Prayer Diary July and August 2019

JULY/AUGUST 2019 JULY But those who trust in the LORD will find MONDAY 1 new strength. They ECMI BOARD OF TRUSTEES: International Director Search will soar high on The Lord has answered our prayers – by the closing date we had received wings like eagles. seventeen applications. With the exception of two, they were all of a They will run and good standard, meeting most of the requirements we had detailed for not grow weary. the position. Four candidates have been invited to and confirmed their They will walk and attendance at an Assessment Centre in Austria on 2 July. The assessment not faint. team consists of some trustees, senior leaders and missionaries. We will be together from 1-3 July. Please pray for safety in travel for all and for Isaiah 40:31 the whole process, for the candidates and the interview panel members involved. TUESDAY 2 ECM IRELAND: Charlie and Miriam Anderson 5 adults and 3 teens from Ireland are in Bugojno, Bosnia this week doing English classes, seeking to build relationships with children in the area and inviting them to stay for a Bible Club. Pray we may be the aroma of Christ among the children and believers alike and that hearts would be open to receive God's word. Pray also for team unity and protection as we travel. WEDNESDAY 3 ECMI BOARD OF TRUSTEES: International Director Search Please pray for the final decision to be made today for the new International Director. Pray that each one would know the Lord’s discernment in this process and that God would lead us to the candidate of his choice. THURSDAY 4 ECMI: Chris Wigram, International Director Yesterday I left for my final visit to ECM Australia and New Zealand as ECM International Director. The trip finishes 29 July and includes a variety of meetings in conferences, churches, supporter groups and personal contact. Pray for the Bible teaching at the Australian team days and for the ten days in New Zealand, organised by Féy Cotter, in

Wellington, Christchurch and Nelson. Pray for spiritual power in preaching and presenting the challenges of Europe to people who often have European family ties and express a lot of interest in what is happening. Pray for strength and endurance and that Chris would keep well and minister effectively for the glory of God. FRIDAY 5 SPAIN: Charlie and Tania Deering in Madrid From 1 July we are hosting two young ladies for a couple of weeks, a last- minute \"friends of friends\" connection. Katie wants to improve her Spanish and Nadia wants to improve her English so maybe not such a coincidence after all. Pray they quickly settle in and feel at home, that they build a good friendship with each other and God uses this time to strengthen and encourage them in their faith. SATURDAY 6 NETHERLANDS: Roland and Carolien Smith in Maastricht Today, 6 July is the last Serve the City Big Volunteer Day in Maastricht before the holidays. Students and others will be doing random acts of kindness in the city, spending time with lonely people and helping to maintain a community garden at a centre for young people excluded from school. SUNDAY 7 SPAIN: Jim and Christine Memory in Aguilar de la Frontera Jim will be teaching the European Mission and Theology module at Redcliffe College in Gloucester, UK from 8- 25 July on the Masters Programme which is taught in an intensive mode during three weeks every summer. This year there are two ECMers studying MA's through Redcliffe, which is encouraging. Please pray for stamina for all concerned, whether studying or teaching and that more ECMers would show interest in the course in the coming year. MONDAY 8 ECM IRELAND: Charlie and Miriam Anderson Please pray for Radovan Trajkovski and his team as they continue to work on in Bugojno after the Bible Club and English Club last week. Ask God to encourage them in their ministry and that He will save, strengthen and protect these children who have heard His message last week. TUESDAY 9 ECM BRITAIN: Rachel Gurney, HR Assistant Please pray for Elisha, a young woman who has just finished school and is spending part of her summer break (30 June – 12 July) in Spain. Elisha is serving at the Diez42 centre in Málaga, which offers practical support and community to immigrants. Please pray that Elisha will be a blessing to others and that she too will be blessed by this short mission experience. Prayer for safe travels and good health also appreciated! 2

