ഒട്ടാവ: വിസ നിയമങ്ങളിൽ കാനഡ മാറ്റം വരുത്തിയതോടെ ആശങ്കയിലായി ഇന്ത്യൻ വിദ്യാർഥികളും തൊഴിലാളികളും. വലിയരീതിയിലുള്ള കുടിയേറ്റം തടയുകയെന്ന ലക്ഷ്യത്തോടെയാണ്​ പുതിയ നിബന്ധനകൾ കൊണ്ടുവന്നിട്ടുള്ളത്​. ഇത്​ ജോലിക്കും റെസിഡൻറ്​ പെർമിറ്റിനും അപേക്ഷിക്കുന്നവരെയടക്കം പ്രതികൂലമായി ബാധിക്കും.

വിദ്യാർഥികൾ, തൊഴിലാളികൾ, കുടിയേറ്റക്കാർ എന്നിവരുടെ വിസ സ്റ്റാറ്റസിൽ എപ്പോൾ വേണമെങ്കിലും മാറ്റം വരുത്താൻ കനേഡിയൻ അതിർത്തി ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥർക്ക് അധികാരം നൽകുന്നതാണ്​ പുതിയ നിയമം. ഫെബ്രുവരി ആദ്യം മുതലാണ്​ ഇത്​ പ്രാബല്യത്തിൽ വന്നത്​

പുതിയ ഇമിഗ്രേഷൻ ആൻഡ് റെഫ്യൂജി പ്രൊട്ടക്ഷൻ റെഗുലേഷൻസ് പ്രകാരം ഇലക്ട്രോണിക് യാത്രാ അനുമതികൾ, ഇടിഎകൾ, താൽക്കാലിക റസിഡന്റ് വിസകൾ അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ടിആർവികൾ പോലുള്ള താൽക്കാലിക റസിഡന്റ് രേഖകൾ നിരസിക്കാൻ കനേഡിയൻ അതിർത്തി ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥർക്ക് അധികാരമുണ്ട്. അതേമസയം, പെർമിറ്റുകളും വിസകളും നിരസിക്കുന്നതിന് ചില മാർഗനിർദ്ദേശങ്ങൾ പാലിക്കേണ്ടതുണ്ട്. അംഗീകൃത താമസ കാലാവധി കഴിഞ്ഞാൽ വ്യക്തി കാനഡ വിടുമെന്ന് ഒരു ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥന് ബോധ്യപ്പെട്ടില്ലെങ്കിൽ കാനഡയിൽ താമസിക്കുന്ന സമയത്ത് പോലും പ്രവേശനം നിരസിക്കാനോ പെർമിറ്റ് റദ്ദാക്കാനോ കഴിയും. അത്തരം കാര്യങ്ങളിൽ തീരുമാനമെടുക്കാനുള്ള വിവേചനാധികാരം പൂർണമായും ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥനിൽ നിക്ഷിപ്തമാണ്.
Sources:globalindiannews

http://theendtimeradio.com

Canada has introduced big changes to its immigration regulations. The new Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, which came into effect on January 31, authorise border officials to cancel temporary resident documents such as electronic travel authorisations (eTAs) and temporary resident visas (TRVs).

The new regulations are likely to impact thousands of foreign nationals, including Indians, annually. The changes will impact students, employees, and temporary resident visitors, many of whom are from India.

Canada is a top destination for Indian students opting to pursue their higher education abroad. According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), there are around 4,27,000 Indian students studying in Canada.

The amended rules follow a series of changes to Ottawa’s immigration framework, including the cancellation of the Student Direct Stream (SDS) visa programme in late 2024.

CANADIAN BORDER OFFICIALS CAN CANCEL VISAS ON SEVERAL GROUNDS
The amended rules give Canadian immigration and border officers enhanced authority to cancel eTAs, TRVs, work permits, and study permits under specific circumstances. These include cases where:

An individual’s status or circumstances change, making them ineligible or inadmissible, such as providing false information, having a criminal record, or being deceased.
An officer is not convinced that the individual will leave Canada upon the expiration of their authorised stay.
The document is lost, stolen, destroyed, or issued based on an administrative error.
A temporary resident becomes a permanent resident.

he changes also enable officers to cancel TRVs, eTAs, work permits and study permits issued to people when

They become a permanent resident.
They are deceased, or
The document was issued based on an administrative error.
According to the amended rules, students, including those from India, can have their immigration papers cancelled if they are denied a work or study visa. The policy also guarantees that the immigration and border authorities are the only ones who can cancel these visas, to avoid any unauthorised intervention.

