Missing Chibok girl found after 2 years

When Amina Ali Nkeki was kidnapped by the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram more than two years ago, she was a mere schoolgirl.

On Tuesday night, she apparently wandered out of a forest, asking for help, accompanied by a baby and a man who claimed to be her husband, according to witnesses.

The man is being investigated by Nigeria's joint intelligence center, according to a military statement.
Amina Ali is the first of the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram to be freed after the two years in captivity, Nigerian military officials say.

Military officials and locals gave different accounts of how she was liberated. Nigeria's army said she was rescued by army troops, but a witness told CNN the girl wandered out of the Sambisa Forest in the northeast of the country along with her child and a man.

The Sambisa Forest, believed to be the terrorist group's stronghold, has long been the suspected location of the girls. As many as 276 of them were kidnapped at gunpoint from their boarding school in Chibok in Borno, northeast Nigeria, on April 14, 2014.

At least 57 girls were able to escape soon after their abduction, but more than 200 of them remain missing.

Breaking news, click here

Please join me as I am praying for the safe return of all the rest of the girls home. May our Father protect them and may He change the hearts of their kidnappers in the beautiful name of Jesus-Christ our Saviour. Amen

The wonderful time of Advent!

I would like to share with you all this joyful prayer I found about the wonderful time of Advent.

ADVENT 2

Blessed are you, Sovereign Lord, just and true:
to you be praise and glory for ever.
Of old you spoke by the mouth of your prophets,
but in our days you speak through your Son,
whom you have appointed the heir of all things.
Grant us, your people, to walk in his light,
that we may be found ready and watching
when he comes again in glory and judgement;
for you are our light and our salvation.
Blessed be God for ever.

God our Father,
you spoke to the prophets of old
of a Saviour who would bring peace.
You helped them to spread the joyful message
of his coming kingdom.
Help us, as we prepare to celebrate his birth,
to share with those around us
the good news of your power and love.
We ask this through Jesus Christ,
the light who is coming into the world. Amen.

Lord Jesus, Light of the world,
the prophets said you would bring peace
and save your people in trouble.
Give peace in our hearts at Christmas
and show all the world God’s love. Amen.

People of God: be glad!
Your God delights in you.
giving you joy for sadness
and turn the dark to light.
Be strong in hope therefore;
for your God comes to save.
You are God’s children.
Lord make us one in the love of Christ
today and for ever. Amen.

Have a restful and joyful week-end. N.

Perseverance

By perseverance the snail reached the arch - Charles Spurgeon

This is so reassuring to hear this quote. I'm reading a very encouraging book by Janet Thompson. 

Have a blessed evening. N.

Happy Mothers' day.

Songs of Praise Special

We can't wait for tonight's special Songs of Praise Special at the local pub The Bank House in Hixon. I hope it will be as busy as usual! 

Sunday school in Frasdwell and Hixon was brill and we all had fun, adults and youngsters. I thank the Lord for Gill, our sister in Weston and her team, whose Messy Church activities were inspirational.

Happy Mothers' day to all mothers and children/adults. May the Lord bless you in abundance. Much love. In Christ. Amen.

An evening prayer

In Jesus-Christ, amen.

This morning, I asked my form to think about a topic of discussion and these are two of their answers: their concern about the disappearance of the Malaysian plane and one word, heartbroken. Sometimes just a key word. We talked about the causes of the disparition of the plane and the suffering of the families who have lost their loved ones.

Father, when we don't understand what's going on and we are upset, we come to you and lay our fears, our burdens at the feet of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. May you bless and comfort all the families who want to know what happened in this tragedy. We know that You are awesome and just, and that you have a special plan for each of us. Bless us Lord as we go about our business this week. May you guide us and surround us with your love. In Jesus-Christ. Amen.

Stop modern slavery and trafficking!

