AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER
MALAGASY PUPILS PAY SCHOOL FEES WITH SEX WORK
Young women in Madagascar are increasingly turning to sex work to pay their school fees, social workers from the country have reported. Deepening poverty and homelessness in the capital Antananarivo three years since Andry Rajoelina deposed President Marc Ravalomanana are to blame for the “worrying” increase in levels of sex work – particularly among children who use the proceeds to pay for their education, health workers have warned. Miroarisoa Rakotoarivelo, head of the Group Development Madagascar (GDM),told of how a recent survey of 129 sex workers indicated a growing number of children among them. ”
It’s increased, and the proof I can give you is the January-April 2011 statistics we’ve got,” he said, adding that almost half of the sex workers sampled were under 18. Hanitra Rakotoarimanga, who heads a basic healthcare centre, said that during a Ministry of Health survey on HIV prevalence carried out earlier this year a marked increase in sex workers was noted.”We recruited 300 sex workers to do the HIV/AIDS test, and from that moment on we noticed that there was at least a 30 percent increase in new cases of sex workers,” she said.
In the last few months, voluntary street social worker Christine Rahantamalala, who has worked with 2,000 sex workers since 1997, said she has registered 200 new sex workers, a quarter of whom are under 18.Currently in Madagascar, women over 18 are issued with special medical cards which allow for free testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and condoms, but staff at the centre said they were increasingly working with underage girls “off the books”. According to a UN-supported five-yearly household review, poverty rates in the country increased 9% between 2008 and 2010.
Parental financial difficulties are thought to be a key factor in the number of children looking for sex work. Children have admitted to health workers that given the country’s steady decline into poverty, the feel they should be looking for ways to help their own family out. Alix Heinvelona, founderof the Ankanifitahiana centre which provides education to children of street families, said enrolments had been gradually increasing since the crisis began three years ago. “In 2009 we had 225 learners; in 2010 this went up to 255; and now (2011) we have 305 in the school,” he said.
Another local NGO, Ankanifitahiana (Family by God), which provides education for homeless children, is also reporting increased enrolments. According to a spokesman, “The situation is extremely alarming and should be a wake-up call for the international community because one of the reasons this country is on the brink of a major humanitarian crisis is the sanctions that have slowed the country’s economic life.”
Source: Christian World Missions
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DISASTROUS FAMINE HITS SOMALIA
A lack of rain, failed crops, and on going civil conflict have combined to create a disastrous situation in Somalia. The United Nations are predicting widespread malnutrition. Tens of thousands have already died and 12.5million people are now at risk of starvation and death. The entire Horn of Africa region is experiencing the worst drought in 60 years. This has led to crop failures and severe food shortages. In July, the United Nations declared a famine in two regions of Somalia. Unless there is a massive International response there will be large scale deaths in the country. Tens of thousands of Somalis have already died, and hundreds of thousands face starvation.”
Complicating this situation is the fact that Somalia does not have a functioning central government. Al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups control entire sections of the nation. The two areas where famine has already been declared are controlled by al-Shabaab – and Western aid is not being allowed in. According to the New York Times, the terrorists are also “imprisoning displaced and starving Somalis who were trying to escape Shabab territory.” ” The famine is as much about failed politics as failed rains, “the president of the African Development Bank said.
Many Somalis have fled the region, hoping to find relief in the refugee camps of northern Kenya. But the camps were built for 90,000 people and now house 400,000. Reaching the camps also requires days, even weeks of travel on foot. “The refugees arrive bedraggled, exhausted and often bereaved as loved ones die on the long trek… It is hard to imagine the horror of mothers forced to leave their infants behind to die as they trek for weeks to reach safety.”
PRAY FOR:
* the Lord to provide for the people of Somalia. Ask Him to enable Christian humanitarian agencies to gain access to the regions where Somalis are in need. Pray for food, clean water, shelter, and medicine to be made available to those who are at risk of malnutrition, hunger, and death. Pray for Al-Shabaab and every other terrorist group in Somalia to be defeated, have their funding cut off, and fail in their efforts to recruit.
* the Lord to establish a government in this lawless nation. Pray for Him to raise up men and women to lead Somalia in integrity and the fear of the Lord. Pray for the international community to respond quickly to the crisis in Somalia. Ask the Lord to give leaders wisdom and strategies for addressing this problem. Pray for the Lord to comfort those who have lost loved ones and who have fled from their homes. Petition Him to provide a safe place of refuge for them.
* the Christians in Somalia to call out to the Lord for relief. Pray for them to humble themselves, seek God, and ask Him to heal their land. Pray for this potential disaster to become an opportunity for the Gospel to be preached and for Muslims to put their faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Pray too for a great harvest of souls in Somalia as the kingdom of God comes in power.
Source: Windows International Network
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ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY BEING TAUGHT IN RUSSIA’S FORMERLY ATHEIST SCHOOLS
Reporter Megan K. Stack has written of the huge change in Christian education in Russia since the fall of communism. It wasn’t that many years ago that the atheist government forbid the teaching of religion in its schools. Today, children across Russia – including new immigrants of different religions – are being trained in the fundamentals of orthodox Christianity in classes called “Basics of Orthodox Culture.” Stack noted: “Whereas the United States has haggled over prayer in schools, many Russian schools have swung wildly from Marxist havens to institutions steeped in Orthodox symbols and doctrine.
