A Prayer Ministry Course was held at Guildford Baptist Church on 22nd and 29th October by CPM Southern Region. Eighteen people attended the course and these are some of their responses to the teaching and ministry they received:

• It was a real privilege to have people spend quality time with me helping to make me more whole.
• This was genuinely life changing. Thank you!”
• Thank you for your love and servant hearts.Wonderful to see Christ in action.
• The welcome was good, the gentleness of the prayer and the encouragement to be open was all good .
• Today has been such a blessing and a real encouragement to see God at work and touching me in the needy areas.
• Everyone is so loving and caring and I have felt really cosseted.
• Thank you all so very, very much, may God richly bless you all.
• Really appreciate the time and efforts of the team. Their prayerfulness and heart for God works.
• I appreciated the way the ‘model’ – the Circle of God’s love – was all encompassing.
• Loved them (talks) all– honest, real, clear… There should be more teaching like this in church.
• I loved the way we were encouraged not to write notes but just jot down the things which speak to you.
• Very clear & insightful delivered professionally. ‘Anointed’.

A blessed time, with the Lord moving powerfully. Some feed back from course members:

• ‘Amazed at the relevance of words, verses and pictures given into my situation’
• ‘Being free – don’t need to carry guilt any more’
• Jesus took away my pain
• ’‘Lord’s presence and my healing was real and powerful
• ’Praise the Lord for his love and power.

Some feed back from course members:

• I feel set free in certain areas, strengthened for battle and greatly refreshed.
• It was wonderful to feel safe, loved accepted and encouraged that I am not the mess I believe at times. . . .
• Being set free and praying prophetically into my future.
• I was ministered to with great wisdom and Holy Spirit power and believe that I was set free from long standing rejection.
• Release from overwhelming family relationship that was stifling and controlling.
• Un-hurried application of ministry.
• Scriptures and pictures given were the same as the Lord had given to me during the previous weeks before the course! Amazing!

Some feed back from course members:

• “I have been so blessed and although I have done 2 or 3 of these before, this weekend seems to be so much more significant and I hope – life changing”
• The talks were so clear: “10/10”
•  “Being put at ease by the warmth and kindness of those who were leading us.  Being able to share without any feeling of judgement”
• “Thank you so much, it was all brilliant”

In October of this year we took a team of four C.P.M. Ministers to Burundi to minister to sixteen church leaders at the invitation of Harvest For Christ. The course was held in the Swedish Mission in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi. More........(click to download full newsletter)

Some feedback from course members:

• Good hearing testimonies from the team"
• "God really blessed me through the ministry as the ministers allowed time and Space; they listened so deeply and were exactly the right people to lead me forward".
• "Jesus dealt with all I hoped for through the people praying with me".
• "All the talks were excellent".
• "I was washed clean".
• "The chance to share and be blessed by God's loving people".
• "A big thank you for all your love, and being non-judgemental".
• "I felt cleansed after ministry".
• "The healing and God blessing as I was able to share - and forgive”.

Thank you so much for the prayers for the Christian Resource Exhibition.  It went very well, with an ideal location.

We must have met and talked with around 200 interested people who took home brochures and DVD's.  Many more will have seen our stand.  It will take time for specific responses to come in so it is very hard to quantify the effectiveness of these events, but we all really felt that the Lord was in it.  It was also really helpful to be in a zone of the Exhibition with other similar minded ministries and to get to know them and their ministries better.

Thanks for all the prayers.  We also had daily opportunities to minister to people who came to the stand!  Next event - Telford Exhibition in October.

Charles Woods on behalf of CPM Southern Region.

29 members and guests came together for this Day of Refreshing at Inkberrow parish hall in Worcestershire.
It was a fine day with plenty of opportunity to be outside and enjoying the beautiful surroundings at this location.
The morning was a real blessing to all as Revd Anne Hibbert, of the Leamington Well Healing Centre, led a meditative time on the theme of ‘Taking stock of the garden of your life’. A beautifully illustrated talk was followed by a time when each of us was able to spend time with the Lord reflecting on the theme that Anne had presented.
There followed a time of praying for each other in small groups again with the help of inspiring garden theme photos.
After a lunchtime of fellowship and packed lunches there was the opportunity for members to discuss with the planning team members any issues or ideas that needed an airing. This proved valuable with the topics of training for members and the requirements for accreditation being prominent.
We are particularly grateful to Maurice Markham for leading worship during the day and to Gill and Dave McKelvie for providing the hot drinks and some delicious cakes.
The photo shows Anne Hibbert speaking shortly before the end of the morning session.

It might have been Halloween weekend and the battle leading up to the course had certainly been fierce, but the Lord was gracious and richly blessed those involved in the recent Southern Region course.

