April Prayer Bulletin
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. John 20:19-20
As we look towards the Easter weekend we are very thankful as a charity for the generosity of our donors at this time. The last two weeks have seen the requests for help on our website surge to their highest level ever, as many struggle with the rising cost of living. Last week our friends at Christians Against Poverty released a report here, which highlights that 26% are only 'just about coping' financially, and many more are finding themselves struggling who haven't previously.
Although there has been a huge increase in need we're thankful to have ended the month with a surge in donations, which enabled us to keep the amount of needs on our website at a balanced level. We would appreciate your prayer for God's continued provision for the individuals needing our help at this time.
We do hope and pray that you have a very blessed Easter time, and please join us in praying for our work, and the individuals we are seeking to help.
Firstly this month we are very thankful to God for:
A surge in donations towards the end of the month, which meant that we were able to keep a more healthy balance of requests for help on our website.
A wonderful guest speaker who has confirmed their availability for our Giving Hope Together event in May. Watch this space!
New donors who are donating on our website every week. We are seeing around 20 new donors each week who are finding us through social media, their local Acts 435 partner church/charity, or through simply searching for us on the internet. Please pray for this to continue, but also an increase in new donors finding out about our work.
Being able to be part of the solution to the fight against poverty. Every day our partners are providing holistic services, such as debt counselling or wellbeing cafes, and Acts 435 can help to step into a crisis as part of this. Just one recent example was X, whose local Advocate said:
This response from X's support worker says it all: "Thank you again for everything, X was genuinely so thrilled about it all and it was really nice to hear that brightness in his voice today." We were able to get all of the furniture that X needed, but also able to introduce him to a local Christian café outreach where he was able to link into weekly food parcels and also have somewhere warm and welcoming to visit, which will help with his social isolation. It was such a win/win situation which was made possible by the generosity of the Acts 435 supporters. Thank you so much!
The 667 individuals and families who have been helped in March by Acts 435 Advocates and donors with £90,910 distributed to those who need it most.
Please join us in praying for:
Our Fresh Start Appeal, which is ongoing over Easter. Please pray that we can provide a fresh start for 100 individuals and families, all of whom are often facing impossible situations without the support of Acts 435 donors.
We have asked our local partners to share our Fresh Start Appeal on the social media channels. Please pray that many of our partners share this, and that individuals respond with donations.
Our advert in the Premier Christianity magazine, which will be handed out during the two Spring Harvest locations. Please pray that many will be intrigued to find out more about what we do, and will want to donate.
The team, and board of trustees, as we discuss next steps to ensure that we're keeping the balance of need and donations.
As always, thank you for your prayers for these individuals, our Advocates and for Acts 435 as we seek to do more for those in need in the UK.
Best wishes,
Katie
