Crosslinks prayer news July 2009 |
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CROSSLINKS
1 The annual General Council Residential meeting finished yesterday. The focus was on the nature of the relationship between staff and trustees, and the future direction of the work in Ireland. Pray that Crosslinks would be a more effective servant of God’s children engaged in world mission as a result.
2 We give thanks for the Lord’s provision of finance for running Crosslinks in 2008. Please pray that He will make the resources (financial and otherwise) available for us to do more in 2009. Pray that we would use it wisely and appropriately.
3 Pray for the governance review seeking proposals that give more continuity and a wider skills base to our trustee body. Pray for the new trustees who started last month to be understanding and effective in steering Crosslinks in difficult
economic times and times of considerable change.
4 Pray today for the ongoing discussions concerning the future direction and priorities of Crosslinks in Ireland. A small review group of Mel Lacy (Council Vice Chair), Bryan Kerr, Margaret West, Giles Rawlinson and Andy Lines are trying in consultation with others to plot the way forward. Junior Camp begins in Rostrevor, Northern Ireland.
5 Give thanks for Giles Rawlinson, Peter Gordon, Yemi Lawal, Lynda Blake and Peter Cottingham and all the improvements to Crosslinks systems over the past year. Pray for this new grouping of people serving the other staff teams that they will
have an understanding of the vital role they perform to enable God’s mission around the world.
6 Today in Westminster Central Hall Crosslinks and others will be participating in the launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans. This is the movement taking up the momentum of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) held in Jerusalem last June. Pray that we will be faithful, humble and gracious.
ASIA
7 Thank God for the wedding of Josh to Ye-Ying in April. Pray for them as they settle into newly married life and for their ministry in south-east Asia together. Later this year they will come to the UK for a period of study at Oak Hill College.
8 Pray for David and Jenn with Caleb and Jemima involved in returnee ministry in south-east Asia. Pray for them as they continue with their language study and thank God for the progress they have made so far. Pray for David as he takes on
more responsibilities at the Sunday congregation.
9 Pray for Jill as she prepares to leaves her family behind and return to south-east Asia in August. She will be teaching English in a secondary school and working in the local church, and also doing some advisory work for the staff at a
local project for disabled youth.
10 Jo has three roles that she is involved with in south-east Asia. Pray for her to be a good witness to Christ as she teaches English in a local university and for wisdom as she oversees the pastoral work of a group of expatriates for whom
she has responsibility. Continue to thank God for the ministry that Jo and her team of local believers have amongst women working in the commercial sex industry. Pray that more of these women will give their lives to Christ and be transformed by
the power of the Holy Spirit.
IRELAND
11 The Crosslinks Junior Camp for 8 – 11 year olds at the Kilbroney Centre, Rostrevor, finishes today. Please pray Philippians 1: 9-11 for the campers, leaders and cooks: ‘And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ….’
12 Crosslinks Senior Camp (12-17 year olds) runs 25 July to 1 August at Greenhill YMCA, Newcastle. The Bible Teachers are Mike Morfett and Geoff Haugh (Junior Camp) and Peter Bourke and Tim Anderson (Senior Camp). Please remember them in prayer, that their teaching will be firmly grounded in Scripture.
13 Give thanks for Crosslinks in Ireland. Pray that God will continue to use Crosslinks to achieve his purposes and plans – “to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1: 10). Pray for wisdom concerning the
future direction of Crosslinks in Ireland. Give thanks for the work of Brian Blacoe, Hazel Coulter, Pam Smyth and Val Ellis.
14 Robert and Sharon Heaney plan to go to Tanzania in 2010. They will be joining the School of Theology and Religious Studies, St John’s University, Tanzania. Robert and Sharon will be delivering current courses and developing future post-graduate and research programs. They are visiting Northern Ireland at the end of July. Please pray that individuals and churches will partner with them in this vital gospel work.
15 Give thanks for Andy Lines, Crosslinks Mission Director, visiting Northern Ireland 27-30 July. He is hoping to meet with Rectors and visit the Crosslinks Senior Camp. Please pray that his time in Northern Ireland will be a great encouragement and support to others to contend for the faith.
