May 31

First group leaves in 11 days!

From the prayer calendar: Carl Merideth - Pray that the opportunity of being in Him will produce peace. Believe that rest is the preparation for service. Bless his Spirit with eyes to see, and ears to hear all God has for him. John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” One of our favorite mini-vacations places to go is Lake Oconee. It is not a long drive and it is just so peaceful – a great place to just rest. The major hotel there is on Linger Longer Road and they have a restaurant with the same name. It is one of those places that if you stay for 3 days actually feels like 5 days – it is great.

I recently received an email from a good friend who just arrived in France on a 2 month long mission trip to witness to the large Muslim population in Lille. The email was from the mission trip leader and the email subject was linger. “It is impossible to linger in a hurry. So I want to take this few moments to remind us all of the reality that if we are hurrying thru life right now, even if it is to do really wonderful things, we may be missing God's best for our lives. When we hurry, we listen less, when we listen less we hear less, when we hear less we walk by faith less, when we walk by faith less, it is virtually impossible to please our father. Once again, I implore you my dear brothers and sisters.... slow down, listen and walk in faith and not by sight. "Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart." Col 3:15 Let's not lose sight of His peace and His desire for us to dwell there.”

What a wonderful reminder for all of us to slow down and listen to what God is trying to say to you – even as the activity level heightens in the next 10-15 days before we depart don’t forget to slow down, rest, linger and listen.

Have a great night!

May 30

1. From the prayer calendar May 30 – Kellye Lloyd: Pray that God will use Kellye mightily for His kingdom and that the one ambition in every part of life will be to bring praise and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ. Deut. 32:3 “I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!”

2. From the prayer calendar May 29 – Katie Kinsey: Pray for God’s grace, mercy and protection. Believe that God will bring Katie to see His true purpose and will for her life. Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make your path straight.”

3. From the prayer calendar May 28 – Spiritual Warfare: Pray for a hedge of protection surrounding each of our team members, supporters and each clinic. Our handbook has great information about spiritual warfare including the three primary weapons Satan uses against us:

a. Sin – From Matthew 4:3 “The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” It is important that we confess our sins and are clean vessels for His use while in Guatemala

b. Accusations – From Revelations 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” Even though we are totally forgiven, he reminds us of every sin to create anxiety in us and therefore try to discourage us. Again confess and then remember we are forgiven!

c. Strongholds – from 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” In role Satan is the deceiver trying to get us to be hopeless.

All of this is aimed at discouragement. Satan knows what we are about to do and he will do whatever he can to discourage us. And remember that the enemy is bigger than just Satan alone. According to Revelation 12, "When the dragon fell he took one third of the stars with him." So this battle is not just being waged by Satan alone but with 1/3 of all the angels.

So how do we overcome spiritual warfare? First realize that spiritual warfare is real and this realization alone is powerful. Once you understand that it is the enemy at work it is much easier to defeat. Second I really encourage you to read the section in the handbook about spiritual warfare and then take action based on the ways to prevent it. Most of all pray and make sure you have a team praying for you!

May 27

Prayer calendar from May 27 – Ruth Kennedy: Pray that Ruth will remember that God is her refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble—so she should not fear over any detail, and she can claim the rest that God longs to give those who love Him. Psalm 46:1-2 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea…” The part of this passage that stands out for me is “an ever-present help.” I have shared with some of you that last year I really did not want to go to Guatemala (it was my first mission trip) but God made it very clear that I should go. I did not go with a great attitude “okay God I will go but I won’t like it.” I will do my duty, check off the box and then move on. What I didn’t expect was that trip was a total blessing. For me the reason the trip was a total blessing was not necessarily the opportunity to serve but because of communing with God for 7, 8, 10, 12 hours a day. The part of this passage – “an ever-present help” – while so true I don’t always take advantage of because I don’t always focus on God enough during the busy, normal day. Even if I pray in the morning I still don’t always reach out to His ever-present help – I get impatient with the kids or frustrated at the traffic. How do we better focus on God throughout the day so we can tap into His ever-present help?

May 26

Prayer Calendar May 26 – Kerri Geiken: God’s presence, guidance, blessing and peace. May the Word of God be rooted and grounded further into Kerri’s heart for the experiences she has in Guatemala. May she be open to the Lord’s call on her life. Jer. 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I love this verse. If we ever start to question if God cares about us, loves us and wants the best for us go back to this verse. The next two verse are wonderful promises as well: “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Pray and I will listen; seek me and find me. What a wonderful God we serve! A God who wants to listen to us at any time – he never gets tired of hearing from us. A God who promises that we will find Him when we seek Him with all our heart. This is not “maybe,” not “if,” not “sometimes,” but “will.” He will listen; you will find Him.

May 25

From the Prayer Calendar: Amy Geiken - Pray that the righteousness of God will rest on her. Ask God for protection and preparation time for the trip. Believe God will lead her and strengthen her for the tasks on the trip. Eph. 3:16 “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” Sometimes I think we forget that we have God living right inside us. This reminds me of Hector’s ball demonstration from last year in Guatemala. “If we are near, around, in front of, next to Christ, we can't do it. We can only do it if we are IN CHRIST.” What a great reminder for all of us! So how can we be in Christ? Just like any relationship it requires our time. For me I know I can only be in Christ if I spend 45 minutes to an hour each day reading His word and praying. I am not saying everyone needs this much time but I also don’t think 15 minutes is sufficient either. I know we are all so busy at this time of the year (graduations, end of season parties, etc) let alone preparing for Guatemala – but I would encourage all of us to put the most important first. It is at times like this when we are so busy that we need to be in Christ. – it is not good enough to be near Him.

