Displaying items by tag: Praise

After raiding fifteen sites in Luton, police found eleven Romanian and Hungarian women in their twenties, speaking little or no English, believed to be victims of sexual exploitation. Eight men were arrested and charged with managing and controlling brothels and money laundering. The raids were led by 150 police officers and specialist staff, who also seized substantial amounts of cash. Women are offered contracts to come here to work in a proper job, but ‘unfortunately that is not the case’. Inspector Jim Goldsmith said that there has been a dramatic rise over recent months in off-street sex trade in Luton where numerous brothels have opened. ‘We try to keep these women as safe as we can after rescue, and that was the purpose of these raids - to take them out of that environment, give them the opportunity to exit that life, and get them back to their families.’

At her installation as bishop, Dr Rose Hudson-Wilkin asked the congregation to think what it might look like if we became a unifying body, focussing not on what separates us but on what we have in common. ‘What if we recognised God’s presence as we seek to ensure that the resources we have been blessed with are not for amassing personal wealth but to be shared in such a way that those in poverty are no longer in need? She added, ‘If we are going to experience that oneness of purpose that Jesus prayed for, we need to be identified more with the name of Jesus. We have kept him hidden in our beautiful churches and cathedrals that people visit on our terms.’ She challenged the congregation to think about how they might share the gospel in a natural way on social media, challenge policy-makers, and make decisions that will help their community.

23 people died following cartel gun battles in a town near the US border. Mexico’s murder rate is up 2% this year, but God’s Spirit is moving. Recent evangelistic meetings in Sonora attracted 1,500+ people, 100 became Christians, and 75,000+ Spanish Bibles and Christian resources were distributed. As a leader walked to his car after an event, a man approached him saying, ‘I was behind the stage drinking Heinekens, and I heard you talking at the evangelistic meeting. I spent 10 years in Pelican Bay because I killed two people. I don’t know why I do bad when I want to do right.’ The man sobbed and was given a comforting embrace. ‘Then I led him in the plan of salvation. He gave his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. We gave him a free Bible and got him introduced to a local pastor.’

Thousands of children aged between three and seventeen live in slavery on Lake Volta, working up to 18 hours a day in the fishing industry. They are paid in daily abuse and threats, and the only way out is to drown or be rescued. Praise God for two convictions when the accused men pleaded guilty to human trafficking. One of them, who used the children for labour on his fishing boat, must also pay a fine or spend an additional year to the five-year sentence if unable to pay. While IJM has previously seen convictions for child labour in Ghana, these are their first for human trafficking, and a significant step toward ending slavery in the fishing industry.

SAT-7 constantly receive testimonies of people whose lives are being transformed by Jesus. Some grew up in Christian homes, others first met with Jesus through their television screens. Some had a chance encounter with a Christian and wanted to find out more, others first discovered His joy through picking up a Bible in their own language. SAT-7 have just produced a prayer guide to give us a glimpse into some of their stories. Over the course of Advent they will take people on a journey across the Middle East and North Africa, through the 25 countries where they work, visiting a different country each day, and discovering plenty of reasons to rejoice – as well as ideas for prayer requests.

Iceland’s largest fishing company, Samherji, exploited legal loopholes and secrecy jurisdictions to enable corruption and environmental exploitation on a global scale. It used an anonymous shell company to launder and transfer 70 million dollars’ worth of illegal fishing activities off the coasts of West Africa, and bribed members of the Namibian government. Two Namibian ministers have already resigned over allegedly giving preferential access to fishing grounds. Samherji used shell companies in Dubai, Mauritius and Cyprus. Most of the money was traced to a bank account at a state-owned bank: the bank’s largest shareholder is the Norwegian state, which holds a 34% stake.

In Middle East’s honour-shame culture, a raped woman brings her family shame and they have a duty to kill her. Three Yazidi girls were taken as slaves by IS. Later, while their father was asleep, he saw Jesus. He recognised Him by His nail-pierced hands. Jesus said, ‘You don’t need to kill your daughters. I paid for everyone, so go and get them.’ The man woke and thought this can’t be real. He went back to sleep and had exactly the same dream. He woke up again, went back to sleep, and had the same dream for a third time - one dream for each daughter. He gathered the Yazidi elders and told them what happened. ‘Jesus showed up in my tent, I’m going to get my girls and not kill them.’ Because of Jesus, he welcomed his girls home and persuaded other Yazidi men to take back their daughters without harming them.

Kanye West's Jesus is King album has prompted the American Bible Society to offer 1,000 free Bibles. ABS said that curiosity about Christianity has soared since the US rapper released his first Christian album: ‘When we saw an influential cultural figure like Kanye inspiring young people to seek out answers to their faith questions, that was an opportunity to provide God's word and point people to it as a source for their questions about faith.’ Up to 1,000 copies of the Good News translation are available to fans who apply on the ABS website. According to Google Trends, online searches for ‘Jesus’ and ‘Christianity’ shot up significantly in the USA after West released his album on 25 October.

Ethiopia is unique. It has its own alphabet and cuisine, and the people do not fit in with either sub-Saharan Africa or the Arabised North African peoples. 98% of the people claim some sort of religious affiliation; there is a spiritual hunger among Ethiopians. Whereas 3% were evangelicals in 1970, by 2015 this figure had risen to 19%. They are becoming Christ’s ambassadors to unreached peoples. The Kale Heywet (Word of Life) church supports 250 missionaries, working among 16 people groups. Wycliffe Bible Translators are working with Ethiopians to translate the Old Testament into the language of the Eastern Oromo people, most of whom are Muslim.

A group of pastors and faith leaders had an exclusive meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on 29 October. During that meeting, Trump asked the pastors to lay hands on him and pray. The meeting, according to several pastors, involved discussions of the president's accomplishments on behalf of evangelical Christians, including defending religious freedom, battling opioid addiction, reducing abortion, and nominating conservative and pro-life supreme court judges. Soon afterwards, several leaders posted photos of the meeting and prayer. Some praised the president's pro-family and pro-biblical values, while others offered prayer against what they see as unjust impeachment hearings.