Tuesday

My satellite went down just as I posted The Prayer Link this morning. I’m starting all over…

Jennie said Mr. Charlie Banks will be in ICU for the next 24 hours. So far, so good. Please continue to pray for him, his family with him in Romania, his family here in the States, and his many friends who have been so concerned.

Thank God for the progress so far.Dad is doing good. The doctor already had him sitting up and pulling up in he bed today. He also had him lifting his leg (a little). They have put a velcro type leg brace on to stabilize it. He wants to keep pressure on the leg, because the bone is soft around the knee area because of arthritis.
Dad had an epidural for the surgery, so he was awake for most of the event.

He still has the epidural for the pain medication. All his vital signs are good and they are planning to move him back to the room with Mom tomorrow (Wednesday). The doctors must keep monitoring him day by day to see how long the recovery will be. Our main prayer is for him to not develop any infection, to recover strong and to return home. So far, there are no signs of any infection. Praise Jesus!

Mom is doing great and she is thankful that the Lord moved them into the Euroclinic facility. She says to tell you hello!

It has been amazing with all the prayers going up! And we know that Jesus is the great intercessor both day and night. We love you all and miss you.

In Christ,
Wes

Mrs. Ginger Francois, former principal of KHS, is in ICU. Please pray for her, her family, and the medical staff caring for her.

Pray for the victims of Hurricanes Ike and Katrina. Many people have had their lives changed because of these two storms.

 

Who Was Georgia Barnette?

Mary Georgia Barnette was born in Roanoke County, VA on November 1, 1861. The second of ten children in a Christian home (her father was a Methodist; her mother, a Baptist), she walked with her family to Sunday School at a Baptist church near the Barnette farm.

Teenage Georgia lived in Roanoke with her grandmother in order to attend school there. One of her subjects while in school was French, the value of which she sometimes doubted. When her older sister graduated from college, she and Georgia opened a private school in the small town of Elliston, near the farm.

Though she had close contact with the church in her youth and was influenced by her mother’s intense interest in missions, Georgia did not make a public profession of faith in Christ until she was in her twenties. From that time on, the young woman grew spiritually, showing through her every activity her deep love for Jesus.

When her sister married, Georgia moved to Roanoke where she was employed as church visitor at Calvary Baptist and served as vice president to the women’s work of Valley Association. As she saw more and more the great needs of people, she developed great compassion for their physical needs and for their spiritual growth. After two years in this first job as a full-time church worker, she was tapped for service by the Tabernacle Church in Atlanta.

For more than three years Miss Georgia, as friends called her, labored long and hard in Atlanta. Still, there was more to be done; so she was surprised by the invitation to do mission work in New Orleans. Once she felt sure of God’s direction, however, she quickly followed through. She assumed the position of missionary for the First Baptist Church of New Orleans. Later she wrote, “Feeling that it was the leadership of the Lord, on October 16, 1901, with goodbye said and tears shed, I made my way to the First Baptist Church, New Orleans.”

In “the city that care forgot,” Miss Georgia settled into a room in a home not far from the church on the corner of Napoleon and Chestnut Streets. Quickly she became aware of the city’s French atmosphere, and thought of the French class she had once deemed useless. She found herself in the midst of other nationalities too, for New Orleans was bursting at the seams with people from all over the world who were seeking a better life.

Her experience in women’s work in Virginia and Georgia led her to make significant contributions to that work in the New Orleans church. Contact with the new Woman’s Missionary Union of Louisiana increased her knowledge of the needs of the whole state. In 1903 Miss Georgia was elected to the state executive committee of WMU. Then came the 1904 proposal for the first full-time position with Louisiana WMU for “the organizing of women’s societies and stimulating women’s work throughout the state.” It seemed only logical that Georgia Barnette be asked to serve in that position.

Miss Georgia was overwhelmed by the opportunity. But the power behind her was greater than the task before her; for God had already gifted her for this ministry.