WEDNESDAY 10 Richard and ECM IRELAND: Lindsay Moorhead, Director Pinuccia It's summer conference time for us. From 6-12 July ECM Ireland will be Wilson exhibiting at 'Keswick at Portstewart'. On the last week of August we are exhibiting at Bangor Worldwide Missionary Convention and as well as that we will also be exhibiting at a conference for students called 'Equip' in Castlewellan Castle. Colin and Ally Holmes and Aislinn Duffy will be speaking at it, so pray also for them. THURSDAY 11 FRANCE: David and Magda Lem, MCE France We are in discussion with a possible candidate for the director role for MCE France. The Lord put this person on our road in a miraculous way. We will have a second interview on July 11. Please pray for discernment to know if this person is God's choice and that she will be the right person to take over the direction of MCE France. Please continue to pray for our board members in this period of transition that demands a great investment of them all. FRIDAY 12 ITALY: Richard and Pinuccia Wilson in Trento The church children's camp last month was a success. It was good to spend more time with the children than usual during the year, for example to help Yago pray for the first time. There were some difficult moments, but they were also opportunities to teach how the Gospel works in relationships with others. Pray for the church teenagers' camp 7-13 July. Our eldest daughter will be participating for the first time, and Richard will go for two days to help. SATURDAY 13 ECM NEW ZEALAND: Féy Cotter, Mobiliser and International Support We give thanks that our newest grandson was born safely on Sunday 16 June to our daughter Rachel. She and baby Blake are doing well. Chris Wigram will be in New Zealand from 12–23 July and speaking at three public events: 12 July (Wellington), 16 July (Christchurch) and 20 July (Nelson). He will also be preaching in churches in Wellington and Nelson and meeting with a number of other small groups throughout his visit. Please pray for the events, services and other meetings to go well, for the right people to attend and for people to respond. Please also pray as I begin teaching NT Introduction at the Bible College on 21 July. SUNDAY 14 ECMI: Biennial Conference 2020 PlanningTeam Praise God for a good team working on the conference and pray for ongoing planning. Through July and August Christine Memory is working to find a worship leader, Sharon Graves and the team are working to finalise Seminar topics, and have speakers agreed and in place. These have a big influence for all attending so ask God to guide. Pray also for Phil 3

Jolley and Karen Burke, working on costing and striving to make best use of resources. MONDAY 15 SPAIN: Andy and Andrea Warner and Wilfred and Marisa Kampjes in Castellón From 15-21 July Andy and Andrea Warner and Wilfred Kampjes, along with other missionaries will be leading a Beach Outreach to FIB festival goers on the beach (approx. 40,000, the majority British) with a multicultural team of young people from Germany, UK and Spain. Pray for Kingdom transformations for everyone! TUESDAY 16 AUSTRIA: Stephan and Claudia Pohn in Dornbirn Praise God for the various Christian summer-camps throughout Austria, please pray especially for the one Georg & Sandra Hämmerle are leading from 13- 19 July, that the seed that’s sown would grow (the bulk are un- churched kids!), for protection, safety and good weather, unity as a team and that the children’s faith would continue to grow after the camp. Please pray also for good follow-up ministry (a service at the local church for all camp-participants and families, kids’ club etc.). Stephan and Claudia WEDNESDAY 17 Pohn SPAIN: Peter and Kate Knowlson in Azuaga We head into this next year without Chloë Wolfson who is moving on to another ministry. Thank God for her service and pray with us as leadership and independence of the Alto Guadiato church develops. Contacts in Azuaga are great and we want to see people giving their lives to God as they read the Bible. Pray that our conversations may bear fruit. THURSDAY 18 PORTUGAL: Peter and Anna Crawford in Lisbon Please pray for the candidates for Portugal, Reginaldo and Domitilla Braga (USA), Steve and Lydia Cockram (Britain), Marcus and Andressa Barido ( Brazil, but at present in N. Ireland) and Eberson and Madalena Silva (Brazil), that God would provide the resources needed and a good support network to help them come to Portugal. They are all expected to be in Portugal this year. FRIDAY 19 SPAIN: Cicero and Vera Costa in Cabra We are really thankful for the movement of God in the church here in Cabra. Recently a couple and their teenage daughter started to meet with us to study the Bible and expressed an interest in following Christ. Please pray that they remain firm in this decision and that the church moves forward missionally. We also ask your prayers for Vera in the last few weeks of her pregnancy. Little Hugo is due on 22 July and we are excited to welcome our first child. 4

