MoveIn #PrayerJourney18 Scarborough 6K
- Julius Vincent Naredo
- Jun 24, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: May 7, 2020
"The #PrayerJourney18 is a global event led by the MoveIn Vision Team, a registered Canadian charity based in Toronto, Ontario. The team works to spread the MoveIn vision globally, to advocate for the marginalized, and to support a growing movement of Christians choosing to intentionally live among the urban, unreached poor."
"We walked, ran and cycled. And as we went, we prayed. We prayed for God to “raise up workers” (Matt. 9:38) in unreached, urban poor communities globally. Specifically, we prayed for teams of regular Christians to move into these neighbourhoods."
"Some Prayer Journeyers travelled through high-needs apartment complexes. Others weaved their way through developing-world slums. Still others found themselves winding through shanty towns, squatter settlements, refugee camps, trailer parks, or favelas.
As we made our way through streets and paths, we prayed for the people we saw. We prayed for the building and the pain, joys, and hopes inside. We prayed—reaching into the communities—for the cities and nations beyond them."
In our Scarborough 6K walk, I was reminiscing and sharing to our group several of my experiences in my old neighbourhood of Malvern. We came across four of my old residences along our journey. We saw a shelter for women, Aboriginal Housing and we also saw a lot of children of different cultures playing outside by themselves. It was in the Empringham community aka "Empz" which is a Toronto Community Housing (TCH) neighbourhood popular for gang activity. Not one parent was around and all of them were younger than 10 years old. One of the older ladies in our prayer journey mentioned this and started to pray for their futures. We all pray for them to encounter Jesus and His Love in that community.
Later on the journey, I was praying with one of my new friends who was part of another patch. We were praying for more Christians to move in to the Scarborough neighbourhood then suddenly...we bumped into a man with a 'Jesus Christ' hat on who was also doing a prayer walk in the Malvern community. He called out two of his friends who were praying and driving from a distance, they all attended a church called Malvern Christian Assembly. Two older Caribbean ladies stepped out of their car, walked over to us in their umbrellas and we all started praying together! There are several Christians already living in the neighbourhood who are men and women of peace who God can use to bridge more MoveIn-ers to this neighbourhood!
"Ultimately, we continue to pray for the Church to move in, to imitate the One who came 'to preach Good News to the poor'. We desire to follow in the footsteps of the One who “became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.” (Eph. 5:1; Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18; John 1:14). Please continue to join us as we look to God for the release of prayer, vision, action and finance for the world’s bottom billion."
Route: 6K walk | MoveIn Patch: Malvern |
Time: 9 AM | Starting Point: Church of the Nativity
"Scarborough so often has areas with bad reputations that are so often misunderstood. Malvern is one of those areas, and we are so excited to pray through this community! As we pray and walk, we will be passing by a women's shelter, various churches, religious buildings, and community housing buildings. This is a neighbourhood known for crime and drugs. Out of ranking of 140 neighbourhoods in Toronto, this community is ranked 132 - making it the eighth "worst" neighbourhood to live in. We believe this isn't the truth, and there is so much more here! 70% of those living in the Malvern area are families - this community has the highest concentration of young people in Canada! There are over 60 cultures present in this community, including people from Caribbean Islands, and from South East Asia.Come, pray with us and experience the life and beauty of this community."
"There are so many more poor, urban neighbourhoods with unreached peoples who need Christian presence. Will you consider moving into one of these neighbourhoods?"
To learn more about MoveIn, please visit my home page.
Comments