2012 Olympics « Kingdom Vision

More Than Gold: Answered Prayers Summer 2012

This summer saw the UK rise up in an astonishing wave of prayer. More Than Gold co-ordinated prayer and inspired and encouraged churches to work together in reaching out to their communities as the Olympic flame travelled across the country and throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Churches across the UK served their communities, welcomed visitors and blessed people just as Jesus would have done. An estimated 500,000 attended church-organised community festivals. The More Than Gold Athlete Family Homestay Programme hosted 280 guests from 20+ nations in 160 homes for 2,000 nights of free hospitality. The athletes supported won a total of 45 medals including 8 gold.

300 Games Pastors provided 13,000 hours of service to travellers at 24 locations including ten major rail stations, two airports, a coach station and key tourist sites. 30+ teams of 350 musicians and creative artists from 30 nations in 40 venues contributed 440 hours of live performance and 434 days of exhibitions.

Over 2,100 volunteers from 40+ countries worked with about 300 churches distributing 225,000+ Olympic and Christian pin badges during conversations, water distribution and as a gift to travellers. And much much more.

The More Than Gold team have collated the many ways in which God has answered the prayer requests shared through the Daily Prayer Guide which ran from 14th May to 29th September. The team want to honour the Lord and encourage the whole body of Christ who was involved in praying this summer. We know there were thousands of people whom the Holy Spirit prompted to pray for many different things, and who did not necessarily use this. But we trust that this will encourage many people to press on and in as we continue to stand in the gap and contend for our lands! You can find this document on our World Prayer Centre website http://www.worldprayer.org.uk/files/2012/10/Answered-Prayers-from-The-Prayer-Baton-Relay.pdf . ‘This is God’s work. We rub our eyes – we can hardly belive it! Thank God- He’s so good’ Psalm 118:23,25 (The Message)

Sources: Prayer Alert 42-2012 (www.prayer-alert.net) and World Prayer Centre (www.worldprayer.org.uk)

Call to prayer: Bells of Change

Image credit: Theophilos via photo pin

Call to Prayer from the World Prayer Centre

The 70 day cascade of prayer and praise will come to an end with the prayer relay finish in East London on the evening of 26th July and the Praise Bus will complete its journey on 27th July.

We want to invite everyone everywhere to pray 8.12am on 27th July – please forward this invitation on.

At 8.12am on 27th July 2012 the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games are calling for bells to be rung across our nations: any bell, anyone, anywhere: www.allthebells.com

We feel this is a very significant moment and want to invite everyone to pray wherever they are on that day! We long to see a spiritual turning in our nation.

The Bells Of Change

It is 70 years ago to the day when Winston Churchill called for the bells to be rung after the first battle of El Alamein ended on 27th July 1942 with a stalemate. The bells marked a turning point. After the second battle of El Alamein which ended on 3rd November 1942 there was victory. He recalled ‘before El Alamein we never had a victory, after El Alamein we never had a defeat’.

Bells were rung on 3 June at the Jubilee Pageant carried on the bell barge and were answered by church bells along the Thames.
Bells will ring on 27th July 2012 at 08.12am
A 27 ton bell will ring at 9pm on 27 July. It is twice the size of Big Ben and the largest tuned bell in Europe and will ring in the Olympic Stadium to start London 2012. It will carry the quote from The Tempest ‘Do not be afeard; the isle is full of noises ‘.

A number of people have been carrying words about the significance of bells:

Jonathan Bellamy: http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/life/The_Bells_Of_Change/47694/p1
Beni Johnson: http://www.kingdomvision.co.uk/archives/18682
Kathie Walters (www.kathiewaltersministry.com) who has mobilized thousands around the world to pray during the Jubilee and for the start of the games: http://www.kingdomvision.co.uk/archives/18680
Joy Hall: http://www.kingdomvision.co.uk/archives/18690

World Prayer Centre has put together some scriptures and prayers for you to use; but feel free to pray how the Lord leads on that morning. Revised version: Revised Call to Prayer 27 July 8.12am WPC 27_07_12 (pdf).

Please invite all you know!

Source: World Prayer Centre, with additional information from Kingdom Vision.

Keep Praying and Bless: Daily prayer guide for the Olympic Torch relay

Keep Praying and Bless is a 70 day prayer guide for use during the Torch Relay through the British Isles & Ireland. Written by Call to Prayer in Norwich and House of Glory in Thurston, Suffolk, the guide will to enable us to unite in prayer during the strategic run-up to the Olympics, including the Global Day of Prayer and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.

Keep Praying and Bless contains daily scriptures and blessings for each day of the Olympic Torch relay, beginning this Friday 18 May with prayers over Land’s End.

