Displaying items by tag: Praise

The Metropolitan Police has dropped an investigation into Rev Canon Andrew White - known as the Vicar of Baghdad - who was accused of sending money to IS extremists. He had allegedly done this in order to secure the release of some Yazidi women being held as sex slaves in Syria and Iraq. He had always insisted that the captives had been freed thanks to successful negotiations, utilising his contacts in the region - and not by any illegal payments. Speaking on Premier's News Hour with a touch of sarcasm, the 54-year-old said, ‘I have had this police investigation hanging over my head because I did the awful thing of trying to get back sex slaves from IS’. Canon White was also suspended from the charity he founded for relief and reconciliation, please pray for his reinstatement.

A gospel choir and a friar will be among the competitors in the penultimate stage of Britain’s Got Talent. In April when Fr Kelly sang Everybody Hurts, Simon Cowell said it was one of his favourite auditions ever, and many in the audience were moved to tears. His singing previously went viral on Youtube when he sang Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah at a wedding in 2014. It received over 60 million views. The DMU Gospel Choir was the university gospel choir of the year in 2016 and has been a BBC Songs of Praise choir of the year finalist. Members impact and transform the lives of many as they engage in community outreach, visit hospital wards, do schools workshops, charity performances, and sing for societies and organisations like Global Hands (Run for Africa). See

Mamoudou, a Malian migrant living in Paris, caught the world’s attention when he bravely saved a child who was dangling over the edge of a balcony of a high-rise apartment complex. He has been nicknamed Spider-Man for the incredible way he scaled four floors of the building and lifted the child to safety. When asked why he undertook such a dangerous climb, he simply replied, ‘I didn’t think about it, I climbed up and God helped me.’ He added: ‘I like children. I would have hated to see him getting hurt in front of me. I ran and looked for solutions to save him, and thank God I scaled the front of the building to the balcony.’ Mamoudou has been awarded French citizenship. The child’s father is under investigation for neglect, and the child has been placed in care.

Prayer Alert readers were recently asked to pray against a back door to assisted suicide and euthanasia being opened in the United Kingdom. After a three-day debate, the parliament of Guernsey voted by 24 to 14 to reject the private member’s bill for assisted suicide made by the chief minister, Gavin St Pier. He released a statement expressing his regret that the measure had not passed.

Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex created a huge media reaction. Many UK newspapers quoted it on their front pages. The Sunday Times said that no one delivers a church sermon quite like a fire-breathing American revivalist preacher, while the Sunday Telegraph said that his sermon was ‘sure to wake royal wedding guests up. It was quite a gear change.’ Sky News described him as ‘the unexpected star of the wedding’. Thousands of people from across the nations are tweeting about his sermon on love: ‘Love, the love that comes from God in Christ, is the only way.’ If people were stunned by the presentation, the message of Christ’s love and God’s love for His creation got through to millions.

Communities in Kampala are protecting widows and orphans from having their land stolen from them. Last year, International Justice Mission organised community dialogues about women’s and children’s property rights, to build the understanding that women and girls are also legally able to inherit land. One of the leaders of these discussions said that in his community a man died leaving behind a wife. Her neighbours who had participated in the discussions carried the man’s casket at the funeral and wore t-shirts which read ‘Stop Land Grabbing,’ sending the message to the community that no one should touch the widow’s land. In the past, after a death, a widow and her children were forced off their land. Now they have justice.

Thank God! Christians have finally been told they can wear crosses and religious symbols at work. New official guidance will warn that dress codes will NOT be allowed to ban such items. Non-compliant companies could be fined or forced to pay compensation. Equalities minister Victoria Atkins is rounding on religious intolerance as long as symbols do not interfere with the ability to do the job. She said: ‘Discrimination in the workplace is not only completely unacceptable but also against the law. We will not stand for it. Our society has a proud tradition of religious tolerance; I want to see that reflected in workplaces across the country.’ The Church of England welcomed this ‘sensible decision’, adding: ‘Christians who wish to show their faith by wearing a cross should be free to do so. Freedom of expression continues to be an important British value.’

The Australian Gold Coast recently hosted the Commonwealth Games. What many may not know is that local churches, with the help of Christians from other parts of the nation, undergirded the Games with prayer and evangelism. 43 churches engaged in the 24/7 prayer canopy for the games. The Gideons gave away 10,180 scriptures. Chaplains reported never having seen such hunger or such engagement during any previous Games. There were reports of a friendly, peaceful atmosphere in the village itself. The YWAM team reported 7,000 Gospels of Luke and 6,500 flyers handed out, 10,000 estimated meaningful conversations, and one baptism. Be encouraged and give God the glory! Read the full report on the ‘More’ link.

One of the UN’s sustainable development goals is to end child marriages by 2030, and UNICEF reported this month that approximately 25 million child marriages have been prevented in the past decade, with a substantial drop in the number of child marriages worldwide. While this is a great improvement, progress still needs to be accelerated significantly . At current rates, more than 150 million additional girls will marry before their 18th birthday by 2030. Without far more intensive and sustained action now from all parts of society, hundreds of millions more girls will suffer profound, permanent, and utterly unnecessary harm.

Three US citizens have been set free from prison by North Korea, according to a tweet on 9 May from US president Donald Trump. This is viewed as a goodwill gesture before a historic summit between Mr Trump and Kim Jong-un. Mr Trump greeted the men when they returned with secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who was in Pyongyang to arrange a date and location for the planned talks. Missionary Kim Hak-song, humanitarian worker Tony Kim, and pastor Kim Dong-chul boarded the plane ‘without assistance’, the White House said. They had been jailed for alleged anti-state activities and placed in labour camps.