Tuesday, August 23, 2011

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS...

Ephesians 1:15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spiritf of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

This past Sunday Evening we had to great privilege of being part of something BIG.  You know when you see the Mighty Hand of God at work in others and you are there in the midst, by none of your own doing, but just privileged to see how great the Lord is, and how when a few individuals are faithful in prayer and obedient to the calling the Lord has for them, you truly see what can be accomplished for His purposes.

Homes of Love celebrated its 10 year anniversary this past Sunday, and when 79 orphaned children are living in a loving home, being taught the word of God, attending school and learning what it truly means to be  “ predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will”  Ephesians 1:5, it is a beautiful thing and I know it makes the Lord smile and say "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'. Matthew 25:23

Our friends Shadrech and Millie in Zimbabwe, and their now 5 children, have been ‘grafted’ into this marvelous work of the Lord and we are truly thankful that the Lord has us in their lives for such a time as this, they are one of the reasons we are wanting to go to Zimbabwe, to be a part of this marvelous work of the Lord.  After Sunday night David and I truly looked at each other on the way home, having a WOW moment, having had the Lord confirm in both our hearts that sweet night, the deep longing of our hearts, to say with all certainty that we are truly sons and daughters of God, and the people of the beautiful land of Zimbabwe truly are our brothers and sisters. And we thank God that He has called us for such a time as this to be a part of the great and marvelous work He is doing in that land, to be able to humbly serve those who are accomplishing great and mighty things for our great and marvelous God.

“and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that w may also be glorified with Him:  Romans 8:17

So as we continue to have this calling confimed in our lives, we ask that you petition the Lord with us for the saints in that land, as they seek to do spirtitual battle and go against cultural norms, that the Lord would strengthen and heal them both  physically and spiritually, that He would provide much needed resources to help them to continue in their calling, and that as the team from our home church Calvary Chapel goes out in a just over a week, that they would be an encouragement and help to those there.

We would also ask for you to prayerfully consider making a financial donation to help us cover the costs of our trip and ministry costs when we go.  Our target date for leaving is January 15, 2011, which has shifted some to help better serve those we are going to serve.  We still have a mountain to conquer financially, and are trusting the Lord to accomplish this.

If you would like to make a financial contribution towards our trip please click on  www.shepsstaff.org/GRAY.ASPX  and click on the DONATE NOW button, all donations are tax deductible and will go towards our airfare and living expenses on our trip.  If you would like to give more than you are currently able, you can also get set up as a Monthly Supporter and give a smaller amount over the course of a few months (i.e. if you would like to give $100, but cannot afford it in one lump sum, you can set yourself up as a monthly support and give $20 per month over a 5 month period),  you can cancel your monthly support once you have reached what you would like to give.

BLUE ORLEANS DINNER: Lastly please note that our Blue Orleans fundraiser dinner is now on Sunday October 2nd, space is filling up fast, so be sure to reserve your spot now, payment is not due till the middle of September (please see previous post for full details)
 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen  Ephesians 4:19-20

1 comment:

  1. Wow, great post guys and the scriptures have been an encouragement to follow.

    ReplyDelete