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Prayer meetings for doctors and medical staff are taking place in St. Jehoshaphat Church in Lviv, Western Ukraine, reports The Christian Telegraph in reference to The Ukrainian Greek- Catholic Church website and credo-ua.org. Such cooperation of clergy and medics is called to help patients that are in need of healing. The meetings were founded by Father Vladimir Gruz who, while studying in Austria, took a great interest in the idea of one doctor, who started a prayer group with her staff. ’Although medicine in the West has an abundance of resources, doctors understood that they are merely instruments in God’s hands and, without Him, these doctors could not treat patients,’ notes Father Vladimir. He adopted this Western practice for Ukraine in light of the mass violations of patient rights and late medical aid, leading to cases of death and disability in the country.
Praise: God for the prayers of the doctors and that He would heal those who are in need. (Lk.9:2)
More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue13865.html
Torgen Sondergaard is a young evangelist from Denmark. He believes that when people start following Jesus, it's important to teach them right away to live the commands of Jesus. Take Helle, a young Danish woman who came to Christ three weeks ago and was baptized immediately. Torben invited her to come to the city and pray for people who are sick. ‘Jesus told us to make disciples of all people,’ Torben explains. ‘Baptizing them, and teaching them to obey all that Jesus has commanded us to do. And one of these commands is to preach that the Kingdom of God is near and heal the sick.’ What happens next is quite surprising. Helle, who has almost no Bible knowledge, prays a simple prayer: ‘Father, I thank you for healing and for removing all pain right now, in Jesus' name. Amen.’ To her own amazement and to the surprise of the people she prayed for, they get healed. Praise: God for the way he used Helle and pray that her testimony would encourage others to step out in faith. (Heb.11:1)
In Denmark, at least 4 percent of the country's population claims to be of the Muslim faith. Now, one former Muslim is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. Massoud Fouroozandeh was born a Muslim in Iran. Fouroozandeh was called up for military duty, but instead of serving, he fled Iran and eventually settled in Denmark. Today, he is the pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in Denmark with a special outreach to Denmark's Muslim immigrants. He is the author of the book titled ‘The Forbidden Salvation.’ His journey to Christianity began when his mother, who also became a Christian, gave him a Bible. This angered him and he decided to disprove it, but something different happened. Fouroozandeh was running his own business in Denmark when he says Jesus appeared to him in a dream and called him to serve Him. He later began the Church of Love. Praise: God for this wonderful testimony and may Fouroozandeh’s Church continue to grow. (Gen.1:28a) More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/May/Frmr-Muslim-Danish-Church-Waking-to-Gospel-Call-/
After killing a man Edward Salazar Mauricio faced the electric chair. By God’s grace he received a life sentence. Mauricio had a Roman Catholic upbringing but it made no difference in his life. ‘I confessed my sins before a priest, said a few Hail Marys and Our Fathers and continued my life without any change whatsoever.’ During his frequent trips to solitary confinement guards left a Bible in his cell. ‘I started reading the Bible to pass the time,’ God slowly planted His Word in Mauricio’s heart. He attended a prison evangelistic meeting where Saul of Tarsus's conversion was preached and, ‘That word went straight into my heart. After leaving the meeting I went to my prison cell, got on my knees, and said ‘God, I know I am a sinner and that I have destroyed my life through sin, but if you can use my life in anyway I surrender my life to You right now.’ You can read all of his story by clicking the More button.
Praise: God for the power of His word that penetrated Edward’s heart to bring changes he could never have imagined. (Ps.119:11)
More: http://blog.godreports.com/2013/02/the-death-row-murderer-who-became-a-missionary/
David Cameron's Big Society Awards recognise outstanding people and organisations whose work improves lives and strengthens communities. On Monday The Cinnamon Network was given a Big Society Award as the Prime Minister recognized the widespread work of various churches in their communities. The Cinnamon Network was launched in 2010 and is a community of 100 CEOs of charities, social enterprises and church denominations who passionately strengthen the muscles of local churches for community transformation. It is a partnership between Make It Happen, Piercing Blue and Tearfund and their vision is to see the UK Church meet the growing social needs within our communities. David Cameron said he was pleased to be able to give The Cinnamon Network this award in recognition of the work with jobs clubs, street pastors and supporting churches to address issues in their neighbourhoods.
