Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

For newly-qualified teacher Maya, sexual harassment started in her first week at a prestigious London state secondary school with a culture of misogyny thinly veiled as banter. Senior colleagues made inappropriate comments about her body, and she and her female colleagues experienced a barrage of abuse from male students. Many times over, female staff who reported problems saw no action taken. Maya’s close friend had her phone stolen by children, who rang her father saying, ‘We’re going to rape your daughter outside school.’ She wasn’t supported by the school at all. A year later Maya left the school, and soon afterwards she left teaching altogether. A recent study of over 1,200 female teachers by a teachers’ union revealed that one in five has been sexually harassed at school by a colleague, manager, parent or pupil. Nearly a third of these were subjected to unwanted touching, two-thirds to inappropriate comments, and over half to inappropriate sexual remarks.

Mainland Europe is a mission field on our doorstep. Jean Darnall and Smith Wigglesworth both prophesied God’s Spirit would flow from the UK to mainland Europe. Some from the UK and other European nations have relocated to France as ‘missionaries’. The evangelical church in France has seen remarkable growth equivalent to one new church every ten days. There are now 650,000 evangelical Christians in France. At the same time, the Roman Catholic church has declined, but there is a thriving RC charismatic movement. Social despair, mistrust of political leaders, and high unemployment, combined with a cultural willingness to discuss and debate have created conditions favourable to evangelical church growth. Now a Paris-based ministry with a vision for France and Europe called Jesus2Europe invites UK intercessors to join in prayer for France between 1 and 7 June. You can sign up for a prayer slot at

A survey of 2,195 GPs in England found that 39% were likely to leave by 2022, and 61% of those over the age of 50 planned to quit within five years. Pressures in general practice have reached an all-time high. Workload has escalated by at least 16% over the last seven years, but the share of the NHS budget general practice receives is less than it was a decade ago. GP numbers are falling, and many GPs are burnt-out. GPs have increasing workloads, too little time to do justice to the job, and a pile of paperwork to meet external bodies’ requirements and increasing patient demands. A representative from hospital trusts said that the figures reflect a gap between what the NHS is asked to deliver and the resources available, following almost a decade of austerity. There are not enough staff, ambulances, community and mental health capacity or hospital beds to cope. Also see the next article.

Many are saying the ‘hostile environment’ policy is damaging the NHS. The current visa rules place a cap on how many non-EU workers can come to the UK, and this ceiling has been hit for six months in a row, preventing more overseas doctors from coming. Many believe the visa rules aren’t working in the best interests of NHS patients, and think that ministers ought to do more to ensure hospitals get adequate numbers of staff. Labour’s shadow health secretary said that we are turning away trained doctors who want to come and work in the UK while the NHS has a workforce crisis with 100,000 posts unfilled. Vacancy rates for nurses and doctors are rising every year. Health trust bosses raised concerns over the visa scheme recently when it emerged that 100 Indian doctors had been denied visas to work in the UK. See also the previous article.

Last week a Birmingham mother was jailed for forcing her daughter to marry a relative almost twice her age. This week a Leeds couple were found guilty of luring their 19-year-old daughter to Bangladesh in 2016, in an attempt to force her to marry her first cousin and have a baby with him. She was rescued after she texted her location to her boyfriend, who then told West Yorkshire Police.

The path to suicide is usually gradual, progressing from suicidal thoughts to planning, then attempting, suicide, and finally death. Mark Harris of the Samaritans recently commented on ways of talking and listening that can help others in crisis. He said that making small talk with a stranger might save their life. Walking up to someone who seems distant or distressed and asking ‘Are you OK?’ or ‘Do you fancy a coffee?’ might be enough to break the chain of suicidal thinking and move them to seek help. He said people should not worry about saying the wrong thing. Often, someone in crisis is looking for an intervention and saying something, however small or seemingly silly, is better than walking on by. ‘By asking questions you are eliciting a response from someone, and you are at once engaging with them.’ In 2016, there were 4,941 suicide deaths in England and Wales - but a much larger number consider taking their own lives. See 

The Taoiseach’s comments in February when the 8th amendment referendum announcement was made were that abortions should be ‘safe, legal and rare’. In the United Kingdom abortion is not rare. The abortion law currently being proposed by Ireland's government goes even further than the already very permissive UK law. The British law allows one in every five pregnancies to end in abortion each year. An article written by the Iona Institute sets out exactly how what is on offer in Ireland is more permissive than the British law. To read the article click the ‘More’ button. The most recent statistics on abortions carried out in England and Wales are for 2016; when there were 190,406 carried out for residents and 4,810 for non-residents.

We need to see change in the United Kingdom. It is time to turn to Jesus. It is time for His Kingdom to come, and His will to be done here. You are invited to join thousands of Christians praying, worshipping and declaring for God’s Kingdom to come in our families, churches and communities, praying for an unprecedented turning to God in our nation. This is the eleventh Trumpet Call that the World Prayer Centre has held in Birmingham. Speakers include R T Kendall, Malcolm Duncan and Yinka Oyekan.

Investors, including the Church of England, are demanding that big oil companies take more concrete action to curb global warming. This week the Church Commissioners, who are Shell shareholders, said they would like to see ‘targets that are firmer, creating the necessary internal and external accountabilities, providing a clear impetus for action. Having a target provides us with the clarity we need to have an informed discussion with Shell’s board members about your response to the transition to a low carbon economy.’ They added, ‘We recognise that companies have been reluctant to set targets, expressing concern that they might constrain their ability to act and to take advantage of opportunities as they emerge. We do not agree with this argument.’ Last year Shell set a climate ambition, but did not state specific targets. See also

Human trafficking and modern slavery are amongst the most widespread crimes in the world, affecting millions daily. These crimes happen in every corner of the world and can include any person, regardless of age, socio-economic background or location. As a result, each case can look very different. The following are some of the most commonly reported forms of human trafficking and modern slavery: sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, domestic servitude, forced marriage, forced criminality, child soldiers and organ harvesting. The first step in stopping trafficking is to recognise it. Pray for more understanding of what to look out for in communities and at workplaces. Pray for teachers, social workers, medical practitioners, and other parents to recognise child neglect, emotional abuse, physical and sexual abuse, and forced marriage. Also see the next article.