For seventy years the Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) has helped vulnerable people in hard-to-reach places. Flying onto desert and jungle airstrips, lakes and rivers, tracks and roads, its light aircraft and their mission pilots go the extra miles to provide a lifeline, working in partnership with other Christian and relief organisations. They have now started a new initiative that they hope will increase prayer support for their work. Each month they will produce a short prayer video that brings the needs of those in remote communities into people’s internet mailboxes. This fresh approach highlights the stark differences between life in the west and some of the countries where they serve, prompting people to call on our heavenly Father with thanksgiving and praise, while seeking His provision for others. To watch the video and pray this month for those lacking access to clean water please click the ‘More’ button.

An online pornography ring targeting thousands of Australian schoolgirls has re-emerged after police had closed it down earlier this month. Police and detectives in several states are investigating a website containing sexual images of girls from private and public schools across Australia. The website is in the form of a ‘message chat forum’ and has photos and requests of naked schoolgirls. Seventy Australian schools are mentioned in the requests. Detective Acting Superintendent Marcus Boorman said a number of the images allegedly depict non-consenting or underage girls. The page reportedly features naked photos of teenage girls, some with their names, so that others can rate them. NSW, Queensland, Victoria and ACT police are investigating - as are a number of education departments. However, it is difficult for law enforcement agencies to keep track of online sites, especially those hosted overseas. See also Australian Prayer Network.

In a surprise announcement, Mel Gibson told evangelist Greg Laurie that he is working on a sequel to his film ‘The Passion of the Christ.’ Gibson said, ‘We're talking about that. Of course, that is a huge undertaking. And you know, it's not “The Passion 2”. It's called “The Resurrection”. Of course, that's a very big subject and it needs to be looked at because we don't want to just do a simple rendering of it - you know, read what happened. The Passion is the beginning and there’s a lot more story to tell.’

David Boudia and Steele Johnson won silver in the men’s synchronised diving and told NBC they both know their identity is in Christ and not competition results. Swimmer Madeline Dirado won gold in the women’s freestyle relay, silver in the women’s 400m individual medley and bronze in the women’s 200m individual medley. She said, ‘Knowing that I’m a child of God and that His love for me is determined by nothing I can achieve or do on my own has given me a quiet confidence.’ New Zealander Nick Willis told the Bible Society that becoming a Christian had changed his whole motivation for sport. Christine Ohuruogu won three global titles and said, 'It’s obvious I want to win, but I never pray to win. I just pray, “Help me do my best”.’ Gabby Douglas, one of the US gold-winning gymnastics team, said, ‘I love sharing my story and my faith. God has given me this amazing talent, so I'm going out to glorify His name.’

Over the past four weeks, 1,527 young people have made commitments to follow Jesus at the Soul Survivor summer festivals. Organisers say 26,000 attended the five different events, which took place in Scotland, Staffordshire and Somerset. Those gathered at the conferences heard speakers such as Tim Ross from Texas, Mike Hands from Australia, Miriam Swaffield, and Archbishop Justin Welby. Each week thousands took part in a giant pulled-pork picnic, silent discos, UV parties, a huge ceilidh (sing-along dance), and Colour Chaos dry paint parties. But most importantly young people stepped out and prayed for one another, heard from God and received the Holy Spirit passion to see God moving in power in churches throughout the UK and beyond. They gave their lives to serve God, fulfilling His purposes for them to grow and serve in everyday life.

Excitement and expectation are growing. We hear of deeper praise, more healings, authoritative prayer, words of prophecy and the gospel taking to the streets. Many believe it is time to invite awakening into our land, into where we live, our church, our workplace. It is time to seek God, spend more time with Him, desiring to come into a deeper relationship with Him. Many are excited about Trumpet Call but we do not want to get transfixed on an event. It is what the trumpet is calling into being that should excite us. We believe God is going to reveal greater depths, colour and vibrancy to the Gospel. This Trumpet Call announces good news to our nation and the nations. Prayer Alert readers are invited to join in a day of prayer and worship that will release God’s purposes on Saturday 15 October at the International Convention Centre in central Birmingham.

David Robertson said he is reading or hearing about victorious Christian athletes every day - except on the BBC. Usain Bolt is a professing Christian. He prays and gives thanks to God, before and after each event. BBC News headlined with Bolt winning gold and went on with an in- depth interview about his background, with no mention at all of his faith. If Bolt was gay or transgender would the BBC ignore that? How would media cover Eric Liddell’s refusal to run on a Sunday? Have the BBC and other media outlets moved away from their Christian heritage and neutral and fair reporting, or are they airbrushing Christianity from mainstream culture? Is there an establishment bias against real Christianity and an encouragement of their own version of Christianity of nice religious organisations who know their place, providing appropriate non-challenging ceremonies and helping to provide social welfare in times of austerity?

Church of England bishops have been instructed to give partial apologies to victims of child sex abuse by clergy, to help minimise the cost of being sued. Confidential legal advice to bishops seen by The Telegraph said that the furthest the bishops should go was to ‘express regret’. It warns bishops to be careful before meeting victims, and not to do so without first talking to a lawyer. It warns of the ‘unintended effect of accepting legal liability’ for sex abuse and ‘inadvertently’ conceding guilt. The advice was issued in 2007 and replaced last year. The latest revelation comes after a review earlier this year found that at least three clergy, subsequently made bishops in the Church of England, failed to act over credible claims of sadistic sexual abuse disclosed repeatedly by a survivor over forty years.

The Enlighten Up campaign is an initiative of Humanist Society Scotland (HSS), to promote ‘a fair and inclusive education system where pupils and teachers are not discriminated against because of their religion or belief.’ However, HSS’s head of communications said their ultimate objective is to see religious observance scrapped and replaced with a more inclusive activity, such as philosophy. The campaign is providing parents ‘concerned about religious influence in schools’ with an atheist handbook. Scottish law requires public schools to host at least six religious observance sessions a year. HSS has produced two handbooks to help challenge teachers entitled A Guide for Non-Religious Parents and A Guide for Non-Religious Young People. The books include advice on how to opt out of religious observance and how to make a complaint when someone feels their rights have not been respected. HSS also provides templates for opt-out letters.

National GCSE results have fallen dramatically across the board, with the proportion who gained a C grade or above dropping by an unprecedented 2.1% compared with last year – including a sharp decline in the numbers gaining a C or above in English. The falls are due in large part to new Government policies that force 17-year-olds who got a D or lower in English or maths last year to resit those exams, meaning more students overall were sitting the tests. But some of the fall is unexplained. Of pupils taking their exams in year 11, the normal GCSE year, the proportion gaining A*-C grades was down by 1.3%. The female dominance in the exams continued with the gender gap increasing slightly (by 0.5%) this summer, with 71.3% of girls awarded at least a C grade, compared with 62.4% of boys.