Crosslinks prayer news March 2010 |
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CROSSLINKS
1 General Council. Our trustees meet on 16 March as part of their governance of the Society. Please pray for progress with regard to the ongoing Ireland Review and the review of how Crosslinks is governed; for wisdom for the way ahead in these and other areas.
2. President. Our President Chris Wright heads up the Theological Resource group for the Lausanne Congress for World Evangelization in Cape Town South Africa in October 2010. Please pray for him and his wife, Liz, in this and his many other responsibilities with Langham Partnerships International.
3. Leadership Team. The Crosslinks staff Leadership Team, consisting of Andy Lines, Giles Rawlinson, Alan Purser, Jo Sayer, and on occasions Trevor Johnston, meets together regularly. Please pray for the many issues that they need to consider, for wisdom, right priorities, unity and thinking formed by God’s word.
4. The Teams. The Means of Mission Team is responsible for serving all the means of mission, long-term, short-term and locally-proposed mission engagements. The Church and Member Team serves churches in their engagement in God’s mission in Britain and the Ireland Team covers some of both these areas and others. Pray for faithful service.
5. The Hub is a small group who seek to serve all the other Crosslinks teams and consists of Peter Gordon and Yemi Lawal in finance, Peter Cottingham in IT and Lynda Blake in administration. Pray that they will understand the vital role they have even if often unseen and that they will have joy in their service.
ASIA
6 Jill is teaching English to over 500 students, and is always looking for opportunities to share the Gospel. She gives thanks for recent and encouraging developments in the local church: pray that these may continue and bear fruit.
7 Jo is part of a small team reaching out to sex workers. On Monday, Thursday and Friday afternoons they visit girls caught up in the trade and run bible studies. They have also begun a card making project which offers the girls an alternative income. Please pray for this, and for the girls who are growing in faith.
8 Graham and Alison and Matthew are part of a team working with national believers who have returned to East Asia following overseas study and are missing the freedom of worship they had become used to. Graham and Alison are back in the UK for a few months: please pray for rest and refreshment.
IRELAND
9 Pray for Trevor Johnston, Ireland Team leader, as he travels to various meetings to speak on the work of making Christ's disciples across the face of God's world. Pray for safety in his travels and ask for wisdom in his use of time and opportunities. Trevor travels, this evening, to Dungannon to speak at a prayer meeting.
10 Pray for the work of the Junior and Senior Camps, both to be held this July. Pray for the leaders and campers. This is a great opportunity for bible teaching and creates opportunities for young leaders to be coached and trained in gospel ministry. Pray that much fruit would be borne as a result.
11 Pray for the team of 17 heading to Mekelle in Ethiopia from Ballinderry Parish, Co Antrim. Give thanks for their willingness, commitment and hard work in raising the necessary finances and developing skills which will proclaim the gospel. Ernest and Ray Harris are the overall team leaders with a team, varied in age and experience. The entire team will be involved in children's and youth ministry under Karen Salmon's direction at the end of July.
12 Pray for the daily work of the offices in Belfast and Dublin.
Thank God for Hazel (Dublin), and Pam and Valerie (Belfast). Ask that God would continue to help those who are responsible to shape the work of Crosslinks in Ireland.
13 Give thanks for the many churches, members and other individuals who support the central work and ministry of Crosslinks. Pray that God would continue to provide all of the necessary resources.
14 Pray for Ireland, for the many that are unconverted, both North and South. Pray that ministers would proclaim the Scriptures clearly and faithfully and that there would be much growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Pray that Christians would orientate their lives around sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
UGANDA
15 Dan and Rosie Button are lecturers at Uganda Christian University in Mukono. They ask that we pray for the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor to replace Stephen Noll, who is leaving in August; a short-term replacement bursar for the next eighteen months; and for several full time lecturers to be appointed in Foundation Studies.
