Methodists encouraged to fast for Fiji

Methodists encouraged to fast for Fiji

February 25 will mark solidarity with oppressed Church

Methodists across Great Britain and Ireland are being urged to participate in a day of prayer and fasting, in solidarity with the Methodist Church in Fiji.

People are being asked to abstain from food and to consider donating the money they would have spent on food to the World Mission Fund, which will be offering long term support to the Church in Fiji. The Fijian Church has nominated February as a month for prayer and fasting. The Methodist Prayer Handbook remembers Fiji on February 25 and Methodists in Britain and Ireland are invited to join in the prayer and fasting on that date. Methodists are asked to pray for the people, churches and government in Fiji, and a special prayer is available here: http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.content&cmid=3016.

The Fijian Methodist Church is under increasing pressure from the country’s government, led by Commodore Bainimarama, which has forced the Church to cancel its annual Conference and choir festivals until 2014. Local districts and circuits are also having their activities restricted, with administrative meetings banned.

Revd Stephen Poxon, ex-president of the British Methodist Conference and Secretary of the Methodist Missionary Society, said; “In the UK, it’s easy to take our religious freedoms for granted. The Methodist Church in Fiji simply desires to worship God and serve the people of Fiji with their ministry, but the government’s unreasonable restrictions are making the Church’s daily life almost impossible. Through fasting and prayer, we want to show our solidarity with our Fijian brothers and sisters.”

All members of the Fiji Methodist Church Standing Committee have been charged with attending an unauthorized meeting (held last April), and have been held for questioning by police. A number of church ministers have also been accused of spying on the government, although the allegations have yet to be substantiated.

The Fijian Church has requested a meeting with the government to discuss the ban and explore alternatives. ‘We are a people who believe in knocking,’ said one minister, ‘even ’til midnight!’ However one superintendent was overheard saying he would hold meetings anyway, and was reported to the military, who took him in for questioning.

Despite the pressures, the Fijian Church’s chaplains continue to serve the police and the military, leading devotions frequently in churches and barracks.

Under new legislation, speaking out against the government is deemed treason, and sending criticisms of the regime to or from abroad will be regarded as sedition. As any such criticism (whether made in Fiji or abroad) is now being treated as a criminal act.

People can donate to the World Mission Fund online at http://www.justgiving.co.uk/fast-for-fiji, or by sending a cheque payable to “The World Mission Fund” to Fast for Fiji c/o Dave Bennett, Fundraising Coordinator, at Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5JR.


Source: Methodist News Service 12/02/2010

Kidnapped nurse prays for attacker

A nurse who was discovered locked in a car boot within hours of death has said she will pray for her attacker. Magdeline Makola, 38, an Edinburgh cardiology nurse, was bound and gagged and locked in her own car boot for ten days before she was found. On Boxing Day, Justice Ngema, 35, a failed South African asylum seeker, had forced his way into Miss Makola’s home and forced her to give him the pin numbers to her bank cards. Despite the incident, Miss Makola said, ‘I feel no anger towards him, only pity. I wish him well in the future and I will pray for him.’ She said she ‘spent a lot of time praying’ during her ordeal and ‘Praying gave me a lot of strength’.

Source: Daily Telegraph (24/4)

Twitter and pray, Primate advises

The leader of Ireland’s Roman Catholics has urged social network users to create ‘a sea of prayer’ by sending text, twitter or email prayers. ‘Make someone the gift of a prayer,’ Cardinal Sean Brady, Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh, told worshippers. The Cardinal was speaking at a Mass in honour of Father Patrick Peyton, who promoted prayer by encouraging families to pray through the Rosary. ‘Father Peyton had a gift for using the most up-to-date means of social communication’ and ‘was pioneering in his use of television’, Cardinal Brady explained. ‘I ask young people to [send] their friends an occasional twitter or text to say that you have prayed for them.’

Sources: Daily Telegraph (28/4); Catholic Herald (1/5)

Put A Little Grace and Hope In Your Pocket

With economic recession looming large and severe weather conditions causing chaos, some may feel that 2009 has got off to a rather gloomy start. But the Methodist Church is offering a little bit of hope and grace with their hugely popular ‘In Your Pocket’ booklet series.

Grace In Your Pocket and Hope In Your Pocket are just the latest editions to hit the press following the success of earlier publications on the themes of peace, prayer and joy. Since the series began in 2006, more than 150,000 booklets have been distributed.

Series Editor, Joy Fisher, said: “In a world facing financial meltdown, grace and hope may seem to be in short supply, but the booklets remind us that these values can transform our everyday lives.

“Prayer In Your Pocket and Joy In Your Pocket were hugely popular and we’ve found that churches are frequently using them for visiting neighbours and friends and for prayer groups. It goes to show that people really do want this kind of resource.”

Grace In Your Pocket was inspired by a sermon given by the President of the Methodist Conference, the Revd Stephen Poxon at the 2008 Methodist Conference. He described grace as being, “loved completely...and there are no conditions... only this overwhelming sense of being loved."

The booklets are ideal for mission-related activities and public events. Some of the contributions have been specially written, while others have been drawn from well-known authors such as Martin Luther King, Jane Austen and Superman star Christopher Reeve.

Eighty thousand Grace and Hope booklets have been produced and a copy of each will be sent out to Methodist Ministers.

“Hope is like the wing of an angel, soaring up to the heaven, and bearing our prayers to the throne of God,” 17th century clergyman, Jeremy Taylor, is quoted as saying in Hope in Your Pocket; designed to offer hope in the midst of a busy life.

ENDS

Notes
Grace in your Pocket and Hope in your Pocket are available from Methodist Publishing House (MPH) in packs of 50 at £5.00 per pack incl. p&p. The booklets are available in PDF or PowerPoint form on the Methodist website.
NOTE: Link from MPH to: https://secure2.cyberware.co.uk/%7Ecb537/acatalog/index.html

Link from Methodist website to: www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=churchlife.content&cmid=5

Source: Methodist News Service 06/02/09