Open doors have reported this week that in 2011 lives have been changed, communities transformed and hope restored as never before in North Korea and the Middle East. Over 3 million Christians received Bibles and Christian literature, over 263,500 received Bible training and 172,000 benefitted from development projects. Despite decades of persecution, the church in North Korea continues to survive underground with an estimated 200,000 – 400,000 believers. Iran now has the highest rate of Muslims converting to Christianity in the Middle East. Literally millions of Muslims in the Middle East have encountered the Gospel message in recent years via satellite TV and the Internet. During the short window of time of no checks at the Libyan border with Egypt, more Bibles reached Libya than in the previous 42 years. In Syria, Open Doors distributed as much as possible while it was still safe to travel.

Praise: the LORD for his unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind, for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. (Ps.107:8-9)

More: http://www.opendoorsusa.org/pray/prayer-updates/2012/06-June/Serving-christians-worldwide

Across the UK Christians have united for a week of prayer. On Saturday thousands worshipped and prayed at Leyton Orient Stadium on the outskirts of the Olympic site to worship Jesus, prophesy over the nation, declare Jesus as Lord of the London Olympics and pray for all aspects of the Games. At Ashton Gate Stadium thousands gathered to pray into all spheres of society. Churches Together in Greater Bristol spoke for the nation when they said, ‘Today is a real coming together to arise and share in an event of worship, repentance for our city and to declare that we intend to put things right through united prayer and working together.’ Across the British Isles on Pentecost Sunday many believers from different Christian traditions united in towns and cities to lift up the name of Jesus Christ. Many joined the millions across the globe as they united for the Global Day of Prayer on the 27th.

Praise: God for the ever-increasing sound of His children declaring His praise and purposes across our land.(Ps.133)

More: http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2012/s12050116.htm

A church in the Ukraine that Soviet authorities once seized for use as a ‘monument of communism’ will once again be a place for Christian worship after renovations removed a neo-classical façade erected to disguise its nature, reports Catholic News Agency. ‘The church does not look like a place of worship. It wears a mask, as it were. It is in disguise. We want to take away this mask,’ Fr Grzegorz Romanowicz, the Franciscan Capuchin provincial in the Ukraine, told the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. ‘Until now, many people do not even recognize the building as a church from the outside.’ Since 1949 the church was used as a library, a boxing hall and offices. Soviet authorities erected the façade in 1949 to hide the building’s origin as a church. That façade is set to be removed later in February.

Praise: God for this transformation from secular to Christian use. God is restoring His Church. (2Cor.3:11)

More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue15465.html

A new online library has been launched for people interested in evangelism and new forms of church, which will provide them with free access to research papers and theses. The website, SCOLER (The Sheffield Centre Online Library of Evangelism Research) is a joint initiative between the Church Army’s team of researchers at The Sheffield Centre and the Churches Group for Evangelisation. The purpose of the library is to make deeper thinking around evangelism and new forms of church available to people who want to study further, and to demonstrate this level of learning to the wider church. Each thesis, at either MA or PhD level, has its own webpage giving details of who wrote it, which college validated it, the full abstract and a free PDF to download.

Praise: God for this initiative and pray that this tool will increase and equip the saints for evangelism. (Eph.4:12)

More: http://www.churcharmy.org.uk/pub/nc/News/News2012/20120607scoler.aspx

Those posting prayers at www.sayoneforme.org the Church of England's web-based prayer service for Lent, are valuing happiness for the world and others more than money - analysis of the first 300 prayers reveals. Just two per cent of prayers have brought money-worries before God, whereas 19 per cent have prayed for the world (over a third of them for Japan), 14 per cent for healing for others, 10 per cent for family, and nine per cent for spiritual development. The Bishop of Dudley, the Rt Revd David Walker, said: ‘It is beautiful to see people pray for the people and the world around them - and they quite naturally see beyond the realms of their own needs. ’People across the country are having the opportunity to share with God their hopes and concerns, anonymously, in the form of a prayer posted at www.sayoneforme.org until Good Friday.

Praise:God for this prayer opportunity and for all those that use it. (1Ki.8:45)

More: http://www.churchofengland.org/media-centre/news/2011/03/praying-nation-touched-by-world-events-and-needs-of-others.aspx

According to the Metro newspaper, English premier league player Anton Ferdinand, who is known for his spirituality, explained that at his former club a group of players would get together to pray, and said he hoped he could bring this experience over to Queens Park Rangers. Ferdinand said: 'At Sunderland we had a group who prayed. There was me, Kieran Richardson, Stephane Sessegnon, Asamoah Gyan, John Mensah, Nedum Onuoha. Hopefully I will start building that here.' The Metro reported that the sportsman also revealed his religious background, but said that he didn't appreciate the Church as much as he should have in his younger days. He credited his faith with making him 'more of a man' than he was six years ago. The 26-year-old said that he believes his career is still to peak - great news for Queens Park Rangers.

Praise: God for Ferdinand and his faith: ulfil his wish to draw others close to God. (Ps.6:1-2)

More: http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2011/s11100143.htm

Rates of murder and violent crime have fallen more rapidly in the UK in the past decade than anywhere else in Western Europe, researchers say. The UK Peace Index, from the Institute for Economics and Peace, found UK homicides per 100,000 people had fallen from 1.99 in 2003, to one in 2012. The UK was more peaceful overall, it said, with the reasons for it varied. The research by the international non-profit research organisation comes as a separate study by Cardiff University suggests the number of people treated in hospital in England and Wales after violent incidents fell by 14% in 2012. Violent crime rate in the UK was down by about one quarter - from 1,255 per 100,000 people in 2003, to 933 in 2012. These reductions came despite a 6% drop in the number of police officers per 100,000 people, it said.

Praise: God for the reduction in violent crime across the UK. (Pr.10:11)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22275280

Two former sponsored children of charity organization Compassion have been elected into the Parliaments of Uganda and Haiti. Beguens Theus from Haiti and Margaret Makhoha from Uganda both grew up in sheer poverty, but Christian sponsors gave them a chance to rise out of that desperate situation, get an education and (through a Leadership Development Programme) go to university. By God’s grace and their own will and motivation they now reached this position of responsibility to serve their nations. ‘Giving children a chance can make a huge difference,’ says Martijn Moens, a spokesman of the charity organization in the Netherlands. ‘More than others, these new members of Parliament understand the needs of the poor and are motivated to work towards structural change in their nation.’ Compassion works in 26 developing nations and provides one-on-one sponsoring for 1.2 million children. The charity provides programmes in partnership with local churches.

Praise: God for the way He has blessed these young people. (Ps.37:5-6)

More: http://www.joelnews.org/frontpage.htm

Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) is pleased to announce a new expansion of a long time partnership with United Bible Societies (UBS). The two Christian organizations, each committed to providing God's Word to all the peoples of the world, have agreed to a collaboration that will lay the groundwork for unprecedented access to digital Bible text and audio. This is accomplished by an agreement that brings together UBS's Digital Bible Library and FCBH's Digital Bible Project in a way that will leverage technology for greater access, while also improving efficiency and reducing duplication of work and services. Since UBS and its members have worked closely with FCBH for many years, this new agreement can realistically be viewed as a 21st century extension of decades of mutually committed efforts in the field of Bible engagement and Scripture literacy.

Praise: God for this collaboration in spreading His Word. (Ps.133:1)

More: http://www.mnnonline.org/article/16737