Presbyterian Church in Ireland - Mission Overseas - PL2010-22, 02-Jun-10

• About Us
• Contact Us
• Resources
• FAQs
• Useful Links

• Home
• Countries
• People
• Partners
• Get Involved
• Opportunities
• Projects
• News
• Blogs

PL2010-22, 02-Jun-10

The 'Day' and 'Country' designations below refer to the respective right-hand page(s) in the 2010 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 3 – JAMAICA

Around 73 people have been killed and scores injured in Kingston over the past couple of weeks, as security forces have battled with supporters of a suspected drug lord who the Jamaican authorities are trying to apprehend. Once arrested, he is to be extradited to the USA, where he is wanted on cocaine trafficking and gunrunning charges. Given the scale and extent of the violence and the resultant loss of life, the Jamaican security forces have been criticised for being too heavy handed, while the government is being accused of handling the situation poorly, bringing into question its moral and political authority. 

• Pray for a just resolution to this unfolding situation, protection for innocent civilians and the security forces, and for the restoration of peace and calm. 
  
  
• Pray for our partner church, the United Church of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands in this situation. 

Day 11 – BMO – Advice, Training, Service and Pastoral Care

This Saturday (5th), the Board of Mission Overseas in conjunction with Mission Agencies Partnership (MAP)is holding a day workshop entitled, ‘Preparing Families for Life Overseas’. The workshop is aimed at helping parents and children prepare for living abroad as it can sometimes be difficult, especially for families, to adapt to and thrive in a different culture. Marion Knell, whoheads up the Global Connections forum on Third Culture Kids, and lectures on the subject at UK Bible Colleges and International Conferences, will lead the adult sessions. Sandra Campbell, the Board’s Third Culture Kids (TCK) pastoral advisor and former PCI missionary, will lead the children’s sessions. 

Prayer Points –

• For those involved in leading and organising this event.
  
  
• That it will be very beneficial to the families who attend. 

Days 16 to 19 – MALAWI

Una Brownlie sends the following requests for prayer from the David Gordon Memorial Hospital, (DGMH) in Livingstonia:

• Pray for Josephine Soko and her team during this rainy season, having to cope with very difficult road conditions as they travel to various clinics in the community, where in each location they can see over 300 mothers with their babies, supporting and helping them in various ways.
  
  
• Pray too for the work and witness of DGMH.  Give thanks for the team of consultants who recently spent two weeks at DGMH, supporting and working alongside existing staff.  Many patients were helped and the staff learnt much.
  
  
• Remember the work of orphan care and the elderly grandmothers, as well as child-headed families, that staff may be able to support their physical and spiritual needs.
  
  
• The wards are busy and the staff few; please remember the faithful staff, as they work long hours to care for their patients.  Pray that more qualified staff may come and work in Livingstonia.
  
  
• Pray for some dry weather to allow people to harvest their crops as the maize needs to be dry before cutting / harvesting.

The CCAP Synod of Livingstonia continues to implement their recently developed Strategic Plan.

Prayer points:-

• For valuable insights to be gleaned from the survey that is currently taking place throughout the Synod on ways to improve the spiritual health of the congregations.
  
  
• For the taskforces working on improving ministerial and lay leadership training, as they analyse their survey results and gather material for writing a Training Policy and Curriculum for Lay Leadership Training. 

Next Tuesday (8th), the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia is interviewing candidates who’ve applied to be trained as ministers.

Prayer points:-

• That those interviewing will be guided by the Holy Spirit.
  
  
• For wisdom for the Synod leaders and College of Theology staff as they make decisions regarding future needs and practical matters.

Days 21 and 22– INDIA

Rt Rev Vinod Malaviya, Bishop of the Gujarat Diocese of the Church of North India (CNI) is due to arrive in Belfast this weekend and will be attending the General Assembly next week. 

As this is likely to be the last occasion Bishop Malaviya will be in Ireland before his retirement in 2012, a special evening of Thanksgiving & Reflection is being held in the McCracken Memorial Presbyterian Church on Sunday 13th June, to mark his visit and to reflect on his long association with PCI.

