Praise God for adding Nathan Jackson, Jeremy Sanders, and Philip Waters to our elder council. Pray for Him to grant them strength, wisdom, discernment, and compassion to shepherd us well. Ask God to bless their families and to sustain them during their time of service. Pray for Him to continue to grow us all in unity as we strive together after Christ to accomplish His good work.

This week we are praying for the ESL Rock the Block hosted at First Baptist Church Hoover by our English as a Second Language Ministry the week of June 26-29. At ESL Rock the Block, our ESL families will have the opportunity to learn more about Jesus through gospel-centered games, songs, Bible stories, and crafts. We’re also praying this week for Dawson Memorial Baptist Church and Pastor David Eldridge.

Day 1: Pray for all the ESL Rock the Block volunteers to possess Spirit-empowered patience, cultural sensitivity, and joy in Christ. Pray for any barriers to the gospel to be removed.

Day 2: Pray for many international children to hear and respond to the Good News of Jesus and for the gospel to speed ahead without hindrance through families and social networks.

Day 3: Pray for meaningful relationships to be established between volunteers and guests, providing continued opportunities for gospel conversations.

Day 4: Pray for any new families that are invited by our students, volunteers, and church members to attend ESL Rock the Block to be met with warm and friendly hospitality.

Day 5: Pray for the children and their parents to believe and retain the truths about God that are presented during Rock the Block, and to carefully and personally consider the life-changing message of the gospel.

Day 6: Pray for ESL Rock the Block to bring many families from all over the world into our ESL Ministry, where they can be shown the love of Jesus.

This week, we are praying for one of our Mid-Term partners, Celena N. Celena works in Central Asia with a team that is currently doing earthquake relief.

Day 1: Pray for Celena as she navigates life in Central Asia. Her day-to-day has changed since the earthquakes that happened in the spring. Pray for her to use her time wisely and to love her roommates, her team, and the locals well.

Day 2: Pray for the local church. Praise God, they celebrated 12 baptisms last week! Pray for these new believers to be bold in their faith. Pray for the church to be a light in the community. Pray for faithful and humble local leaders to be raised up and for their local church to continue to grow in health and faithfulness.

Day 3: Pray for men and women to hear and believe the Good News of Jesus regardless of the outcomes they may face, and even when facing oppression. 

Day 4: Praise God for Celena’s faithfulness in language and culture acquisition. Pray she will continue to be a learner in all that she does, to the glory of the Father. 

Day 5: Pray for Celena’s identity in the community. Pray that she will find favor with locals and that she will show the love of Jesus to everyone she meets. 

Day 6: Pray for boldness and perseverance in gospel witness in the face of difficult days, platform and visa issues, and hard circumstances.