Prayer Mail

Dear Friends,

This is our public prayer mail of Saturday, 9 November 2015:

This week:

A) Last Sunday, All Saints Day: attended All Saints Anglican Church in Belize City (All Saints Day is its patronal feast), also its 60th anniversary and 21 confirmations. Turns out that confirmation class met weekly for two years, with a final exam, and apparently, whenever I was teaching something in my online courses, that was being passed to the bulk of the class. The principal catechist is one of my students. By the way, in a case you are wondering, this is not the norm for catechetical instruction except for this parish. Service was 3.25 hours long, with an hour of interaction afterwards.

Later that day, led the service, celebrated Holy Eucharist, and preached at Church of the Good Shepherd in Lord's Bank in the late afternoon. My role for this second service gradually unfolded as the Bishop was driving me on the way over to the Church. When we started on the way to the parish, all I knew was that I might be doing something in the service, and the full scope of what I was to be doing did not unfold until we pulled into the parking lot of the parish. The Bishop was a congregant. I am pleased with the results, and apparently, so was the congregation. Praise God for the leading of the Holy Spirit!

B) On Monday, arrived back in the United States: to continue with the ministry for Belize from here, as usual. The Diocese of Belize calendar for 2016 has not been printed yet, and I wait to see what unfolds for future trips.

In the meantime, I continue in my role as intermediary with the companion Diocese in England, and continue in my role as Examining Chaplain and Director of the Anglican Theological Institute of Belize. As with more and more missionaries these days, much is accomplished by Internet as well as in person on the ground. This kind of hybrid world mission work is becoming more popular, I am finding out, made possible by the Internet. In this way, I continue as a full-time SAMS missionary, year-round.

C) From Tuesday through Friday, this week, attended the priests retreat in the Diocese of Albany this week, led by the Rt. Rev. Kenneth Clark, Mission Director of SAMS UK & Ireland. Totally awesome. In hindsight, the whole retreat. Everyone there.

D) Upon returning home, I faced a mountain of items that needed attending to. It is now a small hill.

Your prayers are requested for the following:

A) For the follow-up to the trip, for continuing to develop the final courses in the curriculum, and for the current preaching course that I am teaching. Two transitional deacons have joined. 

B) For parish visitations, sermons, and other matters over the next few months. I am at St. Mary's in Manchester for this Sunday (8 Nov), than am preaching and making a missions presentation as part of parish mission conference at St. James in Farmington, next weekend (15 Nov).

C) Family members continue to face major decisions, and your prayers for all of us are always welcome.

D) For Lydia and Julie in their studies.

E) For God's provision for all our needs.

Thank you for praying. I pray for you every day.

God bless you. 

Shaw, and on behalf of Julie.

Manchester, CT