Programme Partners

We are delighted to be partnering with three organisations to bring you a rich programme for this year’s National Gathering! They have each thought very deeply about how we can best engage in prayer to pursue justice in the way of Jesus and have a wealth of experience on what it looks like to Pray Boldly.

24-7 Prayer

24-7 Prayer is an international and interdenominational movement of night and day prayer. We believe wholeheartedly in the intersection of prayer, mission and justice as the calling of all followers of Jesus. The vision is Jesus, obsessively, dangerously, undeniably, Jesus.

This year Just Love and 24-7 Prayer are collaborating to support Just Love to cultivate a culture of prayer which, by nature, spills out into your city, community and reaches the world as we pour out of lives for Him. This looks like support, coaching and mentoring with the 24-7 Prayer staff team and resources to set up your own 24-7 prayer rooms for justice in your city. Prayer changes everything, because first it changes us.

Medair

Medair is a Christian humanitarian organisation working with the most vulnerable people in the world's hardest to reach places. Working in some of the most dangerous places on the planet, such as Somalia, Afghanistan and Sudan, prayer forms the absolute heart of all that we do, and our teams tell numerous stories of miraculous deliverance and provision in seemingly hopeless situations.

Praying boldly is genuinely the foundation of Medair's work, and so we are so exciting to be partnering with Just Love at this year's national gathering and having the opportunity to share some of who we are with people who share our heart for justice and an end to poverty.

““Your prayers have done many miracles.” – Yemeni Secret Believer

“There are no borders, no prison walls, and no doors that are closed to us when we pray…in the realm of prayer there are no impossibilities.” Brother Andrew

Our hope is that you may leave this year’s national gathering with a greater awareness and personal invitation to stand, contend and lament. That your faith may be built and stirred as you hear the testimony of those who share our faith but not our freedom.”

Open Doors

Main Stage Speakers

Brother Sam

Prayer and The Body of the Church
Prayer is never a solo activity. Whenever we pray, we pray in fellowship with the Lord and alongside the saints. In this session, Brother Sam invites us to see prayer as joining a song that never stops: the unceasing prayer and praise of heaven and of Christ’s global body. He opens up the bigger picture of what it means to be caught up in the life of the spiritual cosmos. He explores the call to pray without ceasing, and helps us fall back in love with prayer by discovering that we are never praying alone.
Ruth Valerio

Lament and grief in the search for justice
Our world feels pulled ever deeper into crisis, from climate and ecological destruction to war, political breakdown and social media overload. For those committed to justice, the weight of it all can leave us numb, anxious or exhausted. In this session, Ruth Valerio invites us to meet that weight with honesty before God, and to see lament and grief as part of the work of justice rather than a detour from it.
Rooted in the Bible’s vision of a renewed creation, Ruth explores how we can stay engaged without burning out, building resilience, sustaining hope and caring for our wellbeing. She will help us make room for sorrow, name what we are carrying, and find the strength to keep going, so that we do not grow weary of doing good.

Seminar Sessions

The Pathos, Passions and Purposes of God in Our Cultural Moment

Rosie Benjamin
In a day filled with outrage, what does it mean to pray? This session turns our attention to the heart of God: his pathos, his passions and his purposes. Scripture shows a God whose whole being is moved by the brokenness of the world, and who invites us to feel with him rather than numb out or burn out. Rosie will explore how we can pray prophetically and with intercession in our cultural moment.
Bring It All: An Honest Conversation on Lament and Grief

Rachel Dhillon
Some seasons of life leave us with little to say to God except how much it hurts. This panel is an honest conversation about lament, grief and what it means to show up in prayer as we really are. Our panellists alongside Rachel Dhillon from 24-7 Prayer in Scotland will talk about how they keep pursuing Jesus in every season, including the hard ones, and the spiritual practices that have held them when prayer felt difficult.
There will be time to take your questions and reflect together. Come as you are, with whatever you are carrying.
Why We Pray in Humanitarian Work

Fraser Bell, Medair
When crisis strikes, the instinct is to act. So why do those working in some of the world’s hardest places stop to pray? Medair is a humanitarian organisation inspired by Christian faith to relieve suffering in remote and devastated places. In this session, we’ll explore why prayer is part of the work itself, and how it draws us into God’s passion for the most vulnerable.
Creating Space for God to Act

Brother Sam
Prayer is more than asking God to do something. It is creating space for him to act. In this session, Brother Sam explores what it means to make room for God in our lives, our communities and our world, and why that room matters for the work of justice. Drawing on the Franciscan idea of becoming prayer - when our lives are shaped by prayer, our pursuit of justice becomes an overflow of life with God rather than a substitute for it.
Sing It Into Being: Writing a Justice Anthem Together

Kenny Innes
Throughout history, movements for justice have been carried by song. Songs give voice to lament, keep hope alive, and put words in the mouths of people who are tired, angry or afraid. In this hands-on session, we’ll write one together.
No musical experience is needed. Whether you write lyrics, hum melodies or just have a line that won’t leave you alone, there’s a place for you. Together we’ll draw on Scripture, our stories and the injustices we long to see put right, and shape them into an anthem for our movement, something we can sing at this event and carry home with us.
Prayer Before Strategy

Fraser Bell, Medair
Burden before vision. Intercession before strategy. Humanitarian restoration starts in prayer.
It is tempting to start with a plan. But what if the most strategic thing we can do is pray first? Medair has helped families in crisis survive and recover with dignity since 1989. In this session, we’ll reflect on why burden comes before vision, and what it means to let prayer lead the way.
Secret Church Service

Anneliese Rimmer
In some countries, such as Eritrea, Christians cannot openly gather to pray or openly say they follow Christ. For many believers, worship happens quietly, in hiding and at real risk. In this session, Anneliese and others from Open Doors invites us to step into that reality and experience a little of what it is like to worship in secret.
Boldness to Listen: Prayer, Formation, and Spirit–led Justice

