From:-
TORCH TRUST FOR THE BLIND, Torch House, Torch Way, Northampton Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 9HL, U.K.
Telephone: (01858) 438260, Fax: (01858) 438275, email: info@torchtrust.org
Charity Number 1095904.
Some people say you can tell it's Christmas when the following year's holiday ads start flowing. We're guilty, but we wanted to alert you to four new Torch holidays around the UK.
The first is a weekend at King's Park near Northampton: 9-11 May. Next we have a break from June 2-6 in Oxfordshire, staying at a beautiful Christian centre called Windmill Farm. Our third destination is Scotland, staying in a recently refurbished centre reminiscent of Torch House, Hallaton. These holidays are led by Peter and Kate Mancey. Our final call is Northern Ireland's Newcastle-by-the sea: (September 22-26), led by Kevin Vickers. For details or to book, please contact Torch Holiday & Retreat Centre: tel: 01273 832282; email: TorchHRC@torchtrust.org
These holidays are in addition to our usual, all detailed in our holiday brochure, available from Torch House.
Of course, for Christians there is a relationship between holidays and holy days. We may have different ways of celebrating the Lord Jesus coming down to earth as one of us, but we would agree that the day he arrived was indeed wonderful and full of good news for us. Christian Today Digest tells of many people all over the world who need our prayers and our help to know for themselves that Jesus came for them:
May we receive and give out the love of the Lord Jesus in 2008.
"I think the greatest challenge for Christians is to recognise what's going on in our communities in terms of spirituality and connect with it," said Steve Chalke at the Faithworks conference on Friday 2 November.
"I grew up in a culture that told me that on the inside of the church we were spiritual and that on the outside of the church they were cold and secular and weren't the least bit interested in spirituality," continued Chalke, the ministry's founder, as he urged Christians to tap into the flourishing interest in spirituality within their local communities.
"We've discovered that there is a deep sense of spiritual longing rampant in every community. The challenge of the church is how to connect to that, instead of being irrelevant to it."
He added that Britain's "tired democracy" was not the answer to many of the country's social woes.
"It needs to become about volunteering and active engagement and the church can be a strong player in that. But we've got to show up and deliver. It's our responsibility."
In the morning session, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Hazel Blears, told the Faithworks conference in the morning session that there was a "big role" for faith groups to play in rejuvenating local communities.
"I think a lot of the time the churches are the first to step in and provide practical support to neighbourhoods which are facing huge and complex social challenges," she told Faithworks supporters, as she listed poverty, substance abuse and gang violence as just some of the difficulties.
"It's about faith inspiring practical action," she said, acknowledging that the Government had failed to utilise the passion and energy of faith groups in the past.
Ms Blears also admitted that the Government did have a number of concerns over faith groups, particularly as to whether partnership with one faith group would isolate other faith groups, as well as questions over whether faith-based public services could be relied upon to serve everyone regardless of individual beliefs.
"These are legitimate questions but I believe they are answerable and that we can find the right way through. It's because we've started to answer them that we've come to a more mature understanding of the role of faith groups in our communities and the contribution that they can make," she said. "Faith groups can and should be part of the response to the big challenges."
Ms Blears went on to assure Christians that local authorities had started to recognise the contribution that faith groups can make and were making efforts to improve their relationship with them. Government is "genuinely welcoming your contribution," she told them.
This sentiment was shared by the committed Christian, Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, who told the Faithworks conference during the opening sessions that Government and the church were experiencing a change for the better in their relationship.
"The impact (of Christians) on Britain has been immense and there is today in Government and among politicians a new recognition of the value of faith in society," he said, pointing to the fact that 80 per cent of the activists who joined in the Jubilee Campaign and Make Poverty History were from the churches.
"We need people of faith taking advantage of that new recognition, working in their communities and formulating the answers just as Christians did so effectively in the past," he continued, reminding Christians of the massive change that William Wilberforce made 200 years ago when the slave trade was abolished across the British Empire.
"Believers don't need to hide. In today's Britain believers can speak up and contribute in confidence that the value of what we have to say is widely understood despite what I hear some writers say."
He went on to praise those Christians who become involved in social action: "They bring invaluable qualities in that service and they are qualities that modern Britain urgently needs a great deal more of."
Later in the conference, Fran Beckett reminded Christians of the need to retain their distinctively Christian identity while carrying out their compassionate works.
"In the midst of it all we need to be distinctive. There are many people out there who don't know the name of Jesus and who are engaged in community development. We need to be a bunch of people who individually and corporately pursue intimacy with God and let that intimacy colour our engagement with the world around us. It's so easy to be activists; but it's so hard to remember why we are doing what we are doing and to come back to the God who is the source and inspiration of it all."
