Dear friends and ministry partners,
At the bottom of this prayer letter, I have provided a list of prayers requests covering the overall scope of our (Bill and Deb’s) ministry vision. These prayer requests were copied from our supporters website , and they are based upon the ministry plan developed in my (Bill’s) thesis Global-Church Planting within the Mobile Academic and Immigrant Communities of the Boston Metropolitan Area (especially chapters 14 and 15).
Therefore, these prayers are long term requests which reflect the overall goals and direction of our ministry endeavors. This means that all of our prayer letters, prayer requests, and financial needs may be best understood in the context of the prayer requests found on the left hand side of this page.
If you have the time and inclination to read my thesis, you will notice that our ministry plan is based upon the strategic importance of world-class cities and the incredible human need found in those cities. It is my conviction that a biblical understanding of Scripture demands that we, Christians, focus our Great Commission energies upon the cities of our world, and so, by the grace of God, Deb and I are endeavoring to do so.
During this Christmas season, Deb and I are very thankful to God for His calling in our lives. We do not deserve what God has given us, and we are determined to live our lives based upon the grace of God that continues to work in our lives. We are also thankful to God for you—our friends in ministry. We love and appreciate each of you.
Prayer Request
This prayer list provides the broad outline of our personal prayer life and ministry plan.
Personal
Dear Father, please help me become a very organized and efficient facilitator of a urban-church-planting movement. Please help Deb to finish her degree. If it be your will, please help Deb and me move into the very middle of Boston so that we may live and minister from the center of the international academic and immigrant communities of Boston.
Church (The Model Church)
Dear Father in heaven, please help the International Baptist Fellowship (IBF) become the International Baptist Church. Please help them be a discipleship center for the world which is located in Boston. May their fellowship be a place where people find help, rest, and salvation.
Boston (The Local Network)
Thank You, Father, for providing cities like Boston, where one is able to minister to the whole world. Please help us be part of an urban-church-planting movement which begins in Boston and then spreads to other world class cities. Dear Father, help us create an international village in Boston for the purpose of discipling those international students and immigrants living in Boston in order that they might minister to the world outside of Boston.
New England (The Regional Network)
Dear Father, please help us develop a network of churches and individuals across New England which is able to help facilitate the planting of churches in Boston.
USA (The Continental Network)
Dear Father, please help us form a network of churches, Bible colleges, seminaries, and mission agencies organized for the purpose of facilitating a church-planting movement in world-class cities globally.
World (The International Network)
Our Father, we pray that the gospel of Jesus Christ will be made available to all peoples of the world by means of an urban church-planting movement. Please teach us how to join You and Your Son in establishing disciple-making centers (churches) in strategic world-class cities globally.
It is in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray,
Bill and Deb Edmondson