Extending archbishop’s youth charity
Dr John Sentamu said it has never been so important to support young people as he launched a major fundraising drive to extend the reach of his youth trust almost a decade after it launched. The Youth Trust seeks to ‘change our world for the better’, and has supported more than 50,000 pupils in 450 schools since 2008. It has now embarked on a drive to raise £375,000 to extend leadership courses for those living in the top 20% of the most deprived areas across the north of England. That means reaching an additional 15,000 youth from disadvantaged communities, in 300 primary and secondary schools, in the next eighteen months.
500,000 to take Bibles to school
About 500,000 public school students, from all fifty US states, will join the Focus on the Family's Bring Your Bible to School day on 5 October. This is the fourth such annual student-led religious freedom event. Many Christian students feel there is unspoken pressure on them to stay silent about their faith. Others report overt efforts to silence them from presenting their Bible-based viewpoints in class discussions or assignments, even though the First Amendment recognises the rights of students to talk about their faith and read their Bibles outside classroom time. This day gives Christians the chance to show how their faith is an important part of who they are. 356,000 students participated last year, with Alliance Defending Freedom offering students free legal representation if their rights were violated at school.
Friday Focus: praying for our communities
Jesus encourages us to love the people around us: our neighbour, a stranger on the bus, a shop assistant. This weekend - the National Prayer Weekend - provides an opportunity to show God’s love to people in our communities by asking if they have anything they want us to pray for.
(Emily Owen, National Prayer Weekend)
Intercessor Focus: Brexit issues
On 22 September Theresa May gave the EU the UK's strategy for Brexit, but by the end of the fourth round of Brexit talks a week later there was little sign of compromise on either side. Pray for agreement on broad-minded non-disruptive changeover arrangements which will benefit both the EU and the UK. The Prime Minister said a transition period could be around two years, during which time access to the single market would continue on current terms. Pray for negotiators to move forward positively and speedily to construct workable EU-UK relationships during and after Brexit. She also proposed a ‘bold new security agreement’ between the UK and the EU. Pray for a withdrawal that continues to honour the peace process in Ireland and avoids a hard border. On trade, the PM said there was no need to impose tariffs where there are none now. Pray for a transition that doesn’t adopt existing models, but rather provides better stability for businesses and workers.
