The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East (FRRME)

Prayer Update, May 20 2011    

Welcoming Faiz and Nawal to the UK  

FRRME is welcoming Faiz, curate at St George's, Baghdad and his wife Nawal, who heads the Baghdad MU, from June 27 until July 11

If you would like to host them, please contact the office on

01730 267673  

or email us at: office@frrme.org 

Please see  Andrew's engagments - below - for details of where you can hear Andrew (and - at Petersfield and Anerley, bottom - Andrew and Faiz speaking.)

22 May: 

9.45am

Opengate Chuch, Bognor Regis 

6pm

Cosham Baptist Church   

In the US

Thursday May 26

7pm

Televised service at The River Church, Tampa, FL

Friday 27 May

7pm

Televised service at The River Church, Tampa, FL

Sunday 29 May

7pm

Televised service at The River Church, Tampa, FL

Wednesday 1 June

7pm

Eagles Nest International Church, FL 

In the UK 

Wednesday June 8,

St Andrew's Church, Chorleywood - 

J.John will interview Andrew for TV series, Facing the Canon

Tickets are £5 and doors open at 6.45pm for a prompt 7.30pm start

Click here for details and to purchase tickets

On Thursday June 30 at 7.30pm

Andrew and St George's curate, Faiz will be at 

St Peter's Church, Petersfield  

On Sunday July 3 at 6.30pm Andrew and Faiz will be at  

Christ Church Anerley 

        St George's Curate Faiz with Andrew                          Nawal, head of the Baghdad MU 

Faiz and Nawal

Firstly, a prayer of thanks for Faiz, our Iraqi curate at St George's, Baghdad

and also for his wife, Nawal, who heads up the Baghdad Mother's Union.

The pair play a vital role in our church ministry and grassroots reconciliation work in Iraq.

The Mother's Union at St George's carries out a great deal of our relief work

in Baghdad, providing food packages for those most in need, along with emotional and spiritual support for local women and families.  

We thank God for Faiz and Nawal, their hard work and great ministry in the face of continued danger and threats.  

We're excited to be welcoming the couple for a visit to England next month. As we prepare for their trip, please pray that their time here will be productive, rejuvenating and happy.  Please pray that they will be welcomed warmly, make new friends and establish new connections during their stay. We're hoping that they will be welcomed to many churches - please do let us know if you'd like to host them.

In the meantime, please continue to pray for their protection. It isn't an understatement to say they put their lives at risk in supporting our work and asserting their faith in Iraq. Please pray that they will know how much their ministry and kindness is appreciated, and that they and their family will know the love, grace and light of God in their work and home lives.

Please also pray for the rest of the team at St George's, and in the UK. Pray especially for Andrew as he continues his vital ministry in Iraq. His health has improved of late, for which we give thanks.  

Sectarian violence

It was with great sadness this week that we heard of the horrendous torture and killing of a young Christian man,  Ashur Issa Yaqub, in Kirkuk, northern Iraq. Our sympathies go to his family and the wider community.

Ashur, a construction worker, had been kidnapped; a ransom of $100,000 demanded.

There have been reports that he may have been targeted because of his Christian faith, but that theory is unconfirmed and, as Peter Marsden, our Director said this week, we need to be careful about jumping to conclusions.  The motive may have been purely economic; no more and no less than an appallingly violent failed robbery.

It was, however, a deeply tragic atack and we pray it does not mark the beginning of a renewed surge in targeted attacks against religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and tit-for-tat sectarian violence.  

Please stand with us in prayer for the family of Ashur and his wider community. Pray for strength, peace and grace to fill their hearts.   

Pray for the Christian community in Iraq, and all other ethnic and religious minority groups that have faced and continue to face persecution.  

Please pray for those who have sought refuge away from their homeland. Thousands of Christians have fled Baghdad.  Many have become refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.  Many more live in internal displacement camps in Kurdistan.  

They have left everything behind and now live in very difficult conditions, often in make-shift camps. Many highly skilled workers face unemployment, and struggle to provide for their families.  

Please pray for them, that they find kindness where they go, opportunities where needed, relief from the trials they've endured and that they feel the Lord at work in their lives. 

And please pray for us, as we seek to facilitate dialogue between Iraq's religious leaders.

 Thank you so much for your continued prayers.   

If you have a prayer for our work which you'd like to share,  I'd love to hear from you.  

Every blessing   

Jenny Williams