Displaying items by tag: Praise

‘As soon as the outbreak of the virus was announced, we stopped all our face-to-face meetings,’ says a secret Iranian believer. ‘In this time of crisis, we have had more than ten hours of prayer meetings every day. We created a special prayer schedule that we call “Frontline”, where prayer members can virtually walk in and out to come to pray together.’ Open Doors partners gave them online resources. But their situation is dire. Inflation is so high that people cannot afford to buy meat, poultry, or fruit. In these dark times for the country, the underground church is shining brightly. They share their food and sanitary items with their communities. Church members feel blessed to be able to do this work: ‘The distribution was a fabulous and unbelievable experience. People were astonished when we gave them the food - praising God with thanksgiving psalms, crying, hugging, and shouting.’

Deshu writes, ‘I was born and raised in a Hindu family, all totally involved in idol worship. I suffered greatly from demonic attacks. I tried all kinds of medical treatments and made lots of sacrifices to our idols, but none of it helped. My neighbours who are followers of Jesus began to share with me and encourage me. I visited when a group gathered in their home to worship Jesus. They were all wonderful people and they prayed for my healing. The Lord answered their prayers and I was miraculously delivered from the demonic attacks. He became so real to me. I have placed my faith in Christ alone and have been baptised. I am so thankful to the Lord for His healing power and salvation. Please pray for me as I desire to see others find eternal freedom in Jesus.’

Ruth Coghill, facing an unexpected pregnancy in her 40s, was offered an abortion by her doctor. ‘He let my husband and me know that it was now our choice whether we wanted to abort our baby. When I went home, I could not get that out of my mind. It was just not in my frame of reference. We had three beautiful children, and I had never been asked that. Was it just because of my age? What was this all about? Then I began to wonder; what would I have done if Bob hadn't been with me? What if I hadn't had somebody who loved me who was going to help me raise this child? All of these questions started coming to my mind. But I let it go, and our beautiful boy was born.’ Ruth chose life.

When Sara was 14, she left home and joined the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Attracted to the group’s Marxist ideology and in search of acceptance, Sara joined FARC to bring about a Colombian revolution. Years later she was urged by fellow guerrillas to denounce her family, who had become Christians; they knew the gospel ran counter to their violent ideology. But Sara left FARC, rejoined her family, got married, and now places her trust in Christ. Because God saved her from a violent life, she feels compelled to share His Word with others who have given their lives to the guerrilla group. She and her husband now distribute Bibles to youth. Their ministry has not gone unnoticed, as FARC leaders have threatened them many times.

An old video has appeared on social media of Premier League football star Angel Gomes being prayed for to be healed of pain from football-related injuries four years ago. When Gomes was 16 and captain of the England national under-17 team, he visited TB Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nations for a service. The video shows a controversial prophet praying for healing which resulted in Gomes jogging, shaking his legs and squatting showing he was healed of pain. This week Gomes received questions about the 2016 video and replied saying he was from a Christian family and was going through some pain issues. ‘From the outside looking in it looks crazy, but I was just practising my faith.’ He added that he didn't really need to explain himself but a lot of people were asking him what the video was about, I was just practising my faith’.

About 1.3m children in England will be able to claim free school meal vouchers in the summer holidays, after a campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford. The Manchester United forward, 22, welcomed the six-week voucher for eligible children, saying, ‘Look at what we can do when we come together’. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the move was a ‘welcome u-turn’. Boris Johnson praised Mr Rashford's ‘contribution to the debate around poverty’. During the lockdown the government has been providing vouchers to families whose children qualify for free meals, but had insisted this would not continue outside term time. However, following an open letter by Rashford, who had needed free school meals himself, and a petition signed by 266,000, this decision was reversed.

Community growing schemes are enabling churches to develop relationships with people who would never come to a Sunday service; because of that, opportunities arise for church members to pray with their neighbours in times of need or struggle. It is a new expression of what church is and can be when relating to the unchurched neighbourhood. Community gardening initiatives vary from gardens whose object is to provide social connection to sustainable food production, supplying foodbanks and other areas of need. Some churches are involved in both. The environmental adviser to the Archbishops’ Council sees the potential for community food-growing alongside therapeutic gardening in initiatives such as the Church Times Green Church Awards, churchyard initiatives, biodiversity projects, and the target to be carbon-neutral by 2030. There is a huge surge of interest from people wanting to grow something.

A priest in St Albans diocese is beating the ban on public worship inside churches while complying with lockdown restrictions. He will hold communion services in his church’s garden of remembrance. Canon Charles Royden has announced that he will be holding services under the ruling that allows an outdoor gathering of a maximum of six people. He is taking telephone bookings for five people to attend at half-hourly intervals in the church grounds on Sunday. He has already filled twelve services, from 9.30 am to 3 pm, and is taking reservations for the following weekend. Service duties will be shared with his colleague, Rev Dr Sam Cappleman. Canon Royden said the new rules say we can now share food and drink and enjoy outdoor picnics and barbeques. So the sharing of the holy sacrament is no longer prohibited. The possibility of catching Covid-19 from this practice is considered to be extremely low.

Eight minutes of phone footage captured his last breath, but in Houston they know George Floyd as a mentor to a generation of young men. Before moving to Minneapolis for a job opportunity through a Christian work programme, he spent almost his entire life in the black Third Ward, where he was called ‘Big Floyd’ and regarded as a community leader and elder statesmen. He wanted to break the cycle of violence he saw among young people, and used his influence to bring outside ministries to the area to do discipleship and outreach. The pastor of Resurrection Houston said, ‘George Floyd was a person of peace sent from the Lord, who helped the gospel go forward in that place. He wanted to see young men put their guns down and have Jesus instead of the streets.’

After Angel’s babysitter led him in a sinner’s prayer he felt there was a shield around him as a child, but as a teenager he followed his older brothers into crime, drugs, alcohol, rage, revenge, and jail. Finally, after committing an offence that could have imprisoned him for life, he listened to a preacher: ‘God loves you so much. He doesn’t want this for your life. He has more for you.’ His sisters were praying for him. He broke down, fell to his knees, and said, ‘Here I am, Lord. Here is my life. I am totally out of it. I do not know what to do. I have heard about you. I need you to take over because I am out of control.’ For years he mocked people who were healed and fell under the power of the Spirit on Christian television programming. But when he finally broke before God, he decided to go to church.