June 29, 2007

We are thanking you for your prayers and support as the Lord continues to provide abundantly for this ministry! More and more people are being drawn into communion with one another through the least of these, whether homeless, poverty stricken, prostitutes, drug dealers, or gang members, and so many blessings are being shared!

Community Awareness – Meetings and missions
· CitW Medical mission will be at the Garner Methodist Church July 28th from 3-5 PM. If you are interested in serving, please contact Anne Willet at 461-9737
· Church in the Park in Boston http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000004069.cfm

Prayer and Praise!
Apex
· Thank you Jesus for Your Almighty provisions twice a week
· Many of the single moms were blessed with food this week.
· Missionaries’ neighbor’s 13 year old son, wants to spend a few hours a week, delivering food with Missionaries this summer in Cary and Apex. This child of the Lord has talked so much of the blessings to his family, the family wants to deliver humanitarian aid while missionaries are out of town in July.
· Keep one lamb in your prayers as he recovers from surgery.
· Humanitarian aid is being brought to the Apex mission Sunday and Wednesdays, along with prayer. Please pray that these lambs will see and feel the love of Jesus. This may be the only church they attend.
· Thank you Jesus for an area Apex church. The pastor at White Oak Baptist Church wants to organize a meeting with other Apex pastors to meet and discuss how to serve the Lord’s “least-of-these” in the area.
· An area church would like for their youth to serve at the Apex mission on Sundays. Praise God! Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Cary
· Please keep a lamb in prayer as he continues with substance abuse treatment. It is more challenging to live in his old destructive wineskin than the new wineskin of Christ. He was visited by former lambs (missionaries in training) and a missionary on Saturday and Sunday. One couple brought him a Bible from the Greg Laurie conference, the other cigarettes and a little spending money. Pray for job in the Durham Chapel Hill area upon his release July 5th. He is being transferred to a transitional home there. The job needs to be on a bus-line.
· Several of the Hispanic lambs moved to SC this week. Please keep them in prayer as they chose their path.
· Humanitarian aid is being brought to an area of poverty in Cary Mondays and Thursdays, along with prayer. Please pray that these lambs will see and feel the love of Jesus. This may be the only church they attend.

Garner
· Three lambs attended the Greg Laurie conference Friday evening. Praise God! All three went to the floor -- two to rededicate their lives and the third to ask Jesus to be his Savior. PRAISE GOD!!!!
· Please keep a lamb in prayer at a transitional home in Carrboro. She enjoyed the transitional home this week and has begun working. She is looking at a nearby home that may be a better “fit” for her.
· Please continue to pray for the lamb with the broken wrist (since December). Several have prayed for the Lord’s miraculous healing. She is no longer using the wrist brace. Praise God!
· A lamb who attended “church” Thursday also attended an area church Sunday. She asked for a Bible and then asked for a Hispanic Bible for her boyfriend. As God would have it a missionary picked one up at the Greg Laurie conference. Praise God for his Almighty Provisions
· Missionaries were at the movies in Garner this week meeting for lunch and saw a lamb who had returned to the area. She joined them for prayer and a meal. She shared her photographs of her son. She is such a proud mother. Thursday, she returned to “church” asking for assistance to go to treatment. She has three kittens she would like placed. Please pray for her new wineskin in Christ.
· Please continue to pray for a lamb who is trying to get back to his land in Arkansas. Missionaries prayed with him Thursday after he shared how he learned so much about the Bible from a pastor in Arkansas. The prayer was that he would get home, find work and become a deacon in that church! He said, “That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?” But missionaries replied, “No, that’s faith!”
· Please continue to pray for a lamb who is struggling with liver problems from drinking.
· Please pray for God to touch a lamb who is so enslaved by substances that she started using drugs and alcohol the same day she was released from the hospital after a heart attack.
· Please pray for a new lamb named Joe who came Thursday in an incoherent state, speaking neither English nor Spanish, giggling at times and appearing almost as one possessed.
· A lamb asked for prayer last night to stop drinking. He is frightened by possible deportation. He has lived in the US since 1976. The murder of the Fuquay woman has the police combing the area and questioning many to the homeless who live nearby.
· An area veterinarian plans to host a vaccination clinic in August for the pets of the Lord’s least-of-these.
· Please pray for a lamb who is in jail. Please ask that the Lord speak with Him and remind him that he is loved. He has been transferred to a jail in Goldsboro.
· The Lord’s timing is so perfect. The Thursday mission is meeting in the parking lot in the lambs’ social area. The mission attendance has increased tremendously, as has the respect of no substance use in the mission area. Please continue to pray for a location for the Garner Thursday mission to meet out of the weather, maybe a church on South Saunders St, 401 or Wilmington St will open their doors one night a week. The Lord with His perfect timing find a perfect place.
· Thank you Jesus for the caterer who wants to serve July 26th for the Thursday mission.
· Praise God for a location to meet for the monthly medical missions!
· Please pray for a hair stylist to serve the Lord one Saturday a month at the Garner showers.

