Christians in Mali return to their ruined churches
While the world's attention is focused on the threat of the Islamic State in the Middle East, Christians in northern Mali have returned to their shattered communities after French forces wrested control back from Islamist groups. Churches were desecrated and looted when the region fell under radical groups in 2012. French forces were able to take control but the reconstruction is slow and costly, and peace talks between the government and mainly Tuareg armed groups are still ongoing. Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Yattara, president of the Baptist Church in northern Mali, told World Watch Monitor most Christians who fled the region had now returned to their homes but their churches are ‘in ruins’. He said the church there has lost most of its buildings and valuable property, including vehicles. The damage done by the extremists has also affected the church's work in the area of community provision.
National day of prayer for Scottish referendum
World Prayer Centre are holding a day of prayer in Birmingham 16 Sept A national day of prayer and fasting will be held on September 17, 24 hours before Scots will go to the polls to vote on September 18. There will be 48 hours of prayer on 17 -19 September in Edinburgh, all are invited to join at 7. 14pm for flash mob prayer outside Scottish Parliament on 17. Or pray where you are during these times. See Christians in Scotland are urging First Minister Alex Salmond and Better Together leader Alistair Darling to each visit a church ahead of the referendum for a short time of prayer. ‘Pray for Scotland’ offer some suggestions that you/your church may find helpful to pray at Churches have also been encouraged to pray about independence on the previous Sunday. ‘God's guidance is required for the proper functioning of society, in fact, for 300 years the Church has given spiritual guidance without taking sides,’ said Fred Drummond, national director of Evangelical Alliance Scotland.
One in five child deaths in UK 'preventable'
One in five child deaths could have been prevented, according to research published in the Lancet today. Around 5,000 infants, children and adolescents die prematurely in England and Wales every year, although the number is low relative to population size. The reports – published in three parts – stress many of these deaths were preventable. Researchers also found child death rates were higher in the north than in south of the country, tending to be higher in the Midlands and the North, and were closely linked to poverty. The president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Dr Hilary Cass said: ‘This is a serious wake-up call for both healthcare professionals and policy makers and we have to act urgently.’ One study showed that between 2010 and 2011 as many as 20 per cent of deaths of children and teenagers aged 18 and under in England could have been avoided.
Dawn of new era as rigorous press regulator starts work
IPSO, the new Press regulator, begins work today with a commitment to be 'rigorous, independent, fair and transparent'. The Independent Press Standards Organisation, whose chairman is the retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Alan Moses, will oversee editorial standards for the majority of national and regional newspapers and magazines. It has far tougher rules than the previous regulator, the Press Complaints Commission. The watchdog will have the power to impose fines of up to £1million for serious and systemic wrongdoing and can require editors to publish up-front corrections. IPSO will also include a standards and compliance arm, with investigative powers to call editors to account. It will require all newspapers to have their own effective complaints-handling procedures. Sir Alan said: 'IPSO aims to help rebuild public trust in the Press through independent, fair and transparent regulation. Its role as an independent regulator is to provide support and redress for victims of Press abuse.
Archbishop joins multi-faith peace vigil for Iraq
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, joined faith leaders and representatives from faith-based NGOs last week for a vigil showing solidarity with the people of Iraq and affirming the message that #WeAreAllHuman. Archbishop Welby joined Imam Ibrahim Mogra, Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner and Ayatollah Dr Sayed Fazel Milani at the vigil outside Westminster Abbey by the Innocent Victims Memorial. Speaking at the vigil, Archbishop Justin said he joined the other faith leaders in ‘unreservedly’ condemning the way that minority faith communities are being ‘wiped out’ in IS-controlled areas. ‘This must stop. We are all human,’ he said. ‘What we are seeing in Iraq violates brutally people’s right to freedom of religion and belief, as set out under Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.’ The vigil was jointly organised by Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and World Jewish Relief in partnership with the Church of England, the Muslim Council of Britain and the Movement for Reform Judaism.
'Neets' solution could lie in tackling bad behaviour
A softer approach to tackling bad behaviour in schools could help reduce the number of young people not in education, work or training (Neets), it has been claimed. The so-called ‘restorative approach’ encourages pupils to talk about why they misbehave instead of excluding them. This has resulted in a 91% drop in the number of exclusions at one Monmouth school. Teachers said it changes attitudes. The scheme, being trialled in a number of Welsh secondary schools, has also resulted in a reduction in crime in some areas. At Fitzalan High School in Cardiff the approach has resulted in a significant drop in the number of days lost to pupil exclusions - from 1,000 three years ago to 112 days this year. Teacher Jane Holland Lloyd said the initiative helped pupils feel more involved.
