General Chat

Good morning :-)


I had 'one of those days' yesterday! My washing machine has died......sob. Had someone come and look at it but it is well and truly dead. bah....now I have to get my washing to the launderette and look for a new machine. Sigh. My cooker and hob are also playing up - something to do with the ignition. I am waiting to see if that too, is about to pop its clogs. However........my troubles are as nothing compared to some.

.........we continue to think of and pray for, those poor people who are affected by the various hurricanes and earthquakes which are touching the lives of so many folk throughout the world. It makes our little bit of rain seem as nothing.

We have looked at countries where Christians are persecuted; we have looked at countries where Christianity is thriving. For today, we look at ourselves and our local churches, and we thank God that we have the freedom and the pleasure to worship there.

God our Father,
you will never allow the power of hell
to prevail against your Church,
founded on the rock of the apostle Peter.
Keep us faithful to your truth
and secure in your peace.
Lord, help us to do your will
that your Church may grow
and become more faithful in your service.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.

Love to all Cx :-)

Hello all

Definitely not boring at all Vera hearing all about the culture and sights in Russia. Thank you for sharing your holiday experience of a life time here with us all.

Amen to your prayers Cynthia for the people who are caught up in the devastation and sufferings cased by hurricane Irma in and around the Caribbean areas. Heading on to Florida and coast of USA.Hard to even think of the wreckage left behind this hurricane

Good morning :-)


Such awful news about the devastation caused by hurricane Irma...

Eternal and merciful Father
We pray for everyone affected by hurricane Irma.
Remember them Lord and bring them hope,
help and comfort.
Provide them with the means to rebuild their lives.

May the lost be found and the dead be mourned.
Return to these people affected by the devastation - love, peace and security.
In your loving name. Amen.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)


Vera, you are not boring us in the slightest.......your insights into your holiday are fascinating and interesting.....love reading them. Thank you. <3

We had baptism prep last night - 4 families who managed to bring all of their children with them - at least, that's what it felt like! I managed to keep my voice above child level for most of the time but it was exhausting!!!

Its pretty obvious that people do not realise how lucky they are to live in a country where baptism is freely available and that the church is always there for them. Hey ho.


It’s interesting to see that there is a huge amount of growth in the Christian faith on the Arabian peninsula, including countries such as Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain.

Christianity in the Gulf states is surging. Amid a shocking exodus in neighbouring countries, this strictly Islamic region has seen a jump in its Christian population.
Churches across the Middle East have reported a rise in attendance, mostly coming from new Muslims moving into the area.

They have already seen thousands of Muslims converts - and some are expecting to see millions turn to Christianity over the coming years.

Some amazing facts......and we thank God for all his blessings.


Cx :-)

Hello all

Vera, you just beat me to it now. You and your OH have chosen a really interesting country and your guide is doing so much to help you to enjoy your special holiday.

Thanks to Cynthia for reminding us that Christianity is thriving in other places.
We are blessed to be so open about or faith here in England. We are so lucky.

Remembering all the pupils returning to school after the Summer break,praying they will all have good teachers to help and encourage them each and every day. xxx

Another interesting post Cynthia. Thank you. I had read somewhere that Christianity was growing in China but hadn't realised the extent.

We are certainly having an amazing holiday. Our young guide is so talented. He speaks excellent English, knows St Petersburg like the back of his hand and is extremely knowledgable about history, art, architecture and many other subjects. He also has a lovely sense of humour. Today he took us to The Hermitage museum which is fabulous. Of course we only saw a minute amount of all there is but he knew what to take us to see. As we left I saw wheelchairs by the exit so took the opportunity to ask him about disabled living in Russia. He did not think there were any laws about such things as access so the disabled can only go to places where they knew they would be able to get in. Staff in shops etc will offer assistance but it seems to be pot luck.

After our official "guide time" was over he offered to show us a few other places in his own time. He explained that in Soviet times many churches were closed down or put to other use. One had become a swimming pool, one had become first a morgue, then a vegetable storage place and yet another had become a museum of atheism! It is now a normal non-active church that is a tourist attraction. He also pointed to a dome in the distance and told us that this is a mosque that was built in 1880.

There is much more I could write but I don't want to bore you. I would just say that we feel very privileged that we have been able to undertake this trip and give thanks for the many talented people who have made it so interesting and exciting for us.

Good morning :-)

I love your updates Vera thank you. It sounds as though you are having an amazing holiday. How interesting that musical instruments aren't allowed - I know they do a lot of chanting etc but hadn't realised about the lack of accompaniment. I hope you manage to find out about how disabled people are catered for - more food for thought.


