Displaying items by tag: Family

A 17-year-old English boy, Alex Batty, who went missing in Spain in 2017, has been found in the town of Revel, France, six years after his disappearance. He is in good health, and is now awaiting the arrival of British authorities. His mother and grandfather, who took him on holiday and do not have parental guardianship, remain wanted in connection with his disappearance. Alex had been living in a spiritual community in Morocco, as his grandmother, his legal guardian, had previously suggested. He decided to leave the community and embark on his own path, eventually making his way to France. After walking through the Pyrenees foothills for days, he was spotted by a local delivery driver who picked him up. The area is known for attracting people in search of alternative lifestyles.

Susan Liverman, the mother of a boy with autism, wants to change the way parents of children with suspected special education needs or disabilities (SEND) are treated when their children do not attend school. In a petition to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi, she says parents of children who have yet to have a diagnosis are particularly vulnerable to a fine or the threat of a fine unless they get their children back into education. She started the petition after her nine-year-old son Arthur was unable to go to school due to extreme anxiety and panic attacks. She said, ‘Last year, Arthur had an autistic breakdown. We didn't know what it was at the time as he hadn’t been diagnosed. He has now been diagnosed with autism and is recovering from that breakdown. I felt the treatment we had, and continue to have, was just not fit for purpose and had put more pressure on us as a family.’

Minimum entry grades for universities and a cap on student numbers are part of government plans to shake up England's higher education system. Students will need GCSE passes in English and Maths, or the equivalent of two grade Es at A-level, under plans set out on 24 February. About a third currently fail to achieve a grade 4 in those core GCSEs, the equivalent to a C in the old system. Entry grade exemptions, possibly for mature students, will be considered in the future. The intention is to restrict entry to courses not offering a good route into graduate jobs and prevent universities from recruiting students into higher education before they are ready. Universities have already been told they will have some responsibility for courses leading to good jobs. Ministers argue the reforms should encourage more young people to consider apprenticeships or other higher qualifications.

Boris Johnson warned the coming weeks will be the hardest yet, in another national lockdown for England. Schools and universities must switch to online learning, and summer exams will not go ahead. Pray for anxious families facing isolation at home with lack of income or adequate technology to support their stay-at-home school children or effectively work from home. May God give them peace of mind and hope for the future. Some schools are open for vulnerable and key workers' children. Pray for those who are caring for these groups to have a full complement of staff to meet students’ needs, and be able to implement appropriate safety measures to prevent pandemic transmission. Pray for the children who will not now be taking their exams this summer. May the educators and assessors be anointed to give honest and fair grades. Pray also that this lockdown will prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed in the next few weeks.

Year-end school vacations will be lengthened in several countries to increase the time for social distancing. Many believe this policy will create more stress for parents juggling jobs and family. A national survey of 2,559 parents in June found a positive side for families and marriages in pandemic lockdown. Couples considering divorcing dropped by a third, and another survey revealed 25% of parents were getting on better with their children, with just 4% reporting worsened relationships. The media reported these findings as ‘weird but true’. However while lockdown affirmed marriage commitment, one in five cohabiting parents believed their relationship had worsened. They were more likely to be unhappy, get on each other’s nerves, or quarrel. Also, when schools were closed, many children began to appreciate the privilege of going to school and enjoyed having more time with their parents, improving family closeness during the corona time.

There’s no better time than now to light the family altar in your home! The Prayer Saturated Family will show you how. Includes a 31-Day Family Prayer Guide.

Cheryl Sacks and her husband, Hal, are the leaders of BridgeBuilders International, a dynamic ministry that equips and encourages believers in changing the spiritual climate in homes, schools, businesses and everywhere they go.

Cheryl is a best-selling author whose “Saturate" series —The Prayer Saturated Church, Prayer Saturated Kids and The Prayer Saturated Family —have blessed and mentored tens of thousands of individuals to go deeper into prayer and have greatly impacted thousands of families and churches around the world.

“The Prayer Saturated Family is one of the best resources that we have ever used in our family.” - Jason Hubbard, Executive Coordinator, IPC

Order online at www.BridgeBuilders.net 

An investigation has been launched by the Catholic Church after two missionary nuns became pregnant whilst working in Africa. One of the nuns, a mother superior, aged 34, only realised she was pregnant when she visited the hospital, complaining of stomach pains. The two women are nuns in Sicily, but belong to separate orders and are expecting children despite their vows of chastity, causing ‘consternation at this news’. They are believed to be originally from Africa and were posted to their home continent as part of their charity missions. They have now returned to Italy to prepare for the births of their children.

A court has granted a Christian couple custody of their children after six years of legal conflict over their right to home-school youngsters. The state kept legal custody of Dirk and Petra Wunderlich's two youngest children after it came to light that the couple were breaking German law by educating their four children at home. Over thirty police officers and social workers raided their home and forcefully removed all the children: only two were later returned, thus preventing the whole family from leaving the country. ‘The right of parents to direct the education of their children is a fundamental right, protected in international law’, said the family’s lawyer at the European Court of Human Rights. ‘We are pleased that the court respected this right.’

A US study found that teenage suicide rates increased after the release of a Netflix drama called ‘13 Reasons Why' - a story of a high-school girl who kills herself. Researchers estimated an additional 195 suicide deaths among 10- to 17-year-olds in the nine months after its release, an increase of 29%. The additional deaths mainly affected boys. In New Zealand recently hundreds marched to Parliament for teen suicide awareness because the government has not done enough to stem the trend. The marchers pushed through barriers set up at Parliament to place photos of their loved ones at the top of the steps. They then sang a waiata (a traditional Māori song) as hundreds more watched and filmed. In England, Rachael Warburton said her 12-year-old daughter, Jessica, left a suicide note with six reasons to kill herself after watching a Netflix show. See:  and

Tens of thousands of people have prodigal family members. The dictionary defines a prodigal as extravagant, a big spender. The word describes the son in the well-known parable: does it also describe the Father, who threw a great extravagant feast in honour of to his errant son? You might empathise with him; he loves his son but has not seen him in many months and is worried about his adventure in the big, wide, often dangerous world. Fathers, mothers and siblings of prodigals know the deep ache as they pray for them to come back to Jesus. Prodigals are on God’s heart. Ask Him to prompt families to know when to open a reconciling conversation, and when to remain silent. May there be strengthened relationships so that people draw closer together.