PL2009-47, 25-Nov-09
Wednesday, 25th November 2009 | No: PL2009-47 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 'Day' and 'Country' designations below refer to the respective right-hand page(s) in the 2009 edition of the Points for Prayer Handbook, which contains useful background information to these prayer requests.
Click on these links for further information on Countries, Partners and People.
Day 8 – ROMANIA & UKRAINE
Rev Uel Marrs, Overseas Secretary, arrived safely in Cluj on Monday (23rd) and has been staying with Csaba and Ilona Veres and family. As well as spending time with the Veres family, he’s also been meeting with Reformed Church leaders and visiting the Aksza Mission Home and the Caleb House. He is due home tomorrow, Thursday 26th.
- Pray that Uel’s visit will be an encouragement to the Veres family; and for helpful outcomes from his meetings with Reformed Church leaders and the staff at Aksza and Caleb.
- Continue to pray for the Veres family and their ministry in Cluj; for the work of the Aksza Mission and Caleb House; and for the children and young people who live in these homes.
Jenni Wolfe received her new visa from the Ukrainian Embassy in Budapest last Wednesday (18th) and has since returned to Nagybereg in Western Ukraine. The Reformed Church School (NBRL), where she is an English-language Assistant, is now open again after being closed for three weeks due to the bad flu epidemic that’s sweeping through Western Ukraine.
- Give thanks for Jenni’s visa renewal and a safe journey back to Ukraine.
- Remember Jenni, and the staff and students at NBRL, as they settle back after the recent closure.
Day 13 –KENYA
Stephen Cowan reports from Tuum that: “Raids continue in the area with a Turkana raid this week in which a child was killed, when they attacked a Samburu village near Wuaso Rongai. There are continued peace meetings to help bring understanding between the two communities but they often miss the real cultural issues.”
- Give thanks for the rains that have come to Kenya in recent weeks and pray for more as what has fallen so far is not really sufficient to give sustained growth. Though in the mountains there has been some good grass growth.
- Give thanks that Stephen is back in Tuum and recovering from pneumonia.
Members of the Christian Union from Kabete Campus are continuing to prepare for their visit to Tuum from 12th to 19th December, when they will be leading a mission.
- Pray that this will be a good learning experience for all the students involved, as well as being a fruitful time of outreach in villages where the gospel is very new.
- Pray for all the preparations being made in Tuum for their visit; and for the youth camps, which will also be taking place in December.
There will be bee-keeping training this week in Tuum for some people from near Baragoi who have an interest in bee-keeping but no previous involvement in honey production.
- Pray that the training will prove useful to all who attend. Pray too that there will also be opportunities to share the gospel message with these people while they are in Tuum.
Days 16 to 19 – MALAWI
Today (25th) and tomorrow (26th), Victoria Chihana and Helen Quinn are visiting Women's Empowerment Groups in each of the congregations in Luwerezi Presbytery. This is a remote and a poor area. Their last visit to this Presbytery was in March, as they are seeking to help the groups become more self-reliant; and to also economise on their travelling.
- Pray that the enthusiasm of the women will be maintained and that they will be able to repay their loans so that new groups of women can get loans.
- Pray for safe and trouble-free travel for Victoria and Helen.
The Board of the Lay Training Centre is due to meet in Ekwendeni tomorrow, Thursday 26th.
- Pray that the Board will have renewed vision for what the Lay Training Centre is entrusted to do for the development of the life of the whole Livingstonia Synod.
Neil Kennedy continues to be busy, lecturing at the University of Malawi and as Consultant Paediatrician in the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. Four operating tables and four anaesthetic machines arrived safely in Malawi on the latest 'Container for Malawi', which reached Blantyre a few days ago. The equipment has now been delivered to Cure Mission Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, generating much excitement amongst the surgical and anaesthetic staff at both hospitals.
Everything appears to be in working order but unfortunately there are two problems with the operating tables which need to be resolved. Firstly, the electric supply units (special transformers) for two of the tables have been mixed up with equipment which has been sent to another part of Malawi. Secondly, the two tables that have power suppliers, light up and look as if they should work, but unfortunately they are not functioning (i.e. they won’t move up or down, tilt, etc).
- Give thanks for this gift of operating tables and anaesthetic machines, and for their safe arrival in Malawi.
- Pray that ‘missing’ electric supply units will soon be found and ‘returned’ to Blantyre.
- Pray that the ‘malfunctioning’ problem with the two operating tables will soon be resolved and that the equipment will be used well.
Dorothy Marshall, President of Presbyterian Women (PW), and Edna McIlwaine, PW Overseas Vice-President, are due home today (25th) having spent the last 2˝-weeks visiting the CCAP Synods of Blantyre and Livingstonia and PCI mission personnel currently serving there.
