FIRST, OUR VIEWS:
HOW TO STOP THE FALLING BIRTH RATE
In the recent Newsweek article "Japan Could Change Childbirth Rules Amid Efforts to Boost Birth Rates," you'll learn that Japan's government is considering making childbirth free in order to address its declining birth rate, a move recommended by a government panel. The proposed policy shift aims to mitigate the effects of a shrinking and aging population, which is putting pressure on Japan's economy. Currently, families cover much of the childbirth-related medical costs, but the government provides a partial allowance (500,000 yen). These costs have risen significantly, leaving many families with substantial out-of-pocket expenses.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's administration is working to address the country's demographic crisis, with the proposed reform aiming to fully cover childbirth costs via public health insurance. The Health Ministry is expected to present a draft plan later this year detailing the financial and logistical aspects of the proposal. Implementation, if approved, could start as early as April 2026. The article also included a link (now deleted) to what Kid Rock Blames for Low US Birth Rates.
It's not just in Japan and China, the two countries most often mentioned for their falling birth rates, but right here in the U.S., in Europe, and the birth rate even beginning to fall in Africa. The "Fatherly" website has an article that hits the nail on its head: the decreasing level of practicing the Christian faith: "liberals are not having enough babies to keep up with conservatives." The Pill and abortion are decreasing the liberal population especially, while the conservative population is growing.
Get the full article on our ARC-News blog.
A Personal Note: My wife Cheryl had a second spinal fusion surgery on May 13, this time to repair another fracture in the L3 vertebra, just above the L4 that had fractured last fall, requiring surgery on Dec. 10. She seems to be recovering better this time, taking more time to rest and recuperate, not trying to get back into the swing of things. She even has some times of very little pain! Please keep on praying for her full recovery.
We've been helping Maureen in Kenya get on her feet again after her one-room house burned down in a slum fire, then her new place was swept away in a monsoon, and lastly when her grandmother died. Our small non-profit's funds are running quite low, so we're unable to continue paying school fees for Maureen's daughter Kayla. She needs about $300 per quarter for the three school terms each year. Here's another photo of Kayla, and another. Please, if you're able to help, go to https://Agape-Restoration-Society.org/donate.htm and designate for "sponsor Kayla" – thank you!
May 12, 2025:
(click the pics!) One way that Vision Complex Orphange and School provides food for the children is by raising rice: here you can see the next crop of rice growing in the fields still wet from the rainy season. As the soil dries, the rice keeps on growing and soon will be ready for harvest!
The remaining ten tables have been made and delivered... by motorcycle! Five tables (!) can fit on the back of a motorcycle, so it required two trips. 
Now the existing classrooms have enough tables and chairs, thanks to generous donors. Here's a video of 2 kids at each table (not 3 or 4 kids, as before).
But the number of students keeps on increasing, so Simon John has decided to add at least one more classroom right away. This will allow Vision Complex to receive new students from town, whose parents will pay for their education, which will help cover the costs of caring for the orphan children. So Simon and his volunteers are busy making bricks for this classroom. 
The new classroom will cost $10,750. Please go to https://Agape-Restoration-Society.org/donate.htm and designate for "Vision Complex: new classroom" – thank you!
Here's our next free online course, (click →) Intro: "Ministry to Handicapped and Poor" - deadline to enroll: 31 Aug. 2025 (← click). So enroll today, before you forget!
NEXT, THE NEWS:
2. WHO KNEW KILLING PEOPLE WAS BAD FOR BUSINESS?
from: LiveAction
SYNOPSIS: Live Action released a video using satire to expose the practice of major pharmacy chains like CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid selling abortion pills. We’re living in a time where corner drugstores, once known for cough syrup and vitamins, are now handing out pills that kill tiny, innocent human beings. That’s not healthcare. That’s not "choice." That’s a human rights crisis. The video highlights the fact that these chains are now participating in the death of unborn babies. Live Action argues this is a human rights crisis and calls for a boycott of these pharmacies.
This video will make you laugh – but the truth behind it should make us all act. Many people do not know that these major pharmacy chains are carrying the abortion pill. It's up to us to spread awareness of this fact. A petition is available at liveaction.org/pharmacy-boycott-petition to pledge not to shop at pharmacies that sell the abortion pill. Josef Lipp, Chief Operating Officer of Live Action, encourages viewers to share the video and petition with others.
Ask the Lord what you should do about abortion, the single greatest cause of death in the U.S. and worldwide.
3. POPE LEO XIV AND PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW TO MEET ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST ECUMENICAL COUNCIL IN NICAEA
from: RISU
SYNOPSIS: Pope Leo XIV and Patriarch Bartholomew met at the Vatican to reaffirm their commitment to fostering a strong fraternal relationship, similar to the one between Pope Francis and Bartholomew. They agreed to hold a special meeting commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea at the end of November. The meeting will coincide with the feast of St. Andrew, and Pope Leo XIV may visit the Phanar's patriarchal residence in Istanbul.
Patriarch Bartholomew plans to visit the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore before leaving Rome. The meeting highlights continued efforts to strengthen ties between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Orthodox Times notes, "This meeting underscores the ongoing efforts to strengthen ties between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches through mutual respect, cooperation, and shared witnessing in a troubled world." The webpage includes news about other recent events, such as Pope Leo XIV meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky and other world leaders.
