Displaying items by tag: Interserve

Interserve works alongside the Church in nations across Asia and the Arab World, and in other locations where there is opportunity to disciple Asian and Arab peoples. Some missionaries serve long-term, others for a shorter time. Some join through as volunteers or as consultants. Pray for more people to hear God’s call on their lives to be involved in bringing transformation into the lives of the people by starting a business, or working in medicine, or ministering to refugees. Pray for God to send those with the skills to assist immigrants, now in the West, with language classes, teaching, and much more in partnership with the global Church. Pray for those already discipling people in dangerous situations; ask God to keep them safe. Pray for those countering human trafficking, working alongside refugees, and assisting immigrants in every way possible. https://www.interserve.org.uk/focus/ Times have changed, but Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.

The following is part of an email: ‘We give thanks to God for the way the five-year community-based rehabilitation (CBR) project is going in a mountainous district of Nepal. In its first year it has already reached hundreds of people with disabilities and their families, helping them access services, including livelihoods and physical rehabilitation, and is slowly helping to change attitudes in the community so they are included with kindness and respect. C is planning a home assignment after two years without a break! Pray that his successor as leader will enjoy the work, want to stay, and adapt quickly to living remotely.’

Due to their work being sensitive names of places and people are omitted in this prayer request, but God knows who you mean when you pray. D was in NWB for five months before safely returning to the UK with his family. They are all currently in quarantine and then will enter further training. Please pray for God to prepare a community for them to return to in the mission field. Pray for God to protect their business and the team that they left behind and for visa options to open up for those wishing to join the team. Pray also for God’s guidance as they work out their fundraising plans and for open doors to be revealed so that their ministry grows. Please pray for protection for non-Covid patients and staff, and for enough income to keep going; Ask for wisdom for R, who is unsure when to return to the UK for home assignment, and for any visas that have been delayed by closures in immigration due to Covid.

‘And then, as I sat there, I knew that I was being called to come back for longer. A simple thought at one level, but more profoundly an invitation to an adventure that would, in so many ways, turn life as I knew it upside down.’ Interserve partner Chris B shares his story of how a simple call from God led him on a journey of faith to be used by God in ways he would never have expected. ‘In the following months, I explored and tested that invitation with others, and God was gracious enough to confirm his call in several ways. Like Peter, it has been far from plain sailing! But I have never looked back, and 16 years and three countries later I still feel incredibly privileged to be on this journey.’

The Archbishop of Canterbury has launched Together in Unity to support Anglican communities suffering from the pandemic. The unprecedented and devastating effect of coronavirus on global communities already impacted by conflict, natural disaster, and famine means they are ill-equipped to implement even the most basic hygiene and sanitation measures. Hospitals and clinics are without critical supplies, and lockdown measures have brought wages down to zero. Funds raised through the UK appeal will be distributed to coronavirus-response projects. Also, in the UK people have been making thousands of scrubs and walking miles to raise money for Hospitals. But Asian Christian hospitals have no such support and no government funding. People walk for days or travel on hot overcrowded trains to clinics, but lockdown and widespread fear of the virus has led many people to skip treatments at missionary clinics and hospitals that depend on income from routine treatments to pay staff. See

If the world consisted of 100 people, 20 would live in a slum; 42 would never hear about Jesus; 49 would live on less than £1.50 a day. Please pray for the many missionaries working to preach the Good News to the poor (Luke4:18a). Jesus was clear that everyone has a right to know and to choose to follow him in ways that are culturally appropriate for them. Pray for abundant distribution of Bibles and teaching materials for the various unreached people groups. 81% of these people live in Asia and the Arab world. Jesus also said that there should be freedom for the prisoners (Luke 4:18b). Families can be trapped for generations, feeling hopeless and out of control. Jesus had a lot to say about poverty and its effects, so pray for God to empower all who engage with communities and address issues such as income-generation, vocational training, education, and social justice. See also

Christian mission is no longer restricted to going overseas. Interserve have 36 full-time missionaries and 21 associates who are working with the least reached people in many UK cities. They are touching the lives of those of Asian and Arab background in culturally appropriate ways. They are helping the ‘hidden communities’ to see, hear, understand, and respond to the good news about Jesus. Serving cross-culturally can be like a roller coaster, but as experienced missionaries help the local church in mission by sharing their experiences, many lives can be saved. Pray for more individuals willing to learn the culture and language of their neighbours, so that they can see the Kingdom grow amongst the local unreached people groups.