General
· Please keep lambs in prayer as they are asked to make decisions of walking away from their addictions and walking toward Jesus.
· Thank you Jesus for a lamb who is continuing to be substance free and involved with a support group through AA.
· Please continue to pray for support circles as these lambs readjust to society and are welcomed into the Body of Christ.
· Praise God for the existing support circle as the Body of Christ encircles a lamb with the love of Jesus!
· Thank you Lord for being scheduler of all Christians’ time.

Missionary Testimonials
A lamb who “happened” to be visiting his brother and sister-in-law at the time of the Greg Laurie evangelism conference is feeling the power of his rebirth this week!
He had not attended church for five years and confessed his marriage to a believing wife was destroyed by his unbelief.
When he gave his life to Jesus, he wanted to call family members and tell them, but he was too choked with emotion to speak. Now this lamb and his brother and sister-in-law, who rededicated their lives to Jesus at the conference, are losing their desire for drugs and alcohol. Instead, they are developing a passion for the Bible!
Our new brother in Christ went to church Sunday and was one of the first to eagerly volunteer to read from Acts 10 during the Thursday mission.

God’s Provision – Donations of Time & Finances
· Thank the Lord for the showers each week from the Garner church Thank You Jesus for serving hearts!
· A family contacted missionaries with hot dogs. They asked if they should purchase buns. The buns were delivered the next day. Praise God! Missionaries asked the Lord for baked beans. When an area church donates food, it is on Wednesday evenings. The appointed calling time past. The Lord must be providing another way. An hour later the church called with baked bean. God is so faithful!
· The hot dogs and beans will be used for the Apex mission because an area cater donated Salmon Florentine, grilled vegetables, and rice for Thursday’s mission. Thank you Jesus for such an eloquent feast.
· Thank you Jesus for the chiropractor who hosted a first aid donation drive. The items, including bug spray, chap stick, and calamine lotion, were picked up this week and many already distributed.
· Thank you Jesus for the church that collected bottled water, socks, and V8 at a dinner. The bottle water was in such abundance that many cases are being used by the Brown Bag ministry who provided brown bag lunches for Church in the Woods missions.
· An area grocery donated 5 pounds of sliced deli meat which is also being given to the Brown Bag ministry.
· The Sunday Moore Square missionary who prepares the meal (for 150 people) was blessed with chicken and pasta from an area cater.
· An acupuncturist’s client donated a ham. Another client would like to help with meals. Praise God for his mighty provision.
· Thank you Jesus for all the food donated by area grocery stores, churches, individuals, and caterers! Thank you Lord for all the donations of clothing, storage places, and toiletries donated this week.
· We thank you, Jesus, for those who have donated time showing the love of Jesus through relationships and support circles, especially as new ones are developing across Cary and Apex. Praise God!

June 22, 2007

We are thanking you for your prayers and support as the Lord continues to provide abundantly for this ministry! More and more people are being drawn into communion with one another through the least of these, whether homeless, poverty stricken, prostitutes, drug dealers, or gang members, and so many blessings are being shared!

Community Awareness – Meetings and missions
· http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/1517661/ “Tennessee Candidates Go Homeless for Night” By LUCAS L. JOHNSON II Associated Press Writer Posted: Jun. 20, 2007
· CitW Volunteer Information Meeting concerning the ministry Church in the Woods, has been scheduled. This meeting will be held on June 25th at 7:00 pm. The location is 4701 Forestdale Rd. Raleigh, NC 27603, Alice McGee's home.

Prayer and Praise!
Apex
· Thank you Jesus for Your Almighty provisions twice a week
· Many of the single moms were blessed with food this week.
· But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” Luke 18:16-17 NKJV. The children brought families to the table of Jesus Sunday. Thank you Jesus for the mighty provision of food, spiritual and physical.
· Praise the Lord the single mother with chickenpox really had poison ivy. Missionaries were talking with her at the Sunday mission and asked if she knew her hammock was in the middle of poison ivy. She returned to the doctor on Monday to have the chickenpox diagnosis removed. She was able to return to work Tuesday.
· The Brown Bag director joined the Apex mission. She was able to pray with people as she and other missionaries went door-to-door handing out brown bags.
· Missionaries’ neighbor 13 year old son, wants to spend a few hours a week, delivering food with Missionaries this summer in Cary and Apex. The Lord gave this young man a bold, serving heart to ring doorbells and talk with the Lord’s lambs. Praise God!
· Keep one lamb in your prayers as he recovers from surgery today.

Cary
· Please keep a lamb in prayer as he continues with substance abuse treatment. It is more challenging to live in his old destructive wineskin than the new wineskin of Christ.
· Other Cary lambs have contacted missionaries to check on their friend in treatment. Keep them in prayer as they don’t understand the change in this lamb.
· The Lord’s abundance gave many lambs living in efficiency apartments provisions this week.

