Jesus said to his disciples:

The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.Matthew 9:37-38

The harvest of youth and children entrusted to Trinity Church is large. As counted at the beginning of 2018 we had 90 members aged 18 or younger. This is about 42% of the total congregation.

Within these numbers a shift is taking place from children aged up to 10 years in KidZchurch to youth from age 11 in 1Tim4Twelve and TYDE.

At present our youth have dedicated but skeleton teams ministering to them in 1Tim4Twelve and TYDE. A wave is soon coming their way made up of children raised in church but coming of age in a very secular context dismissive of faith in God.

My conviction is they need a dedicated pastor to both oversee them and support the frontline work already happening in 1Tim4Twelve and TYDE with 11 to 18 year olds.

Out of this conviction I am calling the church to a season of prayer until Christmas 2018 as Jesus called his disciples, to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send a youth pastor who would devote themselves to the formation and equipping of youth and those who minister to them.

Would you commit to joining with me to pray into this need until Christmas this year?

Here are some prayer starters:

• Thank the Lord for entrusting so many children to us to evangelize and form in the knowledge, love and faith of God in Jesus Christ.
• Thank the Lord for already sending called and committed people to minister to children and youth in Stepping Stones (Crèche), KidZchurch, 1Tim4Twelve and TYDE.
• Pray the Lord now send a person gifted and called for the ministry of evangelizing and forming teenagers in our setting and supporting those teams already doing this.

Will you take up this call to prayer?

Pastor Francis, May 2018