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Christian Aid Week (12-18 May 2013) Britain’s longest running door-to-door fundraising week, will this year be urging the British public to "bite back at hunger" and ask why, in a world where there is a enough food for everyone, one in eight people go to bed hungry every night. Hunger is the world’s biggest health risk. It kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. In developing countries, a third of all child deaths are linked to hunger. But tackling hunger with sustainable solutions has long-term benefits. Paul Langley, Head of Inspiring Participation at Christian Aid, said: ‘With one in eight people in the world going to bed hungry every night, Christian Aid Week offers the British public the opportunity to bite back at hunger. The money raised will help poor communities around the world grow more food by adapting to climate change and securing land rights, so they can meet their immediate food needs.
Pray: for all those working for Christian Aid week and for a massive public response to the appeal. (Pr.14:31)
More: http: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/18355
A Christian worker has launched a landmark legal action after she lost her job when she blew the whistle on what she says was a campaign of ‘race hate’ by fundamentalist Muslims. Nohad Halawi, who worked at Heathrow Airport, is suing her former employers for unfair dismissal, claiming that she and other Christian staff at the airport were victims of systematic
harassment because of their religion. She claims that she was told that she would go to Hell for her religion, that Jews were responsible for the September 11th terror attacks and that a friend was reduced to tears having been bullied for wearing a cross. Mrs Halawi worked in the duty-free section as a perfume saleswoman of the airport for 13 years but was dismissed in July. Her case is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, who say it raises important legal issues and also questions over whether Muslims and Christians are treated differently by employers.
Pray: for Mrs Halawi and for her case when it comes before the tribunal. (Ps.11:7)
An annual National Day of Prayer about abortion is to be held on October 27th. In the last 44 years over seven million babies have been aborted in the UK. It is hoped many will take a stand on the abortion issue next Thursday and pray that our nation would understand the horror of these statistics. Having a disabled child is often a difficult burden to undertake.We can pray for parents who have to make the choice between bringing up a disabled child or ending its life. Pray that the parents of disabled children will receive the support that they need, and thank God for the many people with physical or mental disability who live happy and fulfilled lives. Also on the 27th there will be a rally outside parliament between 1pm and 2 pm, with the intention of putting abortion back in the news and back on the agenda for public debate.
Pray: for those considering an abortion to receive advice independent of those who carry out abortions; and for many to
work and pray towards making abortion history in the U.K. (Ps.139:13)
A 57-year-old children's worker who was forced to resign over her desire not to work on Sundays appeared before an employment tribunal on Monday. Celestina Mba worked for over three years at the Brightwell Children's Home in Morden, a respite home for children with disabilities. She was forced to resign in 2010 after her employer chose to no longer accommodate her Christian beliefs. Her beliefs were initially respected by her employer, the London Borough of Merton, who were informed before she started the job that she would have difficulties working on a Sunday. But the Council later changed its mind and she was forced to choose between her job or her faith. Andrea Williams, Director of the Christian
Legal Centre said: ‘This is another case where we see intolerance towards the Christian faith and a lack of willingness to make accommodation for it.’
Pray: that the ruling by the employment tribunal will be reversed and justice would prevail. (Job.9:19)
In May 2010 the Government announced that it would end the immigration detention of children, but it is failing to do so say the Children's Society. Between May and the end of August 2011,in agregate 697 children were held at Greater London and South East ports. Almost one third were unaccompanied children. This could mean as many as 2,000 children could be detained each year. Shockingly the Home Office is not collecting information on the length of detention or reasons why the children have been detained. In December 2010 the Government published details of its new policy to end the detention of children; within this, the Government retained the right to only hold a few dozen families each year in border cases. The Children’s Society welcomed the progress made by the Government in response to the ‘Outcry!’ campaign; a joint initiative between The Children’s Society and Bail for Immigration Detainees to end the immigration detention of children.
