Prayer Hub
Thursday, 18 September 2014 01:00

One in five child deaths in UK 'preventable'

One in five child deaths could have been prevented, according to research published in the Lancet today. Around 5,000 infants, children and adolescents die prematurely in England and Wales every year, although the number is low relative to population size. The reports – published in three parts – stress many of these deaths were preventable. Researchers also found child death rates were higher in the north than in south of the country, tending to be higher in the Midlands and the North, and were closely linked to poverty. The president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Dr Hilary Cass said: ‘This is a serious wake-up call for both healthcare professionals and policy makers and we have to act urgently.’ One study showed that between 2010 and 2011 as many as 20 per cent of deaths of children and teenagers aged 18 and under in England could have been avoided.

IPSO, the new Press regulator, begins work today with a commitment to be 'rigorous, independent, fair and transparent'. The Independent Press Standards Organisation, whose chairman is the retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Alan Moses, will oversee editorial standards for the majority of national and regional newspapers and magazines. It has far tougher rules than the previous regulator, the Press Complaints Commission. The watchdog will have the power to impose fines of up to £1million for serious and systemic wrongdoing and can require editors to publish up-front corrections. IPSO will also include a standards and compliance arm, with investigative powers to call editors to account. It will require all newspapers to have their own effective complaints-handling procedures. Sir Alan said: 'IPSO aims to help rebuild public trust in the Press through independent, fair and transparent regulation. Its role as an independent regulator is to provide support and redress for victims of Press abuse.

Thursday, 18 September 2014 01:00

Archbishop joins multi-faith peace vigil for Iraq

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, joined faith leaders and representatives from faith-based NGOs last week for a vigil  showing solidarity with the people of Iraq and affirming the message that #WeAreAllHuman. Archbishop Welby joined Imam Ibrahim Mogra, Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner and Ayatollah Dr Sayed Fazel Milani at the vigil outside Westminster Abbey by the Innocent Victims Memorial. Speaking at the vigil, Archbishop Justin said he joined the other faith leaders in ‘unreservedly’ condemning the way that minority faith communities are being ‘wiped out’ in IS-controlled areas. ‘This must stop. We are all human,’ he said. ‘What we are seeing in Iraq violates brutally people’s right to freedom of religion and belief, as set out under Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.’ The vigil was jointly organised by Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and World Jewish Relief in partnership with the Church of England, the Muslim Council of Britain and the Movement for Reform Judaism.

A softer approach to tackling bad behaviour in schools could help reduce the number of young people not in education, work or training (Neets), it has been claimed. The so-called ‘restorative approach’ encourages pupils to talk about why they misbehave instead of excluding them. This has resulted in a 91% drop in the number of exclusions at one Monmouth school. Teachers said it changes attitudes. The scheme, being trialled in a number of Welsh secondary schools, has also resulted in a reduction in crime in some areas. At Fitzalan High School in Cardiff the approach has resulted in a significant drop in the number of days lost to pupil exclusions - from 1,000 three years ago to 112 days this year. Teacher Jane Holland Lloyd said the initiative helped pupils feel more involved.

Thursday, 18 September 2014 01:00

Make mental health bigger priority

Mental health needs to be more of a priority, with targets for waiting times and more protection for funding, says England's chief medical officer. Dame Sally Davies said there were signs that funding was being cut at a time when the cost to the economy was rising. Her annual report said mental illness led to the loss of 70 million working days last year - up 24% since 2009. As well as calling for greater emphasis on mental illness in the NHS, she also said employers could play a role too. She recommended they allowed people with mental health problems the option of flexible working to keep them in employment and maintaining regular contact during sickness leave. Overall, mental illness costs the economy between £70bn and £100bn in lost productivity, benefit payments and absence from work. In terms of NHS spending, it accounts for 13% of the budget despite causing 28% of illness.

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land".~    2 Chronicles 7:14

FLOODS
In 2010 Pakistan recorded the worst flood on record, with over half of the country covered in water.   The UN said, "more people were affected than the  combined total of 3 other major catastrophes - 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 2005 Pakistan earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake."

