20 Nov 2025, 12:22Careen LawrenceLondon, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
Iron Sharpens Iron Ministry Unites Youth at Its Fifth Prayer Brunch
Daily Bread Ministry, which falls under the Iron Sharpens Iron Ministry, hosted their 5th Youth Prayer Brunch on Sunday, 16th November 2025, at Chiswick Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church. The brunch was supported by individuals of varied ages and from churches across London's Area 4, Area 6B, Area 6C, and Area 6D.
Iron Sharpens Iron (ISI) is a ministry where the community meets every day, 6:30 am – 7:30 am during the week and 7:30 am – 8:30 am on weekends and bank holidays. Within the ministry, there is Daily Bread, where individuals are encouraged to read a chapter of the Bible every day, and all are able to share their thoughts on the chapter within the WhatsApp group. Over the course of 21 days, beginning on 21st October, the group read together the book of John, sharing key thoughts and prayer points from the chapter at the end of each reading. During the 21 days of reading, the community was invited to take part in prayer and fasting to aid with their own personal endeavours. The Prayer Brunch was used as a way to conclude the reading of John and move forward into the book of Acts.
The ISI Prayer Brunches began in March 2024, from Jodi Timbou’s obedience to God in starting the Daily Bread Ministry in July 2023. The first Prayer Brunch was a coming together to celebrate the completion of reading the first 10 books of the Bible as a community. Jodi stated that “it was never the plan to keep reading, but we went with it. Ten books was a real milestone considering the plan was only ever one book.” She further states that the Prayer Brunches are structured, leading individuals through prayer, meditation on the Word, creating tangible takeaways, and ending with a competitive quiz which includes T-shirt prizes with scriptures.
On Sunday, Elysia Yuen led the prayer activity with a key focus on John 17:21. As attendees, we were guided in understanding the building blocks taken from this verse as well as others across the chapter. The building blocks were: thanksgiving, glorify the Father, unity, asking in Jesus’ name, praying for others, and praying for ourselves. With each block, we wrote our prayers on small pieces of paper, which we then placed inside a balloon along with confetti, which we then blew up and tied. Elysia explained that the symbolism behind this was that the air is a representation of the Holy Spirit, and filling it with prayers and confetti is because “God is colourful and sparkly, showing how our prayers ascend to the Father’s throne. Yet, in order for it to reach the heavenly places, it needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit, working through us, filling the balloon with air from our lungs.”
Chingy Bloom then took us into Acts 1, focusing on verse 8: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The words that stood out to some attendees were ‘power’, ‘Holy Spirit’ and ‘witness’, which, once discussed, we were able to agree that in our weaknesses, the Holy Spirit gives us the authority to witness to others.
Through looking at Acts 1:8, we had the opportunity to share our testimonies where we felt as though we were unable to witness, and the Holy Spirit showed us otherwise. One attendee shared that she asked for the Holy Spirit to be glorified through her work, and God did just that through her supporting the planting of a church in her area. Another attendee shared that she didn’t think she could do prayer ministry and devotionals, but being in the ISI community where she is supported, she has found that God prepared her to lead on the devotion for John 10.
Kingsley shared that he found the brunch to be spiritually fulfilling, allowing him to reconnect with friends and to further explore the book of John and some of the themes in Acts on a deeper level. Additionally, he shared that he really enjoyed the section led by Elysia as it “encouraged more personal prayer and an opportunity to view the power of prayer in a unique and creative way.” He highly recommends attending the brunches to all individuals who “would like to explore their understanding of the Bible further and to also have fellowship with others.”
The brunch catered to all ages, allowing the children to participate in reading the scriptures and taking part in the quizzes. Each child in attendance engaged well, and 8-year-old Imani shared that she “really enjoyed it, it was really good. My takeaway was from the book of John with Jesus and the quiz questions on John were really good.”
In closing, the ISI Prayer Brunch has been a spiritually uplifting event and was a powerful way to close out the book of John and open the book of Acts. Jodi shared that the Prayer Brunches are a powerful way to start the week, where we are able to spend quality time together with the Lord and each other outside of Sabbath. The community is filled with supportive individuals who are always willing to pray with and for each other. The Prayer Brunches are a way to allow us to get together outside of the WhatsApp group and Zoom sessions to fellowship one with another.
