Season of change for Wycliffe Bible Translators
18 Mar 20132014 will be a big year for Wycliffe Bible Translators with the relocation of their headquarters and celebrations to mark their 50th anniversary in the UK. The charity has announced the sale of the Wycliffe Centre in Buckinghamshire, where they have been based for the last 40 years. Wycliffe executive director Eddie Arthur said the facility, with its training and conference centre, was larger than what was needed for its operations. There are plans to move to office space nearby and change the way they engage with supporters. "The Wycliffe Centre has been a wonderful home for our mission, providing us with office space, a training centre and allowing us to host church groups and conferences. "However, changing patterns in missionary training worldwide mean that we no longer need such a large facility for our own needs. From this August, Wycliffe training courses will be available to a wider audience through Redcliffe College in Gloucester.
Pray: for the staff and work of the Wycliffe Centre especially during the period of transition. (Lk.4:43)
More: http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/article/season.of.change.for.wycliffe.bible.translators/31805.htm
Sean Stillman shares stories of biker mission
01 Sep 2012Pioneer minister Sean Stillman will be hitting the road next month to tell other Christians about his experience of mission on the margins. Stillman has spent the last 25 years on the road engaged in pioneering work with people he describes as removed from church culture. He rides a Harley and much of his work is among biker communities, where he operates in a missional and chaplaincy role. He also founded Zac's Place in Swansea. It started in the late Nineties when Sean hired a function room in a local bar every Sunday night to answer the deep spiritual questions his biker friends were putting to him. Now Zac's Place meets in its own venue in The Gospel Hall in George Street, Swansea and it has evolved into a ‘church for ragamuffins’ that also does outreach during the week, including a daily breakfast for the homeless, a weekly Bible study and an evening soup kitchen. Sean's tour will take him to Reading (10 September), Cambridge (11 September), Derby (12 September), Leeds (13 September), and Stoke (14 September).
Pray: for Sean, his work, his tour and all those at Zac’s Place. (Isa.6:8)
More: http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/article/sean.stillman.shares.stories.of.biker.mission/30521.htm
Scouts consider removing 'God' from promise
08 Dec 2012The UK Scouts Association has launched a public consultation on whether an alternative non-religious pledge should be introduced for atheists. The existing Scout Promise reads: ‘On my honour, I promise that I will do my best, to do my duty to God and to the Queen, to help other people and to keep the Scout Law.’ But the National Secular Society wrote to the Scouts in March to say that atheist children and potential leaders were being excluded because of the reference to God. The Scouting movement is 105 years old but numbers of children joining are on the increase. Membership is up from 444,936 in 2005 to 525,364 this year. There are a further 35,000 young people on waiting lists. UK Scout Chief Commissioner Wayne Bulpitt said, ‘We are regularly seeking the views of our members and we will use the information gathered by the consultation to help shape the future of Scouting for the coming years.’
Pray: that pressure from a small atheist minority will not cause the movement to revise its founding principles. (1Cor.3:10)
More: http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/social/scouts-consider-removing-god-from-
Scottish Women's Aid cases rising 'year on year'
31 Jul 2012Wigtownshire Women's Aid started as a counselling service 25 years ago but quickly extended its operations to women’s refuges. Co-ordinator Hazel Maider said they continue to see the need for this service rise in south west Scotland. ‘In part I think some of it is due to people being more aware of ‘abusive relationships’ now and should be asking for help sooner than they did in the past. ‘The service has been praised by the region's Deputy Chief Constable who said the role played by non-statutory organisations such as Women's Aid was vital. Women’s Aid UK reported - 2 women a week are killed by a current or former male partner - 1 in 4 women will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime, many of these on a number of occasions - one incident of domestic violence is reported to the Police every minute.
Pray: for crimes against women to receive increased attention, and for more professionals to be trained in recognising and addressing abuse within families. (Ps.140:4)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-19049586
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/
Cases of sexually transmitted infections in Scotland have trebled in the space of just ten years, prompting critics to call for a re-think in sexual health policy. The sharpest rise was in cases of genital chlamydia, with the number of diagnoses rocketing from 5,676 in 1999 to 18,277 in 2009. During the same period diagnoses of genital herpes increased from 933 to 2,627, while diagnoses of gonorrhoea nearly doubled. In addition, between 1999 and 2010 the number of HIV-infected people more than doubled from 156 to 360. John Deighan, parliamentary officer for the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, said: ‘The more we find out about the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections the more worrying the picture that emerges. The distorted ideas of sexual liberation which have been popular for a few decades have taken a terrible toll on the lives of many people’.
Parents who believe in traditional marriage are being sidelined by draft sex education guidance, Scotland for Marriage has warned. The pro-marriage group said under the proposals, teaching about marriage will be downgraded in sex education. Scotland for Marriage also warned that teachers who have concerns about the issue will not be protected. ‘The new draft sex education guidance is a real shocker, and shows where things are heading’, the group said. The organisation also voiced concerns that the new guidance undermines parental rights. It said children could be taught certain aspects of sex education in other classes despite parents removing them from formal lessons on the topic. The draft Government guidance on Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) education has been released following the Bill to redefine marriage in Scotland. The guidance removes reference to children learning about ‘the value placed on marriage by religious groups and others in Scottish society’.
A Scottish pastor has criticised the Scottish Government’s decision to give £1.6 million to a homosexual organization’s school campaign. Rev David Robertson, minister of St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee and director of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity, warned that the decision to give so much taxpayers’ money to Equality Network will further undermine Christianity and do little to stop bullying. He commented: The Equality Network have a definition of homophobia which means that anyone who disagrees with their position is homophobic. For example, I am not homophobic but am opposed to the redefinition of marriage. The Equality Network has now been given money, not to combat homophobic bullying, but to promote their own views and to suppress any other view. Ironically this is more likely to increase bullying than to decrease it.’ The Scottish Government is not giving money to combat other kinds of bullying.
Pray: that the funding allocated to this group will be withdrawn as it promotes homosexuality alone to the detriment of Christianity.