Darren Moore, who has played for clubs such as Portsmouth, West Brom and Derby during an impressive career, revealed he converted to Christianity after Bradford City assistant boss Wayne Jacobs invited him to a Christians in Sport meeting back in 1999. ‘Even though I had become a professional footballer, I had doubts that I wasn’t good enough. But after I attended that meeting I became a Christian and I realised that God loved me, it was an amazing experience. He said: ‘This is a 24-7 thing for me. Just as you build a relationship with your partner or your wife, you have to build one with the Lord. He wants to be with you through the good and the bad times.’ In his spare time, as well as being a regular at church, he also is active in Christian charity Faith in Football along with fellow stars Linvoy Primus and Lomana Lua-Lua.

Pray: for Darren and that his witness will encourage others to seek the Lord. (1Ch.16:10)

More: http://www.christiantoday.co.uk/article/pro.footballer.faith.is.247/28463.htm

hristians across the UK are being invited to pray for prisoners during 'Prisons Week' from 17 to 23 November. The campaign, which has been running since 1975 and uses the tagline 'Stand in the Light', aims to bring attention to the issues surrounding imprisonment. With a committee made up of representatives from various Christian denominations and organisations supporting prisons ministry, it encourages churches and congregations to get involved with schemes run in their local prisons, challenging people to say ‘I'm in’. This campaign comes as recent figures released by the Ministry of Justice reveal that 200,000 children were affected by the imprisonment of a parent in 2009, which is a greater number than experienced their parents' divorce. 85,000 people are currently in custody in England and Wales, and re-offending rates are high. Organisers behind Prisons Week contend that the social impact of crime and imprisonment means that the future of a generation is at risk, and action must be taken.

Pray: for all those who are imprisoned: and for their families, especially the children. Pray for those reaching out with support and encouragement. (Rom.12:8)

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/prisons.week.a.call.to.community/34649.htm

Prisons have been put on alert for copycat attacks after a warden was beaten and held hostage by Muslim prisoners in a high-security jail. It is thought the prisoners behind the attack were inspired by the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich last week. The prison officer was threatened with a makeshift blade and held captive in an office for four hours at Full Sutton jail in East Yorkshire on Sunday night. He was badly beaten by the inmates and was freed only when riot squad officers stormed into the room. He was left with a broken cheekbone, while a female officer suffered slashing injuries to her arm when she tried to help him. The incident – which is being investigated by counter-terrorism police – prompted warnings that former service personnel working in jails could be at risk from radical Islamist inmates. Senior prison officials have sent an email to high-security jails and young offender institutions warning them about the threat.

Pray: that the prison officers will be protected from those who have radical tendencies and from further threats. (Ez.4:22)

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2331919/Full-Sutton-Jail-attack-Terror-police-called-

Christian Concern has launched a new campaign this Easter, urging Prime Minister David Cameron to back up his recent words of support for the Christian faith with some ‘solid action’. Last week,the Prime Minister held a private ‘Easter Reception’ at Downing Street, where he told a gathering of senior church leaders that the nation needed Christian values and also that he supported a ‘fight back’ against rising secularism. Mr Cameron told attendees: ‘I think there's something of a fight-back going on, and we should welcome that. The values of the Bible, the values of Christianity are the values that we need.’ However, critics have noted that this does not align with the recent Government submission to the European Court of
Human Rights, which backs the rulings against four Christians in their freedom of belief and conscience cases that are currently before the European Court.

Pray: for our Prime Minister and his government that they would recognise the importance of the Christian faith. (Tit.1:13)

More: http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/religious-freedom/prime-minister-urged-to-support-christian-cases

Conservative MPs are calling on David Cameron to drop his sa me-sex ‘marriage’ plans in order to halt the progress of UKIP. According to The Times, the Prime Minister has been told that he must uphold traditional Conservative values to prevent core Conservatives from abandoning him for Nigel Farage. Former Defence Minister, Sir Gerald Howarth, said thathis constituents were ‘fed up to the back teeth’ with the Government’s failure to uphold its promises. He urged the Prime Minister to adopt a plan that would include ditching the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, as well as taking Britain out ofthe European Convention on Human Rights and holding an EU referendum. Peter Bone, the Wellingborough MP, said that the government should scrap proposals to redefine marriage and cut overseas aid. He added: ‘those are things that Conservatives want and that’s what UKIP voters want’.

