Churches across the UK are said prayers last Sunday for doctors, nurses and others working in healthcare. Healthcare Sunday is held each year by the Christian Medical Fellowship, Christian Nurses and Midwives, and the Healthcare Christian Fellowship. It is an opportunity to show their support for healthcare workers as they live out God's call to care for the sick. Dr Peter Saunders, Chief Executive of Christian Medical Fellowship, said: ‘Many more people pass through our hospitals and GP surgeries than through our churches, and Christian doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers play a key role as Christ's hands and feet with the opportunity to touch people's lives at what can be their greatest time of need. ‘They also face big ethical and moral pressures in a workplace which is often hostile to Christian faith and values. As ordinary Christian disciples facing these challenges and with their own personal, spiritual and emotional needs, they need our prayer and encouragement.’

Pray: for all those who work in healthcare often under severe pressure of work, and for some, of their faith too. (Pr.16:24)

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/churches.pray.for.healthcare.workers/30832.htm

The Archbishop of York has urged David Cameron to tackle the ‘great injustice’ of care for the elderly, warning we risk growing into a ‘sick society’ if there are no improvements in the way vulnerable pensioners are treated. Speaking out in support of the Daily Mail’s Dignity for the Elderly Campaign, Dr John Sentamu said it was wrong that tens of thousands of pensioners are being forced to sell their homes to pay for care which is often less than adequate. He said the Government has reached a ‘moral crossroads’ and must decide whether to build a society that supports the vulnerable or ‘one where individuals face whatever life throws at them on their own’. In a separate intervention, the former Liberal Democrat care minister Paul Burstow also challenged Mr Cameron to act quickly to fix the ‘broken system’ amid signs that the Government is planning to delay introducing a cap on the cost of care.

Pray: for the elderly and especially those who are most vulnerable and in need of a well-planned system of care and support. (Ps.71:18)

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2221184/Sentamu-moral-crossroads-care-elderly-sick-society-improvements.html

A housing trust’s decision to demote a Christian after he said on Facebook that gay weddings in churches were ‘an equality too far’ was described as an ‘extraordinary over-reaction’ in court yesterday. Adrian Smith lost his managerial position and had his salary cut by 40 per cent after his employer, Trafford Housing Trust, said his Facebook comments amounted to gross misconduct. Yesterday Mr Smith’s lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson, QC, said: ‘The whole thing is a huge and extraordinary over-reaction’, as he also raised suggestions of entrapment. Mr Smith is trying to recover his lost earnings, and his case is supported by The Christian Institute, a national charity that protects the civil liberty of Christians. The court will decide whether the Trust breached Mr Smith’s employment contract and interfered with his right to free speech. The case is set to conclude this week although judgment is expected at a later date.

Pray: for Mr Smith and for the outcome of this case. (1Pe.3:15)

More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/qc-demoting-christian-housing-manager-was-over-reaction/

In a Tehran meeting between senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar and Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Mr Salehi said, ‘The wave of Islamic Awakening in the Muslim world, especially in regional countries, is a great opportunity and valuable potential for Palestine. This comment followed a conference last month entitled ‘Resistance - Islamic Awakening and Liberation of Palestine.' The Iranian Foreign Minister noted that with the establishment of popular governments in Muslim countries the regional nations and countries will strongly continue their efforts to defend Palestine until the liberation of al-Quds (Jerusalem). Salehi said, ‘Iran did its best to make the summit adopt powerful stances on Palestine and the final result of those efforts were quite favourable.’ Al-Zahar expressed hope that during the presidency of the Islamic Republic, the rights of the Palestinian nation would be defended stronger than before, emphasizing that the Palestinian people will continue their resistance against the Zionist regime of Israel and will not withdraw from their rights and principles.

Pray: for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps.122:6,7)

More: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/260498.html