national day of prayer!

Tomorrow is the national day of prayer!! Click on the title of this post to go to the National Day of Prayer website and find an event in your area.

"[I]f my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14).

I hope you'll remember the Nehemiah Teams tomorrow as you pray for our country and that you'll include the Philippines in your prayers as well. We know that without the power and guidance that come in prayer we are going into the mission field with a great disadvantage, but blessings come when we wrestle with God in prayer (Genesis 32: 22-32). When I was commissioned to go to the Philippines by my university's Baptist Student Union, a friend of mine said, "This can be the best summer of your life or the worst. Prayer makes the difference." For our country, for the nations, and for our own hearts, prayer is one of our most potent weapons!

Here are some specific things to pray for:

• Unity within our teams that will show the love of God


• Safe travel for summer missionaries


• Submitted and open hearts, minds, and bodies to be used any way God wants


• The fulness of the Holy Spirit
  
• The spiritual discipline of every missionary that will keep them close to the Lord as they prepare for the trip and as they go all over the world this summer


• The work God is already doing in the Philippines - for the seeds that have been planted and that the Holy Spirit is moving in the lives of Filipinos


• Filipino believers - for their boldness in sharing the gospel, for their growth in Christ

I cannot thank you enough for praying for all of us!!!! Please let me know how I can be praying for the way God is working where you are.

"When the spirit helpeth our infirmities, and our earnest and vast desires can scarcely find words to utter them, and we still mean more than we can express, then prayer is indeed wrestling with God. However tried or discouraged, we shall prevail; and prevailing with Him in prayer, we shall prevail against all enemies that strive with us. Nothing requires more vigour and unceasing exertion than wrestling. It is an emblem of the true spirit of faith and prayer."

-Matthew Henry

Groovy Updates!

So I figured out how to put YouTube videos on the blog. Last summer's media team did a great job on them and they are to the left.

Here are a few things you probably didn't know about the Philippines:

1. There are 7,107 islands that make up this archipelago!



2. The Philippines were once colonized by the Spanish and Camotes actually means "sweet potato" en Español.



3. The Philippine Islands have two official languages - Filipino (or Tagalog) and English - but Filipinos in Camotes usually speak Cebuano. Cebuano is one of twelve regional languages in the Philippines and is spoken by over 1 million people.

4. Filipinos are predominantly Roman Catholic (81%). 9% of Filipinos are Protestant, 5% are Islamic, and the remainder of the population practices Buddhism, pre-Hispanic indigenous beliefs, Hinduism and Sikhism. In the Philippines, Christianity is more like an influence and Filipinos usually worship pagan or Buddhist spirits, too.


1. 5. Filipinos are really into basketball. Who knew?

6. It's really hot and humid there, but it's still hotter in Mississippi. Of course.

Have a good one!

Zephaniah 3:17

I'm a summer missionary!

Hello!! I'm Leah. Welcome to the blog! I'm headed to the Philippines this summer on what is called a Nehemiah Team. I'll be on a team of four going to Camotes (group of four islands east of Cebu - see map below) to let God use us anyway He pleases! It's going to be an amazing experience! Go to http://www.nehemiahteams.com/ to find out more about what the Nehemiah Teams are and what they do.

If you would, my team greatly covets your prayers as we are going into the mission field. Pray that this will be a trip overflowing with the Holy Spirit's presence and that we will have the sense not to get in the way of how God is working. If you're a Christian, YOU are on mission, too (Matthew 28:19)! Accordingly, I'd like to pray for you - so let me know how God is working and ways that I can be in prayer for that work.

Not to be exclusive, I'd like to assure non-Christians reading the blog that prayers are being lifted up for you all the time. There are so many people who are passionate about YOU knowing this great Love that has found us in Christ Jesus. My prayer is for mercy to be poured out into your life, for God to show His power in your everyday circumstances and for all the glory to go to Him. Jesus loves you recklessly, completely, and perfectly (John 3:16)!

More good news! My friend, Rebekah, is all set for her mission trip to Ghana (in West Africa) this summer!! After much prayer, God has assigned two students to her team! Our God answers prayer (1 Kings 18:24).

"'Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?'...'You see the trouble we are in...Come, let us rebuild the wall[.]'...I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, 'Let us start rebuilding.' So they began this good work" (Nehemiah 2:3, 18).

GO ON MISSIONS: There's an opportunity to serve in my neighborhood this very weekend!! Eight Days of Hope is a missions organization that began to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina and hasn't stopped since. This organization would love your help in Tupelo, MS, anytime from tomorrow, April 16, until this Sunday, April 20. Their main mission is home building and repair, but they can use your help in all kinds of ways. Eight Days of Hope is serious about serving and they've truly moved mountains with their faith. Check it out: http://www.eightdaysofhope.com/

Peace

Colossians 3:14