It is great to know that so many are praying for us. The bible talks a lot about praying and asking, and that God hears us when we have faith and when we are abiding in Him.
"This is the confidence that we have in approaching God:
that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask -
we know that we have what we asked of him."
1 John 5: 14-15
We believe that this means both our requests and our lives need to line up with the will of God - so we need to seek His will and obey.There are some prayers that we always need - for good health, wisdom, God's protection, provision, hearing and doing His will and so-on. On this page, however, we intend to place our prayers-of-the-moment. They may be requests, or they may well be our thanks and gratitude to God. So please check this page frequently, as it may change quite often.
Thank you! Mike, Nélia, Louissa and Joshua
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MOST RECENT PRAYER REQUESTS AT THE TOP OF THE LIST!
4th November 2016: Joshua's French Exams
Josh takes his DELF B2 French exams over the next couple of weeks - written papers on 10th November and oral on 17th November. Please pray for his revision time, and that he will do his very best on the day(s).
13th May 2015: Louissa's AS Exams and God's provision
We left Louissa at the airport last week, and she in currently back in the UK sitting her AS-levels. She has 5 papers, the final one being on 2nd June. We thank God for her safe arrival, and that she has a great place to stay during the exams. Please be praying for her over these two or three weeks!
We also want to thank the Lord for his provision - we now have the funds to pay for all four of our tickets for our break in the UK this July.
29th April 2015: Time for an update!
Josh takes his DELF B2 French exams over the next couple of weeks - written papers on 10th November and oral on 17th November. Please pray for his revision time, and that he will do his very best on the day(s).
13th May 2015: Louissa's AS Exams and God's provision
We left Louissa at the airport last week, and she in currently back in the UK sitting her AS-levels. She has 5 papers, the final one being on 2nd June. We thank God for her safe arrival, and that she has a great place to stay during the exams. Please be praying for her over these two or three weeks!
We also want to thank the Lord for his provision - we now have the funds to pay for all four of our tickets for our break in the UK this July.
29th April 2015: Time for an update!
After a gap of almost a year, I think it's time we updated this page!
Thanks for praying for us - we know there are many of you doing so.
We'd just like to update you on some of the prayer points below ...
Louissa's IGCSEs
Lou completed hew exams (and, by the way got an A* in the Portuguese paper mentioned below!). She has now moved on to studying A-levels
Mike's Back
Mike had to take it very easy for several weeks, and has now had to make some changes. No more sports of any type except for walking and a little swimming. Mike is also doing Pilates twice a week, to improve flexibility. His back can still ache occasionally, but no sever pain, and it's a rare occurrence that an Ibuprofen is needed.
Bereavement
It's now around 18 months since the death of Waltinho. Please continue to pray for Walter, Tuca and Samuel.
Thanks for praying for us - we know there are many of you doing so.
We'd just like to update you on some of the prayer points below ...
Louissa's IGCSEs
Lou completed hew exams (and, by the way got an A* in the Portuguese paper mentioned below!). She has now moved on to studying A-levels
Mike's Back
Mike had to take it very easy for several weeks, and has now had to make some changes. No more sports of any type except for walking and a little swimming. Mike is also doing Pilates twice a week, to improve flexibility. His back can still ache occasionally, but no sever pain, and it's a rare occurrence that an Ibuprofen is needed.
Bereavement
It's now around 18 months since the death of Waltinho. Please continue to pray for Walter, Tuca and Samuel.
25th May 2014: Louissa's IGCSE exams - updated
Thanks for praying for Louissa during her exams - now there's just one left - a Portuguese paper on Monday 2nd June; it will start at around 8.30am Brasilia time
1st December 2013: Back Problems
Please pray for a speedy recovery for Mike, following his back crisis of 2 weeks ago
30th November 2013: Bereavement
Please pray for the parents (Walter & Tuca) and son (Samuel) of cousin Waltinho who died in September whilst abroad.
27th June 2013: Provision
We want to start by thanking God for how he has been providing resources - both people and financial at OM Brazil in recent months. It look like we will have a good number of students next term (August), and there are some more people interested in joining the team at the base. We have also been very thankful to receive a donation of some computer equipment, and also some additional money for improving our facilities at the base. Please pray that the leadership will spend wisely.
Personally, we are still struggling as we have recently lost almost 20% of our income. Please pray that God will provide!
