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Prayers for March – May 2019

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Thank you for joining us in praying for Scripture Union's work. 

Week beginning 3rd March

This week's prayers relate to this story. Please pray for young people on a journey of faith.

Sunday 3rd March 
Praise God for the impact of the Illuminate London tour – for opening doors to so many schools so that 18,000 young people could hear the message of hope that Jesus offers. 

Monday 4th March  
Praise God for all the partners involved in Illuminate London – for bringing together and uniting so many in sharing the good news of Jesus with London’s young people. 

Tuesday 5th March  
Give thanks for every young person who decided to follow Jesus at the final concert – and for those who may have since. 

Wednesday 6th March  
Please pray that each of those young people gets the support they need in order to grow and mature in their new-found faith and that God will protect them from harm. 

Thursday 7th March  
Please pray for churches and youth workers as they continue to visit and build links with the 22 schools involved in the tour to share more about the good news of Jesus with the students. 

Friday 8th March  
Give thanks for SU regional staff and all they do to support churches in sharing Jesus with children and young people. Ask God to strengthen and bless the relationships they have and to open up new opportunities for them. 

Saturday 9th March  
Please pray for more large-scale opportunities to share the message of Jesus with young people in schools across our nation. Pray too that the Holy Spirit prepares their hearts to hear and respond to the good news.

Week beginning 10th March

Sunday 10th March  
Yesterday, SU Bulgaria’s Bible Competition for teens took place. Pray that the young people who took part will have discovered how amazing the Bible is and will continue to take an active interest in discovering the truth of God’s Word. 

Monday 11th March  
Pray for regional team leader Simon Barker and the central team as they meet today to pray and plan, seeking God’s way for the next few months. 

Tuesday 12th March  
‘Yes Chef’ is a Liverpool project in which young people learn basic cooking from a chef who started following Jesus while in prison. Pray that as they explore topics such as purpose, consequences, second chances and forgiveness they will see the love of Jesus. Pray also for a similar project starting in Chester this month. 

Wednesday 13th March 
Pray for local mission partner COINS as they anticipate a new team leader starting after Easter. The work has grown and they have a team of fi ve part-time schools workers running about 19 clubs in diff erent primary and secondary schools in the Newbury area. 

Thursday 14th March 
Local mission partner WAVE, working in Swanage, asks us to pray that Space Academy, an after-school activity, will take off at St. Mark’s School. They also ask for prayer for their plans to run an Alpha course. 

Friday 15th March 
Tomorrow, Thrive Juniors takes place in Leamington Spa. This is a worship event for primary children and their leaders from across Warwickshire, run by local mission partner Thrive. Pray that those who attend will have a real sense of God’s presence. 

Saturday 16th March  
Today a team from SU South Africa, including staff and volunteers, will be arriving in the south west to help with schools work in the Torbay area and on the Surf Break weekend holiday in north Devon. Pray that this cooperation between SU movements will make a major impact on young lives.

Week beginning 17th March

Sunday 17th March  
Reboot Global takes place in Belfast next Saturday. This interactive day allows 12- to 18-year-olds to ask big questions about God and is being facilitated by Ravi Zacharias Trust in partnership with SU Northern Ireland, Crown Jesus and Summer Madness. 

Monday 18th March  
Give thanks for over two hundred young people who attended SHINE events in Newcastle last year, with a number of non-Christians at the final session. Pray that the Christian young people will continue to have confidence to talk about Jesus with their friends. 

Tuesday 19th March 
Over the next few weeks, Easter Cracked events will be run by many local mission partners and churches. Pray especially for Christian Connections in Schools (in Slough), Stort Valley Trust, Brentwood Schools Worker Christian Trust and Milton Keynes Bridgebuilder Trust. 

Wednesday 20th March  
Lent and Easter provide great opportunities for chaplains in schools and colleges to connect with the 95% of young people not in our churches. Please pray for wisdom and creativity for national mission partner Chaplaincy Central as they seek to resource and encourage these chaplains on the front line. 

Thursday 21st March  
Today the SU sports focus group is meeting to plan and pray about the best ways of resourcing and mobilising churches in England and Wales into mission through sport. Pray for creativity and insight. 

