From
Weekly Newsletter 22nd March 2013
report from “We Gather”
meeting
www.wegather.co.uk a
consultation on how the church can engage with civic authorities. This
meeting was inspiring and showed how much work the wider church is doing to
address problems locally. There were several presentations showing how
difficult it will be by 2020 for councils to fund many social projects as our
population ages and money declines. This meeting served to remind me, just
how important the role of the church is going to become in meeting our nations
needs. Please consider visiting their website over the coming weeks to find
out more and to hear encouraging stories from around the UK.
Easter Weekly Newsletter Friday 29th March
2013 1267 Streets being prayed for
An astounding 60,000 Father's Love Letter's have been
ordered to give out in local streets. Thank you to UCB who have paid for all
the printing and have posted them out. Thank you to all who have ordered these.
UCB have ordered more due to popular demand if people want these throughout the
rest of the year.
Honouring
the Elderly in our streets.
- Half of over 75s regard television
as their main source of company.
- Age UK says that 1 in 10 pensioners
feel lonely most of the time.
- A further 1 in 10 see friends and
family once all month and also feel cut off from society.
Growing evidence says that
loneliness can cause health problems and lead to higher rates of dementia,
heart disease and high blood pressure.
In the Bible, we learn that Moses was
over eighty, when he lead the Israelites out of Eygpt (Exodus), that Abraham
and Sarah were well advanced in years when they were blessed with their son
Isaac (Genesis18:12), that Joshua (Joshua), was over eighty when he took over
from Moses to lead the Israelites into the promised land. Elizabeth gave birth
to John the Baptist when she was advanced in years, (Luke 1). God honours those
who are older. They have a lot of wisdom to give to the younger generations!
From Weekly Newsletter 15th March 2013
–Survey results from Daily Mail 10th
March and Daily Express 11th March
Only one in three of us
introduce ourselves to our neighbours when we move because we are too busy - 1
in 4 people do not know the names of the people living next door. Researchers
discovered that a large percentage of us are too busy to make ourselves known
to those living nearest us. 50%
of us don't know our neighbours 75% of people wanted there to
be more community spirit in their area, 52%
saying it would make their neighbourhood feel safer and 53% just wanted to make friends.
Over half of us who have knocked on a neighbours door
have sparked a relationship such as a new friendship, help in a time of
trouble or started a new hobby.
Pensioners in loneliness epidemic,
*Survey conducted for the associated Retirement
Community Operators (ARCO) found that 1 in 4 over 65s (24%) felt lonely, some
or most of the time. 1 in 5 over 75s sometimes go a full weekend without seeing
or speaking to another person.
Street Prayer
in Oxford from weekly Newsletter
Friday 8th March 2013
I am happy to report that
Neighbourhood Prayer Network and Street Prayer are seeking a closer working
relationship in the coming weeks.
The emphasis of Streetprayer
is in encouraging Christians to find other Christians on their street
and pray together for their streets. Clearly this is something Neighbourhood
Prayer Network fully supports. We encourage you to read this testimony of how
they began and what has happened since and perhaps consider using their model
in your area. We believe that God has been speaking to many of us about the
same vision and this is another part of the jigsaw puzzle of what God is
saying. We encourage you to visit streetprayer.org for
more information and prayerfully consider if God is calling you to organise
prayer breakfasts or meals in your area; (to become a street prayer champion).
If you plan to use this model, please contact Streetprayer to encourage them!
Testimony
Streetprayer is about helping
Christian neighbours to find each other, eat, sing, pray together and sow a
seed in their area that will grow into a large tree! Streetprayer began in Edgeway Road,
Oxford, in September 2007. Since then, many new people have joined and in 2010,
we launched Streetprayer across Oxford and about twenty breakfasts were held
around the city. The idea is spreading and Abingdon, a nearby town is the next
place planning to start the project.
In the beginning, a team of
eight of us called on every household on Edgeway Road, inviting them to a
prayer breakfast. Surprisingly the response was positive from most people, and
on the day, twenty came. We chatted, sang and prayed. Everyone said they'd like
to meet up regularly, so every month, two or three different homes opened their
doors to their street. In a city like Oxford there's a wide choice of
congregation; on our street of about 100 homes there are at least six different
churches represented!
