Vietnam: Witchdoctor who found Jesus
‘I grew up in a very strong Buddhist family in Vietnam,’ says Tran Dinh (Paul) Ai. ‘My father was a very successful Chinese medical doctor.’ Ai's father vowed he would send his son to the Buddhist temple for training as a monk. At age 14 Ai arrived at the temple, but after a year of study he became disenchanted with the ‘hopelessness of Buddhist doctrines.’ Seeking a more powerful religious experience, he studied the dark arts, to become a witchdoctor. In 1970, as protests mounted against the Vietnam War in the US, American missionaries entered Ai's town in South Vietnam. ‘A lot of people in my town went to the crusades and met the Lord.’ Gradually a dawning realization swept through his mind. ‘I realized that Buddha was a good man who was wise, but Buddha died. He never promised to save anybody or help anybody,’ he says. ‘Then I realized Jesus Christ is different. He is not only good and wise, He rose and He's alive!’
Praise: Godthat the work of Christ’s mission is received with such success everywhere. ( Ac.15:3)
More: http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=7775
Iranian doctor comes to faith after watching Christian TV
Towards the end of 2009, an Iranian doctor from a religious family in a smaller city of Iran was watching Elam’s evangelistic television program ‘Healing for the broken hearted.’ He was deeply moved by testimony of the Christian on the program. When the presenters invited viewers to call in for prayer he did so despite the risks. The Elam counsellor shared with him and he requested follow up contact. So they gave his details to one of the church planters in Iran who courageously went to visit him in early 2010. The Doctor heard the Gospel once more and then repented right there in his office. Believers are meeting with him regularly to disciple him.
Praise: God for this new brother in Christ, and pray for him to grow and be a powerful Christian witness in his city. (Ps.73:23-24)
More: http://www.elam.com/articles/Prayer-News/
Iranian doctor comes to faith after watching Christian TV
Towards the end of 2009, an Iranian doctor from a religious family in a smaller city of Iran was watching Elam’s evangelistic television program ‘Healing for the broken hearted.’ He was deeply moved by testimony of the Christian on the program. When the presenters invited viewers to call in for prayer he did so despite the risks. The Elam counsellor shared with him and he requested follow up contact. So they gave his details to one of the church planters in Iran who courageously went to visit him in early 2010. The Doctor heard the Gospel once more and then repented right there in his office. Believers are meeting with him regularly to disciple him.
Praise: God for this new brother in Christ, and pray for him to grow and be a powerful Christian witness in his city. (Ps.73:23-24)
More: http://www.elam.com/articles/Prayer-News/
Nun’s murderer now says ‘Christians are India’s hope’
Samadar Singh was jailed for 11 years for murdering a nun but today he is a different man. While in prison his wife divorced him and his first son died and he plotted how to take revenge against the man who pushed him to kill the nun. But he also received a visit from another nun who was the murdered nun’s natural sister. She hugged him and called him brother. He was profoundly touched and from this embrace his journey of repentance began. He is now released and the murdered sister’s family has become his own. He realises that India’s right wing hate Christians and says, ‘I want everyone to know that missionaries give us hope through their service which is to make us a strong and independent people. I can say without a doubt that the missionaries do nothing but work and help the poor and the marginalised. They have no secret design other than serve God.’
Praise: God for all He is doing across India through His people. (Is.43:18-19)
Nun’s murderer now says ‘Christians are India’s hope’
Samadar Singh was jailed for 11 years for murdering a nun but today he is a different man. While in prison his wife divorced him and his first son died and he plotted how to take revenge against the man who pushed him to kill the nun. But he also received a visit from another nun who was the murdered nun’s natural sister. She hugged him and called him brother. He was profoundly touched and from this embrace his journey of repentance began. He is now released and the murdered sister’s family has become his own. He realises that India’s right wing hate Christians and says, ‘I want everyone to know that missionaries give us hope through their service which is to make us a strong and independent people. I can say without a doubt that the missionaries do nothing but work and help the poor and the marginalised. They have no secret design other than serve God.’
