Home.
Thanks so much, Jill, Doris, and Eva, for giving part of your time to spend in prayer for the Alpha and Beta ministries. We've been trying to build a team up for a while now. There isn't a structured format as to how to pray for Alpha/Beta, but hopefully you can pray every Wednesday before the class begins. I'll try to remember to send out an email every week or whenever there arises an issue in need of prayer. For now, could you all please pray for our guests? Here are their names:
For Alpha: Yvonne, Mitchell, Eva, Kevin, Jennifer, Esther, Gerald, Allister, Jocelyn + friend, Edwin + friend, The Leung family (Tim, Cissy, William, Samuel, Fiona), Sandy
For Beta: Brandon, Bonnie, Enoch, Alan, Ellen, Winnie + friend
Pray also that God will provide for us a Food Team (consisting of Jez and Leslie and maybe others).
Lastly, please pray for the leaders, Christine, Diane, and Nicky.
Thanks a lot. I'm very encouraged by all this, and by your support.
Praying together in Him,
Nicky
We still have lots of praying to do for Alpha, especially for our beloved guests.
Please pray for these people (somewhat updated from last week): Gerald, Yvonne, Mitchell, Eva, Jocelyn, Handry (Jocelyn's friend), Kevin, Edwin, Ellen, Jennifer, Esther, Sandy, Grace, Brandon, Bonnie, Enoch, Alan, Winnie + friend, and Winson!
Some of our guests are even talking about not returning to Alpha, so perhaps they don't feel ready yet, or they don't think Jesus takes any precedence in their lives, or maybe they simply cannot commit to the timing of the course - only He knows their hearts. So let's pray that they will never forget the name of Jesus, now that they have heard about Him.
Also pray about bonding in the group, that nobody is excluded in any way. I felt that Sandy (Kwok) may have seemed isolated, so pray that we can all be sensitive to her abilities and to her needs.
We're still recruiting people for our food team, but so far it's just Jez. I'm thinking of asking Leslie and Jimmy, too.
That seems to be it for now. Thanks for your prayers.
Together in Christ,
Nicky
We have a lot of petitions and praises.
P E T I T I O N S:
Pray for the guests:
Gerald, Yvonne, Mitchell, Eva, Jocelyn, Handry, Kevin, Edwin, Ellen,
Jennifer, Esther, Sandy, Grace, Brandon, Bonnie, Enoch, Alan, Winnie +
friend, and Winson.
We're still not getting consistency in attendance, as some people are
still contemplating taking this course.
* We can pray for people's hearts to be really searching.
* Pray that those who do come, have courage to ask questions, that
they don't think that their questions are "stupid".
I was quite concerned last week by how our first discussion progressed,
and I guess I saw it coming with all the Christians in the course. The
night was almost dominated completely by the Christians, and I think we
crossed the line in terms of discussion content - I don't think the
non-Christians were ready to hear about how Judas was a devil (John 6:70).
But it was my fault for not holding that question off.
* Pray that Christine and I can be more discerning about what is
appropriate to answer and what is not.
* Pray also that we can all be more sensitive to the nature of
this course and to its purpose.
Jimmy has a sore left shoulder and cannot prepare dinner for Alpha/Beta
this Wednesday, and he'll have to see whether his shoulder will be well
enough next week.
* Pray for healing in his shoulder.
P R A I S E S:
Praise God for continuing to bring in new guests.
Praise God for giving Diane, Christine, and I these challenges, that they only elevate our faith to new levels.
Praise God for Jimmy's positive response to be part of our Food Team.
Praise God for each of you, the Prayer Team - I feel very strengthened and encouraged by your prayers. We can really make a huge dent in this world of unbelief through servants like you.
This email will be posted at www.ece.ubc.ca/~nickyy/alphaprayer.html for your reference.
In the Father's love,
Nicky
Sorry for the tardiness. I prepared this all already, but misplaced my list of prayers, and am going off (poor) memory.
The guest list has changed slightly, and some names have been removed:
Gerald, Yvonne, Mitchell, Eva, Jocelyn, Handry, Kevin, Edwin, Ellen,
Sandy, Grace, Brandon, Bonnie, Enoch, Alan, and Winson. I feel that this
group will stay and that we won't have anybody leaving, but that's up to
God.
* Pray for the guests, and for solidarity.
Grace has expressed interest in coming, but has been unable to attend any
Alpha night yet, as her work schedule conflicts. I've suggested summer
time Alpha to her, but she says it will probably be more difficult for
her. She seems VERY enthusiastic about coming and finding out more about
Jesus.
* Pray that she maintains that same attitude and dedication.
Jimmy has a sore left shoulder and cannot prepare dinner for Alpha/Beta
this Wednesday, and he'll have to see whether his shoulder will be well
for the future.