The Faithworks conference opened on 1 November with a call to Christians to transform their communities by sharing the same love with others that they themselves have received from God.
The Bishop of Liverpool and long-time supporter of Faithworks, the Rt Rev James Jones, called on Christians to show compassion to those in need.
"You and I are called by God to be agents of Him - the one who believes in them - because one day we discovered he believes in us. And because we know that He believes in us, we can dare to believe that He also believes in them."
The three-day conference was put together by Faithworks to inspire and encourage Christians as they work to socially and spiritually transform their communities, and hosted by Faithworks leaders Malcolm Duncan and Steve Chalke.
Other speakers at the conference included the General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, the Rev Joel Edwards, Dr Patrick Dixon, Brian Souter, and Bishop Joe Aldred.
Having recently celebrated the life and work of William Wilberforce, some religious leaders have called abortion-on-demand the "new slavery" - the human rights issue that will define our generation's place in history.
It is forty years since abortion became legal in Britain.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has warned that abortion is increasingly being seen as the easy option for women, perhaps just another form of contraception. In the process, he says, British people risk losing sight of the sanctity of life.
This last statement is supported by the fact that some notable supporters of a lower legal age limit for abortion are also vocal campaigners for voluntary euthanasia.
In 1967, when the act legalising abortion was passed, says Dr Williams, "what people might now call their 'default position' was still that abortion was a profoundly undesirable thing and that a universal presumption of care for the foetus from the moment of conception was the norm. There has been an obvious weakening of the feeling that abortion is a last resort in cases of extreme danger or distress. Nearly 200,000 abortions a year in England and Wales tell their own story. We are not now dealing with a relatively small number of extreme cases."
Recently, several British newspapers carried stories of babies who were aborted for nothing more than having club feet or cleft lips or palates - minor disabilities which can be corrected with surgery after birth.
In an age where people love to jump on the high horse of this human rights issue, surely we should defend the rights of the most fragile among us, the truly voiceless in our midst. We talk about human rights, but where is the right in this: we kill unborn babies while we fight to save forest trees? Western societies are, for the most part, more violent than they were four decades ago. In the end, abortion as we now know it is about violence; it may be the ultimate form of bullying.
The pro-abortion-on-demand stance is an important one to several groups of people. First of all, to those women who might not want a baby or who feel emotionally or financially ill-equipped for motherhood. I seriously doubt that any caring person would want to see a return to the days when single mothers were ostracised and condemned by society at large. People of faith will certainly agree, as it was Christ who taught us to love the marginalised and the hurting. This love must be more than an intellectual assent to the idea of caring - it must involve practical assistance. But showing compassion does not mean staying silent when speaking up might save someone from wrongdoing and pain. There is such a thing as "speaking the truth in love".
The pro-abortion-on-demand position is also important to radical women's rights movements, who argue that abortion is purely an issue of women's rights.
As is often the case, liberal radicals are quick to demonise those who don't completely agree with their agenda, saying that those who would reappraise abortion-on-demand are "anti-women". In actual fact, there is good evidence to show that being anti-abortion may in many cases be the more pro-woman stance.
Pro-abortionists like to talk about freedom of choice, but they rarely tell the truth about the after-effects of abortion: either the physical complications that can arise, or the mother's sense of emotional loss and grief which can take many years to come to terms with.
Thank God, the message of Christianity is that through Christ even that pain can be healed over time - though the memory doubtless remains, with support and love people can be given closure.
A final group for whom a pro-abortion position is important are certain medical researchers.
We should be thankful for the wonderful work done by scientists in many fields. But some bio-researchers are hopeful that they will be able to harvest aborted foetal cells in all kinds of studies and operations. Of course, not everyone in the scientific community is in favour. Some scientists openly question where this might take us next - perhaps experimentation on the comatose, or the dying. One point cries out to be made here: even if research were a good reason for abortion, there are far more abortions carried out right now than could ever be justified on that basis.
The big question for us is this: is an embryo or foetus a human being? There are basically five views on this - and each of us must make our choice from these options.
You may choose to believe that the embryo or foetus is nothing more than a growth inside the mother's womb, a collection of cells. Alternatively, you may believe that the embryo or foetus becomes human somewhere between conception and birth. This one is tricky: where do we draw the line, and for what reasons?
A third option is the idea that the embryo becomes a person only after it reaches viability, the time when the foetus can survive on its own. A number of studies have shown, however, that unborn children exhibit many truly human traits long before they're ready to live unaided.