Garner
· Please keep a lamb in prayer as she visits a transitional home in Carrboro on Monday.
· Please continue to pray for the lamb with the broken wrist (since December). The doctor has given missionaries the protocol for her wrist surgery. Please pray she will now take the necessary steps for surgery. She has asked for prayer from narcotic addiction. She has been taking too many pain pills for her wrist.
· Please continue to pray for a lamb who is trying to decide whether to return to Arkansas. He owns some land there and is hoping he can live off it and the timber on it.
· Please pray for the lamb who was hospitalized last week for cirrhosis of the liver. He has pain medication and is continuing to drink alcohol against doctors’ orders.
· We were blessed to see two lambs who have not been coming regularly to the Bible study. One helped read and discuss Acts 9.
· Two lambs were circling the Bible study, trying to determine whether there was a “disruptive” influence there – a lamb who had become verbally abusive two weeks ago. When they decided there was nothing to disturb the peace, they came and ate. One of them read the Spanish translation of the study for everyone and gave a lengthy explanation of what it meant to him.
· A lamb who has been refusing to eat (getting most of his calories from beer) at a hot dog Thursday. Praise God! Please pray he continues to eat and look after his health.
· Two lambs and their brother are struggling to find enough work to keep them going. They are going to the Greg Laurie evangelism event this weekend with some missionaries. Please pray they are touched by God and receive His blessings for their continuing walk with Jesus.
· Please pray for a lamb who is in jail. Please ask that the Lord speak with Him and remind him that he is loved. He has been transferred to a jail in Goldsboro.
· Please pray for a place for the Garner Thursday mission to meet out of the weather, maybe a church on South Saunders St, 401 or Wilmington St will open their doors one night a week, especially when the days become shorter in the fall. The Lord knows the perfect meeting location.
· Please pray for a hair stylist to serve the Lord one Saturday a month at the Garner showers.

General
· Please keep lambs in prayer as they are asked to make decisions of walking away from their addictions and walking toward Jesus.
· Thank you Jesus for a lamb who is continuing to be substance free and involved with a support group through AA.
· Please continue to pray for support circles as these lambs readjust to society and are welcomed into the Body of Christ.
· Praise God for the existing support circle as the Body of Christ encircles a lamb with the love of Jesus!
· Thank you Lord for being scheduler of all Christians’ time.

Missionary Testimonials
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29).
The above verse was in a missionary’s devotional and perfectly summed up a week in which there seemed to be so many negative words spoken – even among Christian brothers and sisters. Please pray that we all remember we are to glorify God in what we say as well as in what we do. Help us not use prayer as a way to vent anger or frustration, for that implies that God is incapable of correcting these injustices; that Jesus is not sufficient atonement for us.

God’s Provision – Donations of Time & Finances
· Thank the Lord for the showers each week from the Garner church Thank You Jesus for serving hearts!
· Thank you Jesus for all the food donated by area grocery stores, churches, individuals, and caterers! Thank you Lord for all the donations of clothing, storage places, and toiletries donated this week.
· We thank you, Jesus, for those who have donated time showing the love of Jesus through relationships and support circles, especially as new ones are developing across Cary and Apex. Praise God!
· Praise God for the local chiropractor who has been collecting first aid items and socks pick-up Monday.
· Praise God for the church hosting a dinner where first aid items and socks are the admission ticket.

June 16, 2007

We are thanking you for your prayers and support as the Lord continues to provide abundantly for this ministry! More and more people are being drawn into communion with one another through the least of these, whether homeless, poverty stricken, prostitutes, drug dealers, or gang members, and so many blessings are being shared!

Community Awareness – Meetings and missions
· A new mission has begun every Sunday from 4:30-7 PM, parking at 5017 Thriftwood Dr., Apex. For more information contact Cindy Boyce at 387-0921, cboyce@nc.rr.com.
· The Downtown Friends/Bread of Life ministry collected 54 names of at least 300 people who were served hot dogs prayed for salvation on June 2nd!!! Praise God!!
· CitW Volunteer Information Meeting concerning the ministry Church in the Woods, has been scheduled. This meeting will be held on June 25th at 7:00 pm. The location is 4701 Forestdale Rd. Raleigh, NC 27603, Alice McGee's home.
· Forming Faith Community Support Circles to Address Homelessness in Wake County. Date: Saturday, June 16, 2007, 9:00 am - 12:00 noon, First Baptist Church, 99 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27603. Please submit your registration information by June 11th to Roberta Macauley at Roberta.macauley@raldioc.org or 790-8533 ext. 32.
· New York Times article: Off the Street and in an Apartment, but Unable to Escape Homelessness http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/nyregion/11cave.html?_r=2&th&emc=th&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
· Harvest 07 Coming to Triangle/Raleigh-Durham Area - A group of 175 churches in the Triangle area has invited evangelist Greg Laurie and the Harvest team to Raleigh for Harvest 07, June 22-24 at the RBC Center. Harvest Crusades events present the Good News of Jesus Christ in a uniquely modern way featuring Greg Laurie's relevant Bible teaching and contemporary Christian music. http://www.harvest.org/crusades/2007/raleigh/

“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost”
Scripture: Luke 15:3-7 (alternate reading: Matthew 5:27-32)
3 So he told them this parable: 4 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.' 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Meditation: Jesus’ heart of love and compassion is most clearly revealed in the way he sought out sinners and outcasts of society. No one was excluded from his gracious presence unless they chose to stay away out of jealousy or mistrust. The scribes and Pharisees took great offense at Jesus because he freely associated with sinners and treated them graciously. The Pharisees had strict regulations about how they were to keep away from sinners, lest they incur defilement. They were not to entrust money to them or have any business dealings with them, nor trust them with a secret, nor entrust orphans to their care, nor accompany them on a journey, nor give their daughter in marriage to any of their sons, nor invite them as guests or be their guests. They were shocked with the way in which Jesus freely received sinners and ate with them.
God does not rejoice in the loss of anyone, but desires that all be saved and restored to fellowship with him. That is why the whole community of heaven rejoices when one sinner is found and restored to fellowship with God. Seekers of the lost are much needed today.