Punjab the largest province (meaning land of the 5 rivers) where the most people live is experiencing even more devastating floods than in 2010.  So far over 1.8 million people have been affected; 700+ villages have been wiped away; 10,000's of livestock have been lost; the military has evacuated 4,000+ people by helicopter and boat; and over 4,000 people are still marooned. Roads and infrastructure are being washed away; food and drinking water are needed.  Many are living on dikes and are being asked to leave as these dikes are being blown up to divert floods away from major cities. The monsoon rains are still continuing as the floods move south carrying destruction in their path.

PRAY
For people who have lost everything.
For aid to reach these people. ( The Taliban and Al Qaida are the ones giving the most aid. Last time they did this to further their cause and get people to join them.)
May Christians be able to mobilize help.
May people see that Christ is the true savior and the one who loves them. May they realize that their god is not a god of help but one of destruction and death. May Pirs and demonic places be wiped out in the wake of the flood.

DEMONSTRATIONS.    
Demonstrations are still continuing by the same two parties demanding that the government be overthrown.  Last week they were even saying the government of Musharraf was much better. (In the last 40 years more progress was made during his time than any other government.)
PRAY for a righteous and just government.

TERRORISM
The Pakistan military has been bombing and carrying out heavy raids against the Taliban along the Afghanistan border.   A group called the "Punjab Taliban" has broken away from the TT and said they are "ending their armed struggle within Pakistan."  PRAY this may continue.  The Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP - a very ruthless group) are having internal struggles with groups like the above breaking away, and fights over leadership. A new leader has just been named.

Thank you for your intercession
Pr4Pak

A Nigerian prayer leader, himself a former Muslim, has sent this provocative and chilling speech of Geert Wilders, a Dutch Member of Parliament and the Chairman of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands. Here are some excerpts from it to ground and guide your prayers:
 
I come to America with a mission.  All is not well in the old world.  There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic.  We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe.  This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West.  The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe...
 
The Europe you know is changing. You have probably seen the landmarks.  But in all of these cities, sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination, there is another world.  It is the world of the parallel society created by Muslim mass-migration.
 
All throughout Europe a new reality is rising: entire Muslim neighborhoods where very few indigenous people reside or are even seen.  And if they are, they might regret it.  This goes for the police as well.  It's the world of head scarves, where women walk around in figureless tents, with baby strollers and a group of children.  Their husbands, or slaveholders if you prefer, walk three steps ahead.  With mosques on many street corners.  The shops have signs you and I cannot read.  You will be hard-pressed to find any economic activity.  These are Muslim ghettos controlled by religious fanatics.  These are Muslim neighborhoods, and they are mushrooming in every city across Europe.  These are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city.
 
There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe.  With larger congregations than there are in churches.  And in every European city there are plans to build super-mosques that will dwarf every church in the region.  Clearly, the signal is: we rule.
 
Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam , Marseille and Malmo in Sweden.  In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim.  Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods.  Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many cities.
 
In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims.
 
Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal food to all pupils.  In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims.  Non-Muslim women routinely hear 'whore, whore'.  Satellite dishes are not pointed to local TV stations, but to stations in the country of origin.
 
In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin .  The history of the Holocaust can no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity.
 
In England, sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighborhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves.  Last week a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels, because he was drinking during the Ramadan.
 
Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II.  French is now commonly spoken on the streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya , Israel.  I could go on forever with stories like this.  Stories about Islamization.
 
A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe.  San Diego University recently calculated that a staggering 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now.  Bernhard Lewis has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.
 
Now these are just numbers.  And the numbers would not be threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate.  But there are few signs of that.  The Pew Research Center reported that half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France.  One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks.  The British Centre for Social Cohesion reported that one-third of British Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide caliphate.  Muslims demand what they call 'respect'.  And this is how we give them respect.  We have Muslim official state holidays...
 
