Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

Alex Salmond is on trial for carrying out 14 sexual assaults on 10 women. He has pleaded not guilty to all 14 charges alleged to have happened while he was Scotland's first minister and the leader of the SNP. The first woman to testify, a former government official known as Woman H, told the court that she was scared to come forward at the time because he was a ‘powerful man’. She raised the allegations after getting ‘flashbacks’ around the time of the #MeToo movement. The charges include allegations of assaults and rape at Mr Salmond’s official residence in Edinburgh. She said she had emailed a colleague the day after the first attack to say she would not be attending a sporting event with him. She said she felt ‘hunted’ by Mr Salmond. Nine other women will also be giving evidence.

We must continue to look to God and pray that people would not become unduly fearful. Pray that the coronavirus will not have any negative effects on the preparations for, and progress of, many Christian and secular Easter celebrations across the country. When times are at their worst, Christians should be at their best. We saw glimpses of this in China. Christians facing state-sponsored persecution are out in the streets giving out masks and sharing the love of Christ with their non-believing neighbours. That behaviour comes from knowing that this world belongs to God, and that He is able to wipe away every tear from our eyes. The government is advising hospitals to carry video-based patient consultations, and is moving towards the ‘delay - second stage’ to slow the spread of the virus. Pray that their precautions are successful, and that no further action ‘stages’ will be needed. 

A 23-year-old woman taking legal action against an NHS gender clinic says she should have been challenged more by medical staff over her decision to transition to a male as a 16-year-old teenager. At the hearing, lawyers will argue that children cannot give informed consent to treatment delaying puberty or helping them to transition. The clinic runs the UK's only gender-identity development service. Pray for the two claimants, Keira Bell and Mum A - the mother of a 15-year-old girl with autism who is awaiting treatment at the clinic. Pray for stricter control of the puberty blockers that pause the development of breasts, periods, facial hair and voice-breaking. They are meant to give children more time to weigh up their options before going through the physical changes of puberty. Their impact on brain development and psychological health is not fully known.

We live in turbulent and troubled times. The floods and other troubles facing rural Britain are just the tip of an iceberg: across the world, nature, society and church are being thoroughly shaken. These are the times of ‘signs’ that, variously, warn of God’s judgment, call us to repentance and herald Jesus’s return. Pray that God’s people will understand the times and know what to do, always being ready to give an account for the hope that is in us, and work to bring in His harvest. The season of Lent is traditionally marked by fasting and abstinence. It is a time to consider our ways. Many churches will set aside special times to meet, pray and study the Bible. Pray for Christians, both rural and urban, to understand how what we eat and how we live affects God’s creation, the land and those who farm it.

Flybe Airline has gone into liquidation, so that passengers needing to fly from the Isle of Man to hospital appointments in England cannot do so. Pray for the island’s government to resolve the challenge to their patient transfer contract, so that the health of patients is not put at risk. Apart from Flybe staff, pray for the hundreds of people in the aviation industry suffering in the knock-on effect, for example the ground handling companies who were used to transfer freight across the nation. Flybe is the fourth UK airline to go out of business in two years; pray that next week’s budget will be an opportunity for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to explore help for airlines. Meanwhile let us praise God for Great Western Railway who are helping Flybe customers and staff with free travel until 12 March.

Giving Stream have launched 'Farming Food Bank' where church members buy a retail hamper from their church for £30 and another hamper is donated to local families in need. The hampers include 15 balanced meals. Giving Stream's Colin Kaye said, ‘We have the farm, butchers, chefs, equipment, and expertise to produce food. Churches have congregations and a local feeding programme or plans to launch one. This project links us all together, working as one, in the name of Jesus.’ Giving Stream will install a walk-in freezer on church premises at the company's cost; they will stock it with two different products - a retail hamper, which can be bought, and a free food hamper, used for donations only. Every time a retail hamper is sold a free meal hamper is donated to the church, who then feed people who are hungry.

IJM is preparing to launch a Global Survivor Network. It is an opportunity for survivors of slavery to lead and influence policy on human trafficking. On 1 April two survivors, Pachaiyammal and Victoria, will be speaking in Oxford to share their experiences of trafficking and violence against women. Please pray for God to give them peace as they share their stories of freedom from slavery. Please also pray for the logistics of this event, for opportunities to connect with media, and for a global audience so that these survivors' stories are amplified far and wide, bringing change and influencing programming around the world. Also, on Ash Wednesday, IJM launched its #SlaveFreeLent campaign, hoping and praying that this movement would reach further and have more impact than all they could ask or imagine. Praise God, they had 1800+ signups in just a few days, twice as many as in 2019. See also Praise item 3 and

Scotland's Destiny Church has begun fundraising for £150,000 to enable them to take legal action against Edinburgh Council, believing the case will have ramifications for the UK Church. It stems from the recent cancellation of a booking made at the city's Usher Hall for the church’s annual SURGE conference with Gavin Calver and Larry Stockstill. The cancellation came after the venue said it had received complaints linked to comments Mr Stockstill had previously made. He is a preacher, author, and pastors' mentor who runs a church-planting network. According to the Times, Stockstill has described same-sex relationships as ‘offensive’, ‘repulsive’, and ‘deeply grievous’. See Destiny Church, a thriving Pentecostal network focusing on evangelism and social action with congregations across Scotland, has been criticised by the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Ministers and health officials are working to contain any UK coronavirus outbreaks. Public Health England began ‘Early Warning’ (See) coronavirus tests on patients with coughs, fevers or shortness of breath at 100 GP surgeries and 8 hospitals. The tests are employed (regardless of patients not having travelled to infected areas) to give early warnings of a more widespread infection developing. One employee of Chevron Oil was tested for the virus and 300 London staff were advised to work from home, Crossrail and media firm OMD staff are also working from home as a precaution. May calmness replace any anxiety in communities as pre-emptive moves are made to contain infection. Several schools have closed after pupils returned from half-term skiing trips in Italy. Pray for a peaceful atmosphere to cover homes of families who are self-isolating. May all awaiting test results experience calmness. Pray also for waves of common sense to flow through the nation as the media give daily virus updates. See also A pastor calls for calm

Ministers pledged urgent action after it emerged that tens of millions of British foreign aid cash is funding schools in Gaza and the West Bank where textbooks on martyrdom and radical Islamism are used in school lessons. The money goes via a UN agency that some other nations have stopped financing because of concerns. The textbooks include a reading exercise for six-year-olds with the words 'martyr' and 'attack', poems for eight-year-olds include phrases such as 'sacrifice my blood' to 'eliminate the usurper from my country' and 'annihilate the remnants of the foreigners'. Teaching on Newton’s Second law for eleven-year-olds uses pictures of a boy with a slingshot targeting Israeli soldiers during the Palestinian uprising and nine-year-olds learn maths by adding the number of martyrs in Palestinian uprisings in textbooks illustrated with pictures of their funerals. Ten-year-olds learn that the most important thing is giving their life for 'sacrifice, fight, jihad, and struggle'.