For several years now the Southern Region had used the same format for their residential courses. The teaching day would be held one Saturday and then the residential part of the course with ministry, would start at 6pm on the following Friday evening finishing with lunch on the Sunday. Given the space between, there would be teaching to recap on the Friday evening. For most people time is precious and so, in a new venture, rather than involving two weekends, this time we started earlier on the Friday at 2pm. We included all the teaching that day with the obvious benefits of ministry the following day without the week-long break. It was a great success. The feed-back was really positive with many speaking of the great blessing of the whole weekend. God had spoken of His love being the hallmark of that course and gave us His assurance of His provision for each person out of His great heart of love. Many have already testified to that in letters and emails since. 

We were also blessed by the recent superb renovation of St Columba’s House, Woking. The new en-suite facilities were appreciated by all the course members but the greatest blessing was from the new spiritual ethos of the house in which the staff were seeking to follow the Celtic Christianity of St Columba, under the direction of the Lord, in living in the rhythms of His grace. We all truly found His grace to be more than amply sufficient for all our needs, those of Prayer Ministers and Course Members alike.

Marian Westlake.

Testimonies from the Prayer Ministry Course held at meredith Road Baptist Church, Coventry, over two Saturdays.

• “Just relieved that someone would listen to me with care, understanding and love”.
• “God does the business and uses the ministers well”.
• “I really loved the atmosphere of love, gentleness and kindness throughout the course”.
• “Words given in the prayer vigil were very pertinent”.
• “Inspired to walk closer to God through the ministry, pictures and words from course members”.

Powerful testimonies from the recent PMC at Offa House:

• I believe this is a new beginning – I have felt God’s power throughout this weekend”.
• “Total healing – I’ve been set free”. “. . .
• I feel so blessed because God has brought me through so much and I feel I am now worth something”.
• “I want to take away from here that God is in control of every part of my life”.
• “I felt very blessed and privileged to be part of the prayer vigil when others had their prayer ministry - God spoke in a real way by pictures and words for each person”.

East Midlands Region recently held a Prayer Ministry Course comprising one day of teaching in Seagrave, a day for Prayer Ministry Appointments in neighbouring Sileby and a second one in Lincoln.

Whilst numbers at each venue for Prayer Ministry Appointments were marginal, it is clear that the course members who attended were blessed. The Lincoln day was especially exciting as the expanding group there (which includes three Readers and a Deacon) had been praying for years to get the ministry into Lincoln and Lincolnshire generally. They had worked hard to facilitate the visit and welcomed the team warmly. The Vicar of the church whose premises were used, took a shortened communion service to conclude the day and indicated how pleased he was to meet the team and that the day had gone well.

East Midlands Region now have four people at various stages of training and all are progressing well. This is yet another great encouragement.

A particular effort has been made to build a team spirit and to involve subscribing members in order to encourage them to be more active within the region.

A coffee morning was held in June and was a great success ( it actually lasted well beyond lunch time ! ). Another has been arranged for January 2009.

East Midlands hosted the Midlands Regions Inter-Regional training day this year. Bryony Springate was the speaker and gave some excellent teaching on the subject of ‘Boundaries‘.

The Prayer Ministry course held in October was fully booked and a number of people were blessed. An intended course in May was not able to be held due to lack of applications. In the event it was realised the Lord’s hand was in that because it would have coincided with a spate of illness and other problems which hit intended team members on the relevant dates.

Sixteen people attended the course, which was held over two weekends. The course comprised, a teaching day at Guildford Baptist Church on the first Saturday, followed by a residential weekend at Park Place, Wickham, Hants. Southern Region varies the style of courses by holding some over two consecutive Saturdays and others as described above. The residential courses have the advantage of people getting to know one another better, are more relaxed and provide greater opportunity for more in depth teaching. The disadvantage is the cost! Which is why courses held over two consecutive Saturdays, are sometimes offered.

The feedback from course members after the weekend indicated that the course went well, with most comments being very positive. Seeing people come into new areas of freedom and healing, gives cause to praise the Lord for the truth of His word. Through His people, He really does fulfil all that is written in Is.61v1-4. It is also pleasing to see that the trend towards younger people applying to attend courses is continuing.

The first residential course to be held for a number of years in this region was held at Shallowford House near Stoke on Trent in September. This proved to be an amazing time when the presence of God manifested itself in new ways. Many lives were changed amongst the course members and team members. The food was, as usual, excellent and the House staff were particularly caring and helpful.

Three people have already indicated that they wish to attend the next residential course which has been booked for November 2009. There are benefits to be had from attending a residential course compared to a weekend course – points mentioned were that there was time to assimilate what the speakers had said through the talks without having to pass on to the next subject quickly, also the fact that course members are separated from the hurly-burly of everyday life and this allows time for reflection and prayer.