Some people choose to believe that birth itself is the crucial moment when personhood begins. But how can we justify giving a baby a completely different right-to-life status five minutes before it is born, or even one minute before?
Our final option is that the embryo has been human all along, right from the time it was first conceived. If that's the case, the embryo has had inviolable rights from conception.
This latter option is the one supported by most conservative scholars in the reading of the Bible and other major religious texts. In biblical terms, the embryo is like the seed of a tree - it isn't yet all that it will become, but it contains everything needed to get there. It is not just a "potential" human being - it is human.
But there's more to it even than that. The scriptures teach that we should treat the embryo as a person because it is known and loved by God - it is a human being for which he has very special plans. There are several examples in the Bible narrative of people whose future was announced before they were even conceived - Samson, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ among them.
If a baby is valuable to God before it is even conceived - because he knows what it will grow to become - how can it be of lesser value afterwards? When is an embryo human? The Bible's answer is: right from the start!
Is it possible that one day, a few hundred years hence, people will look back and thank God that humanity gave up on abortion, just as it did on slavery? And that Christians were at the forefront of that change? We should all hope so.
[Mal Fletcher is the Founder and Director of Next Wave International. Next Wave International is a Christian mission to contemporary cultures with a special focus on Europe. For many other resources by Mal, including streaming audio & video, e-Books and more, go to www.nextwaveonline.com]
The British Airways employee disciplined for wearing a silver cross necklace and the Sheffield magistrate who resigned after refusing to place youngsters with same-sex adopting couples called on church leaders in November to speak more forcibly against work discrimination.
Nadia Eweida, 56, and 63-year-old Andrew McClintock - whose cases are before the courts - made their appeal at the annual conference of the Christian Peoples Alliance party in London.
With her claim for religious discrimination still before an Employment Tribunal in Reading, Ms Eweida said she would have been dismissed by BA if it were not for the press attention.
Last year she was sent home with no pay after BA said a silver cross the size of a 5p coin contravened internal uniform policy and might offend other British Airways employees. Despite changing its policy after a national outcry, the company held back Ms Eweida's pay and threatened to send a huge legal bill for costs and damages. BA says its stance is right in law, but it had only changed its internal policy as a result of negative publicity.
Ms Eweida said that now her case was not in the headlines, BA had chosen not to settle her back-pay and had sought to gag her.
She urged church leaders to speak up so that other Christians didn't face work-place discrimination: "I have to resort to law to establish Christian liberty in the workplace, but it is vital that church leaders continue to make their voice heard. British Airways bends backwards to be politically correct towards other religions. They just forgot there are also Christians working for them. I'm an Anglo-Egyptian Christian and in Egypt, where Christians experience persecution, to wear the Cross is second nature and widely respected. BA is sensitive to Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and those of other faith groups and all I want is the same right to wear the symbol of my faith."
With regard to the adoption issue, in his remarks, Andrew McClintock said his case was going to the Court of Appeal and that it was vital for church leaders to highlight that where possible, it was in the interest of a child facing adoption that they should be placed with a mother and father.
He explained to CPA delegates that he had to resign as a JP in the family courts as it would be wrong in conscience to place youngsters with same-sex couples.
"Placing children with gay couples is an experiment in social science because it is not known what kind of impact it may have on them. By legalising homosexual adoption, Labour are not making paramount the best interest of the child," he said.
Mr McClintock has resigned from his role as a JP in the family courts. His stance and that of Ms Eweida won wide applause from party members and the backing of CPA Leader, Cllr Alan Craig, who is an opposition leader on Newham Borough Council.
CAFOD supporters were among the British campaigners who called on some of the world's largest gold companies to act to clean up the gold industry earlier in November.
The call came as the Council of Responsible Jewellery Practices (CRJP), a unique body consisting of gold industry representatives from mine to shop, develops industry standards that could tackle much of the harm often caused by gold mining.
CAFOD, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, asked campaigners to go the extra mile and send postcards to the United States to the Chair of the CRJP, Matthew Runci, to demand standards are strong enough to change the industry. Currently, jewellers cannot say with confidence how the gold in their products is mined and what destruction it may have caused.
CAFOD is campaigning to highlight the hidden harm caused by gold mining and to get governments and multinational businesses to give poor communities a much greater say in whether gold is mined, how it is mined and who benefits. Already over 100 high street shops have been presented with petitions that include 45,000 signatures calling on jewellers to take action. Over 25 jewellers worldwide have responded and have signed up to rules which could clean up the industry. Mining the gold for one ring can create 18 tonnes of waste (equivalent of two double-decker buses) - that may leach toxic metals and acid.
