Image, the Christ-centered pro-life agency in the United Kingdom which Vital Signs Ministries has been involved with for almost 20 years now, is a sterling and tremendously significant work. It has saved many lives, redirected countless others into paths of safety and spirituality, and effectively held up the banner of Christ's compassion and righteousness.
We are very proud of them and honored to have been of some help over the years. And so we thought we'd help them out this morning by expanding their prayer support a bit. Will you join us? Simply read through this prayer letter and, as you read, ask our Lord to grant each of the specific and important requests they mention.
Thanks so much.
Sometimes the enemy of souls overreaches himself.
You send out prayer letters, issue prayer requests, pass on prayer needs. Perhaps you don’t see results as quickly as you would like or hear from prayer partners for a little while. The enemy would seek to plant seeds of doubt in your mind. . .
Then you notice. When a printer breaks down, it’s while it’s printing prayer material. When material gets lost in the post, it’s material about prayer. When an e-mail disappears in cyberspace, prayer is its subject. Then you’re reminded afresh. Prayer is so very effective. If it weren’t, the enemy wouldn’t try so hard to stop it.
POINTS FOR PRAYER:
1. A proposal in the House of Lords by Lord Falconer that it should no longer be an offence for people to help someone travel abroad to commit suicide was defeated by 194 votes to 141, a majority of 53. Prayer is believed to have had a significant influence on the result.
2. The British Medical Association voted to reject a motion calling for a change in the law to allow assisted suicide. The majority of doctors are opposed to legalised assisted suicide.
3. Debbie Purdy, a multiple sclerosis sufferer who went unsuccessfully to the High Court and the Appeal Court seeking an assurance that her husband would not be prosecuted if he accompanied her to a suicide clinic abroad, saw the courts’ decisions overturned in the House of Lords. The Director of Public Prosecutions was ordered to state specifically under what circumstances the state will act if someone helps a friend or relative take their own life abroad. Her lawyers claimed it was a significant step towards legalisation of assisted suicide. A back bench MP announced that he hoped to bring a bill to legalise assisted suicide in the House of Commons. The battle to legalise assisted suicide goes on.
4. The Government is still talking about making sex education a compulsory part of the school curriculum for children of five years old and upwards and about taking away parents’ right to withdraw children from sex education lessons. Pro-family campaigners claim there is a definite agenda to undermine the role of parents and to remove traditional moral standards. They say compulsory sex education lessons will mean less say by parents in the content of lessons. Pray for parents, for pro-family organisations, and for a change in Government policy.
5. The Government continues to insist that more sex education and greater access to contraception is the answer to the number of teenage pregnancies. Meanwhile the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases continues to increase. Pray for Britain’s young people.
6. Pray for Christine Fidler, joint director of image, who is recovering from extensive surgery.
7. Pray for Lisa Tillbrook, who will plan northern tours for Challenge Team UK - young people who visit schools promoting saving sex until marriage - at the image office from this month. Pray for open doors into schools.
8. Continue to pray for image’s Pregnancy Helpline – for staff, for clients, for counsellors, for wisdom in dealing with clients, for protection