Archive for the ‘Partners’ Category

Pavement Project Partners

Monday, July 13th, 2009

It’s been almost a decade now since Pavement Project first hit the streets. Join us in giving thanks for the impact it has had to date, and in praying for new and existing partnerships in Brazil and Kenya.

  • Since Pavement Project was piloted almost 10 years ago, over 8,000 Brazilian children and young people have been helped using the unique Picture Me counselling process. Having reached such an important milestone, give thanks with us for all those who have contributed to the success of the programme; local partners, street workers, facilitators and supporters.

  • A recent spate of flooding in Northern Brazil has severally affected the Associacao Beneficente Metroploitana, a Pavement Project partner working in the state of Bahia. Food, clothing and bedding have all been damaged by the flood waters. Join with us in praying for God’s provision for both the organisation and its workers and the wider community as they seek to deal with the aftermath of the flood.
  • Give thanks for a successful meeting between Pavement Project workers and facilitators in Nairobi, in which workers were offered further training in their work with children-at-risk. Please pray for a continued sense of excitement amongst the workers, and for wisdom and compassion as they reach out to the children around them.

Serving the church in Vietnam

Monday, May 25th, 2009

Despite many obstacles, the church in Vietnam has continued to grow since it was formed several hundred years ago, and now accounts for around 8% of the population. This week, join us in praying for partners in Vietnam and for the church in a wider context.

  • Despite government promises of religious freedom, many of Vietnam’s Christians continue to live under the threat of persecution, intimidation and arrest. Pray for all those who are suffering for their faith. Pray for God’s protection and strengthening for them. Pray that the Vietnamese church will enjoy a greater freedom to meet together in worship.
  • Lifewords partner Revd Le Van Khai is the Senior Pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church and has been responsible for planting many new churches in and around the city of Ho Chi Minh. Many of the new church members have come from social projects working with those suffering from addiction, homelessness and persecution. Please pray for wisdom for church leaders and congregations as they seek to practically support and spiritually nurture these new believers.
  • Lifewords’ Inspire resource Who Cares About Me? has been produced in Vietnamese and distributed by the churches under the stewardship of Revd Khai, along with a small number of Forgiveness Matters. The Being Yourself greeting cards were also used to invite friends and family to the various services over the Easter period. Praise God that we are able to support and resource the Vietnamese church in this way. Please pray for all those who encountered the Bible’s life words for the first time during the Easter period.

Making connections

Monday, May 11th, 2009

We rely on connecting with partners around the world as we seek to ensure that the Bible’s life words are seen, heard and experienced. This week, join with us in praying for new partnerships with organisations serving communities in Somalia and Latin America.

  • Despite over 90% of the population being nominally Catholic, Argentina remains one of the most secularised countries in South America. In an effort to improve the distribution of resources to this country, Lifewords will be partnering with the Evangelical Alliance in Argentina, who will be using our Inspire resources at their Evangelism Campaign in the province of Entre-Rios. Give thanks with us for this new partnership and pray that we will be able to make the most of every opportunity it provides to connect people with the Bible’s life words for the first time.
  • A new partnership between Operation Mobilization and Lifewords in Latin America is providing us with opportunities to share the Bible’s life words in new and challenging environments. Join us in praying that, as we partner together, we can release Christians in Latin America to live, speak and be life words to their communities.
  • Voice of New Life is a new website and radio station for both native Somali and Somalis around the world, seeking to help them to engage with the Bible. To complement this work, SGM Lifewords will be supplying Inspire resources including Afraid to Leave, Afraid to Stay, Forgiveness Matters and Christian?. Please join us in giving thanks for this valuable new ministry, and in praying for God’s wisdom and blessing on all those involved.

Praying for partners

Friday, April 17th, 2009

We are so grateful for the opportunity to make connections with other organisations around the world as we seek to make life words available in as many contexts and to as many people as possible. This week, join us in giving thanks for some of these partnerships.

  • VIVA Network is a worldwide Christian organisation that is passionate about the need to care for children-at-risk. VIVA will be working with SGM Lifewords to co-manage the upcoming Pavement Project Worker Training in Hyderabad next month. Give thanks for this partnership and continue to pray for the success of the Training Workshop. Pray that many workers will be equipped to speak words of hope, possibility and change to the children they encounter.

  • Last month, we told you about plans to distribute SGM Lifewords Inspire resources Picking Up The Pieces and Living With Loss to Chaplaincy Australia, as part of their efforts to offer support and encouragement to the victims of the Australian bushfires. They report that these resources have been well received, and are greatly appreciated by the chaplaincy staff. Please join with us in continuing to pray for all those who have lost loved ones as a result of the fires.

  • The ongoing partnership with the Kenyan schools who helped with initial pilots of the Choose Life curriculum is a source of continuing encouragement to us. Lifewords’ Sammy Kamore reports that teachers remain passionate about the programme, and eager to continue its implementation. Praise God for these faithful partners, and pray for the next teacher Training Workshop due to take place in May. Pray that many more teachers will be equipped to encourage their students to make good life choices for themselves and their communities.

