Displaying items by tag: church

Pastor Toby leads Spacnation South London, a faith-based organisation committed to transforming the lives of young people. In a generation where many young people have been dejected, abused and simply overlooked, Spacnation offers an alternative, whilst changing the narrative of this generation one step at a time. They are rescuing people from gangs, from addiction and from fear, with over one hundred baptised each week. They have set up 23 safe houses for gang members who are willing to turn their life around and escape from a life of crime; they say their safe houses are homes full of fun, food and fascinating stories. Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has backed the initiative, saying the safe houses seem to be working and are part of a solution. See

Alexey, a middle-school dropout, first went to the missionaries’ church for food when he was a homeless beggar. When he got a job and could feed himself, he stopped attending church. He met Anya and they had a baby boy, but he fell into substance abuse and his income did not cover family costs. When child welfare authorities arrived at their door to take their son away, they successfully pleaded for more time to show they could care for him. Realising his need for God, Alexey took his family to church the following Sunday. He repented and asked believers to pray for them. ‘From that day, a huge change took place in our lives. We got married, I ended drug and alcohol abuse, and we read the Bible daily. Thanks to God for the miracle He has done in our lives.’

World Mental Health Day was 1 October. This year it was supported by the International Association for Suicide Prevention. Every forty seconds, someone commits suicide. ‘40 seconds of action’ raises people’s awareness of the frequency of suicide, and the role that each of us can play to help prevent it. In the UK one in four adults will have mental health problems at some stage in their lifetime. For every suicide, there are twenty suicide attempts. These have an impact on families, friends, colleagues, communities and societies. Pray for a proactive church to support vulnerable people with mental health challenges wisely. 20% of the UK population will suffer from depression. Pray for more friends, neighbours, and relatives prepared to stand with the sufferers with compassion and support them through their crisis.

All over the UK, God has been doing a hidden work through GATHER - a network of over 120 movements in villages, towns and cities across the UK with Christian leaders and churches forming vibrant mission-focused unity movements based on prayer and friendship. These networks are taking the prayer of Jesus seriously: ‘May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me’ (John 17:23). Tired of working in isolation from, or in competition with, other churches in their area, these networks are laying aside theological and cultural differences for the sake of reaching their local area with the love of Christ. GATHER is building a growing movement, not an organisation, which encourages and supports unity movements to grow and develop in their prayer, fellowship and missional transformation activities.

We praise God that hundreds of new Iranian and Afghan believers have been baptised in recent months in cities across the region. In Iran, these include teenagers who were deeply impacted recently by an Elam youth discipleship conference. The baptisms have been occasions of great joy and celebration, often lasting from morning to evening. Over 100 more new believers will be baptised soon at a service in Afghanistan. Please pray that all these new believers will grow in love and knowledge of Christ, and that God will protect them and give them wisdom as they witness to family and friends.

Most British schools reopen on 2 September. During the holidays, three million children were at risk of hunger. One in five children faced food insecurity, one of the highest rates in Europe, because they were no longer receiving a daily school meal. Because of this, a variety of organisations and churches dotted across the nation have been providing free activities and hot and healthy meals to children and families who would otherwise have gone hungry. They have also been supporting and building relationships with the most vulnerable in our communities. Pray for these relationships to continue to grow after the ‘hunger clubs’ close down. Pray for the church volunteers who now have contact with some of the hidden ones in their communities to continue to give families the loving support that a compassionate church can give. Also, 37% of teachers spot malnutrition when children return to school after the holidays. Please pray for sensitive relationships to be built between families in poverty, teachers, social workers, councils, and other agencies able to support the vulnerable. See

Lebanon's name was mentioned 71 times in the Old Testament. Its regions are referred to several times in the New Testament. The Old Testament is full of praise for Lebanon's natural beauty and resources and God's love for men and women is celebrated.

Lebanon's role in the history of salvation becomes even more evident in the writings of New Testament authors. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, visited the Phoenician cities along Lebanon's coast, preached to the people there and healed the sick.

God loves His people and He wants them to be saved. We had a burden for many years to pray continually for Lebanon, we want to see Lebanon transformed to Jesus Christ. Hallelujah.

In Psalm 24:1-2 we read “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas, and established it on the waters.”

CHURCH:

Pray: for unity between all church denominations in Lebanon (Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelica, etc...) Let every church become a house of prayer leading people to know about Jesus as the only true saviour. Pray for all church leaders, bishops, archbishops, all clergy and lay ministers.

Pray: for the church in Lebanon that Jesus established to be strong. Jesus’ church has stood the test of time. It cannot be stopped by force, political pressure, or even political correctness. Jesus will continue to build His church until He returns in glory to redeem His bride, and absolutely nothing or no one can stand in His way.

Pray: that the Lord God gives His church the spirit of wisdom and revelation in knowledge according to the riches of His glory, for His faithful to be strengthened with might by His Spirit that Christ may dwell in the hearts of His Lebanese people for ever; and that they are rooted and grounded in love. May they be able to comprehend and to know the love of Christ, which passes all knowledge, that they might be filled with all the fullness of God.

Lilian Schmid - Coordinator                                              

Prayer Strategy for the Spheres of Influence                             
www.prayerstrategy.org

A third of the world call themselves ‘Christians’, but many are missing from our churches; others are present, but don’t have the joy of knowing and following Christ. Something has to change! Mission to nominal Christians is missing from the global church agenda. We need to confess and pray: ‘Father, we confess that we have overlooked nominal Christians in society and in our churches. We confess faltering witness, defective discipleship, and lack of concern for those who bear the name of Christ but through ignorance, sin, or rejection are far from the way of Christ and his church. We are quick to judge and slow to listen - especially when they come from a different church tradition. We ask you, Father, to touch the lives of nominal Christians with your powerful Holy Spirit so that they will come to a saving faith in Christ.’

Far from seeing reform after Robert Mugabe was toppled, the country has fallen into deeper crisis as millions are ‘reduced to paupers’. Power cuts from dawn to long after dusk are causing families to cook on firewood in almost total darkness. Monthly earnings barely cover two weeks’ living expenses. With Mnangagwa things have gone from bad to worse with outlandish austerity measures causing 175% inflation. Multiple currencies replaced by another new Zimbabwe dollar, fuel subsidies cut, poor harvests, a cyclone and drought have compounded problems. The Zimbabwe Church is calling for the international community and the government to hear the cries of Zimbabwean families surviving on two meals a day and lacking life-saving medicine. UK aid agency CAFOD is asking for national dialogue, for all in authority to come together and address the current crisis as they do what they can to assist with food, clean water supplies, and seeds (70% of the population grow their own food).

A proposed bill allowing mainland China to pursue government critics and criminals in Hong Kong and extradite them to China drew protest marches by thousands on 9-11 June, causing a debate on 12 June to be cancelled. The Catholic diocese of Hong Kong joined the social welfare sector and the largest teachers’ union in voicing concerns about the bill. Two thousand counsellors, carers, therapists, and religious groups went on strike. A strike organiser said, ‘We are forced to take a stand on this moral question of right and wrong.’ Several other Christian denominations in Hong Kong also voiced concerns. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters, who threw bricks and projectiles back. People are worried that the civil rights and freedoms guaranteed to Hong Kong under the ‘one country two systems’ arrangement will be eroded under the new law. China often uses accusations of non-political crimes to prosecute its critics.