Northern Ireland
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A CALL FOR WOMEN TO PRAY
LYDIA FELLOWSHIP NORTHERN IRELAND
LYDIA FELLOWSHIP INTERNATIONAL N.IRELAND NEWSLETTER Autumn 2011
“A woman of valour, who can find…..?” Proverbs 31:10 Dear Lydias, Although we are a Women’s Prayer Fellowship, it is not often we devote our entire Lydia Newsletter to WOMEN, but this is the emphasis the Lord has been placing on my heart over the last months, and as you know, our Lydia motto is “do whatever He tells you!.” Last time, you may remember, we were focusing on the truth that the Lion of Judah is roaring loudly in these days, and we blew the trumpet in a call to repentance as we prayed through the words of 2 Chronicles chapter 7:14. Many calls have been going out, and rightly so, that it is time for the church to awake and arise, for the time is short and the days are desperate. As I have been praying about this, a thought has been growing in my heart that the church will not be truly awake until the women are awake and functioning as God intended. We know from Scripture, that God is a God Who completes what He begins, and looking at the world of women, I sense this is unfinished business as far as God is concerned. But as Job said, no purpose of God can be thwarted, so we know that His purposes for us as women will be fulfilled and His justice for women all across the earth will be seen. He is saying to His Christian women “Rise up like a lioness….” Numbers 23:24; “Rise up, you women that are at ease…” Is.32:9. Join your roar to Mine in the place of prayer, but also in the pursuit of salvation and justice for fellow women at home and across the world. He is calling us to be strong and courageous, women of valour, for that is what He created us to be! The Word of God is full of precious truths on this, which the enemy has sought to keep from us. I would love to have space to expand on this theme in this letter but do come to our Day Conference on November 12 2011 (see details below), that we may be strengthened and prepared for what God has for us to do, as women for women. Although none of us are immune from suffering, as privileged Christian women living in N.Ireland, we have been greatly blessed by God. BUT this is not the case for millions of our fellow women here and across the world, who are being abused and oppressed in unbelievable ways. I realise that children and men are also suffering and need our prayers, but the overall global statistics on the abuse of women and girls are mind numbing:
Like me, you are probably astounded by these figures and wonder how they can possibly be! But now that we know them, we cannot just walk away and forget. What does God require of us? Well, I think Micah 6:8 gives us the answer to that loud and clear ... “to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God” One of the greatest abuses against women, of course, is the issue we have addressed and prayed for before i.e. Human Trafficking, but we have to come back to it!
Just take a moment to let those facts sink in! But human trafficking is not the only way in which hundreds of thousands of women are suffering.
I found these facts a few months ago in a book called “Half The Sky” by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn. It identifies a battlefield of epic proportions that breaks the scale of human suffering. It is a secular book based on a Chinese proverb “Women make up half the sky”, but if so many women are missing and being abused, the sky is falling in! Surely as women who have put our trust in a God Who LOVES JUSTICE, we cannot ignore this suffering! We must do as Proverbs 31:8,9 says: “Open your mouth for the dumb –those unable to speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are left desolate and defenceless. Open your mouth, judge righteously and administer justice for the poor and needy” This is a call to arms against the most shocking and widespread violation of our age. In the 19th century, the central moral challenge we faced was slavery. In the 20th century it was totalitarianism. But now in the 21st century, the paramount moral challenge of our age is the injustice against women. Something has gone terribly wrong. This picture has remained untouched for countless ages. Historically women have been on the receiving end of all sorts of abuse and degradation, considered to be property, unclean, inferior and worth even less than a cow. What a far cry from how God views His women, made in His image. But the Lord says “I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. NOW I WILL RISE UP TO RESCUE THEM, as they have longed for me to do” Psalm 12:5 CLOSE TO HOME And girls, it has come to our own shores! Apart from reading Half The Sky, I think it was on the night of July 6th this year, when I read in the Belfast Telegraph that £500,000 is spent here every week on prostitution, that something leapt in my spirit and I just knew the plight of women had to be our next Lydia assignment until the Lord lifts the burden! The article went on to say that the demand for prostitutes here is higher than in other parts of the UK and Europe. According to PSNI Detective Inspector Douglas Grant, the market is so great that there are not enough prostitutes to service that market and that is where the human traffickers are coming in. As a team we have sought the Lord as to what He wants us to do. We might think it is all too big! What can we possibly do?! Well we can do what He tells us! The Lord says - What do you have in your hand? We are women whom He has called to the place of prayer and meditation on His