Across the nations, people are crossing barriers to proclaim the crucified and risen Christ and are expressing His love and compassion among those who live and die without Him. SIM is just one of many mission agencies. Originally known as Sudan Inland Mission, in the 1980s SIM joined other mission agencies and became known as ‘Serving in Mission’ .It has 4,000+ workers in 70+ countries serving God among many diverse people groups in every continent. These workers are an international community of seventy nationalities, in a wide variety of career fields. Please pray for more peoples with a variety of skills and who love Jesus to be willing to use their skills on a ministry team in a foreign country. Pray for more Christ-centred churches to be birthed. Pray for those working together with established churches to fulfil God’s mission across cultures locally and globally.
The Zika virus, already common in parts of Africa and Asia and linked with hundreds of severe birth defects, is now spreading with alarming speed in the Americas. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has now declared this an international public health emergency ‘of alarming proportions’, requiring a coordinated international response. Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff has issued a decree allowing public officials to enter abandoned or empty homes, by force if necessary, to eradicate the breeding grounds of the Aedes mosquito (which carries the virus). The officials will carry out educational campaigns and create public guidelines. They will target the mosquito breeding grounds in the north-eastern states, whose governors attended a teleconference with the president on Friday, along with the governors of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states. After the teleconference Rousseff admitted that Brazil is ‘losing the fight against Aedes’ but vowed that it will not lose the war.
Amid the scare over the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has been declared an international public health emergency by WHO, scientists in Hyderabad say they have developed not one but two vaccines, using a live Zika virus imported officially. This is claimed to be the world's first vaccine for the virus, which is spreading rapidly in Latin America. WHO officials have expressed concern that Zika could hit Africa and Asia as well. Dr Krishna Ella, chairman and MD of Bharat Biotech Ltd, said, ‘On Zika, we were probably the first vaccine company in the world to file a vaccine candidate patent (about nine months ago).’ Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, said that they would investigate the feasibility of taking it forward and that the vaccine could be a good example of a 'Made in India' product.
China: conflicting signals
05 Feb 2016
Legally registered churches are under attack while illegal house churches are being invited into official dialogue. Is China heading for another Mao-era persecution or opening up to religious freedom? With conflicting signals across a range of social, economic and political issues, nothing is certain. There is, however, reason for optimism: the gospel is alive and something must happen. Gu Yuese has served as the senior pastor at China’s largest government-approved Protestant church, a megachurch with ten thousand members. He has also held a leadership role in China’s state-approved denomination, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). In January the TSPM and China Christian Council forcibly removed Gu from his Church in a move to ‘move one step closer towards the proper self-construction and management of church locations’ and sort out the relationship between the province and the two municipal Christian organisations. Gu was arrested and sent to a ‘black’ jail (a facility falling outside the established penal system) where he is undergoing a criminal investigation.
World horrified as scores of children massacred
05 Feb 2016
Last weekend, Boko Haram burned children alive in Nigeria, and IS bombed schoolchildren in Syria. Homes were reduced to piles of ashes and left smouldering in the Nigerian village of Dalori following a Boko Haram rampage. For four hours heavily armed gunmen and at least three suicide bombers attacked, setting much of the village aflame. Children were burned alive in their huts. Two nearby refugee camps were also attacked. Nigerian army troops arrived, but were outmanned and outgunned by terrorists. 3,000 miles away, IS detonated two suicide car bombs in a neighbourhood south of Damascus protected by Hezbollah. As people gathered to help dead and injured children, an IS terrorist wearing a suicide vest set off another blast. 45 were killed and 110 wounded.
Three Christian students went on trial yesterday in Egypt for allegedly insulting Islam. A thirty-second video, filmed by their teacher, showed one student kneeling to pray while reciting verses from the Qu’ran and two others standing behind him laughing. One student ran his hand under the praying student’s chin, as if beheading him. At the time of writing this article, the outcome of the trial is not yet known; however, the teacher has already been sentenced to three years in prison. Coptic Christians have long complained of the injustices they have suffered in this predominantly Muslim country. Christians make up 10% of Egypt’s population. Egypt’s president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has vowed to crack down on extremism and to get rid of harsh blasphemy laws, but such blasphemy charges have increased in recent months.
Syria: churches responding to atrocities
05 Feb 2016
Christians are facing atrocities not only from the so-called Islamic State but also 45 other different terrorist groups in Syria ;some are linked with Al-Qaeda. Since 2011 it has been clear that terrorist groups have wanted to take over and create an ‘Islamic state’. Their actions affect Muslims and the infrastructure of society as well as Christians, but Christians are worst affected. Churches were not prepared to deal with persecution or oppression and did not know how to respond, but they are catching up rapidly. At least five church networks in Syria are very involved with humanitarian aid to both Christians and non-Christians in their areas. Caring for people of other faiths was not a priority before, but now social action and evangelism are going hand in hand. Most churches are now reaching out with aid and education services for the displaced, the poor and those impacted by war. Social action is becoming a priority.
Praying through Lent 2016
03 Feb 2016
At the World Prayer Centre we believe that prayer is foundational to everything we do as Christians. The 40 day season before Easter is traditionally marked in many churches as a time to discover more about God through prayer and fasting. Here are some resources to encourage and equip us from ministries we commend to you.
BEYOND THE LETTER BOX
The Neighbourhood Prayer Network's Lent Resource is designed for individuals, home groups or whole Church engagement. Each week has a scripture and one neighbour challenge for the week. For those of us who would like to do one small thing each day (Sunday's excluded as a day of rest), there are an additional 33 suggestions for you. There are also 7 prayer themes each week. The whole resource is 20 pages long and costs just £1 per booklet. www.neighbourhoodprayer.net
The Fast UK
KEEP BLESSING YOUR COMMUNITY
Network Norwich Call to Prayer's latest blessing booklet can offer an inspirational 40-day prayer guide that would lend itself well to daily prayer throughout Lent. Each day has a short declaration, scripture, blessing and prayer linked with one of the many names of God, to be spoken over the city, town or village where we live. £3.00 + postage and packing orders to E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
CATCHING THE WAVE
This is a 40-day prayer guide encouraging us to pray for our communities and to pray for revival ideal for us during Lent produced by the organisers of TryPraying www.thereishope.co.uk/resources/
Try praying is for people who don't do church. The Try Praying booklet & app includes a simple challenge to try praying for seven days and see what happens. www.trypraying.org
PASSIONART: BE STILL celebrates Lent with a creative twist.
Onsite in six of Manchester's most iconic city centre venues, comprising of contemporary installations, paintings, sculpture and live performances by internationally renowned and local artists, uncovers moments where the sacred inhabits the ordinary. This year's vision is to call our busy city to "be still.... and know that I am God" www.passionart.guide/about/
Online access to 40 days reflections.
FAST AS YOU CAN
The Filling Station Network's plan is to pray and fast for Lent, which starts on the 10th of Feb, and pray for the Lord to work powerfully across the nation, Europe and the USA. Using the fasting model practiced by Daniel in the Old Testament, fast from 'rich foods, wine & delicacies' not total abstinence, as part of this prayer life. Find out more.
24-7 PRAYER – Lent podcasts www.24-7prayer.co.uk