Pray: that following the recent elections and the pressure on the Prime Minister to drop the same sex bill that it will in fact be scrapped. (1Ki.8:45)

More: http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/family/conservatives-urge-prime-minister-to-drop-same-sex-marriage-bill

David Cameron is facing calls to revise exam league tables to ensure that religious education is at the heart of the secondary school curriculum. A campaign to include RE in the new English baccalaureate has won the support of 110,000 people, including faith leaders and 100 MPs. Before last year’s election, Mr Cameron said any petition with more than 100,000 signatures would be eligible for debate in the House of Commons. The RE. ACT campaign is calling on the Prime Minister to honour his pre-election pledge and allow MPs to discuss revising the school reforms. The Coalition’s new English baccalaureate was introduced in an attempt to address years of ‘dumbing down’ in which pupils have been able to opt for so-called soft courses at the expense of traditional academic subjects. (See also Prayer Alert 04 & 11-2011)

Pray: that the results of this campaign will lead our government to include RE in the baccalaureate. (Dt.32:2)

More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/8501012/David-Cameron-under-pressure-to-boost-religion-GCSEs.html

David Cameron said atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins ‘just doesn’t really get it’ on the issue of faith schools. The Prime Minister made the comments as he answered questions from well-known figures for a Guardian newspaper article. Prof Dawkins asked the Prime Minister: ‘Why do you support faith schools for children who are too young to have chosen their faith?’. Mr Cameron responded: ‘I support faith schools on the basis of the proof that over the years they’ve been good schools. Why? Because the organisation that’s backing the school – the church or the mosque or the synagogue – is part of the community. It brings a sense of community and a sense of responsibility and the backing of an institution to a school. The church was providing good schools long before the state ever got involved, and we should respect the fact that it’s not just the state that can provide education – other bodies, too’.

Pray: that the Prime Minister's comments would bring reason to Prof Dawkins’ comments. (Dt.32:2)

More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/prime-minister-rebuts-dawkins-faith-school-attack/?utm_source=feedburner &utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+christianinstitute+%28The+Christian+Institute%29

A primary school teacher faced disciplinary action because she didn’t want to read to her class from a storybook about gay penguins. The teacher, who has not been named, works in a school in a London Borough and her case has been told to a committee of MPs looking the gay marriage Bill. Another teacher, from Scotland, says he was pressurised to promote gay marriage against his will and it contributed to a breakdown. The two teachers have remained anonymous because they fear for their careers, but have permitted a lawyer to outline their cases to Parliament. Top lawyers have warned the Government that its plans to redefine marriage could mean Christian teachers face the sack if they refuse to endorse gay marriage in the classroom. In January, a senior source in the Education Department admitted that the Government may be powerless to stop this happening.

Pray: for the protection of those who wish to abstain from the gay agenda in their workplaces. (Dt.31.6)

More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/primary-teacher-job-threat-over-gay-marriage-storybook/

Children as young as four are being removed from school for sexual misconduct, figures have revealed. They are among almost 15,000 youngsters who have been expelled or suspended for sex offences – including assaults on teachers – in the past five years. More than 1,100 were primary school children, some in reception classes. Boys aged just four have been kicked out of schools in Dorset, Yorkshire, Wiltshire and the West Midlands. Incidents in County Durham included indecent exposure and possessing sexual material. In Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, a boy of ten was suspended for inappropriately touching four pupils. Offences catalogued from all the figures included sexual abuse, assault, harassment, and lewd behaviour. The statistics were revealed in a Freedom of Information request made by The Sun answered by 148 of the 174 local education authorities in England and Wales.

Pray: that these shocking figures can be reversed and the Education Authorities find ways of dealing with the problem. (Ps.37:30)

More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/primary-school-kids-expelled-for-sexual-misconduct/