* Pray for healing in his shoulder.
I've asked everybody to mark their calendars for the Alpha/Beta retreat on
March 1,2 at Faith Mission Christian Conference Center, so they have more
than one month advanced notice!
* Pray that we will have 100% attendance, and that the Holy Spirit
will enter their lives.
Pray for the leaders!
* Pray for continued enthusiasm, motivation, and dedication, that
it will not come to a diminishing ebb.
Last week, we had a pretty good discussion. Everybody contributed something, and I was quite excited. So thanks, Team, for your prayers in that respect.
(This email will be posted at www.ece.ubc.ca/~nickyy/alphaprayer.html for your reference.)
Blessings to you, my friends,
Nicky
To start, let's give our Praises to God.
Praise God for:
* Jez, who is still unphased(!) by the sheer numbers in our
Alpha/Beta group, and she is so fearless in making such big and delicious
meals.
* solidification of our group. I think everbody has found, at the
least, a sense of belonging in the group now, and all have been
participating in discussions.
I'm reminiscing about how Alpha used to be a year ago, when we only had
one leader, one helper, one Alpha course, and absolutely nothing else.
Now we have four leaders, an Alpha AND a Beta course, a Food Team, and a
Prayer Team!
* Praise God for His nurturing and guidance.
Here are this week's prayer requests:
Please continue to pray for our guests. I'd like to give special emphasis
to the non-Christians in the program:
* John, Handry, Yvonne, Kevin, and Grace.
Jimmy's shoulder is still in pain, and it's hard for him to do even the
most menial of chores. Apparently, he has this problem quite frequently.
But he said that he is still keen on being part of the Food Team. So pray
for:
* healing in Jimmy's shoulder, and that it won't prevent him from
being a servant to God.
I am thinking about starting worship this Wednesday, with some of the more
well known songs like Amazing Grace, so pray that:
* our guests won't feel pressured in any way, and they won't feel
'weird'.
Please continue to pray for our weekend retreat. Pray that:
* we will have complete attendance! I'm going to keep reminding
everybody each week because I think they'll need it. Usually they ignore
my first few reminders, but as the weekend nears, then they start
listening to me and then they start panicking.
Thanks, Team. I think you guys should be called the 'God Squad' (like the 60's/70's show The Mod Squad).
In Christ Alone,
Nicky
We're just over half way through Alpha/Beta and the Lord has been good. I introduced praise and worship last week. We had a pretty good discussion again, with a lot of dialoguing going on. Last week's lesson was "Why and How Should I Read the Bible?". There were a lot of good questions asked. I gave them all a personal challenge to read the Bible (a few chapters from Mark or John) - nothing too overwhelming. Our next lesson will be a biggy - "Why and How do I Pray?". This is perhaps one of the more sensitive issues we will be discussing, when our guests will have the opportunity to interact with Jesus and the Father for the first time through prayer.
P R A Y E R S
Pray for this Wednesday's lesson:
* that we will all be attentive to listening to God through
prayer.
Pray for our non-Christian guests, and Christian guests who are trying to
re-establish their faith:
* Gerald, John, Handry, Kevin, Yvonne, Mitchell, Winson
* Grace, who just came to her first class last week, and has a
plethora of questions. Pray that we will all be mindful of and patient
with her questions.
Pray for the following non-Christian guests, whom I have noticed have
missed half of the lessons already:
* Kevin and Handry, that they find more necessity in their life to
come and know Jesus.
Our Alpha/Beta retreat is coming up, and I noticed that many of them have
not taken any steps to take time off in their schedules yet. Pray
that:
* they will finish ahead of time any homework assignments or
projects, or any studying for tests, so that they can be wholly devoted to
the weekend.
Jimmy's left shoulder and arm is still in some pain, but he said that it's
become bearable now. He is still interested in cooking for us, so pray
that:
* his arm will be well enough so that he can serve the Lord
through his cooking.
I'm feeling a bit under the weather lately. My left sinus is being quite unruly. There's a lot of pressure in it, and I can feel the pressure in the left side of my face (eye, teeth). I've seen the doctor about it before, and I had a blood test to see if it was a form of cancer. Thankfully, it wasn't. But it still persists sometimes and is a precursor to a cold. So now I think it's time to see Jesus about it...so please pray for me, for healing in my left sinus. Thank you!
P R A I S E
And you can't have PRs (Prayer Requests) without Praise!!!!
Praise the Lord for the openness in our discussions. Like I said, everyone participates now in the discussions, and this is a huge step from when only two or three people would share anything.
Praise God for we are all bonding further as a group and as friends. The more personal we are with each other, the less impersonal they are with Jesus.
