Here in the UK, it is Samaritans Awareness Day. Samaritans is a charity that provide support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide. Across the UK they make a direct impact to the lives of thousands of people.

As you might guess from the name, Samaritans has its roots in Christianity. According to their website, “Samaritans began in 1953 in London, founded by a vicar called Chad Varah. Throughout his career Chad had offered counselling to his parishioners, and wanted to do something more specific to help people struggling to cope and possibly contemplating suicide.

The initial idea for Samaritans came from the first funeral Chad conducted early on in his career: a girl aged 14… had taken her own life.

Chad was immensely moved by this senseless loss of life, “I might have dedicated myself to suicide prevention then and there, providing a network of people you could ‘ask’ about anything, however embarrassing, but I didn’t come to that until later”.”

Rev. Varah is one of many men and women of faith who have seen a need in the UK and been stirred to action. From large long-standing organisations like Samaritans, Christian Aid and the Salvation Army, to smaller organisations committed to fighting the injustices of our day, faith in Jesus has moved people again and again to reach out and bring hope to the hurting.

If God moves your heart, like he touched Chad’s, it may be because he is about to use you to be a part of the solution!

Here at CBN Europe, our prayer centre sometimes receives calls from people expressing suicidal thoughts. As well as praying for them, we encourage them to call Samaritans. We’re grateful for all their efforts to bring hope and life across the UK!

If you need prayer then we’d love to pray with you. Our prayer centre is open for your calls, 8am-8pm, Monday-Friday and until 12pm on Saturdays. Why not call us on 0300 561 0700?

To find out more about Samaritans, you can visit http://www.samaritans.org/