Friday 22nd March  
This month Rob Steward, regional team leader in the north west, has been working with a local church in Blackpool to run a ‘sporty church’ after-school club, the last of four being tonight. These clubs are proving a really successful way of sharing Jesus. Pray for this and for similar projects on the Wirral. 

Saturday 23rd March  
X:site Gloucester is running tonight; pray that as the team share on the theme of the big clean and help the children to understand the great love of God, the children will come to experience it for themselves.

Week beginning 24th March

Sunday 24th March 
Pray for SU Denmark’s children’s consultant, Cecilie Nord Hansen, as she prepares for the launch of a new resource for families at the end of the month. The resource will help families to read the Bible together and talk about its meaning. 

Monday 25th March  
Pray for local mission partner York Schools and Youth Trust’s ‘It’s Your Easter’ programme which starts today and will run in 15 Primary Schools (with workshops for years 2 and 5 and a whole school assembly). Pray too for local mission partner Fleet and Crookham Churches Together in Schools as they give Easter presentations to year 6. 

Tuesday 26th March 
Alison Way of local mission partner The Youth Net in Staff ord is leading Easter workshops. Pray that these will communicate the Easter message and will lead to further opportunities in the future. Pray too for churches using the SU Easter Cracked resource. 

Wednesday 27th March  
Tonight the Welsh team hold a supporters’ evening in Cardiff, sharing the vision for the work in Wales and seeking support for the work through prayer, giving and volunteering. Pray for a good response. 

Thursday 28th March 
South east development worker Lisa Jones is running Easter workshops in primary schools. Please pray that the message of the good news of Jesus comes through clearly, that the workshops go well without practical problems and that the children leave excited and wanting to know more. 

Friday 29th March  
Chris Nuttall, Head of Mission Enabling, leaves the SU staff team today. Pray for him and his wife as they relocate to the north west of England to take up new ministry opportunities. 

Saturday 30th March 
Pray for the new pilot being conducted by Beverley Schools Christian Trust in primary schools looking at mental health issues, now so prevalent in schools. Pray for new workers who are finding their feet with new projects and for funding to expand what they feel they are being called to do.

Week beginning 31st March

Sunday 31st March
SU New Zealand have a new fishing activity camp for unchurched boys which will be held in April. Pray for wisdom for the team as they plan and for an impact on all who attend. 

Monday 1st April
This week, local mission partner Impact Bedford is running their Easter Experience. This event, held in a volunteer’s garden, sees the Easter story acted out for the 500 children who’ll attend throughout the week. Pray that the children and the staff who accompany them will understand Easter in a new way. 

Tuesday 2nd April
Local mission partner Learn4Life is offering staff and student support at a school in Reading – working with alternative provision students, supporting the RE teacher, providing coffee, cake and a listening ear for staff and running a lunchtime club. Pray for hope and light in the school. 

Wednesday 3rd April
Local mission partner PSALMS praises God that a growing number of churches in Gloucestershire are open to reaching children and young people with no church connections through sport, games and play. Pray that this will lead to new worshipping communities. 

Thursday 4rd April
Pray for Matt Smith SU/SWYM trainee as he works with an outreach team in Kingswood Park in Bristol on Saturday to reach children, young people and families in the area. 

Friday 5th April
Advance Youth in London this weekend is organised by a group of agencies including SU. It aims to equip young people in the 11–18 age bracket to be effective evangelists to their peers. Please pray that young people will be given confidence to share the good news and equipped to do it well. 

Saturday 6th April
Pray for Easter residentials: Kestrels (sailing on the Broads) for 13–18s led by Mary Jeddere-Fisher starts today and runs to 13 April; GW Tracks (mountain biking at Great Wood) for 13–17s led by Nathan and Lucy Johnson (8–12 April) and Bridleways and the SU Bake Off 1 for 12–15s running alongside one another led by Jo and Rachel Morley (15–18 April).

Week beginning 7th April

Sunday 7th April 
SU Namibia thanks God for open doors in the schools all over the country and asks us to pray that God will provide Christian teachers willing to run SU clubs and help young people in schools to grow in faith. 

