Abortions are illegal in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. There is a new wave of youth-driven campaigning on both sides of the abortion argument, which will come to a head over the next few months now that the Irish government has confirmed it will hold a referendum on reform of the country’s strict anti-abortion laws by the end of May.

The following is a shortened version of a prayer given at the opening session of the Kansas Senate. ‘Heavenly Father, we ask your forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance. Your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good”, but that is what we do. We have lost spiritual stability and reversed our values. We ridicule the truth of Your Word and call it pluralism; we worship other gods, calling it multiculturalism; we endorse perversion, calling it alternative lifestyle; we exploit the poor, calling it a lottery; we reward laziness with welfare; we kill our unborn, calling it choice; we neglect disciplining our children, calling it building their self-esteem; the abuse of power is called politics; we embezzle public funds, calling it expenses; and we call bribery ‘sweets of office.’ Coveting others’ possessions is called ambition, and pornography is called freedom of expression. We ridicule our forefathers’ values, calling it enlightenment. Search us, O God, and know our hearts; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!’

Bombings are so frequent, the media hardly notice. Last week's assault on Kabul’s luxury hotel received attention because some westerners were victims. Days later, a car bomb killed 100+; last month a suicide bomber killed 41 and a truck bomb killed 150. Afghans live this reality daily. But the greatest conflict is not terrorism, poverty, or drugs. It is spiritual. 99.9% of the population are Muslim, and 72 people groups do not have the Gospel. A missionary writes, ‘A dear sister was murdered in the Kabul hotel bombing, then two days later the office of an NGO working here for many years was attacked and many were killed. This increase in armed aggression against foreigners and NGOs needs re-evaluation by Christian missions. Please pray for wisdom as to how we can improve the safety of our workers, and for much-needed peace and security in the country. There are serious differences between the governor in a northern province and the president. Tension is rising, and there are fears of a feud within the government. Pray that this will be stopped.’

South Africa has the worst drought in 23 years. Climate change and massive population growth are blamed for the crisis. They are extracting water from underground springs and developing wastewater treatment and better water conservation, but the crisis worsens. By November 2017 schools were urging students to bring water from home, and asking them to attend school in sports gear so that parents do not need to wash two outfits. It is expected that on 12 April taps will be turned off in the Cape Town area, leaving residents to use 200 water collection points. Commercial areas, hospitals and settlements will be exempt. The city is getting tougher on people who stockpile water and unlicensed stores selling drinkable water. A plant to turn seawater into 15 million litres of usable water every day is planned, but it is not built yet. See

Pope Francis is sending the Vatican's top expert on sexual abuse to Chile to investigate accusations that a bishop covered up for an abusive priest. The Pope met the priest's victims on a recent visit, but then affirmed his belief that Bishop Juan Barros was innocent, and accused people of slandering him. He later apologised for the comments. Critics have insisted the choice to ordain the bishop should be reviewed, and asked for further action. Investigator Archbishop Charles Scicluna will visit Chile and ‘listen to those who want to submit information in their possession’.

The assistant bishop of Melbourne, Philip Huggins, has worked with film-maker Richard Keddie on a video advocating for South Sudanese school students in Melbourne. It says that many of these children are frightened, and asks people to ‘give them a wave and a smile to make them feel welcome’. In the state of Victoria, there have been recent high-profile political and media comments about ‘gangs’ of young Africans, which have resulted in discrimination towards and fear of the community. Hundreds of families have survived a dreadful war and seen millions killed. But they’re frightened again, because of messages spreading hate and fear against innocent children.

Police arrested senior members of the Turkish Medical Association, and President Erdogan branded them ‘terrorist lovers’. The association, which represents 80,000 doctors, publicly voiced opposition to the offensive against Syrian Kurdish militia, warning: ‘Every clash, every war, causes physical, psychological, social and environmental health problems, and human tragedy.’ After publishing their statement they were inundated with threats of violence via telephone, email and social media. The New York-based Physicians for Human Rights group condemned the intimidation campaign. ‘It is a bleak commentary on the state of affairs in Turkey that a group of doctors can’t make a peaceful statement without being targeted with physical threats and condemned by the head of state’, said Dr Homer Venters. ‘Medical professionals must have the freedom to call out threats to public health without fear of retribution.’

Last November Mr Kenyatta was officially inaugurated as president, but his victory was not recognised by Raila Odinga, who argues that Mr Kenyatta was elected by a small section of the country. On 31 January he declared himself the people's president, at a controversial swearing-in ceremony that the government warned is treason. Authorities shut down TV stations to prevent live coverage of the event. Holding a Bible in his right hand at a Nairobi park, he declared he was answering a ‘higher calling to assume the office of the people's president of the Republic of Kenya’. He said that people had had enough of election rigging, and the event is hoped to be a step towards establishing a proper democracy in the East African state. Mr Odinga turned up for twenty minutes, signed a statement, swore an oath, and left the low-key affair. His deputy, Kalonzo Musyoka, was not at the event.

What would life be without Jesus? Thousands of people have never met a Christian or heard the Good News in their mother tongue. In 2018 more people than ever will find out that God is reaching out to them. Wycliffe Bible Translators personnel work tirelessly towards the goal of delivering the message of Jesus in people's heart languages, while organisations like MAF travel across continents to deliver God's Word to new believers. Recently a South Sudanese Christian said, 'I was jealous of white people being blessed by having the Word of God in their own language. We had no Bible in Baka.’ Then he gave a broad grin: ‘Now I am happy because I have a Baka Bible. God did not forget us.’ Now Christians speaking Baka can share God’s Word with those around them who do not yet know the salvation Christ offers. See the World article ‘Praying for the unreached’, and also https://www.maf-uk.org/campaign/unreached

After nearly three years in exile in Kurdistan, ten-year-old Helda Hindi and her younger brother and parents who fled from IS have returned to their home town in the Nineveh plains. She spoke about the night of 6 August 2014, when IS seized her hometown. ’Alarm bells rang out in our streets - we had to escape the living hell of violence and terrorism. I left, crying, with no hope of ever seeing my town, my school, or my friends again. We lived in torment and tragedy until we got used to it.’ She related her harrowing experiences, but finished, ‘And today, by God's grace, we have returned to our town and I am back in school among my friends. We had only God and we never stopped believing in His power and praying for His mercy for all those hurting in Iraq and around the world.’