SATURDAY 20 REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Jonathan and Nicola McCracken in Claremorris We give thanks that we have been meeting for 3 years as a church in Claremorris. Pray for those who come along and that God would bring in others from the town and community. Pray for Andy and Rachel Millar (UFM) who are coming down in July to look for housing in Claremorris as they hope to relocate from N.Ireland in the Autumn to live and work here. SUNDAY 21 SERBIA: Branko and Rada Tihojevic in Zaječar Please pray for the Summer Camps, especially for the funds needed for the camp. Children will be contributing part of it, but due to the economic situation for certain children, we need to provide free accommodation and traveling, particularly for children from Gipsy families. We are planning to finish the dormitory and meeting hall, not using tents any more because last year children were scared by stormy rain and thunder. MONDAY 22 SLOVENIA: Sarah Deacon in Ljubljana Please be praying for our youth camp (22-25 July). We will be camping along the Sava River in the south of the country. Give thanks that many of the teenagers are excited about going away and spending time together. Please be praying for safety for all involved, but most importantly that the teenagers attending will learn more about God and would be deepening their relationships with him whatever their current situation. TUESDAY 23 FINLAND: K in Finland Thank you for your prayers for my basic studies in Inari Saami: I managed to finish them off really well. It is great to be able to communicate on a basic level now, though it still needs to improve. From July 22-28 I will help at the regional summer camp for Scouting Lapland. Over 700 scouts will attend. Please pray I will be a blessing and our club’s kids will see God’s love through me. WEDNESDAY 24 UKRAINE: New Hope Ukraine team Please pray for all summer camps and activities run by New Hope Ukraine workers for children, youth and families that are taking place during the summer holidays. For the English classes last month and follow-up programs for kids and adults after the camps. We expect about a hundred children and many adults. Continue to pray for our newly planted church in Lviv, with about 30 people coming to the Sunday morning services. 5

THURSDAY 25 ECM BRITAIN: Steve and Lydia Cockram New Candidates for Portugal Please pray for us as we continue to raise support. We've been blessed so far by people's generosity and God's faithfulness. Pray that we would raise our monthly support levels by the start of August so we can arrive in Portugal in time for the Portugal team retreat. FRIDAY 26 ECMI USA: George Brown, Global Ministry Consultant Praise the Lord for Cliff Kelly as he serves as Interim US Director. Pray for a smooth handoff and that I will be able provide adequate help with the leadership transition. SATURDAY 27 NETHERLANDS: Office team in Deventer We are going to work together with INTO Mission to fill the vacancy for human resources manager. INTO Mission is a small organisation which provides cross-cultural coaching and training for missionaries. Thank God for this opportunity and please pray for the smooth start of our partnership. SUNDAY 28 SPAIN: Hans and Jennifer Anderson in Malaga Praise God we are back in Malaga after an extended home assignment! Pray for us as we settle into a new home while diving back into ministry with Diez42, the local church, and with those working in very challenging conditions. Please pray especially for Jack and Ellee our children to settle in well and make some new good friendships. MONDAY 29 SPAIN: Edgar and Jane Álvarez in Collado Villalba Pray for our own local church in Madrid, Edgar’s role in the leadership as an elder is a welcome challenge, but nevertheless a challenge. Pray for wisdom in handling his time, especially after having some health issues over the last couple of months. From 4 July to 13 August we will be in UK for our Home Assignment. Pray for safe travels and for meaningful encounters with friends, family and supporters. Gabriel and Asier will be attending a Summer camp from 20-27 July. Pray that both boys can enjoy themselves and also be challenged in their own personal spiritual growth. TUESDAY 30 REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Colin and Alison Holmes in Waterford Today, 30 July, Simon and Danielle Ball with their son Darcy, will return to Australia after 10 years in Ireland. They have been key members of the church planting team in Ferrybank, Simon serving as pastor and team leader for 8 years. We give thanks for the breadth, length and depth of their ministry here. Pray for their re-entry to Australia with 6 months of medical leave, deputation and for God's guidance and provision for work. 6

