Rev. 5:8 ‘The prayers of the saints are like golden bowls full of incense’; Isaiah 62:6-7 ‘On your wall O Jerusalem (Bristol) I have posted watchmen: All day and all night they will never keep silent… Nehemiah 1:6 ‘let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying day and night…2:17

The worship was led by a West African group and really brought us into the Presence of God. The drama team Crosstide performed two dramas one entitled ‘FREE’ and the other entitled ‘PRAYER WARRIORS’ – both were prophetic and helped us to pray for Bristol and for Africa and for the Mercy ship ministry. Following the prayer walk earlier in the day we had been reminded of the fact that although there are several statues of Neptune across the city (the Greek God of the Sea) and planted by the Merchant Venturers (a significant controlling power in the city both now and at the time of the Slave Trade), God is Lord of the Sea and the Land. Although Bristol and the body of Christ appear to be afflicted with oppression, addictions problems and a lack of Freedom in the flow of the Holy Spirit – God is setting us and Bristol and his church free. He is reversing the curse – following identificational repentance and forgiveness from all parties involved in the Slave Trade triangle – Africa, West Indies and Bristol – words were given that this issue can be left behind. Various words for testing were given: Phillipians 3 ‘12-21 –‘Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead’ ….Also Rev. 10:5-11 ‘Then the angel standing on the sea and on the land raised his had to heaven….saying….. There will be no more delay – just as Martin Scott prophesied God is going to push forward and accelerate his purposes here in this city. ‘

As you pray may God fill you with the knowledge of his will and give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. ….May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. ¹³For he has rescued you from the dominion of darkness and brought you into the kingdom of the Son he loves,….

The plan is that the morning meetings – times of worshipping and waiting on God for the city and areas will be based at the IVY Church, bottom of Ashley Hill from 9.30am to 12.30am. The afternoons will be prayerwalking in the following areas: Hotwells, St Pauls, Bedminster, Staple Hill and Henbury, where there will also be evening Prayer Celebrations with teaching by the Ugandans. On Saturday 12^th October we hope to have a Day of Teaching on Intercession with Arnold Muwonge. On Tuesday 8^th October a Leaders Lunch is planned at Ivy Church. During this time we hope to open a 24-7 prayer room upstairs at the IVY church.

Monthly Prayer Wall prayer meeting will be Monday 9th September at Woodlands Christian Centre, Belgrave Rd back entrance at 8pm. The weekly prayer meeting will resume this week on Thursdays at 6.30am at the Paradise Christian Resource Centre, 398 Gloucester Rd Ashley Down

The Drop –in centre has reached saturation point, serving 60 breakfasts and 100 lunches each Monday and Tuesday. Need more workers, more finance, and prayer for this faith ministry.In the last 3or 4 months they have shown Christian videos and helped in many different ways, like form filling etc. Three people have been housed recently, a couple saved, and 4 new people came to church this Sunday. 12-14 people have been saved in the last couple of years.

Please pray about the amalgamation of Lawrence Weston School pupils into Portway School, that the kids will mix in well and be accepted there. The Church is much in prayer for a member of their congregation who has an inoperable cancer, that the Lord would be very near at this time for all of them.

The Jesus film is being shown in some of the roads around the Church. May there be much blessing from this.

PRAY for the PACE football team and Climbing group - also SPYSCO projects and for the regular contacts made with young people and their families. Funding and volunteers are always needed as is wisdom as to how to get more involvement with the local community.Pray for Leahman, Fred, Denis, Richard, Jason and Anna the leaders. Thank you - enquiries to Peter Kay 9514472

Are praying for their former Pastor who has a very serious disease, even non-Christians are joining in their prayer meetings to pray for him.

Are having a mission –September 16-21, in the form of "New Generation art exhibition", which will be held at Emmanuel Chapel Satchfield Crescent, Henbury. This art exhibition has been used very much by the Lord, in different places it has been shown, and we are praying for a lot of interest and meaningful discussion about issues raised as a result of "seeing " the Gospel story dramatically displayed.

We plan an Alpha course, starting on Wed. Sept 25, with an Alpha Supper.

At the Easton Festival there was Christian outreach- good contacts were made and literature given. Please pray for the follow up work.

New youth workers are needed at the Centre for the after school club, school outreach and "Discovery Zone", which are running at low ebb because of shortage of workers.

CRISIS Centre – pray for Jane not to get overworked and to be filled with God’s love and Holy spirit and strength (she is doing two jobs whilst Sam Colgan is away). Continue to pray for Sam’s recovery and healing.