IMPLICATIONS FOR FOREIGN NATIONALS AND STUDENTS
The amended rules would result in the cancellation of approximately 7,000 additional temporary resident visas, work permits, and study permits, according to reports.

Foreigners, including Indians, whose permits are cancelled could face issues, including being prohibited from entering Canadian ports or having to leave Canada.

Apart from the 4,27,000 students studying, Canada also sees lakhs of tourists from India annually. Between January and July 2024, Canada issued 3,65,750 visitor visas to Indians, which was more than the 345,631 issued during the same period in 2023.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has indicated that individuals who are impacted will be informed via their IRCC account or email, but there are still concerns regarding the potential financial losses of travellers and students who have their documents cancelled.

CANADA CONTINUES TO TIGHTEN IMMIGRATION POLICY

These changes to the rules are in line with Canada’s strategy to tighten immigration rules.

Only a few months ago, in November 2024, Canada suspended the Student Direct Stream (SDS) visa program, which Indian students preferred to avail themselves of to study in Canada.

The SDS began in 2018 and accelerated visa processing for students from some countries, including India, by requiring them to demonstrate money upfront, such as tuition fees and guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) for living expenses.

At first, people worried that cancelling SDS would cause delays. But officials clarified that students would continue to be able to apply for the Regular Study Permit, under which they can pay tuition in instalments. However, international students, including Indians, could face more problems with the new rule for the cancellation of temporary resident documents.

Under the new rules, if study permits are revoked, students will have trouble finishing their studies or moving to work permits after graduation.
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Hundreds of churches, ministries and individuals have committed to pray for 250 million students worldwide for the Collegiate Day of Prayer on Feb. 27.

The annual event, held on the last Thursday in February, is expecting over 700 individuals and congregations to pray for the students at more than 1,100 campuses.

CDP Executive Director Thai Lam told The Christian Post that while his organization launched their efforts in 2009, the day of prayer focused on colleges and universities traces its origins to a similar observance in the early 19th century.

“By 1823, every major denomination and every college campus of that day had adopted the last Thursday of February as this national day of prayer for campuses,” Lam said. “It went on from about 1815 to about World War I or so. At that point, it fell out of the church rhythm. The world was changing. War, Spanish flu, different things.”

“We just looked at each other and said, ‘Hey, what hinders us from doing this again today?’ And so, we registered a domain, and mobilized our spheres and networks. Year one, we had 450 campuses adopted. Year two, 900.”

Lam, who founded the modern day of prayer observance, called it “the oldest day of prayer in American history” and said that since 2009, “every year, it kept on growing.”

In February 2023, shortly before that year’s Collegiate Day of Prayer, a 16-day revival broke out during a campus chapel service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, which garnered international attention.

Lam told CP that the Asbury revival was “really significant” for his group, saying that the CDP organizers “were blown away” by what was happening, calling it “what we’ve been praying for.”

CDP organizers worked with members of the Asbury campus community, opting to change their earlier plans for a campus event to incorporate what was transpiring among students.

One effect of the Asbury revival on the Collegiate Day of Prayer, according to Lam, was that his annual observance began focusing on college students internationally.

This was because, on the 2023 observance, Lam said that of the 5 million people who participated, about half of that number were located outside of the United States.

“We’ve been mostly focused on prayer for 20 million students on 4,200 college campuses [in the U.S.], and we had over 2 million engaged from the nations,” he noted.

“It’s been a point of prayer for us since Asbury. So, the big change this year is that we’re launching the Collegiate Day of Prayer global, where we’re shifting from just 20 million students in the U.S. to 250 million students in 195 countries.”

Ultimately, Lam explained, his “hope and ambition” for the event “is that every college campus” will have a congregation or small group that was focused on its spiritual well-being.

“What would it look like if every college campus had one, three, five churches, local congregations, that adopted that campus and were committed to praying for that campus?” he asked.

“What would it look like if 40-year-olds and 60-year-olds really got a heart for the college campus down the street from them? And the church of a hundred just commits to praying for that one campus that they drive by all the time. And who knows what the Lord might do?”

