Who should we blame?

No Blacks, no Dogs, no IrishThe other day we watched a film about a Jew, living in America, who had escaped Austria when the Nazis took over. Before she left Austria, the Nazis stole all the family possessions, including a famous  work of art worth millions of dollars. Sixty years later the painting was displayed in an art gallery in Vienna and the film describes her, eventually successful, efforts to restore the painting to its rightful owner.

In a sub-plot there are flashbacks in the film, to the period when Austria was taken over by the Nazis. We see scenes where the population was stirred up in hatred for the Jews. Jewish families were humiliated by ordinary people on the street, and of course they were eventually led away  to their deaths. Continue reading “Who should we blame?”

A party for working people? (UK)

Minimum WageApparently, George Osborne and Iain Duncan Smith have decided to cut benefits to people of working age. This will include tax credits payable to people in work and which support families on a very low income. They claim this is a part of, “making work pay“!  Many of those affected will be on the minimum wage. It seems crazy to me that the government  (or the taxpayer, you and me) should subsidise companies which do not pay enough to their staff to enable them to look after their families. The answer must be to increase the minimum wage sufficiently to make work really pay.

Continue reading “A party for working people? (UK)”

We could all use a little grace

Jenn BosticChristians are often accused of being judgemental, and unfortunately, this is often true. On last Sunday’s, “Song of Praise”, BBC programme I heard a song which really emphasises how we should not be so quick to judge other people and show “a little grace”.

God shows an immense amount of grace towards us. I cannot find better words to express how we could us “a little grace” towards our fellow human beings.

Continue reading “We could all use a little grace”

3000 Vietnamese child slaves in the United Kingdom!

Child slaves
Child slaves

Some 3,000 Vietnamese children are enslaved by criminal gangs in the UK to work in brutal conditions in the European country, a report says.

“By our calculations there are around 3,000 Vietnamese children in the UK who are being used for profit by criminal gangs,” said Philip Ishola, the former head of the UK’s Counter Human Trafficking Bureau, the Guardian reported on Saturday.

(This is an article shared on Facebook by “Made in a free world” and produced by PRESSTV.) Continue reading “3000 Vietnamese child slaves in the United Kingdom!”

Changing hearts to change the world 

P1000815The other night I could not get to sleep for a while. I was thinking back over the last 70 years, and wondering, “Where has it all gone?” It has always been my passion to change the world and I have not achieved all that I set out to do. I do not want to minimise what has been achieved though the charity I founded, but I want more; I want my life to make a real difference!

When I woke up at around 6 a.m. I was faintly aware of a dream I had just had. The details are a bit vague but I had been having a conversation with God about the state of the world. The only words I can remember is God saying, “I am in the business of changing heartsContinue reading “Changing hearts to change the world “

Sold to a brothel owner

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Marikit’s story

Hello, my name is Marikit[1] and I used live on an Island in South East Asia. I am now 18 years old but my story started when I was just 14. My mum and my dad were always shouting at each other. This was because my father owed a lot of money to the local loan shark and this man was threatening them. I didn’t know that I was to be the solution to their money problems!
Continue reading “Sold to a brothel owner”

Slavery in Britain today

Slavery in BritainThere are an estimated 30 Million slaves throughout the world. But we, in Britain, cannot point the finger. We must ask why we tolerate 10,000 or more slaves in the United Kingdom today. We need a stronger law which will rank human trafficking alongside kidnapping and murder. We also need more vigilance on the part of the police, officials, social workers and the public as a whole to spot the signs of workers in conditions with restricted liberty.

Continue reading “Slavery in Britain today”

Rescued from slavery on rose farm

Rose FarmImagine fields of roses and a farm dedicated to the supply of these beautiful flowers to wealthy people in Bangalore, India. Roses represent romance and beauty.

But there is a darker side to this idyllic picture. The farm relied on 4 young boys, held as slaves to supply the labour. Two brothers had been trapped there for 5 years. One boy was just 9 years old.

They had been working on the farm to pay back a loan their parents had taken from the owner. But it was obvious that the loan would never be repaid and the children were effectively slaves. Continue reading “Rescued from slavery on rose farm”

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