D, Marjolijn - UK

Marjolijn works in East London

Prayer Letter April 2007

First of all thank you very much to all who sent me Christmas and birthday greetings. Let me start with wishing you God’s blessing for 2007 in all that you are and do.

Christmas for me was one to be remembered for a long time, as A, one of my closest Muslim friends with four of her relatives came for Christmas lunch and we enjoyed each other’s company whilst eating lamb curry (a first for me for Christmas lunch).

We had very little ‘spiritual’ conversation, but it was A’s mum who asked me why I did not have the usual Christmas decorations. I was able to share a little what Christmas is about for me and I hope A translated it well, as her mum does not speak English at all. Please continue to pray for A as she holds on to her own beliefs, but deep down knows it does not get her anywhere. It is heartbreaking to watch that and all we can do is pray and persevere in being friends.

A’s sister L is claiming asylum for political reasons and is still waiting to hear a definite reply after two-and-a-half years. She is often depressed and is fearful that she might have to go back to Bangladesh where her life would be in danger. Pray for A’s niece who is doing her GCSE exams this year.

Thanks for praying for Girls’ Club as we started two separate clubs in October, one in the church building for older girls (13-16) and one for younger girls (9-12) in the community hall. I heard that the club for older girls had a good start and is still going well with about 15 Bangladeshi girls attending regularly. Continue to pray for them that the input they are getting from a Christian perspective will take root in their lives as they grow up as British Asian teenagers with often a huge generation gap, as their parents are usually very traditional. 

— Pray for their protection in particular and for good communication with their (grand)parents.

CHANGE

The younger Girls’ Club that I am involved with has seen a change in that we now also have English girls coming which is a real answer to prayer. Since January we have had three junior Bangladeshi leaders who are doing work experience; two of them were part of Girls’ Club for six years themselves and they brought one of their friends. All three have really enjoyed the challenge and all the girls and leaders have benefited from their input. T, the junior leader who had never been to Girls’ Club before and I think has never had contact with Christians has been very attentive during circle time where we do a Bible story or discuss a Christian theme and last night she even asked if they could stay for the prayer time afterwards. 

— Please pray for all the girls but in particular for the junior leaders that God will speak into their lives and make them question their own religion.

— Continue to pray for more leaders as one of our leaders is taking some time out to have her first baby and is planning to come back in September, so that leaves us with only three which is not enough for us to run the club safely and for us to have the occasional Tuesday off for holiday or other reason.

FAMILIES

We have not visited many families since Ramadan, so pray we will find space to do that in the next few months, especially as most leaders work full-time.

— Please pray for Fun in the Sun, our yearly summer club, for which we are recruiting now and are even trying to get some young people from Holland to join us for one or two weeks.

Last year for the first time a daily Bible story was included for primary school children and this year this will be included for primary and secondary school, so please pray for those who are leading and preparing for that week (1-6 August).
I find it quite overwhelming at times, thinking that weekly we have 30 Muslim girls exposed to Christian witness and during the summer club about 200 Muslim children/young people and an increasing number of Muslim parents coming to the weekly parent and toddler group and yearly parent and baby/toddler group.

OPPORTUNITIES

What amazing opportunities are we given to reach all of them with the Gospel; in word and action.

— Give thanks with us for a growing number of contacts we have with Muslim families and pray for a deepening of spiritual hunger for the ONLY TRUTH that gives hope for now and the future. 

— Pray for wisdom in knowing who to see regularly and have insight into their personal lives.

M, who got married last August is very happy and joined us with her husband on my birthday which was particularly nice for my parents who were not able to come to the wedding and had not met M’s husband yet. I spoke to her last night as she is just finishing her degree in business studies and asked if we can pray for her to do well in her final months of study and get a good mark for her degree. 

FRIENDSHIP

After 13 years of friendship with M and her wider family I have not seen any genuine interest in the Gospel, so pray for the Holy Spirit to work in their lives and take away the spiritual veil, so they will come to see/hear/know the living Christ for themselves, rather than see Christianity as a subject to study and discuss with no connection to real life.

Last but not least my new midwifery job is going well and despite the high stress levels at times I enjoy the challenges of dealing with vulnerable families when as a team of midwives, family support workers, psychologists and other health professionals we can relieve some of that stress for the families by giving extra time and resources.

DEMANDS

In February we heard that the budget would be cut and instead of four fulltime equivalent midwives we would have 2.7, eventually it turned out that we would be 3.1 so not as bad as we had thought initially, but still not enough, so we need to take on less families to be able to cope with all the demands. Fortunately one of our colleagues was leaving, which made it less painful to cope with the up-coming changes.

— Continue to pray for us as a team for wisdom in sometimes difficult situations

— Pray for all those families for whom life is far from easy and often don’t see a way out.

Hope you had a good Easter and thank you again for praying with all of us here who try to reach Muslims for Christ, a privilege that I enjoy each day, knowing that many people are supporting me in prayer.

Yours in Christ,

Marjolijn

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