Prayer Requests

We know all of you have a lot of people and things to pray for, and so we are thankful when you take time to add us in your prayers.  I also know how soon I forget to pray for people unless I make a conscious effort!  So I thought we could help you out in those times when you think to pray for us....that you could pray for us in specific ways.

So...my list....

I think the first would be language.  Since we first moved down, this has been the primary struggle/stress/goal for us.  Our goal is ultimately to reach people for Christ, but how do you minister to people you can't talk to??  It was a big discouragement for a while, and I thought, why didn't I just stay working in Champaign where I could actually TALK to people!?  But we know we are supposed to be here for a time, and so we will try to learn Creole.  This is a slow but actually pretty fun process.  It is really encouraging when someone comes to our door to sell something and I can understand a new word or two!  So please pray that we will be given the "gift" of language!

Second, pray for the "ultimate goal" of the hospital.  It was discouraging to me also when we first moved down, that we are so focused on daily tasks...fixing this, painting that, gathering statistics...whatever it was...I just felt like we missed the whole point!  But David and I talked and he said that he had heard (don't know who to quote on this :) ) that in the few years since ACWR has come into Hospital Lumiere, over 200 people have come to Christ!  And in January, there were 19!!  Praise the Lord!  Several pastors work at the Hospital, and they can visit with people, and hold chapel for the workers and patients in the morning.  When a person does receive the Word, the pastor follows up with the pastor in that person's village, so that the new believer has support when he/she returns back home.

Third, pray for us that we could be wise in our decisions, and that we can rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us in our decisions.  It is so hard to know what to do in some situations.  The needs are endless, and a lot of times, when we think we come up with a solution, we actually make the problem worse!  For example, today I had stopped by Jami's house to drop something off, and a woman and baby came to her door.  The woman told her that her mom died, and her husband threw her and her son out of the house and doesn't want here there because she "throws herself in the fire."  She has scars on her back and arm from burns.  We don't know, but we are thinking she is either dealing with seizures or a demon.  She has been going around Bonne Fin trying to give away her young son, but no one will take him.  She doesn't have food to feed him, or a place to live.  Jami gave her some food and talked to her, and told her she could come back anytime to get more food.  Wow, what do we do?  What does God want us to do?  Should I offer her a place to stay?  I don't even know where to begin.  The only problem is, if we give her our spare room, it only prolongs the inevitable...it doesn't fix the problem.  When we go home, she is back on the street.  Where is the dad who isn't taking care of his son?  Where is her family?  Is there any left?  And then throw into the mix that maybe she is demon possessed... Or even if the problem is just seizures, where is the money going to come from to get her medicine for the rest of her life?  My conclusion was to have one of the pastors at the hospital come to visit with her...to see if they had any solutions...if they know of any homes for people like her to stay in...if they could contact the pastor where she lives....if they could counsel her.  Not sure what the conclusion will be with this story, but I know there have to be endless stories like hers...and that is so hard too.  So pray for wisdom for us...and for the spiritual warfare that goes on in this country.

Lastly (for today), pray for us that we could be empty of self, that we can take up our cross of self-denial, and follow the God who is our ALL.