The guide is free to download in pdf format from http://www.call2prayer.co.uk/ or http://www.houseofglorynetwork.com/keep-praying-and-bless.html. Printed copies are availble for £2 per copy (or £1.50 for orders of 6 or more copies) from the websites above.

Further prayer resources for the Olympic Torch relay and for the Olympic Games are available at More Than Gold: http://www.morethangold.org.uk/.

Blessing Prayer: Shine as the Flame Travels

Churches across Cornwall will be using this prayer on 19th and 20th May as the arrival of the Olympic flame in Cornwall sparks a wave of prayer for the county and for the nation.

Shine as the flame travels: Blessing Prayer (Ffald-y-Brenin Trust, 2012, found in “Time to Shine” Prayer Guide)

We stand in the mighty Name of Jesus and bless you, the communities of Cornwall, that you might prosper under the mighty hand of God.

We bless you that justice and righteousness might take their proper place within your boundaries.

We bless you that the favour of the Lord might rest upon you and give you peace.

We bless you that the Father’s compassion might fall upon your people.

We bless your poor that they might be lifted up.

We bless you that the knowledge of Jesus might come in amongst you like a flood.

We bless the people of God in Cornwall, that they might rise up with Servant authority and become a people of blessing.

We bless you that the joy of the Lord might be your strength. Amen.

A possible outline to create your own blessing prayer (feel free to amend any of this)

“Almighty God, my Heavenly Father, in humility we come before you and ask that you would bless this town of …………………..

We know that we do not deserve your mercy, but for the sake of Christ we pray that you would forgive us our sins, and deliver us from the powers of evil that are at work.

We declare that you alone are God, and pray that your kingdom will come, that your will would be done in our churches, our council, our public services, our businesses, our schools and colleges, our university, our homes, and on our streets.

Father, we thank you for all that goes on in your name in ……… and ask that you would add the blessing of your Spirit’s power, that the light of the gospel of Christ would shine through all that is done to bring hope & salvation to the people of ……………………

Almighty God, give us a heart that overflows with thankfulness for all you have done in our lives, and a heart that breaks for those who do not know you.

Merciful God, revive your church, heal our town for the honour of your name. Amen”.

Source: Churches Together in Cornwall: www.churchestogetherincornwall.org.uk

The blessing prayer in Kernewek (Cornish):

Terlentrewgh dell vyaj an flamm: Pysadow a Vennigans

In a sev yn Hanow krev Yesu ha benniga orthis, (Dewnans) rag may sewenni yn-dann dorn nerthek Duw.

In a vennik orthis rag may synsso ewnder ha gwiryonedh aga Le ewn a-ji dhe’th emlow.

In a vennik orthis rag may powesso warnas Gras an Arloedh, ha RI dhis kres.

In a vennik orthis rag may koettho war dha dus piteth an Tas.

In a vennik orth dha dus boghosek rag may fons I sevys.

In a vennik orthewgh rag may frosso godhvos a Yesu yn agas mysk haval dhe liv.

In a vennik orth an dus a Dhuw yn (Dewnans ha Kernow), rag may saffons gans awtorita Gwas, ha dos ha bos pobel a vennigans.

In a vennik orthewgh rag may of lowena an Arloedh dha nerth. Yndella re Bo.

Source: Doreen Sparey-Delacassa.

For more prayers for Cornwall as the Olympic Torch arrives, download the Passing On The Light leaflet from the Diocese of Truro.

More than Gold: Shine as the Flame Travels

As part of the preparations for the 2012 Olympics, More Than Gold invite you to join them in a 70 day cascade of prayer as the Olympic torch makes it’s way across the UK. The route taken is through more than 1,000 communities and within ten miles of almost the whole of the UK’s population, beginning in Cornwall on 19 May.

The cascade will see the Olympic torch relay used as a catalyst by hundreds of churches to mobilise united and creative prayer for their communities and the nations, preparing the way for all the service, mission and hospitality taking place in thousands of communities during 2012 and beyond.

Get praying!
There will be a prayer relay of blessing as part of Shine as the Flame, at each of the 70 evening stops that the torch makes. There are also plans to light prayer torches; hold days or weeks of prayer; prayer walking in different counties, prayer walking and driving the whole route ahead of time; prayer relays among local churches, prayer baton competitions – all with the aim to prepare the way for all the mission that will take place in the rest of the year.

For more inspiration and advice on mobilising your own prayer events and activities, check out the More Than Gold Prayer Guide (pdf) and Shine as the Flame travels (pdf), both from the More Than Gold website.

