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Concerning MMA's Intercession Ministry
All intercessors that sign up will receive the following:
1. Personal Intercession, your name being mentioned at least 2 to 3
times a week by Tove and John, and their closest prayer-partners in
South Africa.
2. Information on a regular basis from Tove and John about personal
needs for the intervention of God, and about development in the ministry
and relevant prayer requests.
3. Updates from Tove and John concerning answered prayers, for the
purpose of making possible prayers of THANKSGIVING to God.
Very much at heart
Even though this invitation to become an intercessory partner in MMA-ministries
might seem slightly formal, we can assure every reader that Tove and I have this
matter very much at heart. Each of the mentioned issues is of vital importance to
us. We know, from costly experience, that we do not have a genuine chance of seeing
the ministry succeed, unless not only we ourselves are faithful in prayer but we ALSO
have an effective covering of prayer by other intercessors.
Articles
Under the "Intercession" link,
articles will regularly be inserted concerning the subject of the “ministry of intercession”.
This theme has always been of vital importance, but never before in history has it been
given so much awareness as a dynamic and greatly needed ministry as in our time.
Unfortunately the number of recruits into the ministry of intercession has never
been sufficient. But this does not necessarily have to continue to be the case. The
articles on intercession will aim at encouraging those who already are active in this
ministry, and at arousing the interest of those who are potential intercessors, but who
have not as yet followed their calling into a responsible ministry of intercession.
Examples from our own lives
In a passage from my book, “Mission Made in Africa”, I describe some experiences that
taught me a whole lot about the importance of intercession.
The passage has the title: Intercession, the Indispensable Ministry in Missions.
“I often think of the fact that the success of the missionary ministry has much to do
with our relationships to Christian friends and relatives back home in our sender-church
and their ministry of intercession for us.
There was a period while we were in Tanzania, when my wife and I realized that we were
acutely in need of a much stronger covering of intercessory ministry than we had been
receiving for some time. This was a period of about three months, during which we
encountered a number of accidents and other unpleasant episodes.
An example of this was when one of our sons had a very serious case of food poisoning
while on board an aircraft on the way from Denmark to Zambia, and was in danger of his
life for some horrifying hours. “Luckily” there was a doctor on board who took the right
action for our son, and his life was saved.
About a month later I was on my way by car from Tanzania to Zambia, and the car I was driving
had a front wheel tyre-burst. This resulted in a serious accident that caused a grave concussion
to my head, and I was unconscious for three days. It was in a lonely spot, some distance away
from the nearest town, but “fortunately” some Christians came by, saw the situation, and
transported me to a clinic, where I was taken care of until I gained consciousness.
I have now described only two episodes, where we clearly felt that we were under attack by our
spiritual enemy, but there were many more. There was a series of very hard and unexpected
incidences and they had in common the character of endangering our lives in different ways.
It is noteworthy, however, that the incidences also had in common God’s marvellous protection
over us every time.
We were faced with the question from concerned friends, of whether the continual attacks against
us were not a sign from God, to show us that it was time for us to return to Denmark.
But God showed us another perspective on the whole matter. He was not about to change his plans
for our ministry-period in Tanzania.
Once, when we were experiencing an extreme amount of pressure, we asked God in prayer: “Are we
doing something wrong? Please tell us!”
But he clearly showed us that we were not the problem. The trying incidents had all come from
one source, our spiritual enemy; Satan was trying to hinder the work of God.
We immediately did our part to put right this serious shortcoming, by sending urgent letters to
our prayer-partners in Denmark, asking for their concentrated intercession for us.
Within a few weeks, we experienced a marked change in our situation. Furthermore the body of
intercessors not only prayed for us but also grew in numbers.
The following period of our ministry in Tanzania was blessed in a very special way, especially
with a harvest of many people coming to faith in Christ.”
We look forward to an exciting partnership in the ministry together with the many
intercessors, which we believe God will give us.
Tove og John Thomsen
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