The situation in Burundi is deeply concerning and remains tense and unpredictable despite high level visits to mediate a settlement to the current political crisis.

Both Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi of the Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi and Archbishop Justin Welby have stressed the importance of prayer for the country

Archbishop Justin says, "Following my recent visit to Burundi I encourage churches and individuals urgently to pray for the deeply troubled nation of Burundi. Pray for its political, church and civic leaders. Cry to the God of all nations and peoples for its peace and the well-being of all its people."

Please join the Church in Burundi in prayer through the Easter season to ask God for an end of violence, a return to real peace and a political solution that will last and be the foundation for the development of one of the poorest nations in the world.

Background and activities of the Church

The Anglican Church in Burundi (EAB) is an impartial actor in the present crisis that remains a political rather than an ethnic conflict.

The situation throughout the country remains tense with much uncertainty about the direction the crisis will take. Although the capital Bujumbura appears calmer, disturbances still occur. People are living daily in a climate of fear and mistrust. Arrests continue and people are found killed. Targeted killings and attacks still occur.

Amid the problems life goes on with people going to work, shopping, supporting their families, educating their children, going to Church, engaging in ceremonies.

However, due to the insecurity those internally displaced remain so with the result that considerable strain is put on families to provide food and shelter. People are continuing to seek ways to leave the country but movement is not easy and often restricted.

Suspension of direct financial support to the Burundi administration will inevitably have a negative impact on the economy. Already, for example students who are ready to enter university have had their support removed.

Since the membership of the Church includes those on all sides of the political spectrum and of all ethnic groups, the EAB has the opportunity to play a key role in bringing peace and reconciliation locally and nationally and to share Christ's love in turbulent times.

Through its parish networks the EAB has the unique ability to identify need at grass roots level and to respond with humanitarian support. It has been reaching out in practical ways to the most vulnerable since the start of the crisis and has continued with all aspects of its ministry throughout the country.

More information on the ministry of the Church can be found on www.anglicanburundi.org

A Prayer for Burundi

For the beautiful but poor country of Burundi, we pray dear Lord.
For the population living in fear and dread, afraid of the unknown and the uncertain, we ask for hope.
For those fleeing in Burundi or abroad, we pray for safety, freedom from disease and famine and the security that they may return home.
For those seeking the way of violence that they would instead seek reconciliation between all parties.
For the surrounding countries that they may remain at peace, act justly and broker a just settlement.
Enable an end to violence so that Burundi may become a beacon of peace rather than a place of fear and death.
Strengthen your church to stand for the ways of justice and righteousness and to reach out in love to the suffering.
We ask these things in the name of Him who carried all our human failings on the cross, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

For further information about this call for prayer in the UK please contact Revd. Canon Paul Daltry This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 01473 217739 mobile 07963 301388

A Passion for the Nation is a new iniative which will be sending out declarations Monday, Wednesday and Friday, for those who want to pray and decree blessing over the UK, at this critical time. 

There is so much changing and it is time for the Church to step up to its calling to rule the heavens over the Nation so that God's rule and reign can be re-established.

This initiative is not attached to any individual house, stream or denomination but is intended to be used by all.

Vision:

Isaiah 62:1-4 NLT
"Because I love England (Bible: Zion) I will not keep still. Because my heart yearns for this Nation (Bible: Jerusalem) I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch."

We Decree and Declare, this is a nation marked out in Heaven for Divine Purpose, and for the Kingdom of God to come in all its fullness - that every demonic presence shifts or bows to the King of Kings and the Lord of Glory - where God's Presence will dwell, transforming atmospheres, spheres and individual lives. We declare shift and change into the heart of our nation, that according to Your Word in 2 Corinthians 10:5 every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God will be brought down and that His name will again be exalted in this land. Psalm 34:3
Government:

According to Your word in Proverbs 14:34, we declare righteousness exalts a nation, so we speak righteousness into every aspect of Government, national and local; we declare honesty and integrity will become the hallmarks of financial institutions, businesses and society. We decree and declare that righteousness, honesty and integrity will again become valued in this nation and we enforce Kingdom values over every plan of the enemy to sow ungodliness and hence destruction into our nation.
We declare this nation will again be raised as a display of Your righteousness upon the earth.

