Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

Friday, 07 December 2018 00:14

Ties with Israel strengthened ahead of Brexit

Britain is Israel’s largest trade partner in Europe; that relationship seems to be going from strength to strength. Exports from the UK to Israel increased by 75% in the first half of 2018, with more than £7 billion in trade between the two countries in 2017. Trade minister Liam Fox, on a visit to Israel to strengthen trade relationships, told prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ‘As we leave the EU and Britain takes its place as an independent state of the World Trade Organization, we want to push our concept of free trade even further. In a world where the siren calls of protectionism are rising, two free-trade nations like ours need to make the case for global free trade because trade spreads prosperity.’ Netanyahu said, ‘Britain is one of our most important trading partners in the world, and we value the friendship.’

Published in British Isles
Friday, 07 December 2018 00:11

Foodbanks and the poor

Foodbanks expect more people than ever to need their help this Christmas. ‘Cold parcels’ are being given to people who have neither food nor the means to heat it. Many more may well be needed as the impact of Universal Credit rolls out. The charity Crisis tweeted, ‘Dealing with local authority homeless decisions, where one reason to find someone “non-priority” is the fact they have shown capacity and ability to even make the application. Frustratingly bizarre logic. “Your application would have been stronger had you been unable to make it”.’ Someone replied, ‘We see exactly the same thing with disability benefit assessments. If you turn up for assessment and/or an appeal hearing, they find you have no problems with mobility. If you don't turn up, they refuse your claim.’ Meanwhile, in one of the richest countries in the world, it is only charity that prevents some people starving.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 07 December 2018 00:07

Confident Christianity conference

A recent Confident Christianity conference in Dundee’s Central Baptist Church saw around three hundred people considering how to share the gospel in our age of tough questions. Pastor Jim Turrent started proceedings with a call for the Church to embrace the Biblical call to unashamed proclamation. He suggested that lack of confidence in the gospel is the main factor inhibiting our effective witness today. Evangelists suggested how to open up deeper, more fruitful conversations around Jesus and the gospels, and Dr Ben Thomas gave his testimony of conversion to Christ when he was sharing his life with his same-sex partner. He explained that deep wrestling with scripture led him to conclude that this could not continue, and therefore he has chosen a single, celibate life. Reactions to the conference were positive. Organisers are praying that its fruit will be more ‘Confident Christians’, because they are the key to the re-evangelisation of Scotland and the North.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 07 December 2018 00:02

Hope for the countryside

Chronic food poverty exists in Britain, even in rural communities, exacerbated by higher food, transport, and fuel costs. Research shows that these additional costs average £3,000 per year – the ‘premium’ for living in rural areas. Pray for churches both to help and speak up for those without sufficient income to feed themselves or their families (see endhungeruk.org). Village primary schools are often at the heart of their communities, but many face closure due to falling numbers. A Church of England summit took place in November to consider how to deal with this problem, especially as it affects the CofE’s 2,000 rural schools. Pray that the solutions proposed will be effective in securing a future for village schools and in providing focuses for community life.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 07 December 2018 00:00

UK justice systems

Part of a declaration by Passion for the Nation: ‘Father, We thank You for the call on the UK to display Your righteousness and justice. We praise You for our heritage of godly justice, and we decree, this is a time for a reawakening of Kingdom values within our justice system. May the God-given sovereignty and order of governmental authority for this nation, judicial and legislative, be restored for the United Kingdom. In the Name of Jesus, we speak godly design over every aspect of the Brexit settlement in relation to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, Criminal Justice , Civil Law and Legal Services and for Heaven’s schedule in every aspect of the transitional period, so that no plan of man or of the enemy will alter either Your timing or Your purpose.’

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 06 December 2018 23:58

Archbishop’s wife speaks about AIDS

On 1 December, to mark World AIDS Day, Margaret Sentamu, wife of the Archbishop of York, joined NHS staff from York’s sexual health services and charity Yorkshire MESMAC to highlight the importance of taking a HIV test.  Demonstrating how simple it can be, Margaret took a finger prick test where the result can be given within twenty minutes. She said: ‘It’s important to raise awareness - not just for one day, but all year round - of the importance of getting tested. There have been fantastic advances in medication which means people can now live a completely normal life, particularly when they get an early diagnosis.’ Margaret recalled the devastating impact of losing family and friends to AIDS in her home country of Uganda. While the HIV epidemic is slowing in the UK, nearly half of people who test positive are finding out they have HIV very late, meaning that it virus may already have damaged their health permanently. Over 100,000 people live with HIV, and around a quarter of them don’t know they’re HIV positive.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 30 November 2018 00:41

Scotland’s intercessors: ‘united we stand’

‘As believers in Almighty God we have the authority to call for divine order in the Government, in Brexit, in the economy, and in every section of society. This is a “Daniel” moment when God's people can come before Him, crying out for His mercy and forgiveness as we confess our sins as a nation and call for His will to be done, in these crucial days. On 30 November Christians across Scotland and the nations will be united in prayer for the Prime Minister, Cabinet, MPs, Scottish First Minister, her Cabinet, and MSPs. We are praying for wisdom, clarity and unity. We can add our voices on that day, and in the coming days pray for our MPs by name. We must avoid being influenced by anger, fear, confusion, criticism or division, and instead lift our eyes to the One with all the answers, confident that as we do so it's not our battle, it's His battle!’

Published in British Isles
Friday, 30 November 2018 00:39

Irish church leaders pray together for Brexit

Representatives from the Roman Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, and the Church of Ireland met in Belfast on 22 November to discuss the Brexit challenges and pray. In a joint statement, they said that relations between people in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and between the Republic and the UK, had 'improved and deepened over the past thirty years’, and that the message of Jesus to 'love your neighbour' was guiding their response to Brexit. They added. 'We pray at this time that the tensions which the Brexit negotiations entail will not be allowed to undermine the good relationships and mutual understanding which are so important for us to work together for the common good.' They pleaded with people in positions of leadership to ‘keep the debate around Brexit civil, to speak with grace, and to weigh their words carefully’.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 30 November 2018 00:36

Iranian refugees entering UK

Many Iranian families settled in London after fleeing the former Shah and later fleeing his overthrower, Ayatollah Khomeini. 2001 brought fresh asylum movements of Farsi-speaking refugees, from Western Europe and Eurasia. Now there is a new wave of asylum seekers. In November, 78 of the 100+ refugees rescued in the English Channel were Iranian families. They were rescued by UK and French border force vessels from unsafe dinghies, or when entering the port of Dover on stolen French fishing boats. Some have been apprehended clambering up Folkestone’s rocks. The Home Office said, ‘We have stepped up deployments of our coastal patrol vessels along the south-east coast. However, this is not an issue that can be resolved by maritime resources alone.’ Iranian migrants in northern France said that they are determined to take whatever risks necessary to enter Britain. See 

Published in British Isles
Friday, 30 November 2018 00:34

Lambeth Conference: proclaiming good news

The Archbishop of Canterbury has set out his vision for the next once-in-a-decade meeting of the bishops of the Anglican Communion, in 2020. He said, ‘The world needs the good news of Jesus Christ; it needs to see it in our actions, envy it in our love together, and hear it in confident proclamation of the good news of Jesus.’ He acknowledged the ongoing disagreements over sexuality and the interpretation of Scripture. ‘We have very important differences, but we must show that we respect each other as sisters and brothers in Christ, and that we learn to disagree in a way that demonstrates that we love and value each other. Whatever views we come with, we come to be under the authority of Scripture, and inspired by the Spirit.’ He is currently sending invitations to every active bishop (and spouse) in the Anglican Communion.

Published in British Isles