Jonah Abbay

Jonah lives in Eritrea. He is the brother of my housemate, Adanesh Abbay. Jonah is currently in jail because he is a Christian. In Eritrea, it is illegal to practice Christianity. Adanesh has also been arrested, but as she explain, God showed her favor and she was released after 3 weeks. Jonah has not yet been delivered from his jail sentence. He continues to love our Lord from prison.

Please pray for Jonah. Please pray for the persecuted church in Eritrea. Their suffering is real. Their families are just like our own. Jonah is a brother and a son.

Thank you so much for your prayers, my friends. May our Lord continue to grow your love for Him and your desire to be in prayer...

Take Action for Orphans Today!

YOU have the potential to impact the lives of millions of orphans!

...by writing ONE email!

(http://www.one.org/)

Did you know that the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has helped to "care for 2.7 million orphans and vulnerable children in the past 5 years"?

PEPFAR funding saves lives! It enables children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS to benefit from HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care services. These services include enhanced education, anti-retroviral treatment (ART) therapy, and peer counseling - just to name a few.

Currently, the Senate is sitting on a bill to extend PEPFAR funding an additional 5 years and to increase its endowment to $30 Billion additional dollars. Such a bill has the potential to "double the number of people on ART therapy, prevent 12 million cases of HIV, and increase efforts to defeat TB and malaria."

Many of you have a very personal connection to PEPFAR of which you may not be aware. Many of the organizations that you support such as World Vision and Covenant Mercies are currently operating from or applying for PEPFAR funding. They are serving hundreds of thousands of children, but there are millions more yet to be reached. YOU CAN HELP.

Follow this link: http://www.one.org/ to submit ONE email to "Increase Global AIDS Funding". Your email will petition your Senator to support this bill.

You are making a difference, my friends! It is a privilege to be lobbying with you to save and improve children's lives.

And please pray for these children - pray for their emotional and physical health - pray for their souls - that they may experience the HOPE and LOVE of Christ both physically and spiritually!

Pray also for the organizations that serve these children - for Covenant Mercies, Samaritan's Purse, World Vision, and others on your heart today. They need our prayers and our support.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress." James 1:27a

Prayer for Myanmar

You all know that cyclones devastated the lives of the people in Myanmar. Reports say as many as 100,00 are dead or missing. And 1.5 million people are facing hunger and disease. Relief efforts have been slow due to the government's unpreparedness, unwillingness to accept foreign aid, and refusal to grant visas. The situation is such that relief shipments are now being accepted but distribution has been allotted first to military and what remains to its citizens. Hence, suffering and corruption continues.

But we are not helpless, friends!! You CAN act. Please make it a part of your day today - a part of your life - to pray for the poor and oppressed.

Please pray:

• that God will provide the relief staff with the wisdom and resources they need to meet critical needs arising from this natural disaster
• for the people who have lost homes, possessions, livelihoods, and loved ones, as they struggle to recover and rebuild their lives
• for relief organizations, churches, and other groups that are working to meet the overwhelming needs
• that God will use the relief efforts to reach hurting people with the gospel of Jesus Christ

For recent audio updates and more prayer requests visit: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/
For text updates visit: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSBKK1919620080513

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living."

Psalm 27:13

In prayer with you....

Yakama Missions Team

WHO: Hope Community Church's "Yakama Missions Team"

WHAT: Sharing Christ with Native Americans

WHEN: April 5th-11th

WHERE: Issaquah, WA

This missions team consists of 33 people from Hope Community Church. They are currently serving on an Indian Reservation with Sacred Road ministries http://www.sacredroadministries.org/ The sweet little girl pictured above is one of the many children they're reaching out to right now. Will you please pray for this ministry team as they share the Hope of our Lord Jesus in word and deed with the Native Americans in Yakama!

Ways you can pray (from team member, LaNea Ewert):

• For safety and dry roads during travel (chance of snow)
• Good attitudes to do whatever is asked of us – giving up our rights
• That God may be glorified in all we do
• That we may be a Blessing to others
• For Good health
• That the Native Americans will see Jesus' love and respond to Him

So that you can pray for them by name - the names of these missionaries are:

Karl, Trent, Chandler, Garth, Teresa, Lauren, Elena, Douglas, Vickie, LaNea, Telise, Janelle, Marie, Michael, Ryan, Kailah, Nate, Mary, Justin, Wes, Lorenda, Diane, Jennifer, Brady, Jeff, Blake, Marilyn, Alex, and Mike.

