Overcoming Evil with Good
It is God’s goodness that startles us, a perfection we long for and shrink from. The more we gaze on Jesus, the more we see where we and our nation falls short. We look for what God wants to make of us as a nation. In the past financial year an influx of 577,000 international students came to Australia for tertiary education. We long that they feel welcomed into our nation, become incorporated and then come to learn of the goodness of God. Many of these students have come from nations where Jesus is not known. But sadly, instead of finding good here, a number have experienced evil. Some have actually been brought to Australia, under the cover of student visas, but for the purpose of exploitation in work. They have paid a fee to a recruiter who recruits them into a study place in Australia. Sometimes these are shonky operators. Most Australians in cities near universities are finding accommodation hard to find and very expensive and so do students. This means that Australian universities are having great difficulty in finding housing for 80 per cent of international students causing some to find they need to undertake risky work. Others have been experiencing language barriers, lack of family support or poor understanding of their legal rights. This also make them vulnerable to exploitation.
Fearful of losing their visa status students may be inclined not to trust the pathways designed to support them and give them assistance. It is good that the federal government has “zero tolerance’’ for exploitation of international students and wants to strengthen this sector, but criminals are continuing to seek to exploit them by forcing them to work without pay, stealing their wages, or denying them entitlements such as superannuation or sick leave. Some hospitality and retail sectors have been amongst the worst offenders profiting by forcing students to work for free or paying them below-award wages in cash. But forced labour, although it’s a modern slavery offence under the Commonwealth Criminal Code, is not really being investigated or prosecuted in this country. There seems be a significant under-reporting of forced labour, deceptive recruiting, and debt bondage among international students. There needs to be a significant increase in collaboration with universities. Most universities are aware of the problem and are taking constructive steps to prevent student exploitation.
Some Universities, based in their faculty of law, are providing free and confidential legal and migration advice to anyone who had been impacted by modern slavery. Other universities brief their students before they leave their home country and again on arrival. They hold regular information sessions with NSW Police and UNSW security staff including advice about avoiding, detecting, and reporting suspected scams and exploitations. Let it be increasing true what has been said about this nation “I was a stranger, and you took me in”( Mat 25:35) To take up Paul’s challenge “Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21), we can seek God’s mercy for our nation and ask Him to not withdraw His hand of blessing from us but forgive our sins and those of our nation.
Let’s pray:
*For more education agents to act ethically, honestly and in the best interests of overseas students, and enable them to warn them about issues which will harm them.
* That the Lord inspires more Australians to hold fast in our love relationship with Him as well as acting justly in relation to foreign students coming into our nation and exemplifying this in our characters and displaying it in our actions.
* That as a nation we do not conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our corporate minds (Rom 12:2) as we welcome international students to this country with His grace, mercy, and warmth.
Human Trafficking
This week marks the Week Against Human Trafficking. This week is a time to celebrate all the organisations and communities that unite in the fight against human trafficking, which is one of the most common forms of slavery. The UN’s motto for this year is “Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking.” Sadly, 1 in 3 victims of human trafficking globally is a child. Nway (not real name) was one of them. Her story highlights both the hardship and the hope in the fight against trafficking. As a child, Nway faced the world alone, having lost her parents as an infant and her grandmother when she was eight years old. This left her vulnerable. One day, a broker approached her and offered her work in the city as a maid. Hopeful for a better life, she accepted, and began her new job working for a house owner in Yangon. Nway quickly realised she had walked into a trap. The owner allowed her only 4-5 hours of sleep a night. She was not paid, was confined to the premises, and was denied adequate food. The house owner and four other maids falsely accused Nway of stealing and began to torture her, inflicting serious physical and psychological injuries.
In early January 2023, Nway miraculously escaped. As she fled, she met a kind man who worked for an NGO. He connected Nway with anti-trafficking police, who contacted International Justice Mission (IJM) for help. Nway was cared for by an IJM-funded partner and was given legal support to seek justice for the violence she endured. With this support, Nway was able to attend court and provide a compelling account of her experiences. After nine months of trial, the court found the house owner guilty of trafficking, and sentenced them to 10 years in prison. Today, Nway lives with a loving family and shares a close bond to her foster mother. She enjoys sewing and crafting small baskets. “I’m thankful for the people and groups who helped me. I was given hope to live again and to dream again,” she said.
