Government to crush home-grown extremism
David Cameron has set out the Government's strategy to defeat the ‘poison’ of Islamist extremism in the UK. He pledged to tackle conditions that lead to hundreds of Britons joining IS militants. Mr Cameron said the four areas needing attention are: countering warped extremist ideology, the process of radicalisation, the drowning out of moderate Muslim voices, and addressing the ‘identity crisis’ among young British-born Muslims. The BBC assistant political editor noted, ‘Tackling the ideology of IS in the UK involves confronting people over intolerance, prejudice and hostility to British values, and Mr Cameron’s speech offered relatively few specific policies’. The Muslim Council of Britain urged the Prime Minister to ‘put his words into action’ and engage with ‘all sections of the community including mainstream Muslim organisations and those who have differing views’. See also article below.
Wheelchair services 'are failing'
One of Great Britain's Paralympians has said that wheelchair services across England are failing on every level. There are 1.2 million wheelchair users across the UK. Some wait years for the right wheelchair (an ill-fitting chair causes hip dislocations and pressure sores, and may worsen disabilities). There are stories of people with life-limiting conditions, such as Motor Neurone Disease, dying before they get their wheelchair. Krystyn Jarvis, of the National Wheelchair Managers' Forum, said wheelchair services were not seen as an important part of the NHS. ‘We have been asking for change for 20+ years. We know the situation isn’t acceptable.’ NHS England agreed the whole system needed change. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has launched a national charter to improve wheelchair services across Britain. Pray that services, clinical commissioning groups and NHS trusts will sign up to it.
Ministry of Defence
In recent years, defence has fallen low on the list of national priorities. While other government departments have ring-fenced budgets, that of the MoD is completely unprotected. On Monday Lord Richards, a former chief of the Armed Forces, said, ‘Britain must accept that sooner or later ground troops and tanks will have to be sent into combat to overcome IS.’ He said that David Cameron needed to put the country on a ‘war footing’ and rethink its military strategy to extinguish the threat posed by Islamic State militants. See also: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11722780/By-not-spending-enough-on-defence-Britain-puts-the-West-at-risk.html
World Special Olympics begin
On 25 July, the World Summer Games in Los Angeles kick off with 6,500 Special Olympians competing. Across the world people working with adults with special needs recognise the power of sport to inspire hope, build confidence and courage and change the lives of athletes with intellectual disabilities. On 19 June Pope Francis held an audience for Italy's 150 Special Olympics athletes who are travelling to Los Angeles to compete. Pope Francis reflected, ‘It is beautiful and meaningful that young people and adults of every ability find in sport and participation in competitions, including at an international level, an incentive to live their life fully.’ Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the German Special Olympics athletes and coaches at the Federal Chancellery before they left for Los Angeles and wished them good luck for their participation. Special Olympics Great Britain is sending 115 athletes to the games.
Yemen: First UN aid ship in four months in Aden
Last week Prayer-Alert readers prayed for an end to the situation where Yemen was being blockaded by a Saudi-led military coalition that was preventing 21 million Yemenis receiving urgent humanitarian assistance in a deteriorating war situation. This week local fighters and army units took control of the last district of Aden still held by the Iran-allied Houthi militia and its allies. Assisted by Saudi-led air strikes, the local forces have now broken months of stalemate in Aden by seizing the airport and advancing into parts of the port city held by Houthis and forces loyal to the ex-president. On 21 July the first UN aid ship in four months docked in Yemen's devastated city of Aden, bringing desperately needed relief supplies. See also: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/20/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN0PU0M220150720
2000 PEOPLE JOIN IN BLOWING THE TRUMPET IN THE UK
On Saturday 4th July, 2000 people joined together in prayer and worship to ‘blow the trumpet’ in the ‘heart of the nation’. Christians from different cultures, denominations and ages descended on the International Convention Centre in Birmingham as World Prayer Centre hosted a national day of worship and prayer in response to God asking them to blow a trumpet in the land.
It was an awesome day of declaration, prayer and worship and there were powerful times of prayer for nations represented at the event- Greece, South Korea, Germany, and others. Prayer stations were created around the hall and people were encouraged to pray for the pillars of society – health, sport, education, business, religion, finance and the arts, media and entertainment.
DECLARING THE PURPOSES OF OUR GOD
A trumpet is blown to announce change and mobilise the Body of Christ. This is the time for rivers in the desert, for a dramatic and fresh move of God. It is time for God’s Word and Spirit to raise our faith, draw us closer to Jesus and fill us with a deep desire for His presence. He is calling his whole church to pray and prepare for an unparalleled spiritual harvest. These will be turbulent times – but Jesus reigns over every situation – and His love and grace will prevail.
PREPARING TO BLOW THE TRUMPET
Feel free to use the trumpet call declaration (below) used at TRUMPET CALL 2015 to mobilise people locally. You may wish to use this in a small group, prayer meeting, and church meeting or declare it over your village, town, neighbourhood or city. You may not have an actual trumpet – but making this declaration is a call for God’s people to be ready for action. There are four elements to the declaration.