Praise: God for all He is doing across India through His people. (Is.43:18-19)
Padded bikinis for 7-year-olds dropped after outcry
Primark has been forced to withdraw padded bikinis for seven-year-olds after critics condemned the store for fuelling child sexualisation. The Children’s Society slammed the popular high street chain for ‘premature sexualisation and unprincipled advertising’. A child protection consultant who works to help victims of paedophilia said: ‘It never fails to amaze me just how many High Street household names are now prepared to exploit the disgusting ‘paedophile pound’.’ Parents warned that children were facing pressure to grow up too soon. Penny Nicholls, director of children and young people at The Children’s Society, said: ‘We know from our research that commercial pressures towards premature sexualisation and unprincipled advertising are damaging children’s well-being. The evidence shows that adults feel children are more materialistic than in past generations, while children themselves feel under pressure to keep up with the latest trends.’
Pray: for our youngsters and against pressures that promote the premature sexualisation of our children. (Eph.5:5)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/padded-bikinis-for-7-year-olds-dropped-after-outcry/
More babies born early fuel calls to lower abortion limit
The number of babies born weighing just 2lbs has more than doubled in the last two years, causing pro-lifers to reinforce the demand to lower the abortion limit from 24 weeks. Statistics do not disclose at what stage the babies were born but reports suggest that a child weighing less than 2lb 3oz is likely to have been born at least three months early. This would inevitably include some babies being born at an age when they could, in other circumstances, have been aborted. The number of tiny babies stillborn has almost halved during the same time span. The latest figures, from the NHS Information Centre, show that in 2008/09, some 3,836 children weighing less than 2lb 3oz (1kg) were born in England and Wales. That is a 115 per cent rise on 2006/07. A spokesman for the ProLife Alliance said: ‘These statistics are yet more proof that more and more babies are being born very prematurely and surviving’.
Pray: that in the light of these changing statistics the decision over the abortion limit would be reconsidered. (Job.31:15)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/more-babies-born-early-fuel-calls-to-lower-abortion-limit/
Only God can heal wounds in body of Christ - Archbishop
The Archbishop of Canterbury has told Anglicans at the Fourth Global South to South Encounter in Singapore that it is only the work of God’s Spirit that can heal tensions within the worldwide Anglican Communion. Dr Rowan Williams said in a video message to the meeting this week that the recent actions of certain provinces had made the ‘confusion, brokenness and tension’ in the Anglican family ‘still more acute’. Dr Williams pointed to the Anglican Communion Covenant, a document aimed at uniting the provinces despite their divisions, as a new way of ‘grounding’ the Communion’s mission and laying the foundation for its future. ‘It is the work of the Spirit that heals the body of Christ, not the plans or the statements of any group, or any person, or any instrument of communion’ he said.
Pray: that God would send His Spirit to heal the broken body of His bride. (Mt.12:25)
First nationwide survey of churches launched
The first nationwide survey of all the churches, chapels and meeting houses in the UK, was last Monday. The National Churches Trust Survey 2010 includes buildings of every Christian denomination, of all ages and conditions, and aims to understand how they are maintained, repaired, funded and used by their local communities. The survey hopes to create a national picture of the current status of places of worship. It will remain online until mid-June. All churches, chapels and meeting houses in the UK are being encouraged to complete the survey which offers guidance, tips and technical support to help participants. Andrew Edwards, Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust, said: ‘A single, national survey will make a considerable difference to our understanding of church buildings across the UK. These buildings are important, not just as places of worship but also as centres of local life. This survey is seeking to capture the contribution they make to our heritage and our communities’.
Pray: for this survey that it will allow the people of the Church to better care for and use the physical buildings that we use as places of worship. (1Ch.28:10)
Young people gather to pray for the Election
The Message Trust prayer coordinator James Aladiran says ‘We have a heart to see God release a Great Awakening to the UK. We've got our next prayer gathering coming up on the 1st of May called Prayer Storm. The vision is to mobilise the youth of the Nation to a lifestyle of Intercession. With the Election coming up we believe this is a key moment for the church to rise in Intercession for the Nation. Have a look at this 1 minute video: youtube In Prayer Storm, explains James, ‘We believe God wants us to be a people who pray not just because we should, but because it has become a part of our lifestyle.’ Prayer Storm, taking place at Audacious City Church, Manchester will focus on the needs of our country at a time of massive political change and will ask for God’s blessing on the next Government.
Pray: that God would listen to the cries of His young people. (1Ki.8:52)