When Miss Georgia began her work as Louisiana WMU’s field worker, there were few strong societies. The only children’s work was Sunbeams. Associational WMU was barely beyond experimental. With no good roads and no automobiles, transportation was a real problem.

Yet Miss Georgia was gifted with a vision. Her vision was of developing interest in missions and WMU organizations all over Louisiana in order that lost people might come to know the Savior. That vision made her blind to obstacles. Wherever she found problems, she considered them challenges. Because of her vision her theme became “Oh, but the value of one soul!”

The gift of courage was evident, too. Before women suffrage it was unheard of for a woman to lead, much less to launch out in untraveled areas alone. For a woman to speak in a public meeting was often opposed. There were many places where pastors, husbands, and even women themselves felt that “a woman’s place is in the home.” Even when there was partial acceptance of women’s work, the women were sent outside to meet under the trees while the men conducted their meetings. Yet Miss Georgia patiently persevered, without complaint. For her courage was equal to her vision.

This devoted lady was also gifted with vibrant health. Slim, attractive, with bright hazel eyes and wavy brown hair, she appeared tireless amidst rugged schedules and rigorous tasks. In spite of the hardships, she traveled over 180,000 miles in her career-by train, surrey, buggy, wagon, horseback, pirogue and walking. She once said, “I’ve traveled everywhere in the state of Louisiana and every way except mule back.” Her boundless energy was due to her excellent health-indeed a special gift.

That she was gifted with a keen mind was obvious by the way she approached her work. Miss Georgia devised numerous methods for getting interest, including a banner award at annual meeting to encourage attendance. She recognized the value of records, saying over and over, “Everything-business, reports and programs, must be done in decency and order.” She introduced the missionary “round table” for discussing WMU work. She wrote program material, pamphlets and stories about the great needs of French people in South Louisiana. The highly organized briefcase she carried everywhere symbolized her high intelligence.

Georgia Barnette was especially graced with the gift of love. She loved the world. She loved Louisiana missions. She loved people. She had a passion for lost souls. Her devotion to her Lord was exemplary. Miss Georgia first made the women love her by showing each one personal concern, and through this love she sought to arouse interest in what she represented. “She made herself one of us,” said a friend. What a gift of love!

To Miss Georgia’s “Surely God loved Louisiana…”she now could add, “and I love it too!” And she proved her love by giving herself away.

She gave her valuable time and energy. In her first seven months on the job she visited 63 societies, organized 20, and gave 81 public addresses. Frequently she would make three or more meetings in a day. Late at night from her bedroom-office she wrote scores of personal letters to encourage the work, or prepared tracts and program material for mailing. Taking little time for herself, she immersed herself in her work. She visited, met needs as best she could, turned down no opportunity. After 15 years service as LA WMU field worker she was asked to assume duties of secretary as well. She simply worked harder. Friends said, “Miss Georgia was never too busy to give her counsel,” and “Miss Georgia was the least to Miss Georgia.”

She gave her resources. A careful steward, she stayed in humble surroundings; she declined a rug for her new office at the Baptist Bible Institute in New Orleans because the money could better be spent for missions. Remembered for her brilliant white shirtwaists with high collars, dark skirts, and gloves, she often said, “I must look my best, because I’m a daughter of the King.” Yet she wore little jewelry and had a limited wardrobe. When silk hose were first advertised she decided to save so she could buy two pairs for five dollars. Just when she finally had enough money, she heard a foreign missionary present the needs of that field; so Miss Georgia gave her five dollars to missions instead.

She gave encouragement. When a lonely young lady arrived in New Orleans to enter college, Miss Georgia was there with a smile, a word of welcome, an invitation to prayer meeting. Traveling the state she proclaimed to discouraged women that they had an important place to fill, a place of service for the Lord. Because women had little to give, she encouraged them to give egg money or hard-earned money from canned fruit and vegetables. She secured financial support for dedicated young women to receive college education. As she urged “personal service”-meeting needs in one’s community-thousands of letters full of inspiration and courage flowed from her pen. So uplifting was her presence that she was described as having “the kindest smile I’d ever seen.”

