Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Prayer

God IS at Work…

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by Sandy Landes, Franconia Prayer Ministry Coordinator

On November 10, Franconia and Eastern District Conferences will gather for our annual assembly, around the theme of “God at Work.”  More information.

How do we live life in such a way that it requires faith? Hebrews 11 says that, “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him, must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

I see God at work building faith in Him in many different ways in our community. In my role as prayer ministry coordinator for Franconia Conference, much of what I do involves seeing people cooperating with God through prayer as they put their faith in a God who invites us to come to the throne of grace with boldness (Hebrews 4:16).

On Wednesday, September 12, twenty-eight pastors and credentialed leaders gathered at Camp Men-O-Lan (Quakertown, Pa.) to spend the day in prayer and fellowship. God was at Work as the pastors listened to what God was saying to them through the Word, through the testimonies of each other, and through creation. I saw faith built as leaders related the ways in which God has been faithful and is providing all they need to continue to follow Jesus and equip the church for ministry.

Salem Mennonite Church (Quakertown, Pa.) was the setting for another example of God at Work, releasing his healing power. Marcella Ruch shared her story of being a “yes” woman for God, even as God called her to a healing ministry after retirement. We may hear the words, “healing ministry” and assume it means only a prayer ministry but there is a duality to the work God is doing through Marcella. Since her retirement 15 years ago, God has used Marcella to start a free clinic for uninsured people in her city of Colorado Springs, to start a medical outreach for the families of Liberia, and to minister his healing power wherever she goes. God blessed Marcella as she shared her testimony and inspired others to also say “yes” to God, even if it doesn’t fit in with their plans. Several persons were touched by God’s love as they received personal prayer ministry by a prayer team.

God's house of promise
God’s House of Promise, on Allentown Road in Souderton, Pa.

I also see God at Work in a new ministry beginning this week in the little stone building on Allentown Road just below Lower Road in Souderton, Pa.  God’s House of Promise is an ecumenical ministry with the purposes of uniting the body of Christ and transforming our community through the continuous reading of God’s Word aloud on a daily basis, offering a place to pray for personal, community, and worldwide needs, and uniting our community in monthly worship.

The kick-off event for God’s House of Promise was held on Saturday, Sept 22 at Souderton (Pa.) Mennonite Church. Seeing worshipers from many different denominations praying together is an example of God at Work answering the prayers of Jesus in John 17, “that they would all be one.”

It is encouraging to see God at work in so many different ways in our community, in the church and outside. As I have been prayer-walking with a close friend in my neighborhood, we have been drawn to stop in at a local bar and to connect with and bless the new friends we are making there. It requires faith that God is at work as we share stories and build connections on a personal level. Through God’s nudging we have prayed for healing, for provision of jobs, and for blessing on the families of the employees. It requires faith to believe that the kingdom of God is present as we enter in to an unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable environment, but we trust that God is at work because we believe, as it says in Ephesians 3:20, that “He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

How have you seen God at work in your congregation, community, and conference?  Share your story (in a sentence or several paragraphs—up to you!) here.

2012 Wednesday Morning Prayers at Conference Center

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Franconia Conference Wednesday morning prayers

Beginning Weds,  Feb. 1 and continuing through Weds. April 11, a group will meet at the conference center, 569 Yoder Road, Harleysville, 9am-10am to pray. Our prayers will be focused on praying for the region which includes the Franconia conference congregations, partners in mission, and conference related ministries. Everyone is invited to join our hearts with the heart of God to seek first his kingdom. Any questions contact Sandy Landes, prayer ministry coordinator.

Day of Prayer and Fasting for Norristown New Life/Nueva Vida

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Click here for Day-of-Prayer-and-Fasting-for-NNLNV-prayer-guide1

All are invited to set aside a day in October, Weds. Oct 12, to pray and fast and seek the Lord on behalf of our brothers and sisters of Norristown New Life in “Enlarging their Place in God’s World”,  as well as the work God wants to do in our communities in bringing forth the kingdom. A prayer gathering will be held on Weds am, Oct 12, 9 am -10:00 am  at the Franconia conference center to join your prayers with others. In addition, a group will gather in Norristown at the meetinghouse, 3 E. Marshall St., that day from 12 noon to 1 pm. to pray and walk through and around the property.