Salvation:

We declare to this nation according to Isaiah 62: 11, "Surely your salvation is coming" and we speak the release of the Spirit of Revival into this nation; we call forth encounters with Jesus from those of every race, colour, culture and age group. We declare Psalm 85:9 "Your salvation is near to those who fear You, that Your glory may dwell in our land."
We speak to this land in the Name of Jesus "behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2
We declare that God is Lord of both the Heavens and the Earth, He is righteous, just and merciful, nothing is impossible to Him, He is the Sovereign Living God, all life comes from Him; the Name of Jesus is Higher than any other Name yet He came as a man, spoke Good News, healed the broken-hearted and set the captives free.

So we say to this nation "Behold Your God"

www.passionforthenation.uk

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are inviting churches to pray for the evangelisation of the nation during the week before Pentecost Sunday.

The Archbishops have written to every serving parish priest in the Church of England expressing their longing "to see a great wave of prayer across our land, throughout the Church of England and many other Churches" from 8th-15th May.

The week of prayer will culminate in 'Beacon events' around the country over Pentecost weekend, where people will pray for the renewal of the Holy Spirit and the confidence to share their faith.

In their letter the Archbishops said: "At the heart of our prayers will be words that Jesus himself taught us – 'Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.' It is impossible to overstate the life-transforming power of the Lord's Prayer. It is a prayer that is reassuring enough to be on the lips of the dying and yet dangerous enough to be banned in cinemas. It is famous enough to be spoken each day by billions in hundreds of languages and yet intimate enough to draw us ever closer into friendship with Jesus Christ. It is simple enough to be memorised by small children and yet profound enough to sustain a whole lifetime of prayer. When we pray it with sincerity and with joy, there is no imagining the new ways in which God can use us to his glory."

The Archbishops are suggesting various ways churches can engage with the week of prayer. These include holding a day or week of continuous '24/7' prayer as parishes, teams or deaneries; saying special prayers in Sunday worship; prayer walking; or handing out a novena prayer card to every congregation member.

The Beacon events will take place in the following places:

• St Paul's Cathedral (Saturday 14th May) – hosted by the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, and Pete Greig, founder of 24/7 prayer, with sung worship led by Tim Hughes and Jake Isaac.
• Durham Cathedral (Sunday 15th May) – with sung worship led by Lou Fellingham.
• Coventry Cathedral (Sunday 15th May) – with sung worship led by Noel Richards.
• Winchester Cathedral (Sunday 15th May) – with sung worship led by Matt Redman.
• St Michael le Belfrey, York (Sunday 15th May).
• Canterbury Cathedral (Sunday 15th May) – hosted by Archbishop Justin Welby and Pete Greig, with sung worship led by Tim Hughes.

Archbishop Justin will send a message via live video link to other Beacon events taking place at the same time as the Canterbury event.

Partners in the week of prayer initiative include 24-7 Prayer, HOPE, the World Prayer Centre, the Neighbourhood Prayer, Network, and the National Day of Prayer and Worship.

For more information, visit: www.thykingdom.co.uk

Gather Festival will be 72 hours of worship and prayer in rural Northumberland from 29th July - 1st August 2016. The festival is the vision of two guys in their 20's who are part of my church, Jonny Anderson and Jonny Tuck. The Lord has placed a holy dissatisfaction in their hearts where they've been longing to experience more of God's presence in their lives and experience a personal awakening. A key scripture for them has been Ephesians 5:14, 'Awake O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

From a place of personal conviction, they've given themselves to seek the Lord and felt a real burden to see the church awakened across the UK.

They've began hosting worship and prayer meetings once a month in Newcastle City Centre, drawing people from various churches. The festival is an outworking of these meetings; a place where people can consecrate a few days to come and encounter the Lord. The purpose of this festival is not to attract attendees with big name speakers/artists (not that we have anything against 'big names') - rather it's simply a gathering for people who are hungry to worship Jesus, meet Him in a place of consecrated prayer and be inspired and equipped by meeting others who are doing the same. As a result of the event, they hope to see people in the local church resourced to lives lifestyles of worship and prayer on a daily basis.

The event will consist of 72 hours of worship, interspersed with times of intercession. There'll also be break off seminars throughout the event with the purpose of equipping the church in prayer. There'll be an onsite cafe, a children's work and a networking tent (for strangers to become friends and share dreams/visions of what the Lord has been saying in their context.) They'd love new kingdom relationships and ventures to spring forth from this event.

