Middle Eastern Missions Prayer Request

I am asking that you will join me in a call to prayer from one of our missionaries in the Middle East.

· Thank God for the baptisms, churches, and leaders that have come in the past 29 years.

· Pray for leadership development among the churches in this region.

· Ask that the sacrifice of villagers would bear fruit that makes their faith strong.

· Ask God to direct those writing the Arabic Bible commentary and the decisions they make while they are writing.

· Ask the Lord to protect our missionary, his family, and all of those in leadership.

"Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place." 1 Kings 8:28-29

Power In a Mercury

"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Acts 4:31

I have the privilege of driving six high-schoolers to Seabreeze High School five days a week. Each morning one of these leaders quotes a Scripture verse and then we pray. The Mercury is full of power from God's Holy Spirit, not the power plant under the hood.

We pray for missionaries, countries, world leaders, disasters, friends, teachers, parents, each other, the lost, pastors, churches, and more. The honest, sincere prayers are powerful and pleasing to Jesus. We finish the ride with worship music. Perhaps your car needs some of this power.

Answering the Call

Tomoka Christian Church is truly a body of Christ followers. Your response to the call for an adoptive family for Sheila was amazing. Thank you for answering the call of Christ which was heard through the cry of a lone teenager in Ghana.

We have forwarded your emails — some from out of state — to Kevin and Cara Boone, who are in Ghana this week picking up their daughter, Ruth. I am sure that we will soon have another report from Cara on Sheila (the two are pictured here) and her search for a family. When Cara returns and spends a few days acclimating Ruth to a new life, she will get us the needed information for adoption procedures and we will make sure that you are updated.

I want to remind you that “some estimates put the number of orphans at 50 million while other estimates put the number as high as 200 million. Sadly the orphans are even abandoned by the statistics.” There is never a shortage of children looking for a family. Prayerfully, Sheila’s cry has brought to our attention again the need for the body of Christ to step up and care for the orphans. And what better way to celebrate National Adoption Month in October than to have 25-30 families from Tomoka Christian begin the process to bring their child home from around the world!

I know that God has spoken to many of you whether you e-mailed us or not. I challenge each of you to take action on what He has placed on your hearts to do whether it is to adopt or to help make it financially possible for another "Sheila" to find her Mommy.
…To Be Continued

Sunday's Coming by Perry Noble

Perry Noble wrote something recently that really inspired me that he called "Sunday's Coming." It went something like this.

Who have you invited? (Acts 1:8)

Who are you bringing with you? (John 1:40-42)

Have you told God, “I am available!” (Isaiah 6:8)

We’re praying for HUGE things on Sunday… (Acts 4:29-31)

Eternal destinations will be altered… (John 5:24)

Life Change WILL HAPPEN… (II Corinthians 5:17)

So…what are you waiting on? (II Corinthians 6:1-2)

Let’s have that uncomfortable conversation… (Acts 1:8)

HE REIGNS… (Revelation 4)

He CAN save anyone… (Acts 9:1-18)

See you on Sunday! (Matthew 16:18)

You never know until you go!

A member of the Tomoka Christian family, Carl, recently went on his first mission trip. Below is a first-hand account of his life-changing experience.

There is nothing like experiencing a mission trip to realize spiritual growth.

I confess my complacency in keeping my growing faith in the box within the walls of our church. The truth is that the cup was not quite full by remaining there. One needs to step out of the box and stretch your faith out there on a mission trip. Then you know what it really feels like to have your cup full.

I stepped out of the box and went to Red Sands Mission in Winslow, Arizona, on the edge of a Native American reservation. I left with 12 disciples, and I was filled with questions such as, What will I do? How will the Lord use me? I was scared!

We arrived, and the beginning days were made up of working on a home for a missionary and ministering to the Native American children. It was great sharing worship and much fun and laughter with the children.

Deep inside, there was one day I honestly was dreading. It was the day we were to minister to the homeless. I prayed diligently about that day. My concern was, What will I do? What will I say? How will I respond to these people? How will the Lord use me?

The day arrived and the 12 disciples went to town. We arrived at a field where they were supposed to have lived. We found no one there. I breathed a sigh of relief, but I still felt scared. We moved on and came upon a large alley, and we saw 15-20 people there. Those who had been on the trip before jumped out and proceeded to the alley. I sat for a minute and prayed, "Lord I need you now!" I felt much like Moses. "Help me," I prayed. "I lift this all up to you. Please show me the way and use me."

As I finished my prayer it was like a hand behind me was pushing me out of the van. Like Peter, it was time to get out of the boat.

I walked down and looked into the faces of those hungry, hurting people. It was not so much hunger for food. It was brokenness and hunger for the good news. I laid hands on the first person. From that moment, the Lord took over completely. I went from one to another. I seemed to be consumed with His presence within me. His spirit filled my cup to capacity, I knew then that I would never be the same. My hope and prayer is that those I touched will also be forever changed.

On that trip I made my growing faith become a verb for the first time. This awesome God whom I claimed to serve has served me tenfold more. Now it was my turn to serve Him, to be His hands, His feet and His message!

