A brother in India received from a reliable source information issued on 17th October warning that the Taliban will be especially targeting Christian NGOs, organizations and believers. Please continue to pray for divine protection for all God’s people throughout this region. Pray for signs and wonders, for a Spirit of Revelation for those who are so blindly bent on hatred and persecution.

Pray: the Lord will give His people every place where they set their feet, that no one will be able to stand against the purposes of God in the region. (Jos.1:2-6)

A recent BBC poll recognised the majority of people believe the Queen should retain the title of Defender of the Faith. So it seems right that a celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II could not be complete without recognising the significant progress in the last 60 years of Bible translation in those countries claiming the Queen as their figurehead. Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) have facilitated language development work throughout the Commonwealth during the Queen’s reign. Within the 54 currently listed Commonwealth countries many of the minority language groups within her realm have received God’s translated word for the first time. As language development throughout the world grows, so the way is opened for mother tongue literacy and education and translated health information materials, along with translated Scriptures. WBT has been involved in the translation of 781 New Testaments and 27 complete Bibles, reaching around 145 million people speaking 749 languages. Current projects include 1,500 language programmes.

Pray: that the 350 million people from 2,040 languages still waiting for translation to begin would soon have the opportunity to hear and read about Jesus Christ as their Saviour. (Mk.16:15)

More: http://www.wycliffe.org.uk/pressreleaseswww.wycliffe.org.uk/pressreleases

More than half of British children don't eat a single portion of vegetables a day, according to Newsround's food survey. The Government recommends that everyone should have at least five portions of fruit and veg a day. But the survey shows 52 in every 100 children don't have any veg, and 44 in 100 have no fruit on a daily basis. What we're eating is a big issue at the moment because one in three children in the UK is obese or overweight. That figure has trebled in the last 25 years. The survey was of 1,432 boys and girls, aged 7 to 12, across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It also showed that lots of children are trying to make positive changes to their diet. It suggested that eight in 10 children have made changes like drinking more water and eating more fruit and vegetables recently.

The cost of housing is preventing nearly a quarter of 24 to-39 year-olds from starting a family, new research shows. Figures from the housing and homelessness charity Shelter and YouGov show that prospective parents across the UK are putting off having children because housing is so expensive, with 57 per cent waiting for up to five years to start a family. The survey also revealed that 16 per cent of people know someone who has moved in with a partner quicker than they would have liked to during the past year, because they could not afford to live alone. One in 10 of those surveyed admitted that they would like to leave their partner but have not done so because they could not afford another place to live. Shelter has called on politicians of all parties to commit to building more affordable homes, so that young people have the chance to start a family in a safe and stable home.

Almost 500 children across the West Midlands were victims of, or vulnerable to, sexual exploitation in the first half of last year, figures have revealed. A report found some children were trafficked by gangs and often passed between offenders. It is thought to be the first time data has been compiled for the whole region. Stephen Rimmer, a senior civil servant who led the project, said it would help improve support for children. He said it provided ‘a proper picture for the first time of the scale and nature’ of child sexual exploitation (CSE) in the area. ‘I think society has been slow to recognise that child sexual exploitation is insidious, it's spread right across the country - victims are often terrified and they will not be comfortable working with police and other agencies,’ he said.

Government has dropped the key section of ‘anti-terror’ guidance which threatened freedom of speech at university Christian Unions. Widespread concern had emerged over the draft guidance for the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, which said that university societies in Britain would be forced to hand over external speakers’ talks two weeks in advance for vetting. It has been suggested that specific guidance on the issue of external speakers may be published before the General Election but it would not have any legal force. The Christian Institute welcomed the change, while student charity UCCF said: ‘We are profoundly thankful to the Lord for overruling in this.’ The issue concerns the Prevent strategy which aims to counter terrorism by addressing ‘extremism’. In January, Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights warned that the ‘legal uncertainty’ about the definition of ‘extremist’ will have a seriously inhibiting effect on bona fide academic debate’. (See also Prayer Alert 04-2015)

A campaign to persuade more graduates to become religious education (RE) teachers has been launched. The Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC) wants to raise awareness of bursaries of up to £9,000 available to cover training costs. RE has grown in popularity, with entries to the full course GCSE rising 19% since 2012. A-level entries have also increased more than any arts, humanity or social science subject over the past 10 years. The Beyond the Ordinary campaign is the first to specifically target potential trainee RE teachers and is being funded by donations from charitable trusts. More than 800 teacher training places will be available in the subject from September. Successful candidates with firs-class honours degrees will be eligible to receive training bursaries of £9,000, with £4,000 per year available for graduates with upper second class degrees.

The UK will no longer tolerate the behaviour of Islamist extremists who ‘reject our values’, Home Secretary Theresa May has said. She invited individuals, families and communities to join a ‘partnership’ to tackle the issue head on. Mrs May said everyone in Britain had ‘responsibilities as well as rights’, and must respect laws, institutions and the rights of others. Speaking in London, she also outlined plans to ban hate preachers. She announced Tory plans for a review of Sharia courts in England and Wales to examine whether they are compatible with British values.' We will no longer tolerate your behaviour. We will expose your hateful beliefs for what they are.’ An Islamic State fighter has called for the death of Home Secretary Theresa May following the speech she made on Monday in which she called on British Muslims to help defeat extremism.