16 Craig and Claudia Smith work with the local Anglican church in Kabale. Claudia has been encouraged that after many months work the training for Sunday School Teachers is bearing fruit. She has also been asked to run a training workshop at the local church in Bukoora where, with Craig, she runs a community project.
17 Karamoja needs rain to end the famine. Pray for Bishop Joseph (Karamoja Diocese) and Bishop James (North Karamoja Diocese) that they will maintain a gospel vision when in such hard material need. Bishop Joseph is visiting the UK this Spring.
18 Simon Loduk is a Crosslinks BEST student at Mukono (Uganda Christian University). Rebecca Locaro is Headmistress at of Lotome Girls’ School. Please pray for them both as they work amid great need and material shortages: pray too for Nelson Owilli who heads the development work in the region.
19 Gill Olaaka is the Country Director of Oasis Uganda, running projects which provide holistic care to vulnerable and destitute children. Her husband, Carlos, is involved in sports ministry. “Work in the projects has been going well,” says Gill. “We are seeing some wonderful changes in the lives of our young people and families, though of course there are challenges.”
UNITED KINGDOM
20 Kola Ajomale continues as a Youth Minister in Walsall. He runs a drop in centre with around 50 young people attending every week. Pray that Kola will have plenty of opportunities to share the gospel with them: some ask a lot of interesting and leading questions. Pray for Kola and his wife Ada.
21 Joshua is currently studying at Oak Hill College, London, with a view to returning to Asia. Please pray for him as he seeks the Lord for his future.
22 Lee and Vicky McMunn live in Hull. Lee moved to St John Newland in the summer of 2005 where he is an associate minister with particular responsibilities for evangelism. He is keen to develop evangelist partnerships with other churches and Christians both within the UK and further afield. Please pray for them both as they work towards this goal.
23 Pray for the members of the mission committee in your church. Pray that as they form and support partnerships they will be guided and blessed, and that their vision will be supported by the church.
24 Ida Glaser has been working on a paper entitled ‘Thinking biblically about Islam’, and is particularly encouraged that there are now optional essays relating to Islam in several of the courses taught at Wycliffe Hall. Please pray for her and her colleagues at the Oxford Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies.
BEST STUDENTS
25 Please pray for Harshit Singh studying for a Masters degree at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kentucky, USA, with a vision to train pastors and bible teachers on his return to Asia. Harshit helps train his current church in cross-cultural outreach, as he leads their International Café ministry to an increasing number of local residents from overseas.
26 Nekemte Christian Education College in Ethiopia trains leaders and workers already experienced in church work, establishing them further with theological and biblical training. Kitessa Mideksa comes from a busy, itinerant teaching and evangelistic work in a new rural synod, and wants to be prepared and trained through his diploma course for working in unreached areas.
27 Two Study Partners at St Paul’s University, Limuru, Kenya are taking BDiv courses to be equipped for key ministry roles in the new Diocese of Kericho in the Maasai Mara. Revs Hillary Kemei Mooi and Shadrack Tonui are in their second year of studies, and in outreach work from university have seen one church planted in their home area.
28 Damigou Napoli is a pastor studying Theology and Mission Studies at WAAST, Lome, Togo. He trains other pastors and discipleship groups, and leads a new church in Lome, mostly attended by university students. He and his wife, who is studying to help provide biblical training for women, are implementing their long established desire and plan to plant local churches.
29 Please pray for those applying to become BEST students with a view to starting their study courses in summer/autumn 2010. Pray for the completion of their applications by the 16 April deadline, and for good communication between them and the BEST Co-ordinator prior to the Selection meeting planned for June.
ZIMBABWE
30 Pray for the Theological College of Zimbabwe, where Crosslinks is able to support students through the BEST scheme. Pray especially for the women's work: this programme equips the wives of church leaders to fulfil the leadership roles they will be given in local churches.
31 Continue to pray for the political climate in Zimbabwe and the tenuous power sharing agreement between the two main parties. Pray that the Church in Zimbabwe may be both bold and wise in its spiritual leadership.