It’s been 12 years since athletes with learning disabilities competed in The Paralympic games. This year British athletes with learning disabilities will compete in athletics, swimming and table tennis, and they may compete in more events in Rio 2016. National sports manager from Mencap said, ‘A learning disability is an unseen disability and can be more difficult to understand in a sporting environment. A learning disability affects the way someone's brain works. So in sport it might affect their ability to think strategically or in running it might be the way they pace themselves during a race.’ Paralympic swimmer Dan Pepper struggles to remember how many lengths he has done or which stroke he is doing, but said he has coping strategies to overcome the problem. He said, ‘I'm quite different to most other swimmers’ they like to be really rested but I like to swim quite hard before I race.’ For insights into understanding adults with special needs go to http://www.prospects.org.uk/
Pray: for people to have a greater understanding of how to value and support people with learning disabilities so that they live their lives to the full. (Ecc.7:8)
The high number of records being broken at the London 2012 Paralympics is more down to the quality of athletes than improved technology, organisers say. At the half way point of the Games, 228 Paralympic records have been broken, compared with 339 in total at Beijing. Controversial comments by Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius have prompted questions about whether rules on technology used by athletes need to be tightened, but officials say records are being broken as athletes are working harder. ‘Our athletes are getting better training and better funding,’ said International Paralympics Committee Communications Director Craig Spence. There are now more Paralympic competitors who are full-time athletes rather than competing as a hobby, Mr Spence told the BBC. He added that the margin by which records were being broken was also plateauing, Athletes are getting better,’ said Mr Spence. ‘With hard work come more records.’
Pray: for all the athletes that they will be rewarded for all their hard work. (Ps.103:22)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19481027
Paralympians to celebrate Games in St Paul’s
24 Aug 2012St Paul’s Cathedral will echo with an unaccustomed sound on the Sunday after next: a three-a-side wheelchair-basketball game is to be played beneath the dome during a service to mark the opening of the Paralympic Games the following Wednesday. The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, will preside, and the service will begin when Chris Holmes, the blind Paralympian swimmer, runs in through the Great West doors with a laurel wreath, and places it on the altar. Baroness Grey-Thompson, who won 16 Paralympic medals during her sporting career, will give the address. Lord Coe and Dame Tessa Jowell MP are expected to attend. In a message to the 2700 young people who volunteered to be ‘ambassadors for Christ’ during the Games, Bishop Chartres said: ‘Without seeking to undermine the Prime Minister's emphasis on the virtues of competition, I think that you all deserve a medal.’
Pray: that the success of the Games will continue and the Paralympic Games will add to the amazing legacy already achieved. (Heb.12:1)
Pakistani Christians praying for team
03 Aug 2012Pakistanis are very excited watching their players show their best performance and send a message of peace to the world. For several years sports events have faced challenges in Pakistan. The memory of winning titles brings back smiles and provides a chance to people of all walks of life to celebrate. According to the Pakistan Olympic Association, ‘There are 18 hockey players, two athletes, two swimmers, a shooter, 23 players, and 16 officials taking part in the 2012 Olympics.’ Assist News Service Pakistan spoke to many Christian sports players and various other people to find out what they are saying about Olympics 2012, and what they expect from their players. Johnson Gill Christian cricket coach and Gospel minister said, ‘I am with my team, and wish them best of luck as Pakistan badly needs to win gold medals to bring back the Games to Pakistan.’
Pray: for international impartiality and the true Olympic spirit to be displayed throughout the Games. (Pr.22:1)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/pakistani.christians.praying.for.their.olympic.team/30365.htm
Olympics choir at special Paralympics Mass
17 Aug 2012The choir that performed at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will sing a special Mass of Thanksgiving for the Paralympics. The Dockhead Choir will be accompanied by an orchestra at St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, on 8th September. ‘It will be a slightly different version of Jerusalem on this occasion to that sung at the opening ceremony,’ explained Canon Maclean, Dockhead's parish priest, who will be directing the choir. ‘However, above all the young people - and their parents - are both delighted and honoured to be taking part in this special liturgy.’ He added, ‘being a part of the Mass in thanksgiving for the Paralympic Games is equally as great an honour for us all as being the first voices to be heard at the opening of the 30th Olympiad singing in worship of God is what the choir does best.’
Pray: for all Christian messages and activities throughout the Paralympics to touch thousands of hearts, minds and spirits. (Mt.5:16)
Olympic archer quotes Scripture while competing
20 Jul 2012Olympic archer, Jennifer Nichols, 28, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, is a devout Christian from Texas who is intent on winning a gold medal in the upcoming games in London. ‘I take comfort in knowing that I'm here because the Lord brought me here and I’m glad to be able to offer whatever I can to be able to glorify the Lord in what I do,’ said Nichols ‘I memorize a lot of Scripture to recite while I'm shooting,’ she adds. ‘I carry a little book in my quiver that has Bible verses in it that I memorize as I'm walking back and forth to the target. And sometimes I'll recite them while I'm on the line shooting. It plays a large part.’ Thank God for Jennifer’s testimony and pray that God will bless her.
Pray: for Jennifer's witness and that sharing the Word will bring many blessings. (Ac.22:15)
More: http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=10316
The number of homeless families living in emergency bed and breakfast accommodation is at its highest in nearly ten years, says the housing and homelessness charity Shelter. The charity says 2,090 homeless families across England have been placed in B&Bs after losing their homes, an eight per cent rise on the same period last year, and the highest since September 2003. Overall homeless figures also rose by more than five per cent in the last year. This includes 8,790 families with children – the equivalent of one family losing their home every 15 minutes. A Shelter poll found that six in every ten working families paying mortgage or rent are struggling with their payments. Campbell Robb, Shelter’s chief executive, said: ‘These figures are a wake-up call. Ordinary families are falling through the net and risk losing everything.’ The charity reports that it sees many families placed in unsuitable B&B-style accommodation, often for weeks at a time.
Pray: that accommodation may be found for homeless families that will bring stability. (Ps.113:9)
More churches signed up to Olympics outreach
19 May 2011
More churches in the UK are getting behind plans for joined up outreach during the London 2012 Olympics than with any previous Games. With just over a year left before the Games come to the capital, churches are drawing up their plans for coordinated outreach and engagement during the Games. David Willson, chief executive of More than Gold, the umbrella group for outreach during the Games, has coordinated church engagement in Sydney, Athens, Beijing and Vancouver. He said there were more churches and agencies getting behind the London Olympics than with any other Games previously. Chairman of More than Gold, Lord Brian Mawhinney, expressed his excitement at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Esher, Surrey this week saying, ‘ It has even been suggested to me that More Than Gold could well turn out to be the largest venture of inter-church cooperation the United Kingdom has ever seen.’
Pray: for this Olympic outreach and all involved in preparing for it. (Lev.9:23)