(This email can be referenced at: www.ece.ubc.ca/~nickyy/alphaprayer.html)
Blessings to you all, Team,
Nicky
Alpha updates:
* I learned a lot last week at the Alpha Conference. I picked up some
great ideas on how to promote prayer with our guests, and how to be a more
effective leader in general, and some other ideas. I even got some of
those cool "cheques" from the Bank of Heaven that Nicky G. used in one of
his videos! That will be fun to give out to our guests.
* Our weekend retreat is looking good, but unfortunately, I don't mean our numbers.
Prayer items:
I've had a terrible time being the bearer of bad news. I talked to Grace
and Kevin about the possibility of dropping Alpha due to lack of
attendance. Kevin was understanding and has agreed to come for a future
course. Grace really insists on remaining in the course, saying that she
already took all Wednesdays off from work to attend Alpha, and I wasn't
able to dissuade her from staying on. So I've given her an ultimatum to
catch up on all the videos before the weekend retreat. I went to the
church today to pick up the tapes to drop off at her house, and when I got
to the church, I realized that I had lent them to other people. I felt
God was telling me something, that perhaps it really is not a good idea
for Grace to continue this time around. I still have to talk to Handry
and see how he feels about being dismissed from Alpha. I talked to
Jocelyn about him and he is still very eager to attend, but he is not
comfortable going without Jocelyn, and lately Jocelyn has been too busy to
come. Please
* pray for Grace and Handry, that they will understand the
necessity of such an action to dismiss them,
* pray for me, as God leads me to make the right decisions, and to
say the right things.
PRAYER ALERT!!!!
With the Weekend coming up, people are in a mad scramble to organize their
schedules. I've sent an email requesting confirmation by today (Tuesday),
but so far I've only received 5 (after having given them 5 weeks notice!).
Some are still contemplating whether it is worthwhile for them to come or
not. With that in mind, please
* pray for commitment to attend from everybody (Alan, Bonnie,
Brandon, Winson, Yvonne, John, Edwin, Sandy, Ellen, Enoch, Gerald,
Jocelyn, Handry, Grace)
* pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and that those who
are still living in darkness will have a sincere invitation for Him to
indwell them,
* pray for Mel who will be giving his talk, that the Holy Spirit
will lead his words,
* pray for the Holy Spirit to lead the dialoguing in the
discussions (not just for Alpha, but for Beta, too)!!
* pray for Diane as she organizes the meal plans,
* pray that all the details of the weekend will fall into
place.
Praise items:
Well, in spite of all I've said, I'm still very, very encouraged by Alpha
and Beta. It's good to see that there are people who are interested in
what these courses are all about, and that they've chosen this environment
to learn about Jesus. There are so many challenges to face, particularly
with this group at Alpha.
2 Corinthians 6:4 says "as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses". It's good to know that these distresses are not endured alone, and not for naught.
Praise God for Jez who, for the last two weeks, has made fantastic meals! Wow, the food really brings the group together even more I think. Too bad not everybody can come to share in the sharing!
Praise God for all of you who endure the difficulties and quirks of Alpha. I hope you're all having as much fun as I am. :)
Together in Christ,
Nicky
I'm trying to think of where to start here - I'm loaded with thanksgiving right now. Thanks to you all, Prayer Team, for all your prayers and thoughts for our weekend retreat. I sent out an email summarizing our time together, and the time was enjoyed by all very much.
Praise Items:
Praise God for our successful weekend retreat. It was important that we
all had fun and that we all got to know each other more at a personal
level. From my perspective, I noticed that barriers were beginning to
come down for some of our guests. This was evidenced by the openness of
people to share with us, either personally or to the group. That is TRULY
the Holy Spirit at work. In any other environment, this probably would
not have been possible.
Praise God for being faithful to us. We didn't get 100% attendance, but that's nothing to grieve about. It's not about WHAT God doesn't do for us, but it's about HOW God does EVERYTHING for us. We were blessed with safety, good weather, and great fellowship.
Prayer Items:
As usual, please continue to pray for our guests. I'd like to include
them ALL now, as we are nearing the conclusion of another Alpha/Beta
course. Pray:
* for Alan, Bonnie, Brandon, Brian, Edwin, Ellen, Enoch, Eva,
Gerald, John, Mitchell, Sandy, Winson, Yvonne,
* that even as Alpha and Beta draws to an end, it is only the
beginning of discovery for some of them,
* that they will all be limitless in their motivation as they
search for answers regarding God's Word.
Now that there is a bona fide friendship amongst the guests, please pray that they will not be afraid to ask more questions and to be more open to sharing and praying.
We'd like to start training new leaders and helpers, and Christine and I
have discussed some possible candidates. Please pray for these people as
we approach them about this:
* Eva, Bonnie, Gary Lai, and John.
Thanks again, Team. I felt comforted this past weekend by your prayers.
