An invitation to FUSION.

We are just about to mail out an invitation to every church in Newport and so I thought I would give you a sneak preview of the art work Gareth has produced for the poster. I think it is awesome.
Here also is the invitation that every Christian in Newport should receive through their church leader.

Dear church leader

This letter is to invite both you and your fellowship to the next 'Prayer for the City' which has now been re-branded as Fusion to capture the new direction in which God is taking us all.
This prayer event for Newport will start at 8pm on Friday 19th May and the doors will remain open until 8pm Saturday 20th May. This means that you can drop in when you like for as long as you like…. 5 minutes or 5 hours, it’s up to you. This event is all about spending time with God, praying for Newport and allowing Him to send us out as an answer to our prayers.
There will be some new features to the event this time:

• 2hrs of contemporary worship on Friday night, starting at 8pm and leading into a time of prayer.
  
• On Saturday 11am – 12pm there will be a time of hymn based worship and prayer.
  
• The whole event will conclude with an hour of worship commencing at 7pm.
  
• Fusion2 will be open [in the community centre directly opposite Bethel Community Church] throughout most of Saturday providing refreshments (coffee etc) as well as a place to chat.
  

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?
In a nutshell Fusion is a prayer event, a 24hr prayer event. It is when every Christian in Newport is invited to come together to intercede and pray the city (not of course for the whole 24hrs, but for as much time as you want to devote).

This has a long history in church tradition (since much of the Catholic and Anglican liturgy is based upon cycles of continual monastic prayer) as well as the Bible:
1 Thes 5:16-18 “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Ps 134:1 “Oh, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, you who serve as night watchmen in the house of the LORD.”
Luke 2:36-37 “Anna, a prophet … was a widow, for her husband had died when they had been married only seven years. She was now eighty-four years old. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer.”

WHAT HAPPENS?
Each Fusion event will have its own specific focus although each event will begin and end with a time of worship. We take over the whole of Bethel Community Church transforming it into a massive prayer room (perhaps Newport’s largest!) setting up a variety of ‘prayer zones’. These are stations which will encourage you to think about a certain aspect of City life and energize you to pray for them.
Aside from this there is no structure to the day so you can feel free to come and go as you wish depending on how much time you can spare. No matter how long you have you can be sure of one thing, you will have an awesome time in God’s presence. David Kemp (Gaer Christian Fellowship) sent us this email after the last event:
“Hi! Just a note to encourage you. The experience, though only short for me, was truly amazing. Personally, I am profoundly inspired by this form of prayer, meditation and worship. I rarely come away having not been challenged and inspired. Please be encouraged to be stretched.”

WHO CAN COME ALONG?
Everyone! You don't have to pray out loud either. All are made welcome because it is Christ's face we are seeking together.
The church doors are open through out the event and so anyone can pop in. No matter what church background you have you will hopefully feel at home in the presence of your Heavenly Father, in His ‘House of Prayer.’

WHEN DID ALL THIS START?
It all began in March 2002.
As a church we [at Bethel] felt the need to meet regularly to focus ourselves in prayer for the city we dearly wanted to impact. So, one Saturday, we arranged a day of prayer, 8am to 8pm. It had such an impact that the leaders quickly realised that this needed to continue.
We began to plan it as a quarterly event sending out invitations to every church in Newport. This quickly grew into a 24 hour prayer vigil with more than 10% of the churches in Newport coming together with a sincere heart for unity and a passion for personal, and city wide transformation. All the time God has been shaping and reshaping Fusion, bending it to His purposes.

To get involved simply come along, or for more info on Fusion call 01633 212327 or e-mail fusionevent@fsmail.net.