For a while now a group of us have met to pray for the Hawbush Estate. We tend to meet monthly and we vary between doing prayer walks and meeting at the community gardens. However, recently there seems to be a lot of need for prayer in situations that cannot change without God’s miraculous intervention. So we want to reach out to the wider church to encourage you to join with us on Friday 31st March for a day of prayer and fasting for the community on Hawbush and what God has planned for that estate.
To help understand the need and know how to pray, here are 3 things you can pray for:
1) On the day of prayer and fasting (31st March) Paul Wilmott and Roxy Smith will be going into Hawbush Primary school to present 232 Easter eggs to an assembly full of children who we can share the gospel with. This will be a great opportunity to make an impact through our generosity, our words but also our prayers. Please pray that they have open ears and hearts to hear God’s message.
2) We currently have a team of coaches through TLG who go into Hawbush Primary school to coach 3 children in year 4. These children have a variety of challenges and are probably currently labelled as the 3 most difficult children in the school. The year as a whole is quite difficult and so prayer for this year group and the children being coached is needed. Pray that there is a breakthrough in the children, that they will know that even when it seems no one else does, God loves them. Pray for their teacher Mrs Houghton, and for the coaches, for continued energy, patience and wisdom on how to teach and help these children.
3) Lastly, for many years now Hawbush Primary School has been open and receptive to us, as a local church, with all the ways that we have wanted to support and bless them. This has included after school clubs, running creative assemblies, open the book, asking us for a governor, highlighting families we can support with house makeovers and much more besides these. Lots of this has been because of how open the current Headteacher, Alison Pell, has been to what we are trying to do and has welcomed us in. Alison is leaving Hawbush Primary in the summer and they are currently recruiting for a new head.
A Headteacher for a school is crucial for the following reasons:
– They set the culture for the school.
– A Headteacher has ultimate responsibility for providing the children with the best possible education and support that is available.
– Part of their roll is also acting as the primary gate keeper and they will decide who can have access to the school, and its children, and what activities can go on.
Therefore we need to pray. For the good of the children, and our continued engagement in the school, we need the right candidate to get the job. Please pray for the process and those involved that we get a great Headteacher for Hawbush that will not only drive standards and opportunities for the children but also allow us to partner in this and continue to introduce these children to Jesus as Lord.
Your prayers are needed, for these things and more, for the community gardens, for the families who come to the family afternoons, for the young people and for the work done in St Paul’s. So, please join with us in any way you can on Friday 31st March to cover these needs in prayer.
Thank you,
Roxy Smith & Ste Cook