Make mental health bigger priority
Mental health needs to be more of a priority, with targets for waiting times and more protection for funding, says England's chief medical officer. Dame Sally Davies said there were signs that funding was being cut at a time when the cost to the economy was rising. Her annual report said mental illness led to the loss of 70 million working days last year - up 24% since 2009. As well as calling for greater emphasis on mental illness in the NHS, she also said employers could play a role too. She recommended they allowed people with mental health problems the option of flexible working to keep them in employment and maintaining regular contact during sickness leave. Overall, mental illness costs the economy between £70bn and £100bn in lost productivity, benefit payments and absence from work. In terms of NHS spending, it accounts for 13% of the budget despite causing 28% of illness.
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land".~ 2 Chronicles 7:14
FLOODS
In 2010 Pakistan recorded the worst flood on record, with over half of the country covered in water. The UN said, "more people were affected than the combined total of 3 other major catastrophes - 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake."
Punjab the largest province (meaning land of the 5 rivers) where the most people live is experiencing even more devastating floods than in 2010. So far over 1.8 million people have been affected; 700+ villages have been wiped away; 10,000's of livestock have been lost; the military has evacuated 4,000+ people by helicopter and boat; and over 4,000 people are still marooned. Roads and infrastructure are being washed away; food and drinking water are needed. Many are living on dikes and are being asked to leave as these dikes are being blown up to divert floods away from major cities. The monsoon rains are still continuing as the floods move south carrying destruction in their path.
PRAY
For people who have lost everything.
For aid to reach these people. ( The Taliban and Al Qaida are the ones giving the most aid. Last time they did this to further their cause and get people to join them.)
May Christians be able to mobilize help.
May people see that Christ is the true savior and the one who loves them. May they realize that their god is not a god of help but one of destruction and death. May Pirs and demonic places be wiped out in the wake of the flood.
DEMONSTRATIONS.
Demonstrations are still continuing by the same two parties demanding that the government be overthrown. Last week they were even saying the government of Musharraf was much better. (In the last 40 years more progress was made during his time than any other government.)
PRAY for a righteous and just government.
TERRORISM
The Pakistan military has been bombing and carrying out heavy raids against the Taliban along the Afghanistan border. A group called the "Punjab Taliban" has broken away from the TT and said they are "ending their armed struggle within Pakistan." PRAY this may continue. The Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP - a very ruthless group) are having internal struggles with groups like the above breaking away, and fights over leadership. A new leader has just been named.
Thank you for your intercession
Pr4Pak
A Nigerian prayer leader, himself a former Muslim, has sent this provocative and chilling speech of Geert Wilders, a Dutch Member of Parliament and the Chairman of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands. Here are some excerpts from it to ground and guide your prayers:
I come to America with a mission. All is not well in the old world. There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic. We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe. This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West. The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe...
The Europe you know is changing. You have probably seen the landmarks. But in all of these cities, sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination, there is another world. It is the world of the parallel society created by Muslim mass-migration.
All throughout Europe a new reality is rising: entire Muslim neighborhoods where very few indigenous people reside or are even seen. And if they are, they might regret it. This goes for the police as well. It's the world of head scarves, where women walk around in figureless tents, with baby strollers and a group of children. Their husbands, or slaveholders if you prefer, walk three steps ahead. With mosques on many street corners. The shops have signs you and I cannot read. You will be hard-pressed to find any economic activity. These are Muslim ghettos controlled by religious fanatics. These are Muslim neighborhoods, and they are mushrooming in every city across Europe. These are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city.
There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe. With larger congregations than there are in churches. And in every European city there are plans to build super-mosques that will dwarf every church in the region. Clearly, the signal is: we rule.
Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam , Marseille and Malmo in Sweden. In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods. Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many cities.
In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims.
Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal food to all pupils. In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims. Non-Muslim women routinely hear 'whore, whore'. Satellite dishes are not pointed to local TV stations, but to stations in the country of origin.
In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin . The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity.
In England, sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighborhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves. Last week a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels, because he was drinking during the Ramadan.
Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II. French is now commonly spoken on the streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya , Israel. I could go on forever with stories like this. Stories about Islamization.
A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe. San Diego University recently calculated that a staggering 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now. Bernhard Lewis has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.
Now these are just numbers. And the numbers would not be threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate. But there are few signs of that. The Pew Research Center reported that half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France. One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks. The British Centre for Social Cohesion reported that one-third of British Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide caliphate. Muslims demand what they call 'respect'. And this is how we give them respect. We have Muslim official state holidays...
The second thing you need to know is the importance of Mohammed the prophet. His behavior is an example to all Muslims and cannot be criticized.. Now, if Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us say like Gandhi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no problem. But Mohammed was a warlord, a mass murderer, a pedophile, and had several marriages - at the same time. Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in battles, how he had his enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war executed. Mohammed himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza. If it is good for Islam, it is good. If it is bad for Islam, it is bad.
Let no one fool you about Islam being a religion. Sure, it has a god, and a here-after, and 72 virgins. But in its essence Islam is a political ideology. It is a system that lays down detailed rules for society and the life of every person. Islam wants to dictate every aspect of life.. Islam means 'submission'. Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy, because what it strives for is sharia. If you want to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or national socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies.
