Praise God for the gift of His Word. Pray for all we do as a church to be centered around Christ and His Scriptures. Ask God to grow our devotion to reading, studying, and meditating of His Word, both individually and with one another.

This week we are praying for the Brook Hills ESL Ministry (English As a Second Language). The ESL Ministry serves English learners in the community by providing free English classes to international women on Thursday mornings at Brook Hills and to families on Thursday evenings at First Baptist Hoover. The ESL Ministry aims to extend Christian hospitality, establish community, and share the love of Jesus Christ with internationals living in Birmingham. We’re also praying for the congregation of First Baptist Church of Hoover and their pastor, Eric Roberts.

Day 1: Pray for the 99 international adults representing 23 countries who were a part of our ESL ministry last year, as well as for those whom the Lord will call to join us this year. Pray for God to give them the patience, skills, and mental strength necessary to learn the English language. Pray they will all hear and understand the gospel this year.

Day 2: Pray for the elementary school kids who participate in the ESL Children’s Program while their parents are in class. Pray for them to be peaceful and eager to learn new truths about God each week from their Bible-centered lessons.

Day 3: Pray for the faithfulness of volunteers in every area of this ministry to cultivate a safe, hospitable, and loving environment for the students and their children. Pray for more volunteers to serve preschoolers and children.

Day 4: Pray for those who have come to know Christ through the ESL Ministry to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, grow in their faith, gather with a local church, and make disciples. 

Day 5: Pray for the ESL Women’s Bible Study that launched last week! Pray for these students, from a variety of spiritual backgrounds, to receive the Word of God and be transformed by it.

Day 6: Pray for the launch of classes at the new site, First Baptist Hoover. Pray that internationals in that community will come for English classes on Thursday evenings and stay to hear the good news of the gospel.

This week we are praying for our Long-Termers, Philip and Joanna. They serve with their daughter, Alice, in Southeast Asia. Their team trains local believers in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting in an urban context. They enjoy shepherding local believers in missional communities that meet in their home. They also run a digital strategy to find spiritual seekers online and connect them with local believers who can share the good news with them in person and disciple those who believe. 

Day 1: Pray for Philip, Joanna, and Alice. They are on stateside assignment until February 2023. Pray for God to bless their family while they are here in the US and for Him to guide them in wisdom when they return to Southeast Asia on how to spend their next term. 

Day 2: Pray for their Buddhist friends who have been interested in Jesus to have open hearts to the gospel and to hunger for a relationship with God through Jesus.

Day 3: Pray for "Salma," a food seller who is interested in Jesus, but is facing pressure from her family not to leave Buddhism. Pray for her to fall in love with Jesus and for her family members to repent and believe in Him, too.

Day 4: ”Norm" contacted them on Facebook wanting to hear more about Jesus. Pray for Norm to continue studying the Word with "Liam," our national partner. Pray for Norm's family to want to learn about Jesus, too.

Day 5: Pray for “Grandmother," who is very poor and has custody of several of her young grandkids. Praise God she recently expressed faith in Jesus! Pray for her faith in Jesus to grow and strengthen, for her family's physical needs to be met, and for salvation for all her kids.

Day 6: Pray for divine connections with more local believers in their city who want to help reach their whole nation with the gospel. Pray for local believers to abide in Jesus and to live hopefully and joyfully, even when facing persecution from family and friends.