What has been the fruit of
that initial breakfast? Firstly we've grown to love one another more and more
as neighbours, and we believe that love is spilling out. A core group pray
together every week and have a praise time early every Thursday morning. This
Saturday we're holding an impromptu buffet meal for the street, inviting
various neighbours.
There have been a great
number of unchurched people coming to events and some joining churches. There
are several stories like when we put our last flyer through a door and as a
result a young couple came who hadn't ever been to church. They are now reading
the Bible and seeking the Lord. Several foreign students and temporary visitors
have also come and are keen to find churches in their home countries. In fact
new people come to every area breakfast and it's thrilling (currently we hold
an area one every two months and street events in between).”
Friday 15th
February 2013 1129 Street being prayed
for
Answered Prayer Sometimes we can wait months or even years
for our prayers to be answered. Below is a testimony that shows the power
of prayer. Every prayer you pray matters and can be very powerful. Please keep
praying for your neighbours. It really does make a difference. Just try praying for three houses to
begin with, all of us can do this.
Testimony
To keep the details of this
testimony confidential we have deliberately omitted the place and name of the
person who provided the testimony, to ensure this gentleman's confidentiality
is respected.
Thank you for the brilliant
resource that you have provided and all our church have been
provided with the guide to use through Lent.
Today, we spoke with our
neighbour who was diagnosed with cancer recently. We have been praying and have
told his wife that we are praying for him. The blood test that is a marker
for his cancer has dropped substantially in the last few weeks, he feels
so much better than he was, and his wife is saying that the specialists will
be amazed when they next see him. Praise God for His work in this man's
life and please pray with us that his neighbour of ours will continue to
see God at work and that he would soon find Jesus as his personal Saviour.
Father's Love
Letter:
Due to huge demand, UCB is
out of stock of the Father's Love Letter. You have ordered more than 38,000
copies - wow. More have been ordered. You can still place your orders for
the Lent/Easter/Fathers Day period, new stock will arrive soon. Thank you to
all who have ordered and even delivered the Father's Love Letter. Please
let us know of any testimonies arising from the distribution of this resource.
22nd
February 2013 “Thanks so much for praying for your
street, we're approaching 300,000 people being covered in prayer, through us
uniting together for our streets.
This week we joined the
National Day of Prayer and Worship and One Voice New York in York as part of
the Join
the Dots tour following the National Day of Prayer and Worship in Wembley
stadium on the 29th September 2012. One
Voice York - For many years 40 leaders have been meeting every Wednesday
to pray and fellowship. Out of these meetings many joint projects across
churches have been launched.
FATHER’S
LOVE LETTER
From weekly
Newsletter 25th January 2013
1060 Streets being prayed for -
In 2005, in Southend-on Sea,
"Churches Together" delivered 75,000 copies of the "Father's Love Letter to every
home in the town. As they were delivered by churches working together, each
household was prayed for. The result was that 300 people made a commitment to
become a Christian or came back to God. Working with UCB,
we want to give you the opportunity to give out the Father's Love Letter. It is
a collection of verses, in the form of a letter, from Genesis to Revelation
that tells the tale of God the Father's love for you, His child. It has proven
very popular among those who are Christian and even those who are not.
We are suggesting that your
church, your home group, or you as an individual may want to deliver this
letter to your local streets around Valentines Day, Father's day or over the
Lent/Easter period. The letter is in a card format and on the back is a
reference to LookingforGod.com,
Prayerline and a space for your local church to insert their contact details.
Phone 0845 6040401, to order your
free copies from UCB. You will need to pay postage costs only, UCB has kindly
sponsored the print cost.
Testimony “"After
the National Worship and Prayer Day back in Autumn, I ordered your book
"Transform your Street" which inspired me to start praying for my
street. In your book, I came across the Father's Love Letter which was truly
touching my heart. I checked out the video which has become such a blessing. I
have used it during a prayer meeting which I hold every two weeks in my house.
But further more, God put it on my heart back in Autumn, to use the printed
version for Christmas.
I have added the letter to
Christmas cards, but we also distributed copies of the letter on Christmas
Eve, in the evening to houses in our street.”