Toward transformation with the Wild Goose

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Steve Kriss, Philadelphia Praise Center, skriss@mosaicmennonites.org

In late August the board and staff of Franconia Conference gathered to share dreams and visions, to work at logistical details for assembly and to take a step toward reconciliation and healing. It was a beautiful day at the pavilion behind the meetinghouse at Blooming Glen, amongst cornfields—the first day when brisk air invites longsleeves and light jackets after a hot summer. We were meeting to do business plan, to eat together, to imagine.

As the sun was setting to the west, we gathered in a circle for prayer, confession, and mutual commissioning. Led by LEADership Minister Ray Yoder, we prayed with the Conference’s core values and vision—centered in Christ—placed on the floor between us. We were there in a shared journey, shared struggle, with sometimes shared hope and sometimes contested dreams. We are different people, representing different histories, perspectives, congregations. It’s hard work and real commitment in a postmodern world to be together, to witness together, to carry each other’s joys and burdens.

Photo by Emily Ralph

But something interesting happened as we ended our prayer, at the moment of our confession of our struggle, our inadequacies, our failures and foibles—a trail of wild geese streamed over us loudly, moved to form a V and flew into the sunset. In Celtic Christianity, a tradition that maintained a healthy and hearty faithful Christianity while the rest ofEuropeand the Mediterranean region muddled through a difficult time, the Wild Goose was a name given the Holy Spirit. In that evening, amidst our questions and questing, I think the Spirit invited us again to move on, to press into a new day, to gather our diversity of experience and perspective, to pay attention to the signs around us in creation, culture, Text and Spirit and to soar into God’s future.

When I am reading this Intersections, I am struck again by how the Spirit continues to stir us. Within these pages, the diverse dreams for the reign of God and the life of discipleship that we incarnate are written in story form. We are people of many commitments and ways of describing God. We’ve been called forth and cultivated from many places . . . and we’re going into diverse places fromVermonttoBaltimoretoEngland. We’re young dreamers, pilgrim seekers and mature leaders building peace in places like Souderton, Quakertown and Allentown. We’re trying out the reconciling process by gathering across historic divisions and cultural boundaries with assembly this year . . . and we’re committing to a yearlong journey focusing on extending Christ’s justice and peace.

It feels like we’re trying to follow the Wild Goose, recognizing a new day, moving in diverse and unexpected places, seeing sometimes what was unimaginable emerge, and grappling to deal with it and make sense of it. The Celtic Christians maintained a real faith in tough and confusing times. They provoked art, developed mission movements and cultivated missional communities. They used resources creatively and carefully. They were mindful of the connection of body, soul, mind, land, resources and the resurrected Christ.

When I read our stories in this issue, I know we’re on the journey. The Spirit is stirring. Something continues to be breaking forth. We’ll need to continue to be prepared for it, to cultivate, to hope and work, to pay attention for both the signs and possibilities around us, near and far. The Spirit invites us as a historic and yet emerging community further into a journey, offering up a mission which we might embrace and find both ourselves and the world transformed through the story of the Good News even in disconcerting times.

Wednesday Morning Prayer

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You are invited to join us this fall on Wednesday mornings, 9-10 a.m., at the Mennonite Conference Center on Yoder Road in Harleysville,Pa. to intercede for the work of the church in this region and the needs of local congregations and pastors of Franconia and Eastern District Conferences. As we gather, we will spend time listening and discerning together any words of encouragement for the leadership of the conferences as they continue to call us to be faithful followers of Jesus. Beginning September 7 and continuing through November 9, our corporate prayer will help to prepare the way for the joint conference assembly being held in November.

Prayer network “adopts” street in Perkiomen Valley

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by Peter Smith, Upper Perk Prayer Evangelism Network, peteresmith4@comcast.net

“Adopt A Street,” in its simplest form, is a prayer strategy that focuses on changing the spiritual climate in your community. What would happen if 100% of the streets in your community were being prayed for daily for the next 12 months? The “Adopt A Street” prayer strategy brings unity to churches in any given community or city, energizes the local church in prayer, and it begins to bring transformation to the church and community that is visible and to a large degree, measurable. Prayer evangelism in its most basic form teaches that God wants us to talk to God about people, BEFORE we talk to people about God.

