Displaying items by tag: Community

When Angela Barry's grandfather died last year she realised just how difficult many of his generation were finding life, often feeling isolated. As the country went into quarantine, she was determined to ensure that the older people in her community did not feel alone. Her solution - fruit and vegetables. Along with her husband and three children, she has set up a weekly free fruit and veg stall outside her house in Bolton and delivers bags of fresh produce to those who need it most. So far they have served 50 isolated neighbours. Sons Joshua (9), Ben (7), and Isaac (4) are manning the stall, which has created many opportunities for new relationships. Angela says, ‘This is a really great time for us as a church to be the light. We are all at home and it is a brilliant chance for us to really show what church is in our local community.’

TLG is a Christian charity that helps churches to bring hope and a future for struggling children. From school exclusion, to poverty and holiday hunger, there are children across the UK facing some of the toughest starts in life. TLG believes change is possible through early intervention: one coach per child, one hour a week, for children struggling in school because of bullying, bereavement, family breakdown, poverty, or being in the care system. These all have a huge impact on a child's education. Some children may be struggling with a lack of confidence, have no positive role models, or just need an adult to talk to. TLG Early Intervention gives the church a practical solution to support children, families and schools in their community. The programme enables trained volunteers to become coaches and work on a one-to-one basis with a child, improving their behaviour and in turn raising their levels of learning. 

Pray for Brexit leavers and remainers to end enmity and rebuild a genuinely United Kingdom. Boris Johnson has an 80-seat majority; may his government members speak with strong voices in Brussels and achieve God’s purposes for our nations. There is a possibility that we will leave the EU without a deal on World Trade Organisation terms. May we be philosophical: Britain has been through worse in the past and moved on. Many promises were made before the election. Pray for the new government to reignite the North of England while keeping to its promise not to increase taxes (see also next article). Pray for enough new houses to be built on brownfield sites to end the housing crisis. May the promised 31,000 nurses and 20,000 police officers be recruited, trained and used by God to build a safer, healthier society. Pray also for local elections on 7 May to bring people back to voting on local issues, not national ones.

Shelter revealed that 135,000 children are homeless in Britain, one in 200 people in England are without a settled home, and 280,000 people are recorded as homeless. However, the charity pointed out that these statistics could be the tip of the iceberg, with hidden homelessness and rough sleeping difficult to document accurately. The scale of the challenge that Boris Johnson’s new government must face is daunting. Pray for government action to address the lack of social homes. A spokesman for the ministry of housing said, ‘Everyone should have somewhere safe to live, and councils have a duty to provide accommodation to those who need it, including families with children’. There are 1,450 Big Issue sellers working on the streets each week. Homelessness blights lives, leaving lasting imprints of trauma, and many are only days away from becoming homeless.

An exceptional measles epidemic in Samoa is attributed to a decision in 2018 to suspend  a vaccination programme after two infants died following vaccination. UNICEF has now sent Samoa 110,500 vaccines, and the government has issued extreme measures to secure ‘public safety’ as the crisis worsens. No vehicle is permitted on the road unless it belongs to an exempt service from the public sector or is being used to seek medical assistance from a medical facility. All inter-island travel between Upolu and Savaii is prohibited, except to get medical assistance. Everyone must stay at home to await the vaccination units being mobilised for the MMR vaccination plan. Public sector services exempt from closure include hospitals, morgues, fire and emergency services, police, search and rescue, and security. But people continue to avoid vaccinations, even as the country is shut down under strict emergency laws, in part due to high-profile foreign interference.

A British rabbi has written to his community urging them to vote for whichever party is most likely to defeat Labour in their constituency. Many believe his letter crossed a professional and ethical red line. The Torah’s vision is filled with concern for the poor and marginalised, care for outsiders, love of strangers, etc. Ethical principles affecting social, legal, economic and environmental policies of a country are themes leaders will preach about. However we must pray that all community leaders, rabbis, imams, clergy, elders, acharya and guides help their communities to manage their anxieties, not stoke fears or increase unease. Pray that minority groups across the country who in the past have been influenced over political decision-making by local people of status will cast unbiased votes. Pray also for honesty in postal voting.

World Mental Health Day was 1 October. This year it was supported by the International Association for Suicide Prevention. Every forty seconds, someone commits suicide. ‘40 seconds of action’ raises people’s awareness of the frequency of suicide, and the role that each of us can play to help prevent it. In the UK one in four adults will have mental health problems at some stage in their lifetime. For every suicide, there are twenty suicide attempts. These have an impact on families, friends, colleagues, communities and societies. Pray for a proactive church to support vulnerable people with mental health challenges wisely. 20% of the UK population will suffer from depression. Pray for more friends, neighbours, and relatives prepared to stand with the sufferers with compassion and support them through their crisis.

When the All Woman Choir was set up in North Staffordshire eight years ago, word spread quickly and numbers grew. Now, with more than 300 members, the choir, which has groups in Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, gives public performances. But some of the women involved say it is the impact on their personal lives that has been the most transformative. One woman, a victim of domestic violence, said it had saved her life. To see an inspiring video of a project with the people of the city telling the stories that matter to them, click the ‘More’ button.

Christ Apostolic Church in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent's monthly late-night worship meetings start at 11pm and finish in the early hours. Their worship on 2 August finished at 4am the next day. Residents, in their pyjamas, went to the church in the middle of the night to object to 'unacceptable' noise levels but their pleas were ignored. One resident said, ‘It woke up half of Hamil Road and could be heard at Stanfield. A lot of people couldn't get back to sleep, especially the elderly. A couple of us went over to ask if they could please lower the music and close the door and the reply was 'no, we have a licence so we will carry on. At 6:25 am the last person left the building. I have no problem with religion but there is a time and place to worship. I'm sure God would not want us to go without sleep.’ Pastor Amos Nuga said he was aware of complaints and would cooperate with the council.

Farmers are no strangers to challenge, but today’s pressures are many and varied. Added to concerns over Brexit are increased rural crime (animals worth over £2.5 million were stolen last year), prospects of drought, and questions about the food we eat and how it is produced - all against a backdrop of planned fundamental change in government support to the agricultural industry. Pray for farmers as they feel the stress of meeting these pressures day by day, and for those who offer support when a helping hand is needed. Village halls are the heart of many rural communities. They can provide alternative venues for church services and outreach. The Government recently announced a £3 million scheme to regenerate village halls. Give thanks for this and pray that Christian groups and churches will find ways to share in taking up this opportunity to strengthen community life and advance God’s kingdom in rural areas.