BUS 2014

January Prayer Link

Sunday 5th
Neil Allison, Army Chaplain. Please give thanks for a wonderfully supportive family over the past years. Pray for us as we prepare for our daughter Stephanies wedding in the summer and for guidance regarding future ministry. Abbeyhill, Edinburgh: Rev Gordy Mackay. Prayer: a small group from within the church are considering how we might be more intentionally involved in our local community. Pray for guidance as they bring their plans to the church. Thanksgiving: it was wonderful to witness one of our youth group commit their life to following Christ recently Aberdeen Christian Fellowship: Rev Vijay Pillai. Adelaide Place, Glasgow. Signicant change within the last 6 months has created the need for re-visiting our vision and purpose. This is an exciting opportunity and our prayer is around unity within Gods purposes. We give thanks to God for recent growth in our young adult and student population - an important demographic - and are seeking Gods wisdom in how best to disciple this strategic generation.

mostly ) and interest in Bible Studies mid week. Alloa: Rev Jimmy King. Give thanks for a successful Step Out mission, aided by helpers from our church and Ludgate Parish Church (which also uses our premises for a soup kitchen while a drop in centre is being built at its own.) Pray for continuation of this youth work. Give thanks for this work and for co-operation between the two fellowships. Pray for our pastor as he works with other chaplains in Alloa Academy and give thanks for continuing open doors. Pray for the fellowship and for the pastor as he goes on Sabbatical in the spring.

Sunday 19th
Graham Bell, Chaplain HMP Glenochil. I give thanks for the opportunity and privilege to minster to the prisoners and to share something of the heart and Gospel of God with those who wouldnt normally go to church. Please pray for wisdom, inspiration and fruitfulness to know how best to be effective and faithful to what Christ has called me to. Alness: Rev Ian Macinnes. Some of our fellowship have lost loved ones in recent months. We had the real privilege of looking back over lives lived for Christ, and were challenged in our own witness and daily walk, while supporting each other in prayer. Good links with local schools continue; Primary one visited our Christmas lunch club and sang the rst time some of the children had been inside a church. Pray this visit may be built on in future. Give thanks for The Vine Coffee Stop, a new Friday morning venture offering friendship evangelism. Valuable links have been made in a short time. As another year ends, we are thankful for Gods faithfulness. Alva: Revs David Fraser and Daniel Sturgeon. Please join us in celebrating and praising God for rich times of corporate prayer and for recent baptisms and other elements of growth that we are seeing in the fellowship. Pray for us as we plan a community outreach in a local pub and, God willing, run a discipleship course there and a kids club in the church - simultaneously - so families can get out for a meal AND discuss questions of life and eternity. Ardbeg, Rothesay: Rev Ron Rye. Opening doors on Bute have blessed us: weve had 12 new people in our congregation in the last year, with one new profession of faith, Weve re-established our Sunday

Sunday 12th
Marylee Anderson, Chaplain, Aberdeen University. Students will be facing exams in the next couple of weeks and I will see more students through the doors of the chaplaincy with exam stress. Prayers for these students would be appreciated and for wisdom balancing chaplaincy, family and church! I give thanks for a new year ahead and the many students and staff who I see on a regular basis. Airdrie: Rev Ross Murphy. Please give thanks for those who have been baptised and welcomed into membership recently, and pray for those who will be considering joining them in the coming weeks. Please pray for the Lords leading as we look to how we can best develop our outreach into the community with the Gospel. Alexandria (Vale of Leven) Rev Rob Sharp. Please pray for our pastor Rob,,off since mid -May with a stroke, and for the church as it looks to the future. Rob has only recently returned on a monthly basis. Give thanks for good Sunday preaching (SBLPA

BUS 2014
School and now arrange activities for those new to our congregation. God is good and we bless Him! Pray for further opportunity to reach out with the Gospel on our island. We want to walk with God into this community and grow for the Kingdom! John Greenshields - my return from sabbatical. January promises to be a full month: catching up on a work backlog, attending the National Settlement Team, overseeing the next Preaccredited Ministers Conference (pray for guest speaker Ken Russell) and preaching engagements too. Prayer is much appreciated. Jacqueline Primrose - the Fellowship of Baptists in Britain and Ireland (FBBI) meeting I will attend with Alan and Jim at the start of January and for planning for next years Assembly. Pray we will build on good relationships with others. Pray too for our Council meeting on 21st Jan, that we will listen to God and each other and discern what God is saying to us. Pray also for the team going to Kolkata on 24th Jan, that we will be a blessing to others and honour God in all we say and do. Jim Purves - Gods wisdom and blessing for FBBI meeting and Assembly Planning in Birmingham; our pre-accredited ministers meeting in Pitlochry (where sessions, led by Dr Ken Russell, will focus on dealing with and managing conict); BUS Council in Glasgow and intensive teaching at IBTS in Amsterdam, along with Derek Murray and Stuart Blythe, rector-elect of IBTS. Pray the Lords blessing on the induction of Philip Eggleston to Nairn Baptist church; and our Regional pastors, assisting in networking with colleagues across our nation. Judy White - New year, new opportunities. Pray for wisdom in diary planning, including holiday and rest times, for 2014. Im thankful for Gods faithfulness this past year and look forward with expectation to all 2014 may hold as we respond to Gods leading as Church together. Travel to Didcot 15-17th and Kolkata 24th -6th Feb.

Sunday 26th
Nick Blair, Chaplain, Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh. Please pray for continuing freshness of spirit in my work here. Praise God that, this past year, over 100 boys attended our Lent study; pray for preparations for 2014s Study. On a personal note, my parents in Northern Ireland are quite unwell and I often travel to visit them. Please remember this situation in your prayers. Arran: Rev Vince Jennings. We start an Alpha Course in January; pray for us as we invite contacts to come along, also for the team involved in leading and hospitality. We give thanks for the numbers attending Lunchbox where they enjoy food, fellowship and speakers who share their interests and a gentle gospel message. Ayr: Revs Mark Bentham and Rosie Walker. We continue to engage with our immediate community: the Fort and Town Centre areas of Ayr. Pray for us. Whilst helping in God's mission Satan is not far away: internally & externally. We continue to care for marginalized people and rejoice that we get gospel opportunities in serving them. Barnton, Edinburgh: Rev Keith Short. Pray as our church takes the month of January to seek God together and build community. Thanks for start of new Alpha course in the Olde Inn. The pub asked us to hold a carol service (in the bar) on 23 December and hand out Alpha invitations.

Queens Baton Relay

1st Sierra Leone; 3rd Ghana; 5th Nigeria; 8th Cameroon; 11th Kenya; 14th Uganda; 15th Rwanda; 18th United Republic of Tanzania; 21st Seychelles; 24th Malawi; 26th Zambia; 28th Namibia

Pray too for ...

Peter Dick - forecasting with faith - preparing 2014/15 budgets and presenting to Jan Council Alan Donaldson - our Council meeting on 21st January and for those considering applying for the role of Scottish Baptist College Principal. I look forward to meeting fellow Baptist leaders at the Fellowship of Baptists in Britain and Ireland as well as progressing plans for the 2014 Assembly. Yvonne Faddes - more young people to come and be part of Step Out 2014 and that the prep for the summer will continue to go well.