This event, which will commence at 7.00 pm, is open to all who may be interested. The evening will be a time for worship and thanksgiving to God, along with personal reflections from the Bishop and three individuals who, from different perspectives, have come to know him well over the years and now count him among their close friends.

We would encourage as many people as possible to attend this Reception but would ask those who intend coming, to please contact us, so that we know numbers for seating and catering purposes.

• Pray for an encouraging visit that will help the development of PCI’s partnership with the CNI’s Gujarat Diocese; and for a good attendance at the special reception being held in McCracken Memorial on Sunday evening, 13th June.

Click here for further information on this special evening of 'Thanksgiving & Reflection'.

Day 24 – NEPAL

Christians in Nepal are thankful for the global network of prayer, which last week averted a constitutional crisis in the country. During the last few minutes left for discussion and negotiation between the political parties last Friday evening (28th), an agreement was reached to extend the life of the Constitutional Assembly until 28th May 2011. However, in recent days there have been serious disagreements about the interpretation of the agreement with threats of further strike action if the current Prime Minister does not resign as per this latest agreement made on Friday last (28th May).

The pre-monsoon rains have arrived in Nepal and in some areas this is a great help to rice planting and growing. Power cuts have been reduced to six hours a day nationwide, due to there being more water in the rivers to drive hydro-power stations.

Grenville Hopkinson is currently travelling to UMN's cluster offices in Rukum and Mugu in the far west of Nepal. Accompanying him is a team of UMN senior staff who will support a week-long planning process for the cluster staff.

Georgie Hopkinson is hoping to start work soon as a classroom assistant at KISC, the Christian school in Kathmandu. She is also exploring opportunities to combine this work with undertaking some further study.

Janet Campbell will be travelling to Tansen tomorrow, Thursday 3rd. Once there, she will be having a number of pastoral interviews with individual staff and will also lead a time of retreat for prayer on Saturday (5th). Janet plans to return to Kathmandu next Monday (7th) or Tuesday (8th).

Joe Campbell will travel to Pokhara on Tuesday of next week (8th), and from Wednesday 9th to Friday 11th will conduct a workshop on peace-building with the senior management team of the International Nepal Fellowship (INF).

Prayer points:-

• Give thanks for the agreement on the Constitutional Assembly reached last week by the political parties in Nepal, and continue to pray for the development of a more stable political situation. 
  
  
• For safely for Grenville as he travels to Rukum and Mugu in the next two weeks, especially as it is approaching monsoon. Pray for useful and inspiring planning with the UMN staff in these two remote clusters.
  
  
• For Georgie as she starts her new role in KISC. Pray also for the Hopkinson children as they adjust to the new arrangements.
  
  
• For safety for Janet Campbell travelling to Tansen and for a useful time there with staff.
  
  
• For Joe Campbell that INF will be guided in their planning and thinking about possible peace-building projects through their partners.

Days 27 to 29 – INDONESIA

Barry McCroskery has arrived home safely from the island of Rote where he was leading sessions in a ‘Training of Trainers’ three-day workshop for a number of Presbyteries. On 8th June Barry will be travelling to Singapore, where he will be staying for a few days while he has his visa renewed.

• Give thanks that the workshop went very well and pray for the ministers and elders who attended as they take what they have learned back to their congregations. 
  
  
• Pray that there will be no complications with the renewal of Barry’s visa and that all the preparations will be completed on time.

Rev Anton Piga (Moderator),Rev (Mrs) Jerda Djawa (First Assistant Moderator) and Rev Demianus Ice(Assistant GeneralSecretary) of the Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera (GMIH) arrived safely in Belfast last Friday (28th) for their two-week visit to PCI during which they will be attending the General Assembly. 

A special Reception to mark their visit, which is open to all who may be interested, is being held in the Minor Hall, ChurchHouse on Thursday3rd June, in the evening.  Tea and coffee will be served from 7.30pm with proceedings commencing at 8.00 pmsharp. Our guests will share with us some of the current issues and challenges facing their Church which has witnessed four years of bloody, inter-communal conflict between Christians and Muslims beginning in late 1999. 