In Christ,
Nicky
P R A Y E R S
With the end of Alpha and Beta looming near, I've been really praying
about new leaders and helpers, and that God has been most personally using
these ministries to become a personal reality to some of our guests.
Please pray together with me that:
* Bonnie, Eva, and Gary will really consider service to God
through Alpha and becoming helpers,
* that God will show us and even grow for us new potential
helpers/leaders that haven't been identified yet,
* our Christian guests will have experienced an individual
'revival' of their faith,
* our non-Christian guests will desire a deep thirst for the Word
and will actively seek Jesus' life giving water.
In terms of other administrative issues, we need to think and pray
about:
* where to have our next Alpha/Beta retreat,
* what curriculum to run for Beta,
* potentially expanding our Prayer Team and Food Team,
* songs for worship,
* encouraging people to use our numerous resources,
* and anything else that I haven't thought of yet.
Last Wednesday, Christine and I gave our guests the option of praying
aloud at the end of the discussion or simply putting in a Paper Prayer.
Here are last week's Paper Prayers:
Yvonne: "Lord guide all of us through our daily temptations of
evil and help us to not to be tempted but show us the
positiveness and good ways each and everyday."
Edwin: - School (exams, projects, future plans, etc.)
- job-hunting (people who are still unemployed)
- high schoolers (their behaviour, enthusiasm,
participation)
John: "Dear Lord, I thank you for giving me the tools to fight
the evil forces of Satan and strengths to keep my ground.
Thank you for opening my eyes to see more of you. In
Christ's name."
Thanks, Team, blessings to you all,
Nicky
It's the second last session for Alpha and Beta. Without further ado,
let's pray together for these things:
* Bonnie, Eva, and Gary will really consider service to God
through Alpha and become helpers,
* that God will show us and even grow for us new potential
helpers/leaders that haven't been identified yet,
* our Christian guests will have experienced an individual
'revival' of their faith,
* our non-Christian guests will desire a deep thirst for the Word
and will actively seek Jesus' life giving water.
* all our guests will feel impelled to invite non-believing
friends to the Alpha Celebration Dinner. I think the statistic was that
on average, an individual is successful in inviting one in every six
friends.
Pray also for Jimmy, and possibly others, as he considers carrying the immense task of cooking for the Celebration dinner.
Pray for our next curriculum for Beta. Diane, Christine, and I are going to be exploring a couple of possibilities for Beta, and it's important that we really receive God's guidance in this.
As the conclusion of Alpha and Beta are near, let's make it a top priority
for all of us to pray for ALL our guests for the next couple of weeks,
that they will each have received a 'touch from Heaven' and will have
experienced God's renewing power. I would like them to 'go with a bang'
or a very positive impression. Here are their names:
Alan
Bonnie
Brandon
Brian
Edwin
Ellen
Enoch
Eva
Gerald
John
Mitchell
Sandy
Winson
Yvonne
(This email can be found at www.ece.ubc.ca/~nickyy/alphaprayer.html.)
Thanks for your prayers.
In the Father's Love,
Nicky
This Wednesday is our last Alpha and Beta meeting, until the Celebration Dinner. I'm looking back at some of the things we prayed for throughout the course and, in Nicky Gumbel fashion, "checking off" the things that have been answered:
* God provided us a Food Team, albeit it consists of only one dedicated
person and three floaters,
* Jimmy's shoulder is more than 90% healed,
* our guests have become solidified in their friendships,
* we had increased openness in discussions and in prayer,
* the weekend retreat was an uplifting event,
and a few others.
So let's praise God for responding to our prayers and always being faithful.
Praise God also for blessing the leaders (Christine, Diane, Nicky) and Jez
with energy and enthusiasm all throughout Alpha and Beta. I think we're
all ready for a nice break. But please pray that:
* we will be rejuvenated and renewed by the Spirit once Alpha and
Beta start again in the summertime.
Again, let's pray for our guests this week:
* Alan, Bonnie, Brandon, Brian, Edwin, Ellen, Enoch, Eva, Gerald,
John, Mitchell, Sandy, Winson, and Yvonne.
Continue to pray for:
* potential helpers (Eva, Bonnie, Gary L) for our future courses,
and that God will make it clear to them whether He has chosen them to
serve in this capacity.
Pray for:
* the Celebration Dinner, that all our guests will be able to
invite a friend, or two, or more, and that some of our guests will be
willing to share their experiences with everybody,
* Jimmy, as he has agreed to bear the immense task of cooking.
Pray for:
* our next Beta curriculum, and discovering how God wants us to
shape this ministry.
Thanks, team, for your dedication in serving God and building up our Alpha and Beta courses through faithful prayer. If there's anything else you think we should pray for, then please let the team know.
This prayer mail can be found at www.ece.ubc.ca/~nickyy/alphaprayer.html.
With Love in Christ,
Nicky