Displaying items by tag: Africa

According to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (2012), more than half of 15- to 19-year old girls have experienced physical or sexual violence. In an effort to reduce the large number of children who remain exposed to abuse, exploitation, and violence, International Justice Mission (IJM) will work to set up community level referral mechanisms, legal counselling, and aftercare for child survivors of sexual violence. While child protection continues to be a critical challenge in Uganda, this project will enhance services and build strong violence prevention programmes for child survivors and those most at risk of sexual violence.

Rights advocates want to end Egypt’s long-tolerated child marriage tradition. Azza is in her early 20s and has given birth four times. When she was twelve her father decided it was time she got married. It mattered little to him that the groom was over twice Azza’s age and she had never met him. Azza and her sisters didn’t go to school; only their brothers were educated. In Egypt’s poor, rural communities, girls are deprived of education and become child brides at puberty, despite the legal age of marriage in Egypt being 18. But now the prosecution of an imam for marrying dozens of underage girls marks a shift in social attitudes. It also sends a message that the authorities are serious about enforcing the law. Maya Morsi of the National Council for Women (NCW) has urged parliament to raise the legal age of marriage to 21.

The 2017 Global Leadership Summit (GLS) is a series of two-day leadership training events in October, expected to be attended by 13,000 SA leaders. A hallmark of the GLS has been its ability to deliver a unique blend of vision, inspiration and practical skills that attendees can immediately apply. There are 21 events in 18 cities and towns. This annual summit was founded 22 years ago out of a vision in the heart of Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Church in Chicago to bring the best leadership training to the local church. It has just kept on growing, consistently inspiring church, ministry, business and organisation leaders. During 2017 it will reach 1,375 venues in 128 countries, teaching civility and respect, building resilience, increasing people's creativity and uniqueness, and reinventing performance management and fearless leadership.

“May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendour to their children. May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us — yes, establish the work of our hands.” — Psalm 90:16–17.

Bethany Children's Trust's training resource, entitled “the Heart of the Matter”, for pastors and community leaders, has now been piloted in Lomé, Togo. In total 23 attended the workshop, none of whom had engaged openly with this issue before. All have been encouraged and challenged by the training.

Testimony

“It was a wonderful day. The participants are very proactive in the group work and sketches; they are asking questions and humble.” — local trainer.

“Alleluia, thank you for your quality training, your life and your fire that we have received.” — local community leader.

Thank God

Praise God for Gad and Liz Numadi of MECI, Togo, that champions the cause of these children who are accused and abused. Thank God for their vision, passion, and initiative to bring people together to tackle this issue.

Thank God for all who attended this workshop in Lomé, including some civic leaders as well as pastors from the churches.

Please Pray

Ask God to stir all these local pastors and leaders to be change–makers in their community, using their influence to persuade and empower others, and never to become weary or fearful of tackling the issue of witchcraft related child abuse.

Pray that the increased awareness of the harm that these accusations cause will change perceptions in Togolese society, and provoke an active response to protect the most vulnerable.

May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us. — Psalm 90:17

Susie Howe - Director

The Bethany Children's Trust
http://www.bethanychildrenstrust.org.uk

The ministry of health in South Sudan has said that this year’s malaria is the worst the country has ever seen. Over 900,000 cases had been reported by 21 August. This life-threatening blood disease is transmitted through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito. Once an infected mosquito bites a human, the parasites multiply in the host’s liver before infecting and destroying red blood cells. More than 76% of disease-related deaths in South Sudan are from malaria. Authorities have stepped up efforts to fight the disease, but there is a lack of funds. Pray for the malaria victims in northern villages unreachable by road. Pray for the provision of mosquito nets for poor people who cannot afford to purchase their own. Pray for the majority of the population, who do not currently have access to health care or immunisation programmes, See also:

Liam Fox, secretary of state for international trade,  has visited Mozambique, which is in a debt crisis after surreptitiously borrowing from two London-based banks in 2013. The loans remained hidden until 2016: none were agreed by the Mozambique parliament, so they were illegal. Commenting on Mr Fox's visit, the director of the Jubilee Debt Campaign said, ‘The UK needs to take responsibility for the actions of these banks in arranging $2 billion of loans to Mozambique. Credit Suisse should be investigated as to whether it undertook the enhanced due diligence required by UK money-laundering regulations. Furthermore, the Government should act immediately to ensure all loans to governments given under UK law are publicly disclosed when they are given.’

The map of disasters is immense, according to agencies tracking changes in climate and disaster events. In south Asia 45 million people have been adversely affected by floods and mudslides, with 16 million children and their families needing life-saving support. Pray for emergency aid to reach areas cut off by the floods and against the spread of waterborne diseases, such as cholera, amongst communities living in temporary shelters. On the African continent, 500 lives were lost in Sierra Leone and many are still missing after mudslides.  Hurricane Harvey caused flooding and devastation on the Gulf Coast, and Florida has declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Irma moves in its direction. According to reports, 95% of the island of Barbuda in the Caribbean has been ‘apocalyptically’ destroyed, and its prime minister blames this on climate change. He criticised world leaders who deny global warming. See also

On 30 August, foreign secretary Boris Johnson and international development secretary Priti Patel visited Nigeria to assess British assistance in the fight against the Islamic terror group Boko Haram. A Nigerian special adviser on religious affairs, Canon Nenman Gowon, said, ‘While the attention of the British government and other international development agencies is turned to the devastation caused by Boko Haram in the northeast, very little or nothing is even mentioned about the hundreds of villages and people killed by the Islamic Fulani cattle herders who are still prowling Plateau, Adamawa, Taraba, and other states.’ The adviser blamed the president for turning a blind eye to the crises in Nigeria’s middle belt, ‘because it is a predominantly Christian region and the Fulani Muslims are of the president’s tribe’.

The Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) is challenging a government decision to impose an unelected leadership committee on the church. On 23 August the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments, which oversees religious affairs in Sudan, appointed an alternative executive committee led by Mr Angelo Alzaki. Before this, eight SCOC leaders had been arrested and charged with trespassing on church headquarters and refusing to hand over control of the church to him. They were later released on bail. The SCOC's leadership said that this action violates the procedures of the denomination. The situation mirrors the Sudan Evangelical Presbyterian Church, where a government-backed church committee that was not constituted in accordance with church procedures has sold church land to developers.

Onesphore Rwaje, Archbishop of Rwanda, told children to see themselves as future leaders of church and country. He made his comments as children gathered at an event organised by the Mothers’ Union of the Anglican Church in Rwanda. Their provincial coordinator said the MU is ‘helping to create an environment that is sympathetic to the protection of children and the advancement of their rights’. The archbishop asked them to do everything with a target to aim for, and encouraged leaders to build self-confidence in this generation of blessed children. Foreign missionaries and church-linked non-governmental organisations operate in the country. The missionaries are encouraged to promote their religious beliefs, and the government welcomes their development assistance. Pray for a strong Christian ethos to grow in Rwanda through these Christian bodies.