THE HEADLINES ARE A POWERFUL PLACE TO PRAY.

- IN THIS ISSUE -

Our new prayer blog, Manaaki funding & Al Ahli's extension clinic in Rafah.

In a world filled with constant news, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the negativity, conflict and need. Within those headlines is a powerful place to pray.

We believe that partnering together in prayer is vital to the work we do. Anglican Missions prays together as a team every Monday and Thursday, asking God to protect, cover and sustain the various mission fields, people and partners that we meet and work with. That includes you!

Our work as an aid and development agency often brings us into contact with geopolitical, social and cultural stories that influence the wellbeing of those people and partners. Often, it's these issues we're praying for as a team. Sometimes, these issues dominate the headlines. Sometimes, tragic situations are forgotten completely. 

As a part of the Anglican Church, we're committed to the same 5 Marks of Missions as you are! Mark of Mission 4 calls us to: 

"... transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation."

In a world so desperately in need, it can seem impossible to meet that challenge. The problems seem so numerous, so distant and so hopeless. How can we possible stand up to the Goliath of injustice, violence and conflict? 

Through prayer. It's a way to put our faith into action.

That's why we launched Pray the News, a weekly prayer blog delivered right to your inbox. Partnering together, we can pray into the biggest social, cultural and geopolitical headlines facing the world. 

Each Thursday, we'll summarise and provide targeted prayer points for countries, situations and conflicts that you can pray into. It doesn't matter what your age or stage in life is. You can Pray the News individually or take these points into your different faith gatherings.  

The headlines are a powerful place to pray, and a praying church is a powerful church. It's one that we're excited to be part of. Hit the link below, and lets partner together to Pray the News.

Mark Mitchell

Humanitarian and Development Manager

Pray for our Manaaki proposal.

Manaaki is a NZ$6 million fund for NZ NGOs working with in-country partners to support vulnerable and/or marginalised people and groups. This year, Anglican Missions has prepared and submitted our first Manaaki proposal.

The project will be supporting people living on the atoll of Ontong Java in the Solomon Islands, addressing issues of food security, access to water and sanitation and climate resilience.
 
It will take three months before we know if we are successful in moving onto the next phase. Please pray for our project as it's considered in that time! We believe that the project will have real and lasting outcomes for the people of the Solomon Islands, and your prayer support is incredibly vital and appreciated over this time.

We honour the work that our staff has done to get this across the line. Well done team!

Pray for Al Ahli's extension clinic in Rafah.

The staff of Al Ahli's extension clinic in Rafah.

The situation in Rafah is becoming increasingly dire. Over 1.5 million people have transformed the Southern Palestinian city into a makeshift humanitarian shelter. A ground offensive to eliminate key Hamas commanders believed to be in the city is looking more and more likely. However, this is likely to result in heavy civilian casualties.

There is no water or supply infrastructure to support this number of people. A majority of the displaced have already had their homes destroyed and they cannot cross the border into Egypt. Rafah has been described as "... a pressure cooker of despair...".

There is simply nowhere else for them to go.

However, hope is still alive, and the church continues to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those who need it the most.

Al Ahli hospital staff (themselves displaced) have opened an extension clinic in Rafah, seeing a moral duty to serve the medical needs of the thousands of men, women, and children left with almost nothing but the clothes on their backs. The clinic offers general and specialised medical services, and also houses a pharmacy stocked from the World Health Organisation and numerous charities.

At the same time, Al Ahli Anglican Hospital in Northern Gaza still continues to operate, providing medical assistance and shelter to those affected by the conflict. We're proud to support the staff of Al Ahli and the vital ministry they are doing in the face of yet another humanitarian catastrophe.