Have a great night!

A Reminder from Paul of What is Expected of Us

“Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.”

-Titus 3:1-8 ESV

May 24

1. From the Prayer Calendar: Becky Fleming - Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests. May Becky find the peace, favor and the rest of God on this trip. Pray that God will guard her and show Himself strong in her life. After getting to know Becky last year I got to see a true servant of God at work! Becky is definitely a Martha! John 12:2 “Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.” Please pray that Becky can find rest in God leading up to our trip and during our trip!

2. Pray for God's provision for team funds. As Pam stated we are only 2/3 the way there. 1 Kings 18:36-38 “At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.” While the proof may not be as dramatic in our lives as in Elijah’s, God will make resources available to us in creative ways to accomplish his purpose! As Pam has said many times before, no one has ever been left behind due to finances – that is a pretty amazing fact!

On this note I want to share what happened to me on Sunday. During the day Saturday I was struggling with how to tell Pam that I was over $1300 short in raising funds. Honestly I didn’t know if I would be able to go on the trip. After church service Sunday very good friends of ours approached me and asked how my support was going – I was honest with them and said “not good.” Their answer was “We decided yesterday we want to give you $500.” I couldn’t help but to tear up; words couldn’t come out (I am tearing as I am writing this). God is amazing good.

Prayer Calendar for May 22 and May 23

1. From the prayer calendar May 22 – Rob Consoli: Pray that Rob will keep faith as his stronghold, knowing that his protection comes from God. Pray for focus and attention on those he will be serving. Pray and believe that his spiritual gifts will become evident on the trip. John 17:11 “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” I love what Francis Chan says in Crazy Love about God’s protection “…God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.”

2. From the prayer calendar May 23 – Peter Fleming: Pray for Gods anointing and unfailing love to be poured out on him. Believe that God has a perfect plan and will show Himself strong on this trip. Keep Peter focused on the strength and power of God, and protect his spirit, heart and mind. Rev. 19:16 “On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” This section of Revelations is titled “The Heavenly Warrior Defeats the Beast.” At this point in Revelations the battles lines have been drawn and the greatest confrontation ever is about to begin. But before the war can even start “the beast was captured”; there was no battle because Jesus had already provided the victory on the cross. Isn’t it wonderful to know that we all have won the war before even the first battle will occur?

Right now even as we prepare to leave in 3 weeks God is preparing the way for us; He is preparing hearts; we have won; we have victory. Now He just wants us to do our part – share His wonderful love. We don’t have to be worried about the outcome that is in God’s hands – we aren’t responsible for who chooses to accept Christ. We just have to be obedient and do our part.

Eternal Life is Now!

Over the past six months or so, I’ve thought about how I’ve shared the gospel with people, particularly while in Guatemala.  It seems morbidly logical, when sharing the gospel with those in the clinics who have just seen the doctor, to talk about what will happen to them when they die.  Will they go to heaven or to hell?  That is the way I heard the gospel as a child, and I accepted Jesus as my savior because I didn’t want to walk out of church, get struck by a bus, and go to hell. 

Our destination after this life on earth is extremely important.  Once we leave this earth, there is no opportunity to change our destination.  If we have accepted Jesus as our savior, we will spend eternity with Him in heaven.  If we have not, we will spend eternity separated from God in hell.  But people often are not immediately concerned with their life after this life on earth.  That seems like it’s in the distant future, and they need hope for now.

Salvation is more than a way to escape hell.  Salvation offers an immediate relationship with God that we can only have if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that He died for our sins and was raised from the dead.  When people are suffering from pain, sickness and poverty, physical abuse and attack from Satan’s demons, they need hope.  Not just hope for when they die.  They need hope to get them through this life.

I’m praying that God will teach me how to share the hope that Jesus brings for this life and for the next.  I want to offer more than a fire escape from hell.  My relationship with God means much more than that to me, and that’s what I want to tell others about.

Think about it as you prepare to go to Guatemala.  Get ready to tell your story.  If you know Jesus as your savior, you have a story to tell.  What does Jesus mean to you and what does He have to offer to those who don’t know him?

Risk Takers

Following is a thought provoking excerpt from chapter 8, Profile of the Obsessed, in the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan:

“Haven’t we all prayed the following prayer?  Lord, we pray for safety as we travel.  We ask that no one gets hurt on this trip.  Please keep everyone safe until we return, and bring us back safely.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.  The exact wording may vary a bit, but that is the standard prayer we recite before leaving on mission trips, retreats, vacations, and business trips.

We are consumed by safety.  Obsessed with it, actually.  Now, I’m not saying it is wrong to pray for God’s protection, but I am questioning how we’ve made safety our highest priority.  We’ve elevated safety to the neglect of whatever God’s best is, whatever would bring God the most glory, or whatever would accomplish His purposes in our lives and in the world.

Would you be willing to pray this prayer?  God, bring me closer to You during this trip, whatever it takes ….

People who are obsessed with Jesus aren’t consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else.  Obsessed people care more about God’s kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress.”