They're looking to gather musicians/singers from throughout the UK to come and help lead the worship and prayer. They're also keen to speak anyone who feels able to offer their gifts to help make this event as fruitful as possible.

Jonny Anderson can be contacted on 07877116675 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For further details about their story/aims/location etc, please visit www.gatherfestival.co.uk

Tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite. 

Throughout 2015 we often invited you to join us as we concentrated our praying into the Middle East. We trust you will agree that concentration needs to be intensified as we go into the New Year. Every day our media is reporting from the area on political upheaval, millions of displaced people, acts of terrorism, a generation of children and young people with no hope, and nation fighting nation.

In the first days of this year we see the breakdown in contact between Saudi Arabia and Iran; Riyadh and Tehran vying for religious and political influence in the region. This breakdown has serious consequences for the two countries as Shia and Sunni battle for supremacy. The consequences for the whole region especially Syria and Yemen are equally serious and of course sitting in the middle of all this waring is Israel. A destabilised Middle East will increasingly have global spiritual, political, social and economic repercussions.

At the same time we are receiving reports of increasing numbers of people in that region becoming followers of Jesus. Even in the face of severe persecution, both Sunni and Shia men and women of all age groups, often through dreams and visions, are willingly risking everything to follow the One who they met in their dreams.

So today we renew the call to pray for the Middle East and here are some suggestions for prayer for you, your prayer group and your church.

• We declare the sovereignty of Christ over the whole region.
• We declare God's love for every Middle East country and every person in those countries, including those who govern each nation.
• We pray for courage and wisdom for every Christian.
• We pray for God's mercy on the children and young people.
• We pray for every agency endeavouring to bring comfort, food and shelter to those in need.
• We pray for every peace maker.
• We bless those who persecute and pray they too will find Jesus the Prince of Peace.
• We pray, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done across the Middle East in 2016".

At the World Prayer Centre we believe that prayer is foundational to everything we do as Christians. The 40 day season before Easter is traditionally marked in many churches as a time to discover more about God through prayer and fasting. Here are some resources to encourage and equip us from ministries we commend to you.

BEYOND THE LETTER BOX
The Neighbourhood Prayer Network's Lent Resource is designed for individuals, home groups or whole Church engagement. Each week has a scripture and one neighbour challenge for the week. For those of us who would like to do one small thing each day (Sunday's excluded as a day of rest), there are an additional 33 suggestions for you. There are also 7 prayer themes each week. The whole resource is 20 pages long and costs just £1 per booklet. www.neighbourhoodprayer.net

The Fast UK

KEEP BLESSING YOUR COMMUNITY
Network Norwich Call to Prayer's latest blessing booklet can offer an inspirational 40-day prayer guide that would lend itself well to daily prayer throughout Lent. Each day has a short declaration, scripture, blessing and prayer linked with one of the many names of God, to be spoken over the city, town or village where we live. £3.00 + postage and packing orders to E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CATCHING THE WAVE
This is a 40-day prayer guide encouraging us to pray for our communities and to pray for revival ideal for us during Lent produced by the organisers of TryPraying www.thereishope.co.uk/resources/
Try praying is for people who don't do church. The Try Praying booklet & app includes a simple challenge to try praying for seven days and see what happens. www.trypraying.org

PASSIONART: BE STILL celebrates Lent with a creative twist.
Onsite in six of Manchester's most iconic city centre venues, comprising of contemporary installations, paintings, sculpture and live performances by internationally renowned and local artists, uncovers moments where the sacred inhabits the ordinary. This year's vision is to call our busy city to "be still.... and know that I am God" www.passionart.guide/about/
Online access to 40 days reflections.

FAST AS YOU CAN
The Filling Station Network's plan is to pray and fast for Lent, which starts on the 10th of Feb, and pray for the Lord to work powerfully across the nation, Europe and the USA. Using the fasting model practiced by Daniel in the Old Testament, fast from 'rich foods, wine & delicacies' not total abstinence, as part of this prayer life. Find out more.

24-7 PRAYER – Lent podcasts www.24-7prayer.co.uk

Download as a PDF

We would like to extend a very warm invitation to you to have breakfast with us and take a unique opportunity to hear from one of the pastors who works in Damascus.

