Displaying items by tag: anniversary

Pray for the women in Ukraine. Twelve months after Russia invaded the country, they are increasingly vulnerable to sexual violence with reports of abuse on the rise, according to a leading humanitarian organisation in the country. Women fleeing from bombed houses and their hometowns are reporting attacks occurring in the home and in communal shelters. UN secretary general Antonio Guterres condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as ‘an affront to our collective conscience’, saying Friday’s anniversary is ‘a grim milestone for the Ukrainians. Pray for the UN to make wise decisions regarding Ukraine, ammunition and war machines. Joe Biden vowed that the US would defend ‘literally every inch of NATO territory’ ahead of talks with NATO’s secretary general and leaders of the Bucharest Nine (B9), a collection of nations on the most eastern parts of the NATO alliance and closest to Russia. Pray for aggressive talk to end and peace talks to begin.

On 25 May, Christians across the nation were encouraged to mark the second anniversary of the killing of George Floyd by lighting a candle. Churches Together in England (CTE) called for the Church to pause for one minute. Shermara Fletcher of CTE said, 'We invite the nation to share their stories of the work they have done in challenging racial injustice and highlighting the systems they have set up to tackle racism within their churches and within broader society'. Reflecting on this anniversary, CTE president Rev Helen Cameron said, 'It is not enough for good people to be horrified but then do nothing to work for change. We must dismantle white privilege, name racism when we encounter it, and commit ourselves to change. This will be costly, but God calls us to seek justice and release hope for all.'

November 2020 will be the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts. They left England to escape religious persecution and establish the freedom of self-government, in the New World. The Declaration of Independence and the constitution were laid down by the founding fathers. The USA became a blessing to desperate and hopeful people from the nations, because of the culture of freedom and faith in God. American missionaries invested their lives in the spiritual restoration of the Old Continent, and until now have continued to impact the nations of Europe with the Kingdom of God. However, the strategy of the enemy is to destabilise, create conflicts in society, and gain control of governments. In 2020 the tragic death of George Floyd, BLM riots, and an out-of-control pandemic are threatening a divided electorate prior to November’s elections and the 400th anniversary of God’s freedom in the new world.

The streets of Kiev were filled with songs of praise and thanksgiving from 500,000 evangelical Ukrainian Christians who had gathered to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. People travelled from all four provinces to celebrate and thank God for the freedom to worship, to preach the Gospel in their country, and to celebrate His faithfulness to His Church. The gathering took place after Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko signed an order recognising the anniversary of the Reformation.