Prayer News

DECEMBER 2000

Dear Friends

Thank you for all your prayers in the past months as we have moved forward, following the Lord's call. Mark has now completed the first term of the second year and is now nearly half-way through his course. The last few months have been very busy at College, grappling with important theological issues like the Cross as well as practical things like being a Pastor.

Woodberry continues to be demanding. Our ministry to the 15-30 group has continued to grow rapidly and this has been an encouragement. Our core group is now about 15 strong and they are continuing to attract more of their friends. Mark is now passing most of this on to Dayv Cole, the new Youth Pastor who started in December. Back in September 1999 we had a handful of youth, now we have about 25 at our Young Disciples Class on Sunday (11-16s) as well as the older teens. We give God praise for the way He is challenging young people in Tottenham!

Mark continues to be involved in evangelism. We had an open air activity at Seven Sisters last week. We handed out mince pies and coffee and talked to passers by. In the space of two hours we distributed 2000 Christmas invitations and 3000 of our standard tracts. This was beyond our expectations and we ran out of tracts. Praise God! There were very few of them left to clear up afterwards so people have retained them. Please pray that they will read them and respond.

One of the highlights of the last few months was an International Evening where the Church members brought food and entertainment from their countries. There were many culinary delights and the music, poetry and dance were amazing. There were about 200 at the Church that night, many non-Christian guests who were ministered to with friendship, food and the gospel!

The Church continues to grow - we baptised another six in November, but we are also aware of the need to disciple folk and bring them towards maturity. Mark has also finished the Sharing Jesus course for this year which has been training people to share their faith more effectively. Being an inner city Church, we are faced daily with major issues such as domestic violence, homelessness, alcoholism, crime, witchcraft and the like. Please pray for those of us who minister in these various situations. We are aware of the evil in society, but also that God is doing a new thing in Tottenham as we see His work growing in our Fellowship and many of our neighbouring Churches!

It is amazing how Walthamstow and Tottenham contrast. Whereas in Tottenham we see growing Churches and signs of new life, Walthamstow has small Churches and little evidence of the gospel being preached. One of the major themes for me at Spurgeons is the realisation that the Church in our land is contracting rapidly and that Christians need to wake up. This is very much the theme at Woodberry Down. It reminds me of part of the hymn, Your mercy flows which says

As we have slept, this nation has been taken
By every sin ever known to man;
So at its gates, though burnt by fire and broken,
In Jesus' name we come to take our stand. !

Christmas is going to be a busy time. Mark is responsible for Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. These are key days for visitors to come to the Church. Please pray that as they hear words of life, that they not just worship the babe in the manger, but accept the crucified, risen and glorifuied Lord Jesus for themselves.

After Christmas, Mark is going to start to lead in the Worship ministry of the Church. This has been a problem area in recent months but the Leadership is concerned that the Church focus on the Lord alone in worship and are free to make their response to Him.

Lastly, please continue pray for us as a family. The competing strains of Church and College are still very much with us. Please pray that we will get our priorities right as a family. As you probably realise, there's nothing satan likes more than to give Church Leaders' families grief, in the hope that it will throw us off our mission. Please pray that we will have victory in our lives day by day.

Thank you for your continuing support. We'd love to hear from you. If you Internet connected, you could try our website or even email us.

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Eph 6:18)

Yours in Jesus