- Give thanks that their visit went well and for safety and good health.
- Pray that their visit will have been an encouragement to all they met.
Diane Cusick is settling back into her work in the Livingstonia Synod having arrived back in Mzuzu late on Tuesday of last week (17th) after a six-week study period in Belfast. This past week has been a busy one for Diane as she played host to Dorothy Marshall and Edna McIlwaine and caught the end of the school term (schools closed on 20th). She’s glad to be back but now has quite a bit to do in preparation for the start of the new term which begins on 7th December.
- Give thanks for a useful study-time in Belfast and remember to pray for Diane as she tries to find time in all her busyness to continue with the studies for her Master’s degree.
- Pray for Diane and her colleagues as together they prepare for the new school term starting very soon, on 7th December.
Day 21 – INDIA
It is more than a year since Hindu fundamentalists attacked Christians in the Kandhamal District of the State of Orissa. Thousands of homes and several hundred churches were destroyed, and more than 100 Christians lost their lives (many brutally murdered). In order to find shelter and safety, many fled into the hills or forests to find shelter and safety. Today, the majority are still there, unable to return to their villages for fear of further attacks, and living in make-shift tents and cooking in the outdoors with inadequate medical and sanitary facilities.
Moved by the continuing plight of Christians in Orissa, The CLIO TRUST is highlighting the need for pressure to be brought on the Indian authorities to take steps to protect, and give practical help to these persecuted and neglected people.
With these facts in mind, the Clio Trust is sponsoring a Petition, urging the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, to enter into dialogue with the Indian Government and seek to find a way of ending this tragic suffering.
It is hoped that as many as possible will lend support, by signing the Petition (see below) and give gifts to provide much-needed aid – thereby showing compassion for Christians in Orissa, who continue to suffer.
Prayer Points –
- For the Lord to overrule and bring peace to Orissa and other parts of India where there is inter-communal discord and Christians continue to face suffering and persecution.
- For a spirit of forgiveness towards the perpetrators of evil.
- For the success of these endeavours.
- For those working to bring practical help to all those who are suffering.
- For the persecuted people of Kandhamal in Orissa, in particular.
- Pray especially that the Lord will comfort His children in their sorrow.
Links: The Clio Trust | Petition | News Item
Day 24 – NEPAL
Janet Campbell returned safely to Kathmandu earlier today (Wednesday, 25th) from a short training programme in the USA in connection with the pastoral care of mission personnel.
Tomorrow, (Thursday 26th), Janet will conduct the first of four weekly meditations for Advent in UMN headquarters in Kathmandu.
- Give thanks for this useful training.
- Pray for Janet Campbell as she leads the Advent reflections that the Kathmandu UMN community will increasingly be aware of and respond to God’s love.
The Hopkinson family attend Kathmandu International Christian Congregation (KICC). Georgie Hopkinson chaired the Vacancy Committee, tasked with selecting a new pastor. Rev Rendel Day has now been appointed as KICC's new pastor and will begin his new ministry early in 2010.
- Pray for KICC, where around 200 people worship each Sunday morning, and a number of small groups meet during the week.
- Pray for Rendel Day and his wife Teresa, as they prepare to live and work among the Christian community in Kathmandu.
Bajhang District is a very remote area in the far west of Nepal with a population of over 160,000. Last year, UMN began to work in this very needy region.
Bajhang is over 160 miles from the UMN office in Nepalgunj. It is normally an 18-hour journey by road from Nepalgunj to Bajhang, over half of which is on rough mud and stone mountain-roads, followed by a two-hour walk into the District Centre. There is a flight once a week when the weather is clear, which makes getting there easier and quicker.
There are two small churches in the District, but by far the most dominate faith is Hindu. There is also a lot of superstitious religion and the caste system in widely practiced. During the winter, many men and boys migrate to India for work.
Prayer Points –
- For the UMN staff team living and working in Bajhang; and especially for the team leader, Madhu Thapa, who is a keen Believer.
- For the health of the staff and their safety as they travel (usually on foot) to work in more remote villages.
- For good team life; and guidance and wisdom, as they seek to integrate into the life of the community.
- That local Believers will be ‘salt and light’ in this remote and spiritually needy, predominantly Hindu region.
UMN’s Board has been meeting this week and useful discussions have taken place on the emerging strategic plan for UMN, which Grenville Hopkinson is involved in. The strategic plan was one of many items on the agenda, but it was positively received with good discussion and ownership of the proposed areas of change. The next stage of the planning process will be continued from the end of this week, with the final strategy being approved in February 2010.
- Give thanks for the good progress made to date with UMN’s new strategic plan. Continue to pray for the work of further developing and refining the plan.
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