Sometimes, from the media and other sources, you get the impression that the Christian faith is dying out. Not so.....

The second country where Christianity is growing is, remarkably, China.

The number of Christians in Communist China is growing so steadily that it by 2030 it could have more churchgoers than America.

Officially, the People's Republic of China is an atheist country but that is changing fast as many of its 1.3 billion citizens seek meaning and spiritual comfort that neither communism nor capitalism seem to have supplied.

Christian congregations in particular have skyrocketed since churches began reopening when Chairman Mao's death in 1976 signalled the end of the Cultural Revolution.

Less than four decades later, some believe China is now poised to become not just the world's number one economy but also its most numerous Christian nation.

We thank God for the amazing growth of faith in that immensely populated country.

Cx :-)

I have been without wifi for a few days but now we are in St Petersburg and I am catching up on posts.

It was good to read today's post Cynthia; something hopeful after the sadness of last week's posts and the doom and gloom of the world news.

Before we came here my knowledge of Russia was confined to what I had read in a few books and the impression given by the newspapers but I now view the country differently. The people are just like people everywhere, generally friendly and eager to help and the bureaucracy is not a tenth as bad as I had expected.

In this city we have a charming young guide and have visited more churches with him. In one there was an unseen choir singing and he told us that their choirs are made up of unaccompanied male voices. Musical instruments and female voices are not allowed. The Church still seems very male dominated. We talked to him a bit about the social situation in Russia today. He told us the gulf between rich and poor is enormous. Russia has more multi millionaires than anywhere in the world but also more people in poverty than in other developed nations. We haven't seen much evidence of poverty but we are, of course, in the tourist areas.

OH and I both noticed that there don't seem to be many facilities for disabled people. In fact I have seen hardly any less able people. Presumably they stay in their houses because they can't negotiate all the steps or get into the shops. If I get a chance I might ask our guide about it.

I have the health and the wealth to be able to enjoy our very special trip so I am thinking tonight of everyone in any nation who is being brought low by poverty and disability.

Good morning :-)

Last week we spent some time looking at some of the countries where Christians are persecuted for their faith – it made for some sad and disturbing reading. However, I hope it helped to make people aware of how fortunate we are in this country with freedom to worship as and when we want to.

Let’s flip the coin over and look at the other side of the picture and take a look at a few of the countries where Christianity is thriving! NEPAL

Once untouched by Christianity, this country now has one of the fastest growing Christian populations in the world. In 1961 there were approximately 458 Christians and there are now thought to be over 375,000.

Churches are mushrooming rapidly throughout the Kathmandu Valley and across the terraced hills. We thank God for this growth in faith in this beautiful country.

Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

It's a bit of a gloomy morning to wake up to. The news headlines are somewhat worrying and depressing but hey, what a mighty God we serve!

O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of Your presence, Your love, and Your strength. Help us to have perfect trust in Your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to You, we shall see Your hand, Your purpose, Your will through all things.

(By St. Ignatius of Loyola, 1491-1556)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGL15yoqsJI


Cx :-)

Hello all

Reading back to your prayer for yesterday Cynthia. I join you and say Amen too.

Thinking of Vera and her OH holidaying in Russia right now.

"Every morning when we wake up we have 24 brand new hours.
What a precious gift. We can bring PEACE, JOY, HAPPINESS to
ourselves and to others" (Thich Naht Hanh.)

Happy Sunday wishes to all reading this today. xxx

Good morning :-)

The Collect (special prayer) for today :

Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we to pray
and to give more than either we desire or deserve:
pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid
and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask
but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.

The gospel for today tells of Jesus explaining to his disciples that if anyone wanted to follow him, they must take up their cross and follow him. An interesting read.


Cx :-)

Good morning :-)

I love your feedback from your special holiday Vera - waiting to hear lots more :-D

Whenever I used to visit our cathedral for whatever reason, I was always struck by the fact that tourists were wandering around quite freely whilst there was a service going on. Not to the point of actually disrupting the service, but mooching around at the back. After a while, you tend to ignore them to be honest :-D

For today:

Our church receives numerous requests for baptisms. So much so that we are putting extra services on. I have to wonder if folk would be so keen on baptism if there was the likelihood of being killed if the authorities found out about it.

The Church of England has around 16,000 churches, serving every part of the country and open to every local inhabitant. There are 42 mainland Cathedrals. I have to wonder if people who have a love for the church, but maybe take things for granted and do other things on a Sunday, realise that we are living in a time of ‘use it or lose it’.