Call to end modern day slavery

An anti-slavery coalition is calling on the government to add strong measures to the draft Modern Slavery Bill so it is effective and reduces trafficking and slavery.
The Evangelical Alliance and 14 other organisations make up the coalition, including A21 Campaign, CARE, The Salvation Army, Hope for Justice, Love 146, International Justice Mission and Stop the Traffik.
The coalition briefing calls for an end to modern slavery once and for all: "The transatlantic slave trade was banned in 1807 and slavery was abolished across the British Empire in 1834, yet it is still with us today. Children are sold into slavery to pay family debts; people pay for passage, only to be trafficked over borders and find forced labour conditions rather than freedom ... this must end."
Dr Dave Landrum, director of advocacy at the Evangelical Alliance, said: "For evangelicals this is unfinished business. We've been fighting slavery for hundreds of years, and we are still at it today. This bill needs to live up to its promise. It has the potential to tackle modern slavery but needs to listen to the campaign groups in order to achieve that aim. Together as organisations motivated by our Christian faith we call on the government to act and strengthen the bill so it can bring freedom to many caught in slavery."

The call comes today, as the government issues their draft of the Modern Slavery Bill and Frank Field MP publishes his evidence review. 

Following the publication of the Centre for Social Justice's report It Happens Here in March 2013, pressure has built for the government to introduce a new law. The proposals increase the maximum sentences and bring together offences currently dealt with under different strands of the legal system.

Churches are urged to meet with their MPs and encourage them to take a strong and uncompromising stance against all shades and forms of modern-day slavery when the bill comes up for debate at Westminster in 2014.

Read on..

A B C D E F G

One day, a little girl got lost in the woods on a farm near where she lived.
The farmer who owned the land found the little girl and said to her, "Don't be afraid; I'll take you home."
The little child looked up at him, and with a smile, said, "I'm not afraid. I knew you would come; I was waiting for you."
"Waiting for me?" said the man. "What made you think I was coming?"
"I was praying that you would." she said.  "You were praying?" the farmer asked. "When I first heard you, you were just saying 'A B C D E F G.' What was that for?"
She looked up again and said, "I wasn't sure exactly what to say, so I was praying all the letters of the alphabet and letting God put them together the way He wanted them. He knew I was lost and he knew how to put the letters together better than I do."

I love this story so much. 'letting God put them together the way He wanted them' implies a complete trust in God. Are we ready to step out in faith or to ask in faith in our daily walk? Then we need to be patient and wait in faith for the Lord! 

The followers of Jesus said to him one day, "Give us more faith." Jesus answered them, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." I find this passage of the bible very encouraging. Also the thought that not only our God loves us but he knows us and he is patient with us so even if we miss the mark and dare not step out in faith in one situation, we can have another try and this time go for it. Hence the importance of being surrounded by faithful brothers and sisters who truly love the Lord. 

May the Lord make his face shine on you.

Stop at 6 pm every Tuesday

and pray for your

Children

Schools &

Community

This idea was conceived and developed by my friend Jen whom I met at Cliff Bible College at the beginning of September. Join us then here or type https://twitter.com/Pray_at_6

Blessings. N.

The Degradation of Christian Women under Islam

The Degradation of Christian Women under Islam
Muslim Persecution of Christians: June, 2013

by Raymond Ibrahim at the Gatestone Institute

A church in the Syrian village of al-Duwayr, after an attack by Islamist militiamen. (Image credit: Syria Report)

Meanwhile, in Egypt, U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson was urging Christian Copts not to protest Muslim Brotherhood rule, even though they would suffer under it most. According to Al Azhar, the world's oldest Islamic university, Islam is a religion of peace.

The degradation of Christian women living in the Islamic world continued in the month of June. In Syria, after the al-Qaeda linked rebel group conquered Qusair, a city of the governate of Homs, 15-year-old Mariam was kidnapped, repeatedly gang raped according to a fatwa legitimizing the rape of non-Sunni women by any Muslim waging jihad against Syria's government, and then executed.

According to Agenzia Fides, "The commander of the battalion 'Jabhat al-Nusra' in Qusair took Mariam, married and raped her. Then he repudiated her. The next day the young woman was forced to marry another Islamic militant. He also raped her and then repudiated her. The same trend was repeated for 15 days, and Mariam was raped by 15 different men. This psychologically destabilized her and made her insane. Mariam became mentally unstable and was eventually killed."

