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Prayer Network Newsletter 22nd March 2010

AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

* HOUSE OF LORDS VOTE TO ALLOW CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS TO TAKE PLACE IN CHURCH

* TURNING HETEROSEXUAL CHILDREN INTO CRIMINALS

* IRANIAN MUSLIM COUPLE COME TO CHRIST

* 500 CHRISTIANS KILLED IN RELIGIOUS CLASHES IN NIGERIA

* ABORTION RATE IN U.S. FALLS TO IT’S LOWEST LEVEL IN DECADES

* U.K. MUSLIM GROUP ISSUES FATWA AGAINST ISLAMIC TERRORISTS

* ALGERIA: REVIVAL TAKING PLACE AMONG MUSLIMS

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HOUSE OF LORDS VOTE TO ALLOW CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS TO TAKE PLACE IN CHURCH

The House of Lords has voted to change the law on Civil Partnerships, allowing them to be performed in Churches. The amendment, which was introduced by Lord Alli, an openly homosexual Peer, and backed by a number of liberal Bishops, effectively removes one of the final distinctions between Marriage and Civil Partnerships—introduced just five years ago as being purely secular in nature. The amendment was won by 95 votes to 21 and was hailed as a breakthrough by homosexual activists.

In January 2010, the Government had resisted Lord Alli’s amendment, reassuring the public that it was ‘not a workable solution to this issue’. However, in an unexpected move, the government suddenly allowed its Peers a free vote on the issue. The Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats also gave its Peers a free vote. Ironically, the amendment was advanced as an issue of religious freedom, with some religious organisations voicing their desire to hold Civil Partnership ceremonies.

Andrea Williams, Director of Christian Concern For Our Nation, said: “What took place last night is nothing short of outrageous and all who care about democracy should be alarmed at the proceedings. At the end of January, Baroness Royall for the Government stated that: ‘Any change can therefore be brought only after proper and careful consideration of these issues.’ “Was this statement deliberately deceitful, or do the Government believe that this debate constituted the ‘proper and careful consideration’ of the issues? The amendment was debated for less than an hour and was voted through literally at the eleventh hour, taking everybody by surprise. To have such a significant change in the law—a change to another piece of legislation no less—take place at the end of the Equality Bill’s passing, without any real debate or consultation, and at such an hour that most Peers were not even in the House, is a disgrace and a clear manipulation of the system. “We will be calling on the Government to resist these changes, for the good of our democracy as well as for the protection of marriage.”

It is not the first time that constitutional irregularities have been used to force through law that significantly favours homosexual activists. In 2006 Lord Alli introduced amendments to the Equality Bill 2005/6 at the very last moment, which led to the creation of the Sexual Orientation Regulations 2007. These highly controversial regulations were passed through on a take it or leave it basis, with no debate at all in the House of Commons and amongst other things have led to the closing of Catholic adoption agencies.

Source: Intercessors Network

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TURNING HETEROSEXUAL CHILDREN INTO CRIMINALS

Stories continue to regularly appear of how the gaystapo are terrorising the West, forcing everyone to submit to their agenda of radical social engineering. Increasingly they are co-opting the courts and legislatures to enforce their demands. And these totalitarian demands by the militant homosexual activists certainly do not stop with unwilling adults. It seems that every single boy and girl as well will be forced to embrace the homosexual agenda, or face the strictest of consequences.

Consider this incredible story involving a 10-year-old English school boy who is in big trouble. What was the horrific crime which this boy has been found guilty of? He actually dared to call a fellow student a “gay boy”. Wow, throw the book at him. Expel him from the school immediately and never let him return to school or hold a job for life. In fact, he deserves to have the letters ‘PI’ branded on his for forehead for such gross ‘Political Incorrectness’. It is one of the first publicised examples of how the government’s required hate registers are being used in schools.

The names of children as young as five can be placed on the hate register if they make homophobic playground taunts. The details of how hate registers are being used emerged after the mother of the ten-year-old boy was told that her son’s name would be placed on a register and permanent school record following an alleged homophobic comment to a fellow pupil. The British government has asked all schools to record incidents of homophobic bullying.

It is alleged that the ten-year-old called another pupil a “gay boy”, with the incident reported to the head teacher at his school.by the mother of another child. His own mother told the Daily Mail: “He doesn’t even understand about the birds and the bees, so how can he be homophobic? “Peter is a very naive boy who didn’t know what he was doing and is now very upset he is now in trouble. It doesn’t mean he is going to turn into a homophobic attacker when he is older. “He must have picked up the word from somewhere and thought it to mean stupid.”

“If I heard it I would have been the first to correct him and tell him not to use it, but putting him on a register seems way over the top.” The boy’s parents asked the school if they would remove him from the register, but said the school’s head teacher refused. His mother said “I’m now worried that this is going to affect him applying for universities in the future. I just think the whole thing could be better sorted out by the teacher or parent explaining to them that their language is wrong and not to do it again instead of being criminalised for playground banter.

Source: Culture Watch

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IRANIAN MUSLIM COUPLE COME TO CHRIST

They came wanting to say their Islamic prayers, and ended up praying to Jesus for salvation! This is just one story of the many testimonies of God’s Spirit moving among the people of Iran. “Elam” was founded in 1988 by senior Iranian church leaders, and has continued in their vision to train and equip Iranian Christians to reach out to their countrymen.They maintain that since the Islamic revolution in 1979, the people of Iran have become increasingly disillusioned with Islam, and have developed a “deep spiritual hunger for the Truth.”

