The Polish government prayed for the health of the EU on Sunday at a special ‘EU Mass’ in Warsaw. ‘The construction of a European union of countries, people and nations can become permanent not on the basis of a joint economy and foreign policy, but mainly on the basis of spiritual unity and common values,’ Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk said in his homily to a congregation including Poland’s foreign minister. The Archbishop also prayed for Poland’s EU presidency saying, ’We commend unto God the Polish presidency in the EU Council. It is a great undertaking, challenge and opportunity for our executive powers, and our whole society.’ The call for divine intervention came as the Euro fell to an eight-month low and US president Barack Obama told a public meeting in Mountain View, California, that the debt crisis in Europe is ‘scaring the world’ Source: http://euobserver.com/1016/113745

Pray: for God to use the EU as a force for good in the world. (Ps.2:1)

More: http://www.thenews.pl/1/12/Artykul/55788,Archbishop-calls-for-divine-intervention-during-EU-crisis

Climate activists say Europe failed to deliver at the UN’s Doha conference on climate change. ‘This time Europe - usually seen as a leader on climate change - comes away with dirty hands,’ Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace international, said in a statement on Saturday. Poland demanded to keep its ‘hot air’ carbon credits awarded to them in the 1990s in opposition to developing countries, which wanted the surplus emissions scrapped altogether. The credits were handed out under the initial 1997 Kyoto protocol and allow Poland to emit far greater carbon into the atmosphere than its EU counterparts. European decision makers at the summit, says Greenpeace, sided with Poland to keep the surplus emission credits. A recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change says current global carbon emissions may increase the world's temperature between 4 to 6 degrees Celsius. The Doha summit brought together almost 200 nations to extend, by seven years, the Kyoto Protocol.

Pray: for the EU decision makers that they will not keep procrastinating over decisions that affect our world. (Ge1:26)

More: http://euobserver.com/environment/118464

The offices of several firms involved in the oil market hav e been raided by European Commission officials. The commission said it had concerns that ‘the companies may have colluded in reporting distorted prices’. It did not name the firms, and said the raids did not mean the companies were guilty of any charges. BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Norway's Statoil and the pricing agency Platts confirmed that they were working with the authorities in their inquiries. The investigation relates to the pricing of oil, refined products and biofuels. Even small distortions of assessed prices may have a huge impact on the prices of crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels purchases and sale s, potentially harming final consumers,’ the Commission said. As part of the investigation, the Commission said it was examining whether the companies may have prevented others from participating in the pricing process ‘with a view to distorting published prices’.

Pray: that the investigation into the oil market will reveal the truths and bring fair and just pricing. (Lev.19:15)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22530379

There has been an alarming rise in the number of children sleeping rough across Europe, which is why the system needs an overhaul, writes Kate Moss. The number of rough sleeping children across Europe is on the rise. These are young people who have mostly run away either from home or from sheltered accommodation. They may also include minors who have made border crossings in search of a better life and improved opportunities or for any number of other reasons. Financed by the EU Daphne programme, the pioneering two-year children rough sleepers research project which we at the University of Wolverhampton are currently leading has been tasked with conducting precisely this study, for which ongoing collaboration is currently underway among a team comprising ten partner countries from around Europe. There is very little information about children who sleep rough. Figures show that 100,000 children go missing every year in the UK.

Pray: against this trend and the dangers that sleeping rough brings to young people. (Pro.22:3)

More: http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/number-of-children-rough-sleepers-on-the-riseaccording-to-new-study/#.UjcNu39kln4

The average Church of Norway member went to church once a year in 2010, Statistics Norway reported in the annual statistical report it sends to the church. Although church attendance has remained the same since 2000, other indicators show dwindling participation in the Lutheran state church in the past decade. A main reason why church attendance remains rather stable is the large number of people attending child baptisms. While these numbers are growing, the number of regular church-goers is dwindling. Of Norway's five million inhabitants, 78 per cent were members of the Church of Norway in 2010, as opposed to 86.3 per cent in 2000. Out of total newborns, 66.3 percent were baptised in the Church of Norway last year, down from 81.4 per cent in 2000. The percentage of 15-year-olds being confirmed edged lower to 64.9 from 68.3. The percentage of funerals performed in church continued to be very high at 91.1, but that was down slightly from 92.5 per cent.

