Nigeria: Free medical care and gospels
Violence between Christians and Muslims in Jos has scarred and segregated the two groups that Doctor Chris Isichei and his surgeon wife Mercy minister to at his Hospital and ‘Faith Alive Clinic; offering free medical services from 300 to 400 patients every day. 60% of the patients are Christians and 40% Muslims. Almost the entire medical staff are volunteers. 90% of the patients are HIV positive. Patients are offered training in sewing, knitting, computers, driving, and kitchen services. A Christian discipleship program is woven into the skills training and 100 graduate each quarter. Faith Alive also has a free school with a Christian curriculum. Those who can't afford school elsewhere go to their school.’ Every morning and evening Doctor Chris, his medical staff and patients take part in a devotional at the hospital. The Gospel message is presented at each gathering with an opportunity to respond. When patients are released but have no place to go, they stay in transitional housing.
Praise: God for the social and spiritual aspect to the hospital, may they continue to know His protection, provision and leading. (Ph.1:19)
More: http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=10507
Nigeria: Free medical care and gospels
Violence between Christians and Muslims in Jos has scarred and segregated the two groups that Doctor Chris Isichei and his surgeon wife Mercy minister to at his Hospital and ‘Faith Alive Clinic; offering free medical services from 300 to 400 patients every day. 60% of the patients are Christians and 40% Muslims. Almost the entire medical staff are volunteers. 90% of the patients are HIV positive. Patients are offered training in sewing, knitting, computers, driving, and kitchen services. A Christian discipleship program is woven into the skills training and 100 graduate each quarter. Faith Alive also has a free school with a Christian curriculum. Those who can't afford school elsewhere go to their school.’ Every morning and evening Doctor Chris, his medical staff and patients take part in a devotional at the hospital. The Gospel message is presented at each gathering with an opportunity to respond. When patients are released but have no place to go, they stay in transitional housing.
Praise: God for the social and spiritual aspect to the hospital, may they continue to know His protection, provision and leading. (Ph.1:19)
More: http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=10507
Renegade biker rode up mountain an atheist, came down a Christian
He was a hard-living, death-defying biker from Wales on a road trip across America. When his brakes failed on a steep mountain curve, God’s miraculous intervention changed his life forever. As he descended from the mountains on a steep, windy road, an oil leak caused Reg’s brakes to fail. ‘Every 200 yards there’s a hairpin turn,’ he recalls. But then something very unusual happened. He couldn’t let go of his handlebars. Suddenly, defying speed and gravity, the bike mysteriously stood upright on its own, slowed down, and pulled into the only run-off on the mountain. His friend Paul, pulled in behind him. ‘How did you stop it?’ he shouted. ‘I didn’t,’ Reg replied. He knew he didn’t stop the bike. Several witnesses said the impossible just happened. ‘On that mountain God showed me I had lost control,’ Reg says. He suddenly recognized that God answered his prayers in a dramatic, miraculous fashion. ‘I should have died on that mountain.’
Praise: God for His miraculous ways and how He can do the impossible. (Mt.19:26)
More: http://www.christianpost.com/news/youcef-nadarkhanis-imprisonment-ignored-at-irans-nam-summit-80740/
Renegade biker rode up mountain an atheist, came down a Christian
He was a hard-living, death-defying biker from Wales on a road trip across America. When his brakes failed on a steep mountain curve, God’s miraculous intervention changed his life forever. As he descended from the mountains on a steep, windy road, an oil leak caused Reg’s brakes to fail. ‘Every 200 yards there’s a hairpin turn,’ he recalls. But then something very unusual happened. He couldn’t let go of his handlebars. Suddenly, defying speed and gravity, the bike mysteriously stood upright on its own, slowed down, and pulled into the only run-off on the mountain. His friend Paul, pulled in behind him. ‘How did you stop it?’ he shouted. ‘I didn’t,’ Reg replied. He knew he didn’t stop the bike. Several witnesses said the impossible just happened. ‘On that mountain God showed me I had lost control,’ Reg says. He suddenly recognized that God answered his prayers in a dramatic, miraculous fashion. ‘I should have died on that mountain.’
Praise: God for His miraculous ways and how He can do the impossible. (Mt.19:26)
More: http://www.christianpost.com/news/youcef-nadarkhanis-imprisonment-ignored-at-irans-nam-summit-80740/
Annual disability sport festival for Olympic Park
An annual festival of disability sport is to be staged at the Olympic Park as part of a £2m package of future Paralympic plans at the east London venue. It is to be linked to a programme of training at sporting clubs in surrounding boroughs, said the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC). The site will reopen from July 2013. Sport England figures show east London has a lower uptake in disabled sports than the rest of London. The park - to be renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - will reopen in phases after £292m of investment. The LLDC said tens of thousands of people will benefit from its Paralympic Legacy Programme. The programme will help to create new homes, public spaces and sporting venues that are accessible, it said. The LLDC plans to introduce a range of sports for disabled people including wheelchair rugby, boccia, wheelchair basketball and Goalball in the Copper Box.