Testimony from minister in Ely “"IPODs
- Intentional Prayer on Our Doorsteps
A desire to get ordinary
members of the church praying - praying for their own local
neighbourhoods, and
(hopefully) to get excited about it! Yet
how to do this? Everyone is so busy. Prayer seems to slide to the bottom of the
'ought-to' list, not because we don't think it works, but because everything
else crams in. Plus we are a friendly bunch, good at asking after one another-
good characteristics for a Christian but having the downside that we might
simply chat to each other, forgetting the streets around us.
Then an idea - suggest people
form small groups, maybe even just starting with two, with the express
intention of praying for the local area. Set a key principle from the outset
with some simple rules:
*
Pray for the neighbourhood rather than each other
*
Make it local - if you can't walk to it in less than 10 minutes you can't join!
*
Make it short n sweet - e.g. just 20 minutes at a mutually convenient time and
place: the
home, the park,
whatever
*Be
imaginative - walk together, find simple liturgies, draw your own prayer maps,
whatever it takes to inject freshness
The second (unstated)
principle was to advertise and then wait to see what happens, i.e. don't
specify how many, who, where ... instead let people in the church take the hint
and form their own groups (with some gentle encouragement here and there!).
From this our church now has
6 regular IPODs - groups meeting intentionally to pray on their doorsteps
across the city. Some meet bi-weekly, some are more ad hoc. Some have naturally
become ecumenical (why not?). All have ordinary Christians praying for their
local area, on the look out for fresh ideas, as well as watching and waiting to
see how God may move."
Friday 7th December 2012 - 896 Streets as
being prayed for
“I had a wonderful time in Scotland at a leaders gathering. I
spent a lot of time with Jean Black from "Pray for Scotland" and
found it to be a refreshing and encouraging experience. I shared the vision of
Neighbourhood Prayer Network, which is very similar to the great work, our
partners, "Pray for Scotland" have been doing over the last few
years. They have had a vision to see Lighthouses of prayer all over Scotland
and a Prayer, Care, Share model! I had learned about this after I had already
written the outline for "Neighbours, Transform Your Street" around a
Prayer, Care and Share model ! God is speaking to many of us about the same
vision and we all have an important part of a jigsaw that makes a bigger
picture! They have much to teach us and we spent some time talking about a
closer working relationship.
The next day I travelled to
the "Well" in Bury, St Edmunds, at the invitation of Caroline
Anderson who was one of three people who wrote the "Keep praying and
Bless" prayer guide used during the TORCH relay for the Olympics. I was
able to share the vision for Neighbourhood Prayer Network with people from East
Anglia. It was an inspiring experience and there is so much prayer going on
here and so much beauty in the people who attended. It was a real privilege to
spend time with people as we sought God in prayer and worship. We will be
adding the "Keep praying and Bless" prayer guide and a newer guide to
our prayer resources soon.
Testimony - We are approaching Christmas and the
season for parties is starting, Bonnie, from Gt Bentley, a village midway
between Colchester and Clacton in Essex, has given us permission to share this
testimony.
Just thought you might like to hear of the following experience
I have had since praying for our street. We live in a small cul de sac of 10
houses. 2 weeks ago our next door neighbour decided to let their 18 year old
daughter have the 2nd mid week party this year. During the summer this had
entailed partying and loud music going on until the early hours when most of us
had to go to work next day. I felt angry and resentful and remained so for
several days afterwards. This time I still felt that it was not a repectful
thing to do as the party was supposed to go on until 1am. I prayed about the
situation and my own attitude changed from one of annoyance which could lead to
a falling out, to an attitude of acceptance. I also prayed that the young
people who attended the party would be safe as they made their way home, as
from the noise it was evident that most were very drunk. I believe that this is
the attitude that Jesus expects us to have and aided by the Holy Spirit this
can prevent a situation turning from one that can start neighbourhood disputes
into one of loving your neighbour, even though a lack of precious sleep was
involved! yours Bonnie
Friday 12th
October 2012 - 416 Streets signed up as being prayed for.
“Thank you so much for the tremendous
encouragement you have all been this week. After so many years of carrying this
vision, I now feel I am firmly on a journey to see the vision fulfilled.
This week has been an exciting
week as we have seen over 400 people register to pray for their street. A
number of Initiatives that are similar to Neighbourhood Prayer Network, have
contacted us and we are looking at ways we can work together in partnership.
