Nice Surprise

The last couple weeks, God has been surprising us with good gifts. We wanted to share how He blessed us just two days ago.

Chad had shared a Bible study on a Wednesday night at a church in Springfield, IL. On the Sunday following his sharing, an anonymous person placed an envelope in the offering box at this church with a monetary blessing and three typed out Bible verses.

The verses remind us of the privilege of this task that God has given. We are ambassadors of the great God of the universe, sent to Spain with the message of salvation to all peoples, to all who would believe.

Here are the three verses the anonymous person included:

Isaiah 52:7
How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Romans 10:15
How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!"
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

We received a surprise in the mail this week: verse reminders and a special gift.

After 21 days of prayer . . .

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Praise him all creatures here below

Praise him above ye heavenly host. 

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

We are excited to announce that pending some incoming commitments, we have reached our monthly support goal! God has certainly proved himself once again as the Giver of all good gifts! Woo-hoo!

We asked you to pray with us over the last 21 days and you joined us. Thank you for investing your time and energy in standing with us in prayer. As the Psalmists would often praise God for his direct answers to their requests, we encourage you to thank God with us today. For in the day we called, God answered us (Ps 138:3). 

If you were praying over joining our team, please continue to do so. Our mission has encouraged us to reach 105% if possible. Regardless of our final percentage, we are one step closer to serving Christ in Spain!! 

Wednesday Night at Springfield Bible Church

Wednesday we had the privilege of spending time with one of our supporting churches: Springfield Bible Church. Chad led the evening's study from Genesis 22:1-19, a message on the tests of faith and obedience we endure as followers of God. In the climax of the Abrahamic narrative, God tested Abraham with instructions for the sacrifice of his one and only son Isaac, the son of promise. He passed God's test by methodically obeying God's command and displaying extraordinary faith in the provisional goodness of God. We are confident that God has placed us in a season of testing as we await our support and the necessary paperwork for our visa, but we are asking God for the grace to display obedience and faith as Abraham did.

We are thankful for the kind welcome we always receive from our friends at Springfield Bible Church.

21 Days of Prayer

We are currently on day 11 of our 21 days of prayer and have seen God answer our requests. God has brought new supporters, increased support among our current partners, and has thrown in a pleasant surprise by providing free repair work for our car. He is good!

As we continue in prayer the next 10 days, I would like to draw your attention to a couple of teachings on prayer in the Scripture. Certainly, these will not exhaust the topic, but I sense these verses offer perspective for our situation.

God is sometimes pleased to answer specifically the persistent prayers of his people.  In Luke 11, Jesus illustrates persistency in prayer through a story. A man pounds on the door of his friend late at night requesting some food (Luke 11:5-6). Though the friend is unwilling at first, because of persistence, he eventually succumbs. Jesus then teaches, "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Luke 11:9).

Sometimes godly prayers in Scripture involve physical needs. There are dozens of prayers offered by the saints in Scripture involving physical needs: deliverance (2 Kings 19:14-19), healing (1 Kings 4:8-37), rescue (Acts 12:5, 12; Rom 15:30-31), etc. I believe that our request for our final support needs fit in this category, just as Jesus urged us to pray for our "daily bread" (Luke 11:3).

Sometimes God says no to such requests, but he's always working for our best. Three times Paul requested that God relieve him of his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor 12:8). But God clearly said no, with good purpose; he wanted Paul to boast in Christ and not his prestigious perks as an apostle (2 Cor 12:9-10).

We are hopeful that God will answer our persistent requests for support affirmatively. Thank you for joining with us.

The Last Six

Many of you have probably received our email update and our encouragement to pray for our final six percent of support. We are two days in and already seeing God at work to bring in new partners. Will you please consider investing time in prayer over the next three weeks, February 2-23, specifically petitioning the Lord for our support? 

We spent the evening of day two of our prayer focus with the Wednesday evening prayer meeting group from East White Oak Bible Church. We praise God for their hearts of prayer that filled the room with petitions for God's work in Spain.

We presented this evening at our transitional church home: East White Oak Bible Church.