Praise: God for the unity of the Church in the United Kingdom that is displayed through these initiatives and ask Him to continue to pour out his blessings on these enterprises. (Ps.133)
More: http://godandpoliticsuk.org/tag/big-society-awards/
In a second similar case in recent days, a Christian street preacher has won £7,000 plus costs from Cumbria Police in settlement for a claim of wrongful arrest, unlawful imprisonment and breach of his human rights. The police have accepted they acted unlawfully. Mr Mcalpine was preaching from the Bible in Workington town centre on 20 April 2010. His sermon contained no mention of homosexuality. When he finished he was approached by Police Community Support Officer, Sam Adams. Even though Mr Mcalpine had never mentioned homosexuality, PCSO Adams warned him that he could be arrested if he made homophobic remarks. Mr Mcalpine replied that he was not homophobic, but he sometimes preaches that homosexual conduct is a sin because that is what the Bible says. Uniformed police officers were called to the scene and wrongly informed Mr Mcalpine that ‘it is against the law’ to describe homosexual conduct as a sin. (See Prayer Alert 1910) Praise: that this will provide clarification for the police and all those involved in such matters leaving preachers unhindered in future. (Pr.1:5) More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/cumbria-police-payout-for-arrest-of-christian/
A respected Cuban church leader who was unexpectedly arrested and tried in court last week has been cleared of all charges after his accusers gave contradictory evidence against him. According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Reverend Roberto Rodriguez, was allowed to return to his family and is recuperating at home after being found not guilty of ‘threatening behaviour.’ The pastor was forced to hitchhike from Cardenas to Santa Clara. They arrived at 1am and the following day travelled to the town of Placetas, in Central Cuba, where Rodriguez stood trial on 2 Sept. Prosecutors recommended that Rodriguez be given a one-year prison sentence, following what CSW called the contradictory evidence given by his accusers, the tribunal had no choice but to find him not guilty, although the court handed down a fine to the church leader. Praise: God for justice and the release of Rodriguez. (Am.5:24)
Cuba is seeing one of the fastest church growth rates in the world - the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB) says that this is evidenced by the fact that there just aren't enough churches to hold all the believers. In 1960, Cuban Baptist churches numbered 210. Growth was slow over the next three decades, increasing that number by just 28. However, within the last 20 years, a church-planting movement began sweeping the island nation. Today, according to the IMB, the number of Cuban Baptist traditional churches, missions, and house churches exceeds 6,200. Church growth is surpassing the speed of construction for places of worship, which leaves some of the congregations worshipping in houses, garages, yards or on rooftops. The leaders also find they need tools to cope with the other needs of their burgeoning congregations. So, IMB missionaries regularly form teams to help train and disciple new leaders. Praise: the Lord for the growth of His Church in Cuba. (Eph.3:21)
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) has marked the start of this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with the launch of a new social networking site. CT Connect is a free website for local Churches Together groups to access CTBI’s online resources. CTBI hopes the website will facilitate groups sharing resources for worship and spirituality and publicising events. More importantly, they want to see groups use the website to interact and discuss current issues locally, nationally and internationally. CTBI General Secretary, the Rev Bob Fyffe said: ‘It’s about building an on-line community. Significantly, it will allow Christians at a local level to engage directly with each other and with the many organisations in the ecumenical family.’ Praise: God for this initiative and pray that interaction via CT Connect will be a blessing to God’s Church. (Ph.1:1-2)
Crucifixes can be displayed in school classrooms across the European Union, the Court of Human Rights has ruled. The decision overturned a previous ruling that the crucifix could breach the rights of non-Catholic pupils. The case was initially brought in Italy by Soile Lautsi, a Finnish-born mother whose two children attended a state school and objected to crucifixes being present in every classroom. In November 2009, the court in Strasbourg sided with Mrs Lautsi, ruling that the presence of religious symbols violated the children's right to secular education and to ‘freedom of thought, conscience and religion’. In Friday's final ruling, the court decided that ‘while the crucifix was above all a religious symbol, there was no evidence before the court that the display of such a symbol on classroom walls might have an influence on pupils’. The ruling will be binding on all 47 countries that are members of the Council of Europe, the continent's human rights watchdog. (See Prayer Alert 4509) Praise: God for this ruling and answer to prayer. (Pr.25:11) More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8391092/Crucifixes-can-be-displayed-in-EU-schools.html