Sensing the complex rhythmsToronto's pulsing life, Abby Davidson is the ordained pastor of family engagement and outreach at Blythwood Road Baptist Church. During the three years since she was ordained, she has managed to juggle the joys of being a young mother while serving in her local church - for five years. She also acts as the moderator of Toronto Baptist Ministries, and she presented a workshop for women at a virtual conference held in April. Her insight into the complexities of declaring God's Kingdom in a multicultural city with people speaking hundreds of languages keeps leading her back to prayer, holiness, and following the Lord. God has given her his grace and wisdom as he leads her to rejoice with those who rejoice and grieve with those who grieve.
A different setting, the Six Nations Reserve in southwestern Ontario, is the locale where Rebekah Larente serves the Lord. She states, "It's such a privilege to work on the reserve. It shows the compassion and empathy of the Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec. It's incredible to have people supporting native ministry." By her own account, Rebekah is shy in most groups. But that didn't keep her from earning a college degree in community and justice services. She stepped out in faith in 2016 with OM, Operation Mobilization, sailing aboard their mission ship to 25 countries, starting in Columbia, and skirting many African coastlines. Cleaning the boat from top to bottom, including bathrooms, every day was her job description. Learning to be of service in whatever situation she found herself was how she learned to connect with women in diverse situations.
Two budding writers deserve mention. Morgan Wolf lives in Calgary, Alberta, and is the author of "Altruism in Gophers." Morgan's spiritual journey, like that of many young women, involves asking questions to God and then finding conversations taking place in her mind. These thoughts lead her to imagine new characters for her books. Her blog about faith and writing is seen at anothergratuiousmdash.blogspot. Her area of ministry is writing, seeking to explain God's Kingdom work through insights she has gained as she exercises faith in prayer.
Rev. Jill Weber, who lives in the United Kingdom, is in contact with prayer groups worldwide through the 24-7 Prayer Network. It is said that a prayer meeting lasted more than 100 years, going on night and day in the 800's when pilgrims in Constantinople went up the Bosphorus to one of the two churches devoted to prayer. (Those two monasteries and church complexes were taken apart stone by stone in 1452 by the Sultan of the Kingdom of Bursa, a city near Istanbul. The recycled building blocks were used to build the Hilltop Fortress. Sultan Mehmet I gained enough space to secure a beachhead, and that helped bring an end to the Christian Byzantine Empire in 1453.)
Based on that pattern of prayer, Jill and thousands of others have banded together to give specific times, day and night, to intercessory prayer. This is a beautiful new provision of God's grace, bringing us together. Jill's book is "Even The Sparrow: A Pilgrim's Guide to Prayer, Trust and Following the Leader."
These prayer groups are spreading around the world, usually bringing persons from different denominations together. I believe that this new prayer journey started in 1991 as the Desert Storm War was unleashed in Kuwait. Since then, in the last 29 years, there has been a more astounding gathering of Muslim Background Believers than ever before in history. (That's another story, and I'll be writing about it later.)
I'm grateful for becoming acquainted with these four servants of our Lord through the magazine "Live." Thanks too, to Diane McBeth, Renee James, Nancy Webb, and Audrey Morikawa, women who disciple and encourage a younger generation. Well done, all of you!
No comments:
Post a Comment