Displaying items by tag: Praise

Christians in Japan belong to a minority religion. Less than 1% of the population claim Christian affiliation, although 50 -70% are married in Christian ceremonies. 253,000 Japanese are deaf and although there is a Japanese sign language in Buddhism, it has been difficult for Christian outreach to this minority group without a Bible for them. Since the 1990s Wycliffe Bible Translators have been working to bring the Bible to Japanese deaf people. They have finished Daniel, and are now working on Ezra. Once translations are complete, videos will be recorded for the deaf community. A Wycliffe missionary said, ‘We really want to see God’s Word made available to each heart language, so that there is no language barrier between individuals anywhere in the world and the revelation that God has given us through His Word.’

Mariam was abused as a young girl. As a teen, she took twelve pills a day to treat her depression. She was an atheist, believing that no god would allow her to suffer so much. The betrayal by her father and abuse by another man left Mariam hating men. Without hope, she tried suicide five times. But Jesus rescued Mariam! To listen to the amazing story of how she experienced Christ’s presence in wonderful ways and how he led her in a ministry to Muslim women and girls, click the ‘More’ button.

Yahya Jammeh, the Gambia’s brutal former dictator, may soon lose his vast mansion in Maryland, in a much anticipated step by the US Department of Justice. He paid US$3.5 million for it in 2010 with funds stolen from the Gambian people. In 2017 he fled to Equatorial Guinea. In the short time since Jammeh was ousted from office, the country has shown progress in many critical areas. There are encouraging signs that the repression and violation of basic rights that marked Jammeh’s time in office are slowly being changed by a commitment to democratic norms, good governance, and the rule of law.

Churches are taking innovative steps to keep congregations safe as public worship restarts. All Saints Church in Crowborough welcomed 200+ people to its drive-in church service in the Sussex countryside. St Barnabas held their drive-in service in Swanmore village hall car park and parishioners wound down car windows to join the worship. Waterlooville’s St George's welcomes pre-booked worshippers by ticking their names off at the door for tracking and tracing, directing them to hand sanitisers and a seat two metres away from others. A worshipper said, ‘It has replenished my soul to be here today. I just sat there and wept.’ In front of St George’s altar is a webcam and laptop for livestreaming the service.

Most churches have reported an increase in interest and 'attendance' of their services since lockdown, but since mid-March Methodist Central Hall Westminster has reached over 156,000 viewers from all over the world through its live stream. The service on 5 July had over 20,000 views in its first week, a congregation that would have filled its Great Hall, just off Parliament Square, ten times over. It has been streaming via YouTube to reach the maximum number of people, but will now launch a new website (MCHW.LIVE) as a permanent home for online services. Since rules for places of worship were eased in June, Revd Tony Miles, its superintendent minister, has been broadcasting live from the chapel inside the building, and has been joined by other contributors from across the country via Zoom.

In response to US parents not knowing what to do with their children who had been sent home from closed schools, Verses for Zion (VfZ)was born, a biblically-rooted project connecting Christian children to Israel, as an opportunity to engage them in a multigenerational project with parents and grandparents. Now, as summer is starting and schools that had opened are closing again, it offers parents a way to add meaning and substance to their children's extended vacation. VfZ, the brainchild of an Orthodox Israeli Jew and an evangelical Christian pastor in Texas, aims to give children the opportunity to learn more about God, His Word and His people. One mother said, ‘It entrenches children’s faith and deepens their understanding of God, the Bible and how that relates to us today through Israel.’

Jonas is a Kenyan church planter and respected leader in his village. When Kenya shut down due to coronavirus villagers lost their jobs and income, food prices rose and families struggled. Jonas saw that they not only needed Jesus, they needed help. He used his wages to buy food for the needy. Others were inspired by his generosity and donated food to be distributed to vulnerable families. Other church planters joined him in food aid and sharing Jesus' love. The results were astounding. 863 people heard the Good News, 211 received Christ. A Muslim man named Aasir lost his job and his home. Jonas took them in. Aasir saw what it was like to walk in a relationship with Jesus, day in and day out, and he also surrendered his life to Christ.

Ofsted wrongly tried to force Cornerstone Adoption and Fostering Service to work with non-evangelical Christian carers. The High Court has ruled that England’s only evangelical Christian fostering agency can continue to work only with evangelical Christian carers, stating, ‘Cornerstone is permitted to exclusively recruit evangelical Christian carers because of the exemption in the Equality Act 2010 for religious organisations’.

Rejoice that during lockdown IJM Philippines has assisted local police on 16 online sexual exploitation rescue operations, bringing to safety 57 children and vulnerable adults, including a three-month-old baby, and seeing eight suspects arrested. In South Asia IJM had another successful rescue operation at a construction site. Officials filed all the necessary police reports within 24 hours - a huge moment of progress demonstrating their knowledge and political will. IJM were also blessed to see the survivors get their release certificates and other entitlements quickly so that they could return home swiftly. Pray for their ongoing recovery back at home, especially in the disorienting first few weeks of freedom.

Two weeks ago we joined with American intercessors to pray for a tsunami of prayer to gain momentum and bring positive change in the USA (1 Samuel 2:1). This week we praise God for Holy Spirit changes taking place. For an encouraging video, go to. On it you will see a number of Christian groups holding revival services at the site where George Floyd died in Minneapolis. They are seeing many people turn to God, and miracles are happening in a revival that is reportedly spreading to other USA cities. Could this be an early indication of the promised Great Awakening that we are praying for?