One of the ministries involved in the Collegiate Day of Prayer is Cru, a student group founded in 1951 as a result of a 24-hour prayer event at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dan Allan, executive director of Mission Expansion for Cru, said his organization was involved in the annual observance because “prayer has been at the heart of our mission since our founding.”

“Our deep commitment to interceding for students and faculty has naturally aligned with the vision of the Collegiate Day of Prayer,” Allan told CP. “We are honored to stand alongside believers from other ministries, uniting in prayer for this generation and trusting God to transform lives on campuses everywhere.”

For this year, according to Allan, Cru has invited supporters “to adopt three campuses in prayer — one close to their heart, one near their home and one in another country.”

Allan also credited the 2023 Asbury revival with fostering a “renewed spiritual hunger” that “significantly increased awareness of the Collegiate Day of Prayer among believers.”

“The impact is evident in the ministry results displayed at the bottom of the CDOP website, where you can see a noticeable jump from 2022 to 2023 in the number of campus ministries, churches, and individuals committed to praying,” he said.

Regarding this year’s observance, Allan told CP he hopes “participants will deeply connect with the Lord and experience a renewed burden for reaching today’s college students.”

“We are trusting God to stir hearts and raise up many who will take the next step in campus ministry — whether by supporting an existing ministry in their community or stepping out in faith to start something new,” he added.

“Ultimately, we pray this day ignites a lasting commitment to intercede for students and faculty, believing God for transformation on campuses across the nation and beyond.”
Sources:Christian Post

http://theendtimeradio.com

Divorce and remarriage remain some of the most challenging and sensitive topics within the Church today. While modern culture has become increasingly permissive regarding the dissolution of marriage, Scripture upholds a high view of the marriage covenant.

We are conditioned to view marriage as disposable. We receive these messages through public figures such as popular actors and actresses, celebrities, and even politicians. However, Jesus’ teaching in Luke 16:18 provides a sobering warning:

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”

These words underscore the permanence of marriage and rebuke the widespread misinterpretation of God’s law by the Pharisees. To fully understand what Scripture teaches about divorce and remarriage, we must examine the historical context, the biblical framework, and the theological implications of Jesus’ words.

The Pharisees’ perversion of divorce and remarriage

During Jesus’ ministry, the Pharisees had established themselves as interpreters and enforcers of the Mosaic Law. However, they often distorted the law to fit their own desires. In many ways, the Pharisees revised the law of God to be reshaped in their image. The issue of divorce was no exception. They had developed an overly permissive view that allowed men to divorce their wives for nearly any reason. Their misinterpretation was based on a skewed reading of Deuteronomy 24:1-4, which they used to justify easy divorce.

The primary debate among Jewish scholars revolved around the phrase “some indecency” (ervat davar) in Deuteronomy 24:1. Two prominent rabbinical schools, the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel, had different interpretations:

The school of Shammai held a strict view, permitting divorce only in cases of sexual immorality.
The school of Hillel took a more liberal stance, allowing divorce for almost any reason, including trivial matters such as a wife burning food or becoming less attractive.
This debate formed the backdrop of the Pharisees’ question to Jesus in Matthew 19:3, where they asked, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” In Matthew 19, the Pharisees were seeking to trap Jesus. They wanted him to either teach in contradiction to the Mosaic Law or to uphold it to the point that Herod would do to Jesus what he did to John the Baptist. Jesus confronted them by asking if they had not read — implying that they had apparently read Rabbi Hillel rather than God’s law!

God’s original design for marriage

Marriage is foundational to God’s creation order. In Genesis 2:24, we see the first divine institution of marriage:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

From the beginning, marriage was intended to be a permanent, covenantal union. This covenant reflects God’s own faithfulness and love, particularly as it relates to Christ’s relationship with the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32). Jesus affirms this divine institution in Matthew 19:4-6, stating, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” This statement directly contradicts the Pharisees’ approach to divorce and underscores the seriousness of breaking the marriage bond.

Biblical allowances for divorce

Though God’s ideal is lifelong marriage, Scripture does provide two explicit grounds for divorce: sexual immorality and willful desertion by an unbelieving spouse.

The exception clause: Divorce for sexual immorality

Jesus provides the clear and explicit exception for divorce in Matthew 19:9, “Whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” The Greek word for sexual immorality here is porneia, a broad term encompassing various forms of sexual sin, including adultery, fornication, and other violations of marital faithfulness.