According to Elam, there were less than 500 Christians from a Muslim background in Iran in 1979, but today the number is estimated to be at least 100,000. In keeping with that explosive growth of the Christian Church in Iran, are some amazing testimonies of those who have come out of the Islamic faith. “On Tuesday September 15, an Iranian couple were walking the streets of a city in the Middle East where Elam graduates lead an Iranian church. The church is situated in a busy part of a tourist area and is easily visible to passers by.

The couple saw the church and entered. Finding one of the church leaders they asked, “Can we say our Islamic prayers in your church?” The church leaders were taken aback—they’d never been asked this before.What to do? They decided to show hospitality and kindness and offered them lunch. The couple gladly accepted and sat down in the church to eat. One of the church leaders gave them a New Testament and began to explain the Gospel as they ate.

Their conversation lasted two hours and the leader asked if they wanted to surrender their lives to Jesus. The couple bowed their heads and said the sinner’s prayer. That evening the couple returned to join the church’s weekly prayer meeting. What a beautiful sight it was to see them hold out their hands in praise to the living God they had just met! Please pray for this couple to grow in their new found faith. They have returned to Iran where they will be discipled by other Christian leaders.

Source: Elam Ministries

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500 CHRISTIANS KILLED IN RELIGIOUS CLASHES IN NIGERIA

Some 500 people were killed in a revenge attack near the Nigerian city of Jos. Three mainly Christian villages near Jos were attacked by people with machetes. There is a long history of local tension between Muslims and Christians. The attacks are said to have been in revenge for the killing of several hundred people around Jos in January. Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has put security forces on alert in the area. Jos lies between the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria and its largely Christian south. Troops have entered the villages, which are now said to be calm.

Many of the dead in the villages are reported to be women and children. Mark Lipdo from the Christian charity Stefanus Foundation said one village had been almost wiped out. A resident said the attackers had fired guns as they entered the village around 3.00am on a Sunday morning and woke the villagers simultaneously with gun fire and shouting, before setting homes on fire. The shooting was just meant to bring people from their houses but when people came out they started cutting them down with machetes,” Entire families are reported to have been murdered.

Youths in Bukuru and Barkin Ladi are holding protests following the massacre. Army assistance was requested, but arrived after the massacre had taken place. Some youths are now calling for the army to leave, as they question its role in the violence and feel its presence has done little to deter attacks on isolated communities. The attackers are said to have travelled into the area from the neighbouring Shari’a state of Bauchi during curfew hours. Many of the villagers died as a result of decapitation.

Source: Intercessors Network

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ABORTION RATE IN U.S. FALLS TO IT’S LOWEST LEVEL IN DECADES

A new study by the Guttmacher Institute,which deals with reproductive issues, showed that the abortion rate in the US had fallen to its lowest level in nearly twenty years. The research revealed that the number of abortion providers also went down, with 2 percent fewer in 2005 than in 2000. While citing the effectiveness of abstinence programs, Janice Crouse, Director of the Beverly LaHaye Institute, added that “abortion definitely has gone down, particularly among young people.”

Columnist Cal Thomas has noted, amidst a dire recount of the devastation Roe vs Wade has wrought since 1973, that our nation may finally be seeing a turn-around on the issue of abortion. Notes Thomas: “Depending on how one counts the number of abortions per year since 1973, more than 50 million people who might have been are not. These were people who, regardless of the circumstances of the women who carried them, had the potential to contribute to the country and to the world. But now they cannot, because they are not.”

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, abortion numbers have declined steadily since 1990, from a high of 1.2 million annually to fewer than 900,000. Even Hollywood is starting to make films in which, of all things, a pregnant mother chooses to keep her baby. The change may be an indication that the entertainment industry realizes that the new generation of women seem to be revolting against the devastation their mothers’ generation has wrought through the legalization of abortion.

Source: Health Day News

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U.K. MUSLIM GROUP ISSUES FATWA AGAINST ISLAMIC TERRORISTS

London-based Muslim organisation led by Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, founder of the increasingly popular Sufi movement Minhaj-ul-Quran, has issued a fatwa against Islamic terrorists. The move is being “hailed as a significant step forward in the fight against fundamentalism, and one that will have repercussions in the UK and beyond.” The edict amounts to a “direct challenge to al-Qaeda’s violent ideology” and declares “suicide bombings and attacks against civilian targets are not only condemned by Islam, but render the perpetrators as unbelievers.”

Ul-Qadri said the edict, aimed at persuading young Muslims to turn their backs on extremism, goes further than any previous denunciation. “This is the most comprehensive fatwa on the subject of terrorism ever written,” he said. A spokesman for a counter-extremist think tank said: “This fatwa has the potential to be a significant step towards eradicating Islamist terrorism. Fatwas such as this that demolish and expose Islamic fundamentalism will consign Islamist terrorism to the dustbin of history.”

Source: First Post News

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ALGERIA: REVIVAL TAKING PLACE AMONG MUSLIMS

Despite laws preventing conversion, Muslims are turning to Christ in large numbers in what’s being called an amazing move of the Spirit in Northern Algeria. Pastor Youssef Jacob with Operation Mobilization reports phenomenal growth. “We have churches that have grown 820% in a year. Many converts come from Islam with no Christian heritage, no Christian background, no resources whatsoever, no training. But they just believe in God.”

Jacob says the Kabylie region has a church in every village or town. One village has more churches than mosques. With all the new Christians, training is needed. Jacob says funding is desperate. “If we fail to train, disciple, and empower the Algerian church today, I believe it will be one of the biggest mistakes in the history of missions to the Muslim world.” Pray that training will be funded and that the Gospel will be heard across North Africa and Europe.

Source: Intercessors Network

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