WEDNESDAY 31 Julia Mercer- ECMI: Biennial Conference 2020 Planning Team Wilson Invites will be going out to various folk like counsellors (Member Care) and other guests at conference. Pray for discernment and wisdom, that people of God’s choice will be contacted and accept the invitation. Miriam Anderson and Phil Jolley are organising a team to work on Prayer – pray for good ideas to encourage prayer in advance of and at the conference. AUGUST THURSDAY 1 FINLAND: K In Finland August 1-4 I will be helping at a children’s camp from church. Please pray I will be a blessing at these camps and the kids will see God’s love through me. FRIDAY 2 KOSOVO: Gani and Adile Smolica in Peja On 16 June we said goodbye to the Lubbers family, who finished their 6 years with us. We will miss them as they worked hard with children/youth at our church, and were very active in and around the church. We thank God for their ministry. Please, pray for missionaries to come and continue where they left. Usually, summer time attendance is lower at church activities. Pray for commitment to read the Bible and pray more during these months. We as family are having all our children and grand children together for 2 weeks in August. SATURDAY 3 SPAIN: Julia Mercer-Wilson in Alcalá de Henares We have been in Cuba since 23 July with 7 young people from the church in Camarma on a short term mission trip. We went with a Cuban family from the Spanish church to help their home church in Cuba. We will be running a youth camp for a week and a kids’ club for a week as well as visiting various rural mission points. Please pray that we will be an encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Cuba. That people both in and outside of the church will be led to walk deeper with Christ and pray for our protection and for the logistics. There are times when petrol is very scarce and so our plans may have to be very flexible. SUNDAY 4 REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Jonathan and Nicola McCracken in Claremorris Today starts the Claremorris Agricultural Show. Pray as we have a table with a kids craft and give out literature and Bibles. This is a good chance to meet people and give out invitations to the kids club to be held from 7-9 August in a local housing estate. Pray that we will be well received and meet up with kids from last year. 7

MONDAY 5 GERMANY: Martin and Anya Teubert in Ribnitz-Damgarten Please pray for our trip to Ukraine. We will be in Sumy, our former hometown, for 3 weeks (and one week for travelling). We are looking forward to it. We plan to serve at a camp and see a lot of friends, neighbours, people from church. TUESDAY 6 BRITAIN: Vidas and Rita Rimkai in Gloucester We celebrated World Café’s 5th Anniversary with 300 people from around the world who made Gloucester their home. We are thankful for the friendships and meaningful times together and a testimony of peace and compassion we bear in the city. Vidas and Rita WEDNESDAY 7 Rimkai ECM AUSTRALIA: Samantha Boog, ECM Office in Sidney Please pray for the \"Why Europe?\" presentation that I'm currently working on. That the Lord might give me wisdom in the refining process and that He might use it to raise awareness of the work ECM is doing in Europe. That more workers might be raised up for the harvest, that people would give and that people would pray for the cause of the gospel in Europe. THURSDAY 8 GERMANY: Christiaan and Kseniya Kooiman in Schwerin Praise for a new family who will join our team. Please pray that God would use them and that they will be a blessing to all the people they come into contact with for His glory in Schwerin. FRIDAY 9 ECM AUSTRALIA & NZ: Matt George, Director Please pray for a particular family member of the Georges. A close relative of Matt and Louise has battled anxiety and depression for years. Recently he came very close to handing his life over to Jesus. Thank God for this beginning of spiritual understanding, and pray the gospel may take root in his heart and he may live a life of faith and trust. SATURDAY 10 ROMANIA: Jennifer and Adi Grocott in Timisoara Praise God for the way that God is at work through children’s ministry organisations here in Romania. Pray for continued wisdom in regards to potential partnerships and discernment as to how we can further assist in encouraging and equipping local children’s workers. SUNDAY 11 SPAIN: Hans and Jennifer Anderson in Malaga Pray for our family as we work at The Pilgrims’ Fountain, a stop on the Camino de Santiago, August 11-17. where we’ll feed pilgrims on the journey, both physically and spiritually! 8

