Displaying items by tag: Praise

Only New Year’s Day and Thanksgiving interrupt the daily 6 am prayer meetings that Pastor David Galvan has held since 5 February 1996 at New Life Church in Dallas. On Thanksgiving, the church holds an annual baptism in an area lake, incorporating prayer into the meeting. On New Year’s Day, the church is in worship and fellowship from 7 pm on New Year’s Eve to the early hours of the New Year, including prayer. Other holidays, including Christmas, are included in the daily schedule. When Covid-19 restrictions briefly limited gatherings to ten people months ago, Galvan transitioned the daily prayer hour from the church’s 190-seat chapel to a conference call. Attendance has more than quadrupled. ‘All these years up to the pandemic, it attracted from 5 to 12 people on weekdays and on Saturday it was about 70. Now we’re averaging 35 to 50 daily’.

On 2 November Karachi police recovered a 13-year-old Christian girl and arrested the Muslim accused of abducting and forcibly marrying and converting her. The action came after a rising tide of protests over the previous validation of the marriage. The girl, Arzoo Raja, was due to appear on 5 November at a court hearing which will hear evidence about Arzoo’s age (her parents have provided proof that she was born in 2007) and decide whether she was forcibly converted and if her marriage is legal.

Praise God for the successful rescue of two teenage girls from a small-town brothel in South Asia. A partner NGO of International Justice Mission (IJM) discovered this case and worked with local police, while IJM helped provide security and legal advice. Police also arrested one man and one woman who were selling the girls for sex in the brothel.

Comic Relief will stop sending celebrities to Africa after criticism that stars like Stacey Dooley were going to Africa as ‘white saviours’. The charity will also stop using images of starving people or critically ill children to portray the continent, it has announced. Instead, its fundraising appeals will be made by local film-makers with a ‘more authentic perspective’. Sir Lenny Henry, who co-founded Comic Relief in 1985, welcomed the move; saying, ‘A lot has changed over Comic Relief's 35 years, and so the way we raise money and talk about the issues and the people we are here to support, must change as well. African people don't want us to tell their stories for them. What they need is more agency, a platform and partnership.’ The films will explore issues including mental health, climate change and forced marriages.

‘Volleyball has taught me many valuable life lessons about integrity, hard work and perseverance, but my athletic experiences and lessons learned pale in comparison to my greatest passion, living a life committed to the person of Jesus Christ,’ said Jenny the daughter of 1960 decathlete gold-medal winner Rafer Johnson. Jenny grew up in the world of sports and joined a highly competitive UCLA college programme. ‘When I made it to the collegiate level I was just learning how to own my faith and what it means to have God in my sport, that they’re not separate things’ She had a Christian coach who encouraged her to keep up her Christian testimony. As she accepted the challenge, she got even better at volleyball and became the team captain. Her team won All-Tournament Team honours. Later, she and her partner won the silver medal at the beach volleyball world championships in Marseille.

Recently the Ghana police, working with the department of social welfare and IJM, rescued nine children and arrested five suspects. We are thankful to the resilient and brave team who made this rescue possible. Please pray for further Ghana rescues. Four Filipino children were also rescued thanks to another multi-agency effort led by the Philippines Women and Children Centre. One suspect, believed to be a child’s relative, was arrested. Finally in South Asia ten people, including children, were rescued from bonded labour at a brick kiln.

Imagine a young girl being turned out into the streets, all alone, because she is too old to stay at the orphanage. Many of these orphans end up as victims of human trafficking and are sold into sex slavery. Many languish and suffer there for years with no hope of a better life. Stella’s Houses are homes for orphan girls who have been aged out of state-run facilities and are prime targets for sex traffickers. While living at a Stella’s House, the girls complete their education, learn life skills, and grow in an environment that changes their mind-set from 'I am just an orphan' to 'I am worthy of being loved'. Instead of becoming a child trafficking statistic, these children are loved and given a chance for a safer life.

A record number of Christians (108) are standing for election in the Egyptian elections being held between 24 October and 8 November. These Christians are on the four party lists, contesting 284 seats allocated to political parties in the parliament. There have been continuous positive messages from President Sisi to protect Egypt’s Christian community, one of the oldest and largest Christian communities in the region. In previous elections, Christian candidates were barred from running or forced to withdraw due to threats of violence. Attacks and pressure on Copts continue in rural areas, but this positive development is very welcome.

When Fr Pier Luigi Maccalli, now 59, was kidnapped two years ago by unknown armed men from his parish of Bamoanga, it left the communities he had served for 11 years in shock. Now he is understood to have been freed in northern Mali with four other hostages also held by Islamist extremists. The new Malian transitional government met the hostages. Their release, and that of some suspected militants, fuelled expectations of an imminent prisoner swap. It is not clear if ransoms were paid.

This week the International Justice Mission invites us to join in praising God for a huge step forward in the class-action lawsuit that IJM Kenya helped bring against police, demanding greater accountability. One of the requests in the petition has been granted, and the court has ordered the inspector general to investigate 22 cases of police killings that were documented and presented as part of this petition. This case is important because it shows that the Kenyan government can be held accountable for the actions of its officers.