The West Wessex Region Annual General Meeting was held on the 9th July and was attended by fifteen members. The recent relocation of George and Elizabeth Nuttall has left two vacancies on the Committee. Pam Bovey was elected to serve on the committee. The chairmanship of the Committee will rotate amongst the members of the Committee. The Region will continue to be represented on the Executive Committee by Jackie Long, leaving a vacancy to be filled by the relocation of Elizabeth Nuttall. It was also agreed that Jackie would provide mentoring for those undergoing training.

Monthly Prayer Meetings at Rising Brook Methodist Church have been discontinued in favour of Triplet Prayer Groups. This has been done to make the prayer times accessible to as many people as possible. The location and venues for the Prayer Groups will be determined by those involved and will be selected according to their individual availability and convenience.

In spite of problems, the June course at Stafford went well. The ministry day was a day that brought freedom and release, joy and peace, to those who attended. The difference was seen on the faces of the course members after having had their Prayer Ministry Appointments. Where they were worried, nervous, or depressed, they were now smiling, heads held high, and thankful to God for His grace poured out on their lives. The Prayer Vigil was also a special time for those who had never had this experience before. Having the opportunity to relax in the presence of God and receive pictures, scriptures, and words of encouragement, for those receiving ministry was something to be treasured.

Comments made by members attending the SM PMC:

• “It was a privilege to see the Holy Spirit moving in such a powerful way”
• “The prayers and references given after the ministry were so apt and quite awesome”
• “God spoke to me in a way like never before”
• “The ministry was so gentle and sensitive”

From our latest Prayer Ministry Course:-

• "I am pleased to say that my Prayer Ministry appointment has proved to be very beneficial for me.
• I feel much more at peace, relaxed and stronger in my relationship with the Lord."

West Midlands Region held a Prayer Ministry course at the beginning of March, which had eleven attendees, each with their own hurts and problems. It was a very special time, and on the Ministry day it was wonderful to see the difference in the people between the morning, before ministry, and the evening after their appointment with God the Father.

New freedom and peace could be seen on every face. What a privilege it is to be a Prayer Minister in this Ministry, and to see God at work in the lives of His children, as He brings release and forgiveness, replacing grief with joy, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. Healing wounds that have been carried for a lifetime, and drawing near to the brokenhearted. WHAT A GOD!!

Below is a testimony from a young lady who was on this course, it being her first experience of Christian Prayer Ministries.

I am so happy now God has given me the strength to live a normal life without getting angry and storing all my hurt and being so unhappy. You at the Prayer Ministries have made me feel as though I can stand up to anything and be a human being under the Armour of God. If it was not for the Prayer Ministry I do not think that I could have got through this time without their help. Thank you and God Bless.

Led by Chris Cox, the CPM Devon Region introductory day to Christian Prayer Ministries was attended by some 30 people. An excellent day that went very well. Praise God for His love and faithfulness!

CPM began a new chapter in its life when it "advertised" itself for the first time, at the Heart of England Christian Resources Exhibition, held at Telford's International Centre on February 21st -23rd. The auspices for success were not good - Glenn and Maureen Pennington, who were going to be the "anchor people" for the event, had to be away in to Hampshire, on family business.

Fortunately, a band of helpers (our Administrator, Julie Rammel-Sime, South Midlands Region's Gill Purdham and Matgaret Simmons, and West Midlands Region's Hugh and Elizabeth Baker, Marion Dominy, Joan Furlong and Barbara Loveys) volunteered itself, and the Stand was put up on Wednesday, and was open to visitors on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Over 4,000 visitors came through the Exhibition, and we gave away over 200 DVDs*, as well as about 600 leaflets.

This being our first attempt at exhibiting, we learnt some salutary lessons. Firstly, don't imagine that, if you book the smallest stand space available, you're going to have room to do much more than turn round! Our new Display System fitted into the Stand nicely - and professionally decorative it looked too. We had grand plans to show the DVD on a large screen through our new LCD projector, but apart from not having enough room, the hubbub in the building would have rendered it inaudible. Like other exhibitors, we ended up just displaying it on our lap top - which inspired some folk to request a DVD.

Generous donations of £5,000 had made production of the DVD possible: could we thank a Member from the West Country who made further promotion possible with a donation of £1,000?

If you would like a DVD, please write to CPM at P.O. Box 13145, Tamworth B77 9DL or email christianprayerministry@hotmail.co.uk

Elizabeth Baker is interviewed by local radio

Hugh Baker gives Carol, his secretary, a good talking to!