Prayer Alert News: UK, Europe, and Worldwide – May 8, 2020

Spring has burst forth in all of its beauty and splendour. Blossom still covers many hedges, and flowers have increased in size and structural complexity. Leaves have unfurled in their fresh, green shades as trees begin their yearly quest, hungry for the sun’s rays. All this seems to be in total contrast to the lockdown restrictions that have been imposed on us all, and reflects the fact that God’s Spirit is moving throughout the land equally unfettered. Give thanks that God loves to work for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. See the Lord enthroned in splendour, see Him high and lifted up, yet His touch is light and tender, His love an overflowing cup.

Praise: God for His cycle of the seasons, His care for all he has created. (Job 11:18)
More: www.worldprayer.org.uk/hope-for-the-countryside

Psalm 136 says, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures for ever.’ During lockdown thousands are encountering God through prayer and praise with online networking. ‘Germany together in prayer’ brought a million Christian churches, ministries and groups plus prominent political leaders together to pray online.In the same week ‘World Prayer Together’ united millions of worshippers across the nations. Meanwhile, Holy Trinity Brompton reports a record number of Alpha sign-ups and there is an increased openness to the gospel as more people seek spiritual truths on search engines. Praise God for declining rates of infection and the solidarity of communities practising limited communal contact. And for many the ‘imposed’ furlough is resulting in families having more time together and the rest resulting from cancelled non-essential travel.

Praise: God for the good things being birthed in crisis management and may many more of us see His face in the midst of change and challenge. (Psalm 27:8)
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The Freedom Church in Kingswood (Bristol) has set up Freedom Groups which meet weekly via Zoom. Church members in the groups are encouraged to invite neighbours to join. The church has also created a prayer line, Prayer4You, where people can contact the church for spiritual support. ‘We wanted to offer a bit more than a leaflet through the door offering help,’ explains associate pastor Revd Dr David Hull. ‘We wanted to offer the opportunity to engage in a light touch way with questions of faith.’ As well as places to talk, pastors record a short weekly video message for groups to watch. Each broadcast introduces a faith issue which the group can then discuss. ‘It is an opportunity for people outside the church to begin to think about and discuss questions of faith in any way they want to.’

Praise: God for His people reaching out to their neighbours and being online evangelists to those on the fringes of the church. (Psalm 66:8)
More: hopetogether.org.uk/Groups/342138/Bristol_church_using.aspx

On 10 May Boris Johnson will announce plans to ease lockdown restrictions. High Street retailers want to hear how they might reopen. There will be bargains as managers try to shift stock. People are wondering if they will be able to meet friends and family. Will small groups of friends or relatives meet in a small group or in ‘bubbles’? Recently a grandmother asked a Downing Street briefing if being able to hug her grandchildren would be among the first changes. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that her question ‘brought home the emotional impact’ of lockdown, and he hoped she could do it ‘as soon as possible’. Pray for God to direct every decision made by our leaders as they plan the various stages of our nation’s future. Pray for company bosses rethinking how premises and equipment are shared as they organise safe walking routes in offices, on factory floors and building sites.

Pray: for the nation to find it easy to move into a workable new normal, free of anxiety and full of hope. (2 Samuel 22:37)
More: www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518

Coronavirus has prompted a new appreciation of food and farming, a new interest in healthier eating, local food and national food security, and a greater awareness of injustices in the food chain. Pray that all these will be sustained beyond Covid-19 and will help improve relationships between producers and consumers, strengthen rural economies and create a more just and fairer food system. As families gather for more meals at home, pray for a strengthening of family life and a renewed awareness of the Lord who ‘put us in families’ (Psalm 68:6). The countryside has never been more popular. People have been flocking to farmland for exercise and recreation, and to enjoy all the sights and sounds of spring. Pray for a reconnecting between town and country and for farmers to deal graciously with the increased footfall.

Pray: for the nation to have a greater appreciation of bluer skies, cleaner air, quieter roads, and more visible wildlife. May we all see the hand of the Lord in His creation. (Job 12:10)
More: www.worldprayer.org.uk/hope-for-the-countryside

Anna-Maria Tudor, 32, had an abortion at 23 weeks that she now regrets after learning that her unborn child may have felt pain while being aborted. Medical researchers say there is now ‘good evidence’ that the brain and nervous system, which start developing at 12 weeks, are adequate for the baby to feel pain at 23 weeks. They argue that women considering an abortion at this stage of pregnancy should be told about the pain their unborn baby could experience while being terminated. Ms Tudor is launching a landmark abortion court case. She is seeking a declaration that current NICE guidelines, not requiring women to be informed that an unborn child could suffer pain during an abortion, are unlawful. Pain relief during an abortion is not required by law, but painkillers are given to unborn babies receiving surgery in the womb for spina bifida.

