Friday, December 01, 2006

December 1, 2006

With so many of the Lord’s blessings coming this week, all may not be remembered.

One of the Lord’s newly employed lambs needed size 12 shoes. We prayed for athletic shoes last week. Missionaries received 2 pairs of new shoes, size 12 – athletic and everyday shoes. God is the Lord of plenty!

The Lord knew that one of His lambs has a dog with food allergies. The dog is on a lamb and rice dog diet. With the shoes was a box of Lamb and Rice dog biscuits. A sister in Christ gave her some lotion, reminding her how worthy she is to our precious Jesus. What a blessing to know the Lord remembers every detail in our lives.

Thirty to forty brothers and sisters in Christ brought the love, warmth, and light of Jesus to the Lord’s lambs in the woods of Wake County on November 18th. Another team is planning to go December 9th. In addition to bringing Jesus’ love and warmth, they plan to bring His fruit. They are asking for fresh fruit donations. The teams are leaving from Worship Facility Magazine at 11:30. The address is 1616 Evan Road, Cary. It is at the corner of Evans and Cary Parkway. If you have any questions or donations, please contact Stephanie at snarron@worshipfacilities.com.

While brothers and sisters in Christ meet these lambs, please ask about sources of heat. An Apex church would like to start and fund a kerosene/propane account in the Cary/Apex area. Names and locations are needed for this account. The Cary/Apex kerosene contact is Alice at appraisalnet@nc.rr.com . Also please let the lambs know of the Cary church offering free laundry services, showers, and a hot meal. This church is on the TTA and Cary Tran bus lines. The laundry/shower contact is Stephanie at snarron@worshipfacilities.com .

Missionaries from Church in the Woods have been praying for support circles, especially for those who have accepted Jesus as Savior and been baptized. Monday evening missionaries received a call from a homegroup wanting to become a support circle. Training is being offered to become part of a support circle December 9th from 9 AM to 1 PM at the Men’s Healing Place, 1251 Goode St, Raleigh. This is close to the Raleigh Farmers Market. You can contact Roberta Macauley at Roberta.macauley@raldioc.org or 790-8533 ext. 32.

A missionary has contacted the Cary Golden Corral and been given permission to bring two bus loads of lambs from Moore Square December 9th. What a blessing for these lambs! The Lord is blessing this mission field with several meals during the lunchtime hour. This gift helps these lambs make it through the weekend without food for the soup kitchens that are closed all weekend. These extra “lunches” become dinners and breakfasts when so many would be without a meals over the weekend. God is the provider of every detail! Thank you Jesus!

Two area church youth groups are making gifts for those at Moore Square. One church wants to make gifts for the children there. The second has made scarves and is collecting socks and chapstick to be put into gift bags.

The blind lamb and her boyfriend in a wheelchair have been blessed with a place at a rooming house this week. God is so good!

A lamb contacted missionaries concerned that he may have cancer. After his visit to the clinic, he was thanking the Lord for having issues that could be easily corrected with medication.

Please keep an area urgent care doctor in your prayers. He is considering offering his clinics, paying for bus insurance, and providing a dentist for many of the Lord’s lambs.

Missionaries listened to sermon on “Connecting” Sunday. They asked the Lord so many questions: “Are lambs connecting with Jesus?”, “Are the seeds He has asked to be sown producing fruit?”, “Are they being sown in fertile ground?”… The Lord answered with a lamb selecting a tag from an Angel Tree. This lamb has spent all week trying to find a “sold-out doll”. Please pray that the 2-year old isn’t disappointed when she receives a different doll.

Another lamb who has moved to Indiana called. He is asking for prayer for his aunt. She is in ICU suffering from pneumonia and congestive heart failure. While catching-up, he told the missionary what he was doing while looking for employment. He is going to the area food bank and making box meals for those who are turned into the streets each evening. His town has a day shelter for 400 but can only house 50 each evening. He is part of the ECHO coalition bringing blankets and winter clothing to those on the streets each weekend. He wants to show others the love of Jesus he witnessed in Wake County, NC. God is so good!

