My Calendar

Week of Nov 25th

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
25/11/2019(1 event)

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women


25/11/2019

DID YOU KNOW .....?

  • 1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner
  • Only 52% of women married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use and health care
  • Worldwide, almost 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday;
  • 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM)
  • 1 in 2 women killed worldwide were killed by their partners or family in 2017; while only 1 out of 20 men were killed under similar circumstances
  • 71% of all human trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls, and 3 out of 4 of these women and girls are sexually exploited
  • Violence against women is as serious a cause of death and incapacity among women of reproductive age as cancer, and a greater cause of ill health than traffic accidents and malaria combined.

Here's a video (2 mins 33 secs) which gives us all food for thought!

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY  (available as a 1 minute video by CLICKING HERE)

Loving God,

we lift every girl and woman who has suffered or witnessed violence before you

and ask you to send them your love and protection.

Give us courage and strength, so we can speak out where violence is perpetrated.

Help us to notice situations where violence is taking place and bless us with wisdom so we know what to do.

We pray this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

 

 

 

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

26/11/2019
27/11/2019
28/11/2019
29/11/2019(1 event)

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People


29/11/2019

This day was established way back in 1977 when the UN declared that Israel's occupation of Arab territories was illegal and that peace could only come about in the region if Israel withdrew from these places.   No such withdrawal has taken place.

In 2018, Maria Fernanda Espinosa (the President of the General Assembly of the UN) reported that:

  • 43% of the Palestinian population were refugees - and half of them were below the age of 18
  • 47% of the population of the Gaza strip were living with food insecurity
  • the average water consumption of the Palestinian populations in Gaza was 66 litres per day - well below the recommended ration of 100 litres per day.

 

The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, said on this day in 2018:

"Today, in particular, our hearts are heavy with the suffering of the people in Gaza.

Approximately two million Palestinians remain blocked in increasing poverty and unemployment, with limited access to adequate health, education, water and electricity.

Young people see little prospect of a better future.

I urge Israel to lift restrictions on the movement of people and goods, which also hamper the efforts of the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies, without jeopardizing legitimate security concerns.

I call on Hamas and other militant groups to halt their military build-up in Gaza, including the indiscriminate launching of rockets and incendiary devices directed at Israel. "

 

There seems to be little progress and, all the while, people suffer!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

O Lord, You are the peace and peace emanates from You.

O God of Glory and Majesty grant us security and safety,

and alleviate the suffering of your people.

O Lord, bring comprehensive and just peace to our country and region

so that our people and the peoples of the Middle East and the whole world

would enjoy the fruit of peace, stability and coexistence.

We want peace for us and for our neighbours.

We seek prosperity and peace of mind for ourselves and for others alike.

O Lord, answer our prayers and make successful our endeavors

for you are most just, most merciful, Lord of the Worlds.

This prayer was offered by the Muslim President Abbas of Palestine in Rome when he met Pope Francis and Shimon Peres, the Israeli President in June 2014.

 

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

30/11/2019(1 event)

Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare


30/11/2019

Chemical weapons have been used for centuries.  In the 17th century, France and Germany signed an agreement NOT to use poison bullets!   In 1899, countries at the Hague Peace Conference declared they would not use projectiles which contained "asphyxiating or deleterious gases".

However, during the First World War, over 100,000 humans died and more than 1 million were wounded by the use of gas.

In the Second World War, gas was not used in combat but was used in the Holocaust Concentration Camps.

In 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention (proposed in 1993) came into force on 29 April.  Its purpose was, “for the sake of all mankind, to exclude completely the possibility of the use of chemical weapons.”

And so, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was set up to monitor this happening.  There have undoubtedly been huge successes and OPCW Member States represent about 98% of the global population and landmass, as well as 98% of the worldwide chemical industry.   The OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for what it has done to eliminate chemical weapons.  OPCW claim to have eliminated 97% of all chemical weapons.

However, throughout the Syrian Civil War (which started in 2011) - and as recently as 2017 - chemical weapons have been used.

 

A PRAYER FOR TODAY (available as a 1 minute video by clicking HERE)

Loving God,

we give thanks for the progress made in eliminating chemical weapons.

We pray for those who have suffered death or injury because of them.

We pray for those who order their use

that their hearts might be transformed

to seek ways of peace.

 

We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. AMEN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare

01/12/2019(2 events)

1st Sunday of Advent


01/12/2019

World AIDS Day


01/12/2019

Here's a 2 minute video of useful information!

 

A PRAYER FOR THIS DAY  (available HERE as 1 minute video)

Loving God,

we are mindful this day of our sisters and brothers living with HIV and AIDS.

We ask for your healing presence on them especially the children around the world who have been left vulnerable.

We stand with those who have been rejected, abandoned or stigmatised by their condition.

And we pray for a just distribution of resources in the battle against HIV/AIDS.

 

We pray this in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN

 

 

 

World AIDS Day