Thank the Lord that leaders of the Eastern and Western parts of the Church are meeting together, after almost 1000 years of being separated.
4. HOW CAN THEY CALL THEMSELVES PHYSICIANS?
from: American Life League
SYNOPSIS: Physician-assisted suicide (PAS), where a doctor provides the means for a patient to end their life, conflicts with the fundamental role of a physician as a healer, according to the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). The AMA's Code of Medical Ethics states that PAS would cause more harm than good and is incompatible with a physician's healing role, citing potential for societal risks and lack of controllability. The Supreme Court (in *Vacco v. Quill*) upheld a New York law prohibiting assisted suicide, emphasizing the state's interests in preventing intentional killing, preserving life, and protecting vulnerable individuals.
The author argues that PAS creates a conflict of interest for doctors, forcing them to act as facilitators of self-harm, contradicting their responsibility to preserve life and prevent suicide. Groups like Compassion & Choices promote PAS using euphemisms like "Medical Aid in Dying," which the author criticizes for concealing the true nature of suicide. The article ultimately questions the appropriateness of calling those who assist in suicides "physicians," given the ethical and medical conflicts.
Intercede with God for physicians to realize that their task is to heal and save lives, not terminate them.
5. IDD PROVIDERS INCREASINGLY SWALLOWED UP BY PRIVATE EQUITY
from: Disability Scoop
SYNOPSIS: Private equity funds are increasingly acquiring disability service providers, raising concerns about the quality of care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The acquisition of these providers by private equity firms, from 2013-2023, has resulted in pressure on tens of thousands of employees serving individuals with disabilities. This consolidation, according to a report from the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, poses a threat to care quality and may lead to cost-cutting measures that compromise client safety, including instances of mistreatment and potential harm.
Private equity funds prioritize short-term financial gains over long-term care quality, potentially jeopardizing the well-being of vulnerable individuals with disabilities. The same thing is happening with nursing homes. Eileen O'Grady, director of programs at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, emphasizes the need for policy changes to protect individuals with disabilities from potential harm and ensure a proper level of care standards. The report highlights instances where state investigators have uncovered issues such as unsafe conditions, improper medication management, and inadequate staffing at private equity-owned IDD providers.
Pray for an end to private investment funds buying up and "milking dry" IDD providers and nursing homes.
6. HEAT WAVES MAY ACCELERATE THE AGEING PROCESS
from: Live Science
SYNOPSIS: Research shows that prolonged exposure to high temperatures, like those experienced during heat waves, can accelerate the body's ageing process, a phenomenon called epigenetic age acceleration. Studies, including a 2023 german study, link higher air temperatures to faster cellular ageing, measured using epigenetic clocks. Women and individuals with obesity or type 2 diabetes show stronger associations between air temperature and ageing, possibly due to differences in sweating and body responses to heat.
Heat exposure may induce alterations in DNA methylation, trigger oxidative stress, and lead to DNA damage, all contributing to premature ageing and associated health problems, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. The effects of heat on ageing can be significant, even accumulating over time to contribute to a rise in disease burden and healthcare costs. Climate change's effects on ageing are observed in individuals, like Kalpana Suryawanshi and Rajma Jamadar, who experience health deterioration due to increased heat exposure. There is evidence that climate change may accelerate epigenetic ageing even before birth, impacting children's health and life expectancy.
Thank the Lord for this discovery, and pray for relief of those people whose lives are shortened by the recent upswing of heat waves.
7. SYSTEMIC BARRIERS DENY JUSTICE TO NEPAL'S PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
from: Disabled World
SYNOPSIS: This report, based on a national study conducted by the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal and the National Federation of the Disabled-Nepal with support from CBM Global, offers a rare and detailed investigation into the systemic injustices faced by persons with disabilities in accessing Nepal's justice system. Spanning all seven provinces, the study uncovers how structural inaccessibility, entrenched biases among legal professionals, and procedural failures systematically deny people with disabilities - especially women, children, and those with intellectual or psychosocial impairments - their legal rights.
Of particular interest to scholars, policymakers, advocates, and individuals with disabilities, the report provides crucial evidence where little existed before. It highlights the disparity between Nepal's legal commitments and on-the-ground practices, and offers province-specific recommendations to improve accessibility, representation, and procedural fairness. This information is not only academically valuable but has practical implications for reform efforts that could directly benefit vulnerable populations, including seniors and those with disabilities, by promoting equitable access to justice.
Pray with us against the worldwide built-in, unconscious cultural bias against older people and those with disabilities.
WE NEED YOUR HELP! Perhaps you've read this before and are wondering, "Why am I seeing this again?" But millions of other Christians haven't seen it! So please use the "share" buttons above to share it with your social media friends. Thanks!!
In case you're thinking "That was then, but this is now!" about Jeremiah 29:7 – "Seek the welfare of the city" – well, you're in for a surprise. It explains in Part 1 that there were beggars who refused to work, so Christian philanthropists were warned not to simply give them money: "Here we clearly see the goal of the social ministry of the Church: 'The role of social work is to make the recipient aware of the need to change' – unless the poor or disabled person makes a commitment to change, our efforts to help may be in vain." Human nature hasn't changed much in the past 2,000 years!