And she gave love. Whether working with children or women, with individuals or groups, Miss Georgia gave unselfishly of herself. When traveling she helped with housework or yard work or cooking and called it “love service.” Her love for the world was translated into love for each person. With compassion and genuine interest in each individual, she loved people into God’s kingdom and led them to want to serve. She had said, “God made Louisiana beautiful, and she opened the eyes of thousands to the love that made that beauty.

By giving herself away, Georgia Barnette helped create a spirit of giving lives and means for Christ. She led Louisiana WMU to give to the Home Mission Board Church Building and Loan Fund, to promote the 75 Million Campaign (forerunner of Cooperative Program), to propose a definite plan for giving to state missions, to emphasize youth organizations, to experience phenomenal growth as an organization and to give hundreds of thousands of dollars to missions causes. This selfless leader served until 1929 when she retired after 28 years of “love service” with Louisiana WMU. She returned to Virginia where she lived until her death in 1956.

Little wonder it is that in 1936 the state missions offering was named in her honor; for she was the paragon of giving.

“Surely God loved Louisiana because He made it so beautiful,” were Miss Georgia’s first words about Louisiana as she viewed the state for the first time from a train window. Surely Miss Georgia loved Louisiana because of her tireless work to win souls to Christ and train others to do so as well. Do you love Louisiana? Are you willing to give and to pray and to share the gospel to win Louisiana for Christ?

Week of Prayer

Day 3- Tony Bourque

“Our vision is to overwhelm the city with servant-hood evangelism. This makes the love of God visible and it also tears down walls between us and the unchurched,” says Tony.

Day 3″…and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”Isaiah 58:10. “One of our major visions is to serve the outcast in our city-the poor, hungry, thirsty, and the hurting. This passage is very inspiring to us because we feel that God is calling us to pour our life into the hurting,” reflects Tony.

Tony Bourque is the pastor/church planter at TheWatersEdge Church in Lake Charles. “Our vision is to overwhelm the city with servant-hood evangelism. This makes the love of God visible and it also tears down walls between us and the unchurched,” says Tony.

The WatersEdge Church is sharing the life-changing message of Jesus Christ with the city of Lake Charles. “Recently a male prostitute and drug addict, who was transferred from a prison in New Orleans to one in Lake Charles, received Christ. After being
released from prison, someone invited him to church and after a few weeks he responded to the Lord. God has really worked in his life,” recalls Tony.

Please pray for clear direction for the future. Also, pray for the wisdom to know how to get new people plugged into the ministry at The WatersEdge Church. Finally, please pray for God to lead the church to the right piece of land so TheWatersEdge Church can build their own worship facility.

PRAYER FOR OUR ENEMIES

Last week, my wife and I were “window shopping” in a store with a Celtic theme. The Irish are know for their Irish Blessings (“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back…”, for example). However, I saw a decorated banner with a most unusual old Gaelic “blessing”:

May those who love us, love us,
And those who don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts,
And if he doesn’t turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles
So we’ll know them by their limping.

As I pointed out in a TFTD message a couple of weeks ago, we all struggle with our attitude toward our enemies. We know what Jesus said:

“Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” (Matt. 5:44). (and I don’t think the prayer above was what Jesus had in mind!)

But, there are, throughout scripture, a number of examples of righteous men calling God to act against their enemies. The Psalms are filled with such pleas. And even in the New Testament,

“…The souls of those who had been slain for the word of God…..cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ ” (Rev. 6:9-10)

When we see great evil being carried out, I think there should be a part of us that cries out for justice. We want to see God avenge those who defiantly oppose Him (and we know that He will).

But, as difficult as it may be at times, we also pray that God will help us to respond personally to those who are our “enemies” in such a way that they may eventually be led to be our friends and, more importantly, friends of God.

Have a great day!

Alan Smith
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina

I hope you’re having a terrific Tuesday.

Anna Lee