Displaying items by tag: Manchester

Monday’s devastating attack in Manchester can cause us to think that there is nothing good in the world. It can feel paralysing not to be able to do anything, but it is good for the soul to hear of small kindnesses. In between spreading fake news, social media has been filled with examples of helpers supporting the emergency services, and their community. Here are some examples:. #RoomForManchester saw people and hotels offering up their spare beds. #Anybody stuck in Manchester tonight I have a spare room and I just made some really nice soup. #I live 5 mins from the Manchester Arena. I have sofa bed, food/drink and phone chargers if anyone needs any help. Cabbies offered their services free to get people back to where they needed to be; some even drove from Liverpool to help. People queued to donate blood, or brewed tea for the police and emergency services still on call.

Monday night a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, and injured another 59 in an explosion that targeted fans leaving a pop concert in the Manchester Arena. By Tuesday lunch time a large cordon was still in place around the area. Pray for the police carrying out forensic work to have the support they need to perfectly complete their task.  Ask God to heal and bring comfort to the young people and their parents whose bodies and emotions have been damaged by a bomb of nuts and bolts and a terrifying experience. Lord, we ask for healing, comfort and strength to every person injured and the relatives of all those killed. Father we ask you to provide a powerful spiritual hedge around our nation and the key targets for terrorists within our borders. We ask for you to give incredible wisdom to Cobra, Police and government at this time. Ask God to strengthen doctors and nurses saving lives and caring for the wounded.  Pray for the friends and relatives experiencing unimaginable worry over people who are missing and not yet identified. And Lord God we your watchmen stand at the gates of cities, towns and all high profile locations and raise our voices for protection in the  Name of Jesus Christ. We declare protection over shopping malls and transport systems in the Name of Jesus.

In April 2016, we prayed for a Kickstarter account that was set up for a Wall of Answered Prayer made of a million bricks - each brick telling the story of how Jesus answered someone’s prayer. This wall will now go ahead and be built as a national landmark in the UK. It will lead people to consider and reflect the worth of prayer, through people sharing stories of how God answered their prayers. It will become a source of inspiration. The project is being led by Christian entrepreneur Richard Gamble, former chaplain to Leicester City FC. A person can pledge £5 and get one brick, which will be linked to them and their unique story of how Jesus answered prayer. A corresponding website will be created to give details of the answered prayers. It will be like a ‘database of a million prayer testimonies.’

A note was left on a vending machine at a cancer hospital in Manchester asking people to help themselves to free treats. Staff at The Christie found the anonymous note on Sunday on a machine where the tray had been left full of paid-for snacks. The donor said they hoped the ‘random act of kindness’ would ‘brighten up someone's day’, and ended by saying ‘Finally, if you can, try and spread the kindness.’ Nurse Emma Widdowson said: ‘It made me feel so happy I was beaming all day. Who doesn't want chocolate on a Sunday?’ Healthcare assistant Lauren Hunstone said: ‘It just perked up everyone's day that someone would do something so lovely out of the goodness of their own heart, not wanting to take any sort of thanks.’ The Christie was recently praised by health inspectors for providing ‘exceptional’ care and being a ‘leader in its field’. It is the largest single-site cancer centre in Europe, treating more than 44,000 patients a year.