Artykuły z naszych biuletynów
A special visit to mothers in prison..
Coordinators meeting in Russia
At this time around Pentecost, as we thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit who has been given to us to guide us, to protect us and to heal us, we thank Him too for all the many blessings that have been given to us through Mothers Prayers.
And as I sit here and write this newsletter, I am so aware of just how much we should be thanking the Lord for, especially the gift of Faith and for the understanding of just how close He is to us - to know of His desire that we should be free and be happy. Without this Faith it would be very difficult to be peaceful in these times when there are so many reasons for us to worry and to be concerned for our children and grandchildren. And as you read this newsletter I am sure that you will be thanking Him too in your hearts. Great are His mercies and wonderful His ways……
But I am also aware that there are thousands/millions of mothers who do not know Him and His healing love and do not know that He forgives and makes new every area of our lives if we come to Him in prayer. How difficult it must be for them!
We so often meet mothers who are in pain over their children and who do not know which way to turn. This may be an opportunity to let them know what the Lord has done for us in Mothers Prayers. I have noticed that they are very receptive when I tell them the wonderful way the Lord has answered our prayers and how He has brought healing and blessings. We have heard of many women who have come back to faith or come to a relationship with Jesus through coming to Mothers Prayers.
Maybe some of us feel too shy to speak about the power of prayer. Personally I have never met a rebuff when I have spoken about the Lord to anyone in need and have offered to pray for their situation, or if I have invited someone to attend a meeting. The Holy Spirit will give us the courage to speak and the right words to say if we ask Him!
So at our meetings let us pray for all these mothers who do not yet know the Lord and ask Him to give His comfort to them. Let us ask Him too for opportunities for us to bring His light to others.
And remember……………To whom much is given much is expected……Luke 12 v 48
One of the special visits we have made recently was to mothers in prison..
I was asked to visit a women's prison in January and so together with members of our community (who have been involved in prison ministry for many years) we went and had a blessed time with many women in attendance. We were warmly welcomed by all and we felt united with their mother's heart for their children.
Recently the chaplain from there wrote…. 'We now have a regular Mothers' Prayers meeting started here - I was just in there this evening and the women just love it, it is such a blessing '
Yes, we certainly thank the Lord for the gift of Mothers Prayers…
Here are extracts from some of the letters we have received from our mothers..
- What a wonderful joy and solace and place of unburdening, and encouragement for Hope, Mothers Prayers is. Mary (Guildford).
- Bringing my problems each week and putting them at the feet of Jesus fills me with great solace, my life has been greatly enriched since I first joined the prayer group. Nuala (Surrey)
- When you first sent me your literature I had no idea who I could ask to join me, but I took your advice and prayed every day for a month. I have had two meetings with one friend and we expect another two to join us. We have found the meetings very moving and look forward to the next. Meg (Birmingham).
- I have been very near ending my relationship with God because of the pain of seeing my daughter ill, then this morning your newsletter arrived. It's given me the courage to keep on praying. V. (Yorks)
- Thank you for sending me a copy of your book 'The Joy of Surrender Unto Him', which was recommended to me by a Rwandan priest I met recently in Assisi.In addition to your excellent ministry in Mothers Prayers, encouraging people to surrender themselves to God is another fantastic ministry. May God reward you. Leon (Middx)
- I thank the Lord that through 'Mothers Prayers' I have learnt to surrender my very large family to Him and have found a wonderful inner peace. God bless. Mary.
- Mothers Prayers is unique, so special like a 'Star' shimmering across the world bringing comfort and hope. (Josephine, London)
- In our group which started over a year ago we have one member who came along. At the beginning she had no particular faith but took to Mothers Prayers We have about 11 people in our group. Later she was able to tell the people that it was non-denominational and how the prayers had really helped her.
- Mothers Prayers Groups are such a blessing. We all love getting together to pray. The Holy Spirit always fills our hearts with joy, love and hope, even if things seem too difficult to cope with. (Kent)
- We are thrilled to be able to report 6 young mums and 4 grandmothers came along to our first meeting. Thank you so very much for this beautiful and important, vital ministry and movement. Ann (Portsmouth)
- God is wonderful, there has been so many of my prayers answered. It can be breathtaking. Brenda (Surrey)
Wonderful answers to prayer include the following….
- A son, 41 now marrying his partner after living together.
- Three friends told they could not have children – now all have children. One had two in a year.
- A daughter has been accepted at preferred school after two rejections.
- Husband had lung damage - no cure. The Lord told him he would be healed, which was borne out by tests.
- A mother forgave her son.
- A son made a phone call home, a son-in-law got a job, a daughter and partner getting married after 5 years engagement, improved health for a daughter, a friend's son has decided on a college course after two years of indecision. (All from one Group)
- My friend and I have been holding Mothers Prayers. It is just the 2 of us as we both work and sometimes have to alter the day and times to suit us. I would like to say after our second meeting my son, who we had been praying for, rang me to say he and his wife weren't splitting up.