In Pakistan, Muslim men stormed the home of three Christian women, beat them, stripped them naked and tortured them, and then paraded them in the nude in a village in the Kasur district. Days earlier, it seems the goats of the Christian family had accidentally trespassed onto Muslim land; Muslims sought to make an example of the Christian family, who, as third-class citizens, must know their place at all times.

Iraq: During the middle of the night, armed men attacked St. Mary's Assyrian Catholic Church in Baghdad; they wounded two Christian guards, one seriously. Later the same day, bombs were set off at two Christian-owned businesses, both near the church; they killed one Christian shop owner, a parishioner at St. Mary's. Since the U.S. "liberation" of Iraq in 2003, 73 churches have been attacked or bombed, and more than half of the country's Christian population has either fled or been killed.
Continue reading, click here
Father, we thank you that we have the freedom of faith and worship in our countries. We ask you in the name of Jesus-Christ our Saviour and King to stop those conflicts, to give wisdom to the leaders of those countries, to strengthen all our Christian brothers and sisters who live in such countries where those atrocities prevail, to help them rebuild their lives and guide us to do our utmost in our lives to spread your message of love, forgiveness and peace. May your will be done in Jesus'name. Amen

God's love letter

"The Bible is God's love letter to us, and it describes the Lord Jesus, who said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10."

“Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?”

“There is no panic in Heaven! God has no problems, only plans.”

“Trying to do the Lord's work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.”

“Do you know what hurts so very much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill that love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.”

― Corrie ten Boom

Save Syria, the persecuted church

I have been looking forward to this week-end with impatience. Last Tuesday we left the hotel where we stayed after our roof burnt to move in our temporary accommodation back in Hixon and this was wonderful. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about the hotel but living in a house again is a bonus.
Yesterday, as I was unpacking boxes I found the Open Doors world watch list 2013. I stopped what I was doing to read it and I found out more about North Korea, the most difficult place on earth to be a Christian. It is opposed to religious of any kind. The following information can be found on Open Doors website. Click on the word Open doors to find out more.
North Korea

Leader: Kim Jong-Un
Population: 20 million (400,000 Christians)
Main Religion: Atheism/traditional beliefs
Government: Communist dictatorship
World Watch List Rank: 1
Source of Persecution : Communist oppression/Dictatorial paranoia

For the eleventh year running, this is the most difficult place on earth to be a Christian. One of the few remaining Communist states, it is vehemently opposed to religion of any kind. Christians are classified as hostile and face arrest, detention, torture, even public execution. There is a system of labour camps including the renowned prison No. 15, which reportedly houses 6,000 Christians alone. But despite severe oppression, there is a growing underground church movement of an estimated 400,000 Christians.

Please Pray:

• For real political and economic change under the leadership of Kim Jong-Un
• Spies have reportedly been sent to China to expose networks. Ask God to protect refugees and those helping them
• Give thanks that Open Doors is able to deliver emergency aid into the country.

Persecution dynamics

North Korea promotes two ideologies vehemently opposed to religion of any kind: the self-reliance of man or 'Juche' and the God like worship of the leaders or 'Kimilsungism'. Fuelled by a rampant ideology, North Korea believes Christianity to be linked to the West and sees it as a threat which could inflict harm on North Korea's  social disciplines. This threat must therefore be eradicated.Exact information is difficult to obtain due to the country's inaccessibility and the inability to gain timely information. Apart from some church buildings in Pjongjang, which serve to showcase religious freedom in the country, there is an underground church movement of an estimate 400,000 believers.Christians are classified as hostile and face arrest, detention, torture or even public execution. There is a vigorous elimination programme in existence to convert, imprison, banish or execute individuals who have converted to Christianity: Koreans who have converted after defecting to China and are later repatriated are in particular danger. Spies have reportedly been sent to China to expose networks; Christians helping defectors there have been killed. Christians are likely to remain targets of this regime.

Have a blessed week-end. N

Update on Give hope ministries

I am sure that you will be interested to visit Give Hope Ministries website and see the new photos posted there. Exciting development are happening and the Lord has been so gracious to all the team. Click on the link here 

You will find also that they opened doors to Proverbs Junior Academy. I quote: 'This term we have over 60 kids enrolled and we will be adding more kids next term. Additionally, we have been blessed to complete construction of the classrooms and are nearing completion of the doors, windows, and interior paintwork. This semester, there are several orphans attending the school. As we learn the process of documentation of new orphans and begin the construction of home units, more will be admitted.

