Thank you for supporting the ministries of the Christian Reformed Church through your prayers.
For daily prayer, you are invited to use the Prayer Guide below or:
In April 2016 a tornado touched down in Century, Fla., damaging homes and buildings in the area. Deborah Williams and her son were one of the families affected. With help from caring donors, World Renew DRS has successfully renovated a new home for the Williams family. We praise God for the resources given to help people overcome disaster.
Pastor Joe Ortega pastors Celebration Community, a church plant in Holland, Mich. Recently the church hosted a concert for more than 500 people in the community. Praise God! Pray that people will continue to engage in ministry with Celebration Community.
Offering three days of worship, workshops, speakers, and conversation, Inspire 2017 begins today in Detroit, Mich. Please pray for focus, energy, and inspiration for those working behind the scenes, giving workshops and talks, setting up ministry displays, and leading worship and prayer. May all who come to Inspire 2017 find inspiration for ongoing ministry and worship and hope in Christ.
Pray for Kuwa, a young widow who works long hours to support her three children. “I used to complain about my life, but since I’ve listened to your spiritual broadcasts, I feel grateful,” Kuwa wrote. “Pray that God will always give strength and joy to my family and neighbors.”
A missionary in the Philippines is leading a Coffee Break small group leaders’ workshop this month in several of the nation’s largest cities. Pray that these will be effective training events and that God will work through the leaders involved.
Millions of people are without food in Kenya in the midst of a national drought emergency. With the help of World Renew and Anglican Development Services, families were provided with relief food items to last for weeks. Please ask God to give strength to everyone affected. World Renew will continue distributing food in the upcoming months.
Recent arrests in Ontario helped to free eighteen women and girls from sex trafficking and revealed again that this crime happens in our communities, sometimes through websites that are easy to access. Abba, we praise you for these recent arrests, and we mourn for the many people who have been ensnared by human trafficking. We pray for release for the captives.
Pray for participants in the Holy Land Learning Tour who are visiting sights and people in the land where Jesus lived. May this be a meaningful experience for all who are involved.
Pray for Mikhail, a follow-up coordinator who works from St. Petersburg. God uses this contact to share the gospel in person with our listeners. Thank God for all who have found faith in Christ as a result of this discipleship ministry.
Each summer, our Urban Aboriginal Ministries welcome students from area churches and neighborhoods to help with summer programming. This is often one of the first times our CRC youth have the opportunity to be involved in ministry and to learn from Aboriginal friends and elders. Pray that the Spirit will move and that God's love and truth will help our students grow.
Pray that God will be at work in the summer programs offered by the Zuni Christian Reformed Mission as several Christian young men and women graduates— Shanell, Sheldon, Barlow, Natasha, and Ty—serve as interns leading the basketball, volleyball, outdoor camp, and Bible school programs.
This is the theme for the upcoming Cadet season, based on Ezekiel 34:11. Boys and their counselors will explore together what it means that God is looking for them and watching over them. Pray that men and boys in clubs across North America will build relationships that allow counselors to demonstrate what it means to live a Christlike life.
Salaam 2.0 continues to help Christian Reformed churches connect with their Muslim neighbors. In partnership with Salaam, the Canadian Network of Muslims is starting new networks in British Columbia and Atlantic Canada. Give thanks for this expansion and pray that Christians in Canada will love Muslims in Jesus’ name.
Please pray for safe travels and an effective time of training for presenters and hundreds of pastors from East Africa attending a ministry seminar in Tanzania Aug. 14-18 sponsored by Resonate Global Mission. Disability Concerns director Mark Stephenson and his wife, Bev, will be teaching a workshop on “Disability and Ministry: Everybody Belongs. Everybody Serves.”
Praise God for the ways he has touched the heart of Mr. Ishio in Kumamoto, the city hit hard by an earthquake in April 2016. Mr. Ishio heard Words of Hope, our special broadcasts to the area, and wrote, “I was baptized long ago but was away from the church. I recorded and listened to your program repeatedly. I came to faith again.”
Teachers like Sucely de Leon in El Tineco, Guatemala, work hard to convince parents about the value of education for their children. Please pray for World Renew as we work to partner with organizations in isolated communities like El Tineco to encourage education, agriculture, and preventative health.
A woman named Jane has been through several modules of Timothy Leadership Training and has seen the positive effects in her spiritual life and even in her business skills. Praise God! Pray that Jane will continue to share what she has learned with others in her community.
We currently are interacting with more than 40 prospective chaplains—those thinking about or beginning training in chaplaincy. Pray that the input, fellowship, and encouragement of our office will help these men and women continue to prepare for and ultimately serve well in populations in crisis.
Pray that the ministry of Race Relations is helpful for the church in preaching Christ and inviting people from every nation. Pray that we may mourn over sin, be courageously meek and break the cycle of hate, hunger and thirst for what is right and forsake the need to be right, lead the church with contagious mercy, and see Christ, that the world may see Christ in us.
Praise God for the testimony of a graduate student at Western Michigan University. She made profession of faith and named her new daughter Faith because, she said, the most important thing that happened in her life as a result of being mentored and coached by her campus ministry leader was that she has been drawn back to God!
The Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security program funded in part by World Renew has helped provide income to farmers in 15 communities throughout Sierra Leone. Farmers have been able to increase rice production and take out low-interest loans, allowing them to continue development in their work. Praise God for the economic sustainability he is providing.
As churches prepare to launch fall programming, pray that care will be taken to provide a safe environment by fully screening staff and volunteers and by following abuse prevention policies. Pray also for the fruitful implementation of Circle of Grace, a safe environment program for children and youth, used in a growing number of CRC congregations.
Several overseas missionaries are helping their children prepare for college in North America. For some, this will be the first time they are far away from each other. Pray for a smooth time of transition for these families.
Pray for the distribution of a new booklet of testimonies from young people. Pray that as other young people in China read these stories, God will touch their hearts and bring them to faith. Pray boldly for open doors to publish this resource in China.
Pray for RLI network coleaders and equipping teams to plan well over the next four months, focusing on sustainability and transferring learnings and practices into actionable plans for congregations to develop leaders. Pray for all involved to remain prayerful, to grow, and to bear much fruit!
As summer slips into fall and a new ministry season begins, pray that worship leaders, worship planners, and pastors will find personal rest and refreshment. Ask God to give these servants renewed energy and enthusiasm for ministry and vision to keep building God’s kingdom in the church.
Thank God for the expansion of media ministry into new cities and new countries. Pray for the listeners in these places and for the volunteers who follow up with listeners who respond. Pray for Christ’s church to grow stronger throughout West Africa.
Pray for a seminary graduate, Aurora Tlacotempa, who was taught by a CRC missionary. Along with her seminary education, she has a bachelor’s degree in intervention education. She has been offered a scholarship toward a master’s degree. Her goal is to serve Christ in a substance abuse and rehabilitation center. Ask the Lord to lead and bless her in the future.
South Sudan and neighboring countries are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the end of World War II. Conflict, displacement, drought, floods, and disease have left millions without the necessities to survive. World Renew’s partner in South Sudan will be providing food to families while helping children to recover from malnutrition. Pray for healing and sustainability in this region.
This month we welcome new students from the U.S. and Canada and from around the world. Pray for the process and logistics of students and families moving, and ask for smooth transitions into the learning community, local church communities, and ministry opportunities.
Our partners at the Center for Transforming Mission in Guatemala City ask for prayers for Synergy 2017; this year we want to gather a group of leaders who come from different spheres of our city. We want to promote collaboration and joint initiatives toward the social and spiritual renewal of Guatemala. Synergy will take place during the month of November 2017.