Pray For Schools Scotland Spring - Summer Update
Dear Friend,
The final countdown to summer has arrived. We are now in a busy term both academically and socially, with exams and assessments, parents' evenings, school trips, sports days, shows, career fairs and leavers' proms. The end of a school year is a big event in a young person's life! Check out SU Scotland's MOVE resources which help P7s make the transition to high school.
School shapes young people in more ways than one. School for me was Graeme High in Falkirk and it was there I first linked with Scripture Union. I have happy memories of weekly meetings and social trips to Blackness for games of rounders. I invited along my non-church friend, who today is an active Christian and elder. SU Groups still have their vital place today as Dave Rickards, Director National Ministries, explains below.
Other Christian organisations are also busy in schools. Katie Mitchell works for the Message Trust and tells us in this issue of the valuable PSE programmes she provides to secondary pupils, and of a mission event she is involved with in June.
We are ALL partners in mission through our prayers for schools. Maybe you need inspiration to keep going? Jill Walker has written an article sharing all the different ways she resources schools prayer in NE Fife. Read on for some great ideas you might like to copy!
Every blessing as you pray for schools,
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Elizabeth McDowall
Pray for Schools Scotland Coordinator
E: Elizabeth.McDowall@suscotland.org.uk
Psalm 145:8, 18 (The Message)
God is all mercy and grace - not quick to anger, is rich in love. God's there, listening for all who pray, for all who pray and mean it.
Helping P7s transition to high school
MOVE is a free resource that can be delivered in school or at church by a chaplain, youth worker or volunteer as part of Religious Observance. It is also perfect for a teacher to deliver under Health & Wellbeing and RME outcomes. Find the resource and watch the trailer at suscotland.org.uk/move <https://suscotland.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=62b2f4db4f67f7627b1c974e1&id=2e1d80609a&e=a84e2ee09a> .
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SU Groups: Making a Difference in the lives of children and young people in a school near you!
Our #1 Priority at Scripture Union Scotland during this academic year has been to get SU Groups up and running again. After two years of restrictions due to the pandemic, it has been wonderful to see schools opening their doors to volunteers and staff members once again. Praise God that more than 200 SU Groups have been meeting this year – and although that’s only half the number that existed before COVID, each one is a testimony to the prayers of God’s people and the willingness of senior pupils, volunteers and staff to step out in faith and make things happen.
But why bother?
SU Groups provide a safe space for young people to have fun exploring the Bible. They’re great for Christians who want to connect, make friends and grow in their faith. And they’re a lifeline for children and young people who might otherwise never hear about God’s love for them. After all, 95% of children and young people never go to church – but most of them can be found in school on 190 days of the year (give or take)! We believe that every child and young person should have the opportunity to hear about Jesus – and school SU Groups are a great way for them to discover God’s love.
Do they really make a difference?
Yes! But don’t just take it from me. Here’s what young people said when we asked them what difference the SU Group had made in their lives: “You instantly have a connection… it’s great to be with other Christians my age… the group has helped my faith grow… we discuss answers to my friends’ difficult questions.” They can be a great training ground for young people as well. Senior pupils find that leading an SU Group at school is a great way to grow in faith, develop as a leader and help others with their deep questions about life.
How can I pray?
We would love it if you could pray for the SU Groups that are already running – and for the 2000+ schools without an SU Group.
If the school(s) you pray for has an SU Group, please pray that it would be a place where everyone feels welcome, where Christian values are modelled and where people enjoy exploring the Bible. Pray that the group would have a positive impact in the school, and a good reputation amongst the pupils. Pray too that the leaders would be wise, sensitive and gracious as they make the most of this incredible opportunity to be Christ’s ambassadors in our schools.
If the school(s) you pray for doesn’t have an SU Group, please pray for God to raise people up! Our experience is that most schools would love to have an SU Group, but we lack volunteers to run them. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest would provide the workers that are needed.
To find out more about how you can Make a Difference in the lives of children and young people in a school near you, visit suscotland.org.uk/makeadifference <https://suscotland.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=62b2f4db4f67f7627b1c974e1&id=c1090b4214&e=a84e2ee09a> .
If you aren't sure if there is a group in the school you are praying for, email Regional@suscotland.org.uk to find out.
Message to schools
My name is Kate Mitchell. As well as being a mum, since 2021 I have been working for the Message Trust (Scotland) as Missions Project Leader.
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I came to faith in my twenties just before starting at Glasgow University and I have been working with young people in various capacities ever since. I have long carried a burden for the topic of the sexualisation of culture and the impact it has on young people. My heart is to meet young people where they are and to help them see that the gospel is good news for sex and relationships. The focus of my work therefore has been to bring the Message Trust's sex and relationships projects to schools in Scotland.
All our secondary pupils have Personal & Social Education (PSE) as a subject. PSE addresses the learning outcomes within the Health & Wellbeing indicators in Curiculum for Excellence relating to moral, emotional, social and physical wellbeing, planning for choices and change, substance misuse and relationships, sexual health and parenthood. For the last 18 months I have been delivering PSE classes to high schools in greater Glasgow, where I live.