Two women from Pennsylvania visited the school recently to help train and provide resources for our teachers. They also spent some time with the students and brought a number of school supplies. We are so grateful to our volunteers!

Please join us in prayers and support this ministry in Busia, Uganda. Blessings. N.

Slide show queries!

A few months ago, I mentioned that I had a problem to sort out the slide show on my  new template. I thought that I had to transfer my pictures on another website such as flickr.com. This did not work and I felt frustrated. So yesterday afternoon, I sat down and tried again. After a good hour of toiling and on the point of giving up, even thinking of changing template altogether, the penny dropped, all I had to do was to copy the url of the picture that I wanted and replace it. Answer to prayers! Fair enough, I still need to sort out the size of the pictures. Can you help ?  

Did you say Lent course?

As it is Lent, would you be tempted to attend a Lent course? A what? you may say. I never knew there was such a thing as a Lent course. Be reassured, a Lent course gives you the opportunity to meet with other Christian, ask questions, listen to others, express your views, discuss the things that come to your mind during a service but somehow you dare not ask after the service and ultimately figure out where you are in your journey of faith.

This year, we are using the Lent course written by Churches together in Britain and Ireland 

I quote their introduction. Lent is a time when we think about the story of the Israelites escaping from slavery in Egypt, miraculously crossing the Reed Sea, struggling through the wilderness for forty years, and, at last, entering the promised land.

Christians have always told stories: we tell and retell the stories of Jesus and of the early church. These are stories which help us shape our lives, to see ourselves as ‘disciples'. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we talk about all the things that have happened to us. 

Lent is a time, when we say ‘This is our story': the story of the Israelites, the story of Jesus, the story we can tell about our own ‘journey of faith'. We each have a story to tell and every story is different.

So why don't you give it a go? Blessings. N.

Women's world day of prayer 2013

I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Matthew 25: 35-36

Last night, my friend Geraldine and I went to Weston for the Women's world day of prayer and I was a bit nervous as I was asked by my friend Vivienne to do the talk. I only found out about this very special day when we arrived in Staffs so for those of you who do not know about it, I have done a bit of research on their website.

It was in 1928, at an international missionary conference in Jerusalem, that Scotswoman Grace Forgan first learned of the world day of prayer and brought the news to the U.K.

THE FIRST SERVICES WERE HELD:

1930 in Scotland. 1932 in England 1933 in Wales 1934 in Ireland.The Second World War was a time of great growth - drawing women together in prayer and fellowship.

In 1941, the WWDP office in London was bombed. There was no loss of life and minutes recovered from members enabled the bare bones of the first 9 years to be preserved. Often the planning committee in London met in an air-raid shelter but every year Orders of Service were produced and supplied to the rest of the country.In 1982 the service was prepared by the women of Ireland, both north and south.In England, Wales and Northern Ireland there are now over 3,000 branches holding 5,000 services every year. It is from such roots as these that WWDP has taken its present shape- a worldwide ecumenical movement of Informed prayer and Prayerful action.

 Last night, the service was written by French women. It emphasised the importance of welcoming strangers.

“‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19: 33, 34. 

In between the Bible verses and French hymns, we read first negative life stories and then positive life stories of foreign women who moved to France and settled there.

We also heard the parable of the sheep and the goats, Matthew 25:31-40 . It depicts the Last Judgment, where the King is separating out the nations gathered before his throne on the basis of the lives they have led. The ‘sheep’ and ‘goats’ express surprise at the King’s words. What have they done or not done for him? The King goes on to explain that whenever they cared for, fed, clothed, welcomed or visited someone in 

need, or neglected to do so, they in fact did, or failed to do, these things for the King himself. So it is made clear that whenever we welcome a stranger from another country, it is God himself whom we are welcoming.
I'd love to know if you have attended a women's world day of prayer in your country, so do let me know. Have a blessed week-end. Yours in Christ. N.

I was a stranger and you welcomed me.