CAFOD has also found evidence of cyanide and arsenic pollution, people being forced from their homes and environments being destroyed by large scale gold mining activities.
Helen Wolfson, Head of Campaigns at CAFOD, said "We need standards that will mean real change for people living around gold mines; if the CRJP doesn't produce strong standards which can be independently verified this will be a missed opportunity. We urge all campaigners to send postcards to the US to demonstrate how important clean gold is to consumers in the UK. Campaigners have already persuaded jewellers to support the campaign and it is now time for the whole industry to act."
Britons spend £2bn on gold jewellery every year. A poll done on behalf of the charity found that one in four people claimed they would buy Fairtrade gold on sale, even if it meant paying more.
The Church of England has welcomed Royal Mail's decision to re-establish a religious theme for its Christmas stamp collection. The Royal Mail is to release a collection of eight stamps with illustrations of baby Jesus, Mary, as well as angels, this Christmas.
The Church was highly critical in 2006 when the Royal Mail's stamp collection carried only secular themes of the Christian holiday, and even though they have welcomed the return to religious themes this year, the Royal Mail said it would alternate between secular and religious themes annually.
The themes have already been set for 2008, a Royal Mail spokesman said, and it has decided that classic pantomime characters would be a good feature for next year's Christmas.
"Last year featured a series of winter wonderland images, so this year features angels and the Madonna and Child," a Royal Mail spokesman was quoted as saying by the BBC.
Christina Baxter, chairwoman of the House of Laity of the Church of England's General Synod, said of the Madonna and Child image on a first-class stamp: "I very much welcome an explicitly Christian theme for that particular stamp. Although the others are not to my personal taste, I nevertheless welcome stamps that carry values that are explicitly Christian, and I hope they will produce Christian stamps at Christmas next year too."
The Church has emphasised the importance of Christmas stamps being filled with Christian-themed designs rather than a random secular selection, as this would "remind people of the true meaning of Christmas".
Two billion letters are expected to be sent over the festive period in the UK, and on 17 December alone Royal Mail have predicted 123 million items will pass through the postal system.
Climate change was described as a "weapon of mass destruction" by a leading scientist during a special breakfast. Almost 100 local church leaders and politicians gathered in Belfast to be briefed by Sir John Houghton of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
During the breakfast on 13 November, he challenged the gathering to reduce its carbon emissions. He stated the global average temperature rise must be kept as far below two degrees Celsius as possible. Warning of the consequences should the challenge not be heeded, Sir John said: "The impacts of global warming are such that I have no hesitation in describing it as a weapon of mass destruction."
Green Party MLA Brian Wilson and Joe Furphy from Eco-congregation also addressed the politicians and church leaders present, highlighting the role that each could play in addressing the "Two degrees ... one chance" challenge. Eco-congregation is an environmental programme which shows UK congregations how to care for God's creation.
The breakfast, hosted by Presbyterian Moderator Rev John Finlay and Bishop of Down and Dromore Harold Miller, was a Micah Challenge event to highlight the impact of climate change on the world's poorest communities. Micah Challenge is a global movement of Christians, churches and Christian organisations united to call on world governments to work towards meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are eight targets set in 2000 to halve global poverty by 2015, and MDG seven relates to environmental sustainability.
Speaking after the event, Tim Magowan, National Manager of Tearfund Ireland, a local Micah Challenge partner, said: "All around the world poor people are already seeing changes in the weather consistent with climate change predictions and it is appropriate that we take practical steps here in Northern Ireland to help them."
Stephen Cave, National Director of Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland, another local Micah Challenge partner, added: "'Two degrees ... one chance' is a stark message but in the run up to the UN Climate Change Conference to be held this December in Bali, it is vital that our local politicians and church leaders engage seriously with this challenge."
Good leaders are good listeners. If you want to be effective in ministry, you'll need to be a good listener first. Probably the greatest reason people fail in ministry is not immorality, a lack of intelligence, or poor planning. It's insensitivity. Most of us simply talk too much. James 1:19 (NIV) says, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry."
You may think you're already a good listener. But there's a big difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is simply the vibrations that take place in your ear. Listening is how you decode those vibrations in your brain. Many times I've heard my wife, my kids, or someone at the church say something - but I didn't listen.
Listening is a skill. And if you're going to be in ministry, you better develop it. It's developed through practice, desire, attention, and by simply wanting to become a good listener. Here are four tips to becoming a better listener.