The second thing you need to know is the importance of Mohammed the prophet.  His behavior is an example to all Muslims and cannot be criticized..  Now, if Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us say like Gandhi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no problem.  But Mohammed was a warlord, a mass murderer, a pedophile, and had several marriages - at the same time.  Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in battles, how he had his enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war executed.  Mohammed himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza.  If it is good for Islam, it is good.  If it is bad for Islam, it is bad.
 
Let no one fool you about Islam being a religion.  Sure, it has a god, and a here-after, and 72 virgins.  But in its essence Islam is a political ideology.  It is a system that lays down detailed rules for society and the life of every person.  Islam wants to dictate every aspect of life..  Islam means 'submission'.  Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy, because what it strives for is sharia.  If you want to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or national socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies.
 
Now you know why Winston Churchill called Islam 'the most retrograde force in the world', and why he compared Mein Kampf to the Quran.  The public has wholeheartedly accepted the Palestinian narrative, and sees Israel as the aggressor.  I have lived in this country and visited it dozens of times.  I support Israel.  First, because it is the Jewish homeland after two thousand years of exile up to and including Auschwitz, second because it is a democracy, and third because Israel is our first line of defense...
 
In my country, the Netherlands, 60 percent of the population now sees the mass immigration of Muslims as the number one policy mistake since World War II.  And another 60 percent sees Islam as the biggest threat.  Yet there is a danger greater danger than terrorist attacks, the scenario of America as the last man standing.  The lights may go out in Europe faster than you can imagine.  An Islamic Europe means a Europe without freedom and democracy, an economic wasteland, an intellectual nightmare, and a loss of military might for America - as its allies will turn into enemies, enemies with atomic bombs.  With an Islamic Europe, it would be up to America alone to preserve the heritage of Rome, Athens and Jerusalem .
 
Dear friends, liberty is the most precious of gifts.  My generation never had to fight for this freedom, it was offered to us on a silver platter, by people who fought for it with their lives.  All throughout Europe , American cemeteries remind us of the young boys who never made it home, and whose memory we cherish.  My generation does not own this freedom; we are merely its custodians.  We can only hand over this hard won liberty to Europe 's children in the same state in which it was offered to us.  We cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams.  Future generations would never forgive us.  We cannot squander our liberties.  We simply do not have the right to do so.

We have to take the necessary action now to stop this Islamic stupidity from destroying the free world that we know.

1 Pray with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Europe that their governments will wake up and take a strong hand in not allowing the Islamic agenda to take over and dominate their societies.

2 Pray for those seeking to reach Muslims with the Gospel for His guidance and blessing and for many more such ministries to begin reaching out strongly and effectively to the burgeoning Muslim immigrant populations.

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4590/germany-jihad

Supporters of the jihadist group "Islamic State" [IS] have clashed with Kurdish Yazidis in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state with the largest Muslim population in Germany.
 
The violence-which comes amid threats by a German jihadist to blow up an American nuclear weapons storage facility in Germany-has counter-terrorism officials concerned that radical Muslims are deliberately exploiting the ethnic and religious tensions in the Middle East to stir up trouble on the streets of Europe.
 
Police say the Muslim-Yazidi clash was triggered after six Islamists stormed a restaurant in the eastern Westphalian town of Herford at around 4 pm on August 7. The Muslims were attempting forcibly to remove a poster inviting people to join a demonstration in support of the Yazidis in Iraq. Thousands of Yazidis, an ethnic Kurdish non-Muslim minority, were forced to flee their homes in northern Iraq in early August to escape advancing Islamic State fighters, who are forcing the Yazidis to convert to Islam or be killed...
 
German authorities have long warned of the threat posed by Salafism, a radically anti-Western ideology that seeks to impose Islamic sharia law in Germany and other parts of Europe.
 
Membership in Islamic extremist groups in Germany rose to 43,185 in 2013, up from 42,550 in 2012, according to German intelligence estimates. The number of Salafists in Germany rose to 5,500 in 2013, up from 4,500 in 2012, and 3,800 in 2011...
 