The Pharisees had misrepresented Deuteronomy 24:1 as a justification for no-fault divorce, but Jesus clarifies that only serious marital unfaithfulness constitutes legitimate grounds for divorce. However, even in such cases, divorce was permitted but not commanded. Before rushing through the doorway of divorce, reconciliation should always be pursued if possible.

The desertion clause: Divorce due to abandonment

The Apostle Paul provides another legitimate ground for divorce in 1 Corinthians 7:15, “If the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.” This refers to an unbelieving spouse who chooses to leave a believing partner. In such cases, Paul states that the believing spouse is no longer bound to the marriage. In such cases, the abandoned spouse is free to remarry. This is concluded by the language Paul uses in the text that suggests that the innocent party is not “enslaved” to the spouse who abandoned them.

In many ways, this serves as protection from abusive spouses who would keep their spouse under marital obligation after abandonment — treating them as property to be used rather than a spouse under a marriage covenant. In similar ways, the text in Deuteronomy protected women from that type of abuse in the Old Testament where men of Israel would leave their wives and take Gentile women leaving their wives vulnerable and with no legal support that their marriage had been severed. The giving of a bill of divorcement was a means of protection.

Remarriage after divorce

Often, one of the most controversial issues to reconcile is centered on remarriage. Can a person be remarried if they’ve been divorced? If a person has been divorced on biblical grounds, is remarriage permissible? This must always be considered on a case-by-case basis through the lens of Scripture. In some cases, it may be that a person has engaged in a sinful divorce and should be given the counsel that they should remain single. In other cases, a Christian may be counseled that remarriage is an option.

The majority of Reformed theologians have affirmed that remarriage is allowed for the innocent party. Theodore Beza, the successor of John Calvin, affirms:

“We do not allow divorce except for two causes: namely, adultery and malicious desertion. Both of these dissolve the bond of marriage. And when this happens, we say that it is lawful for the innocent party to remarry.”1

In a similar manner, William Perkins writes the following as he stands in the long line of the Reformers and their position on the issue of divorce and remarriage.

“In the case of adultery, the bond of marriage is broken, and the innocent party has liberty to remarry.”2

Thus, if a person has been divorced due to sexual immorality or desertion, remarriage is a legitimate option for the innocent party. Given the high view of marriage in Scripture, the church has a responsibility to uphold the sanctity of marriage. The church also bears the responsibility of ministering to those who have suffered through divorce.

1. Church accountability and discipline

Marriage is a covenant before God, and churches should be actively involved and engaged in marriage. If anyone should be upholding the holiness of marriage, it should be the church of Jesus Christ. Members of the local church should not view marriage as a private decision or a family matter that is disconnected from the local church. In other words, the local church should be far more engaged in marriages than merely guests at a celebration.

Premarital counseling should be engaged to prevent hasty or unwise marriages and prepare couples for marriage.
Church discipline should be applied in cases of sin and unbiblical divorce.
Encouraging reconciliation should be the common counsel from the beginning when sin threatens a marriage.
Shepherding for successful marriages should be the goal of regular ongoing pastoral ministry within the local church.
2. Grace for the divorced

For those who have divorced sinfully, God’s grace abounds. The Gospel assures us that no sin is beyond the reach of Christ’s redemption.

1 John 1:9 — “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”
Romans 8:1 — “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Divorce is not an unpardonable sin. Those who repent and seek Christ’s grace will find restoration and renewal. The local church should not view members who have divorced to be branded with a “scarlet D” and treated as second-rate church members. Furthermore, Christians who come to the conclusion that their divorce and subsequent remarriage were unbiblical should not be gripped by the false idea that they are engaged in perpetual adultery for life. They are to be encouraged to run to the cross where they receive forgiveness and assurance in the finished work of Jesus! We are reminded of this truth in the hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul” penned by Horatio G. Spafford:

“My sin oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
my sin, not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”

Marriage is a divinely instituted covenant that reflects Christ’s love for His Church. While divorce is permitted in limited circumstances, it should never be taken lightly. As a Church, we must uphold the sanctity of marriage while extending grace and support to those who have experienced its brokenness.

Ultimately, Christ is the true and faithful bridegroom, whose love and commitment to His people never fail. May we, as His followers, seek to reflect that same faithfulness in our own marriages for the glory of our great God.
Sources:Christian Post

http://theendtimeradio.com