Prayer Cards

It’s funny how we can find hope in even the simplest of circumstances. For the pastors of Rutshuru, Congo, this hope came in the form of 11 strangers and a half sheet of paper.

Although the team from Fellowship Missionary Church (FMC) came with a focus on Servant Leadership and demonstrating that alongside local pastors, it was an activity that they did centered on prayer cards that ended up being one of the biggest sources of growth. They saw that Partnership is not simply about raising money or sending teams, but engaging in ministry, in life, with their brothers and sisters half-way around the world.

About a month beforehand, FMC sent a team to work with the same local pastors and train them on the concept of Servant Leadership and the Church taking care of the most vulnerable in their communities. The purpose of the second trip was to do follow-up with these pastors, encourage them, and partner alongside of them in their outreach activities. Throughout the trip, the team had a handful of opportunities to complete the follow-up sessions with the pastors. After the sessions were completed the team members divided into two groups and one-by-one the pastors came to one of the groups to share what was on his heart. At first the team did not know what to expect or what the pastors would be asking them to pray for. The fact that they would be speaking through an interpreter didn’t help their timidity either!

The time started out simply – by learning about the pastor, his church, and his family. Once that baseline relationship was established, the pastor was invited to share two or three prayer requests. Without hesitation, each and every pastor began to pour out the thing on his heart; prayers for sick family members, for broken marriages, for the reconstruction of their war-torn churches, for education for their children…

These were the prayers that were entrusted to the team and you could see the members change. This was no small task! As if a switch had been turned on, the team came alive, encouraging and praying for each and every pastor. These pastors were depending on the team to bring their requests back to their home church, to have them shared with their congregation, and to be prayed for daily. They were now invested in their lives.

There are a million other lessons that this team learned and was able to experience but one of the most exciting things was seeing the team grasp the weight and reality of the charge which they had been given and to vow to make sure that each and every prayer request would be petitioned before God. The information that FMC gathered will be taken and turned into half-sheet sized prayer cards that include a picture of the pastor, a short biography, and that pastor’s specific prayer requests. These cards will then be made available to their congregation so that church members can be a part of prayerfully supporting the pastors. Both the pastors of the Rutshuru and FMC are confident that God not only hears our prayers, but answers them as well, and are so excited to engaging in it together.