SO often, I get to Tuesday nights and have NO clue what I'm going to write about. I know you guys don't need my thoughts. I know you don't need any words to start your fast. And yet still, I feel compelled to write something....so I guess you are stuck with reading it! Though, feel free to skim down to the bottom and just read the requests.
Whenever I get to the point where I am confused about what to write, I feel the Lord bring me back to one thing - just share what you are learning! So that's what you get :-)
The past 10 days have been interesting for me. HopeChest has a team in India. As this trip approached, a number of us felt that this trip would need serious prayer covering. We knew that some of our friends (and fellow iFasters) would be going into places of great spiritual darkness and also great physical danger. I soon realized that what the Lord was calling me to was leading the charge for prayer for the team.
This may seem like no big deal, but while I love praying I had never felt myself to be a prayer warrior or intercessor. This week, I have discovered both the joy and exhaustion of intercessory prayer! As I have prayed for a country that truthfully I never had a great passion for - I have had the Lord open my heart to her and make me fall absolutely in love! But the greatest joy has been the joy of a community coming together to seek the Lord's face on behalf of others. Twice, we have had prayer phone calls lasting an hour and a half. These have been some of the most powerful times of prayer I have ever experienced. Here we were, halfway around the world, and yet still feeling like we were part of this team and their ministry. A group of people realizing that the battle we fight is a spiritual one and choosing to unite across the united states to fight that battle. It was pure joy to stand arm in arm with these warriors and do battle for not only our team but for the entire red light district of Delhi. We truly felt like we were battling for this place and the chains of injustice that bind her. Isaiah 58 came alive in a whole new way as we prayed for the oppressed to be set free.
And let me tell you, it was amazing. The Lord showed up in a powerful way, both in our lives and on the ground in India. After spending 2 hours in prayer for the team last Saturday while they walked the streets of the Red Light District in Delhi, we later got reports of the EXACT things we were praying for. People approaching them to learn more, our team feeling the very presence of God throughout an evening in a very spiritually dark place, as well as safety for our team among other things.
Through this time, I have learned the absolute JOY of interceding for others. I have understood in a whole new way what it means to have a burden, a people and a country laid on my heart so heavily that I couldn't NOT pray! Don't get me wrong, it's exhausting! (we are ready for the team to get home just so we can all sleep again!) But it's beautiful. Often times we feel the burden of ministry. We either know what we can do and we just get to doing it or we have no clue where or how to start and so we stand there not doing anything...and in the midst, most often we forget to simply PRAY!
We forget the joy and the privilege it is to participate in a spiritual battle for the people on God's heart. So today, I wonder if we can't return to the whole point of this iFast thing. I wonder if you might call someone (maybe another iFaster) and simply enjoy the community of gathering together in the throne room to do battle for a group of people, most likely somewhere around the world. I wonder if today we might take up our swords and do some serious battle on behalf of others. I don't want to soon forget the experiences of interceding for my friends and for the men, women and children of Delhi. I want it to change me. I want to BE a prayer warrior. I want to be an intercessor. I want to take the people on God's heart that He's laid on mine and I want to spend a good amount of my time talking to HIM about it - instead of just planning what He might want me to do about it.
Remember the Poor:
Remember the Poor: Part of the $351,000 was a 4x4 vehicle for a ministry site in Kisii, Kenya. The pastor was carrying heavy loads of food on his back late at night, back to the orphanage. And when kids got sick, he was hauling them on his back miles to a clinic. This week, God enabled us to send $10,000 to buy a truck. We are ecstatic! That leaves us praying for another $326,000. And we pray on! No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly Psalm 84:11. Praying fervantly that we walk uprightly.
HopeChest:
Pray for the India Trip. They have a few more days of ministry before coming home on Saturday. Pray for the HalogenTV team that is there - that the Lord will guide them on exactly how to use the footage they have taken.
Pray for the many upcoming trips! Pray that the Lord will bring exactly who He wants to be involved. Pray that our leadership will have wisdom about where to reach out, who to invite and when and where to plan trips.
Pray for the new country launches and all of the details that go into planning these.
Pray for communities to step forward for the following sites: June Amagara in Uganda, the 5 sites in South Africa, The Friends of the Good Samaritan in India, the 2 safe houses in Moldova and the grad programs in Russia.
Pray for communities that have carepoints where not all of the children are sponsored - pray that a fire will be lit in these churches and they will rise up to meet the needs of their orphanage/carepoint.
Pray for the fundraising effort to get 12 children from Asha Ministries in India to school. Pray for Amy, Melanie, Sarah, Lindsey, Angel and Brandi who are leading the effort. Totals now show that $3500 had been raised for sure and the total needed is $4884 by the end of today - an iFast miracle is in order :-)
ABBA Fund / Together 4 Adoption Conference
Early bird registration ends today for T4A
Pray for people across the country, that God will bring the people who need to be there!
Pray for Dan and Jason as they put many hours into planning
Pray for the logistics coming together
Orphan Relief and Rescue
They didn't actually send requests - but I know of one :-)
Ashley, who serves in Liberia with incredible passion came down with Malaria. In her stupor from Malaria, she fell and broke her foot. She is now having to go back to the states prematurely. Pray for Ashley's heart. She aches to have to leave Liberia and the children and team that she loves. Pray also for the team and the hole that Ashley leaves behind.
Brandi
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