Prayer News – December 2020

December 2020 Global Prayer News

Click HERE to download

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

Dear friends and prayer partners,

In the midst of the global pandemic, one of the biggest challenges has been the fractured supply line.  With borders closed and air, sea and land transportation significantly reduced, countries around the world have been struggling with the import and export of supplies.  I remember reading in our local newspaper that during lockdown, many families started home baking.  As a result, flour sold out in the shops and imports were unable to keep up, adding stress to the already unpredictable and fractured supply line.

 

However, there is a supply line that can never be fractured.  That is prayer – our supply line to God.  The writer of Hebrews recognised that we will go through ‘times of need’.  These times of need are never predictable. They can happen at any time, and often when we least expect them. The writer reminds us when a time of need happens, we can boldly approach God’s throne to ask help from the One who can offer us grace and mercy.  Herein lies the promise; our supply line to God through prayer is always available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we can come before God to receive the grace and mercy we need to help us, especially in difficult times.


Today, the world, including the world-wide Scripture Union community, has been greatly affected by this pandemic. Praise God we have an always-available supply line – in prayer we can turn to God for help.

Lim Teck Boon
Field Development Director
(Asia & Pacific)

Global Week of PrayerThe theme for the Global Week of Prayer was ‘our Limitless God’, taken from Acts 17:22-28. This year we did things a little differently and started with a multilingual launch event held on Zoom. It was a time of expressing our dependence on God together as one big family and a testament that prayer builds community.

You can see the recorded event here



During the week, SU movements and supporters around the world met in their offices, churches, homes and online to pray for the following: the global Church, the impact of the pandemic on SU, SU and global leadership, for the world to know Jesus and thanksgiving and reliance on God.

We finished the week off with a 24-hour global online prayer event, with 46 different SU movements taking it in turn to lead us in prayer. As Monika, our International Director, said afterwards, “It was an amazing experience to learn of the joys and challenges of our movements and bring them to the throne of God. We laughed, prayed, cried and sang together and got little tasters of cultural diversity and spiritual unity. Global SU fellowship and community at its best. Thank you all.”

A Unique Christmas 3 December 10:00am London

 

* ‘All you thought you knew about Christmas’ quiz
* ‘SU’s World’s Best Christmas Trinket’
* Ways to present the Christmas Story in different contexts
* An opportunity to share how you celebrate Christmas
in your country/culture
* Finishing with a time of thanksgiving for this most unusual year 
 
We invite you to join us for a truly global Christmas
Please click here to register

Meet our Global BoardWe thought it would be good if we could help you get to know our Global Board members a little better, so each month we will be asking one of them to answer a few short questions about themselves.

We will start this month with our International Chairman, Christian Hellwig

1. Why did you get involved in SU?
My wife grew up with SU and gave her life to Jesus during an SU children’s camp. After we married, we helped in leading SU teenage camps. Later, my wife became (and still is) a formal member of the national SU organisation. When they encountered issues, I coached her to navigate a way through it – resulting in me also becoming a member of the national board.

2. What is your favourite Bible verse, and why?
It is difficult to select a single verse from my favourite book! But to give you an idea, it could be the part that states “God is Love” from 1 John 4:16 or John 3:16. If I hold fast to His abundant love as a basic and underlying assumption for interpreting the Bible and my own life experience, I think I can’t go wrong.
Incidentally, I once learned Romans 6 by heart as a spiritual exercise, but today the love of God seems to me more fundamental than the fact that our sins are forgiven (which, of course, was only made possible because of God’s love).

3. What dream do you have for SU looking forward five years from now?

SU is a vibrant global movement consisting of interdependent national movements. My dream is that we will continue to work together and for one another, supporting each other with love and compassion and that we will encourage each other into new ministries to reach the unreached. My dream is that in five years’ time, we will plan and perform successful projects together, secure funding for these projects through concerted actions and that we will have a reputation for meaningful and encouraging reporting to our donors. Finally, my dream is that the SU global family will, with all its diversity in languages, culture and congregational backgrounds, be a role model for John 17:21 …that all of them may be one… so the world may believe…” (maybe not my favourite Bible verse, but the most challenging to me). 

With prayers for a peaceful and safe Christmas season
from the
Global Board & Team

Click HERE to download this month’s prayer news

Scripture Union: God’s Big Story Transforming Young Lives
www.scriptureunion.global

 

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