With pictures of Jesus and the saints displayed on the walls, Kostrovo’s public school probably would be mistaken for a parochial institution by an uninformed visitor. At school, the students paint massive murals of Jesus, memorize myriad details about Orthodox saints and discuss New Testament stories with the local priest, who barrels in to class in flowing blackrobes to oversee the students’ spiritual formation.” School administrator Natalia Korolchenko said. “I told the parents, because more and more children of different nationalities are coming, something should unite them. Something should be done to make them respect the culture of this country.”
While non-Christians are bemoaning the practice, and non-Orthodox Christian faiths are reportedly coming under fire from the government, there is nevertheless an “Orthodox construction boom” underway in Russia, due in part says Stack, because of the fact that Vladimir Putin is rumoured to be an Orthodox believer. Supporters of the classes are quoted as saying they believe the courses will unify Russia by filling an ideological void left by the collapse of the Soviet Union.” If we go to Turkey, we must learn the basics of Islamic culture,” said Korolchenko. “When children come here, they should learn Orthodox culture. It will be easier for them.”
Source: Intercessors Network
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TOTTENHAM’S CHURCH LEADERS CALL COMMUNITY TO A VIGIL OF HOPE
Tottenham’s Church leaders, politicians and youth leaders from across the local community organised a “Vigil of Hope,” in the midst of last week’s violence in their community. The vigil was organized by local churches from the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church and Pentecost and Independent churches, along with David Lammy, Parliamentary member for Tottenham, and Claire Kober, leader of Haringey Council. The event included collective prayers for the community and addresses from different leaders present.
The bishop of Edmonton, local bishop for the Church of England Diocese of London, the Rt. Rev. Peter Wheatley said: “These events cannot be allowed to define the Tottenham we know and love. Many of us have worked in this community for many years and we know the loving, generous and openhearted people with whom we share our daily lives are not the rioters who have destroyed so much. What has happened will not conquer the hope which is set before us. We will continue to share that hope with our neighbours and friends as we move to rebuild in Tottenham.”
Churches in Tottenham are providing help for those affected by the violence. St Mary the Virgin Church, at the heart of where much of the trouble has been, is providing support for those whose homes and businesses have been affected, including distributing meals and providing hot water and phone charging facilities to those left without electricity. The bishop of Edmonton added: “Our hearts and prayers go out to all affected, including those made homeless and those whose livelihoods have been threatened. Together, our churches run a multitude of activities supporting all members of the community and these efforts will be continued and where possible extended.”
Source: Episcopal News Service
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RIOTERS ARE BRITAIN’S LOST GENERATION
The mobs of largely young people who have been terrorising large parts of London and other cities in England reveal a part of British society that is”broken and detached”, says a think tank. The Centre for Social Justice, founded by Iain Duncan Smith, has condemned the violence being perpetrated by the rioters and called for all criminal behaviour committed at their hands to be met with the full force of the law. “The appalling scenes on the streets of London, and elsewhere in the UK, should be condemned unreservedly,” said Gavin Poole, executive director of the think tank.
“Yet we have to recognise that this mayhem also exposes a broken section of British society – utterly detached from the values and responsibilities we expect of our fellow citizens.” Mr Poole blamed the breakdown of the familyand poverty in part for the chaos on the capital’s streets. He called for a debate on policing techniques, but stressed that there was also a need for”deep rooted social reform” once order has been restored. “As wrong and unacceptable as it is, the rioters project anarchy in public because it is what surrounds them at home,” he said.
“Many have never known stable parenting or fatherhood role models. Family breakdown and dysfunction has rendered countless young people damaged and directionless. “A high majority of these young people have failed in schools where truancy is normal, behaviour is often disruptive and boundaries are not established. “Many of them face a life on benefits in ghettos scarred by poor housing and street gangs, completely devoid of aspiration. “These are the actions of people who live in chaos, hopelessness and poverty. What they are doing is criminal, and must be punished. But they believe they have nothing to lose and no one to answer to. Some even consider it normal.”
Source: Intercessors Network
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10,000 MARCH FOR TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE IN NEW YORK
An estimated 10,000 people participated in a recent New York City rally and march in support of the traditional definition of marriage. The rally, which was organized by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), took place on the same day as the first homosexual “marriages” were legally performed in New York State. “The number of supporters were just amazing,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s president. “The crowd in fact was so large the New York Police Department asked us to begin our march early so that we could relieve overcrowding at the gathering site.”
The march began in front of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s New York City offices on Park Avenue and then proceeded to the United Nations. Men and women waved Bibles and sang hymns, and cries of “Jesus, Jesus” and “Let the People Vote”reverberated through the city streets. The nearly 10,000 people at the rally was less than the approximately 20,000 who attended a similar event in NewYork in 2009, also organized by NOM. Many of the people who attended the rally were Hispanic members of the Bronx church run by New York Senator Diaz, an ordained pastor. A quarter to a third of the crowd, according to the Wall Street Journal, was African-American.
Brown said that NOM will help organize monthly activities to keep up public pressure in support of true marriage. “This rally was just the beginning,” he said. “Every month we’ll be calling on supporters to take action and to help us grow our coalition. Working with leaders such as Sen. Ruben Diaz, Bishop Joseph Mattera, New Yorkers for Constitutional Rights president JasonMcGuire and others, we will create the largest coalition ever assembled in New York history by the time we’re done.”
Source: LifeNews.com
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