Don't evaluate until you've heard and comprehended it all. I'll admit that this isn't natural. When someone else is talking and you hear something you disagree with, you're tempted to say, "Time out! Stop right there! Let's deal with this." And you never get any further. But you need to hear the person out. Many times people come to you as a pastor and just need to unload. Take the time to understand what they're saying first.
Proverbs 18:13 (NIV) says, "He who answers before listening - that is his folly and his shame." When we answer before listening, we're usually basing our answer on faulty assumptions.
Don't be distracted by mannerisms or personality. Whenever we listen to somebody who is not presenting what they're sharing very well, it's our responsibility to decode what they're saying. Stop and say, "What's the content and what can I learn from this?"
Don't become defensive. As a pastor, it's inevitable you'll be criticized. The only way not to be criticized is to do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. The moment you hang your shingle out, somebody's going to throw rocks at it.
Proverbs 19:11 (NIV) says, "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offence." If you're patient, you're wise. As a pastor, you need to be patient with people who are less mature and those who misjudge. You need to keep calm.
You become a good listener by asking creative questions. Proverbs 20:5 says, "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out." This verse says the real meaning of people is down inside of them. A man of understanding will be able to draw others out with questions.
How do you do that? Ask clarifying questions, such as: Who? What? When? How? Questions like that will draw out those you are listening to and let them know you have their attention.
To be a good listener you must be able to tell a person what they've just told you before you talk about what you need to talk about. Before you share your side of the story, you need to let the other person know you understand where he or she is coming from. Paraphrase what they've said back to them. That skill can be very helpful in committee meetings or group meetings in particular.
If you want to be effective in ministry, you've got to be a good listener. For more tips on becoming a better listener, listen to my Leadership Lifter on Improving Your Listening Skills.
[Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller, The Purpose-Driven Life and The Purpose-Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th Century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for ministers. Copyright 2005 Pastors.com, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.]
All across the UK, there are people breaking down behind closed doors because they are unable to pay off their credit cards, store cards, bills and mortgages. In the midst of this despair, churches are reaching out to take the burden. The loving care offered by churches is not only helping people out of debt but also bringing them to new lives in Jesus Christ.
"I had cramps because I had no food. I got really, really weak. There were times that I couldn't lift my head off the pillow," recollects Karen, who turned to Christians Against Poverty when she and her husband, Mark, found themselves pushed to the edge by debt.
When Karen was diagnosed with a terminal illness, Mark had to give up work to look after her. But the effect on the family was devastating. The income dropped, the debt started to pile up and soon £140 a week was all they had to feed their three children and keep their house running.
"I was in pain all of the time because I had no food. If it came to the point of feeding me or my kids though, the food always went to my kids," says Karen.
Tony and Carol found themselves in a similar crisis when Tony was diagnosed with a serious illness and could no longer continue working. "Before we knew it we were in so much debt that we just didn't know where to turn," says Carol. "We were getting phone calls saying that the bailiffs were coming. But my husband was so ill."
CAP's Tina Morris says, "Because it can only take a change in circumstance such as illness, redundancy or divorce for manageable credit to become unaffordable debt, debt is a problem that is severely affecting modern-day society."
The most vulnerable are single mothers and low income families. "If you've got a low income it doesn't take much for finances to become a problem. These families can't be so flexible with the work they get," explains Dan Chapman, who has been running CAP's Wandsworth branch at St Mark's Battersea Rise in London for the last four years.
For some, the debt runs into tens of thousands of pounds. For others it can be a few hundred pounds. The despair it induces, however, is the same, and some are even contemplating suicide by the time of their first meeting with a CAP counsellor.
"Shame and embarrassment about the stigma of money problems make the problem harder to spot. Poverty caused by debt is therefore often unseen," says Tina.
Carol remembers all too well the darker moments. "At times we couldn't even afford bread and milk. I was about to burst, I felt so suicidal. We felt like getting a gun and shooting ourselves - it was torture."
Debt's claws are not only digging into low income areas, however. In April, CAP opened a new centre at Holy Trinity Brompton in the plush Kensington area of London, where the deprived Worlds End estate is just a short walk from the glitzy Harrods department store and expensive patisseries.
"Often wealth and poverty live side by side, and debt can happen to anyone regardless of wealth or social status," says Tina.
In 2008, CAP plans to open 40 new debt counselling centres - an indication of the scale of the problem. Each centre will be opened in partnership with a local church and run by volunteers. "CAP's heart is to work very closely in partnership with local churches. For a CAP centre to be successful the church has to be fully behind it," stresses Tina.