MONDAY 12 ECMI: Biennial Conference 2020 Planning Team Dirk-Bart Houweling and Tobias Giersch will be assessing the technology needs for conference over the next couple of months. Pray that they will find out correctly what is needed and that the hotel facilities and equipment would make it possible for us to bring less rather than more equipment. David James is working on the best airports to use and other travel possibilities so pray for good choices and coach companies who will be helpful to our needs. TUESDAY 13 SPAIN: Dan and Anna Julian in Valencia Please pray for us as several groups wrap up their first course on biblical theology with MOCLAM Spain during July and August. Pray the students understand and love and trust the Word more as a result of their studies. Pray for good health for us and our children, and a good period of rest in August WEDNESDAY 14 BRITAIN: Chris and Sarah Downing on Home Assignment from Albania We are on home assignment for the summer, please pray as today 14 August we having our debrief with Sarah Hay. Please also pray that we would have a really restful time in the UK. THURSDAY 15 BRITAIN: Margaret Willan My church just had a \"Great Day Out\" at a school not far from Harrogate. Praise God for many from our Thursday Women's Project who accepted invites and really enjoyed the day. God's Spirit is at work in 2 or 3 families so please pray for victory. FRIDAY 16 FRANCE: Steve and Rosemary Cox in Veneux-les Sablons The church bid us 'Farewell' in the Sunday service on 30th June but we're still around looking after things until the end of July. August will be a short holiday and then packing up as we prepare to leave Veneux and start retirement in Ozoir-la-Ferrière nearer to our children. We need the wisdom to make the best use of this time to finish well. SATURDAY 17 SPAIN: David and Samantha Gilkinson in Castellón The Summer is a period of lots of ministry opportunities as we host mission teams from Northern Ireland in Salou, Cambrils and Tarragona. What a great chance to disciple the team members, Spanish young people and reach out to the communities! Please pray for fruitful Summer mission with the local children and youth in Salou, Cambrils and Tarragona; and energy for balancing mission, study and family over the next 7 weeks. 9

SUNDAY 18 GERMANY: Martin and Anja Teubert in Ribnitz-Damgarten Today, August 18 we celebrate the 50th church service of our little church plant. We plan to celebrate and look back on what God has done during the last 8 years. God has been good. MONDAY 19 AUSTRIA: David and Linda James in Villach Linda and I along with Tobias Giersch will be leading a mission trip to Umag. We will be supporting the local church for the 17th time, with street evangelism using drama, mime, street preaching and children's work. We will also be organising two beach volleyball tournaments. Please pray that people would respond to the Lord's message of love and grace. This year we will be joined by Frank and Angelika Bosch who have just relocated to Umag and by Phil and Martina Jolley's son, Stefan. TUESDAY 20 UKRAINE: New Hope Ukraine team Please pray for Nastia, an 18 year old girl, who was baptized last month, and became a part of our church. A great year at the Creative Learning Children center and Teen Girls Friday night meetings. These two groups grew in number. WEDNESDAY 21 ROMANIA: Jennifer and Adi Grocott in Timisoara Pray for our involvement in various summer programs and events and that children would hear the word of God and be encouraged and challenged. Pray also that leaders would be raised up and trained to be able to disciple children in their communities the whole year through. THURSDAY 22 AUSTRIA: Stephan and Claudia Pohn in Dornbirn Praise God for the various summer camps. Please pray for lasting fruit, that whole families would be touched by the gospel and leaders would grow in maturity and Christ-likeness. Please pray that as a church we’d grow in the way we practically live out Christ-honouring love and unity, especially when there are differences. Pray that we’d reflect God’s glory. FRIDAY 23 BULGARIA: Dimitrie and Maria Todorov in Burgas Praise God for a powerful experience for 32 participants in the Kairos Course in Sofia the second week of June! We enjoyed the visit from Mission chair Jay Gomez and his wife Ofelia from Graceway Community Church, Pleasanton, CA. A team of 6 had a successful trip to Germany and a team of 3 training in sports ministry in Portugal. Pray for teams coming to do ministry with us during the summer. We will host 20+ teams from 13 European countries to launch our sports ministry with students. 10