16th May 2013: Provision
We thank God for giving us all the practical things that we need - a home, food, car. We have some challenges next month, though, as one of our sources of income will be temporarily absent. We're not sure for how long, but at least one month. Please pray that God will restore this blessing.
21st March 2013: Thanks for trip
As you may have read, Mike travelled to Bangkok for the annual OM ILM (International Leaders Meeting). This was a great privilege and experience in many ways. Mike was also very pleased to be able to 'stop off' in Brighton en route and attend a morning service at Holland Road.
9th November 2012: Thanks as well as requests
It struck me that we always have a list of requests for God, but we don't thank Him nearly enough. So we've changed the title of this page to Pray with us!
In a similar vein, we often concentrate on what is lacking, instead of what we have. It's only when something nudges us - like learning about how wretched the lives of others are through a presentation or news item - that we come to our senses, get on our knees and ask God to forgive our selfish attitudes.
So today, we would like to thank God for …
- Our health - may not be perfect but never life-threatening
- Our car (See below!)
- Our home
- Our church(es)
- The privilege of serving
- Never really being hungry
- All the people who pray for us
- Freedom to practise our faith where we live
- A great God !!!
30th August 2012: New car - Praise God!
Looking down this section, I just noticed that it's all about cars. It's a bit disappointing that this has been the only issue on our prayer list. But our prayers have been answered and this will be the last entry about car problems, because God has provided the solution! So we finish with THANKS for all your prayers related to this, and THANKS for the financial gift that enabled us to change our car. There are a couple of pictures of our new car on one of our posts (dated 30th August).
18th June 2012: Thanks to God!
It seems the problem really has gone away! At last! A couple of week on, and the car problem has NOT returned. Thanks to Helio the mechanic who promised to find the problem, and delivered on his promise! When we return from the UK, we will need sone final visit to the garage to change the oil and fix the handbrake, but that should be it! More news on our plans to replace the car later ...
3rd June 2012: Car Fixed?
After the maintenance in April (see below), there was no improvement. So the car was back in the garage a little over a week ago, and so far the forever-recurring-problem has not reoccured. Could it finally be fixed? We are praying that it is. This will mean the car is in a sellable state, and we can really go ahead with changing cars when we get back to Brazil in August. It is urgent now as we are getting more and more pains from driving, and need an automatic car with better back and leg support. Please pray that the problem has really been resolved!
Car in for repair - booked for Monday 16th April
The car will be going in for:
1. Recurring problem
2. Scheduled oil change
3. New problem - suspect shock absorber(s) need replacing
Please pray that the recurring problem will finally be fixed and that the cost for this and the other issues will be minimal.
30th March 2012: Car Problems:
Please continue to pray for this situation. We thought that the problem with the car was fixed, but over the last couple of weeks, the problem has returned. Once again, the car is in an unsellable state. It will need to go for repair again, but every time this happens, the fix only lasts for a while. We feel somewhat trapped with the car; it leaks money, and we cannot sell it - but we cannot do without it. We are expecting more costs, therefore, in the coming months. We need a miracle of God to take the mechanical problem away, and another miracle of God to provide us with a different car. We are both continuing to get physical pains and discomfort from driving it. God has answered prayers in other areas - and we cry out to Him to bless us in this area too.
3rd February 2012: Car Problems:
Our white Parati was originally a blessing, partly because we were able to pay for it over several months. Almost immediately, however, things started going wrong, and over the last year or so it has given us a lot of expensive mechanical problems. This week it has been in the garage three times. Additionally, when renewing our insurance this year, we discovered that the Parati is it one of the most expensive cars in Brazil to insure.
We decided, therefore, that it is time to change the car. We need a car that is small and reliable. With a lot of city driving, we have both been getting back pains from time to time, and we really need to go back automatic transmission (not common here). For this to happen we first need to sell the Parati (for which it needs to be actually working properly), and then we need to find the right car. We don't want to get an older car as we are likely to end up with more mechanical problems, so we need to find the right car at the right price.
We believe that God has the right car for us out there, and that He will provide it for us. We just need to trust Him and make the most of the contacts and opportunities that he gives us. Our prayers are as follows:
- Pray that there will be no more mechanical problems with the Parati
- Pray that we will find a buyer for the Parati at a fair price and that the sale will go smoothly
- Pray that we will quickly find the car that God has for us, and that we will be able to negotiate a good price.
- Pray that the new car will be trouble-free!