UGANDA
16 Gill Olaaka is the Country Director of Oasis Uganda, a locally registered NGO which was set up to run projects which provide holistic care to vulnerable and destitute children and their families in slum areas. Her husband Carlos is actively
involved in sports ministry both in their church and with other organisations in a voluntary capacity. Please pray for them both.
17 Rosie Button meets with the Women in Theology group at the Uganda Christian University in Mukono, and reports lots of fun and good prayer times together. She asks us to pray especially for Mercy, Betty and Sarah who are leaving this year to begin or return to parish ministries.
18 John Patterson, writing from the Bunyoro-Kitara Diocesan Training Centre, reports that Alpha courses continue to be a blessing. The course members’ manual has now been translated into Runyoro, and that is another step forward in making the
material accessible. Next term learning how to use the course will become a regular part of Lay Reader training there.
19 Pray for the Kampala Evangelical School of Theology, an indigenous Bible school, to continue training faithful gospel workers for the Ugandan church. Pray for God to continue providing financially for the school, and for the Lord to fill the
void left by Steve Smith when he returns to the UK this summer, having served on the faculty since 2007.
20 Craig and Claudia Smith work at the National Teacher’s College (NTC), Kabale. Craig is training secondary maths teachers and ‘upgrading’ primary school teachers. As well as teaching maths, he aims to explore with students what it means
to be a Christian teacher in schools. Claudia is setting up a counselling service for staff and students.
UNITED KINGDOM
21 Pray for Kola and Ada Ajomale, based in Walsall, teaching the gospel to youth in local schools. Pray that God would open the hearts of the young people they have been reaching out to so that they give their lives to Jesus. Please continue to
pray that Kola would be provided with all the finances he needs.
22 For Henry and Dinah Shaheen who work among Assyrian people in Europe, that they would be given wisdom in balancing their work and family lives and that God would continue to open many doors for partnership in this ministry with European churches. Pray for insight into how best to reach Assyrians.
23 Remember in prayer Lee McMunn, working as a national evangelist for the UK and based at St John's Newland in Hull, that God would help him equip many Christians to articulate the gospel persuasively. Pray that God would use him to fish many people for his Kingdom and to teach other Christians to do the same.
THE CROSSLINKS FAMILY
24 Give thanks for the many men and women who have so faithfully supported Crosslinks over the years through prayer and sacrificial giving of time and money. Pray that the Crosslinks Family may continue to be strong and supportive of one
another.
25 Remember and give thanks for the various Crosslinks prayer groups meeting around the country (details are on the back of the current Crosslinks magazine). Pray for the group leaders as they prepare for each meeting.
26 Please pray for mission partner Pradip. Following an accident in April when he broke a bone in his upper leg, and a complicated operation to repair it, he had plenty of time to talk to the staff at the hospital. “They heard that I was a ‘pastor figure’ and would come and unload their burdens and we would pray together. It is amazing how God uses these opportunities for his glory.” Please pray for Pradip’s continued recovery, and for his wife Amita.
BEST
27 Please remember those BEST Study Partners who are experiencing changes this summer. Pray for the 15 recent graduates taking up the roles and ministries for which they have been trained, some in different churches, dioceses and locations. Also, pray for the newly selected Study Partners, who will be starting their various courses this term, that they will settle into educational life, build relationships with faculty and fellow students, and begin to assimilate the learning on theological and biblical subjects.
28 Pray for the Alexandria School of Theology, Egypt, which is planning to start an MA Theology course at the beginning of this academic year. Currently, BEST supports eight students from different churches around the country studying for Bachelor of Theology degrees. Praise God for the School's vision to "raise up Christian leaders, clergy and lay people, to serve Christ in the Anglican Communion as well as in other churches in our region of the world."
29. Four Study Partners in South Africa; Mvuselelo Radebe, Tshepang Mgoza, Michelle Palani and Prince Nyembe, are half way through the year-long biblical foundational courses being run at Johannesburg Bible College. Please pray for them as they continue to learn and be equipped for service in new church plants worshipping and ministering in Soweto and Sophiatown.
ZIMBABWE
30 Pray for the women’s work at the Theological College of Zimbabwe. This programme seeks to equip the wives of church leaders to fulfil the leadership roles they will be given in local churches. Pray for the women to be equipped for faithful and godly service in the church in Zimbabwe, and for opportunities for them to disciple other women (who make up 70% of the local church).
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.