Greetings in Jesus’ Name,
EVEN THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY,
OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL
FOR YOU ARE WITH ME, YOUR ROD AND YOUR
STAFF, THEY COMFORT ME.
Psalm 23 : 4
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC CONGO.
Rebels are again active in Luhongu Village, Gomo, where Hands at Work is caring for vulnerable children. These children live in constant fear and are extremely traumatized. Please pray for their protection and that feeding schemes can continue.That grannies and Care Workers will be able to comfort these children.
Thank you for your prayers.
Be blessed.
Oumie.
For the Lord loves justice, he will never abandon his faithful ones.
Greetings to our Prayer Warriors,
UK
George Snyman has been invited to travel to the UK from the 4th to the 16th of this October.
Pray for God's grace, wisdom and discernment as he speaks in churches and meets with people. Pray that all who hear him will have an open heart to God's message of love for poor and vulnerable children.
Pray for travelling mercies for George and that his health will be protected.
ZAMBIA
Pray for our Service Center and Regional Support Team members from around Africa as they come together in Zambia from 21st to 24th October.
Pray that they will be lead by the Spirit and the work will be forwarded out of this time spent together.
Please pray for the vision trip for church leaders from Canada and America which George Snyman will be leading the first week of November. They will spend time together in Zambia and Malawi. Pray that God will prepare the hearts of those coming on the trip and prepare the way for them to connect with and be an encouragement to our communities.
NIGERIA
In October a team from our Hands at Work Hub in South Africa will be going to Nigeria to support our Service Centre.
Pray for their health and safety. That they will build relationships and be guided by God’s wisdom in all their decisions.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC CONGO
Zambian Regional Support Team are doing training and supporting the Service Centre in the Democratic Republic Congo.
As this is a very volatile area with many challenges please pray for their safety, building relationships and wisdom in their work.
Pray for God's justice to reign and for his faithful ones to be protected as it says in Psalm 37v28:
For the Lord loves justice,
he will never abandon his faithful ones.
They will be protected forever.
Fighting a Cholera Outbreak
War-torn, rebel-ridden, poor and down-trodden Goma: It's hard to believe that things can get worse for the vulnerable communities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). After refugee camps closed across the DRC and in neighboring countries on the eve of the country's 50th independence anniversary, groups of stunned and, again, displaced people congregated to form makeshift communities.
Here is an extract from the account of Hands at Work founder, George Snyman's, first visit to the area a little more than a year ago: "The eight-year, bloody war has been over for seven years, but the fighting continues. Despite this, the government which is celebrating its 50th year of independence, has closed most of the refugee camps scattered across the eastern provinces of the DRC leaving millions of people homeless. Left with little choice, refugees are returning to their burned-down, vandalized towns often without family members. Stunned, groups of people - unrelated other than sharing the same adversity - congregate to from huddles of make-do communities." (Read a second letter about Goma here.)
One such community is called Luhonga. It is remote, poor and extremely vulnerable. George and Hands at Work DRC representative, Erick Rukang, made a follow-up trip to this community a few months ago and started work in the area. Erick is presently back in Luhonga and found the village awash with a cholera outbreak. Known for his compassion towards suffering children, he wrote a letter to the Hands at Work Hub yesterday:
We found the village of Luhonga in a big crisis. The entire village is in profound distress, but they were strengthened when they saw us. One care worker lost her child in this incident.
The Luhonga people were very grateful for George's last visit. They said that if he did not come at that particular time, teaching about emergency medication to fight diarrhoea, all the children could have died at this time; perhaps even the entire village! So far only one child has died though the clinic is full of patients laying everywhere, even on the floor. Almost everyone--from the leaders to the children--has been affected. Tomorrow [Monday, 31 October] we will look for a way to purify the water.
We are so grateful for your prayer support. Your prayers are effective: It is amazing to see children surviving in such critical conditions, a situation of desperation. All the people are frightened because of death on their doorstep, especially in light of the other challenges they are facing.
We invite you to intercede with us for all those residing in Lahonga: the widows, orphans, leaders, clinic staff and Hands at Work representatives. Let's pray for no more deaths, for a quick and effective intervention, for wisdom and strength for Erick and his team, and that God will use this seemingly hopeless situation to transform and strengthen the community.
Spirit of the living God, a prayer
Apart from you, we can do nothing.
Transform our hearts.
Transform Your Church into the image of Jesus Christ.
Release Your power to bring healing to the sick,
Freedom to the oppressed and comfort to those who mourn.
Pour Your love into our hearts and fill us with compassion
To answer the call of the homeless and the hungry
And to enfold orphans, widows and the elderly in Your care.
Give us wisdom and insight for the complex problems we face today.
Help us to use the resources of the earth for the well-being of all.
Holly Spirit, we need Your comfort and guidance.
In Preparation - Our Defining Moment
Hands family every person, family, community and country had defining moments—moments they will look back to and say “that was a turning point!” I am convinced we are in one of those defining moments – it started this year with our watchword.
“I will wait for the Lord,
my soul does wait and in His word do I hope.”
—Psalm 130:5
It continued with many shakings and now I believe we are responding to God this weekend in the appropriate way. The appropriate way is:
Firstly to set time apart for Him that is worthy of having our time! I encourage you STRONGLY do not do anything else in this time – let go off all the things and give this 24 hours to our God!!
Secondly I ask you to worship Him in spite of what happened so far. Job say something amazing, “I will worship you even if you slain me” Wow what an attitude! Think of all what happened and then chose to worship like never before.
Thirdly be very aware of each other and the pain around you. God cares about the person next to you and if you are full of Him you would care too. Ask Him to show you the pain in others and stand in the gap for them. I want to ask you something weird… don’t pray for yourself this time – worship Him, give thanks and pray on behalf of others. Remind God of His goodness and how He loved the children. Call on His Name to come to our help!!
We are together more than ever. Not just with each other but with Jesus! Tell Him we are together!!
Prayer for Mozambique
This week please join with us in prayer for Mozambique.
We praise God that after years of delays and challenges the registration of Hands at Work as a foreign NGO in Mozambique is within view. Also we thank God for His provision in finding a Hands at Work office and accommodation for visitors and volunteers in Chimoio, Mozambique – which is a larger center than where we were previously located now we also have high speed internet!
Please stand with us in prayer for:
- The work in Mozambique among the poorest-of-the-poor.
- Carlos, Manuel and Timossee and their families as they transition to community leadership roles.
- Those serving in the communities of Gondola, Nhamatanda , Amatongas and Dondo and their families.
- For Abel, who is the coordinator for Dondo community. He and his 2 small children are grieving the death of wife and mother who recently passed away.
- Dara, an American volunteer who is serving in our office in Chimoio and going through the process of adopting a child from Mozambique, that nothing will stand in the way of God’s will and for Dara and Nede’s (her adopted daughter) for their new mother-and-daughter relationship.
- Marc Damour, a Canadian volunteer who is managing many projects in the area.
- Our ongoing relationships with all those whom we are serving in Mozambique.
Thank you for your ongoing prayers! Check our prayer room daily for updates this week as we prepare for our 24 hour time of dedicated prayer.