Ban lifted on schoolgirl's Catholic fundraising effort
A Scottish schoolgirl who raised money for a Catholic charity by posting photos of her school lunches online has beaten an official ban trying to prevent her from doing so, reports Catholic News Agency. Nine-year-old Martha Payne, who attends Lochgilphead Primary School, began posting photos in late April of her daily lunch on her blog titled ‘NeverSeconds.’ She gave each one a score for healthiness, tastiness and the number of mouthfuls it took to consume. Her aim was to raise $11,000 for Catholic charity Mary’s Meals to allow them to build a kitchen in a school in Malawi in Africa. Within a few weeks, Martha’s site had received more than two million hits and a third of the donations required to build the kitchen. However, after the success of Martha's blog was highlighted in a national newspaper June 14 – under the headline ‘Time to fire the dinner ladies’ – she was told to stop her activities by school officials.
Praise: God for this young lady's' initiative to raise money for those in need. (Pro.22:1)
More: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue16614.html
UK Church sees need for missionaries from abroad
The UK was once a missionary-sending nation but after years of secularisation, a new poll has found that Christians in the UK are increasingly looking to the overseas Church to help in the work of spreading the Gospel. In a survey of more than 1,100 UK Christians, 74% agreed that the UK needed missionaries from other countries to come and bring the Gospel to the people. This figure was supported by 68% who stated that out of all the world's regions, the UK should receive the highest priority for church mission, prayer and support. The feeling among UK Christians is reflected in their giving, with a quarter of those surveyed saying they had started to give more generously to UK causes than to overseas ones. The figures were published in ‘The World on our Doorstep?’, the latest quarterly booklet from the Evangelical Alliance's research arm.
Pray: for the Church as it seeks help from the global Church to meet the needs of mission within the home nations. (Ac11:20)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/uk.church.sees.need.for.missionaries.from.abroad/30145.htm
Church hits out at proposed welfare cuts
CSAN, the social action arm of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, has come out in opposition to the Prime Minister's plans to introduce more cuts to child and housing benefits. David Cameron announced on Monday that housing benefit would no longer be available for under-25s, while child benefit payments would be limited to families with no more than three children. CSAN said it was ‘extremely concerned’ by the proposals and their impact on families already affected by a cap on the size of their homes and an overall benefit cap. ‘Child benefit exists to provide for the basic needs of children; imposing limitations on the basis of family size will inevitably deprive children from larger families of essential support,’ it said. A spokesperson for Depaul UK, the largest national youth homelessness charity added: ‘80,000 young people become homeless every year. The majority of these become homeless because of family breakdown.’
Pray: that the authorities would consider the needs of all children and families and not cap benefits just to save money. (1Pet.5:2)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.hits.out.at.proposed.welfare.cuts/30146.htm
DFID launches faith collaboration document
The Department for International Development (DFID) yesterday announced a major new document setting out its relationship with faith groups. The 'Faith Partnership Principles' were launched by Secretary of State, Andrew Mitchell, at the official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Palace. The document has been produced by DFID to build greater common understanding, mutual respect and cooperation in overcoming poverty. Writing in the foreword, Mr Mitchell acknowledged that faith was making an important contribution to development. ‘Faith groups are doing excellent work in providing not only humanitarian relief, but delivering health, education and other services in some of the most troubled parts of the world,’ he said. ‘I look forward to the closer partnership with people of faith who play a unique role in fighting poverty.’
Pray: that there would be a growth in common understanding, respect and cooperation between faith groups in overcoming poverty. (3Jn.1:8)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/dfid.launches.faith.collaboration.document/30152.htm
