Global: Muslims turning to Christ
Despite birthing many of the earliest Christian churches, the Middle East and North Africa have endured centuries with little or no access to the Gospel. Today 20% of the world has never heard of Jesus Christ, and between 1% and 10% of missionaries work among Muslims. That’s one missionary for every 1 million Muslims. Nevertheless, recent decades have seen an unprecedented Christian witness. More Muslims have become Christians in the last 25 years than in the previous 1,250 years as Jesus has revealed Himself through visions, dreams, and miracles, and 350 ministries work together to disciple new believers; an amazing movement of the Holy Spirit is taking place. Families and marriages are being healed. A divine Spirit of love and freedom is taking root and bringing redemption and hope for the first time. Hundreds of former sheikhs and imams - now Christ followers - are leading many out of Islam, with multiple cases of entire mosques coming to faith in Jesus.
PM ‘alarmed’ at sex education in schools
Christian parents and teachers are distressed by Relationship and Sex Education that is being welcomed into the classroom. Now a 130-page report of inappropriate sex lessons read by the PM has prompted a call for a review into Sex Education. We can pray for an end to primary school children learning about masturbation; for an end to drag queens telling secondary school children there are scores of different genders and asking what they feel about oral sex. Also, there is supposed to be a review of guidance for schools on transgenderism, which has been consistently delayed. Much of the inappropriate teaching and the harmful school culture stems from the gender identity ideology which underpins nearly all RSE resources, and which leads to schools socially transitioning pupils, often without parents' knowledge, for example, the book ‘My Shadow is Pink’ for 4-year-olds. Pray for parents to be allowed to see the materials which schools are using.
Ofsted and Ruth Perry: The dam has burst on strength of feeling
Headteacher Mrs Perry killed herself after an Ofsted inspection that downgraded her school's rating from Outstanding to Inadequate. Now a dam has burst. Her family blame her death on the Ofsted inspection pressure, and many headteachers and teachers are now speaking out about their own experiences of the Ofsted process. There are huge pressures on headteachers, bearing the responsibility of solving societal issues within schools and managing challenges like safeguarding, behaviour management, and academic performance. The stress can be overwhelming. The relationship between schools and Ofsted is particularly difficult due to numerous regulations that have evolved over the past 20 years. Policy changes regarding faith, identity, and sexuality have had a significant impact, particularly on faith schools keen to teach in line with traditional Christian beliefs. Many believe Ofsted inspectors approach these issues with their own ideological bias, adding to the challenge. See
Met Police corruption
A damning report has found institutional racism, misogyny, and homophobia in the Metropolitan Police - and suggested the force could be broken up if it fails to improve. Met Police Commissioner, Mark Rowley, accepts the findings and systemic failings but says he won't use the term institutional. Officers provided the Review with harrowing testimonies of treatment by colleagues. Complaints were ‘likely to be turned against’ ethnic minority officers, with black officers 81% more likely to be in the misconduct system than white colleagues. Freezers storing victim rape kits were overfilled, and one broke down in a heatwave which meant that rape cases had to be dropped. The PM said trust in the police was hugely damaged, and the London Mayor said it was one of the darkest days in the 200-year history of the force but added it did not necessarily need to be broken up.