Reading just a little about the persecution of Christians throughout the world has helped me to understand just how fortunate we are.

We can walk into church freely; we can attend prayer meetings if we want to; we can buy as many bibles as we want; we can be baptised, married and buried without fear of persecution. We should give thanks.

Father, dear Father,
I am so grateful for everything that you have given me.
Thank you so much for the loved ones in my life,
For the many ways in which I am cared for and supported.
Thank you for the freedom I have to worship you and to serve others. Amen

Cx. :-)

Hello all

Cynthia, senior moments are a part of getting older, take and accept it gratefully.

Our remote control for the TV is missing. Usually this lives on the table beside hubbies chair, but he assures me that he hasn't moved it. Well I don't remember moving it either and as there are only two people living here then I am blaming Mr Nobody!! He is invisible and comes here often to keep me busy searching for things
If only the folk in the persecuted countries had so little to concern them!

Vera, you are very kind to share your amazing holiday sights and cultures with us.
Thank you. Carry on enjoying the new experiences with your OH. Enjoy it all.

Happy weekend to all, whatever you have planned. xx

Your posts this week Cynthia really are thought provoking and somewhat distressing. I think we tend to close our eyes to things we don't want to see.

A relation of my husband, a Roman Catholic girl, has recently married a Muslim man. I understand that there was a certain amount of disapproval from both families but they were free to go ahead without any fear of reprisals. Makes you realise how lucky we are to live here.

On our travels we got the train to Vladimir and then were brought by car to a lovely little town called Suzdal. Our guide took us round the town including various cathedrals. In one a service was going on, involving a lot of school children, and our guide told us to go in and look at the decoration and icons. We felt very awkward about this but it seems to be the norm for people to wander about during services. We couldn't quite bring ourselves to do this so just peeped in the door.

We had wondered why there was always a second smaller building next to the cathedrals. Apparently it was the tradition to build an unheated summer church and a smaller heated winter church.

I haven't quite worked out the meaning of cathedral. I am certain it is not used in quite the same way as we would use it.

Suzdal is lovely. It has had hundreds of churches, monasteries etc. and the buildings are wherever you look. At the moment there are 33 churches and 5 active monasteries or convents. This is in a tiny town of 10,000!

What has struck me is that we have only seen Russian Orthodox places of worship. I have seen no mosques or synagogues or even other Christian denominations so I am not sure how tolerant the government and society are.

We are now waiting for a car to take us back to Vladimir for a couple of days to continue our trip of a lifetime. I will continue to keep in my thoughts those suffering persecution.

Good morning............it looks like I have done it again.......grrrrr......I am sure I posted yesterday. I am going to have to watch the post appear I think. SO frustrating....

Here is what I thought I had posted........sigh

"Baptism is a crime, punishable by death".

There are 50 countries on the World Watch List for places where Christians are persecuted. We are looking at the top three and, when I read today's extract, I immediately thought of all the baptisms we hold at our church.

No. 3 is Afghanistan.

It is illegal for an Afghan person to be anything other than a Muslim.

Afghanistan is a tribal society, and leaving Islam is seen as a betrayal of the tribe. Discovered believers will sometimes be sent to a mental hospital, as families believe no sane person would leave Islam. Baptism is a crime punishable by death; several believers were killed in 2016 when their faith was discovered.

The Taliban, a radical Islamist group, remains active in Afghanistan and targets those who leave Islam.

Converts will keep their faith completely secret - simply meeting in small groups can be dangerous, and even the internet is closely monitored. Just the suspicion that you may have converted can lead to your arrest or the destruction of your home or business.

PLEASE PRAY
For courage and protection for secret Afghan believers
For change to take place within the country, and for openness to religions outside of Islam
For stability and peace in Afghanistan.


Cx :-)

Hello all

Your info about the persecuted churches gives food for thought Cynthia. We do take our own church services and fellowship very much for granted without question here.

How lovely to have Vera's post from Russia. It will be an amazing holiday for them.

Sending out Happy Wednesday wishes to all reading this today . xx

Good morning :-)


What a surprise to hear from you today Vera - but a lovely surprise :-) How wonderful to be able to see those breathtaking places....please tell us more..... <3


No. 2 on the list of countries which persecutes Christians is Somalia. A shorter read today, but nonetheless disturbing.

If you are even suspected of being a Christian in Somalia, you could be murdered on the spot.

