Wonderful Season of Prayer

I had a wonderful season of prayer today. Felt the need to spend extra time with my heavenly Father and unburden myself with the great needs I felt weighed down with. I have been concerned for the lost people that I have been ministering to and felt so strongly to plead with God to have mercy upon them and to take away the deception and darkness that is clouding their minds. Also for the lost in China and North Korea, Africa, Europe as our missionaries labor there. Prayer for our church. I have been following Paul's example of the prayers he recorded in his letters. I have been pleading with God that our people here would be filled with a knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding; that we would therefore bear fruit in every good work; that we would know the great hope of our calling, the riches of our inheritance and the great resurrection power that is in us. And chiefly -- after that amazing prayer we just studied in evening Bible Study -- that we would be given strength to know the width, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ and so be filled with the fullness of God.


After I finished my pleadings and petitions I was just resting in His Fatherly presence...loving Him and enjoying His nearness. Feeling at peace and filled with Him. I then thought... "What a wonderful thing it will be to be in heaven. To be near Him like this all the time. To know this peace, safety and security. To know all is well and to feel person to person His great love. To look upon Jesus, enthroned, glorious, loving and to know He loves me and loved me by sacrificing Himself for me. Oh how blessed are those saints who have gone on before us. What a privilege to continue to serve Him here and glorify His name, and also to know that heaven is my home and homeland even now!!"

The Call to be a Pastor

We had a very good day in class. My friend Randy Pizzino is teaching on the Holy Spirit. He is doing an excellent job. I spoke today on the Cross as a Revelation of God. The men were very reponsive and have expressed that this week has been a time of much learning and spiritual refreshment. God has been among us and it has been a blessing. I am conscious of people praying for us. I have gotten very close to the men here. I wish all of you could come with me and meet these dear men. Many have paid a high price to be where they are. The sacrifice and poverty, subsistence living, all mixed with joy, humility, and love. They are so very grateful for the instruction. These men take their call as pastors so very seriously and labor so diligently. It is an honor to be with them.

Wednesday Photos from Zambia

Here are some pictures James took today during our teaching session.

Please Pray for Me: Having Reaction to Malaria Medication

Please pray for me. I have had a reaction to the malaria medication and am experiencing restlessness and anxiousness. I went to a missionary doctor here and he took me off the medication right away but he said the symptoms may continue for another week. He did put me on another medication for malaria and said he didn't want me unprotected since we were in a high malaria area. I don't want to alarm anybody, I just feel the need for prayer. I took a Tylenol PM last night and finally got a good night's sleep and felt more rested today. Otherwise I'm doing wonderful; the teaching is going very, very well. We had a chance to go to the men's homes; it certainly welled up emotions as the poverty was immense. Pray also for these dear brethren.

Conflicting Emotions

We had a great time with the men today. It was just so depressing after the seminar because I went with James to take the men home. Some live in "compounds". These are the poorest sections of the city. I was once again shocked at the poverty these pastors live in; small one or two room cement block unpainted subsistence living. I was noticing how much these men were eating at lunch -- easily twice what I eat -- then I realized this was their only meal for the whole day. I have had emotions all across the spectrum today: from incredible thankfulness at how I have lived my whole life (our little neighborhood is literally like an Eden compared to the dirt, garbage, dust and depressing places here), to guilt that I have even complained once, to great compassion and admiration for these men, to the amazement at their joy. These men cannot even imagine how we live. They are much less in touch with US than I realized. I tried to explain what our football is and just assumed everyone knew what American football is like... but they had never heard of it.

God has raised up some dedicated and wonderful workers here. I have been moved again at how much sacrifice the missionaries make to be here. Keep praying.