Partners in Pakistan

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Our partners in Pakistan are working hard to bring the Bible’s life words  to isolated communities throughout the country. Join us in giving thanks for this partnership, and in praying for the church in Pakistan.

  • The Pakistan Bible Conference Institute (PBCI) is a national organisation with five teaching centres based in Pakistan, producing Bible courses in Urdu, Pushtu and Sindi as well as in English. These courses provide support for many Christians living in remote areas, offering them fellowship and encouragement, and helping them to encounter the Bible in fresh ways. Please pray that those attending courses will be inspired as they study, and that through engaging with the Bible in this way they will be better equipped to live out words of life in their communities.
  • In the coming months, Lifewords will be partnering with the PBCI to provide resources to supplement their work. Please pray for the continued success of this ongoing partnership.
  • With a population of over one million, the church in Pakistan has continued to grow steadily since its inception over one hundred years ago. However, there is widespread persecution, particularly in the region of Lahore, with many churches being vandalised and Christians being attacked. Please pray for the persecuted church of Pakistan, that God would strengthen and encourage the Christian community as they seek to live out their faith in difficult and often dangerous circumstances.

Hope after the fire

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

Lifewords in Australia has provided counselling materials for those affected by the recent bushfires. This past month has seen twin disasters affect Australia, with severe flooding in the north, and fires in the south. The worst bushfires for a hundred years swept through a million acres, destroying homes and taking the lives of 208 people.

In the aftermath of the fires, many people will be struggling with the grief of losing close friends or family members. Lifewords in Australia has provided trauma counselling resources Picking up the Pieces and Living with Loss to Chaplaincy Australia, who will use them as they visit the devastated communities.

Chaplaincy Australia has 105 chaplains on the ground in the affected region, and by the end of February they estimated that they had met with 14,000 people. A full-time team of five chaplains will remain in the worst-hit towns for the next year, helping the community work through its shock and grief.

A prayer on being made redundant

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

IS-downloads2009 has not begun well for many people. With a global economy entering into recession, the new year has brought sweeping job losses right around the world. Each day sees an average 9,000 jobs lost somewhere in the world.

In response, the Church of England has published a prayer for those facing redundancy. “This is a pastoral initiative” said Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Rt Revd John Packer. “We need to be on the look out to support those facing redundancy. Neighbourliness is so important in crisis situations, whether it’s offering people new prayers to God, or by simply being there with a listening ear.”

The prayer is reprinted below. For more prayers, visit the Church of England site, and look out for our forthcoming booklet, Inspiring Prayer.

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Christians on skis

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

chronskiSupporters in the Czech Republic will be taking to the slopes this month for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. With some 500 competitors and 20,ooo spectators expected to attend the event in Liberec, local churches felt it was too good an opportunity to miss.

In partnership with YWAM, ‘Christians on Skis’ will bring local churches together, along with participants from Germany, Poland, Finland, Ukraine, Switzerland and Slovakia. Activities will include a prayer room and a welcome bus serving hot drinks.

SGM Lifewords in Poland have shipped a large order of booklets to support the work.

SGM Lifewords prayer update

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

Next month, the people of Myanmar (Burma) mark the first anniversary of Cyclone Nargis which devastated the country in March last year. With nearly two and a half million people displaced, please join us in praying for efforts to bring both healing and comfort to the people of Myanmar, through the transforming power of the Bible’s life words.

  • This year, Lifewords is planning to support the Myanmar Christian Teachers Training Centre. Based in Yangon, the centre provides training to those committed to furthering the cause of the gospel in Myanmar. Please pray for those undertaking this work and for the strengthening of the links between our two organisations.

  • Despite government attempts to ban Christians from meeting together, the church in Myanmar continues to experience steady growth. Over one hundred years since its conception, the church now accounts for three percent of the population. In addition to training pastors, the Myanmar Christian Training Centre is looking to plant new churches this year. Please pray that their efforts would prove successful, bringing many people into contact with the Bible’s life words.

  • Inspire resources provide the means to carry the Bible’s life words into new and challenging environments, helping to plant the seeds of hope and change. With plans to provide these resources to Myanmar’s schoolchildren, please pray for the funding to be made available, and for a means of transporting resources from Singapore to Yangon.

Why are we waiting?

Monday, December 1st, 2008

The Church of England has launched an online advent calendar on the theme of waiting, with daily reflections from Archbishops Rowan Williams and John Sentamu, Bishop Stephen Cottrell and others. As Williams explains in his introductory video:

“We’re not a culture that’s very used to waiting. ‘Take waiting out of wanting’ – that’s a slogan that was very popular some decades ago – and it still governs a great deal of the way we behave. We’d quite like to have things when we decide we want them. And so waiting seems negative, waiting seems perhaps passive, unexciting, the boring bit before we get to the exciting bit.”

Instead, we need to rediscover the benefits of waiting, says Bishop Stephen Cottrell:

“We hope the website reminds people that waiting is not a waste of time but, as we see in nature, a time of change, growth and transformation. Advent is the season in which the church celebrates waiting as an essential part of human experience – it is much more than the countdown to Christmas or the season of shopping.”