Monday 8th April 
This week, Dan Wicks (SU development worker in the south east) will be running a two-day nonresidential sports camp in partnership with churches in southwest London. Pray that the children who attend will enjoy the sport and meet Jesus as they explore faith on the sports field. 

Tuesday 9th April  
The SU team in South Africa is working on the first African language version of Guardians of Ancora, isiXhosa. Please pray that they will be able to maintain momentum and for clarity and wisdom as they plan how best to use the app in their ministries. 

Wednesday 10th April  
Local mission partner Sevenoaks Area Youth Trust gives thanks for their team of volunteers and supporters who enable the work to happen and asks us to pray that as the days start to get longer they will have opportunities to do more detached work with the local young people. 

Thursday 11th April 
Pray that more secondary schools will book the Reflective Spaces activity for years 10 to 13 put on by local mission partner Milton Keynes Bridgebuilder Trust. Pray that pupils will learn how to make time for ongoing reflection on God in their lives. 

Friday 12th April  
Today, Steve Hutchinson is leading a pyrography craft session at the Oasis Family Centre in Cheltenham as part of a Christian arts festival. Please pray for opportunities to share faith with those who take part in the activity. 

Saturday 13th April  
Pray for SU’s development workers as they build relationships with new churches, that they would be a real help and support to those churches and, in turn, that those churches would be inspired to support the work of SU both financially and through prayer.

Week beginning 14th April

Sunday 14th April 
Pray with SU Pakistan for growth in their work and vision and especially for plans to expand the ministry into new unreached areas: Baluchistan, Sindh, Khyber, Pakhtunkhwa, northern areas and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. 

Monday 15th April  
Give thanks for the new contacts made as a result of 150th-anniversary celebrations in Llandudno. Pray for Helen Franklin as she builds on these and especially as she works with St Paul’s Craig y Don to run an Ancora club in their church school, with the hope that this may lead to a holiday club. 

Tuesday 16th April  
Today, Neil Jackson is running a fun day alongside churches in Lower Wensleydale, preparing for three days of outreach in August for holidaymakers in a neighbouring caravan park. Pray for good communication with the owners of the caravan park and for wisdom as they think about year-round follow-up. 

Wednesday 17th April  
Pray for local mission partner Faith in Schools based in Newham as they help the volunteers they will be working with next year to realise the vision God has given them to work with the 95%. Pray that God would help them to be effective in their communication. 

Thursday 18th April  
Pray that the resources being produced for the Cricket World Cup, which starts on 30 May, will enable Christians in school, church and community settings to share Jesus against the backdrop of the second largest sport in the world. 

Friday 19th April 
Pray for development worker Steve Hutchinson and team who are leading a Good Friday workshop in Gloucester for children and their parents. The workshop aims to share the meaning of this special day and to explain something of the love of Jesus. 

Saturday 20th April  
As part of increasing the impact of our activities to reach those who don’t yet know Jesus, we want to make the process of booking events and recruiting volunteers easier. Please pray that our team and our technology partners may be able to resolve complex technical issues.

Week beginning 21st April

This week's prayers relate to this article. Please pray for volunteers across the SU movement.

Sunday 21st April  
This Easter Sunday, give thanks to God for all those SU volunteers like James and Anneka who willingly sacrifice their time and use their talents to build relationships with children and young people and help them learn about Jesus. 

Monday 22nd April 
Please pray for all Scripture Union volunteers, for God to encourage and bless them in their faithful service, whatever that might be, and protect them from harm. 

Tuesday 23rd April 
Praise God for the wonderful diversity of gifts with which he blesses and equips his people. Pray that he will enable each one of us to discover all the gifts and talents that we have to offer. 

Wednesday 24thApril 
Pray that God will give each of us the courage and opportunity to use our gifts in his service, whether in our own local churches, for Scripture Union or more broadly. 

Thursday 25th April  
Praise God for giving children, young people and volunteers the opportunity to go on SU holidays and weekend residentials, and for just how much he deepens their faith through being part of a temporary Christian community. 

