Afghanistan: how to pray, one year on
In August 2021 Afghans dreading the return of the draconian Taliban regime risked their lives clinging to the outside of departing planes, desperate to escape. Afghanistan is now the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. Closing the ministry of women’s affairs demonstrated a return to the denigration of women that had previously characterised the Taliban rule. Except for healthcare workers, women must stay at home ‘to protect their safety’. Girls’ secondary schools stay closed ‘until a comprehensive plan is prepared according to Sharia and Afghan culture’. The Taliban have re-established the ‘Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue’ to enforce their strict interpretation of Sharia. Their drive for only the ‘purest’ form of Islam has left no room for Christians in Afghanistan. Please pray for the safety and protection of secret believers from being discovered, and for the families who have to leave everything behind as they flee to safety. See also
North Korea ‘ready to send 100,000 soldiers’ to help Russia
Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko said on state TV: ‘There are 100,000 North Korean volunteers prepared to come and take part in the war in Ukraine. North Korean builders are ready to work alongside ours to repair war damage. If North Korean volunteers with their artillery systems, wealth of experience with counter-battery warfare, and large calibre multi-launch rocket systems, want to participate in the conflict, well, let’s give the green light to their volunteer impulse.’ A South Korean report stated that the North is already preparing to dispatch its workers to the pro-Russian Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Calling the North Korean troops ‘resilient, undemanding and motivated’, a Russian journalist said that the Kremlin ‘should not be shy in accepting the hand extended to us by Kim Jong-un’.
USA: Trump investigation
The FBI search warrant of former president Donald Trump's Florida home authorised confiscation of every record he ever saw, read or created during his four years as commander-in-chief, right down to scribbles on a napkin. Democrats are asking for a damage assessment from the intelligence community on the eleven sets of classified documents recovered in the raid, including one marked ‘SCI’, a classification for some of the most sensitive national security information that is normally viewed in a highly secured location. A Trump lawyer signed a statement in June saying ‘all classified documents at Mar-a-Lago had been turned over to federal investigators’. On 14 August Trump’s lawyer claimed all investigations into ‘him will be dropped if he says he won’t run to be elected president in 2024. Later Trump’s office released a new defence statement: ‘As we can all relate to, everyone ends up having to bring home their work from time to time. American presidents are no different.'
From vengeance to forgiveness
‘People may ask, ‘How is it possible for an Afghan man to become a Christian?’’’ Homayoun, who was once bent on violence and vengeance, is now a pastor. He shared his testimony on SAT-7 PARS live programme Signal, in the hope that God will use his story of transformation to touch the lives and hearts of viewers facing enormous challenges in Afghanistan and Iran today. ‘I grew up in Afghanistan and come from a Muslim background. As I got older, I always had God on my mind, I prayed five times a day and read the Quran. I wanted to know God and I wanted to know the truth, but I never found peace and tranquillity. Eventually I joined the army. I wanted to fight Daesh, the Taliban, or anyone really. But it didn’t work out. God didn’t want me to kill anyone.’ Read Homayoun’s testimony here
International Christian Concern giving help
Thomas came to know Christ last year, while living in a communal home with his non-Christian parents. Tensions began to mount, prompting him to build a tent on his parents' land as a temporary living space. When he tried to purchase land and build his own home, the authorities repeatedly blocked his efforts. Thankfully, his pastor was able to secure him a new piece of land and then International Christian Concern was able to help him build a new, humble home for his immediate family. His pastor said, ‘Thomas is very firm in his new faith. God saved him and his family. Thomas would never give up his faith.’
Cost of living crisis and cutting taxes
Public finances are under pressure from a predicted recession. Both PM candidates agree that people will need help with the cost of living this autumn, but tax cuts will only bring relief to taxpayers. Cutting health and social care levies gives no money to pensioners or anyone earning less than £12,570. The new prime minister will not start the job for another four weeks. The candidates are coming under increasing pressure to spell out their plans. Gordon Brown recently said an emergency budget was urgently needed and that Boris Johnson, Ms Truss and Mr Sunak must agree on one now. A financial time bomb will explode with the October energy price cap. Loughborough University’s Prof Hirsch said, ‘It is urgent for the next prime minister to ensure families have enough to live through this crisis and beyond.’ Some will be £1,600 worse off per year. On 11 August government ministers met with energy giants, focusing on how energy companies can alleviate pressure on consumers: see
Disappearing dentists
Nine in ten NHS dental practices across the UK are not accepting new adult patients for treatment. In a third of 200 council areas, no dentists were taking on adult NHS patients and eight in ten NHS practices were not taking on children. The Department of Health said it had made an extra £50m available ‘to help bust the Covid backlogs’ and that improving NHS access was a priority. While NHS dental treatment is not free for most adults, it is subsidised. There are people across the UK who canot afford private fees, and the subsidised rates are crucial to getting care. The lack of NHS appointments means people drive hundreds of miles in search of treatment, pull out their own teeth, resort to making their own improvised dentures. and restrict their long-term diets to little more than soup.
Downs campaigner appeals abortion law again
Heidi Crowter is hoping to change Britain’s abortion legislation through her hearing at the Court of Appeal. Currently the UK permits unborn babies with a disability to be aborted up to birth, while the limit for other babies is 24 weeks. Heidi and others want to stop this discrimination and are continuing their fight after the High Court rejected their case last year. Heidi’s mother Liz told the Christian Institute that those with Downs syndrome are still made in the image of God; they just have one extra chromosome. Heidi said, ‘In 2022 we live in a society where disabled people are valued equally after birth but not in the womb. This law is discriminatory and needs to be changed.’ A ruling will be made in late autumn.
Drought and hosepipe bans
A prolonged dry spell and record-breaking temperatures have left rivers at exceptionally low levels, depleted reservoirs, and dried-out soils. Environment secretary George Eustice has urged more firms to take action to mitigate the effects of the prolonged dry weather. But each water company has different thresholds and demands, so we might not see a UK-wide ban. Sir Robert Goodwill, chairman of the environment, food and rural affairs select committee said, ‘It costs water companies money to impose a hosepipe ban and I suspect they have held off longer than they would have done twenty years ago when most people were unmetered and just paid their water rate.’ His comments come as the UK prepares to declare a drought. Water UK say that climate change and an increasing population mean there could be water shortages by 2050. On 10 August Thames Water sent water tankers to residents in the first place in Britain to run dry when Stokenchurch reservoir was found to contain E.coli.
Unprepared firefighters
The Environment Agency is expected to declare a drought in England, the Met Office has issued the highest warning in its Fire Severity Index, but UK’s fire brigades are completely unprepared for the risk posed by the soaring temperatures. On 14 August an ‘exceptional’ red fire risk warning will cover much of central and southern England as temperatures exceed 35C for the fourth day in a row for the first time since 1976. The national officer for the Fire Brigades Union said cuts to services across the UK have left fire services unable to cope with a repeat of the dozens of break-out fires and destroyed homes experienced last month. These fires burn at high temperatures, spread at incredible speed, and are brutally dangerous for fire and rescue crews to fight. Over a fifth of the workforce has been cut since 2010, yet they must deal with extreme weather events in increasing regularity and severity.