Pray for Birmingham, England

Birmingham is the manufacturing heart of England. After World War II, a severe labour shortage in the city’s factories prompted the government to invite unskilled workers from South Asia. In 1966, around 50,000 displaced rural farmers immigrated from Mirpur, Pakistan. The city’s Muslim community has since expanded to make up around 25% of its population. They are a mixture of second and third generation South Asians, as well as many migrants and refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Faisal is a young asylum seeker from Afghanistan who travelled to Birmingham two years ago. He runs a barber shop in one of the city’s most concentrated South Asian areas. He is a hard worker, careful and attentive – his customers like him. Faisal does not have “leave-to-remain” in the UK, which means he cannot legally work. Despite this, he opens his shop for 10 hours every day, hoping the authorities won’t catch him.

Soon after he arrived, Faisal learned about Jesus from a city church that welcomes asylum seekers. He faithfully attends Sunday services and a mid-week fellowship group. His Muslim housemates don’t know about his new faith, so he hides his Bible and does not pray openly. He has lost all contact with his family in Afghanistan and longs to find out if they are OK. However, his legal status prevents him from traveling.

How to Pray

• Pray that, like the church Faisal attends, other churches in Birmingham will intentionally welcome their Muslim neighbours. And pray for God’s blessing on those believers who are are already reaching out. (Psalm 119:132-133)
• Pray that social barriers between communities in Birmingham will fall. Some areas have become ethnic and religious enclaves. (Matthew 5:14-15)
• Birmingham is a large city, with issues common to large cities. Pray that drug trafficking, knife crime and gang violence will end. Some initiatives are bearing fruit but there is still a long way to go. (Titus 2:11-14)

Get the Prayer Guide