A German Interior Ministry spokesperson said that although "the threat is abstract, it may become real at any time." He said it proves that Germany "is still the focus of jihadist terrorism," especially from jihadists returning from Syria with combat experience and contacts to jihadist groups... "And this is frightening: Never before have the sympathizers of Islamic terror appeared so openly in Germany. These are the circles in which European fighters are recruited for jihad. This is also the milieu in which the Salafist ultra-radicals develop when they are back in Europe again. Therefore, police and secret service are required to monitor the scene closely...
"IS, Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Boko Haram-these four groups are the linchpins of the attempt to bomb an unstoppable modernity back into the Middle Ages. The means to this end are Sharia, hatred and glorification of a supposedly "holy" war-what madness!"...
 
"For far too long, Germany's political leaders, and especially the leaders of German Muslim organizations, have sat by and idly watched the proliferation of the Salafist-jihadist hatred culture, in the purported belief that it poses no danger. It is absolutely outrageous that local politicians have played down the risk of Islamism, while the capabilities of the security authorities are increasingly being overstretched by the need to deal with this threat.
"Muslim organizations should hang their heads in shame. Rather than bluntly stating that the barbarians in northern Iraq are 'not Muslims,' they whistle away to say that Islam is 'only peace.' In the future, this kind of obfuscation will no longer suffice, especially if German Muslims, who are subject to the German legal system, wish to avoid being held accountable for the killings in the name of Islam.
 
"The Islamic State under its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi may not last very long; but the propaganda from his jihad certainly will survive him. This is because the seeds of hatred that 'Caliph' Baghdadi has sown are far more toxic than those of Osama Bin Laden. For disaffected youth, the Islamic State exerts great appeal, and not only in Herford."
 
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group.

In the midst of all the chaos in the Middle East, the threat coming from ISIS, the conflict in Gaza
God is at work!!

As the eyes of the world are on the Middle East, making it in the headlines of all news, we do have a different report that we would like to share! Two years ago, the Lord called us through a set of circumstances to start working with Syrian refugees in Lebanon. This in itself was not in any of our plans as Syrians are considered the enemy who has occupied Lebanon for 15 years. After a small scouting trip to camps, abandoned buildings and garages where people stay, we saw the refugees not only as Syrian but more so as people who have lost everything, who are living in fear, in trauma and in deep need!

Our response started with basic food items and some clothes distribution. But with God's help and with several partners joining efforts with us we were able to do much more.

Starting an education program
Then the Lord also helped us start a literacy and education program for children who are completely illiterate. And now a year later we did a ceremony where each child received his/her certificate of accomplishment. What a time of rejoicing!! We also celebrated an end of year program where kids who were completely rebellious, with no sense of disciplined excelled

Second school
After the first school experience, we were also able to start another program in a different camp. Our biggest joy is to bring the God of Hope in the midst of despair. Several Bible studies are being held now in tents and these Sunni refugees are thirsty to hear the word! These refugees are hopeless, disillusioned and very open to receive the word of God that brings joy and peace to their hearts!

Medical outreach
Throughout the year we held several medical outreaches where doctors, pharmacists, and nurses volunteered to give from their time and effort into the lives of those people. More than a medical check-up, the doctors are able to give psychological and emotional support and in our team there is always a group dedicated for prayer. So it is not uncommon to see people deeply touched by the glory of God and overwhelmed by His presence, as often this was the first time in their lives that someone prayed for them personally.

New Project
Lately, we have also signed a partnership agreement with Dorcas Aid Holland to help cater to the needs of newcomers in the Mount Lebanon area, families who fled from the troubled areas in Syria and have lost homes and family members, or Christians fleeing Iraq because of religious persecution. We have listened to heartbreaking stories and brought comfort and relief to many.
 