Word. So we use that! We believe our Day Conference in November at Elkana will be preparation for our RESIDENTIAL CONFERENCE MAY 4-6 2012, when our special speaker will be a precious woman of God, MARLI SPIEKER. Marli’s home is in N. Carolina and she is executive director of Project Hannah, a ministry of TransWorldRadio, that is reaching out with compassion and hope to suffering women across the globe, who are living in spiritual darkness. She writes: “After serving in my homeland of Brazil for 38 years, God took me to the ends of the world to show me His transforming power and grace reaching out and saving women on five continents. He also burned into my mind and heart a picture of the suffering, the horrors, the fear and despair in which millions of our sisters live day in and day out. .. I hope your heart will be broken as mine is. For only then will God be able to use you in ways you would never imagine to bring glory to His name.” Marli is delighted and excited about coming to N. Ireland to share her vision and burden with us as Lydias, because, as she says, the evils against women are so great, and prayer is the most powerful weapon God has given us. There cannot be a ministry without prayer. She also believes it is time for the women of the church in UK and Europe to rise up to this challenge! So girls, please put these dates in your diaries. More details will follow. We believe this will be a most strategic conference, as we seek God’s face for His plans and purposes for His women to be fulfilled. May His kingdom come and His will be done! But let’s first of all meet at Elkana in November for our “bootcamp”, to be strengthened and prepared for what God has for us to do. ******************************************************************************* Lydia Fellowship N.Ireland Day Conference THEME: A Woman Of Valour, Who Can Find….? Proverbs 31:10 VENUE: Elkana Christian Fellowship Church, Comber Rd. C’duff DATE: Saturday November 12 2011 10am -4pm
Scriptures For Meditation: Proverbs 31:8-10,25; Isaiah 42; Gen.2:18
***************************************************************************** During the afternoon session at our November Conference, we are delighted to have two women, coming to share with us, who have first- hand knowledge of the plight of women here and overseas. The first is a young woman, who works with Women’s Aid in Belfast. She has also just begun a PHD in Human Rights and works with The Human Rights Commission part-time. She will bring us an on- the- ground perspective of not only the human trafficking situation in the Province, but also the main way women are suffering here, that is, because of domestic violence. Our second speaker in the afternoon will from EMBRACE, the women’s branch of Release International. She will share about how thousands of women are suffering torture and imprisonment for their faith in Jesus Christ in many parts of the world. The horrendous suffering of some of our precious sisters in Christ is beyond words! SPREAD THE WORD Let us rise to the challenge God is putting before us! I believe as Lydias, we are positioned to be a blessing to women inside the church and outside the church, in these days. Spread the word about Biblical Meditation wherever you get an opportunity! I have a longing in my heart to see this message spread to women in abusive situations, to women of the persecuted church –to help them stay strong and hopeful in situations that could drive them to despair. Call out to God to show us what to do and how to do it. Pray that He will guide our steps and open doors He wants us to go through. And what about the millions of women who don’t know Him yet! I came across these words recently: The greatest social need in the world today is not HIV/Aids outreach. It’s not hunger. It’s not global warming. It’s not ending poverty or eliminating malaria or TB. It’s not for clean water. It’s not racial reconciliation. It’s not sexual trafficking. It’s not abortion. And it’s not peace in the Middle East or even world peace…. No, the most profound social problem facing humankind is- alienation from God.” And, of course, we know that is true! And it is that, above all, that draws us to the place of prayer and our Lydia groups – to cry out to God for the salvation of souls for time and for eternity. May God bless each of you as you faithfully serve Him in your groups month by month. I know that some of you have been going through times of suffering and bereavement and yet you are continuing to meet. God sees your faith and your faithfulness and is pleased with you. ( Hebs.11) As I said at the beginning, this letter has been different. I hope you understand why! The wickedness against women is gross, the injustices are global, but may it never be said of us in this generation of Christian women, that we ignored the cries of the helpless, but rather we made up our minds to do something and that our prayers forced the darkness to recede. “God is shaking His daughters awake and summoning us to engage. There is a kingdom to build, and what we do truly matters” C. C. James Matthew Arnold, a 19th century philosopher wrote; “If ever there comes a time when the women of the world come together purely and simply for the benefit of mankind, it will be a force such as the world has never known.” “Women of God, heaven needs you! You have been created by the Almighty to birth breakthroughs in the earth.” May each of us continue, by God’s grace, to do whatever he tells us! On behalf of the team Yours for His Glory Alone, Lydia N.I. |
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