Universal Credit: Disabled people 'to lose out'
Up to half a million disabled people and their families stand to lose out under the government's proposed Universal Credit, a report says. The Children's Society, Citizens Advice and Disability Rights UK say 100,000 households with children could have incomes reduced by up to £28 a week. They are urging ministers to reconsider their plans. But the government called the report ‘highly selective’ and said it could lead to ‘irresponsible scaremongering’. The Universal Credit will replace Jobseeker's allowance, tax credits, income support, employment and support allowance - formerly known as incapacity benefit - and housing benefits with a single payment. The system will be ‘piloted' in parts of north-east England next April and will come into force across Britain for new claimants from October 2013. Existing claimants will be transferred to the new system in stages until 2017. Universal Credit will be capped at £26,000 per household.
Pray: that the Government will reconsider their plans affecting disabled and children and adults from low income families. (Job.6:29)
Churches meeting growing demand for emergency food
More people in the UK are turning to church-run food-banks to cope with the rising cost of living. The Trussell Trust said 100,000 people had received emergency food from its network of foodbanks in the last six months. New food-banks are being opened by the Christian charity at a rate of three a week to meet the demand. The network has fed almost 110,000 people across the UK since April 2012, compared to just under 129,000 people during the whole of the 2011 to 2012 financial period. Trussell Trust is expecting to feed over 200,000 people by the end of the 2012 to 2013 period. The increase in demand is being put down to rising food and fuel costs, together with static incomes, high unemployment and changes to benefits. With winter just around the corner, the Trussell Trust said it feared more Britons would be so hard up that they cannot afford to eat.
Pray: that the ability of the Church to provide for the needy will match the demand. (Ps.20:2)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/churches.meeting.growing.demand.for.emergency.food/30821.htm
Scottish teen abortion percentage second highest in world
Scotland has the second highest percentage of teenage abortions in the world, new statistics show. A study from researchers in the US revealed 24 per cent of all abortions in Scotland occurred in the under-20 age group. Only Cuba had a higher proportion of teenage abortionsfigure, at 29 per cent. Report author Gilda Sedgh, of the Guttmacher Institute in New York, said: ‘We can only speculate that the levels of unprotected intercourse among adolescents are relatively high in Scotland’. The study showed that 15 to 19-year-olds make up just 15 per cent of the total population of Scotland, and yet account for almost a quarter of all Scottish terminations.
Pray: that the trend for teenage abortions be reversed and adolescent education improved.
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/scots-teen-abortion-percentage-second-highest-in-world/
French government ready to redefine marriage
On 31st October, Francois Hollande’s cabinet will assess a draft copy of legislation which, if approved, would redefine marriage in France despite growing opposition. The French president has promised that same-sex ‘marriage’ will be introduced by mid-2013. The draft legislation will propose a redefinition of marriage so that it is ‘contracted between two persons of different sex or of the same sex’, according to French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. The document will also set out provisions for same-sex couples to adopt children. These provisions will not be extended to unmarried same-sex couples. Ayrault said: ‘After a very broad consultation process that, of course, involved religious leaders, I've made up my mind. This is about ensuring fairness and equality that reflects the evolution of our society’. However, many mayors and deputy mayors across France have warned that they will not preside over same-sex ceremonies if the law is changed. Over 1,200 of them have signed a petition against redefining marriage.
Pray: against this legislation and further moves to redefine marriage. Pray that the mayors speaking out against such moves will hold fast to their beliefs. (Heb.13:4)
French government ready to redefine marriage
On 31st October, Francois Hollande’s cabinet will assess a draft copy of legislation which, if approved, would redefine marriage in France despite growing opposition. The French president has promised that same-sex ‘marriage’ will be introduced by mid-2013. The draft legislation will propose a redefinition of marriage so that it is ‘contracted between two persons of different sex or of the same sex’, according to French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. The document will also set out provisions for same-sex couples to adopt children. These provisions will not be extended to unmarried same-sex couples. Ayrault said: ‘After a very broad consultation process that, of course, involved religious leaders, I've made up my mind. This is about ensuring fairness and equality that reflects the evolution of our society’. However, many mayors and deputy mayors across France have warned that they will not preside over same-sex ceremonies if the law is changed. Over 1,200 of them have signed a petition against redefining marriage.
Pray: against this legislation and further moves to redefine marriage. Pray that the mayors speaking out against such moves will hold fast to their beliefs. (Heb.13:4)
Final report: care system failed to protect Dutch children
The Samson Committee investigating the abuse of children in state care in the Netherlands since 1945 is accusing the entire system - from the government to the foster care service to care homes themselves - of failing to do enough to protect children against sexual abuse. In releasing its final report on Monday, tellingly titled ‘Surrounded by care, still not safe‘, the committee said it would send 42 sexual abuse files to public prosecutors for consideration - this out of the 800 claims it received in the two years since it’s been investigating sexual abuse cases of children in care. ‘We don’t have any insight into the criteria they used for sending cases to the public prosecutor, but they must have reason to think they can still make cases after all these years,’ says Jolien Verweij, spokesperson for the Dutch NGO Defence for Children International. ‘But any chance to do something is good.’