On our "Homes and Jobs" page, go to the link: "Get Your Life on Track." You'll see several Scriptures illustrating the lifestyle that Christians should have. At the bottom of that section is another link: "Do you want to be restored to wholeness?" which takes you to our Problem Assessment: Physical and Spiritual Rehabilitation Plan that we can fill out with our disabled or unemployed clients. Midway through the form, after gathering the client's work and health history, are the following words:
I want to be restored to wholeness, and therefore I am ready to change my lifestyle.
Signature: I, _________________, agree to follow the plan.
The client must be willing to change his/her mindset and lifestyle. Here is what the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3 about this:
"6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother living in idleness, and not after the tradition which they received from us. 7 For you know how you ought to imitate us. For we were not idle among you, 8 neither did we eat bread from anyone's hand without paying for it, but in labor and travail worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you; 9 not because we don't have the right, but to make ourselves an example to you, that you should imitate us. 10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: 'If anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat.' 11 For we hear of some who among you walk in idleness, who don't work at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are that way, we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and earn their own living. 13 But you, brothers, don't be weary in doing good. 14 If any man doesn't obey our word in this letter, note that man, that you have no fellowship with him, to the end that he may be ashamed. 15 Don't count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."
What did the Early Church Fathers have to say about the above Scripture passage? –
"Paul strongly emphasizes, in strict words of command, the importance of labor, especially manual labor, as an accompaniment to prayer and fasting. These religious acts must never substitute for hard work (Chrysostom, Augustine). Prayer without work is a pious pretext (Cyril of Alexandria). There is no inconsistency between trusting God to provide and engaging in hard work in order to support ourselves and not be a burden on others (Augustine, Caesarius of Arles). Faithful and hardworking members of the congregation must be careful to make a sharp separation between themselves and those brothers and sisters who are living in a disorderly way (John Cassian, Theodore). Paul holds himself up as "the form of a believer," expecting the Thessalonians to see in him how one ought to live (Chrysostom, Pelagius). In our pursuit of faithful discipleship we are to avoid the controversy that arises from idle questioning and curiosity (Basil). Christian brothers and sisters who depart from the discipline and charity required by faith are to be directly confronted (John Cassian). There is the very real danger that if we consort with erring brothers and sisters, we will be infected with their wrongdoing (Cyprian)." (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture [digital version], IVPress)
In the ancient Greco-Roman Empire it was common for the poor to attach themselves to a wealthy patron who would feed them, sometimes in exchange for being mistreated and made the butt of jokes, at other times in exchange for serving their patron. But there were some poor who would simply flatter their patrons, going from one patron's luxuriously spread table to another patron's table. This latter case was so embedded in the culture that it became the subject of ancient comedies and training in rhetoric: such people were called "parasites." In the above Scripture passage, St Paul warns against such behavior that would bring the Christian community into ridicule. St. John Chrysostom was trained by a rhetorician who used such stories, and Chrysostom adopted it in some of his writings.
"In such a culture, the parasite effectively served to parody the lavish life – and especially the dinner habits – of the wealthy, people who could afford to have parasites at their tables as the evening entertainment. Chrysostom explicitly repudiates the mutual exploitation of the more affluent [who] pick out those persons whose laziness has made them victims of hunger, and maintain them as parasites and dogs feeding at the table: they stuff their shameless bellies with the leftovers of these iniquitous banquets and exploit their hosts at will." (Paul Blowers, "St. John Chrysostom on Social Parasites," http://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac%3A138418, pp. 21-22)
As an aside, in today's culture wars the post-Christian and neo-pagan elements of our society often blame Christians for "hateful" attitudes toward the marginalized, especially LGBT people. In a Scripture passage similar to 2 Thes. ch. 3 above, St. Paul taught what the Christian viewpoint should be regarding these persons:
"7 Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 9 I wrote to you in my letter to have no fellowship with sexual sinners; 10 yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world. 11 But as it is, I wrote to you not to have fellowship with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. Don't even eat with such a person. 12 For what have I to do with also judging those who are outside? Don't you judge those who are within?" (1 Cor. 5:7-12)
By mentioning "Christ, our Passover" and "let us keep the feast" it is clear that St. Paul is referring to fellowship at the communion table, the early Church's "agape feast." He also uses the Greek word "pornos" that is translated here as "sexual sinners" and in this context refers to incest. But the root meaning of "pornos" is a male prostitute, that is, a homosexual. The Apostle Paul teaches here that sexual sinners, the covetous, extortioners, drunkards or idolaters should not be allowed to partake of communion (see his similar teaching in 1 Cor. 10), but he does not teach that Christians should judge or shun those in "the world" outside the Church. If we were to avoid contact with all sinners in the world, we "would have to leave the world," he wrote. The Christian sub-culture should be radically different than the surrounding world; however, we should not judge those outside the Church, but rather demonstrate Christ's love for the tax collectors and harlots – sexual sinners.... [read more...]