Prayer and Praise!
Apex
· Thank you Jesus for Your Almighty provisions twice a week
· The Lord is so gracious. He brought three lambs to the Apex mission. What a gift to witness lambs ministering to lambs. The three walked away feeling blessed.
· Produce picked up at a local grocer was in abundance today. The extra produce was given to those at the Apex mission. The missionaries took the food to two homes to be dispersed throughout the neighborhood. At one of the homes the single mother has the chickenpox and is unable to work. Please pray for the family’s finances, a quick recovery, and patience for her two young sons.
· A missionary was blessed to meet the man who received the wheelchair this week. Food was delivered to their home and he was strapped into the wheelchair with an ace bandage. Tears came to his eyes when this mother explained who the missionary was. The language barrier wasn’t a barrier at all. All he could say was gracias Dios! Thank you Lord for Your provisions and the tearing down the walls of fear and distrust.

Cary
· A lamb was taken to the hospital one night this week. The police called missionaries to meet him at the hospital. The lamb was released from the hospital with minor injuries.
· A Cary lamb finally agreed to enter alcohol treatment. Praise God! He has been suffering from numerous physical ailments compounded by excessive drinking and legal issues. He and a missionary were both blessed to spend several hours at the treatment center being processed, as God brought several other addicts there to share stories and discuss God’s plans for their lives. One man initially identified himself as “God” and said, “You may worship me.” But he was tremendously blessed when a missionary gave him a wrist band from the upcoming Harvest ’07 event in Raleigh. The band has written on it: “Making God Known.” He was told when he visits Dorothea Dix hospital that it is his mission now to share the love of Jesus with others, and he readily accepted!
· A lamb who was released from ATC last week found his employer has held his position at work. Thank You Jesus! The lambs also met a former lamb at church to learn they were in neighboring transitional homes. They were able to give each support and encouragement. What a small world!

Garner
· Please keep a lamb in Garner in your prayers as he saves money to move back to land he has in Arkansas. He entrusted his land documents with a missionary this week to see whether the 10 timbered acres might be worth enough to sell so the lamb could put some kind of housing on part of it. This lamb also was sharing with missionary identical visions about how the old song “Stairway to Heaven” contains so many veiled references to Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
· Please continue to pray for the lamb with the broken wrist (since December). The doctor has given missionaries the protocol for her wrist surgery. Please pray she will now take the necessary steps for surgery. She has asked for prayer from narcotic addiction. She has been taking too many pain pills for her wrist.
· Please pray for a Garner lamb who was in the hospital with sclerosis and other alcohol-related issues. Please pray also for a lamb who continues to create turmoil by gossiping and spreading vicious rumors about others – even as she praises Christ as her Savior.
· Please pray for a lamb who is in jail. Please ask that the Lord speak with Him and remind him that he is loved. He is due to be released soon.
· A lamb couple are trying to work more hours, pay off debts, save money, and find housing. The company the husband is working with has been blessed with more business than they can handle in his normal workweek. Thank you Jesus! Please keep these lambs in your prayers.
· This same lamb couple invited a lamb to stay in their hotel room, so he could shower, eat, and remain substance free for a few days. Praise God for the lambs ministering to lambs.
· Please pray for a place for the Garner Thursday mission to meet out of the weather, maybe a church on South Saunders St, 401 or Wilmington St will open their doors one night a week, especially when the days become shorter in the fall. The Lord knows the perfect meeting location.
· Please pray for a hair stylist to serve the Lord one Saturday a month at the Garner showers.

General
· Please keep lambs in prayer as they are asked to make decisions of walking away from their addictions and walking toward Jesus.
· Thank you Jesus for a lamb who is continuing to be substance free and involved with a support group through AA.
· Please continue to pray for support circles as these lambs readjust to society and are welcomed into the Body of Christ.
· Praise God for the existing support circle as the Body of Christ encircles a lamb with the love of Jesus!
· Please keep the director of CitW, Alice McGee, in your prayers as she is in Africa for a mission trip, returning this weekend.
· Thank you Lord for being scheduler of all Christians’ time.

Missionary Testimonials
God continues to provide food in miraculous ways and quantities! A missionary on Sunday met friends at one store and was able to tell them about what is being done with food that would otherwise be thrown away. The missionary then went home to find brown bag lunches being delivered for a ministry, visited camps, brought people to church and arrived EARLY – God’s timing again!
At church, the missionary met a woman who had a dream telling her to serve the homeless on a regular basis. Another woman said she wants to give vaccinations to the homeless’ pets for $1. She will also spay and neuter cats. Praise God!!!!

