Displaying items by tag: Praise

‘This lady was in deep despair when I first met her. She came to a local church foodbank seeking help to feed her four children. Thanks to God, volunteers, donations of daily needs, and gentle support, Tahreen gratefully received practical help. She also heard the gospel, and by God’s grace, she found new life in Christ!’ For further details, click the ‘More’ button.

Praise God for an operation this week that brought a young family, including four children, out of bonded labour. One of IJM’s partners discovered an 11-year-old forced to work at a sheep farm and then, by interviewing him, learned that the whole family was in bondage at a nearby brick kiln. Many families like theirs are being left vulnerable due to Covid-19 and a lack of dignified work.

Richard Sandland was ordained on 4 July and will serve in the parish of Bromsgrove, ten years after watching a play that changed his life. In his previous job at the Royal Shakespeare Company, they did a play called Written on the Heart, about the writing of the King James Version of the Bible. In one scene, Lancelot Andrewes and William Tyndale debated translations of the Beatitudes. He recalls, ‘As I watched and listened these words came alive for me. Gradually, I realised that I had been wrong all my life about God.’ As a direct result, Richard bought a copy of the Bible and began attending church in Kidderminster. Reflecting on his journey to ordination, Richard says, ‘God has drawn me on, step by step, until I reached a place where I knew the call was right.’

Naomi, a Nigerian Christian widow, never expected to suffer persecution, but when her town was overrun by Islamists, she was ready. Her Bible had taught her, ‘Persecution is God’s Word being fulfilled.’ While Naomi was working her farmland outside the city she heard distant gunfire. She immediately ran toward the sound, concerned for her children at home. After passing scenes of horrific violence on her way she gathered her children and fled to nearby mountains, where they stayed before moving to a Cameroon refugee camp. Poor conditions there forced them to return to Nigeria. When mission workers learned of her situation, they helped the family move into their own home and arranged for the children to attend a good school. Naomi said, ‘Attacks made my faith stronger.’

A church that was formed from a WhatsApp group during lockdown now meets every fortnight. Lay pioneer minister Venessa Pinto distributed postcards during lockdown to her neighbours, inviting them to join the group as a way of staying in touch during the restrictions. ‘Within a couple of days we received many messages, mostly from young adults.’ Venessa said. ‘We started engaging on questions of spirituality and faith and out of that we began meeting on Zoom for social activities and to talk about faith. Gradually that transformed into something more formal and into an intercultural worshipping community that we call Roots.’

A mother in Singapore has shared her ‘unspeakable joy’ after rejecting her doctor’s advice to abort her son because he has Down’s syndrome. In an open letter to the Straits Times, Koh Sui Tin recalled how she was told there was a ‘very high chance of my baby having a chromosomal abnormality’. The doctor advised her to abort because of ‘all the challenges that my child would potentially have’, but Sui Tin refused and said her son Daniel - now three - is ‘thriving’. Sui Tin added, ‘Daniel is slow in learning but he is smart in his own way, and I do not see him any differently from other children, who all have unique learning paths. I shudder to think of how many babies like Daniel were aborted because of the unbalanced information on Down’s syndrome that doctors often relay to parents.’

New legislation set to replace EU rules will grant the Government and councils greater freedom to support businesses. The Subsidy Control Bill will replace EU-wide state aid rules which require member states to seek approval for government assistance to firms. Ministers said the rules will allow the Government to help companies with grants or loans faster. It has been dubbed ‘the most important bit of post-Brexit legislation yet’.

On 24 June a court in Kano State acquitted Professor Solomon Tarfa on charges of ‘running an illegal orphanage’ and ‘criminal conspiracy and abduction of minors’. He has faced a series of false charges, including child abduction and forgery, and appears to have been targeted simply for running a Christian orphanage. On Christmas Day 2019, over 60 plain-clothes policemen raided his orphanage and arrested him. Later, 27 children were removed from the orphanage and placed in a government-run home, where they have been harassed, prevented from attending church, and reportedly assaulted. Five of the youngest children were forcibly relocated to an orphanage in a remote area. A source said that three of these children looked ‘ill and emaciated’ and had had their names changed to Muslim ones. The ordeal is not over. Sixteen children are still waiting to be returned home, and Professor Tarfa will appear in court again on 27 July to defend the forgery charge.

The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is thanking supporters after they increased their giving enabling it to step up its response to the pandemic. Benefactors donated £14 million more last year than in 2019 as the charity rushed out emergency Covid projects amid growing persecution globally. The pandemic dramatically worsened the plight of Christians who found themselves literally, almost overnight, without work, pay or food. ACN's benefactors remain true to the charity with great generosity, for which the charity and those in need are profoundly grateful.

A Hungarian children's book promoting minority rights drew criticism last year. Now Hungary's ruling nationalist party has submitted legislation to ban content which it sees as promoting homosexuality and gender change to minors. The draft law would ban LGBT literature for under-18s, including educational material, and advertisements deemed to be promoting gay rights. Several human rights groups denounced it, saying it was similar to Russian restrictions on LGBT activities. Hungary's constitution states that marriage is for heterosexual couples and proposes a same-sex adoption ban.