We want to express our deepest gratitude to all who took time to come and offer a helping hand. We had teachers come to help in the schools, university students who came and helped with distribution, doctors who offered their expertise, families who came to paint and be a blessing, intercessory teams who came to pray for the harvest and for the church--all short mission teams that have been an amazing blessing!
 
The harvest is plenty and it is ripe!! We have seen Jesus touching people's lives, we are seeing the kingdom advancing and we want to invite you to be part of history in the making.

God is on the move and no matter what the media is saying HE REIGNS!
 
Michel and Nuna Matar
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Let us pray for Michel and Nuna and other ministries working among the many Syrian refugees. Pray that multitudes of Syrian men, women and children will turn to the Lord during this time of disruption in their lives. Many have been responsive thus far. May the Gospel speed on and triumph among them!

Report: Feds, law enforcement scrambling to stop ISIS carnage on border
 
WASHINGTON - The U.S. government is warning that a terrorist attack is imminent on the border between Texas and Mexico, according to the government watchdog group Judicial Watch.
 
The group said sources have told it the Mideast terrorist army ISIS is now operating in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, the narcotics-trafficking center located just across the border from El Paso, Texas, and it is planning to attack the U.S. with car bombs or improvised explosive devices carried by vehicles. Federal law enforcement, intelligence, and other sources have confirmed that a warning bulletin for an imminent terrorist attack on the border was issued, and that agents for the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security have been put on alert and told to aggressively work all sources and potential leads.
One source told Judicial Watch intelligence officials "picked up radio talk and chatter" pointing to an attack on the border.
 
The source said both ISIS and al-Qaida were planning plots, and told Judicial Watch an attack "is coming very soon." Another source told the group the attack is so imminent the commanding general at the U.S. Army's Ft. Bliss in El Paso is being briefed. A Texas law enforcement bulletin sent out this week reportedly shows ISIS is keenly aware of the porous border in the area, and social media chatter shows it has expressed "an increased interest" in crossing the border to conduct an attack...
 
Also last week, Sen. Jim Inhofe warned ISIS is "rapidly developing a method of blowing up a major U.S. city." The ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee in the U.S. Senate said the U.S. now is in "the most dangerous position we've ever been in."
 
And, as WND also reported last week, Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, warned terrorists from the Islamic State could be sneaking into Texas across the Southwest border at any time, due to the Obama administration's failures in Iraq and in securing the border.
Pentagon press secretary, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, immediately denied any evidence of Perry's claims.
 
"I've seen no indication that they are coming across the border with Mexico. We have no information that leads us to believe that. That said, we do know they have aspirations to hit Western targets and that we've got to take that seriously and have to try to be ready for it," Kirby told CNN.
 
Mexican officials also quickly rejected the governor's warnings.
"Mexican authorities have no record of the presence of Islamist extremist groups or individuals in Mexico," said Ariel Moutsatsos, minister for public affairs at the embassy in Washington. "We take all possible measures to impede any terrorist activity in our territory."
 
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, joined Perry to warn Americans about terror threats from the largely unsecured U.S.-Mexico border.
"The FBI director previously said ... that there were people from terrorist countries who were assuming Hispanic names, and learning a few words of Spanish, and coming in," Gohmert said. "The FBI director himself testified to that before Congress. So we know that this kind of thing has been going on. Governor Perry isn't saying anything that's new, it just takes a little while for the mainstream to catch up."
The congressman added that more recently, Marine General John Kelly, the commander of South Command, testified before the House and Senate this year "that the penetration of our Southern border by criminal cartels, as well as terrorist organizations, poses, in his words, an 'existential threat the United States.'"
 
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/08/alarms-sound-over-imminent-attacks-on-u-s/#3VfdU8L6dSgSGKHd.99Blessings to you
 
Thomas Schlueter
Prince of Peace Church, Pastor
Texas Apostolic Prayer Network, Director
 
Let us keep the borders of the USA and those who guard them in our prayers. Pray that any terrorist plot of ISIS or any other extremist groups would be discovered and countered before they can do any damage.

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