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Border Prayer Room Project
14th-28th May 2011
Latest Information from this exciting project
Other Linked Events | Plan of Action | Contact Details | Background to the Project
Following an AMAZING day of training for this project, I'mwriting to update you on some of the details covered on the day.Not everything is yet completely organised, so please keep watching for more info as it becomes available.
First, a few facts about the day
- There will be 28 locations taking part in this venture, 14 on each side of the border, which is relatively few, but the whole thing has totally snowballed, and Yvonne Mason who carried the original vision was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the response.
- Over 100 people met up to worship together, to pray for one another in a microcosm of the actual events and to make connections with others who live from north to south all down the border.
- Time was specifically allowed for people to simply meet each other as well as organised praying in which those from England and Wales stood opposite each other representing their towns and facing those representing the towns they will be partnering with during the fortnight itself. It was great to meet people from the three towns in Wales whose prayer will be specifically centred around blessing Leominster, Hereford and Ross-on-Wye.
| Plan of action
The launch day will be in Chester on Friday 13th May. (More details to follow) A baton is being made especially for our use, designed to split into two and join back together. It will be formally separated at the launch event and handed to representatives from Fflint and Chester. It will also be hollow to allow for any messages to be placed inside if the people in one place feel that God has said anything to them about or for the partner people/town/country. It will be made partially from English and partially from Welsh Oak to symbolise the coming together of our two nations. Baton 1 will begin at Fflint and baton 2 at Chester. It is hoped that the batons will leave the previous prayer room to arrive at their next destination in time to be there for the opening prayer slot in the next place down the border. So, for example, baton 1 will be sent across the border to Whitchurch for 12.00pm on 15th May, and baton 2 will be sent across the border to Wrexham for the same time. The next day, baton 1 will leave Whitchurch to arrive in Llangollen for 12.00pm on 16th May, and baton 2 will leave Wrexham to arrive at Oswestry at the same time and so on down the border so that an invisible cross stitch is "sewn" to join us together in spirit.
Two books will go with the batons so that notes can be kept of anything significant.
The conclusion of the venture will be a meeting on Saturday 28th May, details later.
Other linked events
- The Maranatha group in Craven Arms will be launching prayer days along with us. They plan to turn their sanctuary into 24/14 prayer room to cover the entire project.
- In Ludlow, the Full Gospel Businessmen's fellowship will walk the city walls of Ludlow on 21st and 22nd May.
- Abergavenny are holding 24/7 for the duration of the week in which their prayer day falls.
- There will be children's and youth aspects in each prayer room with input from Andy Hughes and his team to help even young children to join in and pray. It is planned that there will be skype/other internet facilities to link the two youth groups wherever the technology is available. See below, or contact website.
- Offa's Dyke walk. Daphne Godwin is planning to walk the whole of Offa's Dyke. This will cover the entire fortnight with walkers being able to join her at any given place to coincide with their own area or to cover as much ground as they desire. If you would like to be involved in this, please contact her at info@ffald-y-brenin.org
- Lindy Morgan from 24/7 Wales is planning to travel down the border and visit prayer rooms. She will be travelling in a camper van and needs a driveway each night to park on. Meals would be welcomed but not obligatory, and Lindy has chosen that she will sleep in the camper van each night.
- There will be two walks, one up Snowdon and the other up Scafell pike for dedicated individuals. Prayer for both nations will take place at the top of each, representiong the highest places on either side of the border. People with Mountain Leaders Certification are needed to lead these, and those who want to get involved will need to plan beforehand and liaise with Border Prayer via the website or email address at the end of this document.
Practical pointers for prayer rooms
Each hosting venue will need to prepare an information pack to reach their partner venue by the end of April at the latest. Include photos, text, any local information that they could use in prayer such as problem areas or ongoing issues you would like prayer over, such as drug/alcohol problems, crime levels, decisions in the local political arena that may adversely affect those living there etc. Include maps where possible, a local newspaper, anything that will give them a flavour of life in your town. One suggestion was to ask yourselves what really pleases God about our area and what really displeases Him, and include those items. It is intended that Welsh language versions be included where possible for the Welsh teams. Help is planned in organising this. A translator is required, so if that is your skill and you could offer your services then please get in touch.
