Wednesday, July 25, 2007

“The world’s largest internal refugee crisis after Sudan”

Can you guess which country this statement refers to? Would you be surprised if you were told it was Colombia? Over the past 20 years it is estimated that 3 million people have been forced from their homes in Colombia mainly due to fighting between right-wing paramilitaries and left-wing guerrilla groups.
2007 has been declared the Year of the Rights of the Internally Displaced People in Colombia by the Colombian Catholic Church, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and the Human Rights and Displacement Consultancy (CODHES). Part of the initiative is to collect a petition with one million signatures to send to the Colombian government.
According to CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) the majority of displaced people are women and young children, indigenous populations and Afro-Colombians. CAFOD state that, “there are many reasons why people abandon their homes – threats, massacres, selective killings, taking of hostages, recruitment of children by armed groups, as well as the ongoing fight for the control of the land”. Many people end up in shanty towns where healthcare and education are sparse. CAFOD suggest that, “the problem is getting worse – more than 15 million Colombians were forced to flee their homes in the first 100 days of 2007, the worst displacement in the last decade of the country’s armed conflict”.
The petition is online at the UNHCR website or you can find it at the following link: http://www.colsia.org.co/apoyo/index.php . It’s in Spanish, but it only asks for a few details to sign up: First name (Nombre); Surname (Appellidos); Email; City (Ciudad); and Country (Pais). Note that the “UK” in Spanish is “Reino Unido”. Click “enviar datos” to send.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

The Weapon of Blackmail and "Moral Outrage" to Try and Silence

Like many dictatorships, the Zimbabweian government has a way of using blackmail to silence their opponents, or using "moral outrage". In their latest ploy, they have released grainy film footage of the country's leading Roman Catholic Archbishop cavorting with a prostitute.
It is sad that the Archbishop in question, Pius Ncube, has not denied the allegations, but it is worth pointing out that, whilst Ncube has behaved in a way that has not done honour to God, or to his faith or position, it does not validiate his accusations against Mugabe's regime, nor should his supporters lose heart. Ideas and morals go beyond the figurehead of an individual and deep down Mugabe knows that, which is why he is scared. If anything, the Christians in Zimbabwe should take heart from that, and that Ncube should take heart that God is a God of grace and he welcomes a contrite heart.
And yes, the Bible attacks sexual sin, but it bangs on far more in condemnation about how the poor are treated, on irresponsible leadership, and being moral without being forgiving and being self righteous. Perhaps Robert Mugabe should consider that when the nation he is leading through illegal means have citizens with a life expectancy below the age of forty, when there is severe famine caused by illegal occupation of farms, when he uses the state to attack any form of opposition which threatens his power
Lets pray that Archbishop Ncube is forgiven, that he accepts the grace of forgiveness, and that any Zimbabwe citizen, sexual sinner or otherwise, is not put off by such intimidation

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Friday, July 20, 2007

CPF Report

Just to let you know that the CPF are preparing to issue it's first report. It concerns the state of churches today and some of the attitudes people have with regards to them

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Republicans Filibuster Move

Republican Senators have scupped Democrat plans to vote on withdrawing troops from Iraq at the end of April.
Whilst the Democrats have some control of the Senate, such a vote needed a 60 over 40 majority and the Senate voted 52-47 in favour of withdrawing troops.
This was mainly caused by the Republicans filibustering i.e. talking through the debate all night if necessary in order to prevent an overwhelming vote against them and also threatening to clog up other business in the legislature. It is a tried and tested, if sneaky way of making your point!
Only in this case, with confidence in the US at an all-time low when it comes to global affairs, it is not just the Democrats who are suffering. Troop withdrawl could have meant handing over the renewal of Iraq completely over to the UN and such moves lessen such chances and this merely helps add to the continuing misery of ordinary Iraqis across their nation.

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Friday, July 06, 2007

TOWN HALLS WILL BE PLACES OF PRAYER ON 07.07.07

On 07-07-07 (Saturday 7th July 2007) Christians will gather at every Town Hall in London. On the second anniversary of the London Bombings, the Christian community will be bringing hope to London through prayer and unity. At 12noon they will simultaneously raise Jesus as Lord and ‘Mayor’ over the City with prayers and declarations.Aidan Liriano, from the Christian Political Forum, said "it is promising to see the Christian community using the political centres of London's communities to focus their prayers for the country's capital."This day will be part of the Year for London and the Canopy of Prayer projects. Prayers will also be taking place all over the country and globally as well. For more info please go to www.canopyofprayer.com.

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