Pray: for medical guidelines that acknowledge premature babies’ rights. (Psalm 139:13)
More: righttolife.org.uk/news/press-release-landmark-abortion-case-launched-woman-not-told-baby-may-feel-pain-at-23-weeks-gestation-despite-growing-evidence/

England’s children’s commissioner is highlighting pressures facing mothers caring for babies born in lockdown without the usual family and state support networks. An estimated 76,000 babies will have been born in England under lockdown so far. Although helplines for parents have been set up in most areas, the usual sources of physical support from family, friends and voluntary services are not at present available. Also births are not being registered, due to rules tied to the pandemic, so even basic information about new babies is not being gathered. Pray for the new mothers depending on phone support from health visitors and GPs, often not readily accessible. May God give strength and confidence to new mothers and fathers unsure of ‘baby routines’ and facing unexpected challenges. Many babies have missed the health checks that would have picked up urgent development needs in the first few weeks because parents have not wanted to attend and risk potential infection.

Pray: for God to keep new mothers confident and babies safe. (1 Peter 5:7)
More: www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52560388

500+ clergy and lay people signed a letter to the Times calling for a rethink to current guidance on church shutdown. They said that closed churches are stifling their prophetic witness and defence of the poor. They agreed that temporary closure of churches for public worship is necessary in the current crisis. However, the broadcast of services from a closed church is explicitly permitted by government guidelines and almost all other churches are doing this, but ‘the Church of England has gone beyond this advice’. Since the publication of this letter, the CofE has responded by issuing revised guidelines outlining the precautions which must be taken if a church building is being used for private prayer or streaming worship: see

Pray: for wisdom for all leaders as they work out the best way forward for using church buildings. (Proverbs 1:5)
More: premierchristian.news/en/news/article/cofe-accused-of-failing-in-its-responsibility-to-nation-by-keeping-doors-shut

The National Cyber Security Centre reports that Chinese, Russians and Iranians are targeting healthcare bodies involved in coronavirus research. The first country to find a vaccine or cure will achieve diplomatic and geo-political influence. Healthcare and medical research staff were urged to improve their password security and implement two-factor authentication on accounts to reduce the possibility of threats. Matt Hancock has given the intelligence service access to the NHS IT network. Boris Johnson wisely stated, ‘The race to discover the vaccine to defeat this virus is not a competition between countries but the most urgent shared endeavour of our lifetimes’. Pray for nations to share vital information and resources rather than competing with each other and potentially wasting time duplicating identical tests and research.

Pray: for God to help the NHS to enhance security and block malicious hackers. (Psalm 12:5)
More: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8289227/Russian-Iranian-Chinese-hackers-targeted-Covid-19-research-labs-UK.html

Some European countries are cautiously coming out of lockdown. Italy is opening some factories and construction sites. Spain is allowing hairdressers and small businesses to reopen. Germany’s children are back at school. France is also easing lockdown. Political leaders now grapple with the economic and social shocks that lockdown has left behind, while trying to avoid large-scale second waves of infection. Italy is contending with a fresh rise in migrant arrivals from Libya, an ongoing economic crisis, and uneven support from Brussels. Spain is squabbling over spending as Catalan separatist leaders have seized on the pandemic to reignite the argument that their wealthy industrialised region would be better off independent from the devastated economy of the rest of Spain. Germany handled the coronavirus crisis better than other large European countries and favours cautious reopening, but business groups and local governments want to move faster.

Pray: for God to help leaders to make wise decisions on paths to recovery and reopening. (Proverbs 9:9a)
More: us12.campaign-archive.com/?e=2b376728db&u=7404e6dcdc8018f49c82e941d&id=be3dadade0

Britons may be unable to travel to some parts of Europe for their holidays once lockdown restrictions are eased, due to the government’s decision to use a different contact tracing app from the one being used elsewhere. On 4 May the UK launched its app to trace coronavirus, which has been developed by NHSX, the digital arm of the NHS. They are testing the device on the Isle of Wight as they step up their preparations to ease the curfew. The NHSX smart app works on a different system from the Apple and Google one being used by many European countries, making the two systems incompatible. This leads to fears that if contact tracing becomes mandatory for international travel, UK citizens will be required to go into quarantine for fourteen days on arrival.

Pray: for countries to network wisely and in unity as they look for safe strategies. (Proverbs 11:30)
More: www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/1277834/uk-travel-coronavirus-news-nhsx-contact-tracing-app-europe-travel-restrictions-covid-19

Israel is threatening to shut down a Hebrew-language evangelical channel aiming ‘to take the gospel of Jesus into 700,000 Jewish households’. Under its newly issued license, Shelanu TV, an arm of God TV, is now prohibited from broadcasting content that subjects viewers to ‘undue influence.’ It is illegal to proselytise under-18s without gaining parental consent. The Likud party’s communications minister said that they will not allow missionary channels to operate in Israel under any circumstance, and has launched a comprehensive investigation to determine that no channel is violating the terms of its license: ‘if indeed this channel is engaged in missionary activities, it will be taken down immediately.’ Ron Kantor, Shelanu’s regional director, said his network had been entirely transparent during the licensing process. ‘I immediately asked them, ‘Can we broadcast in Hebrew?’ And the answer was an emphatic yes. We were told many times that laws have changed and there was no issue with our programming.’

