Prayer We endeavour to bring you a daily prayer topic in the form of a prayer diary from Tear Fund. We also will try to provide you with things to remember in your prayers this week.

What is the Prayer Meeting Like? (Prayer Meeting every Tuesday @ 7pm) We begin with a meditation from Scripture and a time of praise and thanksgiving to God, followed by prayer for our church, people and situations that we know of locally and worldwide.

Prayer This Week 5th September 2010

“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble......
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer...." 1 Peter 3:8, 12
As a new season starts after the holidays it is important to pray for our church - the life, leaders, witness and mission of St John’s.
0 To do this effectively we each need to have a daily personal quiet time with God. This can easily be neglected in the business of life.
0 We also need to be united in prayer as a fellowship.
As we pray for our church we remember
• Our Minister Jane, the Elders and Congregational Board.
• Those working with young people and the young people themselves
• People who are involved in the life of our church each week.
• The new things happening – The Embers to a Flame project and Pastoral care.

September 2010

RELEASED AND RESTORED: 5-11 SEPTEMBER
In spring 2008's Prayer Diary, we focused on violence against women, which provoked an emotional reaction among Christians across the country. Two years on, Tearfund's gender adviser, Mandy Marshall, reflects on what has changed to bring an end to violence against women.

SUNDAY 5 SEPTEMBER
In the UK, two women each week die due to violence inflicted by their partners. It's devastating that this statistic has not changed over the last few years. 'It's encouraging that the church is responding in some areas - but much more is needed,' says Mandy, Tearfund's gender adviser. Pray for your church to speak out in boldness and provide space for those who have suffered abuse.

MONDAY 6 SEPTEMBER
In El Salvador, one woman dies every day due to violence inflicted by an intimate partner. In Russia, it's one every hour. In the Ukraine, one every 35 minutes. Pray that the church will take action to stop the violence, and speak...
to men about Jesus as a positive example of masculinity.

TUESDAY 7 SEPTEMBER
'I don't understand why women stay with violent men,' said one of Tearfund's partners in Malawi whilst participating in an exercise. The reasons why women stay are many and varied and can relate to finances, children, fear, self-worth and powerlessness. Pray that the men perpetrating violence in relationships will stop, and the women will have the courage to seek support.

WEDNESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER
Give thanks and continue to pray for our church partners in Ethiopia, who are now addressing female genital mutilation in their communities. 'I want to ask for forgiveness for not doing something sooner,' says Ephraim, whose heart was broken on understanding the damage caused to women and girls by this appalling practice.

THURSDAY 9 SEPTEMBER
The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains horrific. Whilst Tearfund church partners are continuing to do exceptional work with women who have suffered horrendous atrocities, there is a need for a more comprehensive approach. Pray for the church, government and the UN mission to the DRC to provide an effective protection framework.

FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER
'We want men to make a stand in their church and take action,' challenges Peter Grant, Tearfund's international director. 'I am making a call to Christian men to be the first man standing in their family, church and community against violence against women.' Pray for the involvement of men worldwide to end violence against women.

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER
Pray for the engagement of the church, and your church, in Restored, a new initiative for Christians who want to see an end to violence against women, which launched in June.


REGION IN FOCUS - ASIA: 12-18 SEPTEMBER
Because of its huge geographical size and population, Asia
is home to the majority of the world's poorest people. While
some Asian countries are more prosperous, Tearfund - through
our church and Christian partners - works to bring material
and spiritual transformation to the poorest and most
vulnerable countries and communities across the continent.

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER
Praise God for Tearfund partner Cedarfund, as they
successfully mobilise local churches in Yunnan, southern
China, to respond to its HIV problem. Many church leaders
have experienced personal transformation, overcoming their
prejudice, and are now beginning to work with people living
with HIV.

MONDAY 13 SEPTEMBER
Because of the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, many people are
forced to flee across the border to seek safety and a better
life. Refugees in Mae Sot, northern Thailand, often suffer
abuse, neglect and deprivation from local authorities. Ask
God to bless churches and Christian organisations in this
area as
they help to meet refugees' basic needs.

TUESDAY 14 SEPTEMBER
Nepal experienced a bitter ten-year civil war which ended
with a peace agreement in 2006. However, there has been
little progress since then on implementing the agreement.
Ask God to work in the hearts
of Nepal's political leaders so they will prioritise
putting the peace agreement into practice.

WEDNESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER
'I pray also for those who will believe in me... that all of
them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in
you.' John 17:20-21

Tearfund UK and Tear Netherlands are working together to
meet the needs of people whose lives and homes were
devastated by recent disasters in Indonesia and the
Philippines. Thank God for the unity between people from the
UK and the Netherlands as we work together in Asia as one
global church.

THURSDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
Political conflict between the many different majority and
minority groups in Nepal is increasingly manifesting itself
in daily life through strikes and protests. Pray for
Tearfund partners as they work to increase understanding
about how churches can bring reconciliation and Christ's
healing to Nepal's broken communities.

FRIDAY 17 SEPTEMBER
Sri Lanka's bitter civil war ended in May 2009, when
government forces seized the last Tamil Tiger area.
Elections in January that aimed to revive the economy and
secure a political solution for ethnic minorities have
created new tensions. Pray that poor and vulnerable people
will find restoration and safety.

