Displaying items by tag: Praise

Thursday, 25 July 2019 23:48

Religious moments in space

We recently celebrated fifty years since men landed on the moon. But NASA did not share one celebration on that day. Once the lunar module landed in the Sea of Tranquillity, Buzz Aldrin radioed Earth to say they wanted a moment’s reflection on what had just happened. Then he turned off the radio. Aldrin, who was a church elder, opened containers of bread and wine that he had brought with him and read John 15:5. In the 1/6th gravity of the moon the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were communion elements. A few years earlier three Catholic astronauts took Holy Communion on board the Endeavour, and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon said the Jewish Shabbat Kiddush prayer while in space.

Published in Praise Reports
Thursday, 25 July 2019 23:46

God still heals supernaturally

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr told a congregation, ‘I saw the lame walking and people healed at a conference in California. We prayed for healing, and people were healed all over the place. We saw one man's hand open for the first time in five years. Another man, in a wheelchair, began to stand up and dance while they were playing their music.’ He told them that he was describing these miracles so that they would have opportunities to ‘get a word deep within you, that you would be so filled up with the awareness of the Holy Spirit that when people look at you, they say, “That is amazing. I must go see what that is”. You see, you don't need a twelve-step programme. All you need is one moment in God's presence. I believe that can change your life.’

Published in Praise Reports
Thursday, 25 July 2019 23:43

Apulstock Festival: 20 July

Apulstock is a safe music festival in Sussex, for people with special needs. It is organised and run by volunteers whose sole aim is to inspire and entertain people who don’t have the opportunities or support to attend the larger annual music festivals. Apulstock is a mixture of music and dance slots led by professional rap, rock and roll, and alternative musicians plus lots of fun bands encouraging audience participation in Zumba fitness and funky dance routines. Every week, across the country, there is an army of volunteers using their talents to touch the lives of the hidden 2% in our communities. They deliver special church services, discos, karaoke, sports, arts and crafts, gardening, etc to develop people’s individual strengths and support them to overcome their weaknesses.

Published in Praise Reports
Thursday, 25 July 2019 23:28

Universal Credit benefits

Since its introduction, Universal Credit (UC) has made things harder for people receiving it. Now, a court ruling has made it possible for 13,000+ disabled people to receive backdated benefit payments. People who moved from the severe disability benefit to UC, which rolls six payments into one, will receive backdated payments of up to £405 per month alongside the UC benefit. The work and pensions secretary said that claimants who had been entitled to the severe disability premium would be given ‘ongoing transitional payments’ as they moved across to UC, and those who had already moved to the new system would be eligible for backdated payments. While we can thank God for this change, we can continue praying for other support packages which need re-assessing and addressing, including dementia care and undiagnosable illnesses that do not fit into any recognised medical category but still need support with training, transport, supervision, and personal care.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 19 July 2019 11:15

Dominican Republic: Sex Trafficking

Give thanks for Clayton and Ellen Kershaw, from the Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Team, who partnered with the International Justice Mission (IJM), and visited the Dominican Republic to help bring a major reduction in the scale of sex trafficking of children. They met with local government officials, local partners and survivors. They then used their American platforms in sports and media to shine a light on this issue and released a clip on the internet about their visit. Please pray for many people to watch the video clip about sex trafficking and then go on to join the fight for justice.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 19 July 2019 10:56

Giggle Doctors and healthcare

Theodora Giggle Doctors are professional performers, highly trained to work in hospitals and hospice environments with children with disabilities. They are actors, entertainers, magicians, musicians and singers. Play in hospital gives children the chance to forget about what they are going through and makes situations that could be scary and worrying more fun, creating happy memories. Play stops children getting bored and takes their mind away from what is going on around them. The Giggle Doctors always bring joy and laughter not only to the children but also to parents and hospital staff. During their visits they are able to make children relax and feel happy, taking their mind away from the hospital environment they are in and creating smiles which parents treasure.

Published in Praise Reports

A Zen group will no longer be holding their hour-and-a-half silent meditation sessions at the Old Palace in the Cathedral grounds, due to complaints that it is incompatible with Christianity. The Wild Goose Sangha group sessions were run by Canon Chris Collingwood, an Anglican priest who is also a Zen teacher, and referred to as the Sensei within the meditation sessions. Zen meditation roots are in Buddhism and Canon Collingwood describes himself as ‘religiously bilingual’ and said Zen poses fewer problems than other non-Christian customs because it doesn’t claim to be a system of doctrine or belief. Concerns were raised three years ago about the compatibility of Zen with Christianity and finally cancelled after the Rt Rev Dr Jonathan Frost, the dean of York Minster, ended the Minster’s association with the group.

Published in Praise Reports

On 31 May 2006 Dwura, an Iraqi Christian housewife, saw her brother-in-law gunned down by terrorists who asked him for his identity card and when they saw that he was a Christian he was shot in the head and chest. ‘From then onwards we lived in fear’, she said. The family stayed in the plains of Nineveh, where Christians have lived for nearly two millennia. But things got worse and they fled for their lives with tens of thousands of other Christians. Now families can return but their homes are destroyed, there is nothing there. Dwura and her husband wanted to start a new life where they could live freely as Christians. With visas from the Australian government and financial help from Barnabas Fund, they flew to Australia a few days ago. Over 100 similar air tickets have been issued since March.

Published in Praise Reports
Friday, 12 July 2019 13:22

Algeria: massive Church growth

The world’s largest Arab country (95% Muslim), once home to the Phoenicians, Romans, Ottomans, and French is now home to a growing number of Christians, despite significant persecution. Believers face intolerable pressures from family and neighbours militating against any open expression of Christianity, along with anti-conversion and blasphemy laws. Yet in God’s economy, as much as Satan attempts to squeeze the church, the faster it grows. In 2008 there were 10,000 Christians - by 2015, it was 380,000. It could now be approaching 500,000. A healthy portion of the growth is attributed to Christian satellite programming into North African countries. Joshua Project, tracking church growth, confirms that there are now 600,000+ professing Algerian Christians. So many are coming to Christ that there are regular baptism services for 60 to 100 new believers and one church has already planted 14 daughter churches.

Published in Praise Reports
Friday, 05 July 2019 11:13

Answered prayer: Christian wins appeal

In 2016 Prayer Alert intercessors were asked to pray for Felix Ngole, a Christian student removed from a postgraduate course in social work at Sheffield University. A judge ruled against him in 2017, but now three Court of Appeal judges have overturned that ruling. Felix said, ‘This is great news for everyone who cares about freedom of speech, especially those working in or studying for caring professions. As Christians we are called to serve others and care for everyone, yet publicly and privately we must also be free to express our beliefs without fear of losing our livelihoods. I am thankful to the judges for recognising that I did not discriminate against anyone.’

Published in Praise Reports