Global: Media reporting
30 May 2013Two men engaged in a horrific act of violence on the streets of London by using a meat cleaver to hack to death a British soldier. The assailants shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ and a video showing one of the assailants citing Islam as well as a desire to avenge and stop UK violence against Muslims spread across media outlets. Also last week, a disturbing video made the social media rounds showing an armed Syrian rebel dismembering a dead Syrian government soldier’s body, extracting an organ and taking a bite out of it while saying, ‘We swear to Allah that we will eat your hearts and livers, you soldiers of Bashar the dog.’ We’ve seen this before with a bloody beheadings of Daniel Pearl and hundreds of others. We’ve seen the lynching of Israeli soldiers by men who then held up their blood-drenched hands in celebration.
Pray: for government implemented media blocks on articles that encourage further acts of terrorism. (Ps.2:1-7) Pray for families of victims of terrorist crimes as they become ‘to-days news.’ (Ps.17:8)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/23/woolwich-attack-terrorism-blowback
Global: Combatting human trafficking
26 Oct 201330 million people are held as slaves today. Global awareness is rising but there is no major breakthrough. The survivors need healing and jobs with dignity. Jobs are also essential for adequate prevention of human trafficking. A Business as Mission (BAM) think tank’s report explores ways to combat slave trade with concrete and practical steps for businesses to engage in. This report helps Companies understand how businesses can become Freedom Businesses. Martin Luther King said, ‘When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we’re free at last!’
Pray: that this call to freedom through businesses working together would ring out, be heard and acted upon globally. (Ps.133)
More: http://www.matstunehag.com/2013/10/19/let-freedom-ring-let-freedom-businesses-trumpet-a-new-call/
Global: Climate change
04 Oct 2013A UN report on global warming suggests Britain's climate could cool in the next 80 years. The Intergovernmental Panel gave a clear prediction of global warming affecting currents in the Atlantic Ocean. The Gulf Stream will weaken by 20% to 44% by the end of the century. The Gulf Stream carries warm water from the equator to the west coast of Britain, making the country’s climate warmer than it otherwise would be. Such a Gulf Stream cooling will cause a 1.8F drop in Britain and disrupt weather patterns. As long ago as 2007 a UN report stated, ‘Up to a billion people in Asia could be adversely affected by global climate change, 400 million people could struggle to find drinking water, farmers would not be able to irrigate their land, Hydro-electric power stations would generate less electricity and India's economic growth could be affected as India could be one of the big losers from climate change.’ See:
Pray: for international governments to consider scientists warnings when making decisions that could impact the weather. (Ps.24:1-4)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/10337064/IPCC-report-Britain-could-cool-if-Gulf-Stream-slows.html
Global: Christians martyred every 5 minutes
08 Aug 2013Few realize we are living through the largest persecution of Christians in history; worse than the Roman emperors Diocletian and Nero. Estimates of the numbers of Christians under assault range from 100 million to 200 million. According to one estimate a Christian is martyred every five minutes. Most persecution is taking place at the hands of Muslims. Of the top 50 countries persecuting Christians 42 have either a Muslim majority or sizeable Muslim populations. The extent of this tragedy is being met with a shrug by most of the Western media. Reports and witnesses that appear in Arabic newspapers, news shows and websites rarely get translated into English or picked up by the Western press. The extent of the persecution forestalls any claims that it is a marginal problem. Victims are forgotten and their suffering is lost because of indifference or inattention of the media and government officials.
Pray: for God in His mercy to work through the media to highlight this human rights disaster. (Ps.38:20-22 & Pr.8:5-7)
Global: Child labour/slaves
12 Oct 2013Although international Labour Organisation data shows a fall in child labour since 2000 critics say the number of working children remains unacceptable. Protecting children from hazardous work and long hours remains a major challenge, with families in poor countries such as Bangladesh heavily reliant on the income they get from sending children to work. There are 168 million children working in situations that fit the ILO definition of child labour. That is "work undertaken by children below the appropriate legal minimum working age", based on its minimum age convention. In Nigeria Child labour is rampant in the gold and mineral mines. More than ten years after Nigeria passed a law banning child labour the International Labour Organisation says there are still fifteen million children working in the country. The plight of children working in Nigeria's mines is especially harsh but for many the paycheck is worth the pain. The children work for a dollar a day to support their families. See also http://www.win1040.com/video.php?clip=Child_Slavery
Pray: for the continued development of successful initiatives to put an end to child ‘recruits’ in terrorist armies, children forced into brothels, child labour in factories, farming and mining. (Ps.10:12)
Global: Child brides
19 Oct 2013en million girls a year are married before the age of 18 across the world. Child marriages are illegal in India and punishable with a large fine and two years in prison for anyone performing, conducting or failing to prevent a child marriage. The grandfather of a 6-year-old child bride said, ‘I hate the government for trying to stop us. This is the way we've always done things. The government bans this but we don't care and we do these weddings anyway.’ There are at least 50 million married child couples around the world and this will double by the end of the decade. The countries with the highest proportion of child brides are Niger, Chad, Mali, Bangladesh and India. 14 million aged between 15 and 19 give birth each year and are twice as likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth as women in their 20s.
Pray: against this practice that robs millions of girls of their childhood, their education, their rights and their dignity. Pray for the laws banning child marriage to be properly enforced and for protection of young vulnerable girls. (Ps.33:10-11)
Global: Anti-corruption campaign
22 Aug 2013‘EXPOSED’ is aiming to collect at least a million signatures against corruption that will then be presented at the G20 meeting taking place in November 2014. The World Council of Churches is encouraging its member churches to get involved with this global campaign that highlights a trillion US dollars going missing from the global economy through bribes, dishonest deals and tax evasion - money that could be spent on lifting millions of people out of poverty
Pray: that this campaign will grow over the coming months – pray for many to respond to the issue of corruption being propagated by economic structures, value systems and greed. (Ps.45:3-4)
Global: 43 million refugees
04 Jul 2013Persecution, violence and war have displaced 43 million people globally. Consider how your world would change if you were forced to leave your home and possessions at little or no notice and relocate somewhere where you knew no-one. Plus, you have no idea where your next meal is coming from. A refugee is outside their habitual residence because they have suffered (or fear) persecution and/or oppression on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because they are a persecuted 'social group' or they are fleeing natural disaster. They are an 'asylum seeker' until recognized by the state where they make a claim. In Isaiah God told His children to provide shelter to Moabites (a people group the Israelites often fought) This past Sunday we observed World Refugee Sunday! Let us not stop praying for these ‘forgotten’ people of the world. Pray that we will obey the words of Isaiah 16:4 and give shelter to those who have been our enemies.
Pray: and cry out to God to have mercy on the millions of refugees, asking him to give them a future and to foil the plans of the enemy for their lives. (Jer.29:11)
More: http://iafr.org/