Sandra and Kenny Innes
Is prayer important to the work of justice? Most of us would say yes, but many of us feel the tension between prayer and action. We can be too busy planning and doing good to pray, or too absorbed in contemplation to act. Whether you see yourself as a strategist, an activist or a contemplative, this session aims to challenge you, and perhaps make you bristle, as it reframes why prayer is foundational to justice. Taking the gathering’s theme of “Pray Boldly,” we’ll explore one of the boldest ways to pray: listening. Listening resists our anxiety and our assumption that we already know the answers.
The Now and the Not Yet: Stories from the Persecuted Church

Anneliese Rimmer
One in seven Christians worldwide is persecuted for their faith. Behind that number are real people living with fear, loss and costly faithfulness, and also with courage and hope that can challenge and encourage the rest of us. In this session, Anneliese and others from Open Doors will shares stories from the persecuted church and how to hold the tension of the now and the not yet.
What does the prophetic have to do with justice?

Mary Thomason
What is the prophetic? What does it look like to live a prophetic life and what does that have to do with justice? Come ready to hear some stories, open up the Bible and get involved with some practical activation.
Night and Day: Building a Culture of Prayer

Rachel Dhillon
What would it look like for prayer to become the rhythm of your life and your community? This seminar explores how to build a culture of prayer, starting with your own habits and reaching into running night and day prayer rooms with friends, your community and your church. You’ll hear stories from prayer rooms around the nations and receive practical training you can use straight away. You’ll leave ready to turn your church, your tent, your living room or even a van into a place of night and day prayer.

Speaker Bios

Rachel Dhillon

Rachel Dhillon is the National Lead for 24-7 Prayer Scotland. Rachel is incredibly passionate about supporting individuals, churches and communities to live out lives that are filled with prayer, mission and justice. Rachel believes that in order to be bold in our faith, we need to learn to pray. Rachel believes that we must continue to humble ourselves, develop our prayer life, and learn to show up honestly and authentically in prayer. Rachel loves being creative, playing and listening to music and watching football with her little boy. Rachel can't wait to be with the Just Love Network again!
There will be time to take your questions and reflect together. Come as you are, with whatever you are carrying.
Fraser Bell

Fraser Bell has been part of the Medair Executive Team since 2023. Previously he led emergency responses for Medair in South Sudan, Darfur and Uganda. In between his stints with Medair, Fraser built a global development practice for a leadership consultancy, grew a family business and led a community of prayer. Fraser holds a master's degree in international Humanitarian and Human Rights Law from the University of Nottingham.
Anneliese Rimmer

Anneliese has been serving on the Open Doors team since 2020, connecting and gathering Young Adults and Students across the UK & Ireland with their persecuted family. Her experience of travelling and meeting with persecuted believers has encouraged, challenged and discipled her faith. She has a passion for intercession and sharing testimonies of courage, and championing individuals as they follow Jesus.
She loves all things hospitality, gathering people around a table for good food and conversation, and maybe has an unhealthy love for all things country music and cowboy boots.
Brother Sam

Sam has been a Franciscan brother for almost as long as he can remember, seeking to respond to the Franciscan vocation to live and work at the margins of society to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
He has had a particular involvement with developing Hilfield Friary in Dorset as a place of sustainability and care for creation – our common home. He now lives in east London where the brothers share their friary with those seeking asylum in the UK. Sam is also the co-author of Seeing Differently: Franciscans and Creation.
Kenny Innes

Kenny Innes is the teaching and preaching pastor at Falkirk Vineyard Church and also teaches with WTC, a charismatic interdenominational theological college with learning communities all over the UK and NI. He hosts the podcast ‘TheoDisc’ which aims to connect people with theological discussions that encourage their understanding and faith. He is also a board member of Kyria.
No musical experience is needed. Whether you write lyrics, hum melodies or just have a line that won’t leave you alone, there’s a place for you. Together we’ll draw on Scripture, our stories and the injustices we long to see put right, and shape them into an anthem for our movement, something we can sing at this event and carry home with us.
Sandra Innes

Sandra Innes is a trained spiritual director with Sustainable Faith. She deeply enjoys helping spiritual leaders and laypeople alike to notice the work of God in their lives. She also is helping to train other spiritual directors within the U.K. to help nurture fellow disciples of God and further God’s Kingdom in our world. She loves nature, art and deepening her knowledge of the vast and beautiful tradition of Christian mysticism, contemplation and spiritual formation.
Mary Thomason

Mary Thomason is a theology nerd who believes that the thinking we do about God should shape the way we outwork our faith, and the God that we think about is also the God who can be experienced in a real and life changing way. She is currently doing her PhD in New Testament studies with a focus on trust and women. When she is not studying she works for WTC Theology in leading their learning communities. Mary has many years experience working in business, the Church and with local justice projects.
Rosie Benjamin

Rosie is a close friend of the Just Love Network, and lives in North London. She has had an astonishing and wide-ranging career, including time working in prisons, publishing, schools and social care. However, for the last two decades, Rosie's primary call has been to pray. Called out of "mainstream" work, she has lived as an intercessor, with a focus on both local communities and global conflict zones. Rosie's a writer and storyteller, and we are so grateful that she's joining us this year again after speaking at last year’s gathering.

Connect Cafe

We have many wonderful organisations we respect and learn from joining us throughout the event. Throughout Saturday they will be present in our Connect Café, keen to connect with you and support you on your justice journey! Alongside our programme partners they will also each be hosting a ‘table talk’ conversation at Saturday lunchtime - an opportunity for you to sit down and have a more in-depth conversation about a justice area they carry expertise within!

Joining us will be…