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Andrew Johnston, Christian Solidarity Worldwide's advocacy director is cycling the length of Britain to raise money for Christians in Egypt. Andrew set off from John O' Groats on Sunday and will be working his way 888 miles south to Land's End where he hopes to arrive by August 31st. Funds raised will go towards the ‘No Way Out’ campaign supporting the church in Egypt. He will pass Manchester on Friday before stopping over at the Greenbelt Festival at the Cheltenham Racecourse this weekend. For decades Christians in Egypt have faced discrimination and violence, he hopes to raise £1,000 to support Egyptian Christians through prayer, solidarity and action. Over 15,000 people have already supported the campaign by signing a petition urging the UK and US Governments and the European Union to do what they can to bring an end to religiously-motivated violence. According to CSW there have been at least 20 attacks on religious minorities since the January revolution.
Pray: for Andrew's stamina and protection and for minorities to be treated equally in the new Egypt. (Pr.29:14)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/888mile.cycle.to.raise.money.for.egyptian.christians/28480.htm
One in three people could not pay their rent or mortgage for more than a month if they lost their job, new figures from the housing and homelessness charity Shelter have revealed. The research reveals families with children are in the most precarious situation: 43 per cent could not pay for their home for more than a month, and nearly a quarter (23 per cent) could not meet their payments at all. Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of Shelter said: "These figures paint an alarming picture of a nation where the buffer between having a home and potentially becoming homeless is a single paycheque. "Millions are living on the edge of a crisis, only secure in their homes for a matter of weeks. At the same time, support for people who have lost their homes is being stripped away - it’s easy to see why every fifteen minutes, another family in England finds themselves homeless."
Pray: for a more robust economy that allows for greater security in the tenure of homes.. (Lev.25:35)
More: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18305
More than 75,000 children in Britain will wake up on Christmas Day without a home, warns the housing and homelessness charity Shelter as spending on homelessness falls. Shelter is highlighting the figures to raise awareness of the increasing numbers of homeless families in Britain this Christmas and is particularly concerned about the number of families forced to live in bed and breakfast accommodation, which has increased by 57 per cent in the last 12 months. This can mean parents and children living together in one room, with limited cooking or laundry facilities in conditions that are often appalling. This year more than 3,000 children will spend Christmas Day living in this way, says Shelter. In Dec 2011, Shelter helped more than 1,000 people facing homelessness during the festive period. This Christmas, the number of people with nowhere else to turn is expected to be even higher. The main triggers for homelessness include relationship breakdowns, job losses and landlords ending rental tenancies.
Pray: for all those who will be homeless this Christmas that God through His people will be their Provider. (Tit.3:14)
More: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17368
Tens of thousands of 12 to 15-year-olds in Britain are becoming problem gamblers, a charity that works with gambling addicts has warned. GamCare, a charity which gives help, advice and treatment to problem gamblers, has released a report calling for children to be taught about the dangers of gambling. It says the rate of adolescent addicts is over three times as high as adult addicts. It also says young problem gamblers are more likely to be involved in alcohol and substance abuse, theft, truancy and likely to do less well at school. Jane Rigbye, head of the education development at GamCare, said: ‘Gambling is all around us. It is advertised on television, children are accessing Internet bingo sites and Internet poker sites. They have found ways of lying about their age to access these sites’. Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science said, ‘Educating young people about the risks of gambling is vital’. Pray: for the advertising and accessibility of gambling to be tightened in order to protect our youngsters. (Heb.13:5) More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/video-60000-children-in-britain-are-problem-gamblers/6
If an alien happened to land its UFO in the car park of your local Tesco sometime in the next few weeks and popped in for something to eat, would it have any idea if it was asked, why the shelves were stacked high with chocolate eggs? This is obviously a ridiculous scenario, but how about if you asked the same question to any children who happened to be in the supermarket being dragged round by their parents? Would they be able to tell you the answer? Last year Travelodge ran a survey to find this out. It found that 53% of the children surveyed didn’t know the meaning of Easter and one-quarter thought that it is about celebrating the Easter bunny’s birthday. Easter like most other annual festivals has turned into an excuse for the retailers to sell as much as they can to us with little interest in the meaning behind it. (See Prayer Alert 10-2013)
Pray: that the gospel message will be creatively adopted to market Easter eggs, etc. (Ps.145:18)
More: http://godandpoliticsuk.org/author/godandpoliticsuk/
The Christian Enquiry Agency is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a new poster and postcard campaign. The organisation provides free and confidential information about the Christian faith. Its campaign is inviting people to take a look at the website Christianity.org.uk and offers them a free colour magazine-style Gospel of Luke. The postcards ask the question 'At what moment in your life did you feel most fully alive?' On the reverse is the challenge: 'It's time you found out what Jesus said about life in his own words.' People can add their details and send the postcard to a freepost address or use the QR code to ask for a Gospel. It is hoped the 50,000 postcards placed in cinema foyers around the country will make their way into the hands of people unlikely to set foot in a church.