Pray: for God to bring legal unfettered freedom of speech across Israel and the nations. (Matthew 24:14)
More: premierchristian.news/en/news/article/israeli-minister-threatens-to-shut-down-god-tv-channel-for-preaching-the-gospel-to-jews

At a time when Yemen is scrambling to respond to coronavirus and ensure that hospitals can treat the patients, the country has entered the sixth year of a war that has all but decimated its healthcare system. The multiparty war has not spared hospitals or health workers. More than the violence and destruction, the new threat of the virus will complicate an already disastrous and entirely man-made humanitarian crisis. Yemen’s president has called for new measures and efforts to confront the spread of coronavirus and instructed the health ministry to send medical supplies and medical teams urgently to cities with the virus. The former deputy prime minister said, ‘A comprehensive cease-fire in Yemen and the release of all detainees, prisoners and abductees are humanitarian necessities, in order to devote efforts to protect the Yemeni people from the potential coronavirus pandemic.’

Pray: for God, who is able to end war and bloodshed, to save Yemen from ruin. (Deuteronomy 4:31a)
More: www.arabnews.com/node/1669096/middle-east

There are 9.5 million more internally displaced persons (IDPs) than last year. The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) works alongside refugees who have historically fallen through the cracks of support and been ignored by their own governments. The new coronavirus challenges could result in the needs of IDPs receding further into the background, according to the JRS in Iraq. In Afghanistan there are 55,000 IDPs in over fifty informal settlements in Kabul, now fearing evacuation and the loss of daily wage jobs and whatever assets they have secured prior to the pandemic. JRS accompanies, serves, and defends IDPs in fourteen countries through education, psycho-social support, peacebuilding, pastoral activities, training in modern agricultural techniques, plus mediation to settle land disputes and other conflicts. This is part of a three-year campaign to draw attention to the current limits and challenges and call for long term solutions. See

Pray: for God to give countries and the UN the resources to improve conditions for IDPs. (Isaiah 41:6)
More: jrs.net/en/news/record-number-of-idps-require-continued-global-response-effort/

Cox’s Bazaar is the largest refugee settlement on earth. One million Rohingya refugees, half of whom are children, have been cramped together in these camps since 2017, after they were forced to flee their homes in Myanmar to escape horrific violence. Now they face yet another threat to their lives with Coronavirus. The potential death toll is unimaginable in the densely packed camps. Social distancing is not an option. Refugees live in cramped conditions in makeshift bamboo and tarpaulin shelters. Access to clean water is severely limited, so the hygienic practice of regular hand-washing is almost impossible to achieve. The government and food distribution agencies are developing new ways to distribute food that minimise person-to-person contact. Rohingya volunteers are educating camp communities about the importance of hand-washing. Pray for good communication between the agencies focused on essential healthcare and food distribution to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Pray: for God to help agencies protect the most vulnerable from paying the heaviest price. (Isaiah 41:13)
More: www.savethechildren.org.uk/news/media-centre/press-releases/first-coronavirus-coxs-bazar

In many places, police not only fail to protect people in poverty from violence, but they are violent predators themselves. Millions of the most vulnerable people in the world live in fear of police who extort bribes and brutalise innocent citizens. This has increased during coronavirus curfews. In Kenya it is easy for a corrupt or incompetent police officer to falsely accuse and imprison or even kill an innocent person. As measures have been put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus, there has been a spike in police abuse while enforcing the night curfew. The government’s independent policing oversight authority has documented at least 35 cases of police brutality in connection to the curfew enforcement, including twelve deaths. Other agencies report at least one death a night in the communities which the justice centres monitor.

Pray: for police to be accountable for their actions; may violence against the vulnerable end. (John 3:21)
More: www.ijmuk.org/unsafeinlockdown#PAP

Manufacturing clothes was once a pillar of Gaza’s economy, with 900 factories employing 36,000 Palestinians. But the industry collapsed in 2007 when Hamas seized control of Gaza and Israel banned the export of clothing from Gaza to Israel or the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Ziad Qassem’s 25 years as a tailor seemed worthless in the cruel blockade: unemployed, debt piling up, worried how he would provide for his wife and five children. Coronavirus came to the rescue. Demand for masks and protective gear soared worldwide. Gaza garment factories are flooded with new orders from Israel, ordinarily seen by much of Gaza’s Palestinian population as the enemy. Israeli rights groups have called for the permanent easing of restrictions that govern entry in and out of the Gaza enclave, home to some two million people, so that the economy can function more normally even after the pandemic. See

Pray: for this turnaround to bring a permanent end to Gaza’s dependence on international aid. (Isaiah 50:7)
More: www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-coronavirus.html

The Kuwaiti government has imposed a nationwide curfew to contain the spread of coronavirus. On 6 May there were 485 new cases of infections, bringing the total to 6,289. Kuwaiti citizens enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world today with little persecution of Christians. There are approximately 200 Kuwaitis from a Christian heritage. Pray that during Ramadan God will give extraordinary opportunities for them to have spiritual conversations with their Muslim neighbours as fear of sickness spreads faster than the actual virus. Pray for spirit-led strategies for Christian service during lockdown and Ramadan, and that the message of Christ will reach many people through social media and other forms of technology.

Pray: for God to break in to all the locked-down. (John 17:3)
More: www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-05/06/c_139035555.htm