Numbers are falling in the Church in Scotland, church buildings are closing, and in a recent survey 51% said that they have no religion. However, there is a ‘stirring’ going on under the surface. The Church has often been called the ‘sleeping giant’. We may be experiencing a reduction in numbers but, as the story of Gideon’s army tells us, numbers are not everything when it comes to accomplishing the plans and purposes of God for a people and a nation. The sleeping giant is starting to awake from its slumber! There have been many local outreaches, summer missions, etc, which, together with the excellent Alpha courses, have borne fruit with folk coming to Christ. With Ffald y Brenin, we can pray, ‘O High King of heaven, have mercy on our land. Revive Your church. Send the Holy Spirit for the sake of the lost, the least and the broken. May Your Kingdom come to our nation. In Jesus’ mighty Name. Amen.’

The summer holidays are almost upon us, heralding the start of a wide range of Christian activities involving our young folk across Scotland. There are 25 Scripture Union holiday clubs and missions planned in association with local churches which will reach many hundreds of children and youth. Many local churches will also be running their own week-long holiday clubs and other summer events drawing in thousands.

There are 46 SU holiday activity events which, based on previous years, will involve around 1,500 young folk, and several hundred youth and young adults will be at Lendrick Muir in Kinross in the first week of August for Soul Survivor Scotland 2017.

These and many other events and activities provide a rich opportunity to impact our young generation for the Gospel and introduce them to Jesus. There are hundreds of testimonies over many years of how important being at one of these camps has been in a person’s journey of faith, of how they were helped and guided into making a decision to commit their lives to Jesus.

Please pray:

• for the safety and security of everyone involved in organising and taking part in every club, camp, event or other activity – if there is one happening in your church or near you – commit to pray for it each day it is on;
• for health, strength and energy for the teams leading each club, camp etc.;
• for wisdom and discernment to handle all the situations that will no doubt arise, and that each team would model and demonstrate the love of the Father to each child and young person attending;
• for a wide variety of creative ideas to interest, excite and engage all ages;
• that each club etc. would be more successful than the organisers dared to believe, with significant numbers either making a commitment to or wishing to know more about Jesus, and developing a hunger to get to know God’s Word;
• that the transforming of many young lives would in turn contribute to transforming their homes, schools, colleges and communities.

Source:  Pray for Scotland