Therefore, Pray

May 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friend,

Grounds of a Buddhist temple in Bangkok

Notes from one of the 'Big Picture' sessions at OM's international leaders' meetings

On Sunday evening 3^rd March, Leon and I were in a ballroom at a conference centre in Bangkok, Thailand. Throughout OM’s international leaders' meetings, we heard stories of what God is doing in Japan, the area surrounding Lake Tanganyika, Ethiopia, the Caucuses, Nepal, and Portugal to name a few. Now we were dedicating our Sunday evening to pray for these places and more around the world. Over the past year, OM prayed for these ‘least-reached’ places, and we were now praying for them as a body of leaders from all the nations OM works.

Floating Market in Pattaya, Thailand

Ride in a tuk tuk

With large maps stretched on the ground before us, we again prayed for these places that evening, placing our hands on many different countries in Asia and the Pacific. It was a powerful way to pray for these places, places from where we’d heard first-hand testimonies from men and women serving in those places. These are people groups our family faithfully prayed for over the past year.

On our annual memorial team walk (this year along Hadrian's Wall)--In memory of our friends and family members whom we've lost

Earlier that morning, Leon and I ate our breakfast in the reception area of the conference centre. We chose this spot because the restaurant got noisy with about 300 people talking and having meetings every mealtime. Another lady joined us with her plate of food. As we became acquainted, we learned that she was one of the people behind the weekly prayer emails we prayed through over the last year. She and her husband lead Prayer Hub, a prayer ministry for OM located in Belgium. We swapped ideas for how we can continue to teach our children to pray for the least reached people of the world. We have learned first-hand that our children can grow in passion for those who need our Saviour.

Prayer is powerful. One of the speakers at our meetings in Thailand said, 'God tends to meet us in the size of faith we bring Him.' How much faith do we bring to God? Hearing these testimonies encourages us to continue praying for vibrant communities of Jesus followers amongst the least reached.

We celebrated Asher's 7th Birthday in March!

Eva Joy's 5th Birthday was in April!

Highlights

What else have we been up to?

Leon and I had a 2-day holiday in Pattaya, Thailand before returning home. It was a lovely break before returning home to our children who were lovingly looked after by Leon’s parents.
A week after returning from Thailand, Leon travelled to Germany to lead a week-long IT conference for OM staff. Leon also has another leadership hat to wear from April 1. He is co-leading the IT Infrastructure Team for OM International as well as continuing as the team leader in Carlisle.
Last weekend, our team in Carlisle had a retreat at an outdoor retreat centre in Scotland. Relationships were built, and everyone enjoyed feeling connected to the rest of the team. We have several people who work with our team remotely, and the retreat was especially valuable for them.
The children and I are at last making connections with other families in the home schooling community. We enjoy going to fortnightly meets, and recently went bouldering with a group in Carlisle. We are going camping in the Lake District with a family in June!

Prayer Points

Pray that Leon will have wisdom as he takes on the mantle of leadership for the IT Infrastructure Team. He is attending many virtual meetings every week of which he leads many of them.
We are passionate to share about Jesus with those on our street or at our allotment. Pray for boldness for us and open hearts to those that hear.
Life is very busy. Pray that we can juggle all the extracurricular activities that we are doing and stay grounded in God and in close relationship with each other as a family.