God’s Provision – Donations of Time & Finances
· Thank the Lord for the showers each week from the Garner church Thank You Jesus for serving hearts!
· Thank you Jesus for all the food donated by area grocery stores, churches, individuals, and caterers! Thank you Lord for all the donations of clothing, storage places, and toiletries donated this week.
· Thank You Jesus for the acupuncturist who donates her time.
· We thank you, Jesus, for those who have donated time showing the love of Jesus through relationships and support circles, especially as new ones are developing across Cary and Apex. Praise God!
· Praise God for a local veterinarian who provided neutering and vaccinations for a lamb’s dog.
· Praise God for the food donated by the family of an area graduate. The chicken, baked beans, potato salad, and salads.
· The Lord provided hamburgers, hot dogs, and baked beans today. Missionaries called the missionary who feeds the Sunday Moore Square mission. She didn’t have food for tomorrow. She received ~150 hamburgers, baked beans, and macaroni and cheese. As the missionary was leaving her home the Brown Bag ministry brought over 100 loaves of sandwich bread. Half of the bread was also given to her. Praise God for His mighty Provisions!!!!

The Apex, Cary and Garner missions

Church in the Woods mission

Apex - serving gang members, substance abusers and drug dealers

1. Wednesday 1PM-2PM
   pick-up food for humanitarian aid and prayer to those at the Apex mission
2. Sunday 5PM -7PM
   meals (hot and bagged lunches), fellowship and prayer, medical missions

Cary - serving the homeless, prostitutes, substance abusers, and drug dealers

1. Monday noon-1PM
   pick-up food for humanitarian aid and prayer to the homeless and those at the prostitute hotel
2. Thursday noon -1PM
   pick-up food for humanitarian aid and prayer to the homeless and those at the prostitute hotel
3. Sunday 9:30-3 PM
   humanitarian aid , pick-up those who want to go to church, lunch, fellowship and prayer
4. As needed
   rides to appointments, court, jobs, Bible studies; finding resources and services; housing; bus tickets to see family; hospital visits; staying for court hearing; visits in jail/prison; banking; support circles; (showers, laundry in missionaries' homes)

Garner - serving homeless, substance abusers, prostitutes, and drug deals

1. Thursday 6:30 PM-9PM
   Bible study, discipleship, meal, fellowship and prayer
2. Saturday 3PM - 5PM
   showers, fellowship, prayer, and medical mission hosted - served by the Garner Methodist Church
3. Sunday 8:45AM - 3PM
   food pick-up, delivering food to camps, picking-up for church, serving lunch, fellowship, prayer, and returning to camps
4. As needed
   rides to appointments, court, jobs, Bible studies; finding resources and services; housing; bus tickets to see family; hospital visits; staying for court hearing; visits in jail/prison; banking; support circles; laundry and kerosene accounts

We are thanking you for your prayers and support as the Lord continues to provide abundantly for this ministry! More and more people are being drawn into communion with one another through the least of these, whether homeless, poverty stricken, prostitutes, drug dealers, or gang members, and so many blessings are being shared!

Community Awareness – Meetings and missions
· A new mission has begun every Sunday from 4:30-7 PM, parking at 5017 Thriftwood Dr., Apex. For more information contact Cindy Boyce at 387-0921, cboyce@nc.rr.com.
· Forming Faith Community Support Circles to Address Homelessness in Wake County. You are invited to participate in a community wide information session that will provide you information about how to form new Support Circles. Presenters will include providers from various homeless service agencies skilled in working with families who are homeless. The date is Saturday, June 16, 2007 from 9:00 am - 12:00 noon at First Baptist Church, 99 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27603. For additional questions about the session, please contact Roberta Macauley at Roberta.macauley@raldioc.org <mailto:Roberta.macauley@raldioc.org> or 790-8533 ext. 32. Please submit your registration information by June 11th
· Harvest 07 Coming to Triangle/Raleigh-Durham Area - A group of 175 churches in the Triangle area has invited evangelist Greg Laurie and the Harvest team to Raleigh for Harvest 07, June 22-24 at the RBC Center. Harvest Crusades events present the Good News of Jesus Christ in a uniquely modern way featuring Greg Laurie's relevant Bible teaching and contemporary Christian music. http://www.harvest.org/crusades/2007/raleigh/