Pray: that the authorities will stand by their promises. (Ps.36:3)
For the first time, the Children’s Commissioner for England has found a clear link between exposure to extreme images at a young age and a rise in “risky behaviours”. It emerged that children who regularly viewed pornography were more likely to have underage sex, develop “casual and hedonistic” attitudes, experiment with drink and drugs and indulge in sexting. Boys were much more likely to be exposed to porn than girls, it was revealed, resulting in “beliefs that women are sex objects”. The study – based on a large-scale review of international evidence – also found some evidence of a relationship between explicit images and a rise in sexual aggression and harassment of the opposite sex. Maggie Atkinson, the Children’s Commissioner, warned that “violent and sadistic imagery” was readily available among “very young children” because of easy access to the internet on home computers, tablets and mobile phones.
Pray: for a more serious response to address these issues by government, schools, parents, Internet providers and the media. (Col.3:23)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10076263/Childrens-Commissioner-pupils-raised-on-a-diet-of-porn.html
Frank Field claims that young people do much better in life if their mothers and fathers set clear boundaries for their behaviour as well as bonding with them and reading to them. The former Labour minister, who is now the Coalition’s ‘poverty tsar’, believes that the end of old-fashioned parenting has held back the poorest children, preventing them from getting good jobs. He proposes that the Foundation Years stage of education, which currently runs from birth to five, should begin when the mother-to-be registers as pregnant with a doctor. In his article today, Mr Field writes that social mobility has stalled over the past 50 years despite rising incomes. He claims the ‘subtle and influential’ force affecting life chances for children is the changing style of parenting in Britain. ‘The sociologist Geoffrey Gorer asked why England had moved by the 1950s from being a pretty violent and uncivilised nation to one of respectability.’ Tough love. Pray: that Frank Field’s report is accepted by all parents to improve the life chances of their young. (Mk 10:19)
The Archbishop of Westminster has affirmed marriage as providing the ‘best place’ for raising children, commenting that marriage gives children an opportunity to develop a sense of identity and experience the nurture and love of both their natural mother and father. Speaking at an annual mass for married couples in Westminster Cathedral on 26 May, the Most Revd Vincent Nichols criticised the increasing trend towards defining marriage ‘without any reference to children’, and warned that severing the vital bond between marriage and child-rearing could have ‘damaging consequences’ for society. He stated: ‘We know that the context of a marriage is the best place for children to be reared, providing them with a framework of love, within which they are sure of their biological heritage and not deprived, without grave reason, of the experience of being loved and raised by their natural mother and father.’
Pray: for the clear Biblical message emphasised by the Archbishop and the Church to be accepted more widely. (Pr.20:7)
Children are being put under too much pressure from exams, the Internet and celebrity culture, parents have warned. An investigation into children's welfare in 21st century Britain has found high levels of concern that their development is being damaged. Research by Mumsnet, the parenting website, found that adults believe it has never before been harder to be a child growing up. The study found that nearly nine out of ten parents feel their offspring are suffering from pressure to look like unrealistic images used in the media. Almost two thirds of those polled said that there was too much testing in schools, while three quarters admitted they struggled to spend enough time with their children because of their long working hours. More than half said the rise of the Internet had added to young people's problems, while 78 per cent said children do not play out enough on their own.
Pray: for young people and for secure, strong families who can support children faced with increasing life-pressures. (3Jn:4)
Children are still turning up to school hungry and skipping meals at lunchtime because they cannot afford to eat, research suggests. Some youngsters have been spotted stealing toast as they are so hungry, and in another case, a teacher found two girls sharing a packed lunch in the school toilets because one had no money for food, according to a report by the Children's Society charity. The study, based on a survey of around 570 teachers, reveals serious concerns among school staff. Almost three in four (72%) of the teachers surveyed said they have seen pupils coming into school with no lunch and no way to pay for one. Nearly half (45%) said that children are often hungry during the school day. The study, conducted with the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT), also reveals that two-thirds (66%) of school staff say that teachers are providing pupils with food or money for meals if they turn up for lessons hungry.
Pray: for the children who are missing out on lunches because of poverty or stigmatism. (Pr.10: