In 2014 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and that the world’s Muslims owed him their allegiance as ‘Caliph Ibrahim.’ It was an attempt to establish Islamic sovereignty across the Earth much as the Prophet Mohammed enjoyed. Recent events demonstrated that his aspiration died with him. However al-Baghdadi divided the jihadist movement rather than uniting it. IS controlled a hard-line state, offering recruits the chance to live its ‘revolutionary’ vision, which was what made IS such a radical sensation, and was key to al-Baghdadi’s recruiting power. Now both the caliph and the caliphate are gone. Yet IS survives underground, lurking in the shadowy manner al-Baghdadi helped to define for it.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has visited areas affected by the Ebola crisis in the DRC, which surfaced in August 2018 and has killed 2,169 people so far. Following strict anti-contamination procedures he toured hospitals transformed into Ebola treatment facilities with quarantine units, screening centres, and blood-testing tents set up to combat the disease. The archbishop flew to Ebola-affected cities with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). They fly in the most difficult places in the world, landing on the most challenging runways but with the highest safety standards. MAF said the situation is complex, with the threat of violence now increasing. Flying is a safe and trusted way to deliver blood samples, vaccines, scrubs, gloves and oxygen tanks to those working to combat the virus.

Protesters have paralysed Lebanon, blocking roadways, closing schools and shutting banks nationwide. Emergency reform measures and an offer of dialogue with protest representatives by the president failed to defuse anger or move the cross-communal demonstrations of Christians, Muslims (Shia and Sunni), and Druze from the streets demanding the resignation of all Lebanese political leaders. On 29 October the prime minister, Saad Hariri, resigned. The protests over political corruption and economic turmoil began after now-scrapped plans to tax WhatsApp calls were introduced in mid-October. Lebanon has one of the highest debt levels in the world. Mr Hariri must stay on until a new administration is established, but parliament contains the same factions that are in the outgoing coalition. On 30 October demonstrators celebrated Hariri’s departure, but vowed to stay in the streets until all their demands are met. See

Somalia, located on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, has summer droughts and dust storms and floods during the rainy season. It has the seventh-highest birth rate in the world, the second-highest maternal mortality rate, and fourth-highest infant mortality rate. Decades-long instability has caused a 38% literacy rate, and 1/3rd of children are underweight. Sunni Islam is the official religion; the government functions under the Union of Islamic Courts, which has implemented Shari'a law, creating a mixed legal system with other customary laws, known as Xeer. 16 of the 22 people groups have never heard the gospel, but praise God that the Somali church (a tiny minority), though driven underground, has withstood sufferings, great persecution, and martyrdom. Pray for an end to radicalism and tribalism, and that the country’s leaders will help to unite people by bringing in policies that protect human rights and equality of all people.

World Polio Day was on 24 October. Global polio numbers have fallen over decades, but new outbreaks continue to raise questions about eradication efforts in countries where humanitarian access is a problem. The recent surge in polio is fuelled by dozens of cases of wild poliovirus in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and by unexpected new outbreaks of vaccine-derived strains, rare mutations that affect under-immunised populations, in at least 14 other countries. Some of these had not seen polio for years, including Ghana and the Philippines, which both announced outbreaks in September. In some cases, vaccine-derived polio strains have leapt across borders - from Nigeria to its neighbours and from Somalia to Ethiopia. A WHO committee has said, ‘The risk of new outbreaks in other countries is considered extremely high, even probable’. There are grave concerns that it will not be possible to control outbreaks in Africa and Asia.

A Rocha is a respected Christian environmental organisation, currently operating in over twenty nations. On 28 October, Peter and Miranda Harris, its co-founders, along with Chris Naylor, executive director of A Rocha International, and his wife Susanna, were involved in a fatal car accident in Port Elizabeth. Miranda, Chris, and Susanna did not survive. Peter and the driver of the car are being treated at a local hospital and are in a stable condition. Please pray for the families concerned, and also for the future leadership of the organisation.

Pastor Toby leads Spacnation South London, a faith-based organisation committed to transforming the lives of young people. In a generation where many young people have been dejected, abused and simply overlooked, Spacnation offers an alternative, whilst changing the narrative of this generation one step at a time. They are rescuing people from gangs, from addiction and from fear, with over one hundred baptised each week. They have set up 23 safe houses for gang members who are willing to turn their life around and escape from a life of crime; they say their safe houses are homes full of fun, food and fascinating stories. Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has backed the initiative, saying the safe houses seem to be working and are part of a solution. See

Kanye West, a popular American singer, held a Sunday service in Salt Lake City to tell young people about the evils of the media. His event, held across the street from an international Mormon conference, attracted thousands of fans, and many took to the surrounding rooftops to join in. A large gospel choir sang throughout, as they hummed to the tune of ‘Jesus walks’. West said: ‘There is a spiritual war going on outside, from which no-one is safe. It is no longer a mystery, Jesus has already won the victory! Tell the devil his time is up!’ He said that Satan has been trying to control minds through social media: ‘No weapon formed against me shall prosper, no false validation, no Grammy, no Oscar. God, this is your nation. This is America.’

On 31 October 1917 Britain answered God’s call to facilitate Israel’s restoration to her ancient homeland, as Cyrus did in the 6th century BC. Britain was then considered a Christian nation, where the idea of restoring the Jewish people to their ancient homeland had been alive for 200 years. The Church understood that God had covenanted the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as an everlasting possession. In 1917 the Balfour Declaration was agreed, and Britain liberated Beersheba from Ottoman Turkish control - the first stage in ensuring that the exiles could freely return. However, in February 2019 the EU and the League of Arab States identified Israel’s settlements as ‘illegal’. Britain agreed with this stance, even though the Geneva Convention states that ‘there is no binding agreement in international law that designates the disputed territories as belonging to the Palestinians’.

On 23 October 39 migrants, including one teenager, were found frozen to death in a refrigerated container (temperature -25C) on an Essex industrial estate. The truck carrying the container entered the UK from Dublin four days earlier. The driver, from Northern Ireland, was arrested on suspicion of murder, even though he may have been the one who alerted the authorities. Local MP Jackie Doyle-Price said, ‘Putting 39 people into a locked metal container shows a contempt for human life that is evil. The best way to honour their memory is to bring the perpetrators to justice.’ The cab was registered in Bulgaria under a company owned by an Irish woman, with possible links to a smuggling route and to Irish Republican gangs. Pray for the victims to be quickly identified and families sensitively alerted, and for those responsible to be brought to justice. See also the next article.