Praying Moms

By Janée Angel, CBF field personnel

Ten years ago, I felt the Lord asking me to begin to pray with moms at the local Christian, public elementary school. I had just finished four years of teaching English each school day in the same place. Now it was time to begin something new.  
I started praying during the summer with a teacher who also wanted to see God do changes in the school. We prayed each week for the seven weeks of the vacation. By the time the school year began in September 2016, we had four women praying on Wednesday mornings. We were not allowed to pray inside the school building in the first months. Finally, the administration allowed us to meet in the old art room.  
 
That first year, we grew to 11 mamas from the U.S., Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil, Belgium, Venezuela and Iraq. We prayed for miracles to happen and walls to come down because the city was ready to close the doors of the school. By the end of the school year, God did the unimaginable and answered our prayers in the most unexpected way. The school stayed open and then we had to pray for the right corrections to be made. 

We continued praying for the last 10 years, each Wednesday morning. This year, our youngest daughter is graduated from the school. And I have felt my time also come to a close. Last week, I celebrated with the women from the decade. We gathered for breakfast, prayers and tears. Even one former mom from the school who now lives in Africa returned to celebrate the years.  

It is certainly not the end of my prayers for education in Belgium. In fact, over the last year, the Lord has shown me how to expand the tent of prayer and include many more needs than those only under one roof. Our group will continue in the school each Wednesday and we will start another monthly group on Fridays that prays for the needs of education starting with the minister of education in Flanders and all the schools in the region.  

The door didn’t really close, God just opened it wider. And it was such a blessing to finish the decade well. I handed over resources and the heart of prayer to 14 women. The director of the last seven years learned to depend on the behind-the-scenes conversations from the praying moms. I will carry many of these women with me to pray for the new season. God is at work and we have seen it. Experiencing His hand at work makes us ready for all the new ways He will hear and answer. We remain praying moms.