Pray: that this initiative will lead to many people discovering Jesus and new life. (Ac.20:24)
Recent surveys yet again paint a gloomy picture of how little many people know about Christmas and the birth of Jesus. According to polls, 51 per cent of people now say that the birth of Jesus is irrelevant to their Christmas. Just 12 per cent of adults know the nativity story in any depth; and 36 per cent of children do not know whose birthday is being celebrated during the festival. It makes it all the more important therefore that Churches and Christians do what they can to get the real message out. Leading Christian groups, including the Church of England, Traidcraft, the Methodist Church, the Bible Society, and the Evangelical Alliance are coming together and putting their weight behind Christmas starts with Christ because they recognise something needs to be done. We should expect to be seeing quite a lot of this logo and the accompanying adverts in the run up to Christmas.
Pray: for the true story and meaning of Christmas to be widely told this year so that many more people may learn about Jesus. (Jn.3:16-17)
More: http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2013/09/14/36-of-children-don%e2%80%99t-know-whose-birthday-is-celebrated-at-christmas-time-for-an-advertising-campaign/
The 24/7 Prayer movement has become a formal partner of the Fresh Expressions initiative. The announcement follows conversations between the head of Fresh Expressions, Bishop Graham Cray, and 24/7 leaders Andy Freeman and Pete Greig. ‘The result was that it felt like the right time, something that God wanted us to do,’ said Freeman, who sits on the 24/7 Council. 24/7 Prayer began as a single student-led prayer vigil in Chichester in 1999 and has since grown to become an international movement of prayer, mission and justice, spanning more than 100 countries. Freeman said the he was particularly interested to see how younger people could be involved in starting up fresh expressions of church and how prayer rooms could be used as part of the listening process for people interested in building mission communities and fresh expressions. Bishop Cray, Archbishops’ Missioner in the Church of England, said he was delighted that 24/7 Prayer was joining Fresh Expressions.
Pray: that God will bless and encourage this movement through His Holy Spirit. (2Co.9:12)
More: http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/article/247.prayer.becomes.fresh.expressions.partner/27186.htm
As the Olympic and Paralympic Games approach, Pete Greig, a founding champion of 24-7 Prayer, author of ‘Red Moon Rising’ and Director of Prayer for Holy Trinity Brompton is helping to launch a year of prayer called Kingdom Come 2012, challenging God’s people to pray that the name of Jesus will be lifted high in our lands once again. Kingdom Come 2012 is a partnership between 24-7 Prayer and Alpha to encourage thousands of churches to fill an entire year with night and day prayer, aiming to build on the success of unprecedented years of non-stop prayer across Scotland in 2010 (The Big If) and Ireland in 2011(What If?). Nicky Gumbel, Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton says 'Prayer is the power behind our vision to see the re-evangelisation of our nations and the transformation of society. In 2012 we are going to be praying like never before.’ For more information please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Pray: that the Church will take up the challenge to pray in the kingdom and transformation of our nations. (Mt.6:10)
Praying for your workplace is powerful - through prayer, organisational culture, relationships, management style, the bottom line, can all be impacted. But prayer is hard work. The group PrayerWorks seeks to support and network workplace pray-ers, sharing creative ways to pray and the stories of God's intervention, so that we don't lose heart. Instead we are re-envisioned and re-energised to come before the God who answers prayer. Paul exhorts the Thessalonians to 'pray continually'. PrayerWorks is trusting that the Spirit will re-envision Christians through the celebration of answered prayer, and that we will experience a renewed awareness of God's presence and activity in our places of work. All are invited to join the journey, and let 2012 be a year of prayer for the transformation of our organisations and their impact in the world.
Pray: for God's will for commerce and industry throughout the British Isles in 2012. (1Thes.5:16-18)