Dear Lightwave prayer supporters,

Since the last newsletter the world has changed so much with the pandemic outbreak of Covid 19.  So there is lots to pray about and also remain thankful for.  As this prayer newsletter is being written I can hear the birds outside my window and see signs of spring starting to appear, with blossom trees and flowers starting to bud and grow!  

As we enter April and approach Holy Week and Easter, we are reminded, as Christians, of the death and resurrection of Jesus and we can celebrate that He is alive and reigns over us! 
The Lightwave project team is continuing to meet together, online, three times a week to pray.  Some Lightwave groups have moved to meet online and some are meeting at scheduled times, in their own homes, to worship and pray, knowing others are also doing the same (Pilgrims Together, Lightwave group).
 
Firstly the top 5 things to give thanks for this month are;

• Our Lightwave groups, who are seeking to support, serve and encourage those in their local communities and in particular Farm By the Water, who have been involved in setting up local food banks in the Kirton area and are setting up Bible journal and prayer workshops online.

• We also give thanks for Red Lodge and their Lightwave groups who are working with local doctors surgeries, parish councils, collecting and delivering medication and food parcels and assisting with online registration in the villages of Gazeley, Beck Row, Mildenhall, Icklingham and Moulton.

• Our churches, fresh expressions of church and places of worship across Suffolk, who are streaming online services/reflections through social media and also for the technology to make this happen.

• A Youth Alpha course which has recently started online, lead by Rev Charlotte Cook and Chris Gaze.

• Our key workers and NHS workers, prayers for their protection and safety, for those who are working tirelessly to care for those at risk and those have contracted the Corona virus.

 The top 5 things to pray for this month are;

• Our sheep farmers, they are concerned about the impact of the lock down, as trade prices have dropped by £1 per kg live weight, reducing the value of a 45kg lamb by half. (Information taken from Rural Farming Report April 2020)

• The Lightwave community Zoom family worship, which is running every Sunday, that it would reach new people and would enable conversations about faith and Jesus.

• Thy Kingdom Come 2020, prayers for those involved in this initiative and how the Diocese will be rolling this out across Suffolk.  

• Plans for an online pre-recorded Catching the Fire Pentecost 2020 service, to go out on 31st May 2020.

• Plans for the Lightwave Community, together with the Bury St Edmunds Cathedral, to start another Run with Joy, Benedictine course, (the first one was run in January this year and was very popular).  This course will be online this time!

Thanks for your prayer support and keep well and safe everyone!


Every blessing
Sally Gaze (Archdeacon for Rural Mission) - 07746 933129
Nina Seaman (Lightwave Prayer Coordinator) - 07394 559889