SATURDAY 18 SEPTEMBER
Lord, thank you for the huge, varied and vibrant continent
of Asia. Please keep me alert and prayerful about the needs
and challenges facing Tearfund's local church partners in
the region, who are bringing the love of Jesus to hurting
and broken people. Amen.


RACE FOR THE PRIZE: 19-25 SEPTEMBER
The Millennium Development Goals are more than just targets
- they're tools for transforming lives. This week, world
leaders will be in New York for a special UN meeting to mark
ten years since the goals were agreed. We prayerfully speak
out as a global church to ask the leaders to act.

SUNDAY 19 SEPTEMBER
In September 2000, at the dawn of a new millennium, more
than 190 world leaders declared that they would 'spare no
effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the
abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty'. Pray
that, as leaders meet, they will recommit themselves to
loose the chains of injustice.

MONDAY 20 SEPTEMBER
A small team from Tearfund, led by Advocacy Director Paul
Cook, will be attending the meeting, looking to amplify the
voice of the global church as expressed by the communities
our partners are working with. Pray for God's favour as they
seek to lobby decision-makers and raise awareness of the key
issues in the media.

TUESDAY 21 SEPTEMBER
The UN summit, which continues today, is one of the first
opportunities for our newly elected prime minister and his
government to show a commitment to end extreme poverty. Pray
that the PM and the cabinet will be prepared to commit the
resources and leadership needed to make poverty history.

WEDNESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER
The Millennium Development Goals on maternal mortality,
sanitation and hunger are the furthest off-track. Tearfund
is calling on meeting delegates to pay special attention to
accelerating progress on these issues. Pray that the summit
will commit to bold action to bring them back on target.

THURSDAY 23 SEPTEMBER
Over the last decade, the church has embraced the call in
Proverbs 31:9 to 'speak up and judge fairly'. Give thanks
for the hundreds of thousands of postcards that have been
sent, and for the tens of thousands of Christians who have
marched on the streets to put overcoming poverty firmly on
the political agenda.

FRIDAY 24 SEPTEMBER
In Tanzania, 3.1 million more children have been going to
school since 2003, while globally deaths from measles fell
from more than 750,000 in 2000 to less than 250,000 in 2006.
Give thanks for the progress that has been made towards many
of the Millennium Development Goals.

SATURDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
The Micah Challenge campaign aims to mobilise the global
church to hold governments to account
in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Pray for its
international director, Joel Edwards, and the campaign
coordinators in 40 countries worldwide, that they will be
able to inspire the whole of the body of Christ to act.


BRINGING UNITY: 26 SEPTEMBER-2 OCTOBER
Umoja is Swahili for 'togetherness'. It's the name of a
ground-breaking development initiative in Africa that
empowers and encourages church and community to work
together. Using what they have, communities break out of
poverty in their own strength with God's help - with
miraculous results.

SUNDAY 26 SEPTEMBER
Umoja began in Narok, Kenya, in the mid-1990s. Before then,
NGOs had traditionally operated without community
involvement. This often meant that communities abandoned
initiatives once the 'experts' had gone home. Church leaders
found that working with the community to identify needs
and provide solutions themselves was truly transformative.
Umoja was born. Pray that it will go
on changing lives.

MONDAY 27 SEPTEMBER
"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see."
When they found out, they said,
"Five - and two fish."' Mark 6:38
It's a way Jesus so often worked: one of Umoja's strengths
is that it encourages people to use resources they already
have, giving them a real sense of ownership and achievement.
Thank you, Lord.

TUESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER
Pray for Uganda, where Umoja-based projects have spread to
roughly 300 churches across the country. 'This approach to
community development is among the most transformational and
sustainable I've witnessed in my 25 years of experience,'
Rev Rachel Carnegie, Archbishop of Canterbury's Secretary
for International Development.

WEDNESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER
A church in North Sudan demonstrates how Umoja can span
cultural divisions: in Kosti, White Nile State, Christian
and Muslim neighbours overcame their differences to develop
their community together. Because Umoja emphasises
relationships, people are encouraged to cooperate. Pray for
harmony wherever different faith groups work alongside
each other.

THURSDAY 30 SEPTEMBER
Lord, we thank you that people are stronger together. The
Mara and Ukerewe Dioceses, Tanzania, have united with
dramatic success. With Tearfund's support, 15 rural
communities have transformed their livelihoods. They've
built health centres, schools, roads, wells, government
offices, church buildings and church-based HIV committees
that are now addressing this vital issue.

FRIDAY 1 OCTOBER
'People are no longer asking for things. Now they're
saying - can we tell you what we've done?' Peter Grant,
Tearfund's international director, shares what's been
happening in South Sudan when people free themselves from
poverty. Francis Njoroge, an architect of Umoja, said,
'Poverty is in the mind, not in the pocket.' Father, free
minds to embrace your hope.

SATURDAY 2 OCTOBER
Lord, I pray for abundance to be poured out on Umoja, that
you will bless and increase the influence of this work.
Thank you for the 'togetherness' of Father, Son and Spirit
that is reflected in this initiative. Amen.


Back to top