Pastor Edward is coming to Birmingham on SATURDAY 27 FEBRUARY and the two ministries of Open Doors and World Prayer Centre are partnering together to host a morning of hearing Edward speak, having chance to ask some questions and pray together. This is a significant visit for Pastor Edward to this nation and we would urge you in the strongest way possible to come to this event as we feel he has important things to share with us all.

Pastor Edward said, "I want to express my deep appreciation for the people in the West who keep us Christians in Syria in their prayers. My wife and I are thankful that we are still in Damascus. It is not in our own power that we are there, but it is through God's intervention in our lives. Your prayers encourage us. Through them we can encourage others.  We have a deep sense of peace and both believe that this peace is a gift from God, so we can stay in the country to encourage our people and to relieve some of the suffering."

We are meeting at the home of Birmingham Vineyard, Network House, in Barford Street, Digbeth. The morning will take the form of breakfast at 8:00am along with the chance to hear Pastor Edward speak. There will also be an opportunity to hear about partnering with Open Doors and their work with the persecuted church including plenty of complimentary resources available to equip your church in prayer. This will be followed by a more open time of sharing and a call to prayer for one of the great issues facing the global church, that of our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. The morning will finish prompt at 12noon.

Download the invitation and to book a place, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01993 460015 so that have an indication of numbers for catering. For more info see our websites :www.worldprayer.org.uk or www.opendoorsuk.org. We would appreciate you letting us know by Friday 29 January if you are going to be there.

At the World Prayer Centre we believe that prayer is foundational to all evangelism and social action. Here are some resources to encourage and equip us from ministries we commend to you.

PRAYING FOR OUR NEIGHBOURS
This is very much on the Father's heart at the moment and there are many different ways to do this. The Neighbourhood Prayer Network's vision is to see every street in the UK covered in Christian Prayer. Their resource book Neighbours, Transform your Street: Bringing prayer to our neighbours, Bringing Community back to our Streets (Sovereign World) brings together all the resources from partner agencies such as Ffald-y-Brenin Local Houses of Prayer, Adopt a Street, Love your Streets, Lighthouses of Prayer, etc. The invitation is for everyone to sign up on the website and receive a weekly email. More information: www.neighbourhoodprayer.net

HELPING THOSE WHO AREN'T 'RELIGIOUS' TO PRAY
Trypraying is for people who don't do church. The TryPraying booklet includes a simple challenge to try praying for seven days and see what happens. There is an adult, youth and children's versions. The invitation is to use it and then lose it (i.e. give it away) and can be used by individuals, small groups, churches and it has been very effective when a whole town or city uses it. "This is the only thing I have come across in the last 30 years that I have been willing to give away to friends and colleagues. It is nicely produced, starts with where people are at rather than expecting them to come to 'our position' and is completely non-cringe. In short, it's brilliant!" Church leader. For more information and to download a preview copy www.trypraying.org

PRAYING FOR OUR SCHOOLS: Every school in the UK a prayed-for school! That's the vision of Pray for Schools: to mobilise Christians to support their school communities through prayer. You can do this through starting a group to pray regularly for your local school; having schools prayer as a focus for your church or praying as an individual for a school near you. http://www.prayforschools.org

PRAYING FOR THOSE WHO ARE MUSLIM
The Mahabba Network exists to motivate and mobilise ordinary Christians to love their Muslim neighbours in word and deed, and to help churches to mentor and multiply dynamic communities of disciples. Mahabba means 'love' in Arabic. www.mahabba.co.uk

PICKING UP PRAYER
Picking up Prayer is praying through the streets of your village, town or city while picking up litter. This method of praying gets Christians out of their churches and homes and onto the very streets they want to see transformed. The primary aim is to bring blessing onto the streets, both physically and spiritually. http://churchplus.info/prayer/picking-up-prayer

WORLD PRAYER CENTRE BOOKLETS
Guides to: Prayer Walking; Praying Scripture; Praying for a Nation; The Persecuted Church; Children & Young People; Health Care Professionals; People at Work; Unsaved Family & Friends . £1.00 each or set of 8 for £5.00. New guide will be available March 2015: A Guide to Blessing; The Call of the Watchman £1.00 each or set of 10 for £8.00. www.worldprayer.org.uk