* THE VICAR OF BAGHDAD SPEAKS OUT ABOUT RECENT IRAQ CHURCH
BOMBINGS

* RECORD NUMBERS OF FEMALE INMATES TURNING TO CHRIST

* BRITS TOLD TO INSURE THEMSELVES AGAINST DIVORCE

* POPE BENEDICT CALLS FOR WORLDWIDE PRAYER AGAINST ABORTION

* ALGERIA: OFFICIALS ORDER CLOSURE OF 19 PROTESTANT
CONGREGATIONS

* A HOMELESS MAN’S GOOD DEED BRINGS FURTHER
BLESSING

———————————————–

THE VICAR OF
BAGHDAD SPEAKS OUT ABOUT RECENT IRAQ CHURCH BOMBINGS

The Vicar of Baghdad Canon Andrew White says: “In Iraq
Christians have been under attack since 2003 when the war began, but
in the past month attacks have escalated. Over the past year, 93
Christians were killed in my church. This month alone over 100 have
been killed across Iraq. 59 were killed in a single massacre in the
Syrian Catholic Church last month. Since then many more Christians
have been targeted, told they no longer belong in Iraq and advised to
leave now or be executed.

“Things are so hard that many Christians are now fleeing. My
personal security is very intense and far greater than previously. It
always used to amaze me that I attended church each week in body
armour, in armoured cars and surrounded by Iraqi Military. I don’t
think that there were many other ministers in the world who would go
to church like this. Nowadays things are very different. I now live
in the church Compound, and the security of the church is now
completely different than before.

“We are surrounded by bomb barricades and the number of police and
army security, provided by the Iraqi Government, is phenomenal. Not
long ago I went to Kurdistan with my board chair Lord Hylton. We were
given over 120 military security to get us out of Baghdad. Then we
reduced to our normal 35 soldiers when we left Baghdad. “I
am constantly at risk and have to listen to my security but at the
same time I am acutely aware that the members of my congregation have
no security.

“They do not have my profile, but are all at risk because they are
all followers of Jesus. Those who had money fled soon after the war.
Those who are left behind tend to be the seriously poor who have
nothing. Our church has to provide them with food, health care and
rent. We are the only church I know that in our compound has a large
clinic with doctors, dentists, a pharmacy and laboratory which
we provide for everyone in our community ¢â‚¬”irrespective of their faith
background.

“We know that our Lord has informed us that our faith will indeed be
under attack and as we get closer to His return this will not get
better but worse. We take hope from the fact that we are under attack
because we believe and know that we are trusted by our Lord to
persevere, and we will. “I live with many threats, along with my
people, but our place is not sad but full of joy. Despite the
constant tragedies, our people are not sad and our church is not
despondent.”

Source: Jerusalem
Post

———————————————–

RECORD NUMBERS OF
FEMALE INMATES TURNING TO CHRIST

For more than 30 years, Mel Goebel has been going into prisons to
share the Gospel. Throughout the years, he has seen men and women
transformed by the Gospel message. But what he is seeing now is
amazing. For the first time, Mel and his wife, Annie, who head
Daughters of Destiny prison ministry, are witnessing women inmates
come to Christ in record numbers. In the past year, nearly 7,500 have
made decisions for Christ. “What a holy privilege to watch God move
in this ministry,” said Annie.

“There’s a fervour for God. In the past, 7%-10% of the inmates might
attend our meetings. Now we’re seeing 30%-90%!” The mission of
Daughters of Destiny is to equip volunteers to reach incarcerated
women for Christ and disciple them while in prison and after their
release. Recently, Mel and Annie led an event at the largest women’s
prison in California which houses 9,000 inmates. Kay Warren, wife of
well known author Rick Warren, was the speaker, and once again, the
response was phenomenal.

“We are experiencing revival in women’s prisons throughout the U.S.”
said Mel. “We see a movement of repentance. Women inside are
passionate to share their faith with others in prison.” Daughters of
Destiny ministry includes a Full Circle ministry modelled by what
Annie and Mel experienced in their lives. Currently, approximately
850 trained volunteers provide on-going ministry for 3,711 inmates in
203 detention facilities and for 3,488 women who have been released
from prison.

Full Circle Ministry encourages women when released to help other
women in need. “More than 1 million women in the United States are
imprisoned,” Annie said. “Many of these women want to change when
they return to society.” Mel & Annie both committed their lives to
Christ while in prison 20 years ago. Today, as husband and wife, they
serve to empower hundreds of thousands of women, placing a net of
God’s grace across them in prison and upon release.

Source: Daughters of
Destiny

———————————————–

BRITS TOLD TO
INSURE THEMSELVES AGAINST DIVORCE

Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke wants to scrap legal aid for divorce
lawyers. This means anyone who wants to protect themselves from the
fallout from a broken marriage will have to pay for their own
courtroom advice. The proposal raises the spectre of hundreds of
thousands of husbands and wives taking out insurance policies against
the cost of divorce. Critics will see such insurance cover as putting
further pressure on the bonds of trust and affection that should keep
married couples together.

One of Mr Clarke ¢â‚¬â„¢s ministerial team, Jonathan Djanogly, said:
 ¢â‚¬ËœCouples are too ready and too willing to run to the courts. We think
there can be a wider market in insurance. We would be creating a new
market, but we want to see such a market. ¢â‚¬â„¢ The decision to end legal
aid for divorce comes in the wake of last month ¢â‚¬â„¢s Supreme Court
judgment that gave legal force to pre-nup deals. Many couples will
now be paying lawyers to prepare pre-nups.