Prayer and Praise!
Apex
· The Lord equipped the mission with 97 brown bags lunches with an additional 20 sandwiches to be given away Sunday evening from the Brown Bag ministry, enabling missionaries to deliver bag lunches in the rain. About half of the people in the trailer park were able to receive a gift from Jesus! What a blessing to be able to drive from home to home offering the physical to open the door for His spiritual manna!
· Two of the former Garner lambs came with missionaries to deliver the bagged lunches. What a blessing to watch how being the Lord’s hands can change one’s life!
· What a gift to witness the family’s face when a wheelchair was taken from a car trunk and delivered to their home Sunday evening. The family was reminded to thank Jesus for being the provider of all things.
· Pray for a lamb whose friend is going through a challenge with his health, family, and income. May the prayers for this friend bring the lamb to the Lord? This lamb is also now asking for prayers wanting to know more about Jesus. Thank you Lord!!!!
· Please keep a lamb in your prayers as she is “figuring out religion”. She came to the mission encouraging neighbors to come as well.
· Please keep a lamb in prayer for restoration of his family.
· The Lord provided a trunk load of food Wednesday to be given away in the Apex mission. The language is no a barrier as smiles of appreciation with the words “Gracias Jesús”
· Thank you Jesus for Your Almighty provisions twice a week.
Cary
· Please keep a lamb in prayer as he was paid yesterday. Have the Lord touch his mind more than his addiction.
· Please keep a lamb in prayer as his time at the Wake County Alcohol Treatment Center nears an end.
· Please keep a lamb in your prayers as he has returned home to Richmond. He was given the book, A Purpose Driven Life.
· We are thanking the Lord for your prayers as the married couple has been substance free for over a month. They are living in a motel and looking for an apartment in Cary as well as jobs. The husband is working about halftime with a Heat and Air company and wanting more work. The wife has applied for waitress jobs but would love to work in an office.
· Missionaries were able to have lambs take showers on Sunday after church.
· Please thank Jesus for His Almighty faithful provisions.
· Please keep the missionaries in prayer as they deliver physical and spiritual manna 3 times a week. Thank you Jesus for Your mighty hands in this world!
Garner
· Sunday a lamb met missionaries to show where his new camp is located and to see the lamb who is suffering from pancreatitis. The camp is beautiful! Hugs received with smiles of joy filled the morning! Please keep both lambs in your prayers.
· Please keep in your prayers a lamb who told missionaries he has been given 60 days to live due to liver issues.
· On Thursday, the Bible study moved back into the other side of the parking lot, near the lambs “watering hole” or “family room”. The lambs were surprised and relieved to see missionaries setting up tables and chairs in their “space”. Beer or Cerveza wasn’t allowed within the circle of chairs or at the food table. Thank you Jesus for their respect. A cell phone drug deal was underway during the prayer circle time and the phone was taken away being returned outside the circle after the prayer time was over. All phone calls were asked to be taken away from the area, in reverence of “iglesia”. This, too, was respected by the lambs. Praise God! What a blessing to witness the hunger for His Word and with reverence by so many!
· The Lord provided a bounty for dinner. Missionaries were shocked when they went to the grocer’s deli to pick up food to also be given a case of Hispanic soda. What a gift! Another group donated refried beans, black beans, Mexican rice, and corn with tortillas. What a feast for the large group!
· The group took turns reading Acts 9 in Spanish and then English section by section with discussion between each section. One of the lambs served as translator between both groups. One of the lambs was trying to explain how he had felt persecuted today. His persecution took him to alcohol instead of to being closer to Christ. Others discussed hearing the voice of the Lord but the voice of cerveza was louder. Please pray that the Lord’s voice is the loudest voice in our lives.
· A lamb is going through a program provided by the department of correction and taking computer classes at Wake Tech. Praise God!!!!
· The lamb who felt persecuted began to verbally strike out last night. Several of the other lambs went to “put him in his place”, the old way with fists and bats. Before anyone touched the lamb, everyone was called back to the circle to continue the study of Acts 9. Several lambs lost the desire to continue with God’s Word but were encouraged to return to the circle. They read through verse 31. God and His perfect timing!!!! “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit; it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.” This scripture became the scripture for the evening.
· The Lord is such a Lord of provision. An area church donated the money for a bus ticket. The following day the family in CA whose brother just went to see the Lord, contacted missionaries also wanting to help this lamb go home to be with his family. They know what it meant to them to have their brother home. He owns some land in Arkansas and hopes to get away from the temptations of homeless living in Garner. This lamb has such a wide knowledge of the Bible and read most of the English version of the study last night.
· Please continue to pray for the lamb with the broken wrist (since December). The doctor has given missionaries the protocol for her wrist surgery. Please pray she will now take the necessary steps for surgery. She has asked for prayer from narcotic addiction. She has been taking too many pain pills for her wrist.
· Please pray for a lamb who is in jail. Please ask that the Lord speak with Him and remind him that he is loved.
· Thank you Jesus for Your Almighty provisions three times per week.
· Please pray for a place for the Garner Thursday mission to meet out of the weather, maybe a church on South Saunders St, 401 or Wilmington St will open their doors one night a week, especially when the days become shorter in the fall. The Lord knows the perfect meeting location.
· Please pray for a hair stylist to serve the Lord one Saturday a month at the Garner showers.
General
· Please keep lambs in prayer as they are asked to make decisions of walking away from their addictions and walking toward Jesus.
· Thank you Jesus for a lamb who is continuing to be substance free and involved with a support group through AA.
· Please continue to pray for support circles as these lambs readjust to society and are welcomed into the Body of Christ.
· Praise God for the existing support circle as the Body of Christ encircles a lamb with the love of Jesus!
· Please keep the director of CitW, Alice McGee, in your prayers as she is in Africa for a mission trip, May 24th returning June 17th.
· Thank you Lord for being scheduler of all Christians time.

Missionary Testimonials
· What a gift the Lord gave when He gave the family the wheelchair this week! The Hispanic community is so frightened by people they don’t’ know, expecting them to harm them with threats of exportation or harm. To witness trust being built through His love is a blessing. The language barrier didn’t stop the gratitude, smiles and hugs as they spoke to their loved one and pushed the wheelchair into the trailer. The family came back outside to thank the missionaries and God for this gift! This was the first time missionaries witnessed the family pointing to Heaven with words of appreciation with no fear on their faces. Praise You Jesus!

