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A Swedish ban on mentioning Jesus in school Advent services has been attacked by Government ministers – with one calling it ‘ridiculous’. Last week the National Agency for Education in Sweden said end of term services in church were allowed, but prayers, blessings or declarations of faith were prohibited. However, Education Minister Jan Björklund said ‘pastors should be able to read the Christmas gospel, refer to the Bible, and explain why we celebrate this Christian holiday’. He criticised the agency’s interpretation of the law, and commented: ‘If this ridiculous debate continues year after year, I’m ready to review the Education Act’. Social Minister Göran Hägglund said he was ‘tired’ of having the discussion, commenting: ‘The National Agency for Education is straining out gnats and swallowing camels.’ Mr Hägglund said Swedish students have bigger things to worry about’.
Pray: against those who attack our faith; and pray that the Education Minister will use his influence to bring about changes in the law. (2Tim.1:13)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/row-over-swedish-school-ban-on-mentioning-jesus-at-advent/
Police reinforcements were deployed to Stockholm on Friday to help quell unrest as rioting continued for a sixth straight night, spreading beyond the Swedish capital. (See Prayer Alert 21-2013) A nearly week-long spate of rioting spread outside Stockholm on Friday but authorities said police reinforcements sent to the Swedish capital had reduced the violence there, even though dozens of youths set cars and a recycling station ablaze. The rioting - set off earlier this month by the police shooting of a 69-year-old man - continued for a sixth night in mainly poor immigrant areas in Stockholm. The rioting has exposed a fault-line between a well-off majority and a minority - often young people with immigrant backgrounds - who are poorly educated, cannot find work and feel pushed to the edge of society. Two cars were torched in Stockholm but the city appeared to have had its calmest night since the trouble began.
Pray: for a solution to this problem and that the way of peace will be found. (2Tim.2:22)
More: http://www.france24.com/en/20130525-sweden-riots-spread-beyond-stockholm
Rioters have lit fires and stoned emergency services in the suburbs of Stockholm for the third night in a row after a man was shot dead by police. Incidents were reported in at least nine suburbs of the Swedish capital and police made eight arrests. On Sunday night, more than 100 cars were set alight, Swedish media report. Police in the deprived, largely immigrant suburb of Husby shot a man dead last week after he reportedly threatened to kill them with a machete. The founder of a local youth group told Swedish media the riots were a reaction to 'police brutality'. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told reporters on Tuesday that Sweden would not be intimidated by rioters. On Tuesday night, cars were torched in western and southern Stockholm, and stones were thrown at police officers and fire-fighters. One area affected, Rinkeby, saw similar rioting in 2010.
Pray: that the authorities will find a solution to this rioting to bring a peaceful outcome. (Lk.2:14)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22622909
There was concern over the plight of several Iranian Christian asylum seekers in Sweden after Swedish authorities decided to deport them despite fears they may be jailed or even executed there, Christians said. It comes after Swedish authorities reportedly already deported one asylum seeker, identified as Mohammad-Reza Hamedi on February 15 this year. ‘We are four Iranian human rights activists who object to the racist politics of the Swedish government towards the asylum seeker's community and strongly condemn the deportation of Mohammad-Reza Hamedi on February 15, 2012,’ said activists in a statement distributed by Mohabat News. They said they have urged Sweden to immediately release asylum seekers including Christians Mohammad-Ali Hodaei, Yasin Elyasi and Mohammad-Reza Hamedian Esfahani from a detention centre. Mohammad-Ali Hodaei, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity, told Swedish media in February that ‘If it is Jesus' will for me to return to Iran, I'll submit to his will and he will protect me Himself.’
Pray: for wisdom for the authorities as they consider deportation and pray that they will release those involved. (Ps.25:15)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/21376-sweden-plans-deportation-iranian-christians-despite-dangers
Although Sweden is woven brightly with a rich Christian history, advancing secularism and moral decline have added dark threads to the tapestry. Shifting cultural norms throughout Europe have caused people to reject the ways of the past, which includes Biblical Christianity. Sweden's third-largest city, Malmo, has also seen massive immigration, making it one quarter Muslim today, on track to transforming into a Muslim-majority city within just a few decades. The work for missionaries from The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) is challenging, but clear cut. Working hand-in-hand with InterAct, a Swedish church and mission movement, TEAM missionaries are seeing churches grow that bring the whole Gospel to the whole person in Sweden. Their strategy is to transform lives and multiply churches through relational, holistic evangelism by mentoring young leaders to reach their peers. They do this using music, art, and social caring to reach children, youth and those who have been marginalized by their society. Pray: for the work of the churches and mission groups as they seek to spread the Good News particularly in Malmo. (Ac.5.42)
The United Nations is increasingly concerned at the spread in Europe of ‘baby boxes’ where infants can be secretly abandoned by parents, warning that the practice ‘contravenes the right of the child to be known and cared for by his or her parents’, the Guardian has learned. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which reports on how well governments respect and protect children's human rights, is alarmed at the prevalence of the hatches – usually outside a hospital – which allow unwanted newborns to be left in boxes with an alarm or bell to summon a carer. Almost 200 hatches have been installed across the continent in the past decade in nations as diverse as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic and Latvia. Since 2000, more than 400 children have been abandoned in the hatches, with faith groups and right-wing politicians spearheading the revival in the controversial practice.
