Another year has almost run its course and everywhere people are beginning to prepare for Christmas. In our family there is always a race for who can get their Christmas tree and decorations up first and looking perfect! The creativity and fun this unleashes is remarkable: Gordon is a firm contender, taking on our daughter, Nicola, and daughter-in-law, Jenny. I couldn’t possibly comment on who is the most competitive! But as we enter this Christmas season, the four weeks of Advent remind us to pause and prepare in a different way too. One of my own favourite moments of this season is always a candle-lit carol service and the opportunity to reflect again on the wonder of the birth of a baby that changed the course of history. I always appreciate these verses from Luke 2:
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”
In all the busyness of this season, I pray that you will become aware of angelic hosts surrounding and overshadowing you and that you will know this peace and the favour of Jesus resting on you, your home and family! We took this photo of the Christmas angels over London and bus “22” to remind us that Jesus will give us the keys to our cities! (Isaiah 22:22)
As we write to you this month, our friends in the USA are celebrating Thanksgiving this week. Here at Heartcry we want to take a moment to express how grateful we are to each one of you for all your love, support, prayer and financial investment this year. 2025 has had some unforeseen challenges and opportunities, not least through Helen’s surgery and recovery which meant a different rhythm and flow to the year. Gordon and I have travelled and ministered more together while Helen stayed at home for the first half of the year and wrote her book on the Holy Spirit (due to be published towards the end of December or early January!). As a team, over the last 12 months we have visited 40 cities in the UK and served 12 other nations. Heartcry expanded its home team in September with the wonderful addition of Rebecca Briggs who is working a day a week to help us develop prayer strategy and give momentum to some of our leaders’ projects too. If you attended our September Legacy day you will also have seen what a gifted worship leader she is! We have also loved connecting more intentionally with several national church networks across the UK and enjoyed the privilege of investing in leadership teams in many nations. Moldova has continued to be such fruitful ground for the Gospel and we cannot thank our mission partners, Charlotte & Johannes, enough for their tireless dedication and faithfulness in serving so many across Moldova. Their most recent update can be found on our website here https://heartcryforchange.com/project/november-2025-update/ where they share the amazing doors opening to them in this next season. Thank you to everyone who prays for, and invests in, this work in Moldova!
During November Gordon, Helen and I have served several churches in the UK, including visits to Southwell, Ashbourne, Bolton, St Albans and Dunstable. Gordon and I also had the joy of being part of the European Prophetic Council meetings in Rome and then preaching at the third anniversary weekend of the Parola Della Grazia church in Orvieto, Italy. This was a special weekend where I was able to share a prophetic message of inspiration while Gordon shared his pastoral heart with the church. We were privileged to minister alongside a prayer team from London as we celebrated 3 years of this evangelical church in Orvieto. Our hearts have been knitted with the people here and we look forward to doing more with them.
We are not quite finished traveling for the year. Helen and I will be in Scotland for the first week of December connecting with prayer leaders and church pastors in Perthshire, Stirling and Edinburgh. Apart from a weekend in Bergen, Norway, we will then be mainly UK based until the end of January.
Here is an overview of the schedule for December 2025 and January 2026:
Ministry Dates December 2025 & January 2026
1-6 Dec Prayer assignments in Scotland (Rachel & Helen)
7 Dec Fresh Bread message, Heartcry social platforms (Rachel)
8-13 Dec Various meetings with network & ministry leaders
15-17 Dec Planning of schools of prayer, prophecy, Holy Spirit (Rachel & Helen)
22-30 Dec Heartcry office closed for Christmas
7-8 Jan South West Youth Ministries training, Lynton, UK (Helen)
8 Jan Premier Radio interview (Rachel)
9-12 Jan Jesusfellesskapet, Bergen, Norway (Rachel & Gordon)
17 Jan Heartcry Legacy Day, Oxford, UK
19-22 Jan New Year Retreat and Strategy Planning
23-27 Jan True Vive Church prophetic conference & leaders meetings, Isle of Wight (Rachel & Gordon)
31 Jan Wellspring Church ladies’ event, Watford, UK (Rachel & Helen)
31 Jan Wellspring Church Encounter evening, Watford, UK (Rachel & Helen)
1 Feb Wellspring Church morning services, Watford, UK (Helen)
1 Feb Soul Survivor Church, Watford, UK (Rachel)
We will not be writing a Heartcry newsletter at the end of December but we will send out our Heartcry Christmas video. So please watch and get your Christmas hug! A highlight in January is always our new year Heartcry Legacy Day. Tickets are now available on our website for PRAY 2026, a day of worship, prayer and prophetic encouragement to kickstart the year. This event is usually at capacity so please consider booking in early and do bring a car load of friends!
The schedule for the first half of 2026 is now fairly full with just a few weekends and Sundays left until the summer so do contact us by email at office@heartcry.co.uk if you would still like dates for your church. We look forward to seeing many of you in 2026!
Finally, if you are looking for inspiration for Christmas presents, we want to recommend “Surprised by God at Cambridge” compiled and edited by Gordon which will be available on Amazon from December. This is the story of the 1970s Awakening at the university with testimonies from 70 of those who were students at the time. The stories are truly inspirational especially as we see Jesus moving among Gen Z and younger again today!
MERRY CHRISTMAS and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Many blessings and hugs,
Rachel & Gordon and Helen too.