‘Ven. Ifeanyi Akunna asks for prayer as students travel back to the Abuja Diocesan Training College (Nigeria) for the beginning of term. The roads can be very dangerous, with armed robbers and kidnappers. Pray for divine protection.’
This was the featured prayer request on the GAFCON website for 8 January 2024. This section of the site– found at gafcon.org/ prayer – is a particularly helpful resource, especially for many Anglicans living in the UK. It opens our eyes and hearts to needs in different parts of the world, and provides a challenge to us by illustrating problems faced by fellow Christians which most of us in the affluent and comfortable West would find intolerable.
This prayer request from Nigeria reminds us of the contexts of violence and instability around the world in which Christians and churches have to manage, and yet somehow thrive and grow as they put their trust in the Lord. It also shows how our faithful brothers and sisters in faraway lands take seriously the need for good training of their future leaders.
Anglican bishops in 21st-century Europe
Bishops are supposed to be pastors and guardians of the Christian faith, teaching truth and refuting error, winsomely and compellingly …