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Following the intervention of the Christian Legal Centre, Gloucester City Council has issued a statement apologising for stopping a Christian group from handing out leaflets and admitting it was wrong to stop them. The apology follows the threat of legal action after Gloucester City Council told a group of Christians that they could not distribute Christian literature in the town’s city centre. The tracts were being handed out by members of at least ten city churches during ‘Bible Day Gloucester’ last month. Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting the group, commented: ‘This is a victory for free speech. Gloucester City Council is to be commended for reversing their decision to ban the distribution of Christian literature. The Christian Gospel is all about freedom and freedom has been upheld in Gloucester. So much of what we value as a nation stems from the teachings of Jesus.’
Praise: God for the change of heart by Gloucester City Council. (Pr.92:1)
For 30+ years the JESUS Film Project (JFP) has engaged people with Jesus through films in their native language with missionaries travelling the world with film, projectors, and movie screens as they share the story of Jesus. Now a new strategy will multiply global outreach through digital distribution. Over the years a library has grown to 40+ video products in 1,136 of the world’s languages. The new technology allows these tools to seamlessly be embedded in websites, cell phones and apps of ministry partners around the world in over 1,100 languages through 50,000+ speakers - and the digital technology provides the ability to see how many times the different films are viewed, downloaded, in what languages and from where. This information will help in the development of new materials. To date, the classic JESUS film has been shown in 220 countries.
Praise: God for the massive potential this technology provides. (Ro.10:17,18)
Four years ago a grassroots mission movement was ignited among young people in Germany under the name ‘No Limit’. Since then 7,000 Christians have been mobilized to reach out to non-believers and 4,000 new people started following Jesus. Many healings happened on the streets, like a 15-year old who saw a blind person see again. A young teenager prayed with a paralyzed man who was completely healed. A team prayed in a hospital for a woman battling cancer; a short time later the Physician declared her completely healed. This Winter evangelism outreaches take place in over one hundred cities around the world. A large Summer2Go outreach is in preparation for 2012.
Praise: God for the growth of this mission movement among the young. (Lk.9:6)
More: http://nl.thull-hosting.de/index.php?id=4&L=1
If you would like to know what happened on the Global Day of Prayer (GDOP) across the British Isles go to the ‘More’ link and then to ‘GDOP 2010 report from UK’ where you will find a shorter summary which has been prepared for the South African organisers. The GDOP team in South Africa have just sent through their vision for the future. Let's all take time to reflect and ask the Lord what is on His heart for our church, community, town, city, village as together we continue to make room for His presence to fill our land as we prepare to welcome the nations in 2012. You can access this vision via the ‘More’ link then under S Africa news ‘GDOP 2011 & beyond.’ Praise: that we will see the fulfilment of Hab. 2:14: ‘For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea’. More: http://www.worldprayer.org.uk/gdop---welcome/gdop-news/
A South Devon Christian missionary, jailed for sedition in the Gambia, has been released. Fiona Fulton, from Torquay, and her husband David, originally from Troon, Ayrshire, were sentenced to 12 months in prison with hard labour last December. The Foreign Office has now confirmed Mrs Fulton was deported back to the UK on Tuesday after being released from the Gambian jail. Mr Fulton remains in prison after three more years were added to his jail term. Friends and family of the South Devon-based couple were last night celebrating Mrs Fulton's release after campaigning relentlessly to see her and David freed. Martin Speed, pastor of the Westhoughton Pentecostal Church in Bolton which supported the couple's missionary work in the Gambia, said the community's prayers had been answered. The couple were arrested in November 2008. They were sentenced to one year in prison with hard labour. The couple always denied the charges against them. Pray: God that Fiona has been released and pray that David will be able to join her soon. (Is.42:6-8)
The Foreign Office said it had been informed of David Fulton's release on Friday but could not confirm if he had returned to the UK yet. Mr Fulton's wife Fiona was freed in December last year and deported back to the UK after serving a year of hard labour for sedition. In a statement at the time Mr Fulton apologised to the Gambian public and the country's president. Gambia is a former British colony ruled by the same regime since President Yayha Jammeh seized power in a 1994 coup. Its people are given limited scope for free speech. The couple were reportedly advised to admit the sedition charges in an attempt to win a less stringent punishment. The tactic arguably failed when the hard labour sentence was handed out. The pair pleaded guilty in December 2008 in a Gambian court and were sentenced and also fined £6,250 each. The Fulton’s moved to Gambia 13 years ago to work as missionaries. (See Prayer Alert 5008 -12 December 2008)
Praise: God for answering all of our prayers for the Fulton family. (Lk. 4:18)
A man sentenced to 190 years behind bars for a brutal murder is now leading a prison church in Colombia. According to associate mission partners Pancha and Terry Barratt, this came about through the prayers of Christian prisoners and through the SEAN theological education by extension programme they help direct. ‘This man was so violent he’d served eight years in solitary confinement. But his Christian fellow prisoners prayed for him daily – they would sit outside his cell singing and praying. ‘One night God touched this man and he believed.’ This had a big impact in the prison. This man eventually graduated from the SEAN programme in 2005 and now helps lead the prison church. His sentence has recently been reduced to 19 more years for good behaviour and the SEAN programme has been welcomed in 23 out of 25 major prisons in Colombia.
Praise: God the He can reach even those who seem far away and lost. ( Ac.3:19)
The Emmy Award-winning TV series 'The Bible' premiered last Saturday on Channel 5 and two of the largest UK Christian charities have created an online guide for those who will tune in to watch. The five-part series has had phenomenal success in the US with more than 100 million viewers. It covers Genesis to Revelation in one grand narrative, with each two hour episode focussing on two or three Biblical stories. The executive producers, husband and wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, have said they conceived the idea for the series with the hope that it would ‘affect a new generation of viewers and draw them back to the Bible’. Following the announcement that the series would be shown on British television, the Damaris Trust and the Evangelical Alliance teamed up to provide resources that will give viewers background Biblical information and will explore the major themes of the series, such as forgiveness and transformation.
Nothing like this has been done for quite some time. So it's time.’ Colin James with the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association speaks of their bold endeavour to bring the Gospel to over 1 million people living in Marseilles in southern France. The Palau Association will be holding their Marseille Provence Festival on the beaches of Plage du Prado from June 30 - July 2. The festival will be a large undertaking, but the opportunity is enormous as James elaborates on the situation. ‘In France the opportunities are very limited and constrained because of the culture and the way the country has been run. It's not an evangelical-based country’ says James. The Palau team knows what they're getting themselves into. They've dealt with restrictions such as not putting the words ‘evangelism’ or ‘pastor’ in advertisements or posters for events in France. However, despite these difficulties, they are seeing a positive change in the tide of thinking for France and Europe. Praise: God for this initiative and pray for the intervention of the Holy Spirit. (Is.45:2-3)
As pedestrians walked along the river Seine in Paris on a recent balmy Sunday, they could hear soaring music coming from a boat moored quayside in the Bercy neighbourhood. The curious who crossed the metal gangplank to peek inside the vessel saw an energetic singer and a pianist, both dressed in white, and a bass player and saxophonist dressed in black. The quartet were performers at a ‘Gospel brunch,’ the latest example of the popularity of gospel music in France. Listeners don't always understand the words, since they're in English, but they understand the emotion, according to some performers.
Praise: that the words and emotion would speak into the hearts and minds of those who hear. (Jn.16:13)
More: http://www.eni.ch/news/