At least 12 Christians were killed in 2016 when their faith was discovered. The militant Islamist group al-Shabaab has stated publically that it 'wants Somalia free of all Christians', and they are able to persecute Christians with impunity, as Somalia is basically lawless.

Somalia is a tribal society, and many tribal leaders see being Somali as being Muslim - leaving Islam is a betrayal of the tribe.

Christians must keep their faith completely secret - even a positive response to a Christian post on social media can have serious consequences.

Christians are able to gather together in small underground groups, but must constantly change the locations of their meetings to avoid monitoring by al-Shabaab militants or community leaders.

PLEASE PRAY
Praise God that, despite the terrible risks they face, there are men and women in Somalia following Jesus in secret. Pray for their protection - even reading about Christianity on the internet can be dangerous.
That Somali Christians will find ways to be disciples in secret.
Many Muslims in Somalia are seeking God. Ask God to reveal Himself to them.


http://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/worldwatch/somalia.php


Cx

It is so frightening that in the 21 st century people are still not free to practice their faith openly. These Christians are so brave.

We have seen several cathedrals/churches in the last few days. Some are still used for services, some more like museums. We had a guide with us when we saw the three main churches in the Kremlin so he was able to explain a lot of the icons to us. The icons often seem as though the perspective is wrong because the saints depicted are looking out at us rather than us looking at them, and the gold leaf and gilding surrounding them,which I had assumed was just expensive decoration, represents the light of heaven shining on us.

Today on our own we explored St Basil's Cathedral which is a warren of nine small interconnected churches and is more like a museum now, though I believe there is still a Sunday service. We also went to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour which is stunning. Very ornate, lots of iconography and lots of gold. While I generally prefer simpler churches, this one did have a more spiritual feel to it.

I am thankful that I am free to travel and see these wonderful places and tonight I will give a thought for those who don't have that freedom.

Good morning :-D

Last week we counted our many blessings. This week we will look at those who struggle to be Christians throughout the world.


The news headlines this morning make today's thoughts very pertinent. Its a longish read but I make no apologies for that and the information is taken from Open Doors, a charity which supports persecuted Christians. Much more can be found on their website and others.

CAN'T DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO GO TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY? Consider yourself lucky that you are able to have the choice!

Imprisonment, torture, death: this is what you risk if you decide to follow Jesus in North Korea.

PERSECUTION IN NORTH KOREA It is estimated that many thousands of Christians are imprisoned in camps in that country; most will die there.

North Korea is ruled by Kim Jong-un, the third generation of the Kim dynasty who have ruled North Korea with an iron grip since 1948. The two ideologies used to govern the state are 'Juche', which points to man's self-sufficiency, and 'Kimilsungism', the god-like worship of the Kims; children are taught the name of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un's grandfather, before they are taught the names of their own parents.

Any suggestion that there could be a higher authority than the Kims is immediately crushed. North Korean citizens are constantly scrutinised by the Inminban, a neighbourhood watch system in which the leader writes reports on their neighbours, trying to work out if anyone is disloyal to the ruling regime.

Christians must keep their faith completely secret; most do not even tell their own children about their faith until they are older teenagers for fear that they may let something slip. If a Christian has a Bible, or part of one, it will be carefully hidden and only read when the believer is sure they are alone.

A social stratification system in North Korea called 'Songbun', similar to the Indian caste sys-tem, divides people into three main classes: the loyal, the wavering and the hostile. These are further divided into 51 subclasses; Christians are part of the 'hostile' class, with Protestant Christians being number 37 and Catholic Christians being number 39.

If discovered, Christians face arrest, torture, imprisonment, and perhaps even public execution - they are considered spies and traitors of the nation, and are condemned for treason.

And yet, many have decided that knowing Jesus is worth the risks they face. The church in North Korea is not only surviving, but growing - and they have great hope for the future. One Christian has shared: "One day the borders will open and we will unite with the South Korean and the Chinese church to bring the gospel to some of the darkest places on this earth."

Your prayers and support make a real difference to believers in North Korea. One shared with us: "Whenever we faced difficult situations you supported our North Korean underground believers so that we could break through all difficulties with courage and spiritual power in Christ. We thank you and all supporters in Christ who encourage and support our believers."

PLEASE PRAY
For Kim Jong-un, that he would come to know the one true God. Pray for change within the regime and that the power of evil will be broken.
For protection for secret Christians, and for strength and endurance for those in labour camps.
Ask God to protect Open Doors secret workers as they smuggle food and Bibles into North Korea.


https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q7WL2gUNQ3o


Cx :-(