London’s Christian community ready for the Olympics
London is awash with many Christian groups ministering across the city and there are many others throughout the British Isles. Please pray for: a team of former Olympians known as ‘Chaplains to the World’s Olympians’. Their ministry ‘Bridging the Gap 2012 UK Outreach headquarters is based in the Kingsway International Christian Centre. Pray also for the Olympic Village Chaplains in each Olympic host city made up of a local component and an international contingent. Please pray for the 3,000 copies of commemorative English-language Scriptures available as a welcome gift in the Olympic Village, and the ‘More Than Gold’ ministry providing sports clinics, a ministry providing cups of water on every street corner for Olympic visitors, and ‘street chaplains’ welcoming people to London and helping visitors find their way around. Prayer is the secret ingredient in any evangelism and for Olympic ministry it is particularly important as the world comes together in goodwill.
Pray: for clear unhindered communication to flow through every event, particularly between volunteers and the public, organising agencies and volunteers.
Christian athletes
Josh Davis is a swimmer who won three gold medals at Atlanta in 1996 and two more medals at the 2000 games. He is now a full-time motivational speaker, addressing secular and church audiences at least 70 times a year and has edited ‘The Goal and the Glory’. He was the only man at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games to win three gold medals. He travelsall over America telling people how great God is and reminds himself that even as his hard-earned Olympic medals are now dented and scratched from handling, God's Word is eternal. See http://www.christianpost.com/news/interview-olympic-gold-medalist-josh-davis-on-christian-athletes-the-games-and-michael-phelps-78742/#8WQwtMMH3q4iTBpw.99 Being a Christian in a secular club or team can be challenging and in the UK ‘Christians In Sport Network’ gives Christians the opportunity to find and link in with other Christians actively involved in their sport. There are currently 15 different men’s and women’s sports providing sport specific resources, training and events to help believers live and share their faith in their team or club.
Pray: for Christian sport initiatives and Christian athletes to shine during and after the Olympic season. (Heb.12:1,2)
More: http://www.christiansinsport.org.uk/networks.asp?section=25§ionTitle=Sport+Networks
Sunday trading laws suspended for Olympics
The Government has lifted Sunday trading laws for the duration of the Olympics in an attempt to boost the economy, the BBC has reported. Currently, laws permit shops with a floor area of more than 280 square metres (3000 square feet) to open for no longer than six hours between 10:00 and 18:00 on a Sunday. But a spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said that shops would be ‘free to choose their opening hours on a Sunday’ with ‘no restrictions on these hours’ until the Olympics Games are over in September. The move has been criticised by the shop workers’ union Usdaw who claim that there is ‘no evidence’ that the suspension will help retailers to maximise profits. Concerns have also been raised that the move will pave the way for a permanent relaxation of the laws restricting Sunday trading.
Pray: that the Government would abide by its commitment that this would be a temporary suspension and not lead to extending Sunday opening hours. (Gen.2:3 & Ex.35:2)
More: http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/employment/sunday-trading-laws-suspended-for-olympics
Plan to weaken gambling laws come under fire
Betting shops should be allowed to install more high-stake gambling machines, according to a committee of MPs. The machines, dubbed the crack cocaine of the high street, allow players to place bets of up to £100 with prizes of up to £500. An editorial in one national newspaper said it was ‘appalled that a Conservative-led group of MPs is seeking to revive the liberalisers’ discredited agenda’. The report, by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, suggests that strict rules on gambling machines should be relaxed. The report, an investigation of the 2005 Gambling Act, recommends raising the number of high-stake (B2) machines in casinos from four to 20. And it says that local authorities should be free to allow betting shops to install more than the current maximum of four if it would prevent betting shops clustering together.
Pray: against this move to legalize further higher stakes gambling machines. (Pr.1:15)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/mps-plan-to-weaken-gambling-laws-come-under-fire/
Christian campaigners hit out at tax evasion
A Christian movement to end poverty has spoken out against tax evasion by wealthy people.The group Micah Challenge is calling upon church leaders to hold the super-rich to account after a report by the Tax Justice Network suggested that up to $20trillion was being siphoned off by the world's wealthiest people into tax havens. The movement says that Jesus would have hit out at such excessive greed, especially at a time when millions remain in extreme poverty and without access to basic health care. The campaigners are urging churches the world over to raise their concerns with politicians. ‘Once again
the poor are paying the price of the greed of the wealthiest,’ said Head of Campaigns Amanda Jackson. ‘The money being siphoned off to tax havens is more than the American and Japanese GDPs put together. Yet millions of the world's poorest are suffering. It is so wrong.’
Pray: that greed will not govern the hearts of men and for the poor to be treated fairly. (LK.12:15)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christian.campaigners.hit.out.tax.evasion/30336.htm
TV watchdog slammed Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent stunned parents by failing to censure ITV for outrageous performances by Rihanna and Christina Aguilera on The X Factor. Now Ofcom has done it again – this time clearing Britain's Got Talent despite parents complaining about the broadcast of a burlesque performance before the watershed. In one routine Beatrix Von Bourbon – real name Stephanie Brooks – gave a performance in front of judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon which saw the burlesque dancer remove jacket, skirt and bra to reveal nipple tassels, corset and stockings. Almost 100 people made formal complaints and scores more took to social networks to complain for the fact the performance took place before the watershed and questioned whether it was suitable for children. The regulator is facing accusations of being 'permissive' and 'toothless' after it found the reality show did not breach guidelines.