Pray: that God would send revival to the church in Norway freeing it from stagnation to life. (Ps.85:6)

More: http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=4783

In the aftermath of attacks last July that killed 77 and were carried out by a self-described ‘cultural Christian,’ Norwegian Christians and Muslims on Nov. 22 jointly condemned religious extremism as ‘contrary to the teachings of our religions.’ Stating, ‘Religious extremists put themselves in the place of God and believe that they are fighting on behalf of God against the enemies of God. Religious extremism is therefore contrary to the teachings of our religions, especially with respect to the basic dignity and rights of all human beings,’ according to a news release. The statement said that religious extremism is part of the global reality, but notes it threatens the life, welfare, and rights of human beings in many local situations.

Pray: for more religious leaders to publicly adopt a balanced stance stand against religious extremism. (Pr.29:26)

More: http://www.canadianmennonite.org/articles/norwegian-christians-and-muslims-condemn-religious-extremism

It’s impossible to grasp the pain Norway is feeling today. A tiny country with less than five million people lost 87 precious children on an island purchased to enrich the lives of Norway's poor. In todays ultra-rich Norway we forget that for most of its history Norwegians were mired in subsistence-level poverty. There has been so much poverty in Norway’s history that poverty has been the norm and the rich are looked upon with great suspicion. The Labour Party organized these facilities to enable poor children to have a summer-camp experience and THIS is where the massacre took place. In the days ahead
we will probably read about a lone misfit with a bunch of psychological problems became a mass murderer. What we probably won't read is how neoliberalism creates so many ‘losers’ that in the most prosperous country on earth a serious young man cannot find a way to have a normal life and explodes in madness.

Pray:for all the hearts that ache and minds that cannot believe it has happened to them (Ps.23)

More: http://real-economics.blogspot.com/2011/07/norways-pain.html

The Lutheran Church of Norway in the next five years will be implementing a plan to enhance the role of the indigenous Sami people in church life. ‘We want Sami church life to be an equal and natural part of the church, and the Church of Norway to be a multicultural fellowship,’ said Jens-Petter Johnsen, director general of the Church of Norway National Council. The Sami are indigenous peoples in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, and on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. There are an estimated 50,000 to 65,000 Sami in Norway, leading their traditional life in rural areas, but also living in Oslo and other cities. The Sami language belongs to the Finno-Ugric family. Ways to enhance the role of the Sami in church life from 2012 through 2016 will be the creation of new posts for pastors, deacons and other church workers, teaching of the Sami language and programs of recruitment, liturgy, Bible translation and church history.

Pray: for a powerful anointing on this initiative and protection for everyone involved in building God’s church in this region. (Ps.65:2)

More: http://www.eni.ch/news/

An ex-Muslim Convert to Christianity was attacked with boiling water and acid by Muslims at an 'asylum reception centre' in Norway last Friday, reports the Iranian Christian news agency (Mohabat News). An Asylum seeker in an immigration centre in Jaeren, Norway, had boiling water poured over him after he converted to Christianity and would not comply with Ramadan fasting rules. He and the other converts at the centre now fear for their lives. ‘If you do not return to Islam, we will kill you’ was the message from the other asylum seekers at the Asylum Reception in Hå, in the Jaeren region of Norway. He refuses to disclose his real name for fear of further reprisals from them. If Afghan authorities found out about the incident and he were to be subsequently deported he risks being sentenced to death by stoning, he claims. He survived the incident, but has been left with a severely disfigured back.

Pray: that such attacks on believers would cease, for their protection and that God would hold the hand of the enemy. (Ps.5:11)

More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue13735.html