“Let nothing upset you, let nothing frighten you. Everything is changing; God alone is changeless.
Patience attains the goal. Who has God lacks nothing; God alone fills all their needs.” Theresa of Avila
Last week we sent 11 of our Care Fresno kids up to Camp Sugarpine. Some of them had never been to a camp. They had a great time - but the most important thing is that 8 of them accepted Jesus as Savior. Is that not just the most awesome thing! This “Kingdom Harvest” makes all the long hours of prayers and work by the volunteers in the Kids Klub worth every second! Please pray for our kids and that Care Fresno Kids Klub can continue to influence them in Jesus’ name.
Speaking of Kids Klub - the Marine World trip is FINALLY here! We will be going this Saturday - and we are so excited! We will be leaving at 5:30 in the morning (okay - we are not so excited about that part!)and should be back at midnight! Please pray for traveling mercies, for patience by the adults as we chaperon these very excited kids, and for our kids - that they have a great time and that Father uses this experience to draw them closer to Him.
This Sonday was truly a day of blessing & praise! Not only did we have the opportunity to rejoice at the results of several of our ministries - VBS, Jr High Day Camp and Kids Klub - but we were able to celebrate Willie’s 10 year anniversary as our senior pastor. God is so good to us. I have a good feeling that his next ten years as our senior pastor are going to be as exciting and life changing as the past ten. Let us pray that Willie retires from ministry at the same age as Billy Graham. (Willie’s eyes just bugged out as he read that! Rev Graham is 86 & still crusading!)
George Martin & his wife, Margie, were in services on Sonday. In spite of being in a wheelchair, George looked great. Please continue to pray for George & Margie as they battle George’s cancer.
I have a friend at work whose 28 year old sister has been diagnosed with a tumor in her brain. She is undergoing chemo to shrink the tumor so that it can be operated on. My friend is taking care of her sister’s 3 children. Please pray that the tumor shrinks, that it is benign and that it can be safely removed.
Kristen Nolte should be home on Friday (I think) It will be so good to have her home with us!.
Judi Wright’s shoulder surgery is scheduled for July 21st. If all goes well, she should be back at work six weeks later. Please pray for a quick recovery - and that she is able to get help with her mother.
We continue to pray for the following: Merle Rush, Matt & Dan Johnson, Michael Ferris, Candance & Nick Brown, Meredith Nunn, Erica Hensen, Bob Melchor, Emmy Lou Graves, Anna Gossen, Doug & Diane Clapp, The Care Fresno family, Laura in Ohio, John Rogers & cancer, Bryan Hitch & his blood pressure, Lillian Seward & shingles, Chris Vercoe & family, Chuck Beal & his heart, new employment opportunities for Dan Hansen, Michelle Kammer to find a church home, Angel in Mississippi to find a church home, Tim & Lorna’s adoption of Drew, Bobbie Ronsley & lupus, Brandon & leukemia, Stan Reed & cancer, Kassel Coon in Afghanistan, Ray Rahn & his wife. Please send me any updates you might have!
Pray for our missionaries - Gospel For Asia, Laurie Bethall in Prague, Judy, Faye & Miisaw as they work at the New Life Center in Thailand, Jan & Larry Martin in Thailand, The Reaching Hand Society in India, Dr. George Pe Myat & the hospital in the Congo, Bounkham & Khamla’s mission to Laos, and all the missionaries worldwide.
Please keep our two church plants in prayer. Please pray for Karl & Shellie Roth with Flipside. Please pray for Horacio & Cheryl Aleman at the LIFEhouse in Reedley. Flipside’s next preview service is this Sonday at 10:00. Karl is starting a series entitled “Releasing God’s dreams in your life.” Sounds interesting........... Please pray for continued growth in both of these churches.
Pray for our pastors, our leadership, our ministries, and Father’s provision for His Church. Pray that we recognize opportunities to share our faith with others.
Pray for our country, her leadership and our military. I read an interesting quote a few days ago - it said something like this, “Last week the average American garbage disposal ate better than 30% of the world’s population.” We are a country that continues to be blessed by God. Let us pray that our country will turn back to God and be a blessing to Him.
Great & Glorious God,
Thank You for the loving care that You give to us, In this world that is more crazy than not we take comfort and relief in knowing that You are our Father. We have nothing to fear because You go before us. You fight our battles, You provide for us, You are our refuge when we are weary. You are everything to us. We lift our hearts, hands and voices in worship of You.
We thank You and praise You for the great reports that have come out of our ministries this past week. We thank You for the children who accepted You as Savior and Lord of their lives. Help us to support them and teach them to walk in Your ways.
LORD Jesus, We thank You for bringing Willie and his family to us. I know that I join many others in looking back at these past ten years and remembering those defining moments when Willie has been preaching and a light bulb has gone off in our heads and our walk with You has gotten that much closer. We ask that You abundantly bless him as he has so abundantly blessed us. Oh, and LORD? About that Billy Graham thing - I wasn’t joking.
Great Comforter, having George and Margie in services again was great! Continue to bless them, comfort them and work through them for Your glory.
Holy Spirit, we lift up my friend’s sister and ask that the tumor be benign and that it can be removed safely. Return this young mother to her family.
LORD God, You alone are holy and worthy of our praise. We surrender ourselves to You.
Judi is scheduled for surgery soon, Father. We ask that You comfort this gentle servant of Yours as she prepares for it. We ask that Your Hand does the surgery and that she will be quickly restored to full health.
Triune God, You are the provider of our needs, the healer of our bodies, the solution to our problems. Because You are our all-in-all we release to Your will all of the people and situations that we continue to pray for.
We lift before you all of the missionaries who serve You around the world in places great and small. Protect them, LORD God. Provide for their needs. Comfort them when they are weary, give them a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit so that they fly like the eagles.
We pray for LIFEHouse and Flipside churches, Father God. We ask that You bless them with continued growth in attenders and continued growth in each person’s walk with You. Bless the pastors and their families as they continue in this great adventure with You.
Uncreated One, we ask for Your joy to be poured out on our pastors. Strengthen them as they serve You. We pray for the leadership of our churches and for the many ministries through which we serve and love You. Bless our efforts. We pray that You give us a spirit of unity among the individual congregations and among the worldwide Church as we follow You.
Help us to live our lives as a reflection of You. Give us the opportunities to share You with others both by the words we speak and by our actions.
We thank You, Father for America, and for the abundance of blessings that You have given her. We thank You that we have the freedom to worship You openly - that we do not fear being drug out of our homes for the crime of being Christian. But in our abundance, we have gotten arrogant and have turned away from You. LORD God, help us to humble our hearts and turn back to the Giver of Life. Heal our land, heal our leaders, set our country on fire for You. Bless and protect our military as they serve our country.
From the thief on the cross, to the woman accused of adultery, to the demon possessed, to all the outcasts throughout time, and for those who look like they have everything but were empty inside, You have reached out to all of us in love and have given us a home and a place to belong. You have made us complete. We love You so much - help us to bring joy to You as You do to us.
Posted by Valerie at June 22, 2005 06:12 PM