2010 week 15

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV).

1. Today (Saturday, April 10) we had a Church Leader's Mini-Retreat to talk about the status and outlook of our church's "Towards 2014" Vision. Please pray for the ongoing work of congregational vision and ministry strategies in the coming 3 to 5 years. Pray especially for the ESC to grow in unity and conviction of the direction we should take as the Spirit leads us.

2. Please keep praying for family members of our brothers and sisters who are ill. Lift each sufferer and their families up to God in prayer. Ask the Lord to help them deal with the illness and experience the love of Christ in their midst.- Pray for CS's father, who is suffering from lung cancer. He has been responding well to chemotherapy. Ask for the treatment to bring physical healing. Pray also for his heart to be opened to the good news of Jesus Christ. Ask God to bless CS's family with his salvation. (Thank-you for praying for Mr. Chinh Thanh Nguyen, Trang's father. Mr. Nguyen passed away on April 2, 2010, and the funeral was held on April 8, 2010. Please keep Trang's family in prayer as they move forward.)

3. Please pray for the ESC Adult Sunday School class in April. Deacon K. H. Leung is teaching a four-week series on "church direction" by looking at and leading discussion on "Towards 2014", our church's 10-year vision. Pray for the good understanding, interaction, and take away application useful for the building up of the church and for fulfilling Christ's mission for the church.

4. Please continue to pray for our missionaries:
- Please pray for CY is South Asia: ongoing adaptation, and for God's provision for suitable accommodations and room-mate.
- E&B who continue with work in South Asia.
- R&E on home assignment from East Asia will need to visit many supporting churches in the USA before returning to the field in late summer.
- Others in East Asia: E, R&M, C, and in Central Asia: F&E.
- Pray for the Wall's in France.
- Remember the Ng's and the Chim's doing short-term work in Panama.
- JM in Mexico needs a visa which is being held up due to the wait for paperwork needed to make the application.
- J&A in West Africa who will be back for home assignment beginning June.
- remember also the short term mission team in Panama over the next 2 weeks.

5. Please pray for the college university students who are writing final exams at this time. Ask the Lord to help them persevere and see fruit as a result of their study. Also, ask the Lord to provide meaningful summer placements for ongoing students, a plan and/or jobs for those graduating, and welcome news for those applying to further education.

6. There are brothers and sisters among us who are looking for work and/or are otherwise dealing with the challenges of today's economic situation. Pray for endurance and hopefulness for those who are dealing with change, and looking for new work. Ask for God to provide suitable work. May the Spirit help them to make decisions concerning their jobs, and perhaps their careers. Ask the Lord to grant guidance and peace as they depend on him.

7. Please continue to pray for the church building project:
- Praise the Lord! If all goes well, we may have the privilege of breaking ground in the fall of this year. Pray for smooth transition of the MiniSkool to temporary accommodations or other arrangements. Pray for all aspects of the building project to come together: choice of general contractor, building permit from the city, choice of an appropriate project manager, etc.
- Ask the Lord to pour out his grace and power on the Building Project Committee as they continue to work on the tasks at hand while keeping the rest of us informed of what's happening, and how we can pray.
- Please pray for positive and effective member participation for the ongoing "Piggy Bank" coin-saving project which will be run through the year, and for other fund-raising efforts.

8. Please pray for our church's 40th anniversary celebrations coming the 1st and 2nd weekends in June. Pray especially for the revival meetings in all congregations on the evenings of June 4 & 5. Ask the Lord to raise up a team from the ESC to plan and lead the ESC revival meetings, and for blessing on our speaker, Mr. Shu-Ling Lee (intern worship pastor at RHCCC), to speak to our community as the Spirit leads.

9. Please pray for the upcoming ESC Retreat on May 14 to 16 at Blue Mountain, Ontario, with speaker, Angel Silva, pastor of Missio Dei Church, Portland, Maine. Ask the Lord to allow us a good turn-out and a smooth registration process. Ask the Lord to let this get-away be a significant spiritual growth event for the ESC.

10. Please pray for the preparation of summer outreach ministries already underway:
- VBS (Children's Ministry) registration of participants and recruitment of counsellors.
- Superstar Soccer Camp (Youth Ministry) registration of participants and recruitment of assistants.
- CCSA softball - we will have 4 teams this year. Ask the Lord to bless this ministry with effective witness and outreach to our friends.