prayer

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Bringing Light into Darkness

Turning off the main highway, our minibus bumped over the rocky gravel road toward Gege, Swaziland. Tree farms, with their orderly rows of pine and eucalyptus, gave way to grassy hillsides, cattle, and the occasional small cinder block building. I tried to snap some photos from the moving bus, with limited success.

About ten minutes into our 40-minute ride, we bounced past a run-down homestead flying a worn, solid black flag. Odd, I thought, and asked our missionary host what the flag signified. He explained that some Swaziland belonged to a cult that worshiped a nasty snake idol/demon, and the flag meant that a snake “church” met at this home. Apparently, Gege was the epicenter of this cult.

Swaziland_LAH_9879-001

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Departure

I can’t believe that October 12 is almost here. After months and months of preparation—planning, praying, working, packing—we’re finally going!

Tomorrow afternoon our team assembles at the church parking lot, luggage in tow. After piling into a 15-passenger church van, Pete will drive us to Denver International Airport, a bit over an hour away. Our first flight, to London, is scheduled to leave at 7:45 that evening. Somehow, in spite of our anticipation and excitement, we’re supposed to sleep on the plane. By the time we arrive at Heathrow it will be just after noon the next day (local time).

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How to Pray for Short-term Mission Trips

In just eight days I’ll be boarding a British Airways jet for my trip to Swaziland. A number of you have responded to my plea for prayer support, for which I am deeply grateful. I know I can’t do anything worthwhile without God working through me, and your prayers are essential to that process.

There are some specific prayer points I’d like to share, whether for this trip or any short-term mission trip—I doubt I’m the only person you know who’s going overseas for the sake of the Gospel. I’ll try to keep this short and focused, so your prayers can be focused as well. Today I’ll offer points one and two; Friday I’ll post the other two.

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Good God

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away… and sometimes He gives back again. You may remember my mention of our friends, Gene and Nancy, who lost their home in the Black Forest fire. They lived on the same block where the fire started, and had literally minutes to wake their daughter-in-law, grab the dog, the computer hard drive, and a box of photos (stored by the front door!) before jumping in their cars and fleeing for their lives.

Their house burned down, along with the accumulated treasures of fifty years of marriage. They are mourning their loss, and it is substantial. Yet, they have no doubt that God is good and that He is watching over them. For example…

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Rest

I finally have a day off.

Believing that God wants us to take a day out every week as our “Sabbath,” I’ve set aside every Thursday as my day of rest and reflection. (Sunday might be traditional, but it doesn’t work for us, since we volunteer in our church’s café at 6 a.m., then attend Sunday school followed by the service, then take my dad out for lunch and shopping afterward. We get home mid- to late afternoon, exhausted.)

Taking Thursday off might be my intention, but it doesn’t always fit reality. For the last few weeks, I’ve spent the day packing for a camping trip, cleaning the house for guests, balancing our checkbook and paying bills… and I couldn’t do those things earlier because I was doing other important and urgent things. Life happens. But this week, I’m taking a day off to rest, relax, drink tea, read, pray, and contemplate the state of my world. It’s heaven.

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Please Support My Trip to Swaziland

swazikid-chc-001For the past few months I’ve been writing about my upcoming mission trip to Swaziland. I’ve prayed, researched the country, prayed, researched the organization we’ll be working with, prayed, attended team meetings, prayed, worked long hours in our church cafe to help raise the needed funds, prayed, and prayed. Now the time has come to raise up a support team. Yes, I need to send out a letter asking people to pray for me and to give financially toward the trip expenses.

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What God Wants for Christmas

What do you want for Christmas? As small children sitting on Santa’s lap, we quickly learned to rattle off a long list of our desires—mostly things we’ve seen in ads on TV. Now that we’re older, we still have our lists, posted online at the request of family members trying to assemble a Christmas shopping list.

As the primary gift shopper in our household, I was scanning these lists when the thought occurred to me… what does Jesus want for Christmas? After all, it’s his birthday!

I was reminded of a passage I read recently—found in both Matthew 16:23 and Mark 8:33—where Jesus tells Peter “Get behind me, Satan! … You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” I wondered, what are the concerns of God? What could He, the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills (not to mention the rest of creation) possibly lack? Or, if you’re not the practical gift type, what could we give Him to make Him happier?

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Looking for His Voice

Have you ever prayed to know God’s will?

Pete and I are at a crossroads, faced with a decision that will have a major impact on our lives for at least the next few years. As you might expect, we’re asking God to tell us which way we should go. Is this an opportunity—or a distraction? Do we run toward it or run away?

Sound familiar?

I expect that most Christians have prayed to know God’s will. After all, it’s clear in Scripture that God wants us to ask, and then obey what He tells us. David had a long string of successful battles, but He always inquired of the Lord when facing a new situation. Sometimes God gave him an expected strategy, while other times He had a surprise in mind. But no matter how skilled a warrior he became, David always took time to ask.

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Rescue Me Anyway?

Our friend really screwed up. He lives in northern Washington and he’d made a quick trip to Colorado Springs to visit a number of ministries here. We’d seen him earlier in the day, but were surprised when he called us around 8:30 that evening. He sounded somewhat worried. Explaining where he was (on the freeway, heading north), he asked, “How long does it take to get to Denver International Airport from here?”

“About an hour and a half, if traffic is good. Why? What time’s your flight?”

There was dead silence for a moment. Then he slowly told us, “I have a rental car to turn in. And my flight leaves at 9:15.”

Oh-oh. He should have been waiting at the gate already, not 70 miles south of the airport!

(How do you pray in a situation like this?)

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Review: Jesus Calling

Feeling frazzled? Need a quick break? Having a hard time getting your mind off your “to-do” list and onto God? Or, could you just use a big hug right about now?

A while ago, I mentioned that some wonderful friends had gotten together and bought me a copy of Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young (published by Thomas Nelson). As the subtitle explains, it’s a year-long devotional centered on “Enjoying peace in His presence.” Ten minutes with this book (and maybe a cup of tea) will help you calm down, refocus, and remember that God is with you always.

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