My testament to the 12 at the end of our stay: "I'll be back!"

Remember, you never know until you go!

Prayers of a Child

I am inspired by the love for our Lord that I see in the youth at Tomoka Christian. Here is a heartfelt prayer from one of our elementary school students, Jenna.

Dear Heavenly Father, I just ask your blessings upon our family. Keep us safe and in Your presence, Lord. Spill out your Word in our hearts so that we will not sin against you, Lord, and that you will give us power to spread the Word of God. In your precious name we pray. Amen.

“And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

Praying for increase

If you are a normal human being, you have probably prayed more than once for God to pour out His blessings upon you and your family. You have, no doubt, prayed for increase in money, ability, vehicles, or in some other tangible item.

Why do we not pray for an increase in God's kingdom? Moses said, “May the Lord increase you a thousand times.” Now, that’s a big prayer! So what's wrong with our thinking and our praying?

Why are many Christians afraid of the church growing? How can we get over this fear? How do our prayers need to change?

Deuteronomy 1:11

Prayer Challenge

Chances are, right now if I asked whether or not you have a single, overwhelming prayer need — a deep concern that keeps your mind coming back to it — you'd say yes. Each need is, without a doubt, a serious one.

But that gripping prayer need for most of us likely is focused close to home, and not focused, say, on starving children in Ethiopia. It's probably not about AIDS victims in Kenya or about lost souls in Egypt who will die without hearing of God's love for them.

Here's a challenge. Next time your present need surfaces in your mind, try turning your attention to someone you don't know facing a different, serious need. Pray for them and their situation.

When we begin to do this, we turn our focus away from ourselves and our own problems, something our “me-first” culture doesn’t teach us to do. As we tune into others' needs, lifting them up in prayer, pretty soon we're dealing serious blows to Satan, each time driving a nail into his plans to make us feel frustrated or defeated.

Try it and let me know how it goes.

The Power of Prayer

If we’re praying on a regular basis, we are as ready as we can be for anything that can come our way in life. My friend, Steve, reminded me of this fact with the following lesson based on the One Year Bible.

Mark 9:28-29 reads, “… When Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?” Jesus replied. “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.”

The odd thing is, Jesus didn’t pray before casting out this demon. So what did he mean saying, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer”? I believe he meant, “cast out by a man who has prepared himself for the day of testing through daily times devoted to prayer.” Jesus was such a man. Are we?

Mark 1:35: “Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

Mark 6:36: “After leaving them, he (Jesus) went up on a mountainside to pray.”

If we’re praying daily, we’re ready to kick some demonic butt. If we’re not praying daily, we’re not ready. It’s that simple.

On Marriage

A successful marriage may be one of the most difficult disciplines in life, yet one of the most fulfilling. Take a moment to pray for your marriage and then for someone else's marriage that you know could use some encouragement. We can choose to love at a higher level than we do currently. The long-term results will be worth all of our efforts.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Not In Kansas Anymore

No one likes to think about, let alone discuss the reality of, the little island of Haiti. Haiti is only 600 nautical miles from the United States mainland, yet it might as well be across the universe.

Political instability, war lords, poverty, and pollution are all leading to a spirit of hopelessness and despair. This is a nation whose leaders for centuries have dedicated themselves and their nation to Satan.

Jesus said of Satan, in John 8:44, that he was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. He truly has done a number on this once pristine island of paradise.

Starvation, prostitution, and death are a daily way of life. Orphans who are begging, abused, and neglected are learning to work on the streets. These things are painful and unimaginable for our lives of plenty and abundance. How could things be so bad? Perhaps God is bringing judgment upon the nation of Haiti. Why doesn’t God do something for this nation?

Daddy

“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” - Hebrews 11:17-19

Daddy, as a dad this story is almost more than I can comprehend. May my faith be like Abraham’s. I can not imagine killing my child out of obedience, and yet Abraham’s relationship with you was so strong that he “reasoned that God could raise the dead.” Oh God, I surrender my five children to you and through your transforming work I will receive them back, figuratively, risen from the dead. I ask that you would use my children to bring millions to Jesus all around the world.

Lord, may I model faith for my children as Abraham did for Isaac. Help me learn to be obedient and not to second guess Your plans and ways. Help me to trust Your heart when I don’t understand Your thoughts. Help me to be faithful during times of testing that I might be found faithful. Jesus, I desire to have my children call me “The father of the faithful.”

Lord, may our children have a model of bold, vibrant faith to follow and let it come from my life.

Pray Continually

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray continually." We could save a lot of grief, anxiety, counseling, and pain if we would just put these two words into action in our lives.

Hurricane Felix

Hurricane Felix is destroying Central America as I write this. Many thoughts are going through my mind:

1. Millions of my brothers and sisters in Christ are in Mexico, Nicaragua, Belize, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama.
2. Urgent prayer is needed.
3. Response from God's people must be quick and we must meet real needs.
4. Many of those who did not get out were the poorest of the poor before Felix hit.
5. We've lived through hurricanes and know how hard it was with all of our resources and being a part of America.

Be blessed but ready to help.