- It is an announcement by faith of God’s heart and purpose.
- It will release prayer – determined, ongoing prayer to see His Kingdom come.
- It raises our expectation – God is moving in new ways in our land by His spirit.
- It positions us in a new place – with a passion for the presence of Jesus and a heart to bless.
OUR DECLARATION
The Supremacy of Christ
We declare that Jesus is the Creator and sustainer of all things, He is the Saviour of the world, He is the Head of the church, He is the Lord of our lives, He is the Hope for the world, and He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Hallelujah!
The Salvation of Christ
We declare the Gospel of Christ, His life, death, resurrection and ascension is God’s plan for the redemption of all mankind. We declare Christ and Him crucified; that Calvary is a place of forgiveness, cleansing, healing and victory over death. We declare it’s time for harvest; a mighty move of God touching every part of this nation and our continent.
The Unity of God’s Church
We declare that our strong desire is to fulfil the prayer of Jesus that we be one, believing the Scripture that, “When brothers and sisters dwell together in unity, there God bestows His blessing even life for ever more.”
Release for our Children and Young People
We declare and prophesy a Jesus Generation of boys and girls, young men and women who will walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, knowing God’s protection, mercy and blessing as they take the Gospel to their families, friends, communities and the nations.
We declare the Grace and Mercy of God over each other and from this place the Trumpet Sound to reverberate in every village, town, city and nation, “That the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Amen and Amen.
If you were at TRUMPET CALL 2015 and have a testimony to share, please contact World Prayer Centre on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: A living wage
A compulsory National Living Wage was announced by the Chancellor, George Osborne, this week, in the first purely Conservative budget for 19 years. ‘Britain deserves a pay rise, and Britain is getting a pay rise,’ he said on Wednesday, before unveiling a compulsory National Living Wage set to reach £9 an hour by 2020, for all workers aged 25 and over. The Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, could be seen punching the air and shouting ‘fantastic’ as the policy was announced. The Living Wage campaign began 15 years ago with churches in East London. The Director of the Centre for Theology and Community, who has campaigned since that time, said, ‘Any move towards a genuine Living Wage is welcome. But the rate of the Living Wage is set independently for a reason. It’s assessed on what it actually costs to live. We, as churches in alliance with Citizens UK, will keep campaigning for that level of Living Wage to be paid as widely as possible.’
Ukraine: Facing up to high cost of cheap gas
President Petro Poroshenko, in promising to clean up Ukraine's corrupt energy sector in his annual speech to parliament, said ‘opaque gas fumes will no longer light up Forbes Global Rich List with Ukrainian names.’ Ukraine’s energy sector has been plagued by an alliance of Russia, local oligarchs and a popular belief that home heating should be free. One of Ukraine's biggest lenders, the International Monetary Fund, estimates that energy subsidies cost the global economy more than $500 billion per year. This gigantic figure shows that energy flows are highly vulnerable to capture by corrupt business groups and their political allies, who claim democracy can be traded for protection from modern economic realities. Until the turn of the millennium, oil prices were low and Ukraine was a major oil and gas producer. Pipelines running through Ukraine now bring Siberian gas to Europe - but this infrastructure was built to bring Ukrainian gas to Russia. Ukraine is now unable and unwilling to auction off its sovereignty to Russia in exchange for cheap gas and continuation of corrupt schemes.
Sweden: Swedish police call for tougher bridge checks
Police in Malmö are aiming to crack down on a recent wave of gun crime in the city. Violence in Sweden's third largest urban centre has escalated in the past two months, including shootings, explosions, hand grenades being thrown and cars and buildings set on fire. On Friday night a man in his twenties was shot in the street in the nearby town of Arlöv and on Thursday a 25-year-old man was in hospital after being shot in Malmö. Regional police put the rising violence down to an increased import of illegal weapons and are calling for tougher border controls on the Öresund bridge between Sweden and Denmark in a bid to tackle the problem.
Switzerland: Fifa bans ex-official for life over massive bribes
On 9 July Zurich-based FIFA banned Chuck Blazer, a central figure in the corruption scandal that has engulfed world football, for life for taking millions of dollars in bribes. ‘Mr Blazer committed many and various acts of misconduct continuously and repeatedly during his time as an official in different high-ranking and influential positions at FIFA and Concacaf,’ said a statement announcing the ban from all football-related activities. ‘In his position as a football official, he was a key player in schemes involving the offer, acceptance, payment and receipt of undisclosed and illegal payments, bribes and kickbacks as well as other money-making schemes.’ The one-time powerbroker of North American football is a former ally of Fifa leader Sepp Blatter, who has agreed to step down because of controversy over US and Swiss investigations into the world body and World Cup tournaments.