Thank you for supporting through prayer the various activities organised for young people around Bristol. It has been an exciting Summer for many youngsters.

In Portishead The Cludo was very positive-220 kids came, and there have been commitments from teen-agers.

CAMPS:

Reports from folk returning from camps confirm that both campers and leaders have been blessed.

SEA MILLS:

Sea Mills Out of School Club. Real answer to prayer in that Ofsted Inspector was very impressed with the preparation put in. Storage is built, also good news. Also please pray that it will be possible to offer reduced fees to enable families who really need it but can't afford full price to benefit.

. . . . And don’t forget the myriad of activities arranged by various youth agencies, such as Community at Heart, in Inner City areas and other needy parts of Bristol. KEEP PRAYING FOR THE YOUTH OF BRISTOL.

The season has now drawn to a close but don't stop. Pray that all who had an encounter with Jesus either on camp, in a holiday club or as leaders will continue to follow where He is leading.

The new bus won’t be ready for several months. Please pray that the old one, which is nearly 30 years old, will be able to continue its weekly tour of the city without too many problems.

Geoff Haskett

October's lunchtime prayer meeting will be on Tues 9th, not 2nd, due to the welcome. BISC Prayer Diary. 1st Sept -15th Sept 2002 As we approach this busiest time of year, we value enormously your prayers for the ministry of BISC and all who help.September 1st - 15^th Pray for the BISC team - Hannah, Laura, Sally and Elvyn. We praise God for each one of them and the gifts they bring to their roles and for the continuity it provides for BISC. May they all be given special grace to work well as a team and stay close to our Lord in the midst of the busy-ness. Pray especially for Hannah at this time as she settles into her role as co-ordinator. Pray for the Trustee meeting on Thursday 5th September. Praise God for all that the Trustees do and pray for this, their first Trustee meeting with Hannah, that they may discern God's way forward for BISC. Hannah speaks at the three Christ Church, Clifton services on Sunday 1st September. Praise God for all the support we get from this and all our other supporting churches. Praise God too for all the offers of help we have had from a variety of churches for the welcome. Pray that we draw up rotas that make good use of all our resources. On Monday 9th we commence having a small team based up at UWE Accommodation Office to welcome International students as they start to arrive. Pray for the BISC team as they cope with the logistics of two bases. On Sunday 15th there is a welcome tea for the Bristol & UWE University teams of volunteers. Rob Scott Cook will speak to them all - pray he may have words to encourage and challenge everyone to depend on God alone over this busy time.BISC needs volunteers to give lifts to overseas students arriving between dates of 15^th September and 2^nd October & also cook– tel: 9159826

Brislington has about 11 churches and one Christian OAP home. These are Anglican – St Lukes (the largest church), St Christophers, St Cuthberts, :Methodist – St Peters, Wellspring Christian Fellowship, Bethel Christian Fellowship, City Mission Church, St Gerard Maejella RC, URC Brislington, The Closed Brethren – which has no communication with outside churces – pray this will change. There is a big drugs problem in Brislington some say bigger than Knowle West although it is an affluent area.

Hannah Black – new student youth worker for 7 local churches, starts a 3 year placement from the Centre for Youth Ministry on 13^th September. Pray for her to make impact on youth, build relationships etc.

Angels in Exile are coming down from Worcester to run this mobile skate park. There will be a consultation with the mayor and other decision makers about whether or not to have a permanent skate park in Brislington. Skateboarding is currently very popular with teenagers but they need a proper site for this. Pray for the outcome of this consultation, and also for Christian witness on 13-14^th September.

Youth Provision – pray for ongoing church involvement.

Well Spring Community Church – please pray for them as they go through a period of seeking God for vision as a church, and in relating to the local community.

Hungerford Christian Fellowship, The church has existed in Brislington for 40 years (its part of Keynsham Elim). They have been building community bridges over this time.

Last year they distributed the ‘Who is this Jesus?’ video in 2 local estates and got a good response from the quite hardened community. In the last 3 weeks the community centre where they meet (and where other community activities take place) has been broken into twice, and was going to be closed down.Partly as a response to the video outreach, and partly to raise money for the community centre, last Saturday they held a Family Fun Day. They raised £700, which means that the centre can stay open. What is more, there was a great sense of community spirit and fellowship, leaving the community feeling positive about the effort that the church had put in. PRAY: Once a quarter, they deliver true life testimonies to every home in the area. The next one is due to be sent out towards the end of September, so please pray for open hearts during this time.