This project is for the whole family. Please bear this in mind when creating your prayer rooms. There should be creative and visual areas for the young. Check whether you will have access to the internet and the availability of a computer or laptop. Investigate whether it will be possible for you to Skype your partner prayer room, particularly with youth in mind. A dedicated youth leader will visit your prayer room for specific times to be with the children and young people. The plan is to link the hour for these with the partner group to enable communication.
Contact details
The website, www.borderprayer.co.uk will have a place to post comments both beforehand and on the day, as things occur, or you can email Yvonne Mason at ymason@tiscali.co.uk
If you would like to speak to someone, please phone 01686 668822
For those setting up prayer rooms, www.24-7prayer.com has lots of resources and ideas to help you.
BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT
Aims and Objectives
The aim of The Border Prayer Room Project is to facilitate God's people along
the Borders of England and Wales to pray for, and pour blessing into each others'
communities.
This project will broadly follow the 24-7 prayer model already used so powerfully
by God over the last ten years to touch people's lives, reaching across the whole
world. (for more information on this model of prayer, see 24-7Prayer.com).
We believe that the Lord is calling our two nations to do something positive together across the
border of the Marches area which has, over the centuries, been a physical and spiritual war zone.
We believe that this will build on the reconciliation work already laid down by Barbara Tonkin,
Hwyel Rhys Edwards, Sowing Seeds for Revival, Walk of 1000 Men and many other faithful and
unmentioned in God's service.m The aiof this project is not directly to address the historic issues
between our two nations, but to intercede for and pour blessing into each others' nations.
It has been pointed out that, with the exception of the very southern end of the Welsh-
English border, this region has never seen the revivals and outpourings that have graced other areas
and communities in the UK in times past, and that a release of God's blessing between the Welsh
and the English is long overdue. There is a growing body of consensus amongst believers in this
region and beyond, that the time for this blessing is immanent!
The Vision
The origins of The Border Prayer Room Project came from pictures and words received by Yvonne
Mason in May 2009.
"I saw a map of the Welsh/English border. Running down the border was a line of stitches (rather
like sutures), joining the two nations together. I heard the words "hands across the border", and
came to understand that God was wanting the Border people of England and Wales to join together
in a continuous prayer relay, during which they prayed together and blessed each other's
communities and nations".
"It became clear that the stitches represent pairs of '24-7 Prayer style' prayer rooms, each pair
consisting of one Welsh and one English prayer room, beginning at the northern end of the border.
The two prayer rooms would simultaneously pray for 24 hours, then hand the 'baton' of prayer
onto the next pair of Prayer Rooms, who would pray for the following 24 hour period, until the
southern end was reached at Chepstow. This prayer relay would take two weeks to complete, and
bring God's much needed blessing in a region that has literally been a historical 'war zone', both
physically and spiritually."
Yvonne and her husband Paul shared this vision with Lindy Morgan, who represents the 24-7
Prayer movement in Wales, and are currently working together with Lindy to develop 'The Border
Prayer Room Project', as it came to be called. This project has the support of christian
organisations such as Urban Saints (formerly Crusaders) Wales, Evangelical Alliance Wales,
Maranatha in the Marches, and 24-7 Prayer UK. We have also shared the vision with various
leaders in Wales, all of whom feel that this project is part of God's purposes for this time.
Regarding this, Elfed Godding, Leader of Evangelical Alliance Wales, writes:
"I commend wholeheartedly The Border Prayer Room Project. Yvonne, Paul and Lindy are
implementing a vision that demonstrates the very core of the Gospel- reconciliation and peace
through the work of Christ."
How the relay will work
Each pair of Prayer Rooms will pray for one twenty four hour period, split up into one hour prayer
slots which people are able to book in advance. Prayer in the prayer rooms would focus on two
main areas, personal intimacy and relationship with God, and intercessory and blessing prayer for
the community and nation on the other side of the border. A thread running through the whole
project will be a specially written prayer of blessing which will be prayed by all the prayer rooms
taking part in the event, as it proceeds down the border. Each community will be asked to supply
information and prayer points to its partner community in order to help facilitate the prayers of
those taking part.