May our Lord be with you - blessings to you all!

"And Hope does not dissappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." Romans 5:5

Bob and Cheryl Fugate

Where: Santiago Chile

Bob and Cheryl have been missionaries in Chile for almost 20 years. They are pastoring the CHURCH OF THE VINEYARD, in Santiago Chile. They also minister to an Alliance Girls Home with 77 girls age 3-18 yrs. old as well as to to families through the outreach of Marriage Encounter and to women through Womens Encounters.

Church of the Vineyard is on the brink of being able to worship in their new church building!!! However, they have been experiening much spiritual warfare in the midst of this exciting time. In particular, Cheryl has been battling many serious health problems that warrant much continued prayer.

Ways you can be joining Bob and Cheryl in their 50 days of prayer (currently 21 remain):

• Pray for Cheryl that she would receive complete healing and be back to full strength.
• Pray for the remaining $11,000 US that we need to be able to start using the church building. This will not finish the building, but will be sufficient to start holding services.
• Please join us in prayer for our builder Alejandro, for salvation, restoration of his marriage and healing.
• Please pray for the first service to be held on April 27th.
• Please pray for Susie and Robby (their children pictured above) as they are starting their last school year in Chile.

For more details on this ministry, I would encourage you to visit their regularly updated website: http://www.cmalliance.org/im/mlocator/missy.jsp?m=16196

Thank you always for your faithful prayers. Your prayers are powerful, my friends. Our God is Powerful!

May we all rejoice in the Hope of the Glory of God, together! (Romans 5:2)

Update from Youth Camp in France!!

" Thanks so much, everyone, for all your prayers for winter camp last week! We had an incredible week. I almost feel like there aren't quite words to describe how amazing the week was, but I can say that God definitely moved in big ways! We were very blessed with safe travels, not a single injury on the slopes, great weather, and an awesome staff at Camp Champfleuri. But the thing that made this week so exciting was watching our jr. highers, most of whom were not Christians, encounter God in a very real way! Two of the girls made the decision to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ!!! The Truth of the Gospel was presented in some way each night, and the students were so excited about what they were learning about Jesus and were bombarding us with really good questions, hungry for all they could get. It was so exciting to watch these students, who I have been building relationships with for the past year, begin to understand how much God loves them and be awestruck by what He has done for them. Thank you so much for praying, and for getting involved in this way in what God is doing in the youth of France. It's so exciting!

Much love,
Kerri"

Samaritan's Purse: Zimbabwe

SP Zimbabwe staff: Shadrack and Brighton in Mutare

A good friend, Phil Ewert, recently moved from Sudan to Zimbabwe to continue serving the poor with Samaritan's Purse. Before Phil's arrival, Samaritan's Purse did not have a presence in Zimbabwe. Therefore, he is starting all of SP's programs from scratch - an enormous task - in a country in desperate need. Below is a brief background on Zimbabwe and prayer requests from Phil...

"The situation in Zimbabwe has become progressively challenging since the year 2000 with the country suffering from hyper-inflation,culminating in astronomical prices for almost everything and shortages of everything from fuel to foodstuffs. This coupled with anextremely high unemployment rate and the effects of HIV/AIDS (which effects 15% of the population) hasmeant that life has been extremely difficult for Zimbabweans on the past 7 years. The people and Christians of Zimbabwe need our prayers."

Ways you can pray (from Phil):

• Registration Process, that all goes smoothly and quickly
• Wisdom as we start new projects and look for the best place to be working
• Wisdom to hire the right staff
• Pray for the church in Zimbabwe, that the Lord my strengthen it and that His love would be manifest here and now

Here's a photo of Phil, so that you have a face to remember as you pray...

Phil and Simon in South Sudan

"May God be gracious to you and bless you and make his face shine upon you!" Psalm 67:1

ICCP Youth Camp!

Yes, I'm taking you back to France to pray for YOUTH CAMP!!! I received an email from a friend spending her life ministering to youth and college students in Aix en Provence, France and below are her prayer requests for their Christian Youth Camp excursion in Champfleuri, Grenoble, France.

"I'd like to ask if you, my dear friends, would cover this trip in prayer:

-pray for our safety as we're be skiing and snowboarding every day

-pray that God will prepare the hearts of each of the students on the trip to hear the Truth. We're going to a Christian camp, but most of the students going are not Christians. Please pray that each one would encounter Him in a very real way this week.