Pray: that this development will bring a lasting legacy that will benefit the many thousands of paraplegics. (2Cor.4:15)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19480661
Christian charity donates wheelchairs to Paralympians
With Oscar Pistorius’ unexpected defeat in the men’s T44 200 metre race on Sunday night came an upsurge of interest in the technical side of the Paralympics, namely - do longer blades give the runner an advantage? Although Pistorius has always insisted that changing blades will not affect an athlete’s performance, what is evident is that the Paralympics - more so than the Olympics - are technology driven; the athletes rely on state of the art equipment to enable them to perform to the best of their ability. With this in mind, it is perhaps predictable but disappoining to hear that many Paralympians do not have access to the essential equipment that they need, or the funds to buy it. Through the Roof (www.throughtheroof.org), a Christian organization which donates wheelchairs and equipment to disabled people all around the world, has based itself in St John’s Church - right next to the Olympic park - to give away wheelchairs to Paralympians who need them.
Pray: for the work of Through the Roof and for the many people who have benefited from their gifts. (2Cor.4:15)
Paralympic athletes 'working harder to break records'
The high number of records being broken at the London 2012 Paralympics is more down to the quality of athletes than improved technology, organisers say. At the half way point of the Games, 228 Paralympic records have been broken, compared with 339 in total at Beijing. Controversial comments by Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius have prompted questions about whether rules on technology used by athletes need to be tightened, but officials say records are being broken as athletes are working harder. ‘Our athletes are getting better training and better funding,’ said International Paralympics Committee Communications Director Craig Spence. There are now more Paralympic competitors who are full-time athletes rather than competing as a hobby, Mr Spence told the BBC. He added that the margin by which records were being broken was also plateauing, Athletes are getting better,’ said Mr Spence. ‘With hard work come more records.’
Pray: for all the athletes that they will be rewarded for all their hard work. (Ps.103:22)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19481027
How murderball film changed view of disabled sport
Murderball, which followed the United States wheelchair rugby team during their 2004 Paralympic campaign, gathered a string of glowing critical reviews from the movie critics. The film centres on the USA and Canadian teams, following their fierce rivalry from the 2002 World Championships to Athens two years later. It gives an insight into the ferocity of the sport in which wheelchairs often collide at high speed. The Academy Awards Committee nominated the film for its prize as the best documentary of 2006. Empire Magazine said it ‘strips away the layers of delicacy with which the able-bodied treat the disabled’ to reveal ‘the spirit and joie de vivre of those to whom disability is their making, not breaking. When Murderball came out, everyone in a wheelchair saw the movie and wanted to play the sport, but you have to have limitations in all four limbs. Murderball really changed how people thought about people in wheelchairs. People now look at those in wheelchairs and see them for what they can do rather than what they can't do'.
Pray: that the abilities that wheelchair users will have may not be restricted by the perceptions of those more able. (Dt.8:18b)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/19484847
Study links teen cannabis use with lower IQ
Teenagers who regularly use cannabis could be permanently impairing their mental development and lowering their IQ, according to a major new study. Researchers found that heavy users who started regularly using the drug before the age of 18 suffered an average eight-point decline in IQ between adolescence and adulthood. Users were also found to have more problems with their attention span and memory than non-users. Dr Madeline Meier, who led the study, said the message was clear that the drug ‘is not harmless, particularly for adolescents’. She added: ‘Somebody who loses eight IQ points as an adolescent may be disadvantaged compared to their same-age peers for years to come.’ The study was based on more than 1,000 people in New Zealand. The study revealed: ‘Persistent cannabis use was associated with neuropsychological decline broadly across domains of functioning, even after controlling for years of education. Informants also reported noticing more cognitive problems for persistent cannabis users.
Pray: that the authorities would seriously note the results of this study and take action to reverse these statistics.
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/study-links-teen-cannabis-use-with-lower-iq/
Four Christians accusing employers of discrimination
Christians who lost employment tribunals for discrimination in the workplace took their fight to the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday. Their stories centre around whether religious principles have a place in the modern British workplace. When civil partnerships were legalised in 2004, Marriage registrar Miss Lillian Ladele refused to conduct them saying it was against her religious beliefs. Relationship councillor Mr McFarlane was sacked by Relate after objecting to giving sex therapy guidance to same-sex couples. Ms Eweida went home from a job with British Airways after she refused to conceal her silver cross necklace which breached uniform policy. Former nurse Mrs Chaplin was also asked not to display her cross necklace by the NHS Trust because the necklace breached health and safety guidelines. Mrs Chaplin had worn the cross necklace on the wards for 30 years.
Pray: that the judgement of the European Court will be led by the Holy Spirit and not by man. (Pr.1:5)