DEC Pakistan floods appeal
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has publicly announced the launch of the ‘DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal’ in response to the monsoon catastrophe. Special broadcasts began yesterday on the BBC, ITV, Sky, Channel 4, Channel Five and independent radio stations and will continue. The money raised will help fund the life-saving work in Pakistan of the DEC’s members and their partners. Responses to the Pakistan Floods Appeal are being made by all the DEC agencies, namely: ActionAid, Age UK, British Red Cross, CARE International UK, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Concern, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund and World Vision. The special broadcasts will be presented by well-known figures and mark the formal launch of the Appeal. Automated telephone lines and the DEC website, SMS, post and over the over-the-counter donations at Post Offices and banks are open for donations. The automated donation line is 0370 60 60 900 and website (See also World Article following.) Pray: for a huge response from the British people to alleviate this humanitarian disaster. (Ac.20:35)
OECD: Britain is the European capital of broken homes
An international report exposes Britain’s moral failure on family values. The study found we have the worst record on teenage pregnancy in Europe with more children living in one-parent families than any other European country. More of our single mothers are unemployed and on benefit than anywhere else on the continent, largely because we hand out so much in benefits. Britain’s rates for divorce and out-of-wedlock births are among the highest in the Western world, and our mothers are among the oldest, putting their health and that of their baby at risk. Critics said the UK is paying the price for its promotion of sex education to ever younger children and that, since the permissive society of the 1960s, so few value the institution of marriage. The OECD’s gloomy report is the first to highlight Britain’s poor record. Pray: that your church’s voice is strong in persuading the nation that the family unit is the cornerstone of society. (Ps.119:130) More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1297268/Britain-European-capital-broken-homes.html?ITO=1490
Campaign to stop funding NHS Chaplains
The NHS should stop funding chaplaincy services and put the money towards frontline services instead, it has been claimed. A campaign has been launched to persuade the Welsh Assembly Government to set up a charitable trust to fund religious and faith services for patients. Alan Rogers, a member of the National Secular Society, believes that NHS money would be better spent on clinical services for patients. His comments come as the NHS in Wales is facing the prospect of making savings of £1.9bn over the next five years. The NHS currently spends £1.3m a year on chaplaincy services across Wales and 33.83 whole time equivalent staff are employed in this area. Unite, which represents NHS chaplains, said they are as much a part of the health service as physiotherapists. Mr Rogers’ campaign comes after Health Minister Edwina Hart issued fresh guidance and new standards to the NHS to ensure patients have access to spiritual and religious support. Pray: for the continued availability of hospital chaplains to those in need, however funded. (Mt.10:1)
11 and 12-year-olds on the pill
Over 1,000 girls in the first year of secondary school were prescribed the contraceptive pill last year, according to new figures. This represents a fivefold increase in the past decade, and critics are concerned about the increasing sexualization of the nation’s children. The figures, from the General Practice Research Database, also revealed that 200 girls between the ages of 11 and 13 were prescribed long-term implanted or injectable contraceptives last year. Dr Trevor Stammers, a GP and chairman of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said: ‘These figures illustrate the fact that the UK is facilitating the sexualisation of young people at an ever younger age’. If sex education is introduced in primary schools in the way being proposed, we will see many more 11-year-olds seeking contraception and if we pay GPs to give out contraception without pointing out the risks we are going to make matters worse’. Pray: for our youngsters, and for guidance and support to resist the sexualisation of the young. (Ps.34:11) More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/more-than-1000-11-and-12-year-olds-are-on-the-pill/