Now you know why Winston Churchill called Islam 'the most retrograde force in the world', and why he compared Mein Kampf to the Quran. The public has wholeheartedly accepted the Palestinian narrative, and sees Israel as the aggressor. I have lived in this country and visited it dozens of times. I support Israel. First, because it is the Jewish homeland after two thousand years of exile up to and including Auschwitz, second because it is a democracy, and third because Israel is our first line of defense...
In my country, the Netherlands, 60 percent of the population now sees the mass immigration of Muslims as the number one policy mistake since World War II. And another 60 percent sees Islam as the biggest threat. Yet there is a danger greater danger than terrorist attacks, the scenario of America as the last man standing. The lights may go out in Europe faster than you can imagine. An Islamic Europe means a Europe without freedom and democracy, an economic wasteland, an intellectual nightmare, and a loss of military might for America - as its allies will turn into enemies, enemies with atomic bombs. With an Islamic Europe, it would be up to America alone to preserve the heritage of Rome, Athens and Jerusalem .
Dear friends, liberty is the most precious of gifts. My generation never had to fight for this freedom, it was offered to us on a silver platter, by people who fought for it with their lives. All throughout Europe , American cemeteries remind us of the young boys who never made it home, and whose memory we cherish. My generation does not own this freedom; we are merely its custodians. We can only hand over this hard won liberty to Europe 's children in the same state in which it was offered to us. We cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams. Future generations would never forgive us. We cannot squander our liberties. We simply do not have the right to do so.
We have to take the necessary action now to stop this Islamic stupidity from destroying the free world that we know.
1 Pray with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Europe that their governments will wake up and take a strong hand in not allowing the Islamic agenda to take over and dominate their societies.
2 Pray for those seeking to reach Muslims with the Gospel for His guidance and blessing and for many more such ministries to begin reaching out strongly and effectively to the burgeoning Muslim immigrant populations.
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4590/germany-jihad
Supporters of the jihadist group "Islamic State" [IS] have clashed with Kurdish Yazidis in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state with the largest Muslim population in Germany.
The violence-which comes amid threats by a German jihadist to blow up an American nuclear weapons storage facility in Germany-has counter-terrorism officials concerned that radical Muslims are deliberately exploiting the ethnic and religious tensions in the Middle East to stir up trouble on the streets of Europe.
Police say the Muslim-Yazidi clash was triggered after six Islamists stormed a restaurant in the eastern Westphalian town of Herford at around 4 pm on August 7. The Muslims were attempting forcibly to remove a poster inviting people to join a demonstration in support of the Yazidis in Iraq. Thousands of Yazidis, an ethnic Kurdish non-Muslim minority, were forced to flee their homes in northern Iraq in early August to escape advancing Islamic State fighters, who are forcing the Yazidis to convert to Islam or be killed...
German authorities have long warned of the threat posed by Salafism, a radically anti-Western ideology that seeks to impose Islamic sharia law in Germany and other parts of Europe.
Membership in Islamic extremist groups in Germany rose to 43,185 in 2013, up from 42,550 in 2012, according to German intelligence estimates. The number of Salafists in Germany rose to 5,500 in 2013, up from 4,500 in 2012, and 3,800 in 2011...
A German Interior Ministry spokesperson said that although "the threat is abstract, it may become real at any time." He said it proves that Germany "is still the focus of jihadist terrorism," especially from jihadists returning from Syria with combat experience and contacts to jihadist groups... "And this is frightening: Never before have the sympathizers of Islamic terror appeared so openly in Germany. These are the circles in which European fighters are recruited for jihad. This is also the milieu in which the Salafist ultra-radicals develop when they are back in Europe again. Therefore, police and secret service are required to monitor the scene closely...
"IS, Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Boko Haram-these four groups are the linchpins of the attempt to bomb an unstoppable modernity back into the Middle Ages. The means to this end are Sharia, hatred and glorification of a supposedly "holy" war-what madness!"...
"For far too long, Germany's political leaders, and especially the leaders of German Muslim organizations, have sat by and idly watched the proliferation of the Salafist-jihadist hatred culture, in the purported belief that it poses no danger. It is absolutely outrageous that local politicians have played down the risk of Islamism, while the capabilities of the security authorities are increasingly being overstretched by the need to deal with this threat.
"Muslim organizations should hang their heads in shame. Rather than bluntly stating that the barbarians in northern Iraq are 'not Muslims,' they whistle away to say that Islam is 'only peace.' In the future, this kind of obfuscation will no longer suffice, especially if German Muslims, who are subject to the German legal system, wish to avoid being held accountable for the killings in the name of Islam.
"The Islamic State under its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may not last very long; but the propaganda from his jihad certainly will survive him. This is because the seeds of hatred that 'Caliph' Baghdadi has sown are far more toxic than those of Osama Bin Laden. For disaffected youth, the Islamic State exerts great appeal, and not only in Herford."
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group.