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Thurrock joins Havering for Schools Prayer Day
 Plans are being made for a Thurrock & Havering Schools Prayer Day on Saturday 3 October. This is at the behest of the national Schools Prayer Network, which is partnered by Care (http://www.schoolsprayernetwork.org.uk), who are asking people right across the UK to hold such events.
A number of Thurrock's schools, mainly primary schools, have prayer meetings taking place either on site or in the homes of people connected to their local school in some way, which is fantastic. One local secondary school has a chaplaincy that grew from a prayer group that met on site for nearly 7 years, and we give thanks to God for such an outcome. Palmer's College also has a chaplaincy. The third visit of GSUS Live to the borough last autumn meant that around 3000 secondary school aged young people got to hear the good news of Jesus (GSUS Live is coming back, by the way, in September 2012!).
Of course, there is quite a bit of schools' evangelistic work going on in the borough, with such as Steve Morley, Malc Mackinnon, John Guest, Rosemary Pritchard, Colin Baker and others taking assemblies and lessons at both primary and secondary level. Not to mention Christian students, teachers, support staff and Governors, who all feel a call to work in an educational environment, with all the pressures, hard graft - and precious little appreciation. We thank God for all these folk. The opportunities are there and to be acted upon - the Lord has 'opened a door that no man can shut', which leaves his people with no excuse but to walk through that door. But who's praying for the workers working in the harvest field?
But many of Thurrock's schools still do not have dedicated prayer input. Think about it - each day, thousands of Thurrock's young people have to attend an educational establishment by law - places where their heads are filled with earthly wisdom, where they learn attitudes contrary to the will of God, and where their behaviour is moulded according to the pattern of this world. Added to that, few hundred staff from all kinds of backgrounds, and so on.
The church of Thurrock has been given the mandate and responsibility to ensure that each of its schools and colleges have some sort of prayer cover - because who else will pray for all those children if we don't?
The children who go to school every day hungry. The latchkey kids. The teenagers who are hormonally imbalanced in a sex-crazed, porn-obsessed society. Those with special needs of one sort or another. Gang members. The young people who see drunkenness and domestic violence outplayed over breakfast each morning or when they get home at night. Chavs and Goths. Teenaged parents. The underachievers. The street kids. The ones carrying knives. Those who belong to ethnic minorities who feel they have to prove their collective self worth. Those with low or no self-esteem. The underclass 'urchins' who have already turned to drugs or alcohol to fill that God-shaped hole in their lives. All the young people who do not know the love of Jesus Christ in their lives, giving them reason to live and vision for life.
And God's people in all these places (staff and students) need uplifting in prayer as well - they need the Holy Spirit's wisdom, his presence, his strength, to get through each day.
The Thurrock & Havering Schools Prayer Day seeks to promote prayer in and for our schools and colleges right across the two boroughs. There will be worship, displays, corporate and group prayers - and maybe even a puppet show! Local church-based schools' workers will be invited and others with responsibilities in education. Every school in Thurrock will know that this event is taking place.
The venue is yet to be confirmed, but it's hoped it will be somewhere in the Aveley or Ockendon area, and so easily accessible for people from both boroughs to attend. Watch out for details.
UPDATE: 8th Sept 2009 - To download an event poster please click here
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Tim Harrold, 09/06/2009 |
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