The proposal is part of a shake-up of state-funded legal assistance
announced by Mr Clarke. His sweeping reforms include: Barring aid for
claims against hospitals and schools; Withdrawing support from
actions by prisoners and welfare benefit disputes; Slashing payments
to lawyers in  ¢â‚¬Ëœno-win no-fee ¢â‚¬â„¢ cases. Mr Clarke wants to save at least
 £400 million a year from an annual bill of  £2.1 billion. Some
barristers who live on legal aid paid in civil disputes could see
their fees slump by 40 per cent.

Divorce insurance was introduced in the USA in 2005. It is now
available in Britain and one company, Divorce Cover Limited, offers a
divorce insurance policy to UK residents. Premiums start at around
 £750 for a one-off policy  ¢â‚¬“ or couples can pay a monthly standing
order of around  £10 for their entire marriage. The average cost of
legal fees for divorce in the UK is  £13,000 and the policy promises
to cover this.

Source: The Daily
Mail

———————————————–

POPE BENEDICT
CALLS FOR WORLDWIDE PRAYER AGAINST ABORTION

The Pope has issued an unprecedented request for worldwide prayer
against abortion. The call is not limited to Catholics with
him asking  ¢â‚¬Å“leaders of all churches to involve the faithful in their
respective parishes, religious communities, associations and
movements to engage with his prayer initiative. Mary McClusky, from
the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities in the Catholic Church, says
the call is especially important at a time when attacks on the worth
of human life seem to be at an all-time high.

She said  ¢â‚¬Å“With societies now endorsing the killing of humans as a
perceived solution to economic, and environmental problems, the
Pope’s call reminds us of the necessity and power of prayer to
protect human life., ¢â‚¬  She said the Pope ¢â‚¬â„¢s call  ¢â‚¬Å“may help increase
awareness about abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and other
threats to children in their earliest weeks of life ¢â‚¬ . Women who have
had abortions  ¢â‚¬Å“may be inspired to begin a much-needed conversation
about healing from a past abortion.”

Human Life International (HLI) director of international
coordination, Joseph Meaney said,  ¢â‚¬Å“The Pope for the first time in
history has asked the Universal Catholic Church to gather together in
common prayer for our preborn brothers and sisters who are being
slaughtered around the world by abortion and other attacks of the
culture of death. ¢â‚¬  Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro, interim president of
HLI, says Christians of all streams can find unity in the call to
prayer against abortion.

Barreiro said  ¢â‚¬Å“As the assaults on human life accelerate, the most
powerful response we can make is to pray in unity for an end to the
assault. Prayer grounds us in the only Power that can ultimately
defeat the culture of death, so we are grateful to be united with the
Pope in this historic event. I hope the call will re-motivate
pro-life people to the cause. It is easy to become weary in our
efforts to advance protection for the unborn and healing for
post-abortive women and men. ¢â‚¬ 

Source:
LifeNews.com

———————————————–

ALGERIA: OFFICIALS
ORDER CLOSURE OF 19 PROTESTANT CONGREGATIONS

Police have issued orders for three Algerian churches to cease
activity, bringing to 19 the number of congregations told to shut
down during the past year. The church closures come amid a flurry of
antagonistic media articles warning of campaigns by Protestants to
 ¢â‚¬Å“Christianize ¢â‚¬  Algeria. Religious Affairs Minister Bu ¢â‚¬â„¢Abdallah
Ghoulamullah has called on Christian groups in Algeria to re-register
according to Algeria ¢â‚¬â„¢s associations ¢â‚¬â„¢ law.

Algerian Christians claim that the government has blocked them from
carrying out the required re-registration of their churches. As most
Algerian Christians are converts from Islam, the law could be
interpreted to make nearly all Christian churches in the country
illegal. Algerian authorities have begun comparing evangelization
with terrorism in recent months. Ghoulamullah claims “Pastors come to
Algeria to create minorities thus giving foreign countries a pretext
to interfere in our internal affairs. ¢â‚¬ 

Ranging in size from several dozen to more than 1,000 members, 32
congregations in Algeria belong to the Evangelical Protestant
Association (EPA), while another 20 small independent fellowships
exist. Krim of the EPA said that five independent congregations and
14 EPA fellowships have been ordered to shut down. Krim said that he
had felt the support of prayers from Christians around the world. ¢â‚¬Å“ I
feel the effectiveness of prayers for me from our greater family
everywhere, ¢â‚¬  the pastor said.

Source: Intercessors
Network

———————————————–

A HOMELESS MAN’S
GOOD DEED BRINGS FURTHER BLESSING

When Dave Talley, an Arizona homeless man ran across a lost backpack
containing $3,300 in it, he was faced with weighty moral
decision. Talley found the backpack that had been left behind at a
light rail station. He had gone through very difficult times ¢â‚¬”drug
addiction and the loss of his home which had left him on the streets.
An amount of money like that would go a long way for him. But in the
end, Talley did the right thing.

“Not everybody on the streets is a criminal,” Talley said. “Most of
us have integrity and honour.” Talley brought the backpack to a
worker for a homeless advocacy group and together they found its
owner. “It’s not something I’d wish anybody to have to go through,
those are rough choices,” Talley noted, regarding his decision to
turn in the cash. “There are a lot of things it could have taken care
of. But, the fact of the matter was, it was not my money, I didn’t
earn it.”

University student Bryan Belanger who owned the money – was amazed
that it was turned in, as he didn’t expect to see it again.”This is
the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced,” said Bryan. “It really is
a lesson that character exists no matter what the circumstances are.”
The student was planning on using the cash to buy a car. He
reportedly rewarded Talley for his good deed with an “undisclosed
amount” of money, and will be volunteering at the local homeless
organization.

Source: Associated
Press

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