- A breakthrough at last – (my son) is going to the doctor tomorrow to get help for his bipolar condition and is going to stop drinking and go to gamblers anonymous – this is the start of a long hard journey for us both so please keep praying for us both.
We Praise and Thank You, Lord for these and the many other answers to our Prayers…
Great and Marvelous are Your deeds Lord God Almighty Rev.15 v3
Our coordinators meeting in Russia
We had a most wonderful conference for the coordinators from all arund the world at the end of June in Kaluga in Russia.
There were coordinators from Australia, Austria, Belarus, Czech, France, Holland, Malta, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine, as well as from many parts of Russia, Moscow, Saratov, Marx, Vladimir, Tula, and Blagoveshchensk, and there were representatives from the Russian Orthodox, Catholic, Greek Catholic, Protestant and Lutheran churches.
One of the many blessings for me was the obvious togetherness of all the participants and fact that we were all in one heart and one mind.
I felt absolutely sure that every one of them not only knew the Spirituality of Mothers Prayers (which is total surrender to the Lord) but were also people who were living it out in their lives!!!
The Lord has certainly chosen some wonderful people for this Mothers Prayers ministry. The Lord also blessed us with wonderful priests who supported us, - from Malta, from Slovakia, and from England.
In fact I think, for the first time I felt that my work was completed and that if the Lord wanted me now to stand down from the leadership of this community it would continue in very safe hands. I say this, not because I have been called to stand down, but in the secure knowledge that the Lord will continue this ministry, hopefully beyond our generation, in the stewardship of others.
So we go forward know that the Lord has His hands on our lives. As a lovely priest once said to me, people may be able to close down churches but they can never stop women praying!
And with all the resources we now have, i.e. the booklets, CD, Joy of surrender (giving the Spirituality and history) the DVD/video, everything is available for this ministry to flourish and grow even more.
We receive news regularly from our coordinators in other countries and include just two of them here.
France
How could we measure all the graces, all the protections, the reconciliations, the conversions, even the miracles that have been obtained through the intercession of our small prayer groups?
In Lyon, a little girl of three, needed a major operation on the head after a fall from the third floor of a building, the mothers prayed. The day the operation was due, the young girl had Chickenpox and they had to postpone it; meanwhile the mothers organised a chain of prayers. When the next date arrived the doctor said he couldn't understand what happened but the bone was back to its normal place and no operation was needed!!
The large amount of letters that tell the wonders of the Lord is a small portion of the reality we shall be able to contemplate in the eternal life.
Others letters show a great faith despite difficulties - sometimes I would like to comfort and wipe the tears of some women who suffer so much. Their constancy to carry on attending the prayer meetings despite no apparent answers is a powerful testimony of their faith. It is beautiful to see how they change and grow despite their pain and how week after week they are more at peace, how they are renewed by prayer, how they are comforted by the love of their sisters.
After one of Veronica's conferences, a lady said "Mothers Prayer is also a movement for sanctity!
Yes it is! This is our call, TO BECOME SAINTS! - through surrender and praising … Nothing less, this is our Father's ambition for us, his daughters. We only have to give him our YES and He will work in us, do we really believe it? Do we really want it?
The numbers of groups keep increasing, with an average of 30 groups in the big cities and their surroundings. Several, organised a day of gathering this year, with their "regional contact", approximately 200 mothers attended them and now priests join us, they are so enthusiastic!.
This is the work of our Lord, and we thank Him and we praise His Holy Name above all!
Switzerland
GOOD NEWS FROM SWITZERLAND:
Veronica came three times in our country during Spring- time. Two meetings were planned and were very blessed as it gave her the opportunity to visit the Ecumenical Council of Churches, located in Geneva, where all Christian denominations are represented. We had been praying for one year about this visit … Veronica was then asked to come back on 'Mother's Day' for a conference in this beautiful ecumenical chapel built with gifts of all Christians churches from around the world…
We offered the cross of Children of Faith as a gift from our movement and it immediately took place on the prayer altar next to the cross of reconciliation made up of shrapnel gathered in Coventry and Dresden in the Second World War…
After this meeting, there were beautiful answers of prayers, immediate for some women, and healings. A mother of a young Catholic monk was so enthusiastic that she joined a Mothers Prayers group, although before she had decided not to do so, as she was too busy with all her activities in her parish…
Some thoughts….
Do you sometimes feel as a mother that you don't quite manage to do things as you would like to or as you planned? Take heart….
There is no such thing as a perfect mother and no such thing as a perfect child! So we thank God for Jesus who is perfect and who urges us to bring all our burdens/problems to Him as He will take them on His shoulders. He has paid the price of all our imperfections and sins and has made us into a new creation. He will make up for our failures and lift us back on our feet again, to carry on our journey towards Him!!
The important thing is not to give up!
I lift my eyes to the mountains;
where is my help to come from?
My help comes from Yahweh,
who made heaven and earth. Ps121
