Flood Update – please pray with us

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Dear Friends,

As we bring many things to our Lord in prayer, we especially want to be praying for all those affected by the floods, particularly our PCNSW churches and their communities.

Lismore Presbyterian Church

  • Please pray for the thousands of people in the area whose homes have been completely inundated, many of whom will not have insurance.
  • Pray for Lismore Presbyterian Church in the clean up of the church site. The flood waters went through all of their buildings, up to gutter height – so there’s going to be a lot of damage and a massive clean-up operation when the water recedes enough to gain access. 
  • Pray for the church as they seek God’s guidance and wisdom to know what to do and to help as best as they can. Many church members have taken local families (who have lost their homes) into their own homes.
  • Pray that they will be able to shine the light of the gospel into the lives of people whose current experience of life will be feeling very dark at this time.
  • Pray for God’s peace and strength to be with the church – as there is so much to be done in the coming weeks and months.

 

East Lismore – Southern Cross Presbyterian Church

  • Please pray that those still trapped in flood waters or flood-affected homes or properties would be saved.
  • Please pray for each new day as it continues to bring a flood of trauma and despair. Pray that our church family would be guided to where the needs are.
  • Please pray for supernatural energy and wisdom. We just don’t how long people can survive with this type of hardship. Adrenaline only lasts so long.
  • Please pray for calm for our church family—particularly for our leaders that we might be a solid place in this devastating flood.
  • Please pray for our church family to provide their neighbours and friends the gift of listening. We don’t need to drown them with our stories of hardship. We can flood our Father with tears and prayers.
  • Please pray for our coming Sunday as we aim to gather for the teaching of God’s word, and then mobilise to serve our city dropping love. 

 

Prayer points shared via: https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dropping-love-to-lismore/

 

Ballina Presbyterian Church

  • Please pray for the brothers and sisters at Ballina Presbyterian Church and so many in the community who have lost homes, beloved companions, possessions, businesses and livelihoods. 
  • Please pray for the church in this time of uncertainty. At this stage, it’s not clear when access will be permitted to the Ballina CBD and whether there has been flood damage to the church building and the extent of any damage. 
  • Pray for the church as they consider how they might be able to love and serve the church family and the broader local community in practical ways such as food, shelter, clean up and the like. 

Prayer points shared via: https://www.facebook.com/Ballina-Presbyterian-Church-372440346178931/?ref=page_internal

 

Evans Head Presbyterian Church

  • Please pray for the Evans Head congregation that is made up of about 40 households. They have likely 7 or so who will have to replace cars, entire household items (clothing, furniture, white goods) and refit their homes kitchen cabinets, carpet, gyprock, electrical wiring etc.
  • Praise God for the wider community that has been coming together to help and serving each other. Goods have been collected to distribute at the local school and people have been coming in from other areas to get support.
  • Please pray for those processing the devastation and destruction. 

Gloucester Presbyterian Church

  • Pray for the community in Gloucester and surrounding towns as they brace for potential flooding this weekend.
  • Having experienced severe impacts in the 2021 floods, locals may be anxious about becoming completely cut off. Ask that God might protect the town from this and that people would turn their trust to Him.
  • Pray for Gloucester Presbyterian as they become aware of the full impact of this weather event. Pray that the congregation would be equipped to serve those around them should the damage become severe.

We have set up a FLOOD APPEAL in order to help distribute funds to aid in the recovery and to support those who need it most.

By equipping churches with funds to support flood recovery, they are able to show the love of Jesus to their community in these difficult times.

Donate

Jericho Road Prayer Points

Disability Advocacy – Rev. Jason Forbes

  • Please pray that I will be able to think clearly and succinctly as I continue my work on Jesus’ healing miracles in the gospels.
  • As churches resume their ministries, pray that they will give consideration as to how they can be more inclusive of people with disabilities.

Pray for the Imago Dei Disability Advocacy Tour.

Conduct Protocol Unit

  • Praise God for the provision of a new system to manage compliance. Pray for a smooth transition to the new system.
  • Pray for the vulnerable and oppressed, that their needs would be known and they would be loved well by the churches serving them.
  • There are many areas requiring reviews and updates to safe ministry practices, please pray we would use our time and resources wisely to address them.

Chaplaincy 

  • Praise God for sustaining chaplains throughout 2021 with the ever-changing ministry circumstances due to COVID-19. Praise God for their resilience and faithfulness in keeping on with the ministry despite the anxiety around COVID-19 spreading to their patients, inmates, colleagues, and families. We are very grateful for the opportunity to offer the good news of Jesus every day in prisons, hospitals, juvenile centres, and in the community. 
  • Pray for our prison chaplains who have limited offerings, with one-on-one visits only, to prevent potential COVID-19 outbreaks in jails. Ask God to help them maintain good connections with the inmates through this time of restriction. 
  • Pray for good health as many of us are feeling fatigued from being vigilant around COVID-19, and pray for wisdom around setting up good personal boundaries with workloads so that they are sustained in the long run. 
  • Ask the Lord for more opportunities to share many of the living stories from chaplaincy to encourage our churches to pray and support chaplaincy.
  • Give thanks for late Rev. Ian Johnston, who served in chaplaincy for the past nine years in John Hunter, was called to glory in Dec 2021.
  • Give thanks for Rhonda Daley, who returned from retirement to work in St. Vincent’s hospital for the next six months while Joseph Park is in the role of Acting Senior Chaplain.  
  • Praise God for Keith Walker, who worked with Royal North Shore hospital for over a decade. He will now take up a parish ministry in the Blue mountains. 
  • Praise God for Ian Schoonwater, after serving the chaplaincy team as the senior chaplain for the last eight years, has accepted a senior chaplain position with the NSW Police. 

If you would like to receive Prayer updates from the individuals within the Chaplaincy Team, please sign up to the Chaplaincy Prayer Newsletter. 

Sign up to the Chaplaincy Prayer Newsletter

Allowah Presbyterian Children’s Hospital

  • Praise God for keeping the children at Allowah safe from COVID over the last two years of the pandemic.
  • Please pray for the staff at Allowah who are working tirelessly in PPE. That the Lord would sustain them and bless their important work with the children and families.
  • Pray for staffing, that the right people will be found to fill positions within Allowah.
  • Pray for the ongoing talks with government. That the doors will be opened to provide funding, to sustain Allowah both now and into the future.

Tregear Presbyterian Preschool

  • Pray for the staff as they assess the flood damage from the rains this week.

We appreciate your ongoing prayer support.

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