France: Evangelical churches attracting youth
The atmosphere is like a pop concert in the Montparnasse area of Paris. Hundreds of young people sing catchy songs, waving their arms in the air, while a group plays booming music on stage. This isn't a pop gig. The Australian-born Pentecostal church ‘Hillsong’ planted a Paris church in 2005 and its congregation’s grown from a few dozen people to around 900 at each of its two weekend services conducted in French and English. On a recent Sunday, the 1,000-seat Théâtre Bobino (where the church holds its main services) was nearly full. This youthful, enthusiastic, multi-ethnic crowd is in sharp contrast to the diminishing French Catholic churches and represents the rise of the evangelical movement as a whole in a country that is officially secular. Census figures report 600,000 French members of evangelical churches, with 460,000 regularly practicing their faith - a ten-fold increase from 1950.
Pray: God will reproduce His message of truth and life to the youth of Paris across all of France. (Ro.10:14)
Militant secularisation’ is taking hold
A British Cabinet minister has hit out at the way in which faith is being attacked by a rising tide of ‘militant secularisation’. Baroness Warsi, a Muslim, is leading a delegation of government ministers on a two-day visit to the Vatican. She said Europe needed to be ‘more confident and more comfortable in its Christianity’ as she criticised the way in which Christianity had virtually been written out of the European Constitution. Faith, she said, had been ‘neglected, undermined – and yes, even attacked – by governments’ in recent years. ‘My fear today is that a militant secularisation is taking hold of our societies’, she said. ‘We see it in any number of things: when signs of religion cannot be displayed or worn in government buildings; when states won’t fund faith schools; and where religion is sidelined, marginalised and downgraded in the public sphere.
Pray: that faith would rise and take a frontline position against those who criticise believers. (Is.26:2)
Militant secularisation’ is taking hold
A British Cabinet minister has hit out at the way in which faith is being attacked by a rising tide of ‘militant secularisation’. Baroness Warsi, a Muslim, is leading a delegation of government ministers on a two-day visit to the Vatican. She said Europe needed to be ‘more confident and more comfortable in its Christianity’ as she criticised the way in which Christianity had virtually been written out of the European Constitution. Faith, she said, had been ‘neglected, undermined – and yes, even attacked – by governments’ in recent years. ‘My fear today is that a militant secularisation is taking hold of our societies’, she said. ‘We see it in any number of things: when signs of religion cannot be displayed or worn in government buildings; when states won’t fund faith schools; and where religion is sidelined, marginalised and downgraded in the public sphere.
Pray: that faith would rise and take a frontline position against those who criticise believers. (Is.26:2)
Urgent Prayer for Christians in Syria
“ From a very reliable source, we received the following message. Please join us in Prayer for our brothers and sisters in Syria. We've all seen and heard about the uprisings in the Arab world. The Middle East is heating up for better or for worse. We talk about fighting for democracy, desiring to see all ethnic groups obtain it, and even children seek some type of democracy of their own. It takes a huge amount of hatred and ignorance for anyone to refuse such democracy, and yet in the mind of fundamentalists and extremists, there is no room for it. This is the struggle of Christians in the Middle East, especially those living in Syria.
The last few months have been some of the hardest times for Christians in Syria, in the fight against corruption. They have united together to support the call to change. Things began to heat up in the streets, and the effort to fight corruption turned into power struggles, where sects in Islam are fighting each other, trying to take control, forcing their beliefs on one another.
Many slogans have been heard throughout the revolution. One in particular goes something like this, “Take the Christian man to the grave and their women to bed.” Hearing hundreds of men in the streets, chanting against Christians, has brought fear into their lives. Fear for the safety of their women and young children. It has come down to a battle for existence, all because of what they believe. Many stories of Christians being attacked and killed, woman being kidnapped and raped, are being heard throughout Syria. All in the name of Islam and of “Democracy!!”
Please Pray:
• For an end to the blood shed and that any change of government will lead to greater freedom for the people of Syria.
• That the rights of Christians and other religious minorities will be protected
• That the church will have strength to stand firm and bring the light of Christ to their nation.”