Three of the Lord’s lambs attended an area church’s men’s Bible study this week. All have asked Jesus into their lives, two have been baptized. The third is visiting with missionaries as he saves money and finds a place to stay. Pray for an opening in a nearby transitional home. One of the lambs is looking for employment opportunities. A brother in Christ contacted him with work next week. God is the Lord of provision.

One of the Lord’s lambs is FINALLY moving into his apartment, Monday at 2 o’clock. Please pray that everything is up to code and there are no other mishaps to prevent this move.

Three of the Lord’s lambs received their first paychecks this week. Two of them are asking missionaries to save some of their money for them, giving them a weekly allowance of their choosing.

A missionary had emergency surgery on his foot yesterday, so the missionaries were not able to go to the mission last night. He has a staph infection, so please keep him in your prayers. His wife let him and son in care of two lambs, while she took a third lamb back to his motel. They stopped to pick up a cane, tried to get his check cashed, and looked for the “sold-out” angel tree doll. While she was shopping for the doll, he was trying to cash his check. She came out of the store to see the lamb in handcuffs. He arrived at her car to find it locked and then turn to see a similar woman with a similar shirt in a similar car next to her car. He opened the passenger door and started talking to her, realizing it wasn’t her. He apologized and left the car. A gentleman in the parking lot called the police. When the missionary explained, to no avail, she took her package to her car and met the gentleman who called the police. He told her how the lamb cuffed was trying to break into her car. She explained otherwise. He went to the police and explained. While one of the three police officers went into the store, she had the opportunity to talk with the officers about other homeless in the area, camp locations, and the love of Jesus. After the officer talked with the woman in the store the lamb was released. He went back to his room.

The book, Out of the Wild: Becoming Men on a Mission From God by Matt Lobel has been published. One of the four men profiled in this book is a missionary from Church in the Woods. This is a wonderful book for a men’s study group. It has discussion questions for each chapter, a list of online resources, and principles to follow if you want to walk closer to the Lord. For more information the website is http://www.outofthewild.com/ .

The latest edition of The RevWriter Newsletter, an online publication for ministers, includes a devotional by a CITW missionary about the blessings of working with the homeless. You can subscribe at http://www.revwriter.com/

Harvest Evangelism, the parent of a Raleigh-based group that is praying for a statewide revival, will be coming to Raleigh’s RBC Center for a huge conference June 22-24. We have seen God making way for huge changes as the Holy Spirit sweeps over Raleigh. Please prayerfully consider attending this conference. It is FREE!
http://www.harvest.org/crusades/2007/raleigh/index.php/123.html

Please keep an area Garner church in your prayers as they begin the weekly Saturday mission of transporting the Lord’s lambs for the opportunity of showers, a hot meal and a Bible study.

We are thanking the Lord for your serving hearts and your prayers

The Problem of Pain by David Jeremiah’s Today’s Turning Point
I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.Psalm 116:1
Dave Dravecky, the major league baseball pitcher who lost his throwing arm to cancer, has a reflective perspective on suffering: "In America, Christians pray for the burden of suffering to be lifted from their backs. In the rest of the world, Christians pray for stronger backs so they can bear their suffering. It's why we look away from the bag lady on the street and to the displays in the store windows. Why we prefer going to the movies instead of to hospitals and nursing homes."
Dravecky, who went on to found a ministry that reaches out to those suffering from illnesses and other circumstances, has taken a unique view on the "problem of pain." While pain itself is a problem, the bigger problem is how we respond to pain. Will we view it as a reason to be angry at God or an opportunity to reach out to Him for His help, comfort, wisdom, and direction? Just as reaching an unmarked crossroads presents a problem which way do we turn? so unexplained pain presents a problem: Which way will I turn in response?
You can solve pain's biggest problem by turning to God. Then you'll be in a place to hear from Him about where you should turn from there.
God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain. C. S. Lewis

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home