China calls for unification with Taiwan
Just days after 150 Chinese military jets conducted drills close to Taiwan, escalating tensions between the two sides, President Xi Jinping spoke at an event to commemorate 110 years since the revolution that overthrew China’s last imperial dynasty. He said, ‘Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should stand on the right side of history and join hands to achieve China’s complete unification. The historic mission of achieving the complete unification of our country must be, and can be, realised.’ However, Taiwan’s defence minister said that military tensions with Beijing were at their worst point in more than four decades. China claims that Taiwan is part of its sovereign territory, in the same way as Hong Kong, and threatens to take control by force. Taiwan has its own elected government and constitution, maintaining that it will defend its democracy and independence.
South Asia prosecutor secures 100 convictions
Praise God for a local public prosecutor who has just secured her 100th conviction against perpetrators of child abuse. IJM has been honoured to work closely with this courageous woman over the last five years. It is grateful to God for leaders like her, who are stepping up to protect children every day, and are very encouraged by her enduring compassion and pursuit of justice. Please continue to pray for this prosecutor's success and safety.
Colombia: churches’ trauma healing groups
Colombia is home to two million Venezuelan refugees who fled economic and political crises and now face adapting to and integrating into a foreign culture. But instead of finding support, they often find themselves isolated and discriminated against. Churches across Colombia have been reaching out to these refugees, letting them know they are not alone. Tearfund and local partners have been equipping churches to set up trauma healing groups, which have supported hundreds of women. It was at her local church’s healing group that Julia finally found acceptance, community, and healing. ‘It is the first support that I found here in Colombia for migrants like us. When I arrived at the church I found the peace that I previously did not have. I saw that it was like my family. I arrive and they hug me, I leave and they hug me. It really has made me think about changing my life.’
Seeds of prayer: the Good Shepherd
At the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in September, the Bible Society's 'Psalm 23’ garden attracted much attention (bit.ly/bspsalm23). Many were touched by the garden, by the psalm that inspired it, and by the Good Shepherd himself. One visitor said, ‘I suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, I saw the garden and wanted to pray there. I’ve got a deep faith in God now, it's helping with the anxiety and voices’ (bit.ly/bs23josh). Others are now creating Psalm 23 gardens in their localities. As individuals, schools and communities read the psalm and plan their own gardens, pray that they will hear the Lord speaking and come to know Him as their Shepherd and dwell with Him for ever. We can thank God that nature and gardens are attracting many different spiritualities and therapies, though some will need sifting to align with the truth.
Tory donations disclosures
Mohamed Amersi, who partially funded Boris Johnson’s campaign to become prime minister, also advised the telecoms firm Telia, which in 2010 made a controversial $220m payment to a secretive offshore company. Oil executive Victor Fedotov, who gave £900,000 to 34 Tory MPs, made $4bn from allegedly corrupt Russian pipeline deals, and is currently seeking government approval for a controversial energy link between the UK and France. Lubov Chernukhin has given over £1.8m to the Conservatives since 2012. The secret offshore wealth she shares with her husband, a former Russian minister, includes a London house worth £38m and a £10m Oxfordshire mansion. Mrs Chernukhin's lawyers say she is a British citizen and is entitled to do as she wishes with her money. High-profile foreign politicians and UK political donors have over 1,500 UK properties, bought secretly using offshore firms worth £4bn. See also
Universal Credit and debt
The Universal Credit extra payments helping people through Covid have ended, amid fears that many lives will get worse not better this winter. 29-year-old Lynton Lockett is embarrassed to show people his kitchen. A leaking kitchen tap caused mould on the floor and walls. The dampness has brought an infestation of fruit flies. Lynton showed the kitchen to plumber James Anderson who runs a community initiative called DEPHER CIC that provides free heating and plumbing services to people who can't pay for them. James anticipates a 50% increase in calls for help this winter. He has started giving food parcels to struggling families. He said that the end of payments, the higher cost of living, a rise in gas prices and the end of furlough puts too much financial pressure on families. He added, ‘You can't hide the truth. If this continues, people are going to die.’ See also
Christian nurse suing NHS trust
Mary Onuoha, an operating theatre specialist at Croydon University Hospital, was bullied and pressured to remove her cross necklace while on duty. Mary says she was forced out of the job she loved after working there for 18 years. She is challenging the NHS trust for harassment, victimisation, and constructive unfair dismissal as they had breached her freedom to express her faith under the European Convention of Human Rights and the Equality Act. In August 2018 bosses ordered her to remove the cross which was a breach of NHS dress code and a ‘health risk’ to her and to patients. Mary argues that the dress code was applied inconsistently. Other nurses were not asked to remove jewellery, hijabs, saris, turbans or religious bracelets. Also Mary wore several lanyards at the same time with no anti-strangle clasps, yet her cross supposedly posed ‘a risk of injury or infection’.
Concerns over transgender patients in hospitals
Sajid Javid, the health secretary, is to review guidance on transgender patients, following a newspaper investigation which discovered that male sex offenders who self-identify as women are placed on female-only wards. Despite instructions from the Department of Health to eliminate mixed-sex wards, guidance from hospitals states that patients should be admitted based on the gender they identify with and can choose which ward, lavatories and facilities they use. A whistleblower nurse warned, ‘If patients question why there is a male-bodied person on a female-only ward, medics are told to say that there are no men present. Staff raising safeguarding concerns may be threatened with disciplinary action. The NHS is influenced by the controversial LGBT charity Stonewall.’ See