We would encourage as many people as possible to attend this Reception. We would be grateful if those who intend coming could contact the Mission Overseas Office in Church House (Tel: 028 9032 2284), so that we know numbers for seating and catering purposes.

• Pray for an encouraging visit that will help the development of PCI’spartnership with GMIH; and for a good attendance at the special reception being held in Church House on Thursday 3rd June.

For further information on the Reception click here.

Day 30 – CHINA

Edith Josephine (Joey) McCausland sadly passed away on Saturday, 29th May. Joey served as a missionary in China from 1937 to 1941 and was supported by Irish Presbyterian Women. 

• Give thanks for Joey’s life and faithful service to God.
  
  
• Remember her family and friends at this time of sorrow and loss. 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is meeting in Church House, Belfast throughout next week – Monday 7th to Thursday 10th June.

           i.    Monday night’s Opening Service will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster at 7.00pm

          ii.    Tuesday’s Communion Service at 12 noon in the Assembly Hall (Church House) is open to all communicants and the speaker at which will be the outgoing Moderator Dr Stafford Carson. 

        iii.    Daily public worship is held on Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th from 12.15 pm to 1.00 pm, and will be led by the Moderator’s Chaplains, Niall Lockhart and Mark Shaw. 

        iv.    ‘Presbyterians Talk: Policing and Justice’ - on Tuesday 8th beginning at 7.45 pm.  Norman Hamilton will host this event, chaired by Jim Fitzpatrick which will allow members of the audience to put their point of view on policing and justice to a panel including PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Judith Gillespie; the Acting Chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Brian Rea; the Director of Probation, Brian McCaughey; and newly appointed Minister of Justice, David Ford. 

          v.    The Assembly Celebration on Wednesday evening commences at 7.45 pm.  Norman Hamilton has planned this event as “the equivalent of an MOT for our souls”.  What is going on in our live that is good, well maintained and up to standard, and what is going on that might bring failure, spiritual breakdown or danger are the questions to be asked and answered through an honest assessment of both the encouragements and discouragements facing us today.  Providing some answers will be a panel including the Bishop of Down and Dromore, Rev Harold Millar; former Baptist Pastor, David McMillan; the Director of Scripture Union in N. Ireland, Helen Warnock; and Roz Stirling, PCI’s Director of Youth and Children’s Ministry.  Praise will be led by Ballysillan Praise Group.  You are encouraged to attend this event if at all possible. 

        vi.    Apart from Private Business, on Thursday early morning (10th), all sessions are open to the public. 

Please pray for –

• God’s blessing on the Assembly and the Holy Spirit’s guidance in all its deliberations and that the decisions reached will bring glory to God and enable our Church to be effective in its life and witness throughout Ireland and in the wider world.
  
  
• Wisdom and grace for the incoming Moderator, Rev Dr Norman Hamilton, as he chairs proceedings, and for the Clerk, Rev Dr Donald Watts, as he provides guidance on procedures and the business before the house.
  
  
• The outgoing Moderator, Rev Dr Stafford Carson and his wife Patricia, as they take a well-earned rest and prepare to return in a few weeks’ time to their congregational family in First Portadown.
  

The Board of Mission Overseas’ report to the Assembly is scheduled for Wednesday morning (9th). 

• Give thanks for the ongoing sense of the Lord’s leading and guiding in all the work of the Board over the past year. 
  
  
• Give thanks for our missionary personnel serving in many different situations and countries around the world. Pray that they would continue to know encouragement and blessing in all they do and protection from physical dangers and spiritual attack.
  
  
• Give thanks to God for our mission partners overseas, for churches and mission agencies faithfully seeking to serve the Lord as they share the Good News of the Gospel in word and deed. Pray for wisdom for leaders and the Lord’s joy and blessings even in the midst of the trials and difficulties that many face on a daily basis.
  
  
• Pray for our partner church representatives attending the General Assembly, that they will know safe travels, encouraging participation in Assembly debates, and warm hospitality and fellowship during their time in Ireland. 

For further information about the General Assembly, click here
General Assembly on Twitter

Designed by hamillBosket