Prayer evangelism and the “Adopt A Street” prayer strategy, over time, contribute to the reduction of systemic poverty in the region where they are implemented. The strategy is one of the most effective ways for local church pastors to physically implement Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8. The strategy is much more than a “prayer strategy;” it is a comprehensive missions strategy that allows the Holy Spirit to lead the transformation process. It can impact and transform every segment of a community including the church, businesses, education, government, media, arts and entertainment, and the family. One of the keys to its effectiveness is unity among churches in any given community or region. The greater the unity, the greater the possible transformation.

UPPEN (Upper Perk Prayer Evangelism Network) is a growing network of churches in the Upper Perkiomen Valley school district and surrounding region that has been in existence since 2003. Currently, there are 11 churches in this network and it continues to grow. Together, through prayer evangelism and a spirit of unity, they are seeing God changing the spiritual climate of their community and the surrounding region.

The UPPEN network had been praying during the first half of 2010 for a long-term prayer strategy for the Upper Perk region. UPPEN became aware of the Adopt-a-Street prayer movement in Newark, N.J. in the summer of 2010 and began to pray about the possibility of using the strategy in this region. After much prayer, UPPEN launched the Adopt a Street prayer strategy for their region on January 30th, 2011. Lloyd Turner and a team from Newark came to Upper Perk to participate in the launch of “Adopt A Street”. They held a training class for pastors, church leaders, and intercessors. Now the seeds of “Adopt A Street” have begun to spread across southeastern Pennsylvania. Two prayer networks in Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton decided at an informational gathering in March to implement the “Adopt A Street” prayer strategy for their region. Other regions and regional prayer networks are launching or praying about launching this prayer strategy. Please pray with UPPEN for these seeds to spread across the greater region.

UPPEN leaders, Peter Smith (Hope Valley Community Church, Red Hill), Charlie Ness (Perkiomenville Mennonite Church), and Scott Landes (Frederick Mennonite Church) gave an “Adopt A Street” presentation on June 9th at a Leadership Breakfast at the Mennonite Conference Center in Harleysville, PA. They shared about the UPPEN church network and the vision for the “Adopt A Street” prayer strategy.

UPPEN leaders are available to come and speak at churches, prayer networks or pastor networks in the region. For more information on “Adopt A Street,” prayer evangelism, or the UPPEN network, contact them at PrayUpperPerk.org, 215.541.4888 or peteresmith4@comcast.net.

Adopt a Street: Franconia Conference congregations participate in prayer evangelism

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by Emily Ralph

Harleysville, PA — “Doing church is pretty difficult today,” admitted Charlie Ness, pastor of Perkiomenville Mennonite. This wasn’t new information for the other pastors gathered for the June 9 Pastors Breakfast.

“For 40 years I thought I had to build the church,” he said. Then he realized that Jesus promised in Matthew 16:18 that HE would build the church. And it was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

Ness, along with Scott Landes of Frederick Mennonite and Peter Smith of Hope Community Church, were sharing their vision for prayer evangelism. On its most basic level, prayer evangelism is talking to God about people before talking to people about God, Smith said.

All three pastors are involved with UPPEN: the Upper Perk Prayer Evangelism Network, a network of churches in the Perkiomen Valley (eastern PA) that works together to bring about transformation in their region. Their most recent project is Adopt a Street, a movement that covers 100% of the streets in their region with prayer.

“Adopt a Street is about changing the spiritual climate in your community,” said Smith. Then he asked, “What would happen is all the streets in your community were being prayed for daily for the next twelve months?” To illustrate his point, he showed a video of the Adopt a Street movement in Newark, NJ. In the first month of Newark’s program, the crime rate dropped by 33%.

Landes has experienced this transformation firsthand as he and his family pray for their street every day. According to Luke 10, there are four steps to prayer evangelism in your neighborhood, he said: first, praying blessings over your neighbors; second, engaging in fellowship with them to create connection; third, ministering God’s love to your neighbors by caring for them; and finally, proclaiming the kingdom by sharing God’s Word.

“Adopt a Street is not a program, but a lifestyle,” Landes shared. It’s about “being available to God for divine appointments each day.”

For more information about UPPEN or Adopt a Street, visit PrayUpperPerk.org.

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[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/Adopt-a-Street.mp3[/podcast]

Adopt a Street Handout
Adopt a Street Information Packet