Pray: that this controversial practice of ‘baby boxes’ would be curtailed and ultimately stopped. (Pr.21:21)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/10/unitednations-europe-news?INTCMP=SRCH
Around a million young Catholics from all around the world are streaming into Madrid for five days of prayers, processions and learning. World Youth Day opened Tuesday night with a multilingual Mass in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles. The youths were welcomed by the Archbishop of Madrid who told them they were part of the generation of Pope Benedict XVI. He said, ‘Your place in life has its own characteristics. Your problems and circumstances have changed. Don’t be afraid of being a saint, let Christ live in your heart. Respond to Him with a ‘yes’ that’s full of excitement and generosity of life.’ President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity said, ‘You have come to say aloud to the whole world, and in particular to Europe which is showing signs of being very lost, your unwavering ‘yes’. Yes, faith is possible,’
Pray: for the 4,000 pilgrims to rediscover and strengthen their faith and then be encouragers to their brothers and sisters across Europe. (Ps.24:7)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/world.youth.day.gets.underway.in.madrid/28451.htm
Use of the abortifacient morning-after pill in Spain has risen by 83% in 2010, the first full year of over-the-counter availability of the dangerous drug, according to a report by ANSAmed news service. The Spanish Ministry for Health approved the sale of the morning-after pill without a doctor’s prescription, and with no age restriction, in September 2009, citing a need for emergency contraception and to reduce unwanted pregnancies. ‘It is an emergency method of contraception, not to be used except in emergencies,’ said Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez in a press release at the time. ‘We don’t want it to become another means of contraception.’ However, mounting evidence has shown that the drug is both ineffective for its stated purpose of reducing unintended pregnancies, and is being abused the world over as a common method of contraception. A contraception and abortion pushing organization, RH Reality Check, admitted that the morning-after pill, ‘is not as effective in reducing unwanted pregnancy rates as we once hoped.’
Pray: for availability of the morning-after pill to be re-considered in light of these statistics.
The organization Professionals for Ethics has warned that pro-euthanasia associations, working together with the radical wing of the Socialist Party, are hoping to ‘achieve their ideological goal of making death legal,’ reports Catholic News Agency. The organization said that pro-euthanasia forces are attempting to influence local governments until euthanasia is approved at the national level. Ramona Estevez, a 90-year-old comatose woman in the city of Huelva, has become the
poster child for supporters of euthanasia. Her son recently won approval from officials in the province of Andalusia to have her feeding tube withdrawn. Dr. Maria Alonso of Professionals for Ethics pointed out that the regional law establishes that every person has the right to reject any procedure in writing that is suggested by health care workers. This can be done even if such rejection would endanger that person’s life, she added.
Pray: against this increased pressure to allow euthanasia to become law. (Job.13:14)
Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo accused Spain’s prime minister of behaving like Argentine dictator General Galtieri as Spanish officials again blocked the border. Fabian Picardo said Mariano Rajoy was fuelling the crisis to distract from his domestic troubles - just as the military junta in Buenos Aires did by ordering the invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. The minister said, ‘What is happening in the background is that the Spanish government has been engulfed in allegations of corruption which affect Mr Rajoy himself.’ Mr Rajoy had to deny accepting illegal payments from a political slush fund while the country’s economy is a disaster area. Mr Picardo said a British prime minister facing the same allegations as Mr Rajoy ‘wouldn’t last five minutes and yet in Spain Mr Rajoy remains comfortable in his post trying to create diversions like this one’. The director general for foreign affairs at Spain’s foreign ministry, upped the rhetoric further by telling Channel 4 News, ‘We are confident that in the end that we will have Gibraltar as part of Spain.’
Pray: against cross border reckless reactions and for positive negotiation asking God to reveal and remove any hidden ungodly agendas. (Ps.37:1)