An outbreak of meningitis has been reported in six Nigerian states, infecting over a thousand and killing 140. Meningitis causes acute inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. The current outbreak is the worst since 2009, when over 150 people died. The disease is spreading; it could become out of control if refugee camps, prisons and police cells become affected through crowds. Vaccination is a way of preventing meningitis. However a new strain imported from a neighbouring country is now prevalent and requires a different vaccine. The outbreak, attributed to cold nights / dusty winds / dry weather, is aggravated by traditional beliefs, poor hygiene, and overpopulation.

The Church of Ireland has launched a new resource on supporting asylum seekers and refugees in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The 14-page document summarises how the Church has supported asylum seekers and refugees, and highlights opportunities for church members to become more involved in this area of ministry and service. Rt Revd Patrick Rooke, Chairman of the Republic of Ireland Working Group, said: ‘This is an excellent resource for all those who want to be informed about the refugee crises.’ Rt Revd Ken Good, chairman of the Northern Ireland working group, said, ‘It is clear that public awareness of the plight of asylum seekers and refugees fluctuates considerably, depending on the emotional impact of media coverage. This resource seeks to provide helpful information to keep before us the scale of the human need while also acknowledging people’s fears and concerns.’

In April 2016, we prayed for a Kickstarter account that was set up for a Wall of Answered Prayer made of a million bricks - each brick telling the story of how Jesus answered someone’s prayer. This wall will now go ahead and be built as a national landmark in the UK. It will lead people to consider and reflect the worth of prayer, through people sharing stories of how God answered their prayers. It will become a source of inspiration. The project is being led by Christian entrepreneur Richard Gamble, former chaplain to Leicester City FC. A person can pledge £5 and get one brick, which will be linked to them and their unique story of how Jesus answered prayer. A corresponding website will be created to give details of the answered prayers. It will be like a ‘database of a million prayer testimonies.’

Loving your neighbour begins with sacrificing time to pray for them. Bringing five neighbours before God regularly, praying for them to become Christians, will lead to people getting to know Jesus for themselves. Neighbourhood Prayer Network can testify that this has already happened on a number of streets across the UK. Will you join many others praying for their neighbours?

(Rebekah Brettle, Neighbourhood Prayer Network)

On Wednesday a British-born man, Khalid Masood, drove a car along the pavement on Westminster Bridge, knocking down, injuring and killing pedestrians. He then ran towards Parliament and fatally stabbed an unarmed policeman. Armed security police killed the terrorist. The police and MI5 had investigated him years ago, but he was ‘peripheral’ and not part of the current intelligence picture. Eight arrests in London and Birmingham followed Wednesday's attack. The murdered policeman was PC Palmer, to whom Mrs May paid tribute by saying, ‘He was every inch a hero and his actions will never be forgotten’. Others killed by the attacker were Aysha Frade, who worked at a London college, and Kurt Cochran. an American tourist. Seven of the injured are still in hospital in a critical condition. A further 29 have been treated in hospital. Pray for comfort and support for all who are grieving and / or suffering physical and mental injuries.

‘Passion for the Nation’ circulated this prayer yesterday, in response to the terror attack at Westminster: ‘Lord, we speak Your healing, comfort and strength to every person injured in the Westminster attack and to the relatives of all those killed. In the Name of Jesus, we declare that a spiritual watch will be increasingly established in our land, and we call the Church to a new level of watching and prayer. May God’s watchmen be positioned over the high places of our nation, over our cities, borders, streets and all high-profile locations. We declare an increase of divine connections to civil authorities in this season. God’s plans are for good and not for evil, so in the Name of Jesus we pray for God’s plans for peace, mercy and hope over and against every plan and purpose of Satan to bring fear and division into our land.’ For the full declaration, click the ‘More’ button.

Nicola Sturgeon has called for 'indyref2'; Theresa May indicated it wouldn’t happen in the time frame. Holyrood’s debate on Wednesday, with a vote scheduled for 5:30 pm to ask the UK Government to agree to a second independence referendum, was suspended after the terrorist attack outside Westminster. The debate and vote will now continue next Tuesday. The following day, Wednesday, formal 'triggering' of Article 50 will start negotiations to leave the EU. Many Scots are once again taking up the deep-rooted positions which divided communities and families during the last independence campaign. Others are confused and anxious about the future.

MSPs snubbed calls to terminate their debate on independence after the terrorist attack at Westminster. At 3.30pm Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser asked for the debate to be suspended, prompting groans from the SNP benches. His request was turned down by deputy presiding officer Linda Fabiani, who said MSPs must carry on with ‘business as usual’. An hour and 20 minutes after news of the attack emerged, presiding officer Ken Macintosh finally announced a close to the debate ‘because the events were affecting the contribution of members’ (MSPs were watching Westminster events unfold on their devices). When this happened, environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham said it was a ‘disgrace’ that Scottish business was being suspended, allegedly adding, ‘This is because you didn’t want to talk about independence.’ For a moment it looked as if something quite serious was going to kick off between the two opposing positions on the vote, but fortunately it didn’t.

Across the UK the Christian pro-life campaign, 40 Days for Life, is gaining momentum showing communities the consequences of abortion. Meanwhile Parliament is calling for the decriminalisation of abortion, without specifying any restrictions - allowing abortion up to birth, on demand, for any reason, without two doctors’ signatures. This bill should have its second reading on Friday, but the recent terrorist event, and parliamentary overload, may change this. Recently Prayer Alert readers were invited to pray about this Bill when it entered as a 10-minute rule abortion bill at its first hearing. Tragically it slipped through because it was timed to happen after the Brexit vote, when many MPs had left the house. If this bill goes through it could be passed into law. Few Bills introduced via the 10-minute rule become law, (Abortion Act 1967 was an exception). If enough people email their MPs and Theresa May (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) objecting to this bill, it will not progress beyond its second reading.

Social media technology is responsible for an entire industry. But how does social media affect real-life relationships? Radio took 38 years to reach one million users; TV took 13 years; Facebook added 200 million users in less than one year, demonstrating the power and growth of the uncontrollable machine that is social media. More and more people are asking the question, ‘Is it time to switch off occasionally and have a technology fast? This does not eliminate freedom, but helps people recover it.’ We live in the flesh, and an experience that happens without the flesh is not on the same level as one that happens in the flesh. For example, while chatting with a friend on social media we might type ‘hahaha’ at something funny, but that’s the best we can do. It’s much better actually to be sitting in the company of friends and having a laugh together.