Praise Bus
Christians from the church at Escalls near Lands End are organising an open-top Praise Bus which will proceed ahead of the Olympic torch, with worship by local bands in relay offering praises to God for the nation. At each overnight stop, the bus will drop off three bands and pick up three more. They need people to pray, musicians, hospitality and a place to park the bus at each stop… find out more at http://www.thejourneyfromescalls.co.uk/.

Have fun connecting your church to the community

At first glance, it might just look like a party, but behind the fun and games are a prayerful group of people who love God and are committed to their community.

The 2012 Olympics offer a great opportunity for churches to connect with their communities. In conjunction with More than Gold and Share Jesus International, Fusion Open Crowd Community Festivals offer training and resources for building community through festivals that bring people together.

Teams are trained in practical skills like face-painting, leading games and activities, but also learn to be aware of social interactions and to support and encourage hospitality and generosity. Each festival can act as a catalyst for building a longer-lasting network of hope and goodwill, part of the long-term process of mission. Read more about the training available, the mission process and the difference that Open Crowd Community Festivals have made in their communities across the globe on the Fusion website at http://fusionyac.org/2012/.

Fusion is an international Christian Youth & Community movement made up of small groups of friends who love their communities and are committed to developing practical responses to the needs they face. Find out more at http://fusionyac.org/.

Let the light shine! Churches Together in Cornwall need your help to prepare for the 2012 Olympics

Churches Together in Cornwall
Let the light shine!

On May 19th the Olympic Torch will arrive at Land’s End and be carried, by a series of runners, through Cornwall to Plymouth. The Olympic Torch is lit on the ancient alter of the Greek god Zeus and is a symbol of the harmony and goodwill which represent the ideals of the Olympic Games. The flame represents the basic spiritual significance of the Olympic movement, a symbol of peace among the nations of the world. Churches Together in Cornwall hope that Christians in Cornwall of all denominations and none, will join together to use this opportunity to be witnesses to a greater and purer light.

It is hoped to arrange for prominent Christian leaders of the duchy to be at the landing of the Olympic Flame to bless the runners and the coming games. As near to Lands End as security will permit and either before or after the official start, Churches Together in Cornwall plan to kindle their own prayer torch to symbolise the Gospel coming into Cornwall with the first Celtic missionaries. They are praying for the light of the Gospel to be rekindled in Cornwall. From the torch they will light Miners’ Lamps for each part of the county. If the roads are closed these can be walked to Sennen along the cliff path and sent out from there by road and sea.

When the lamps arrive in each area they will be welcomed at community events arranged by the local churches working ecumenically. At the end of the event a representative of each participating congregation may take a special Olympic candle back to their church symbolising taking the flame of the gospel back to their own villages. Help with organising community events is available from ‘Fusion’ and Churches Together in Cornwall hope to hold a training event early in the New Year.

The main activity on May 19th for smaller local congregations will be the great Cream Tea Challenge. (This can be a part of bigger events too). A special challenge has been given to Cornwall that on that day Cornwall’s churches should serve (and record) more cream teas than have ever been served before in one day and that this accomplishment should be recorded in the Guinness Book of records. With each cream tea there will be a Gospel or Why Jesus? booklet or some other Christian message of encouragement, showing people God’s love and concern and care. Excellent Olympic booklets are available from More than Gold and these will be ordered in bulk and distributed from Diocesan House if there is demand. Rodda’s have kindly offered to provide cream for the churches at a very reduced price.

On the Sunday following the arrival of the torch it is planned to hold an ecumenically backed day of prayer across the Duchy, with special services and prayer for a revival of faith in Cornwall. Symbolic Olympic candles will be distributed to all participating churches to be lit during Sunday worship while prayer is offered for a revival of the Christian faith in Cornwall. Some congregations may devote themselves to a week of 24/7 prayer, leading up to the ecumenical celebration at Gwennap Pit on the following Sunday when the preacher will be Revd. Leo Osborne, the President of the Methodist Church.

Churches Together in Cornwall believe these events will be an effective witness to the flame of the Gospel and are urging churches to ‘get on board’ and work together visibly across Cornwall. They need every church to register so that they can order the Olympic Booklets, the candles and the special rate cream in appropriate bulk and arrange for distribution. They will help you to co-ordinate your efforts with other churches, working together in our communities.

If you share the vision contact Doreen Sparey-Delacassa (doreen.sd@btinternet.com) or Diocesan House or Methodist District Office (districtoffice@btconnect.com) . If you are a church leader and too busy to take on anything else, encourage others in the church to take responsibility for this. Churches Together in Cornwall want to see the light of Christ shine out across this county again!