Who is going to stop murderous Boko Haram?

A distraught father has described his constant anguish ever since his eldest daughter went missing two weeks ago during a murderous rampage by Boko Haram militants. "I am very worried about her," the dad in his 50s who asked to be identified as a civil servant told NBC News by telephone. "Every day I think about her, I have not even slept. I pray to God that she is still alive."

After attacking a military base near the town of Baga on January 3, the brutal Islamist sect turned its attention to the civilian population in and around the Nigerian fishing town. It torched thousands of buildings, kidnapped women and children, and killed townsfolk indiscriminately.

The father told NBC News that he only had enough time to bundle his wife and most of his children into a car, and head for the relatively safe haven of Maiduguri 100 miles to the south. But with the area under attack and the safety of his family to consider, he said it was simply not an option to travel across town to the home of his 23-year-old daughter and her husband.

How long are those massacres going to last unpunished? How long is Boko Haram going to taunt us? I say 'us' because I know that you and I feel the pain of all those parents and family members as if we were there with them. 

A prayer.

Heavenly father, we ask you who are all powerful and omniscient to twart the plans of our enemies and give wisdom to our political leaders to help bring peace in Nigeria and the countries nearby. May your will be done. In Jesus-Christ, our saviour and redeemer. Amen.

Women's world day of prayer..

Today the women's world day of prayer is prepared by Christian women of Egypt. In the Mid-trent team, we will celebrate it in Stowe-by-Chartley. Egypt is one of the oldest civilisations in the world and it was populated soon after the flood by Mizraim, grandson of Noah. His name gives the Arabic for Egypt, Misr.

The literacy rate in 2010 was 72% 80% for males but only 63% for females. Many rural adolescent girls are discouraged from completing school, facing lives of early marriage, illiteracy and domestic abuse.The church in Egypt is doing all it can to counteract this. 

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that at least eight Egyptian Christians from the Minya province have been abducted since January 25, 2014. The abductions, thought to be carried out by members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), are just a handful among the hundreds of similar cases in the last few years.
On January 25, a “Muslim mob” abducted a 17-year-old Christian boy named Marcos Zakaria, Ezzat Ibrahim, the director of the World Center for Human Rights in Minya and Assiut, told ICC. Zakaria lived in Upper Egypt in Dier Mawas city in Minya province and is a student in his final year of secondary school. The kidnappers“contacted his family demanding a ransom of million Egyptian pounds for his return,”said Ibrahim.

To find out more, click on the link above (International Christian Concern).

Please join us tonight in prayers so that the persecution of our Christian brothers, sisters and leaders stop.

Celestina Mba sues over Sunday shifts

In my inbox, I received a Prayer Alert: Sunday working case from Christian Concern. You may have heard of the case already. Here are the facts if you haven't. Christian children’s worker Celestina Mba is taking The Mayor and the London Borough of Merton to the Court of Appeal tomorrow (Wednesday 23 October) over their refusal to provide Reasonable Accommodation for her devoutly held Christian beliefs. Before Celestina began working for Brightwell Children’s Home in London, she agreed with her employers that she would not work on Sundays in accordance with her Christian beliefs. But the Council changed the arrangement soon after she started the job, saying that the arrangement was temporary, forcing her to choose between her job and her Christian observance. If successful, the case could be a benchmark for thousands of Christians in England now ‘forced’ to work on Sundays if they are to keep their jobs. Join Christian Concern team and us in ours prayers :
For a successful and just outcome
For wisdom for the judges
For barrister Paul Diamond who will be arguing in court on behalf of Celestina
That Celestina and her legal team would experience “the peace of God which transcends all understanding” during the proceedings
For fair and accurate news coverage

Marriage ...

An alliance of religious leaders has also warned in a letter that same-sex marriage will “devalue the meaning of marriage”. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist leaders, including Bishop Michael Hill, the Anglican Bishop of Bristol, and Sir Iqbal Sacranie, a former head of the Muslim Council of Britain, all urged Mr Cameron to rethink the legislation.

Same-sex marriage sets a "dangerous precedent" which could lead to sibling marriage or polygamy, says Lord Carey.

Ahead of the Lords debate on the bill next week, the former archbishop of Canterbury argued there could be "unintended consequences".

He has previously courted controversy by likening critics of gay marriage to persecuted Jews in Nazi Germany. Gay rights group Stonewall said the comments were "regrettable" and accused the peer of "hyperbolic shroud waving".
Lord Carey has been a vocal opponent of the government's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill for England and Wales, which will be debated by peers on Monday

Fears about the Bill will also be raised by a warning from Lord Mackay of Clashfern, a former lord chancellor, over the Queen’s involvement in enacting new legislation.

Lord Mackay was asked at an event hosted by the Theos think tank whether, in light of the Church of England’s opposition, signing the Bill might put the Queen in breach of her Coronation Oath. Lord Mackay, who opposes same-sex marriage, said that ministers should ensure any legislation was consistent with the Queen’s promise.
He said: “The Queen under our constitutional arrangements is expected to act in accordance with the advice of her ministers, given ultimately through the Prime Minister.
"The idea of the Coronation Oath was that it would never be in conflict with that advice and therefore it is the responsibility of the ministers of the Crown to see that whatever advice they give is consistent with the proper construction of the Coronation Oath.”