Indeed, CAP serves both a practical and a spiritual purpose. The home visits, the negotiation with creditors, the hand-in-hand walk through the many insolvency options, are all very real and practical steps to victory over debt. At the same time, they are a unique opportunity for Christians to penetrate the lives of others with the love they have received from Jesus.
"I am often asked to pray with clients and I will always ask if I can pray for them," affirms Dan. "Only one person ever said no and that was a Christian. In most cases, even when they don't believe in God they are quite touched by it."
Tony and Carol were invited to take part in an Alpha course at the church with which the CAP centre was linked. When one man on the course testified all that God had done in his life, it left Carol reflecting more deeply on the transformation in her own life and she became a Christian. When Tony noticed the changes occurring in Carol, he soon followed her in making a commitment to the Lord and both were baptised only a few months later.
"It's a lovely feeling to know Jesus," Carol enthuses. "I know He's there with me and it's wonderful. I can honestly say that God has given me the strength to keep going."
Their faith in Jesus also means that they are part of a new spiritual family and no longer need to walk through life's challenges alone.
"When Tony needed a serious operation in January, during which he could have died, our home group prayed and prayed. Everyone in church praying for him kept him alive," she believes.
Another CAP client, Faye, discovered a new life in Christ too after CAP helped her out of debt.
"My life was a mess and I was so stressed all the time," she remembers. "I didn't feel well all the time and I was snappy with my children. The bottom line was I was in trouble with my bills and couldn't afford to pay them. I am now a Christian; a new person with a new life ahead of me. I am calmer and happier and I feel like I actually have a life instead of just existing."
Now Faye is learning to live each day believing in God's loving provision for her needs.
"It's such an amazing experience to be a child of God and to be part of a lovely church like I am," she says. "God walks with me every day and shows me the way. I don't just talk to God in times of need; I talk to Him about everything I do! God has taken all my worries and burdens from me and given me eternal peace."
Happily, the spiritual fruit of the ministry continues to multiply. In the last year, 240 people became Christians as a result of the charity's work, and that is great news for the church.
Frank Bristow is Church Leader of Crediton Congregational Church, a church working in partnership with CAP. He says, "We see CAP as a bridge, reaching from the doors of our church, straight into the heart of our community, a bridge that will allow us to walk into homes where there is so much need, taking with us the very real hope and love of Jesus."
That hope and love is spreading. On 18 November, supporters took part in CAP Sunday to raise awareness in their churches of the huge devastation that debt is bringing to families and the hope that CAP can bring.
Tina says, "We hope that hundreds of churches, organisations, coffee mornings and house groups will do something."
CAP's hope? That more churches will catch the vision of CAP and see how so many Christians are already being wonderfully used by God to set their brothers and sisters free from crippling debt and release them into a new life of rest in His faithful and unchanging love.
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has opened a new £880,000 Youth for Christ operations centre in Halesowen, Birmingham. The new purpose-built centre will operate as a base for Christian-inspired engagement with young people wanting a way out of gun crime and gang culture.
Dr Sentamu, who is the President of Youth for Christ, said at the opening in October: "We must continue to engage with our local communities and work together to offer refuge to young people who seek an alternative to gangs that dominate their lives. Let every church be a centre of inspiration, a place of support, a place of nurture and encouragement for those seeking a new way of life."
Funds for the centre came through voluntary donations made by people with a passion for young people encountering God right where they are, be that in prison, on the streets, in drop-in centres or within their youth groups.
Dr Sentamu called the Government, churches and the wider community to support faith-based initiatives that have been key in transforming people's lives and their surrounding communities.
One such successful initiative is the Birmingham-based Bringing Hope project which highlighted in its recent "The Damascus Road Principles" report the transformation taking place in the lives of people classed as "disaffected", "hard to reach" and "hopeless".
Roy Crowne, National Director of Youth for Christ, said: "Youth for Christ's commitment has always been to young people, wherever they are - in young offenders' institutions, secure units, in schools and in communities.
"YFC offers young people, including the marginalised and excluded, a place to belong, rediscover their self worth, build friendships - in and out of church - and to help them make right choices and life decisions."
[Youth for Christ is a nationwide Christian ministry that works with 71,000 young people each week at 65 centres throughout the UK.]
Christian persecution watchdog, Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), has revealed that "foreign spies" and "native citizens working for a foreign intelligence service" in North Korea were in fact Christian believers.
At a press conference in Pyongyang in September, security service spokesman, Li Su Gil, said that the arrested persons "carried out the missions by means of diverse espionage equipment". VOM said it had managed to identify the seven males and two female believers who were arrested.
