Appeal for aid to help in Peru

Please look at The Vine Trust page launching their appeal for aid for Peru following last weeks earthquake.

The following information has come to me via Tear Fund, please use this to guide your prayers for Peru.

From a Tearfund translator, Elia, living in Lima:

I know most of you are worried about the earthquake that struck our country yesterday. I just want to let you know my family and I are well and want to ask your prayers particularly for the area of Ica, between 4 - 7 hours from our capital city. There are hundreds of dead people on the streets, hundreds of injured people, hospitals collapsed, main basic services such as electricity and water are not working, phone lines are not working well and roads are pretty inaccessible. In addition, 650 prisoners of a jail located in Ica escaped and the number of victims so far has been tracked only in the cities with minimum communication access. Authorities cannot yet determine the number of deaths or injured people in small villages and towns in Ica since they are located in remote areas. We are still having quake replicas, some very soft in Lima.

Please pray
> for roads and access means are restored asap,
> for many Christian organizations that are already in place trying to gather all necessary information to provide more resources for relief,
> for the hundreds of poor victims especially children who have been left homeless and orphans
> for Elia's husband Johny and peers who belong to World Vision’s Emergency Relief Team, who are currently in the disaster area.
Thanks a lot for your support and prayers. God bless you and God bless our country."
Elia

Peru

Please continue to pray for Peru as the news of casualties continues to come in, please look at the BBC news report.

Please pray for Peru

Yesterday the coastal regions of Peru were struck by an earthquake (see report on BBC News).

Please pray for the staff and pupils at the Free Church College in Lima, for Paul and Marty Clark of SU Peru also in Lima. Pray for the SU staff at the camp and street boy centre at Kawai on the coast south of Lima. Pray for Linda Gamero an SU worker in the south at Ica near the epicentre of the earthquake.

The Good and Bad of Protesting

As thousands turn up at a camp near Heathrow Airport to protest at the expansion of the Airport and the effect this will have on Climate Change the democratic principle of protesting is once again under close scrutiny.

In our democratic system we are given the right to protest at Government policy, or against the decisions of the powerful, be they individuals or corporate. There would be something wrong with a democratic system in which there was no protesting. A government is elected on a broad based manifesto as they proceed with the work of government they will develop general manifesto promises into policy particulars and also will face new and unexpected situations. It is likely that some of the electorate, including some of those who voted for the government, will not agree with all the policies implemented by an elected government. Hence the need to protest, to let our elected representatives know that we disagree with them.

The duty that falls upon all those elected to serve in government is to defend the right of lawful protest and to give consideration to the concerns expressed in such lawful protest. Unfortunately the record of recent UK governments is not good; the largest lawful protest held in this country was against taking part in the invasion of Iraq and was wholly ignored by those who led us into this so-called war against terror. Here we see one of the dangers of majority government, such as we have had in Westminster for nearly 30 years now, a government with a large and workable majority can safely ignore any protest.

No doubt frustration with our government in their responding to such protests leads to calls for unlawful protests. A second reason for unlawful protests is that some protestors believe their cause to be morally just, a cause which must not and cannot be denied, and they are prepared to take non-violent, disruptive, unlawful steps to add force to their protesting.
The right of non-violent unlawful protest should be protected in one area only. In situations where the democratic process is being denied or abused, such as the refusal to grant voting rights to a section of the community. Where a just cause is denied access to the democratic process then the only recourse is to unlawful protest.
However, where the democratic process is not being denied or abused those who engage in unlawful protesting, however non-violent are themselves perverting the democratic process. What they are saying is something like, “I want to impose my view on the democratically elected government and I don’t want to do that by using the democratic process of debate and election.” This cannot be supported and will lead only to anarchy and the inability of anyone to govern.

As Christians we have benefited from the democratic processes in our country and should therefore be willing to defend their proper use. Such thoughts however also touch upon our engagement with our national church and our duty and responsibility to engage with the life of our church in these days.

Fred Drummond All That Jazz

Fred Drummond

All That Jazz

The church is facing a sea of change. Internally, church members are competing with falling numbers and a lack of resources. Externally, the church is being marginalized and labelled as an ageing institution with no relevance. What can be done? How can the church respond? Will we sink or swim?

Fred's new book is now available and is well worth reading. Using the core metaphor of jazz improvisation Fred raises a challenge to those in leadership in the church about responding to the developing cultural situations we find ourselves in. Fred questions our need to improvise in the areas of Leadership, Worship, Discipleship and Evangelism. Following the key theme of improvising Fred doesn't offer a prescribed set of answers, but certainly sounds the challenge. This is a helpful book that will stimulate thinking and I hope encourage the us to respond to the challenge of the times. Don't just buy the book - read the book.

If you are in Glasgow on Tuesday 4th Sept go along to Wesley Owen on Bothwell St at 7.00 p.m. and Fred will be signing copies of the book.

Thinking about thinking

It is reported today that the number of pupils taking a Higher exam in Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies has increased, 1323 candidates in 2006 and 1751 in 2007 (The Herald, Monday 13th August 2007). In recent years Christian churches have bemoaned the reduction in Religious Education and Religious Observance in our schools. Clearly a course on Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies will only include an element of Religious Studies, but some is better than none.
We now live in times when fundamentalist atheists, like Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion, do not recognise a place for theological or religious study and make the attempt to argue for a non-religious morality. However, an increasing number of young people are making the connection between religious studies, moral decision making and philosophical thinking about life. And we can hope that as they reflect upon their studies they will recognise a place for religious thinking when facing some of the difficult questions life will throw up for them.
The challenge facing Christians is to show how Christian thinking can be part of a well rounded and reasonable pattern of living today. We cannot plead for special treatment for our Christian faith or expect a traditional level of respect. We too must think about moral issues: abortion, climate change, poverty, injustice. We must reflect upon the questions of the philosophers: why is there something rather than nothing? Who am I? Who are you? Our unique contribution is to bring a Christian perspective to our engagement with these areas of life. A robust, thought through biblical and theological perspective can take a leading place in such studies. Any young people coming to our churches or meeting will expect nothing less.