Pray: that the care system in the Netherlands would be upgraded to enable it to meet the needs of those they serve. (1Pe.5:2)
More: http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/final-report-care-system-failed-protect-dutch-children-0
Final report: care system failed to protect Dutch children
The Samson Committee investigating the abuse of children in state care in the Netherlands since 1945 is accusing the entire system - from the government to the foster care service to care homes themselves - of failing to do enough to protect children against sexual abuse. In releasing its final report on Monday, tellingly titled ‘Surrounded by care, still not safe‘, the committee said it would send 42 sexual abuse files to public prosecutors for consideration - this out of the 800 claims it received in the two years since it’s been investigating sexual abuse cases of children in care. ‘We don’t have any insight into the criteria they used for sending cases to the public prosecutor, but they must have reason to think they can still make cases after all these years,’ says Jolien Verweij, spokesperson for the Dutch NGO Defence for Children International. ‘But any chance to do something is good.’
Pray: that the care system in the Netherlands would be upgraded to enable it to meet the needs of those they serve. (1Pe.5:2)
More: http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/final-report-care-system-failed-protect-dutch-children-0
Things continue to be very difficult in North Korea. In fact, so many things are causing problems from government policy to the weather that people are speaking out and complaining as never before. A recent trip to China by Jang Sung Thaek, Kim Jong Un's uncle and right hand man, far from bring better economic news (as had been hoped) has resulted in major increases in the exchange rate as people hoard Chinese money. Even the national security forces are having a hard time feeding themselves and the situation in North Korea's bread basket region of Hwanghae Do is particularly dire as flooding followed drought. Many news reports casually mention people starving to death. To make matters worse, Kim Jong Un's new economic measures include seizing private fields that people were allowed to create following the famines of the late '90s. It is these private fields attached to homes and on steep hillsides that have actually provided a significant amount of food for the overall economy in recent years. Farmers are very upset. The government's response to all this is to put in place price controls that will only aggravate the situation and prove ineffective. At the same time, the Supreme People's Assembly meets and makes some decisions about compulsory education but not a word about the economy. What the government is doing is selling gold from its reserves to raise cash needed to replace that spent on the Kim Il Sung 100th anniversary celebrations and failed missile launch. In the face of growing famine and flood devastation, South Korea offered aid but it was rejected as not what was wanted.
The reality is such that defections have been increasing including a single group of twenty who fled in September. The number of street kids or kkotjebi (swallows) as they are called, is increasing as well. Many of these homeless children cross the border and make their way eventually to refugee camps. There are some 400 North Korean kids without parents in South Korea. Pray especially for these children. They need food, health care, stability and a safe place to grow up. They need homes.
The annual Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue was just held in China. North Korea and its nuclear program were the main topic of discussion. This is an ongoing attempt to get world leaders discussing real issues in the region. We pray that these meetings and others like them bear positive fruit.
Ben Torrey,
Director
The Fourth River Project, Inc.
www.thefourthriver.org
Journalist: US Policy Must Aim to End North Korean Regime
Melanie Kirkpatrick, former deputy editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal and author of the new book Escape from North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia’s Underground Railroad, says the United States isn’t taking a tough enough stance on North Korea. “We can’t work with them and we shouldn’t pretend that we can,” she told LIGNET managing editor Fred Fleitz this week in a televised interview. Official U.S. policy, she says, should be “the downfall of the Kim family regime” and the unification of the Koreas. Also, she says, the United States should publicly denounce China for its policy of arresting North Korean refugees and sending them back to face life in prison, or worse.
From: LIGNET <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Let’s continue to agree in prayer for a new day for North Korea and for His liberation of its longsuffering people and especially its children. Pray for the reunification of the two Koreas.
Kindly note the prayer mobilization for US Elections in India.
Mobilization of Election Prayer – 4000 Church Networks (Min. of 50 People in a Church for 40 days)
Mobilization of FMPB Prayer Groups – 5000 Prayer gps (Min. of 15-20 per group) across India.
Mobilization in Standing in the Gap Prayer – 10 Districts (Min. of 5000 people) in Prayer Rallies (12 hours Prayer)
From: Onassis Jeevaraj, India National Prayer Network (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Please join in prayer for the right leaders for the USA in this most crucial election in our history which will also deeply affect the rest of the world.
The 'Children and Praying Together Course' (link below) has been established to help children learn to pray and to help parents and grandparents pray for their children / grandchildren. It includes helping children to understand their spiritual heart and provides suggestions for encouraging children to pray. In addition, the course offers help to parents in how to pray for their children using scripture.
http://www.praynetwork.org/groups/group/show?groupUrl=children-and-prayer-course&
The 'Praying Together Course' is an interactive course designed to help people grow in prayer and their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The course challenges one to move forward in prayer and relationship with the Lord, and it encourages joining together with others in prayer. Scriptures are used to encourage prayer and the course examines issues affecting prayer and joining with others in prayer.