One option available to claimants in the case of a delay is a short-term benefit advance. However, over half of new claimants applying for such a payment were unsuccessful.
Majority want Cameron to act on tax havens
15 Apr 2016
A poll commissioned by Christian Aid and Global Witness, immediately before the Panama Papers exposé, found that over three-quarters of British adults agree that ‘David Cameron has a moral responsibility to ensure that the UK’s Overseas Territories are as transparent as possible’. Agreement is even stronger among those aged 45+ (85%). 81% agreed that ‘All companies, whether they are registered in the UK or its Overseas Territories, should be legally required to reveal their ultimate owners’. 69% (74% for those aged 45+) agreed that ‘It is damaging to the UK’s international reputation to be linked to so-called tax havens’. Anonymously-owned companies are the main method used by tax evaders and the corrupt to hide their identity and their money.
C of E takes on energy giant
15 Apr 2016
The Church Commissioners have widespread support for a move to put pressure on energy giant ExxonMobil to disclose the impact of climate change policy on its business. The commissioners manage a fund of £6.7 billion, used to support the Church of England. They have co-filed a shareholder motion with the New York State Comptroller, asking Exxon to disclose the effect on its business if measures to restrict global warming to two degrees are successful. Shell and BP agreed to disclose how much they will be impacted by efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions in 2015. Exxon had attempted to have the resolution struck down by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but its request was denied last month. Exxon has funded groups who deny human-induced climate change, and lobbied politicians against climate change legislation. It has a long history of rejecting shareholder motions and the scientific consensus on this topic.
Parliament to debate IS 'genocide'
15 Apr 2016
MPs will debate whether IS has committed genocide against Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities in the Middle East when the House of Commons considers the question next Wednesday. The motion calls on the government to bring pressure on the UN Security Council to allow the International Criminal Court (ICC) to intervene. The Government has been reluctant to describe the conflict as a genocide, which would place moral obligations on the state. The debate will be a backbench business debate whose outcome is not binding on the Government to act: however, Fiona Bruce intends to force a vote at the end of the debate. If the motion is passed it would significantly increase the pressure on Downing Street to take action. The Catholic peer Lord Alton has pushed the issue in the House of Lords, and co-signed a letter to the Prime Minister in December alongside 74 other peers and MPs.
'Polite persecution' in the world
15 Apr 2016
On Tuesday Pope Francis reflected on the ‘polite persecution’ of Christians that takes away their freedom in the disguise of progress. He said, ‘Persecution is the daily bread of the Church. A Christian is one who must bear witness to Christ, who has saved us.’ He said martyrs were not limited to Roman times. ‘God made us free, but persecution takes away freedom! If you don’t do this, you will be punished, you’ll lose your job and many things; or you’ll be set aside. This is the persecution of the world’ said the Pope. He distinguished between persecution targeting someone who confesses the name of Jesus Christ and the form of persecution disguised as culture, disguised as modernity, disguised as progress.