Daily Bread Ministry, which falls under the Iron Sharpens Iron Ministry, hosted their 5th Youth Prayer Brunch on Sunday, 16th November 2025, at Chiswick Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church. The brunch was supported by individuals of varied ages and from churches across London's Area 4, Area 6B, Area 6C, and Area 6D.
Iron Sharpens Iron (ISI) is a ministry where the community meets every day, 6:30 am – 7:30 am during the week and 7:30 am – 8:30 am on weekends and bank holidays. Within the ministry, there is Daily Bread, where individuals are encouraged to read a chapter of the Bible every day, and all are able to share their thoughts on the chapter within the WhatsApp group. Over the course of 21 days, beginning on 21st October, the group read together the book of John, sharing key thoughts and prayer points from the chapter at the end of each reading. During the 21 days of reading, the community was invited to take part in prayer and fasting to aid with their own personal endeavours. The Prayer Brunch was used as a way to conclude the reading of John and move forward into the book of Acts.
The ISI Prayer Brunches began in March 2024, from Jodi Timbou’s obedience to God in starting the Daily Bread Ministry in July 2023. The first Prayer Brunch was a coming together to celebrate the completion of reading the first 10 books of the Bible as a community. Jodi stated that “it was never the plan to keep reading, but we went with it. Ten books was a real milestone considering the plan was only ever one book.” She further states that the Prayer Brunches are structured, leading individuals through prayer, meditation on the Word, creating tangible takeaways, and ending with a competitive quiz which includes T-shirt prizes with scriptures.
On Sunday, Elysia Yuen led the prayer activity with a key focus on John 17:21. As attendees, we were guided in understanding the building blocks taken from this verse as well as others across the chapter. The building blocks were: thanksgiving, glorify the Father, unity, asking in Jesus’ name, praying for others, and praying for ourselves. With each block, we wrote our prayers on small pieces of paper, which we then placed inside a balloon along with confetti, which we then blew up and tied. Elysia explained that the symbolism behind this was that the air is a representation of the Holy Spirit, and filling it with prayers and confetti is because “God is colourful and sparkly, showing how our prayers ascend to the Father’s throne. Yet, in order for it to reach the heavenly places, it needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit, working through us, filling the balloon with air from our lungs.”
Chingy Bloom then took us into Acts 1, focusing on verse 8: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The words that stood out to some attendees were ‘power’, ‘Holy Spirit’ and ‘witness’, which, once discussed, we were able to agree that in our weaknesses, the Holy Spirit gives us the authority to witness to others.
Through looking at Acts 1:8, we had the opportunity to share our testimonies where we felt as though we were unable to witness, and the Holy Spirit showed us otherwise. One attendee shared that she asked for the Holy Spirit to be glorified through her work, and God did just that through her supporting the planting of a church in her area. Another attendee shared that she didn’t think she could do prayer ministry and devotionals, but being in the ISI community where she is supported, she has found that God prepared her to lead on the devotion for John 10.
Kingsley shared that he found the brunch to be spiritually fulfilling, allowing him to reconnect with friends and to further explore the book of John and some of the themes in Acts on a deeper level. Additionally, he shared that he really enjoyed the section led by Elysia as it “encouraged more personal prayer and an opportunity to view the power of prayer in a unique and creative way.” He highly recommends attending the brunches to all individuals who “would like to explore their understanding of the Bible further and to also have fellowship with others.”
The brunch catered to all ages, allowing the children to participate in reading the scriptures and taking part in the quizzes. Each child in attendance engaged well, and 8-year-old Imani shared that she “really enjoyed it, it was really good. My takeaway was from the book of John with Jesus and the quiz questions on John were really good.”
In closing, the ISI Prayer Brunch has been a spiritually uplifting event and was a powerful way to close out the book of John and open the book of Acts. Jodi shared that the Prayer Brunches are a powerful way to start the week, where we are able to spend quality time together with the Lord and each other outside of Sabbath. The community is filled with supportive individuals who are always willing to pray with and for each other. The Prayer Brunches are a way to allow us to get together outside of the WhatsApp group and Zoom sessions to fellowship one with another.