VOM spokesperson, Tod Nettleton, said, "Following Jesus Christ is considered treason in North Korea, where the government mandates that worship is reserved for deceased dictator Kim Il Sung and his son, the current dictator, Kim Jong Il."
The Christians in question had started a portrait photography studio in order to support themselves, and registered their business with the government authorities. They were not involved in espionage work and the equipment taken by the government was for their portrait photography business, according to VOM.
"The Voice of the Martyrs is ... deeply concerned for the well-being of our brothers and sisters there. We call on the North Korean Government to release these Christian believers, who were involved in legitimate business activities to support themselves and their families," said Nettleton. We pray that they are alive. But we know it is possible that they have finished their race on earth and gone on to their eternal reward in heaven. We encourage Christians everywhere to pray for our brothers and sisters in North Korea, who must constantly face the threat of arrest, torture and execution simply for living out their faith in Jesus Christ."
VOM has been engaged in aiding Christians in North Korea for decades. Among projects conducted by the persecution organisation in North Korea was the release of "Scripture balloons" which are mylar balloons filled with helium and printed with scripture passages on each side.
Qualified teacher and author, Dawn Getley, will be sharing the gospel with over 10,000 schoolchildren as part of her service with Open Air Campaigners Ministries (OAC) in the south west branch of England.
Operating in Plymouth, she will be visiting 50 out of the 80 or so primary schools in the city this term, speaking to a total of around 10,400 children. The children will hear Ms Getley deliver the gospel message numerous times throughout their early school life, some as many as 18 (three times a year for six years).
She said of her work, "It's important to catch the children's attention at the beginning of an assembly. I start with a puppet, Horace, to engage with the children. Horace may behave rudely. This leads into the story to show how Horace needs to sort himself out."
She continued: "Telling Bible stories can be done creatively so that children relate and identify with the biblical narrative. They see how they fit in and they meet Jesus. I want them to experience the awe and wonder of God."
Every year, Ms Getley organises a training seminar for those who want to be especially trained to effectively equipped to take primary school assemblies. Although working in schools may not produce much feedback about how effective the outreach is, Ms Getley is still optimistic her work will make a real impact.
"I was very encouraged by a recent email from a friend in Bristol who wrote, 'I met a young man in Bath today who said he does ladder lettering after learning from you at Alphington School in Exeter in the 1980s. He looked back to those days as fundamental in his decision to follow Jesus.' It's great to hear every now and again that the message has had an effect," she said.
Family and close friends have paid tribute to Share Jesus International founder, Rob Frost, who passed away peacefully on Sunday 11 November.
The much loved preacher, author and presenter was diagnosed with skin cancer in June and underwent treatment but became very tired last week and was taken into hospital on Wednesday 7 November. According to an SJI statement, he was in no pain but gradually drifted into eternity with liver failure as a result of secondary melanoma.
Wife, Jacqui, described his death as a "holy time".
"The registrar said how unusually peaceful his death was - a nurse comforted us with thoughts of paradise while another stood and cried - it was a holy time. Rob had repeatedly said that he did not want to live in pain but would prefer to go to heaven to be with His Father. We believe God granted him his wish."
Rob Frost set up the mission agency, Share Jesus International, in 1986 with the sole purpose of sharing Jesus in many different contexts and countries. He was in great demand as a preacher, the International Director of the International Leadership Institute based in Atlanta and the author of over 25 books. He also presented Premier Radio's flagship current affairs programme called Frost on Sunday, and his weekly TV show on the God Channel is broadcast under the title the Frost Debate.
He lectured in mission and evangelism at London School of Theology and was a regular teacher at theological institutions throughout the UK.
Son, Andy, who was working with Rob on Pentecost Festival, said of his father: "He truly lived a life well lived - a man of God! Rob was not afraid of death and right now he will be face to face with Jesus. The Grace that he lived out, the Grace he wrote and preached about, the Grace he shared ... has now carried him to be with His Heavenly Father. Rob and I have been working closely together on the Pentecost Festival and it will be a privilege to make this vision become reality one last time."
Pentecost Festival, one of Rob's last projects, will take place May 9-11, 2008, and is a massive weekend party along London Underground's Northern Line, combining worship and praise, teaching, the arts, prayer, social action, ecology and sport.
Rev Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, described Rob as "one of the bright light champions for evangelical witness, evangelistic fervour and creativity; an outstanding pioneer".