The need for our work is huge. Pornography causes damage for performers, partners and viewers. The fact that so many of these viewers are children is deeply disturbing. Every month 1.4 million children access pornography, which is absolutely horrific. A cross-party Parliamentary Inquiry found that almost one in three 10-year-olds have already seen pornography online.
My heart is to equip young people, to encourage them to question what they see, hear, watch and read, and evaluate the messages communicated. I want to help young people to value themselves and question what they are putting into their hearts and minds, and help young people to know they can turn things off, they can walk away, they can say no.
This is where the Message Trust comes in. We currently have six teams in four countries delivering first-class lessons looking at the damage of pornography and also tackling topics like consent, positive relationships and sexting, living online and self-esteem. In addition we offer a fantastic boys' course and girls' course which are delivered over a 6-week period and cover topics such as objectification, grooming, respect and exploitation. All material meets with the Curriculum for Excellence and has been in written in line with PSE and RME (Religious and Moral Education) criteria, so it is hugely accessible for teachers. The lessons are accessible to young people of all faiths and none. And as with all things from the Message Trust, it is evangelistic at heart. In every lesson we tell young people that we believe they are valued and loved by God. Encouragingly, these lessons have been hugely well received by the schools I have visited so far.
In addition to my lessons in schools, Message Scotland are partnering with SU Scotland to deliver a week of mission to schools in Falkirk and Stirling during the week beginning 12 June. The Message band, called OTC, will be visiting four schools during the week, performing live and using music to reach out to young people. Their visit to schools will culminate with an evangelistic event in Stirling Baptist Church on 16 June, where we hope that as many young people as possible respond to the invitation to come along. The band members are passionate about bringing hope to young people, themselves having a testimony of being trapped in hard situations and unhealthy lifestyles. Please be praying for the Lord to be at work!
Pray for Kate as she delivers lessons in schools. Pray for positive changes in attitudes and behaviour. Pray too for the tour in June - for logistics, for a warm response in schools, and that many will come to the concert and find hope in Jesus.
Pray, pray, pray!
My name is Jill Walker and I work as NE Fife Development Worker with the K2 Trust. When I came into post and was faced with the sizeable task of getting schools work going again post-pandemic in a wide area with 42 schools, it was obvious that prayer would have to come first! In Genesis 1:2 we read that the Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters. It is this verse that inspired me to look for, and expect, God to establish his kingdom where there has been chaos and disconnection. I am convinced that as we pray and engage with God, his plans and purposes unfold step by step. So my aim was, and still is, to develop a prayer network to cover all the schools in the area in which I am working.
First steps included joining with local people to prayer walk the areas where schools are found. As we pray we take God's presence with us, we bless the land, the households and the people who live there; we ask God to go ahead of us by His Spirit. We prayer walk most weeks. The group in the photo meets to prayer walk the East Neuk every month.
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Christians like to pray in different ways: for many, a monthly prayer letter sent to individuals and churches is most helpful to inform their prayers. Some local churches pray for schools at their Sunday service once a month. These prayers form part of an ongoing cover of prayer. It's great to keep praying for SU groups, for curriculum work (such as Bible Alive <https://suscotland.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=62b2f4db4f67f7627b1c974e1&id=b014072ac2&e=a84e2ee09a> ) and for the life of the school, keeping up to date with any issues the school is struggling with and of course, praying for the pupils and school staff.
We also believe it is particularly powerful when we pray together (Matthew 18:20) so have set up an in-person prayer meeting in one of the towns each term. This provides information about schools in the local setting. There is something special about two or three praying and agreeing together in prayer. We have focussed on praying for doors to open and have seen God do this one by one, and at the right time, as we have been invited into schools across the area to do curriculum work.
More prayer has been generated through the setting up of a WhatsApp group specifically dedicated to the schools work in NE Fife. 30 people have signed up for this and each week I am able to post 2-3 prayer requests. I post requests early in the day for things such as a team going into a school, or requesting prayer
for a particular issue. I believe it is important to focus prayer specifically. It is hugely encouraging to know that people will pray for a few minutes as they receive the message and that our activities will be covered in prayer. The messages are one-way only (there is a setting which allows administrators only to post) to avoid too many texts and to regulate potentially sensitive prayer information. People can respond with an emoji to indicate they are praying. Here's an example below:
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Answered prayer
A clear answer to prayer was seen a couple of weeks ago. Two or three people connected with K2 as well as myself had made unsuccessful attempts to get a particular school to agree to have an SU Group or curriculum activities. One morning a team member had a notion to try again. So we WhatsApped our praying friends and asked them to pray as she went into the school. It was exciting to find out later that day that the school had unexpectedly agreed to us coming in to deliver Bible Alive next term!
I hope that our prayer network will grow and that we will see God at work in significant ways in North East Fife as we cover schools in prayer in each town and village.
Hopefully Jill's article has motivated you to keep praying for schools. If you would like to link up with others praying for the same school(s) as you, or your Regional Worker, please email Elizabeth.McDowall@suscotland.org.uk stating the names of the schools.