Scottish MP John Mason says that people’s conversations and prayers verge on panic at the thought of Brexit. Yet, in the light of eternity and God’s unchanging love for us, why is our relationship with the EU so very important? He quotes the hymn which says, ‘Because He lives I can face tomorrow, because He lives all fear is gone, because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives’. He said, ‘We are in the world, but not of it. Even if those around us are worried or even panicking, we should be the ones who are at peace about the future.’ We can pray for those who are fearful about where their family’s future lies, or worried about their jobs or the future of their business. Pray for more people to know the peace that only Jesus can give.

National Farmers Union (NFU) president Minette Batters stated at their 2019 conference that the Government needs to convene a new commission of food and farming experts to establish the principles to maintain British food production standards post-Brexit. Mrs Batter wants this commission to ensure that food imports will have the same high standards as the ones British farmers adhere to, and trade deals will be scrutinised by Parliament and industry. Crucially, there must be a commitment that the Government will act on these recommendations. The NFU also has ambitious plans to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and for British farming to aim to achieve net zero by 2040 by investing in incentivising carbon capture from the atmosphere and biofuels to power carbon capture storage systems. See

A survey to understand ‘the impact of religious belief on people’s understanding and acceptance of their sexual orientation’ by a charity promoting equality and religious diversity found that 20% of conversion therapy patients attempted suicide. The scale, severity and age at which children are exposed to therapy are worrying. Both the Church and the NHS offer conversion therapy to reduce people’s attraction to others of the same sex. On 4 February gay Christian David Bennet’s autobiography was advertised as a book to challenge the Church. David holds the tension of an orthodox reading of the Bible with passages highlighting that homosexual people of faith are also part of God’s divine conspiracy to reveal His love to humanity. In his opening acknowledgements, Bennet says he hopes the book will change the pressures and prejudices faced by LGBs. On 15 February Mike Davidson spoke to the BBC about the film ‘Once Gay’, which had caused demonstrations at its première. See

On 19 February CSW organised a protest outside Nigeria’s high commission in London, commemorating one year since the abduction of Leah Sharibu. 14-year-old Leah was the sole Christian among 110 girls abducted from their school in Dapchi by a Boko Haram offshoot. While all the other classmates were released the next month following government negotiations, Leah was denied her freedom as she refused to convert as a precondition for her freedom. She has been held in captivity ever since. In September 2018, Boko Haram issued a final ultimatum on her life after executing a fellow hostage. She was eventually spared, but only after the group executed another hostage and declared that Leah and an abducted humanitarian named Alice Ngaddah were to be their slaves for life.