East & Central Regional Gathering 2018

'Lift up your eyes'

Saturday 1 December, Luton

You are invited to ‘Lift up your eyes’ - the Mahabba (East and Central) Regional Gathering.

For all Mahabba connected friends, for churches and all praying for and seeking to reach out to Muslim neighbours

An event to envision, encourage and enable:

• Lifting our eyes to see what God is doing

• Practical input and inspiration from the region

• Main speakers (Steve Bell and Adam Martin

• Seminars

• Updates on resources

An opportunity to:

• Meet with others who share the same vision

• Lift our voices in prayer for greater breakthroughs

Feedback from previous events:

To register or for more details contact: gillie@mahabbanetwork.com.

London Regional Gathering 2018

'Lift up your eyes'

Saturday 9 June, London, Bethnal Green

God is at work among Muslims in London - find out what he is doing where you are and be part of the movement.

We're taking inspiration from John 4:35 to share about what God is doing among Muslims in the UK and how you can get involved.

Tickets

What's different this year?

This year we will be holding separate events in the regions, instead of one main national gathering (although there may be one later in the year).

This should make it easier for you to get along to your local event and engage in a more personal way with what is relevant to your context.

N.B. these are different from the Engage events in partnership with Elim churches and Frontiers.

Who is it for?

• Coordinators of local Mahabba groups

• Members of Mahabba groups

• Friends and associates of Mahabba

• Anyone interested in the work of Mahabba and outreach to Muslims

• Church leaders

Basically, everyone is invited!

What can I expect?

Each regional gathering will have its own local flavour (see each event's EventBrite page for details), but will weave in some key elements, including:

Anything else I should be aware of?

Depending on your local event:

• A financial contribution may be encouraged

• Lunch may be provided, or you need to bring a packed lunch etc.

Find out more about previous gatherings:

Regional Gatherings 2018

'Lift up your eyes'

God is at work among Muslims in the UK - find out what he is doing where you are and be part of the movement.

We're taking inspiration from John 4:35 to share about what God is doing among Muslims in the UK and how you can get involved.

Tickets

What's different this year?

This year we will be holding separate events in the regions, instead of one main national gathering (although there may be one later in the year).

This should make it easier for you to get along to your local event and engage in a more personal way with what is relevant to your context.

Two regional events are planned for 12 May: Oldham and Gloucester; one on 9 June in London.

N.B. these are different from the Engage events in partnership with Elim churches and Frontiers.

Who is it for?

• Coordinators of local Mahabba groups
• Members of Mahabba groups
• Friends and associates of Mahabba
• Anyone interested in the work of Mahabba and outreach to Muslims
• Church leaders

Basically, everyone is invited!

What can I expect?

Each regional gathering will have its own local flavour (see each event's EventBrite page for details), but will weave in some key elements, including:

Anything else I should be aware of?

Depending on your local event:

• A financial contribution may be encouraged
• Lunch may be provided, or you need to bring a packed lunch etc.

Find out more about previous gatherings:

National Gathering 2017

Resources

All the materials, resources, info and bits and bobs from the day will be added here in the next week or so - do check back!

Mahabba animation - Make God's love go viral

Lovefast & 30 Days of Prayer video

Friends of Mahabba

World Cafe discussion notes

Feedback

Here's what you said about the event:

• How likely would you recommend the National Gathering to a friend? You gave us over 8 out of 10
• To what extent did the event achieve its aims of providing a time of 'networking, encouraging and equipping'? You gave us over 8 out of 10
• What do you think about the 'Friends of Mahabba' initiative? You gave us over 4 out of 5
• Would you share the Mahabba animation with friends and church? You gave us almost 4 out of 5
• Your favourite session was Adam's (session 2) - Working with refugees locally
• Are you likely to attend in future? You gave us 9 out of 10

The last word, here's what someone said about the day:

If you missed the questionnaire, you can still fill it in here.