Please pray:
* Giving thanks for people and organisations who seek out and assist those caught in trafficking scams that result in so much misery and pain for the vulnerable who are open for exploitation.
* That more and more of those being held in exploitive situations to find ways of escaping slavery and be able to return to safe places where they can be loved and cared for back to full physical and emotional health.
* That God would give strength and success to those who devote their life to catching exploiters and bringing them to justice.
Gender Clinics Failing to Record Basic Patient Data Labelled Deficient
A public gender clinic, Maple Leaf House in Newcastle, claims it has no data on how many children it is putting on hormone therapy or what their sexes were at birth. This is despite taking in the vast bulk of NSW teenagers who want to change gender. The clinic received 443 new referrals in 2023 and saw 983 patients. That compares with Westmead, Sydney’s major children’s hospital gender clinic, which received 63 new referrals and saw 149. Maple Leaf House is prescribing puberty blockers at the highest rate in the country as a proportion of patient caseloads. These puberty blockers have been found to have “unproven” effects by the UK Case review and have been banned by the NHS, Finland and Sweden from use outside of clinical trials. Under the Freedom of Information laws NSW Labour MP Greg Donnelly obtained figures of the number of Australian children being treated at children’s hospital gender clinics in NSW, Queensland, WA and Victoria.
The highest rates of prescription were at the Queensland Children’s Hospital gender clinic and Maple Leaf House, where almost one in four patients were given the drugs. Academic psychiatrist Dr Andrew Amos, who chairs Australia’s psychiatry college’s rural psychiatry section, has revealed, in an upcoming journal paper, this previously unknown data on the number of Australian children being treated at these gender clinics. He calls for greater transparency amid major data omissions and “clear treatment goals and annual reporting” to ensure safe, effective care. In criticism of the practice of the gender affirming model Dr Amos wrote, “The central principle of the gender affirming model of care is that all health clinicians have an ethical responsibility not to question or evaluate patient reported gender identity, even when that identity is unstable, changes rapidly, and is comorbid with severe mental illness. Data suggests its rollout in Australia has not been cautious or transparent.”
Please pray:
“Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you … Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; Talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night.” Deuteronomy 11:18-19
* Pray for all families with children experiencing gender confusion, especially those we know personally. Ask God to reach them powerfully.
* Pray for all practitioners of the gender affirming model, especially those we know personally. Ask God to show them the truth and give them His wisdom and courage to change.
* Pray for the practitioners and staff of Maple Leaf House especially. Pray as you feel led.
Praying for Issues in the News
* A 58-year-old man has been the recipient of an Australian-invented titanium heart. It is the first time the BiVacor total artificial heart has been placed in a living human. The operation, more than a decade in the planning, happened on July 9 at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston. The device’s inventor, 45-year-old Brisbane-born biomechanical engineer Daniel Timms, was present during the 4½-hour surgery in which the patient’s diseased heart was removed and replaced with the Australian device. It uses magnetic levitation and a suspended spinning disc to pump blood through the body and has been described as a game changer. Up to 10 people are expected to receive similar hearts in Australian hospitals in coming months. Give thanks to God for allowing Mr Timms to use his God given talents to invent such a device. Pray too for the Doctors and patients who will be involved in the further rollout of the device that such implants will be successful and result in better lives for the chosen recipients.
* Australia has had its worst year for business insolvencies, passing highs set during the Global Financial Crisis, with experts predicting more large companies will follow Bonza Airlines and Booktopia into strife this year. Please pray that God would give wisdom to business owners and managers as to how to manage their businesses in these testing financial times so as to limit the number of insolvencies and economic pain being experienced in the business community. Pray for those employees who lose their jobs that they would quickly be able to gain alternative employment in order to support themselves and their families.
Praying for our Nation
Failure to live in right relationship with God has led to both the church and the Nation living in wrong relationship with man. Because the church has been unwilling to address the sins of the past, God has been bringing these sins to public notice in these days. Because of His great love for us, He is no longer prepared to allow these sins to continue. We must recognise and confess these sins if we are going to be able to repent for these sins and allow God to restore the people and the land. This is called identificational repentance.
This week by the study of His word and the revelation of His Spirit let us identify and pray into the Shedding of Innocent Blood in the Church Acts 7:57-60, Hebrews 6:4-6.
Source: Australian Prayer Network
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