Crosslinks prayer news January 2010 |
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CROSSLINKS
1 In the next day or so team members (including Neil, Tim, Paul and Andy) are due to fly to Myanmar for a School of Biblical Training but plans are uncertain due to the upcoming election there. Pray for the Lord's overruling.
2 Pray for the Means of Mission Team as they process applicants for long-term, short-term and locally proposed mission engagements around the world. Pray for wisdom and discernment in interviews and in application forms. We are fortunate in the number and quality of the candidates for long-term mission; pray that fruitful partnerships would enable these to take place.
3 Trevor Johnston is due to be commissioned formally as the Ireland Team Leader later this month. Pray for him, his wife Joy and their four girls: Emily, Lucy, Rubie and Mollie in this exciting but demanding role.
4 Pray for the members of the Hub: Lynda Blake, Peter Gordon, Peter Cottingham and Yemi Lawal. Pray that they would have joy in their very important serving role enabling other staff to work effectively.
5 Jo Sayer (Means of Mission Team Leader) is taking on a new leadership role in an organization focusing on East Asia on behalf of Crosslinks. Please pray for her in this and that she will learn quickly at meetings to be held in Chiang Mai and elsewhere in early 2010.
6 Give thanks for the opportunities afforded by the apprenticeship scheme with the Cornhill Training course and for those who have benefitted: Dorothy, Sihle, Christiaan, Simon and Lindiwe. Pray for the new apprentice, Chris Thwala who started late in October 2009, that he would catch up on what he missed and really benefit from the teaching, training and church placement.
ASIA
7 Joshua and Ye-Ying are currently in the UK and studying at Oak Hill College. Please pray for them as they think, talk, and pray through future opportunities of returning to Asia to work.
8 David and Jenn are part of a team running short courses for new believers in a large Asian city. Pray for the people they meet day to day and that they may be effective witnesses to God’s transforming power.
9 Peter Cook is the Vicar of Christ Church Bangkok. As well as ministry to the ex-pat congregation, he and his wife Ineke are involved with prison and orphanage work. Pray for Ineke and her various roles as children's work co-ordinator, and of offering hospitality in the house and church. The women's work is also developing and she is involved with that.
10 Robin and Ursula thank God for the opportunity to be teaching in a bible fellowship and helping to lead a church in Asia. Praise God for new initiatives in their work and pray that they would result in God's glory being proclaimed and displayed to the nations.
11 Katy is working to help provide basic education and life skills for poor children in the suburbs of Delhi, as well as teaching the Bible through formal and informal activities. Please pray for Katy and her team to be creative and imaginative in the ways that they reach these children, and that they can build relationships with the wider community and take every opportunity to point to Christ.
NORTH AFRICA
12 Johanne is preparing to return to North Africa at the end of January following minor surgery in the UK. Please pray for her as she recuperates and makes plans for her return, and that after six months away she may be able to settle again quickly.
13 Safaa is continuing with her chemotherapy following surgery last year. Please pray for her continued recovery to full health, and for Mike as he balances his ministry with helping Safaa at home.
14 Julian and Mei-Hwa are planning to leave North Africa and begin a new ministry based in the UK, with possible studies for Julian. Please pray for them and their son, John, during the transition.
15 Please pray for the safety of all gospel workers in North Africa. Being questioned by the police is commonplace: pray that believers would have great wisdom in all of their activities.
ETHIOPIA
16 Karen Salmon works on a new project at Mekelle teaching HIV/AIDS awareness to young people. This involves formal certificate classes, peer education training and follow-up, anti AIDS clubs for girls, a drama group and video shows. Please pray for Karen in this important work.
17 Karen is based at Mekelle Youth Centre, which also offers computer and English education, library facilities, and opportunities for recreation and sports. The Ethiopian government recently introduced new legislation for non-government organisations. Pray about the any implications this might have on the centre's fund raising.
18 Hazel Maunsell continues the Bible literature and translation work begun with her late husband, Colin. Pray for good relationships with co-workers and printers, and that God's word may continue to be made more accessible in Ethiopia.
IRELAND
19 Pray for the many partnerships in the Gospel across the island of Ireland, where those with similar convictions and goals continue to work closely together. Give thanks for the good personal relationships amongst brothers and sisters in Christ. Ask that these may bear much fruit.
20 There has been some rearrangement of the office facilities in Belfast. Pray that this would be completed satisfactorily and that the entire premises would be used for the advancement of the Gospel and the glory of the Lord Jesus.
21 There are only 1000 missionaries across the entire world sharing the Gospel amongst 10,000 unreached people groups, c.2.4 billion people. Pray that those in lands where Jesus hasn't been proclaimed may hear of him and prepare themselves for meeting him.
22 Pray for Trevor's commissioning service tonight. This will be followed by a day conference - "Him we proclaim" - tomorrow. The speaker at both of these events will be Rt Rev Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes. Please ask that these events would re-invigorate and re-envision the Crosslinks family (and others) in Ireland.
23 Pray for the Republic of Ireland and the numerous opportunities for the proclamation of the Gospel in this country. Pray that God would raise up many workers to bring the Gospel to this part of Western Europe. Give thanks for the many engaged in this task already, and the work of Crosslinks over past decades in the Republic.
UNITED KINGDOM
24 John and Phyll Chesworth work with the Solomon Academic Trust, an organisation promoting study and research on the Muslim-Christian interface. They are based at the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford. They ask us to pray for volunteer Lisa Holmes, who works there part-time to raise funds for the Trust. Please pray for her in this difficult task.
25 After six years of working in Serbia, Rob and Tricia MacCurrach have returned to the UK. Rob has recently got a job in forestry and they will be moving to Herefordshire. Pray for them during this time of change and transition.
26 Marjolijn works in London, and helps run a club for girls from a mainly Muslim background. She also has some contact with the parents, some of whom are open to their children hearing stories from the Bible. Please pray for these parents and children, that the word of God might draw them to Him.
27 Pam Chandra continues her ministry of supporting Asian believers - mostly women. Pam meets with them in their own homes to pray and read the Bible together. Please pray for these contacts, that their hunger for the Lord would influence other members of their families.
28 Gilbert and Uzma David have been working at St Paul's Church in Slough as Parish Workers for Ethnic Minorities, with a special emphasis on Asians. They run house groups and bible studies, and once a month try to hold a full night of prayer. Please pray for their work and witness.
NEXT
29 Andy Clarke is a Design Technician and his wife Sam is a GP. Both have gone to work with U-Turn, a project among street people in the Claremont area of South Africa. They have taken their two-year old son, Noah, with them: pray for them as they settle in and Andy and Sam start their respective roles with U-Turn.
30 Lucy Sawyer is a Clinical Psychologist joining Arise, a gospel-centred ministry to vulnerable children in Cape Town. Following her initial three-week placement last January, Lucy is returning to Arise for a further two years next month. Pray for Lucy's final preparations and for a good start to this extended placement.
31 Pray for the NEXT and SMILE co-ordinators, Krista Potts and Antonia Instone, as they begin planning a joint NEXT/SMILE venture for later this year. Pray for the details of locations and participants to be made clear.