Friday 26th April  
Give thanks to God that his love and grace at work in the lives of volunteer leaders on SU holidays and missions speaks such volumes to children and young people who don’t yet know Jesus. 

Saturday 27th April  
Pray that God will raise up more SU volunteers to serve him and help children and young people to discover the hope that only Jesus can offer.

Week beginning 28th April

Sunday 28th April
Praise God with SU Ecuador for the success of their mission through sport initiatives, increasing the eagerness of many young people to join a local church. 

Monday 29th April
Local mission partner Thrive runs two courses to grow leadership skills in young people, one in Leamington Spa and one in Coventry. As the latest courses finish this month, give thanks for the 17 young people who have participated over the last eight months and pray that God will work through them. 

Tuesday 30th April 
Local mission partner Grantham Christian Ministries Trust gives thanks for the opportunity to visit 16 primary schools to provide collective worship, and for the four lunchtime clubs which they have been running since January helping children to explore the stories of Jesus. 

Wednesday 1st May
Thank God that the latest updates to Guardians of Ancora have led to an uptake in players and an increase in interaction with the stories of Jesus. Pray that more children will tell their friends about the game, too. 

Thursday 2nd May 
Give thanks for all our faithful supporters, many of whom have supported us in prayer, giving and volunteering over many years. Pray that as they support SU they might know God’s blessing in their own lives. Pray too for others to join them in supporting the work. 

Friday 3rd May
This weekend, Centre Spot sports camp is running. It hopes to attract young people from across London, including many who don’t go to church, for coaching in different sports and to give them an opportunity to explore Christian faith. 

Saturday 4th May
The Families Together holiday, led by Steve and Judy Hutchinson, takes place this weekend. There will be lots of activities bringing all ages together in the wonderful setting of Great Wood in Somerset. Pray that all will sense God’s presence with them.

Week beginning 5th May

Sunday 5th May
Volunteers are key to our ministry – last year, they contributed the equivalent of 141 full-time staff. Thank God for them and pray for new volunteers to come forward. 

Monday 6th May
Pray for Mark Oliver, SU sports consultant in the north east, as he works on Game Changers, a sports academy for young people where they are trained to be community sports leaders and help others explore the Christian faith. 

Tuesday 7th May
Please pray for local mission partner Christians for Education in North Wales as they seek to train more people to take part in school assemblies, especially at the secondary level. They find this an effective way of presenting the truth of Jesus to the young people who don’t go to church. 

Wednesday 8th May
SU Malaysia-Sabah praises God for a camp for students finishing A Levels and heading for colleges and universities. Pray this will have equipped them to stand firm for Christ in their new environment. Pray also for the completion of the first book of a youth teaching resource for schools and churches. 

Thursday 9th May
Many colleges in the West Midlands are looking to set up chaplaincies to serve their staff and students. Please pray for national mission partner FESTIVE and partner organisations as they seek to develop chaplaincies for the colleges and that people will hear God’s call to become chaplains. 

Friday 10th May 
Pray for Dave Parsons, SU’s lead accountant, as he finalises the 2018–19 financial accounts ready for the audit at the end of the month. Pray for clarity in understanding the numbers and for Grant Thornton as they undertake the audit. 

Saturday 11th May
Please pray for the preparations for Southport Higher Tour this summer, in which local mission partner Southport & Area Schools Worker Trust will partner with The Message Trust to share good news with secondary school students through school visits and an evening festival.

Week beginning 12th May

Sunday 12th May
Pray for SU Canada as they develop a children’s ministry handbook to equip parents and children’s workers to help children build lasting relationships with Jesus. They aim to have this resource completed this year. 

Monday 13th May
Thank God for the way in which It’s Your Move has helped so many children make the move from primary to secondary education with practical guidance and a simple message of God’s care. Pray that the updated and redesigned edition with new content available this year will be even more effective. 

Tuesday 14th May
Give thanks for the Teesside sports mission hub set up by SU development worker Neil Jackson and Mark Oliver (SU sports consultant in the north east). Please pray that new sports mission activities emerging from this hub will help Teesside young people to get to know Jesus. 