Pray: that Ofcom will take seriously the complaints of the public and use its authority to control the media.
“There are both some hopeful things coming out of the North and the ongoing difficulties...
On a positive note, it seems that China is seeking to do more in the way of investment in North Korea which will help the economic situation some… We are also beginning to see some hopeful signs that Kim Jong Un may really be interested in opening up to other foreign investment and creating a more open business environment. If he does follow through on this, it could mean not only a better life for the people but also gradual lessening of repression and restriction as happened in China (although China still has a long way to go.)
On the negative side: The country has beefed up their identity card system to make it easier to control people, especially those who have been involved with activities that the government frowns on. Four North Koreans returned from China were recently executed and a number more put into prison camps.
We also have the increasingly serious drought situation in the North, especially in the main bread basket area of Hwanghae Do where farmers have just about given up on this summer's crops and beggars have been dying of starvation. The drought has even affected the capital where many residents are having difficulty getting water.
It has not been easy for people in China and elsewhere seeking to help those leaving NK in search of food or a better life. Four South Korean activists have been detained in China for a few months now although there are hopeful signs that they may be released. An activist has also recently been arrested in Vietnam as well.
The people of North Korea need your prayers. Please keep praying.”
Many Afghans are very afraid that the Taliban will come back again and where they control areas inside Afghanistan. Pray that this would never happen again. This is an example how brutal they are:
Taliban execute a woman to send Afghans a grim warning of life without the West.
Video of the brutal killing is released on the same day as donors promise 10 billion pounds of aid after troop withdrawal in 2014. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/taliban-execute-woman-to-send-afghans-a-grim-warning-of-life-without-the-west-7923566.htm
An Afghan woman accused of adultery was executed by a purported member of the Taliban as a crowd of about 150 men looked on and cheered in a killing captured in video footage that surfaced at the weekend.
The slaying occurred just an hour’s drive from Kabul and is a grim reminder of the hard-line group’s brutality, under whose rule from 1996 to 2001 women suffered severe privations, including being banned from attending school. It also highlights the expanding presence the Taliban has throughout the country beyond their traditional strongholds in the south and east.
As international troops start to leave in advance of total withdrawal in 2014, concerns are mounting about whether the fledgling Afghan National Security Forces will keep insurgents at bay.
The video, obtained by Reuters, shows a woman in a shawl kneeling in the dirt. A turban-clad man approaches and fires on her at close range with an automatic rifle. Another man is heard saying, “Allah warns us not to get close to adultery because it’s the wrong way. It is the order of Allah that she be executed.”
The woman involved – either by consent or force – with two Taliban commanders was killed in order to settle a dispute between them, according to Parwan’s Provincial Governor Basir Salangi. According to Agence France Presse, the woman was a 22-year-old called Naliba. The fate of the Taliban commanders is not known.
“When I saw this video, I closed my eyes,” Mr. Salangi told Reuters. “The woman was not guilty; the Taliban are guilty.” The footage is thought to have been shot about a week ago. Mr. Salangi added that the Taliban have considerable influence in his province…
“Afghan women and girls were looking to the international community to protect the progress they have made in the last decade, and they have been let down. Some important steps have been taken, notably in a renewed commitment to their constitutional rights and better implementation of laws. But this is still not enough to entrench the fragile gains that have been made so far. There are not enough concrete steps or firm affirmations of how women will play a better role in the transformation phase of their country”.
Please pray for the safeguarding of women and children’s rights and the gains that have been made since the Taliban were overthrown. Pray that they will not be successful in regaining control over the nation to reestablish their tyrannical and oppressive rule.
The Church in Wales unveils major overhaul
The Church in Wales has unveiled radical plans to ensure its future ahead of its centenary in 2020. The Church makes 50 recommendations for change in a published report. Recoromendations.include setting up supersize parishes run by teams of vicars and lay people. These would replace parishes with larger ‘ministry areas’ and mirror the catchment areas of secondary schools. Recations are intended to address the problem of small, unsustainable parishes and overstretched priests having to serve multiple parishes. The report also recommends that churches invest in ministry to young people and come up with ‘creative ideas’ to ensure they stay at the heart of their communities. To implement the vision, churches are being asked to allow their buildings to be available for use by the whole community. Other recommendations include: training lay people to play a greater part in church leadership; developing new forms of worship to reach out to those unfamiliar with church services; encouraging tithing.
Pray: for the Church in Wales to rise up and meet the challenge. (Mt.16:18)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.in.wales.unveils.major.overhaul/30316.htm
Russia: New law could restrict ministries
Russia's parliament has passed a law restricting international support to work of non-government organizations work. The bill forces groups to register as ‘foreign agents’ and file quarterly reports about their activities. Failure to comply can result in large fines and possibly jail. Critics say the law is aimed at making the work of NGOs more difficult, to intimidate them, and tarnish their image. The U.S.-based group Russian Ministries, working with church leaders throughout the former Soviet Union, believes it will impact their ministry and other NGOs in similar work.
Pray: that God will strengthen Christian ministries throughout the region as they face the implementation of this new law. (1Cor.1:27)
More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/July/New-Law-Could-Restrict-Ministries-in-Russia/