Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – October 1st 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Fraser has just learned that a big South African denomination expects him to have everything organised for courses to start in January.  Pray that Hugenote would find the right forum to scale the church’s expectations down to a realistic level, that Fraser won’t be overwhelmed by the workload and that he will be able to identify other people who can train lecturers to use the system he has set up.

Pray for Mondray whom Dawn has counselled at maximum security.  Sentenced to 17 years for gangster, drug and murder related crimes in 2012, three months ago he surrendered himself to Jesus.  He feels strongly that God wants to use him to reach out to the other “sinners” in maximum and is full of enthusiasm over how his prayers for his family’s relationships are being answered.

Pray that Dawn will have wisdom and discernment as she interacts with the prisoners.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Blythswood Update – October 1st 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Talita Kum

Blythswood has asked us to specially remember those who are involved in various activities in Romania to raise funds for projects like Talita Kum and the Daniel Centre.

 Now that the schools are back in operation, pray for the ongoing strength and commitment of those who staff Talita Kum and for the influence of their witness on the young lives who come to see them every school day.

 Remember children who were able to attend summer camps and whose lives were touched by those experiences.

Daniel Centre

Continue to pray for Balazs Csiszer and his team at the Daniel Centre in Cluj, Romania which was refurbished over the summer by the Go Relief team from Northern and Southern Ireland.

Pray for refurbished lives as the team give themselves daily in the service of the young men under their care.

Barnabas, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Barnabas Update – September 17th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Nine killed in shelling of Syrian Christian town

Barnabas Fund, 11 September 2018

Nine civilians from the Christian-majority Syrian town of Mhardeh died on Friday 7 September, when shells or rockets fired from a rebel-controlled region hit built up areas. According to local sources, a further 20 people were reportedly injured in the attack on the town, which is located around 14 miles north-west of the city of Hama.

Throughout the conflict Christian civilian areas in Syria have been deliberately targeted with rocket attacks and shelling by jihadist rebel groups, although these attacks have gone largely unreported by Western media.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – September 17th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Pray that the amazing work that God is doing in the lives of prisoners and their families through Hope Prison Ministry will not be lessened by avoidable hiccups and frustrations.

 Addiction to Tik (crystal meth) is widespread and destroying communities.  It’s hard to see how to help. Pray that there would be more hope and alternatives, so people are not drawn into drug addiction.

 NetACT and Hugenote College are ready to buy the server together.  Pray that everything would fall into place and the order would be placed with the supplier this week.

Pray that we would have perseverance in the face of frustrations as we try to be in the places God wants us to be and grow to be the people he’s designed us to be.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Blythswood Update – September 17th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Talita Kum

As new and returning children begin school again, pray for the leaders and helpers at Talita Kum who will be interacting with these children as they come in for meals, hot showers and help with homework each school day.

The staff of Talita Kum may well be the only Christians that the children will see and come to know at close quarters during their school years, so the influence of these adults on the young lives is hard to imagine.

 Daniel Centre

Pray for Balazs Csiszer and his team who manage the Daniel Centre in Cluj, Romania. Give thanks for the refurbishment work that was done by the Go Relief team from Northern and Southern Ireland.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – September 2nd 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Thank God for the time we’ve had together with James and Ruth, and ask for strength, peace and encouragement as we part again. 

 Give thanks that Dawn is now cleared to go into the local prisons with Hope Prison Ministries.

Give thanks for Brian, one of the participants of the Restorative Justice course, who has turned from Islam and rededicated his life to Jesus. Pray for his safety, patience in the face of antagonism and that the Holy Spirit would shine brightly through him. He has recently been given a release date in December, a miracle in itself. Brian has the potential to be used greatly by God; pray that nothing will get in the way of that.

The long walk to the NetAct server is continuing with everyone in agreement. Pray there’ll be no hitches, technical or otherwise.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Blythswood Update – September 2nd 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Talita Kum

As new and returning children begin school again, pray for the leaders and helpers at Talita Kum who will be interacting with these children as they come in for meals, hot showers and help with homework each school day.

The staff of Talita Kum may well be the only Christians that the children will see and come to know at close quarters during their school years, so the influence of these adults on the young lives is hard to imagine.

 Daniel Centre

Similarly pray for the leaders and mentors at the Daniel Centre where there is even greater interaction with the young men as it is a full-time residential home.

 Many encouraging stories have already been documented of young lives transformed by the support and genuine love that these young men experience from these committed staff members.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – August 20th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Once Hugenote have a new server in place, they plan to install a new Library Management System.  Pray that Fraser will be able to communicate clearly the implications of the policy and technical options that the Hugenote College library staff will have.

Pray for good communication and the ability to identify and overcome cross-cultural differences. 

 Praise that when Dawn’s car wouldn’t start on their way home from a training session at Pollsmoor prison, a neighbour of one of Dawn’s passengers was able to fix the problem with very little trouble.  God doesn’t always prevent problems from happening, but He will mitigate their effects and provide a way through them.

 Dawn’s long-term prison clearance has still not come through. Pray that it will be ready by the end of August, so she can get fully involved once James and Ruth have returned to the UK.

Please also pray for good health and safety on the roads.

Blythswood, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Blythswood Update – August 20th 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Talita Kum

Back to school shortly, so pray for children who will have their first impressions of Talita Kum this autumn.

Pray for those who will return to Talita Kum, and especially for those who may have come to faith in Christ at one of the summer camps.

Pray for those who have now finished school, that the memories of Talita Kum will be an abiding influence in their lives.

 Daniel Centre

Gheorghe was abandoned when he was born and went straight into state care. After leaving state care when he became an adult, he came to The Daniel Centre.

For the first time in his life people were interested in him and wanted to help him. After training is now a chef in a 5-star restaurant overseeing a team of 6 other chefs.

The Daniel Centre helped him contact his mother, who is from the Gypsy community and his 10 siblings whom he had never met.  Amazingly he was able to deliver shoeboxes to them during a Shoe Box Appeal.

Jacksons, Mission Partners of Castle Street, Missions

Jacksons Update – August 1st 2018

by Robert MacNaughton

Prisoners in this latest Restorative Justice course have spoken of how they have profited from it, one prisoner being led to tell the truth about his crime for the first time and about being truly sorry.  Many have said they wished they could have attended such a course 20 years ago!  Two Muslim prisoners took the course, one returning to the Christian faith and the other being deeply affected by the respect and love shown to him throughout.

 Despite the government department being very keen on more Hope Prison Ministries courses, Dawn cannot go to any more meetings in prison since bureaucracy requires her to be cleared for every single event and day separately.  Pray for a resolution to this issue.

 Pray that the thought of parting will not overshadow James and Ruth’s time in South Africa. 

Fraser has upcoming meetings aimed at NetACT sharing a server and getting things up and running.  He also meets senior representatives of the Dutch Reformed Church to show how online learning environments can help provide training for their ministers across South Africa.  Help in the spread of sound Christian training is a benefit of the work he has been called to do here.