God’s Provision – Donations of Time & Finances
· Thank the Lord for the showers each week from the Garner church Thank You Jesus for serving hearts!
· Thank you Jesus for all the food donated by area grocery stores, churches, individuals, and caterers! Thank you Lord for all the donations of clothing, storage places, and toiletries donated this week. This week someone having a yard sale wants to donate their leftovers.
· Thank You Jesus for the acupuncturist who donates her time.
· We thank you, Jesus, for those who have donated time showing the love of Jesus through relationships and support circles, especially as new ones are developing across Cary and Apex. Praise God!

June 1 2007

We are thanking you for your prayers and support as the Lord continues to provide abundantly for this ministry! More and more people are being drawn into communion with one another through the homeless and so many blessings are being shared!

Community Awareness – Meetings and missions
· A new mission has begun every Sunday from 4:30-7 PM, parking at 5017 Thriftwood Dr., Apex. For more information contact Cindy Boyce at 387-0921, cboyce@nc.rr.com.
· Forming Faith Community Support Circles? You are invited to participate in a community wide information session that will provide you information about how to form new Support Circles. Presenters will include providers from various homeless service agencies skilled in working with families who are homeless. It is being held June 16th from 9 AM – noon at First Baptist Church, 99 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27603 (Continental breakfast will be provided). For additional questions about the session, please contact Roberta Macauley at Roberta.macauley@raldioc.org or 790-8533 ext. 32. Please submit your registration information by June 11th.
· Join the word in preparing for the GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER! We have begun 10 days of constant prayer: May 17 – 26, following the pattern of Christ’s followers before the first Pentecost. On Pentecost Sunday, Christians in almost every country will assemble to pray. Then we will seek 90 days of blessing: May 28 - August 25. As in the first Pentecost, transformed Christians transform their communities as they offer themselves to God as instruments through which their prayers can be answered. For more information including a guide to praying, visit www.globaldayofprayer.com

Prayer and Praise!
· The last day of the Global day of prayer the Lord’s blessing began to pour upon CitW. Storage was found for all the items stored in WLFJ, Hope Chapel is paying for half of a storage unit, a missionary had empty space in a couple of outbuildings, the freezers and refrigerator were placed in missionaries homes, garages, and porches. No sooner were freezers plugged in, the Lord was filling them with food donated leftover from a Latino festival and catered weddings. The Brown Bag ministry donated 40 bag lunches for the Apex mission and 80 pounds of bananas. While picking up the food from the Brown Bag ministry, a man approached a missionary giving her his card. He helps those in need write resumes and teaches them to interview for jobs. Thank you Lord for being the ultimate provider.
· With the Lord’s perfect timing, a couple of the bagged lunches arrived as lambs who were assisting with the move came to missionaries’ home without having eaten that day. God is so awesome!
· Please keep the director of CitW, Alice McGee, in your prayers as she is in Africa for a mission trip, May 24th returning June 17th.

Apex
· Some of the missionaries walked the neighborhood, while others manned the table under the trees. Those walking the neighborhood knocked on doors bringing them a bagged lunch, an invitation to the mission, and the offer of prayer. Some took the lunches and smiled with the invitation, but no one refused prayer.
· The meal provided from the cater was sole with a shrimp stuffing in a cream sauce. The pasta was also in a cream sauce with roasted peppers and mushrooms. Salad and bread was provided with bananas and fresh fruit. The Lord provided a feast for Pentecost. So many of the lambs asked how much it cost and couldn’t believe it was free.
· Please keep one lamb in your prayers. He is a new Christian and asked for prayers for discipleship. He wants to follow Jesus but it is difficult to change old ways and put on His new wineskin.
· The lamb who had back surgery was walking around Sunday. The doctors couldn’t believe how well he is doing after only one week. He asked missionaries what the “catch” was with the free food. He was told it is freely given to be freely given away. Did you have to start attending the CitW church? He was surprised to find that the missionaries all attended different churches, but were all brothers and sisters of the Body of Christ.
· We are thanking the Lord for your prayers for the diabetic lamb. He made chicken salad for the lambs of his community Sunday. His health is improving each week and his spirits are high. He feels closer to the Lord than he has in years. Praise God!
· Please keep a family from the mission in your prayers. The sole bread winner just came home from the hospital. The family asked for a wheelchair and one has been donated to be delivered Sunday. Praise God! We serve such an awesome God!
· Pray for a lamb whose friend is going through a challenge with his health, family, and income. May the prayers for this friend bring the lamb to the Lord.
· Please keep a lamb in your prayers as she is “figuring out religion”. She came to the mission encouraging neighbors to come as well.
· Please keep a lamb in prayer for restoration of his family.
· Thank you Jesus for Your Almighty provisions twice a week.

