The nightly, 45 minutes service entitled ‘21 Days of Prayer’ began on Sunday 7 February, under the care of the Tottenham Prayer Ministries Leader, Maxine Donovan. Tottenham SDA Church committed to pray over the 21 subjects on the prayer list for three weeks. Every board member was given an evening to involve their department in the service, as the intention was to involve the entire church.
Why 21 days? We had a couple of main concerns. Firstly, the Tottenham Church building has been under development for the past three years and we are longing to see the church completed. It was decided that this situation should be placed before the Lord, along with a proposed completion date. Secondly, the 21 Days of Prayer was also the launch of the '5 By Faith' prayer initiative where Prayer Ministries partnered with the AY Department to pray for our missing youth. After 21 Days of Prayer, the aim was to make contact with our missing youth, to develop a relationship and eventually invite them back into the fold. Additionally, prayers were said for our youths between 5 - 6 in the mornings and afternoons. One missing youth who was contacted sent the following message,
“Aw, thank you. Really appreciate it. It's nice to know the church hasn't totally forgotten us. We thank you guys for the prayers. I'm sure we needed it more than we thought. Hope you are all keeping safe in these crazy times. And thanks again.”
Virtual invitations for the nightly services were sent to family and friends, and the numbers joining the meetings were high each night.
The first sermonette, was presented by Dr Jude Jeanville, the chair of the board and pastor of Tottenham Church. The last meeting was an evening of celebration, which included testimonies of thanks and songs of praise. Members of the community gave testimonies, as they are now firm friends of the church since lockdown. The church has given them an opportunity to study the Bible virtually and obtain literature and provisions at our weekly Food Hub.
Linda Nyamhunga (SEC Prayer Ministries Coordinator and member of the Tottenham Church) gave the last sermonette. The focus of her message was 2 Kings 3:9-20, the story tells of an army’s despair, which allowed for a heavenly directive to ‘dig ditches’ and the miraculous delivery that followed. The speaker then emphasised, that we must ‘dig our ditches - we have prayed therefore we must prepare to receive.'
Many have been greatly blessed by this series of focused prayer and we are excited to hear the testimonies of victory that are due to come.
J Morris & M Donovan
On behalf of the Tottenham Communications Department