SATURDAY 24 PERSONNEL BULGARIA: Andrew and Kate Blackwell in Sofia OPPORTUNITIES Please pray for our children as they start a new school at the end of WORKING IN August, that they would settle into a new routine and find friends quickly. FRANCE SUNDAY 25 WHAT WE DO: We SLOVENIA: Sarah Deacon in Ljubljana aim to spread the Give thanks that we have the opportunity to take some of the teenagers gospel in local on a mission trip to England at the end of the month. We will be helping communities with a Holiday Bible Club at a church in Beccles, Suffolk. Please be praying through warm for both churches involved that it will be a fruitful partnership. Pray also relationships. We’re for the teenagers that they will be learning more about evangelism in a keen to share our different country. Pray they will take the things they will learn back to lives and faith with Slovenia and put them into practice in their own situations. local students and Community MONDAY 26 members in natural, SERBIA: Branko and Rada Tihojevic in Zaječar relational ways. Please pray for workers who are called by God to work with us. Praise the Lord for every opportunity in the Ministry: regular Church services with SPECIFIC the new people coming, evangelism, contacts, conferences, summer OPPORTUNITIES camps and completion of the camp Timok construction. When there is lot Internships in of to do, this often goes beyond our abilities. Ministry in the Balkans is developing churches hard, with little visible response, but God has given us joy and a great (2 months to 2 team to work with. Pray for Zajecar team Branko and Rada and Novica and years) . Tamara to take the break in the first two weeks in August to focus on Be involved in the spiritual renewal and strength. community centre through offering TUESDAY 27 classes or ECMI USA: George Brown, Global Ministry Consultant workshops, for Pray for Cathy and I as we enter a period of discernment for this next example in season of life and ministry. We anticipate that the Lord is going to do Computing, English & something new and wonderful. Several doors are opening. We need German language, or wisdom to discern which doors we should walk through. whatever other skills you can bring. We’d WEDNESDAY 28 love anyone and PORTUGAL: Peter and Anna Crawford in Lisbon everyone with a The Portugal Prayer Days will take place from 28-31 August. Please pray heart for sharing the for times of being refreshed, sharing and fellowship. Pray for James gospel to all nations. Hyndman, the minister of the Crawford’s home church in Coleraine, N However, it would be Ireland, who will be coming out to give the Bible Studies. a challenge to participate in the THURSDAY 29 activities without a GERMANY: Christiaan and Kseniya Kooiman in Schwerin reasonable level of Praise God for 2 people who are going to be baptised in August! Praise French. If this also for other people who have interest in faith and are on their way to opportunity inspires God. Please keep these people in your prayers as they struggle with many you then please get different issues in their lives. in touch. Contact your nearest ECM office for details. 11

FRIDAY 30 AUSTRIA: Günther and Mallory Fugger in Vienna I organized an outreach for the Europride Parade in Vienna, where we handed out flyers and pins sharing how much the people are loved by God. On the flyer, there was a link to a survey, and one person that answered was very interested to meet and talk about faith. Please pray for this contact and that others would also contact us for such conversations! There is also a conflict in our church that is very difficult for Günther and the other leaders at the moment. Pray for peace, wisdom, reconciliation and unity! SATURDAY 31 SPAIN: Jim and Christine Memory in Aguilar de la Frontera Please rejoice with us today as our son, Alex gets married to the lovely Katie in Birmingham, UK, and pray for them as they start married life together. As you do so please pray for any missionary kids you know, whether they are still on the field with their parents or somewhere else. There are different struggles and triumphs for each of them but pray they will all be comforted in the knowledge of the Lord's care and guiding for them wherever they are today. To receive this publication by email and for all correspondence contact: ECM International, City Works, Alfred Street, Gloucester GL1 4DF t: 01452 901714 e: [email protected] : European Christian Mission International Company number 3341959 Registered