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Friday, August 14, 2026
Jordan.
Very Sound Advice Which The AofC Will Ignore.
https://www.christiantoday.com/news/mp-urges-archbishop-of-canterbury-to-abandon-100m-slavery-reparations-fund
Repent and Be Baptised!
38) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39) The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.
Reaching The Unreached.
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Oh Dear!
Catholic bishop ‘raped girl, 15, after Lourdes pilgrimage.’
David Oakley, 70, appears in court accused of offences against teenager in early 2000s
Updated 13 August 2026 8:20pm BST
The Rt Rev David Oakley, the Bishop of Northampton, appeared at court via video link Credit: OSV/Diocese of Northampton
The Bishop of Northampton has appeared in court over allegations that he raped a teenage girl after they went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
The Rt Rev David Oakley, 70, is accused of twice having sex with the girl, who was 15 at the time, in the early 2000s when he was in his mid-40s and working as a Catholic priest.
The bishop was charged in June with two counts of rape of a girl under the age of 16, following an investigation by Staffordshire Police’s rape and serious sexual offences team.
He appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court on Thursday via video link from his lawyer’s office to face the charges for the first time.
Sarah Madden, prosecuting, told the court that the incidents involving the girl began “after going on a pilgrimage to Lourdes”.
“She recalls sex with the defendant on at least two occasions,” Ms Madden said.
Lourdes, in south-west France, attracts throngs of pilgrims to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes every year.
Withdrawn from ministry
Bishop Oakley was born in Stourbridge in the West Midlands and ordained as a priest in 1980.
He became Bishop of Northampton in 2020 and is currently withdrawn from public ministry, having been arrested by police in September last year.
During the court hearing, he was not asked to enter pleas as Judge Paul Goldspring, the Chief Magistrate, sent the case to the Old Bailey.
“Given the profile of the case and the former employment of the defendant, this ought to go to the Central Criminal Court,” said the judge.
CT.
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Kurdish Pastor Released.
Kurdish pastor released from Syria after two weeks in detention.
Pastor Nihad Hassan (Photo: CSW)Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has welcomed the release of a Baptist pastor who was held by Syrian authorities for two weeks.
Pastor Nihad Hassan is a Kurd from an Islamic background. While visiting family members in Afrin, Syria, he was arrested reportedly for Facebook posts that insulted Islam and Mohammad.
Pastor Hassan leads a Kurdish-speaking congregation in neighbouring Lebanon.
He was held without charge from 20 July to 3 August. Upon his release Syrian authorities urged him to return to Lebanon for his own safety, which he subsequently did.
Pastor Hassan has also become known for raising the plight of Kurds in Syria.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in late 2024, Syria has experienced an extremely uneasy peace with Christians remaining fearful of the Islamist group that spearheaded his removal.
Over a decade of civil war and a plethora of armed groups representing different ethnic and religious interests mean the country remains volatile and the new government has struggled to bring order.
In March last year hundreds of Alawites were massacred by an armed group. A few months later in July fighting broke out between the Druze and Bedouins in Suwayda and towards the end of the year fighting broke out between government forces and Kurds in Aleppo, following the first parliamentary elections since the takeover of power.
In one of the latest developments, Christians in the town of Saydnaya were told to restrict their religious activities to the inside of their churches. Some local church leaders accused security forces of targeting Christians for long stops at security checkpoints, while other local sources claim the security services are looking for Christians connected to Assad-era atrocities.
Mervyn Thomas, founder president of CSW, said, “While news that Pastor Hassan has been released and reunited with his family is welcome, we are concerned that he was detained for two weeks without charge and call on the transitional government of Syria to work towards ending the use of arbitrary arrest and detention in areas under its control.
“We encourage the leaders of every faith community to unite against sectarianism, and to counter it through the proactive promotion of peace, justice and reconciliation. We also call on the Syrian government to address issues related to intercommunity relationships with full transparency and in accordance with law.”
CT.
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Are You Interested In A Christian Job In Kent?
https://mail.aol.com/f/newMail/messages/AADHidZrKfiPV16LkMVVFICbbJW
Liberia.
Africa | |
Liberia’s churches welcome army’s massacre apology but insist justice must follow | |
Thirty-six years after hundreds of civilians seeking refuge inside a Lutheran church were massacred during Liberia’s brutal civil war, the country’s military has publicly apologized for atrocities committed by its soldiers. Church leaders and survivors welcomed the unprecedented acknowledgment but said genuine reconciliation will require more than words. | |
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Clamp Down.
Iran clamps down on Christian broadcasters.
(Photo: Getty/iStock)Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has declared a number of Persian-language Christian satellite broadcasters to be “hostile” actors, implying severe sanctions for any who watch them.
An anonymous Iranian Christian, writing for Open Doors, said a clampdown on Christian broadcasters was a blow to “one of the few remaining lifelines” for Christians in Iran.
The Iranian government has warned that “cooperation” with these “hostile” agents could lead to prosecution under espionage laws.
Open Doors currently ranks Iran as the 10th worst persecutor of Christians in the world. Conversion from Islam to Christianity is illegal and there are severe restrictions on Christian preaching in Persian.
Only Iran’s historic Armenian and Assyrian Christian communities are permitted to hold Christian worship services in Persian, although even these historic groups have faced repression, with the government recently seizing control of a 150-year-old church.
Churches are often raided and believers arrested. The situation has declined since the breakout of hostilities with Israel and the US, with Christians suspected of sympathising with the enemy.
Another Christian in the country spoke of the importance of Christian broadcasts, “There are so many people in Iran hearing the gospel for the very first time through these satellite TV programmes. When there is no church to visit, no Christian community you know, no Bible and no Christian materials available, these TV programmes become the only place where people can hear God’s Word.”
He added that the sense of isolation that comes with being a Christian in Iran is itself a part of the persecution.
“When you think you are the only Christian in your town or city, these programmes help you pray, hear God’s Word and realise you have not been forgotten; you are connected to a much bigger body of believers," he said.
“Many young people already don’t dare follow Christian pages on Instagram, or like or comment on Christian videos on YouTube. Even visiting those pages means using secure VPNs and carefully deleting search history afterwards. We are not even allowed to access Christian resources freely.”
According to Open Doors, despite the best efforts of the Islamic regime to suppress Christianity, the Church is still growing. Indeed, the group argues, if it were not growing, the regime would not feel the need to increase its repressive measures.
Acts 2 - In The Last Days.
17) ‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18) Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19) I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20) The sun will be turned to darkness.
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Jordan.
13 August, 2026 View this email in a browser Middle East Jordan’s PM to supervise preparation of Baptismal Millennium sites; four projects t...
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