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Prayer Meeting for 29 April 2016

Prayer Meeting

(29 April 2016)

Prayer Points

I. Young Adult Ministry

Prayer & Praise:

- We are overwhelmed by the good response for the “Risen” film screening and talk by Prof Lockhart on a historian's perspective of the resurrection. 120 people attended the movie and about 45 persons came for the talk. Please continue to pray that the seeds sown and questions raised will be discussed effectively as church members follow up in personal evangelism.

- At YACG this month we learnt about being a joyful and humble community. Pray that our lives will continue to reflect Christlike love for one another in the church and that we will bear fruit.

- Pray for the planning of our YA retreat scheduled for July - pray that the practical obstacles to our planning will be removed and that God would lead us to have a retreat that powerfully impacts the lives of our YAs. Pray also for the leaders not to grow discouraged and demoralized.

- Pray for the ongoing training efforts of our YA leaders, that the sessions would equip them for skillful and wise leadership. Ultimately, pray that the YA would be built up through godly leaders.

- Pray for YAs who are facing struggles with personal disappointment and depression. Pray that God would minister to them through supportive families and loving church relationships which are authentic and founded on Christ Jesus.

 

II. Church Retreat 2016

Prayer & Praise:

- Thanksgiving for those who have signed up for the GBC Retreat coming together to reflect and study the Gospel & Community theme.

- Pray for the sign-up rate to increase to our target of 150. Currently we have 119.

- Pray for all the retreat speakers that God will grant them & empower them as they share God’s Word with clarity & conviction. Pray that lives will be touched & transformed by the Word.

- Pray that God will provide us a great committee working & serving together as a community of God’s people.

- Pray for good co-ordination in planning for the retreat & managing the logistics.

- Pray for the retreat logistics & planning will co-ordinate well.

- Pray that God will watch over & protect the entire Church Retreat activities.

 

III. Discipleship Seminars Ministry

Prayer & Praise:

- Please pray for wisdom for the ministry leaders to think about how they can continue to improve the ministry

- Please pray for the spiritual growth for our teachers. Before they can teach, they too need to be growing under God's grace.

- Please pray that DS will contribute to the spiritual renewal of GBC.

- Please pray that the upcoming modules on (1) the essentials of Bible reading and (2) a compelling church community will be well-taught, well-attended and contribute to the well-being of our church.

 

IV. Missions

David and Gladys Chang

Prayer & Praise:

- Pray for good health during the hottest time of Thailand & the kids to concentrate on their studies.

- Pray for a safe & fruitful trip to Singapore & Malaysia in June to join GBC’s church retreat.

- Pray for God’s healing grace upon one of our Thai colleague’s nephew, six-year-old Thipakorn who has a brain tumor. He is receiving chemotherapy because the tumor is located in a place too risky to operate. May the Lord reveal His steadfast love to all the extended family members going through this painful trial.

- Pray for leadership transition & the new OMF Thailand Field Leader Ulrich Kohler to be filled with God’s strength & wisdom as he starts serving in August 2016.

- Pray for the monthly leadership training for Thai church leaders that started early this year. We want to see consistency &d God’s servants encouraged by meeting and learning together.

Lily Pang

Prayer & Praise:

- In August 2015, Lily wrote about her leg and ankle cramps that seemed to strangle her in the middle of every night. Our Lord has answered our prayers. She almost does not have any leg cramps anymore! The calcium and magnesium tablets have filled the lack. Most of all, it was HE who strengthened her body.Continue to pray for Lily’s health.

Ping and Heidi (Children: Benaja and Esra)

Prayer & Praise:

- The family currently on a furlough is in Switzerland. The children attended their first week of ‘real’ school & both were a little nervous & excited at the same time. Their teachers reported that both of them did really well in spite of the new environment, language & culture.

- Please uphold Ping and Heidi in prayer as they deliberate on temporarily closing the Saluan dictionary project for their children’s education. Pray that they can have His peace and comfort in making the decision.

 

V. Youth Ministry

Prayer & Praise:

- Thankful the youths who have been faithfully attending youth group every Sunday & the growth that we have seen in our youths.

- Pray for our dedicated leaders who are faithfully serving every week to help the youths see how precious Jesus is.

- Thank God for the pizza party held last Sunday that enabled the youths & leaders to get to know each other better

- Pray for the youths going through their mid-year exams that they would understand the role of exams in God's plan for their lives & how they do not need to fear exams & exam results as Jesus promises something even better

- Pray that God will use His Word to convict & change the youths as we continue with the Gospel of Mark.

- Pray for wisdom in conducting the meet-the-parents session on 15 may, that we would be able to effectively communicate our plans for youth ministry & the important part that parents play in the youths' spiritual formation.

 

VI. Worship Ministry

Prayer & Praise:

- Praise God for the good response in the re-establishment of the worship leading choir. We now have 12-15 regular members attending rehearsals. Please continue to pray that God will sustain the effort and that the choir will be a blessing to the church as they minister through music and songs that they sing.

- Continue to pray for the sound ministry to have more volunteers come forward to serve in this area.

- Pray that the whole worship ministry will continue to rely on God for strength and encouragement as they serve weekly to lead the congregation to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

 

VII. Children Ministry

Prayer & Praise:

- Some of our teachers are unable to continue in the second half of 2016. We are thus looking specifically for teachers of the 2-4yr and 5-8 year age groups. (at least one each).

- Discipline has been a challenge especially with children grouped with others of a different age. Please pray for the teachers to discipline with love and consistency.

 

VIII. Church Rebuilding

Prayer & Praise:

- Site incident. On 5 April 2016, a crawler crane at the construction site tipped over precariously while hauling a bucket of cement. Thankfully it was prevented from toppling as the boom of the crane miraculously rested on a newly erected cement column. The suspended cement bucket caused minor damage to the window sill and ledge of a neighbouring residential apartment. Praise the Lord that no one was hurt in the incident!

- Stop work order. As a result of the incident, the Ministry of Manpower enforced an immediate stop work order so as to fully investigate the incident. Meanwhile, the crawler crane was recovered, disassembled and removed from site; new safety protocols were drawn up to prevent future incidents happening again. We thank the Lord for listening to our prayers the past few weeks as the stop work order was officially lifted this Monday 25 April 2016.

- Site work progress and safety. Due to the cessation of all site activities for 20 days, the work schedule will have to be pushed back by at least 1 month. Please pray for good weather and sound site management by the main contractor so that the work can restart and progress smoothly. More importantly while the construction work needs to speed up in order to complete the project on time, the safety of all the workers cannot be overlooked and taken for granted. So please continue to pray that the Lord will keep all site workers safe and in good health.

- Part-time RTO for M & E works. Praise the Lord that He provided us with a competent part-time resident technical officer (RTO) specifically for mechanical & electrical works. The RTO started work officially on 4 April 2016. Another prayer answered!

- New Steering Committee (SC) chairman. Peter Ho Lick was unanimously voted by the SC members and has kindly agreed to take up the role of SC chairman. Beh Soo Hee had to step down as the chairman of the SC in order to assume the role of English Congregation elder, but will continue to hold chairmanship of the Building Sub-Committee. Please pray for God’s wisdom and guidance for Peter as he assumes the role and responsibilities of SC chairman.