Friday

See how very much our heavenly Father loves us,

for he allows us to be called his children,

and we really are!

1 John 3:1 (NLT)

School! Many area children will be beginning school today. Pray for them as they embark on a new educational year.

Don’t forget to pray for the important unspoken request from the McCain family.

Today, I want to focus much of The Prayer Link on believers and missionaries around the world. This give us a little glimpse into their prayer needs. As you read about each situation, please pray for all the similar situations around the world.

KOMpray

(Kids on Mission Pray)

August 8, 2008

“Let the little children come to Me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these,” Luke 18:16b

TIME FOR THE OLYMPICS

The 2008 Olympic Games have begun! Runners and swimmers, gymnasts and equestrians (they are the ones that ride horses) are all gathering in China. What about you? Are you and your family planning to watch the basketball or soccer tournaments? Everyone in the world is watching to see if their favorite team does well or to see how many medals their country wins. People have been planning a really long time to get ready for the Olympics. New buildings had to be built. Composers wrote special music, and directors planned the opening and closing ceremonies. Hundreds of people have been buying food and planning meals for the athletes. SOMEONE had to put sheets on a lot of beds. Whew, they have worked very hard just to get ready.Every time you watch the Olympics on TV, please pray for the athletes, the planners, and the visitors!

Did you know that thousands of Bibles and New Testaments will be given away during the Olympic Games? Fifty thousand copies of the books Matthew, Mark, Luke and John will be given to the athletes too. Please pray that people will read the Word of God and want to know more about Jesus.

Pray for Christians who are in China during the Olympics. They will get to tell people how much they love Jesus AND how much He loves them. Ask God to give them courage and the right words. Pray for Chinese Christians. There are about 1.3 billion people in China-that’s 1,319,175,332 and growing every day. Ask God to help Chinese Christians not be afraid but be bold in telling their friends and family about Jesus.

YOU SAW IT IN GA WORLD, July 30, 2008

Amanda Williams was featured in GA World/Children in Action magazine, and she had a prayer request. Do you remember praying for her? Here is that request:

Pray that people will know Jesus in our city. Pray that my friends at school will know Jesus, because we are the only Christians here. Pray for new churches. AMANDA, age 11 (Western Europe)

Amanda and her family say thanks for your prayers! Here is a quick update:

They just had an awesome Upwards Summer Basketball Camp with more than 100 children. Pray for all these children and their families. Most of them still do not Jesus.

MORE PRAYER REQUESTS FROM MISSIONARY KIDS

Please pray that national believers will not be shy about sharing their faith with others in their villages. Dillon, age 15 (West Africa)

I live in Argentina and many of the people there don’t know Jesus. For example if I’m on a bus with 100 people, only 3 of them know Jesus. Please pray for the people of Argentina. TORI, age 9 (South America)

My mom has had surgery. My brother and sister and cousin were in a car accident in America, and my cousin is in a coma. My brother and sister are fine. Please pray for my cousin. Many people that live around me are lost and please pray that I’ll be a good witness to them. Hinduism has many gods and the people believe there is a third eye on their forehead. VIOLET, age 10 (South Asia)

Please pray that the youth group at our church would grow. CALEB, age 16 (Pacific Rim)

Cyclones are dangerous in Madagascar, some people have died and others have lost their homes. Please pray for those who have been affected by the cyclones. PAUL, age 15 (Central, Eastern and Southern Africa)

Please pray that I can help my parents lead people to Christ. CODY, age 13 (Pacific Rim)

Please pray for my friend that is working at a summer camp. Pray for a friend for me in India because all my friends are gone to the U.S. MARINA, age 10 (South Asia)

Melinda Russell passed these requests on for us to pray.

As you read the following email – please just begin to pray. Thank you for believing in the power of prayer and trusting our Father with all things.

We see how the enemy will use anything to discourage, frustrate or distract us from Kingdom work. Pray for us to be an encouragement to our families even miles away.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. We could not do this without you and our Great God – our Redeemer and Almighty Healer!

No matter what the outcome — May we all continue to give Him Praise, Glory and Adoration for He is our only hope!

Loving God’s Gypsies, Tamara for the Banks family (in Braila, Romania)

A great big “Thank You” to all of you praying friends who have lifting us up in prayer. An important decision has been reached concerning the direction of our ministry, and it has been accomplished because of the faithful prayers of God’s people. If we really knew the affect that our prayers have on us, on others, and on events, we would certainly make more and better use of it. If God’s people don’t or won’t pray—-who will? (Sorry, I slipped into my preacher role, I’m back now). What I mean is—-thank you for praying for us!! The decision has been made that we will move to Craiova, RO. We will join Bob and Diane Wagstaff in ministering to the 300K+ people of Craiova and the many people of the surrounding villages who do not know the Love of God shown by the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross for the sins of the whole world. Our first prayer request is for you to go to the Lord daily for——-the Lost. They have no hope, but Jesus, and they don’t know Him as Savior and Lord, yet. Notice, I said yet. There is still time. “Today…harden not your hearts…. Come unto me…. Whosoever will, may come.”

