Prayer Points 8 Oct 2023
Our Church
Combined Leaders’ Retreat – Praise God for the annual Combined Leaders’ Retreat yesterday (7 Oct, Sat) where the Pastors, Elders, BOD, Staff and AG Leaders from all 8 congregations came together for a time of reflecting on Zion Bishan’s current state in response to the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation, as well as to review and build on our transition to a congregational model. Please continue to pray for God to sustain all current leaders, and to raise many more godly leaders who teach and model Jesus to all the saints at Zion Bishan.
Children’s Day – We thank God for each child who has been learning and growing in His word. We pray that they will learn to love the Lord and live under His kingship with all their hearts and minds, in spite of the growing negative influences that may lead them away from Him. Pray for their parents and spiritual families to disciple their hearts well and be good models of what it means to live a Christ-centred life. Pray for our children that their lives will be rooted in Christ and His word and be a shining light for Jesus in this dark world.
ZBCS Leaders’ Retreat – Praise the Lord that the Zion Bishan Chinese Service (ZBCS) had a wonderful Leaders’ Retreat on 16 Sep, held at the Yio Chu Kang Grassroot Club. The retreat was organised to remind us of Zion Bishan’s Next Lap vision, to share the key learnings in the development and equipping of the ZBCS congregations, and to encourage more to step forward in active service to the Lord. Attendees were organised into cross-congregational groups to share observations and learnings on the dynamics and platforms for relationship building, organisation of task force for running of events, and effective leading of AGs, many of which will be translated into initiatives and work plan for the coming year. Please continue to pray for the ZBCS ministry, for more to submit to the Lord’s calling to serve, and to reach out to the many Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien speaking in the neighbourhood communities.
Peer Support Training – Praise God for the 13 peer supporters who attended an equipping workshop on family violence, conducted by Dn Ching Hong last Saturday. It was a good time of learning how to recognise and better support their peers in such situations. We thank God for the work that our peer supporters are doing, and we pray for more to come alongside.
Our World
Nepal – (Reuters) Two earthquakes of magnitude 6.3 and 5.3 rocked western Nepal on Tue (3 Oct), injuring 17 people, damaging homes and triggering landslides in many places. Praise God that our partners and team currently there were kept safe even amid reports of heightened religious tensions. Today, Priscilla and Rachel are joining Joey in the coming week. Pray that God may use them to deepen the faith of our partners’ youths. Also departing today is Janet and Weng who will also be going to help with special needs education training for our partner’s centre workers. Pray for safe travels and a good time of training for them.
India – A glacial lake situated in North Sikkim at 17,000 ft burst on early Wednesday (4 Oct) morning due to incessant rains and possibly the earthquake in Nepal. It has claimed 19 lives thus far, over 100 are still missing and affecting more than 22,000 people as the flash flood swept away villages and submerged towns. Our partner reported that the affected families of their church in Sikkim managed to run to safety but have lost their entire properties and homes. They thank God for the strong unity and bonding among their churches and are committed to help these families restore their livelihood and homes. Pray that believers from within their churches will donate generously and may such relief efforts point others to the love of God shared among them.