-pray for me and my fellow leaders, Adam and Tasha, that we would be daily abiding in Jesus, that He may fill us with a supernatural abundance of love and strength, so that we can love these students.

Thanks friends! I'm glad we're in this together, we couldn't do it without your prayers!

Love, Kerri"

In prayer with you...

World Vision Chad

Please keep our brothers and sisters from Chad in prayers. Violence in the form of rebel attacks targeting the presidential palace have risen in the capital city of N'diamena. Civilians' are being killed amidst the chaos.

Please pray in particular for the World Vision staff in Chad. Their office was attacked, but praise God their staff members are all currently safe. However, due to road blocks they are unable to leave the city. Therefore, these World Vision staff members remain in danger.

Please pray...

• For an end to this violence
• For protection for the WV staff and the many innocent civilians
• For the hearts of the insurgents to be softened and changed
• For our Lord to comfort those who are in fear right now
• And for our Lord to provide for their many needs ... he knows them all
• That God's light of love will shine brightly amidst this darkness

Thank you so much for your many prayers. I will try to post more details in the near future.

Blessings to you...

God is Faithful

"And then God said, "Let there be Light!" and there was
light." Genesis 1:3

Our God is so good and powerful. He hears your every prayer and He is shining his light into the lives of his people all over the world. I wanted to share with you the ways in which God has been answering your prayers. Below is a glimpse of His goodness and faithfulness.

Hot Metal Church has a new home! It's in the very beginning stages yet, but their bid for a new building has been accepted and they are moving forward with excitement.

John Ofumbai and Karina are both recovering well from their car accident. God has graciously spared their lives here on earth. They are in the process of much therapy and could use our continued prayers for complete healing and encouragement in the process.

The Christmas Carol service in Aix-en-Provence, France was "fantastic!" Darrin reported that some who have seen it over the past 30 years reported that it was the best ever! His message was even brief. :) He asked that we continue to pray that the seeds that were sown will indeed bear fruit. You can see a cool panoramic shot of the cathedral here: http://www.fountainsofprovence.com/CathedralXmasweb.html (it takes a moment to load - but is well worth
it!)

In Sudan, God continues to bless SP's ministry and staff. Churches are being built, God's word is being preached and Christians are being strengthened. The Lord was especially good to release the men who had been put in jail and to resolve issues with the traffic police peacefully - time and time again. Please continue to pray for the people of Sudan, as well as SP's staff. That the gospel would continue to forth, that Christians would be encouraged and strengthened and that our Lord would be Glorified in their lives!

There is SO much to be thankful for my friends! I am especially thankful for all of you - thank you for your prayers for these mission fields and God's people. You are a blessing! If you have additional praises to add - please feel free to post a comment.

"May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all!"

Phil 4:23

Lord, may we Love!

Dear Friends, let us Love one another, for Love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

God is Love.

Whoever lives in Love - lives in God - and God in him.

I John 4:7, 16

Kenya

Please pray for Kenya as there is currently much violence and social unrest in this nation - the most recent report sadly noted more than 300 deaths. This violence errupted after the elections on 27 December as an outpouring of opposition against President Kibaki's re-election. Opposition groups, specifically the ODM (Orange Democratic Movement), representing the Luo tribe argue that the election was fixed and they are now retaliating against Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe. The persons being killed are innocent men, women, and children who are associated with the "wrong" tribe. Other victims/targets include police officers or Kibaki supporters of any tribe. Honestly, in the midst of such chaos, everyone is in danger. The photo above is a woman mourning in front of a church where 30 people were trapped and burned to death in Eldoret, Kenya on Tuesday, 1 January.

For more and/or the latest details, you can visit http://www.reuters.com/ .

Some ways you can pray:

• For an end to this violence
• For our Lord to capture and change the hearts of those who are retaliating
• For protection - specifically for the women and children
• For God to be at work in the hearts of Kenya's leaders
• For the Christians in Kenya to remain strong in their faith

A prayer from John Piper,

"O Lord, the suffering in the world is so widespread and the pain is so great. Have mercy, and waken the souls of suffering millions to the hope of some relief now and unsurpassed joy in the age to come. Send your church, O God, with relief and with the word of the Gospel that there is forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ and that no suffering here is worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to the children of God."