2017 event details

'The Lord is my shepherd'

A day of equipping, encouraging and inspiration - all welcome - in Derby (not Marrakech, sadly), based around the theme 'The Lord is my shepherd', Psalm 23.

The day will focus on Mahabba activity around the UK, as well as a focus on refugees and what God is doing across Europe.

Read the latest blog on seven ways churches can respond effectively to refugees.

The aim of the gathering is to focus on your concerns and topics suggested by you - see the schedule below and how you can contribute suggestions.

Who is it for?

• Coordinators of local Mahabba prayer groups
• Members of Mahabba groups
• Friends and associates of Mahabba
• Anyone interested in the work of Mahabba and outreach to Muslims

What will it cost?

• We realise that each person's finances are different, so we do not want to exclude individuals on price
• As a guide, a contribution of £10 to £15 would help to cover some of the costs of the day (room hire, food, AV)
• There will be an offering during the day, or you can contribute below

Programme

What will it include?

• Lunch and refreshments will be provided - please make dietary requirements known in the registration form
• There is free parking at the venue
• Derby train station is a short 10 minutes walk away
• Internet access is available at the venue

Get your ticket

RESOURCES

Programme

Four movements of the heart

Notes

Heather - How to inspire prayer in your group
Gordon - Father's love mobilising thousands to rescue Muslims
Chas - How to be more effective in evangelism to Muslims
Chas - London & South breakout group
Georgina - Moses women in the Bible and Qur'an
Bruce - How to mobilise church leaders and Christians to engage with Muslim ministry

Prayer

Consecration Prayer Guide Sheet
Intervention Prayer Guide Sheet
Listening Prayer Guide Sheet
Spiritual Warfare Prayer Guide Sheet

Videos

Just Pray (banned in cinemas)
Thy Kingdom Come (Pentecost prayer campaign)
Prayer for the city

Review

Adrian from a group in the East wrote the following review of the day:
 
I have just visited the second only annual Mahabba National Gathering, held at Derby. Over fifty of us attended from over a dozen cities and rural areas up and down the UK. We ranged from those in Oxford who have seen God responding to faithful prayer with outreach and friendship opportunities, to someone from rural Kent who just thought Mahabba might be a good idea as so many Muslims pass through the nearby ports of Dover and Folkestone.
 
The day’s programme started with an extended singing of Worthy is the Lamb beautifully accompanied on DVD by fantastic scenery and of course the words. Then we were introduced to “Four movements of the heart” using the Lord’s Prayer to indicate to us our Orientation, Alignment, Empowerment and Engagement. Accompanying the four movements were beautiful images by Jim Dine, a contemporary American artist who only ever paints hearts, starting with “Four Hearts” 1969 which can be seen in the Tate Modern.
 
Gordon Hickson, the originator of Mahabba, reminded us of the Mahabba vision, values and focus and its networking style “like a starfish” rather than a spider’s web. Gordon read from the Message Bible Ephesians 3:14-21 and emphasised the primacy of prayer and learning and listening to God before we get on to the spiritual warfare so well known in Ephesians 6. We had great conversations hearing about the work of the Holy Spirit up and down our country in churches and amongst Muslims. The conversations were really helpful and supportive. Everyone was at a different stage of working with fellow churches and working with mosques and Muslims.
 
In a session on our local Mahabba group prayer times, we were encouraged to be deliberate about praying and not just talking about prayer. The speaker encouraged us to fix a regular weekly time of prayer and said her group met on a Tuesday at 7am ! As we got to know our local Muslim community she suggested we might like to pray not just for each mosque but for each Imam by name and their families as well as their festivals and any issues we came to hear about. And the final session returned to prayer, picking up on the Lord’s Prayer elements of Lead us not into temptation and Deliver us from Evil, with for types of prayer: Listening, Intervention, Warfare and Consecration. The whole day was very affirming of our work locally and I look forward to next year’s National Gathering. Why not join me? The date is Saturday 13th May 2017.