After praying for the lost, please remember us in prayer:

for all of the CHANGES. We have gone through many big changes this year already, and here we go again for some more. We need HIS grace.

I was going to ask you to pray that God would provide for us with a furnished apartment BUT, before we could publish the need for your prayers, God has already answered. Bob and Diane Wagstaff have been apartment hunting for us in Craiova, and they were successful!!! They found us a large, furnished apartment that we could rent until the middle of December. Then we will stay in Bob and Diane’s apartment while they are on stateside assignment back in Texas.

This reminds me of the verse in Isaiah 65:24—“Before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.”

When you are on God’s business—you are on God’s time, and He is in charge of every detail. Praise the Lord!!

for packing and moving. We will keep our IMB apartment in Bucharest and can leave there whatever we won’t need in Craiova, but what to leave and what to take can get sticky. We need His wisdom.

for our fellow missionaries in and around Craiova. They will have the additional tasks of getting us oriented and incorporated into the work. We all will need His patience.

and lastly, for Bucharest Christian Academy. Margie was slated to be their Art teacher this next year, but now she will not be able to do that. Please pray that all of the teachers they will need to teach all of the students that will come will be found and enlisted. This school ministers not only to the families of missionaries, but to the children of business and government leaders, etc. This school is like a little U.N., with people from all over the world affiliated. Pray for God’s abundant provision of good teachers.

“With this prayer letter, we will be signing off of Team Bucharest and will be joining Team Romania. You can look for us under that link on this website.”

Everyone we have talked to, who knows the Craiova area, has said that this will be a great challenge. The area has the reputation of being difficult and dark. SO, what does that mean for us and for you? We will need to be fully equipped Prayer Warriors every day or we may get run over. Will you arm yourself for the battle too? We are in a war for the souls of men and women. The kingdom of darkness has them held captive, and Jesus wants to deliver them and destroy the works of the devil. He wants them out of that dark kingdom into His glorious Kingdom of Love and Light. Will you help us in the battles? Will you pray? Thank you fellow soldiers.

MISSIONARY PERSONAL NEEDS. Missionaries serving among the Fulbe/Futa Jalon people of Guinea ask: “Please pray for our 15-year-old daughter as she goes off to boarding school for the first time on August 11. She will be joining her older brother, who was there for the spring semester. They will be leaving their youngest brother back in Guinea, which will surely be a lonelier place for him without either sibling around. Please pray that our family will see God’s bigger picture.”

INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS PRAYERLINE
INTERNATIONAL MISSION BOARD
Friday, August 8, 2008

“…a great chasm has been fixed between us and you,

so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot;

neither can those from there cross over to us”

(Luke 16:26, HCSB).

Dear Intercessors, this is Eleanor Witcher of the International Prayer Strategy Office, simply encouraging you to pray. Occasionally, a missionary speaker or newsletter will strike a special chord; and I hear the words with sensitivity to the challenges missionaries face on the field.

“God is faithful. When the enemy is exposing and taking advantage of our weakness, when discouragement seems to overwhelm, our Lord is still near. When our reactions to trials are less than Spirit-led, He doesn’t turn His back, but patiently waits for us to notice His presence… and when we do, His grace is overwhelming….When I originally asked you to pray for us, I thought it would be in times like these I would be most determined to reach out, but it turned out … We just didn’t know what to say.”

Another missionary shared the emotions of first arriving on the field. “The Sahara Desert-I saw it and it didn’t look so bad. Of course, I was flying in an airplane high above the heat, drinking a soda, enjoying the air conditioning and watching a movie.” As time progressed, this missionary and his family faced sickness, loneliness, family issues in the United States, exhaustion, extreme heat, burn out, low response-they persevered despite serving the first ten years without a single convert.

Obviously, missionaries deal with emotional strain and discouragement; but hear what else they have to say. “Why do we do international missions? Why do we send men and women off to spend their lives at risk? We do it because being lost, apart from God, is the very worst human condition. Nothing is as bad as being separated from God.“

Missionaries are called of God to cross cultural boundaries and teach eternal salvation through Jesus. Missionaries are going, so what is our part? PRAY. Pray for missionaries to persevere and pray that the lost will accept salvation, crossing from death to God’s abundant life.

Please take time to read this Baptist Press article. It is an eye-opener!

TURKEY–Iranian couple dies from police attack. http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=28631

I hope you have taken time to soak in every word today. If not, please return to read, learn, and pray.

Anna Lee