Cary
· We are thanking the Lord for your prayers. Three of the Cary lambs are working this week. Two attended a men’s Bible Study.
· Please keep a lamb in prayer. He called missionaries asking for help this week. He is in the Wake County Alcohol Treatment Center. Praise God!!!!
· Please keep a lamb in your prayers. He attempted suicide this week. A missionary went to visit him and shared a past of her testimony not knowing he had a similar experience as a child. Thank you for the Holy Spirit’s prompting and obedience of the missionary. The Lord has also provided him a bus ticket to go home to Richmond today. Thank you Jesus!!!
· Please pray for two married lambs who are facing many crises: loss of one’s job, possible jail time, disruptive and dysfunctional family members, and continuing struggles with substance addictions. They need God’s covering and leading to choose His new wineskin. The Lord has given these lambs committed mentors this week. Pray for the mentors as they lean on the Lord for wisdom, understanding, strength, and guidance. These lambs have moved from their apartment, receiving their deposit back and a letter of reference for their next apartment. Praise God!!!
· We are thanking the Lord for your prayers. An area store is donating food the day the caterer is unable to supply food. Please keep the lambs in your prayers who have been fed, physically and spiritually, on this day, especially one elderly lamb. Please thank Jesus for His Almighty faithful provisions.
· Please keep the missionaries in prayer as they deliver physical and spiritual manna 4 times a week. Thank you Jesus for Your mighty hands in this world!

Garner
· On Thursday, the Bible study moved back into the parking lot. A cater prepared food this week. She set the table with a tablecloth and provisions to keep the food hot. She plans to prepare food the last Thursday of each month. Thank you Jesus!!! She also has many paper products to donate from her restaurant business which recently closed. Please keep her in your prayers as she now serves God’s kingdom with her culinary gifts.
· We are thanking the Lord for the faithfulness of the mobile medical team. They attended with few lambs wanting medical attention.
· Missionaries had asked the Lord for a lamb’s brother’s phone number. The brother called this week wanting to get in touch with his brother to bring him home for Father’s Day. His father is elderly and he wanted the family together before any more time passes. The brother was given the missionaries’ number two years ago. Praise God for answered prayers.
· With the leaving of this lamb to WI, another lamb is left alone. Within the past few months, his brother moved to PA, one of his two dogs was stolen and now his best friend is going home, although only for a few weeks. Please keep him in your prayers that he turn to Jesus instead of other coping mechanisms.
· One of the first lambs who came to the Garner mission three years ago visited last night. What a blessing to see him and catch-up. He is looking after another lamb who is suffering from pancreatitis. Please keep both lambs in your prayers.
· What a blessing to have so many lambs assist with the move of the CitW items in storage! We are thanking Jesus for their assistance. Many of these lambs also assist with the move the married couple this week. God is the provider of so many hearts and hands.
· Please keep another lamb in prayer as he tries to get money to go back to his home in Arkansas. He needs about $160. He owns some land there and hopes to get away from the temptations of homeless living in Garner. This lamb has such a wide knowledge of the Bible and did all of the reading Thursday night, plus quoted other scriptures to back up Acts 8.
· Please pray for another lamb who is looking for work in the Garner area. She is taking the summer off from nursing classes at Wake Tech and would like to save some money for the fall.
· Please continue to pray for the lamb with the broken wrist (since December). The doctor has given missionaries the protocol for her wrist surgery. Please pray she will now take the necessary steps for surgery. Also pray for the Ultimate Physician to heal her wrist. Several people have laid hands on it for healing.
· Thank you God for answering prayers and removing much of the anger and dissention that was present the previous week.
· Please pray for a lamb who is in jail. Please ask that the Lord speak with Him and remind him that he is loved.
· Thank you Jesus for Your Almighty provisions three times per week.
· Please pray for a place for the Garner Thursday mission to meet out of the weather, maybe a church on South Saunders St, 401 or Wilmington St will open their doors one night a week. The Lord knows the perfect meeting location.
· Please pray for a hair stylist to serve the Lord one Saturday a month at the Garner showers.

General
· Please keep lambs in prayer as they are asked to make decisions of walking away from their addictions and walking toward Jesus.
· Thank you Jesus for a lamb who is continuing to be substance free and involved with a support group through AA.
· Please continue to pray for support circles as these lambs readjust to society and are welcomed into the Body of Christ.
· Praise God for the existing support circle as the Body of Christ encircles a lamb with the love of Jesus!
· Thank you Lord for being scheduler of all Christians time.

Missionary Testimonials
· The Lord is continuing to work through relationships! A couple who adopted a lamb couple has found that with him working for their business, they have more work than ever before. The lamb is constantly pressing for more opportunities and is making his sponsor think twice about his own commitments and priorities.

God’s Provision – Donations of Time & Finances
· Thank the Lord for the showers each week from the Garner church Thank You Jesus for serving hearts!
· Thank you Jesus for all the food donated by area grocery stores, churches, individuals, and caterers! Thank you Lord for all the donations of clothing, storage places, and toiletries donated this week.
· Thank You Jesus for the acupuncturist who donates her time.
· Thank You Jesus for the nurses who donated their time the last night and for Dr. Hartye.
· We thank you, Jesus, for those who have donated time showing the love of Jesus through relationships and support circles, especially as new ones are developing across Cary and Apex. Praise God!