Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is pictured here with Rt Rev Dr Yousaf Nadeem Bhinder, left, at the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast this June.
With them is Bishop Nadeem’s son, Roekh Yousaf Bhinder, a youth leader with two Anglican churches in Liverpool.
Bishop Nadeem, who campaigns for persecuted Christians in his home country, Commonwealth member Pakistan, says he spent quality time with Sunak and many other ministers at the well-attended event. “We talked about peace and harmony and said that we are praying for the PM and all the British people.”
Bishop Nadeem fled Pakistan after his family was repeatedly threatened but still oversees His Grace churches in Pakistan, where he has established a Bible College that has trained over 2,000 pastors and runs many aid projects. He also finds time to help distribute HEART papers in the Midlands.
Prophetic singing over Jerusalem
Leading Dove Award nominee jazz band Jonny Boston & the Jazzuits sang ‘When You Return’ by Robert Tromans from the mountain looking out over Jerusalem at dawn.
Robert, 79, aka Jude Meritus, calls himself “an unlikely multi-award winning Christian lyricist and author who only began writing songs in 2017 and neither sings nor plays music”.
He told HEART his career achieved a new peak on 12 June when his song was played at the prophesied site of Jesus’ return ahead of the release of the band’s new album, ‘Songs of Deliverance’, which includes two of Rob’s songs.
“Just as our Lord Jesus Christ will return as he has promised to Mount Zion, Bible prophecies of the world’s godless plans are being seen as end-times signs by Christians who, in the words of the song, are watching and waiting for ‘our blessed hope’.”
Hearing from God in harmony
David and Nicki Hooke from north London are not only talented musicians whose Adoramus Orchestra and Choir put on concerts, but they also love helping others to connect with God and each other. Through their Asaph Trust they run local houses of prayer and offer free online discipleship courses such as ‘Hearing from God’.
Holland tackles heavy metal
Evangelist Daniel Holland likes to venture where few Christians normally go. The lead evangelist for Through Faith Missions (TFM) took a team of six brave churchgoers to the Download heavy metal festival in Castle Donnington, Leicestershire, this June.
It was the festival’s 20th anniversary, with the US band Metallica headlining and a record crowd of 130,000 music fans.
“The event is spiritually demanding, with dark bands and non-stop heavy metal,” Holland told HEART, but he was undaunted. Known as Dan to his TFM teams, he encourages Christians to ‘invest’ their holidays in local missions.
The team shared Gospel literature and engaged people in conversation about the meaning of life: “Some were desperate for help. We’ll bring a bigger team next year,” says Holland. “We love to share Jesus with these people, many of whom are searching for answers.”