Wednesday 15th May 
Recently, the North West staff team have piloted some new Diary of a Disciple clubs where children can learn more about the difference Jesus can make to their lives. Pray for the clubs that have started, the children who now have a Diary book at home and that many more clubs will develop. 

Thursday 16th May 
‘I pray now because it’s exciting to talk to Jesus,’ said a child who had never been to church but who went to a Guardians of Ancora club. Please pray for club leaders and the impact of these clubs in schools, churches and communities. 

Friday 17th May 
The 3Sixty adventure holiday for 8–11s led by Bob and Bec Goody takes place this weekend. Pray that in the midst of a range of exciting outdoor activities the children will discover the joy of knowing Jesus for themselves. 

Saturday 18th May
Local mission partner Christian Initiative to Schools, Letchworth and District, is in the process of creating an interactive resource to take into schools from the summer term. Pray for all those involved in putting this together asking that it would be well received in the local schools.

Week beginning 19th May

Sunday 19th May 
SU in the Republic of Guinea asks us to pray about the endless sociopolitical troubles the country has experienced since independence preventing a potentially rich country from developing. Pray that despite these difficulties the work of SU may prosper. 

Monday 20th May  
Pray that more secondary schools would book Emerge, an emotional literacy course run by local mission partner Milton Keynes Bridgebuilder Trust. Pray that on the current course the young people will learn key skills to help them deal with their emotions in positive ways. 

Tuesday 21st May  
Lifepath Bunyan takes place in Bedford over the next three days. Pray that the school groups who come will encounter Jesus as they explore the life and faith of John Bunyan. 

Wednesday 22nd May 
Thank God for Rooted, a new initiative to help young people explore the difference Jesus can make to their identity, purpose and self-worth in creative and relevant ways. Following the positive response to Rooted groups last autumn, pray that many other groups will start. Pray too for plans for a Rooted residential holiday that are underway. 

Thursday 23rd May  
Pray for plans in Wales to run more SLAM (Sport, Life, Adventure and More) days in partnership with local mission partners and churches this term as a way of inviting people to the SLAM camp. The vision is to use the same identity at different levels to create the opportunity to explore the love of Jesus. 

Friday 24th May 
This weekend, development worker Dan Wicks will be taking the south east region inflatable sports pitch to Big Church Day Out with a view to engaging with young people on the fringes of the event who want to do sport, and encouraging them to explore faith. 

Saturday 25th May  
Last year we saw children really encounter God and make decisions to follow Jesus on the Go Wild holiday. As this year’s holiday takes place this weekend pray that more children will encounter God in life-changing ways. 33510

Week beginning 26th May

Sunday 26th May
Pray for SU chaplains and volunteer school teams in Victoria, Australia. Pray for wisdom and energy as they build relationships with young people, support school communities, represent Jesus’ love in schools and build partnerships with local churches. 

Monday 27th May 
This week, development worker Bob Goody will be running prayer spaces in schools in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Please pray that children and young people will meet with God as they have the opportunity to take time out to reflect. 

Tuesday 28th May 
Pray for Komputer Consultancy Services who have recently taken on our IT Support, that they will use their skill and experience to provide outstanding support for Ian Gooding, Technical Services Manager. 

Wednesday 29th May 
The south west region has a dream to see more residential and nonresidential camps based on the very successful Go Wild residential model. One way of moving this forward would be to work in partnership with others. Please pray for discussions and planning, asking that there may be more camps this summer. 

Thursday 30th May
Melody Ayandokun is doing a leadership development year with SU based in London and is working on a variety of projects. Pray that this will be a great opportunity for her to grow and to bring blessing to others. 

Friday 31st May
The ‘created to play’ sports gathering will take place 1–3 July; participants will deliver sports mission programmes as a way of helping them to develop the skills to conduct a range of sport mission events themselves. Pray for God’s wisdom in the planning process. 

Saturday 1st June
Thank God for almost four hundred young Christians in FE colleges and sixth forms who are being supported with resources and through prayer by national mission partner FESTIVE. Pray that, through the witness of these Christian students, many more of the young people in this age group who have no church connection hear and respond to the good news of Jesus.

Connecting You – Scripture Union's supporter and prayer magazine

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