Crosslinks prayer news February 2010 |
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NIGERIA
1 Ulric and Annabel Gerry have had to leave Abuja, Nigeria where they were working after their daughter Iona was diagnosed with leukaemia. They are now temporarily living in Pretoria, South Africa where Iona is receiving treatment. Please pray for the family as they rely on God for each day.
2 Lee and Fai Furney are accepted Crosslinks mission partners preparing to serve God in Nigeria later this year. They will be involved in theological education: please pray for them as they build firm partnerships prior to leaving the UK.
SOUTH AFRICA
3 Dean and Paula Finnie thank God for blessing them with Permanent Residency visa for South Africa. They write: “This will make a big difference in our lives and has sent a clear message to those we love and with whom we work and live among here.” Please continure to pray for them and their work in the Grace Community Church, Macassar.
4 Jamie and Helen Read work at the Bible Institute Eastern Cape. They ask: “Thank God for those African brothers and sisters who dare to stand
on the gospel and proclaim Jesus. Of the students who joined the college at the same time as us (January ‘07), it is great to see how their plans are unfolding for life and ministry beyond college.” Please carry on praying for them, and for new students.
5 Nat and Helen Schluter at the Johannesburg Bible College ask that we praise God for the provision of some new staff for 2010 and ask for your prayers as they draw together a team with the gifts and passions for the various ministries the college is seeking to undertake. Please pray too for the recruitment of students.
WORLDWIDE
6 Chris and Lotta Strajnic work in Novi Sad, Serbia. They praise God for the beginning of a new discipleship school for Roma believers, which has been meeting for a few hours every Saturday. Please pray for the continuation and development of this group.
7 Gad and Liz Numadi arrived in Togo at the beginning of the year with their two children, Corban and Lael. Gad is seconded to MECI (Mission Enfant Pour Christ International) and is training children's workers. Please pray for them as they continue to settle into their new lives and ministry.
8 Also in Togo Sena and Jane Ounate Lare have been working with church plants in Dapaong. Sena is chairman of ATAPEB, a local association in charge of translating the Old Testament into the local language, Moba. The New Testament has already been translated. Please pray as ATAPEB needs to raise part of the money for this long-term project.
9 Togo will be holding presidential elections on 28 February. Please pray for peace in the weeks running up to it.
10 In Australia, David Williams mentors and trains missionaries, preparing them for service in different countries and cultures. Pray for David and his wife Rachel in this fundamental work.
CHURCH PLANTS UK
11 Phil Keymer is the senior minister at The Plant, Manchester. Pray that God would open wide a big door for effective work amongst more and more of the student community, which numbers over 65,000. Pray also for God to use The Plant to thrust more workers out into this harvest field.
12 Tim Davies is the Senior Minister at Christ Church Central Sheffield, a "church for people who don't go to church". Please pray that God would continually enlighten Tim and his wife Tanya's hearts to grasp and revel in God's eternal plan for Christ's church, so that they would always be energetic and joyful in the work of building God's people.
13 Simon Dowdy is senior minister at Grace Church Dulwich. He writes: "We are grateful for the Lord’s protection, having reached our fourth birthday. Please pray for perseverance and for the message of the gospel to go out in power and for the Lord Jesus to be honoured in all we do." Pray for Simon and his wife, Rachel.
KENYA
14 Rob and Sue Martin live and work in Marsabit, where Rob is Suffragen Bishop. He writes: “We are trying to instil a sense that everyone must take some responsibility for their lives and in Church life. In the past poor communities have relied on donors for any development. That attitude leads nowhere as you depend on others for your future.” Please pray that church members will realise their own potential and their reliance upon God as provider.
15 Tim Wambunya is Principal of Carlile College. He asks that we pray for students separated from their families and the hardship they experience, and also for the difficult financial choices the college is facing and for enough ongoing resources to run it.
16 Alison Talbert is attached to the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Welcome Trust Research Unit at Kilifi. She reports that following almost a year of drought the long-prayed for rains came at the end of last year and then caused floods, washed away bridges and drowned valuable livestock in Coastal Province. Please pray for communities living in such extremes.
17 Noj and Mary Northway, at St Andrew’s School in Turi, praise God that the gospel remains a central part of school life. Students are encouraged to express their faith in actions: last year, by choosing a more simple lunch at Prep School they helped raise funds for the Kenyan famine relief. Give thanks for their living faith.
18 Pray for Giles and Annie Roberts at St Andrew’s School in Turi. Pray for Giles as he looks after the new building work and manages the design team and contractors at St Andrews School and for Annie as she oversees the admission of new students to the Prep School.
19 Doug Johnson is director of AICMAR (African Institute for Contemporary Mission and Research), a study centre in Butere. He writes: “On the surface life seems back to normal since the troubles surrounding the Kenyan elections, but there are still many tensions within the country and even within the church.” Concern is already being expressed about the 2012 elections. Please pray for God’s hand in this.
20 Pray for Ben Shikwati, continuing his studies and tutoring role at George Whitfield College in South Africa. His PhD proposal is to research pastoral care of the bereaved in light of the New Testament hope of resurrection. This is particularly relevant in HIV affected Sub-Saharan Africa. Armed with his PhD Ben hopes to return to his ministry in Kenya.
EUROPE (EU)
21 Pray for Andy and Uta Buckler with their five children working in the Reformed Church in Mantes-La-Jolie near Paris. Pray for the members of the church to understand the importance of sharing their faith, and pray for Andy and Uta as they encourage them to talk about Christ to their non-Christian friends and families.
22 Peter Harris has recently been back in Lebanon, this time at the invitation of Crosslinks’ President Chris Wright. A few months after the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen, people all around the world will be coming to terms with the decisions made there. Please pray that a sense of deep concern for the poorest who are most affected, and for the huge range of God’s extraordinary species that are now at risk, will prevail over political and economic expediency.
23 2009 saw a lot of change in staff and church members for the church in Woluwe where Steve Orange is an elder. It means that Sunday mornings are significantly different to those of even six months ago. Please pray for Steve and the other elders who together lead the church - that the unchanging gospel of grace would be their anchor as they seek to minister in the changing circumstances in which they find themselves.
MOZAMBIQUE
24 Andrew and Caroline Maclean are Crosslinks Associate Mission Partners, for many years working in Mozambique and involved with development work with DFID and Aids awareness. Pray for daily refreshment for them and their family.
25 Richard and Bianca Reeve work with One Challenge, helping develop Bible-based training. They have been busy preparing new materials for workshops on economic self-reliance for churches, stewardship, and marriage. Please pray for them as they research the subjects and put the workshops together.
26 The new academic year in Mozambique begins in January. Anabel Reeve has recently joined reception level and Myles has begun grade 3. Please pray for them, and for all the children of mission partners making new friends and adapting to new schools a long way from home.
SMILE
27 Please pray for God to provide a new location for a fourth Smile Gap team in 2011. Investigations are being made in Uganda, so pray for a safe location, with ample service and evangelism opportunities for young adults, with a suitable host able to oversee a team. Pray for a safe trip for the Smile Co-ordinator, Antonia Instone, as she investigates these options.
28 Please ask the Lord of the harvest to raise up leaders for the gap year teams in 2011. We hope to run four teams so will need eight able Bible teachers to lead them. Pray for the right people to be interested and to apply before the end of March.