Dates
The prayer room relay will take place from Saturday 14th May to Saturday 28th May 2011, and the
locations taking part are as follows:
Wales England
Pair 1 14th - 15th May Fflint paired with Chester
Pair 2 15th - 16th May Wrexham paired with Whitchurch
Pair 3 16th- 17th May Llangollen paired with Oswestry
Pair 4 17th - 18th May Llanfyllin paired with Shrewsbury
Pair 5 18th - 19th May Welshpool paired with Brockton
Pair 6 19th - 20th May Newtown paired with Church Stretton
Pair 7 20th - 21st May Knighton paired with Craven Arms
Pair 8 21st - 22nd May Presteigne paired with Ludlow
Pair 9 22nd - 23rd May Llandrindod Wells paired with Leominster
Pair10 23rd - 24th May Builth Wells paired with Hereford
Pair11 24th - 25th May Abergavenny paired with Ross on Wye
Pair12 25th - 26th May Monmouth paired with Mitcheldean
Pair13 26th - 27th May Llandogo/Tintern paired with Brockweir
Pair14 27th - 28th May Chepstow paired with Gloucester
What else is going on?
Commisioning Celebration
There will be a commissioning celebration of The Border Prayer Room Project in Chester on
Friday 13th May, in which God's people and leaders from England and Wales will come together
in prayer and worship to launch the relay. All are warmly invited to come and join us on that
evening. More details will be posted on our website nearer the time.
Offa's Dyke Prayer Walk
In addition to the relay of prayers rooms blessing and interceding over the current-day border,
Daphne Godwin from Ffald-y-Brenin House of Prayer and Retreat Centre, (Pembrokeshire) will be
prayer walking the entire length of Offa's Dyke, one of the most important ancient borders between
England and Wales.
Other believers are going to be joining Daphne for all or part of the walk during the two
weeks. The walkers will end each day in one of the prayer rooms currently running, in order to
spend some time praying with the group in that location.
Childrens and Young Peoples Activities
Andy Hughes (leader of Urban Saints Wales) and Greg Leavers (Children's Evangelist and
compiler of Mission Praise), will be leading sessions for children and young people in each pair of
prayer rooms as they progress down the border. These creative prayer and worship hours will be
linked where possible by internet across the border so that both groups will be able to interact with,
and pray for each other.
The Border Prayer Room Project Website
The Border Prayer Room Project will have an active website from the end of January. During the
14 days of the prayer rooms themselves, the website will bring news and stories from the people
and prayer rooms of what God has done as they travel down the border.
Closing Celebration
The project will be brought to a close with a Thanksgiving Celebration in Chepstow on Saturday
May 28th, to bring together all that has been done and prayed for during the two weeks. More
details on the venue and time of this celebration will be posted on the website.
Who can join in?
The Border Prayer Room Project is open to believers from each area along the border who wish to
participate by praying for, and blessing the other community and nation from their own.
How can you join in?
We warmly invite all of the Body of Christ to come and take part. There are several ways in which
you can do this:
- Visit The Border Prayer Room Project website at www.borderprayer.co.uk to find more
information, and during the project, the latest news, blogs and happenings as it travels down
the border. (The website will be online from the end of January).
- Sign up for a prayer 'slot' in one of the prayer rooms near you (details of how on the website),
and come and participate in blessing and interceding for England and Wales. If you can't sign
up, just pop in to an active prayer room and pray as time allows.
- Please Pray for us! Those co-ordinating the project, and those putting together the prayer
rooms need to be covered in prayer from this day to the end of the whole project, and we
would really value your prayers on our behalf!
- See what events your local prayer room will be running during the 24hrs and come and join in.
- Join Daphne Godwin in prayer walking a section of Offa's Dyke (or the whole thing if you are
feeling brave!) To get involved in this, either contact Yvonne Mason using the details below,
or email Daphne directly at info@ffald-y-brenin.org
- Bring your family along to the Children's and Young People's Sessions (it may help if some of
them are children or young people!).
- Offer hospitality (details of what is needed will be clarified nearer the start of the project).
- Donate! If you feel prompted by God to contribute financially to the costs of putting this
project together, then please contact Yvonne and Paul Mason via the details below.
- We also welcome ideas from individuals and organisations who may want to become involved
in The Border Room Prayer Project in some way as God is leading.
This is a unique opportunity for the people of England and Wales to come together in prayer and
blessing in what has historically been a war zone, and if you feel led to join us, or would like to
discuss anything further, please contact us using the details below:
Yours in Christ, Yvonne & Paul Mason
Phone: 01686 668822
Email: yvmason@tiscali.co.uk
Website: www.borderprayer.co.uk