A Kind of Prayer Dairy for December

It looks like being a busy month, so here are a few dates to help you in praying with us through the month that God would be glorified in our lives.

• Thu 13th Dec - is our last day of language classes, and we're going out in the evening with the class for a meal somewhere in the city centre. GIVE THANKS for how God has enabled us and encouraged us over the last two and a half months
• Fri 14th Dec - we receive the keys of the apartment during the morning, and some furniture is to be delivered some time during the afternoon PRAY for grace and energy (and an understanding of IKEA instruction sheets) in putting the furniture together
• Sat 15th Dec - In the morning there is a special programme for the children and their parents out in the Park, and Elisabeth will share with them about Jesus birth. PRAY for a good atmosphere, and for real understanding of what Christmas means. Also Colin arrives about tea time, and we're expecting more furniture to be delivered
• Sun 16th Dec - PRAY for some space today that we might praise and worship God. The Lisboa Matrix, an English speaking fellowship over in the Cascais area, will be holding a Christmas celebration and we might get along to that, before our own group meets at 6 pm in the Park of the Nations.
• Mon 17th Dec - There will be an opportuity for people to meet tonight with pastor Tome for a discusssion on the "Relevance of Christmas - Who is this Jesus" PLEASE PRAY that those who have been invited will indeed come and that God will really reveal Himself
• Fri 21st Dec - Sharon and Judith arrive in from London and Brussels. PLEASE PRAY for special times together as a family and that they would all have a sense of being home, even though this place has never been home for them before, if you get the drift
• Sun 23rd Dec - Our apartment hosts our own Christmas celebration for the Park of the Nations Community. We expect about 25-30 people, and so far have a dining table and 6 chairs and a couple of sofas. But the prayer point is not for the furniture, rather that we may know a real sense of Gods presence and Gods glory in our midst for that evening
• Tue 25th Dec - PRAISE GOD FOR HIS INEXPRESSIBLE GIFT!
• After Christmas - Sam Desouza, Anna's nephew arrives on Wednesday and will be with us a few days. Then Colin leaves for N Ireland on the 28th. PRAY for his time with the McPhilimy family in Coleraine, that he will be able to connect with friends, and feel at home without being home

Thank you for your prayers!

We're Almost There!

We've looked at a large number of apartments of varying shapes and sizes, and feel we have come very close to getting the one that is right for us. Thanks for praying!! The apartment we're looking at is on the ninth floor (something new for us who've been used to living at ground level all our lives). It is on the northern edge of the Park of the Nations, and near to the area that has the greatest "community feel" about it and where our team have been working most over the past two years. A few prayer points as you continue to

• For the Cloud of God's presence - to rest and remain over the building (Numbers 9:17-23 - read it), and for that sense of "Yes, this is where God wants us to be!" to be with us as we negotiate with the owner
• For the actual move - we won't be able to move in till mid December, so we will need a lot of grace for the run up to Christmas, unpacking boxes, buying furniture and having family flying in all at the same time
• For ongoing resources - to be able to continue to afford the rent. It is high even compared to city standards and right at the top end of our budget, but we've been really encouraged by the way God has already been provided
• For our own attitudes - in some ways, having lived at a much more basic living standard in regard to accommodation, when we lived in Pakistan, it is, believe it or not, difficult for us to adjust to living at this "elevated" level

Foxes have Holes....

....But all we need is an apartment! As you pray this week for us in our flat hunting. Please pray

• That we would find one in the right location. We'd like it to be quite near where most of the activity and outreach has already taken plaxce in the northern end of the Park of the Nations and not far from the others we have begun to know.

• That we would find one with a large living area. Our apartment will become the main venue intiially for meetings so we need enough room for people to be able to come and feel comfortable. Lisbon apartments tend to be tiny because of the premium on land area, but we have seen some really nice spacious living areas.

• That we would be able to have a natural way of dividing off the family area from the living room. Fortunately most apartments are designed in this way, because Portuguese family life tends to be quite private.

Also, although, it's only the two of us, we do want Colin in particular, but also the two girls, to feel that this is their family home and that they are not just short term guests in our apartment. So we are lookng for at least 3 bedroomed place.

And finally it needs to be affordable!!! Prices are massive. Park of the Nations is at the top end of the the urban lifestyle with costs to match. We are so thankful for the promise of God's abundant provision and are looking to Him to provide.

The Gift of Tongues

Even if you're not too charismatically inclined, we hope you'll be praying for the gift of tongues for us. Or the gift of one tongue, to be exact. Please pray

1. For concentration, for the ability to focus during our four hour sessions, 8am to 12 noon, 4 days a week, and for our memories to be clear for all the new words and grammatical structures.

2. For good Portugese friends, who will help us, encourage us, and, yes, correct us in our faltering sentences.

3. For confidence in conversation, and that we will find opportunities to use what we learn in everyday life.

Housing

As we get seriously involved in the processes of packing, shipping, storing and selling, the whole business of the roof over your heads takes on a particular importance. When we had our dog "Chokey" with us, (he's gone to another family now and enjoying the wild coast of Donaghadee) he used to get extremely agitated when we show any signs of packing or moving. He used to pace up and down the hall, sniff our suitcases, and follow our every movement with his beady eyes. Well, we probably don't have the body language, but we also need to cope with the insecurities moving brings. So please pray :

• For the decisions we need to make on every little thing, as to whether to keep in storage, take with us or dispose of. This can be especially painful with things that have a lot of memory for us
• For Colin, for whom this is the main home he has known in Northern Ireland, and it will no longer be his to come back to when he leaves for Southampton
• For the right accommodation when we get to Portugal, that we will find it soon and for a safe place for storage of our belongings, until we find a place and begin to get set up
• For Sharon, who is currently homeless also, in London, along with her three housemates. They had given in their notice on their current house but not found an alternative as yet

And we're so grateful to God, that we have found tenants for our house in Coleraine who will be moving in October 6th, and also that we have somewhere to stay when we first arrive in Lisbon, and up to Christmas if need be.

"The LORD your God went ahead of you on your journey,
in fire by night and in a cloud by day,
to search out places for you to camp
and to show you the way you should go." Deut 1:33