June is the National Month of Prayer for Toddler groups and in 2015 one London borough was prayed for each day in a London prayer marathon. In several boroughs (Brent, Ealing and Harrow) a group of toddler group leaders met together to share the joys and challenges of their groups and pray for and with one another. It was suggested that the prayer marathon be repeated in 2016 and that we should aim to get as many toddler groups involved as possible.
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A letter from Jo Gordon, organiser The London Prayer Marathon during NMOPLast year, during the National Month of Prayer for toddler groups, I decided to pray for one London borough each day, starting with Barking and Dagenham on June 1st and ending with Westminster on July 2nd. It became a London Prayer Marathon for toddler groups. I prayed for Bromley on June 5th! It was a great month and in some boroughs (Brent, Ealing, Harrow and Westminster) toddler groups leaders got together to pray for one another. I’ve been involved in this prayer networking in Brent for the past 10 years and 1277 have produced a leaflet about it. At the end of the month I was encouraged by others to repeat this in 2016 and try and encourage other boroughs to get involved. So … that’s why I’m emailing you. We would love to see toddler groups in every London borough – all 32 of them – getting involved. I’ve attached a leaflet explaining more with some ideas of things you could do either in your own group, church or area! I’m happy to answer any questions and would love to hear from any of you. You may even like to come and meet up to pray in Westminster on July 2nd! There is a real sense of exciting things going on in our toddler groups and it’s just great to know prayer is at the centre. The theme of this years NMOP is John 10v10 – Living Life to the Full. We give God thanks for the many ways in which our toddler groups add to people’s lives! God bless you and your team. Please feel free to share this email with other toddler group leaders, members of your team and church leaders. Kind regards, Jo Gordon |
How can you get involved?
1) Use the suggested prayer points and pray for a borough each day.
2) Raise the profile of your group in your church ie invite the church leader and/or members to visit. You could have a slot in the service during June to profile what you do—one church in Kensal Rise took over the whole service and used a PowerPoint presentation and video, prayers and the sermon.
3) Connect with other toddler groups in your borough over a simple lunch (bring your own sandwiches and someone provide the drinks). This could be in a local coffee shop or one of your venues. ‘Without this support I am sure our group would have closed’ Sue, St Luke’s Drop In, Kilburn
There is a sense of excitement and anticipation re what will happen as we celebrate the wonderful work of the toddler groups in London ‘This is a great initiative and I hope it grows and grows. It would be wonderful to see an increasing number of toddler group teams meeting up for prayer and encouragement throughout London.’
Rev Tessa Rust, Early Years Missions Advisor, London Diocese
Leaflet (downloads a pdf)
Strategic Plan (downloads a pdf)