He praised Methodist Minister, Rob Frost's, ministry because it reached well beyond Methodism into wider Christianity through Share Jesus International and missions and initiatives such as Easter People.
Rob's inspiration led him into broadcasting, mentoring young people and helping the church engage with and witness in contemporary culture.
Mr Edwards continued: "His aspiration to rediscover the spirit of Pentecost and make it accessible to culture through the church is a vision which he didn't live to see but this will have been his final legacy to Christian faith in Britain. Rob was a great friend of the Evangelical Alliance and a personal friend from whom I gained much encouragement."
As the Director and then President Emeritus of Share Jesus International, an ecumenical mission agency which he founded 25 years ago, he initiated scores of projects including Easter People, a conference which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year; led missions in hundreds of cities, towns and villages in the UK and across the globe and campaigned on global and national issues.
He served as President of Release International, an agency which cares for persecuted Christians throughout the world. Rob also produced and toured with many musicals including Hopes and Dreams which had the number one hit of the Lords Prayer.
"Rob will be fondly remembered, not just for what he did, but his sense of humour, his stories, his love for people, depth of compassion and his zest for life," read an SJI statement.
He leaves behind his wife, Jacqui, his two sons Andy & Chris and his father, Ronald. They will miss him greatly but are thankful for his life and pleased that he is now with his heavenly father.
His family request no flowers but any gifts should be for Pentecost Festival. A public celebration service will be held in January.
Whilst it has not been in the main media headlines, recent events have brought further severe hardship to people in northern Uganda. Twenty years of war combined with cycles of famine have meant that people in northern Uganda have suffered continually. Entire generations have grown up in displaced persons camps.
There are children and young people today who have known nothing in their lives but the suffering of living in cramped and spartan conditions with up to 20,000 people alongside. It is estimated that nearly 2 million people in northern Uganda have been affected in this way over recent years.
In the past 12 months, as peace talks between the rebel group, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and the government continued, a certain level of peace and security returned to the region, and families have started returning to their old communities and homesteads. Yet they have arrived there to find their homes destroyed and their lands pillaged. Water wells have fallen into disrepair and it will take years for some form of normality to return.
Even the language we use to describe such situations has become so commonplace that it has lost its pain and horror. Displaced persons; refugees, child soldiers; people affected by war - these are words used to describe human beings like you and me but in no way do they really get to the heart of the situation and the tremendous deprivation which touches these people. And now in recent weeks heavy rains and severe flooding across much of Africa have washed away virtually all the crops and harvest in parts of northern and eastern Uganda, bringing greater tragedy and suffering to these communities.
I have been travelling to Uganda since 1995 and I have met some wonderful and tremendously inspiring people there. In trying to imagine what life must be like for them as they face the latest in a series of tragedies brings great sadness to my heart.
WER's local partner in northern Uganda, All Nations Christian Care (ANCC), report to us that the situation throughout the region is terrible. WER provided food and shelter for immediate distribution and is shipping further emergency supplies to ANCC. But so much more needs to be done.
The people affected have no reserves of food or money and will need help for the next 6 to 9 months until the next harvest. As Christians celebrate harvest time here in the UK, let us remember the people of northern Uganda who have suffered so much just when they felt there was some hope for the future. ANCC is an incredible organisation which has been right at the heart of bringing support, encouragement and strength to people who have suffered so much over the past 20 years. Please do not forget them and the people of northern Uganda.
My life has been challenged and changed during my time working with ANCC and I will tell you more in the coming weeks. Hopefully this will also challenge and encourage you!
About Alex Haxton:
Alex has been Director of Operations at Christian humanitarian agency World Emergency Relief (WER) for the past seven years and before that worked as a consultant to the charity. His business career was spent in the catering equipment industry for over 20 years before he moved on to Christian ministry which is how he first came to go to Africa.
A few months spent at Roffey Place Christian Centre brought a more radical change than anticipated, and it was there that Alex met a Pastor from Burundi who became a central influence on his life, even to this day. He has since worked in Christian ministry, which he describes as "a call of God we must not ignore".
It was the work in Burundi and Rwanda, post genocide, which eventually brought Alex into contact with WER as he sought funding for relief and medical work in those countries. He remains heavily involved with humanitarian and development work worldwide through WER.
About World Emergency Relief:
World Emergency Relief is a non-denominational, global fellowship of Christians, working together, and with others, to help people in need. Underlying World Emergency Relief's efforts are God's love for this world He created, the physical, emotional, spiritual, social and economic emergencies afflicting millions, and the relief we can bring to hurting people, especially children, thanks to God's unending mercy coupled with the generosity of our donors.