10% of Seychelles is dependent on heroin. Addiction threatens to overwhelm them. Foreign workers are brought in to do the work that drug-dependent locals cannot do. Seychelles is number one in the world for heroin consumption. Tanzanian guards are in the jail to stem heroin flowing into the cells, but it’s not working. The jail no longer has a methadone programme or counselling sessions to treat heroin dependency. Addicts outside prison can get free Methadone if they register. Surprisingly, in a nation captive to heroin, methadone is the only support available. Taking methadone without detox and counselling is not a good solution. Yet, all residential rehabilitation centres are closed. However a grant from the UAE has been released to build a rehabilitation centre. Pray for this to begin to turn around Seychelles misery. Heroin enters Seychelles by boat and is sold in improvised shops in people’s homes. A cottage industry with whole communities involved.

This week, a US judge ordered Swiss mining and commodity giant Glencore to pay US$700 million in a long-running corruption probe. Last year, Glencore pleaded guilty to channelling at least US$100 million in bribes to public officials globally - from Brazil to the DRC, and Nigeria to Venezuela. Glencore negotiated with Brazil, the UK and America to pay up to US$1.1 billion. This week’s sentence confirms the US portion of the coordinated settlement. But it doesn’t address the full scope. There are more populations and individuals who suffered harm from Glencore’s scheme. Pray for a more comprehensive effort to identify and adequately compensate all those affected, particularly the most vulnerable. Meanwhile Indonesia wants guarantees from the UK that they will receive a portion of any future financial settlement resulting from a corruption inquiry into an aircraft manufacturer after Jakarta was excluded from an agreement made with Airbus, even though Indonesia assisted with the investigation.

Beginning at sundown on 22nd March over a billion Muslims around the world will abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sex from dawn to sunset during the holy month of Ramadan. Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and one of the highest forms of Islamic worship. Abstinence from earthly pleasures and curbing evil intentions and desires is their act of obedience and submission to God and an atonement for sins, errors, and mistakes. Fasting is an act of faith and worship to  increase their spiritual piety. Fasting together as a worldwide community (Ummah) affirms the brotherhood and equality of man before God. Throughout the day many go out of their way to help the needy, both financially and emotionally. Believing that a reward earned during this month is multiplied 70 times and more. For this reason, Ramadan is also known as the month of charity and generosity.

Exalting Jesus! - is a 21-day journey into Easter... and a 21-day journey into more of Christ!

It takes place online between March 19th and April 9th 2023 (Easter Sunday)

Join us! - as we seek to enliven and enrich our relationship with Jesus Christ for all that He is!

Exalting Jesus is a series of 21 short daily video devotionals with responsive prayers for personal, group or church use. It has been produced by David Bryant of Christ Now in association with IPC.

More info at www.exaltjesus.life

#exaltjesus #exaltingjesus #christnow #ipcprayer

Burkina Faso has been suffering a decade-long insurgency that has displaced nearly two million people. On 12th & 13th January, 66 women and children were kidnapped by the militant jihadists in the north of the country while they were gathering food. The military found them 125 miles away boarding a bus at an airport security checkpoint. It is not clear if their captors have also been detained.

Jody Greene, the sheriff of Columbus County, who's gained national attention for refusing to remove a Bible verse from a wall at his office cited ‘a need for more Jesus’ as the reason for his decision not to comply with the demands of an atheist legal organisation to take it down. The organisation’s concerns about the Bible verse Philippians 4:13 being displayed on a wall at the Sheriff’s Office was posted in a Facebook post two weeks after they sent a letter to Greene asking him to remove the ‘exclusionary’ and ‘unconstitutional religious display,’ which proclaims, ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.’ Green said the scripture is ‘very motivational to me and my staff.’ Companies spend thousands on motivational classes to come up with motivational slogans. My motivation comes from the greatest motivational speaker of all time, Jesus Christ.’

Three months ago, Christians Against Poverty (CAP), the debt relief charity, launched an online calculator service that over 21,000 have used to check if they are entitled to extra benefits. Over £6m in potential extra annual income has been found that was previously left unclaimed - meaning an extra 2,000 people are likely to see a boost to their household budgets. CAP’s Director of External Affairs said, ‘£15bn every year goes unclaimed in social security and benefits. That's money that you and I pay in our taxes to be there for us when life happens. But that’s currently sat on a desk in Whitehall when it should be in people's pockets.’

The Christian legal organisation ADF UK says local authorities fined army veteran Adam Smith-Connor as he ‘stood still and silent’ on a street for a few minutes before being approached by community safety officers. He had his back toward the clinic to be mindful of the privacy of staff and people attending the facility. But a buffer zone preventing prayer in the area of the clinic is established. He told the officers he was praying for his son, who is deceased. He said, ‘Twenty-two years ago I paid for my girlfriend to have an abortion. The consequences of this grieves me years later as I realise I lost my son Jacob to an abortion I had paid for. I stood outside a similar facility and prayed to God for my son Jacob. In my army medical training, I assisted in abortions, but now I pray for those who perform abortions. Adam is challenging the fine.