March 2008 - Posts

• A New Family Of Faith

  Lloyd met Kwaku Adamu Mohammed in the Spring of 2007 as they watched local children playing soccer together. Kwaku began to share with Lloyd his story. He shared that he was raised according to local religious beliefs. He shared that he was not finding any satisfaction in his faith and he did not understand the prayers he was required to pray. Kwaku shared that he stopped praying the prayers because there was no satisfaction or peace in them - and consequently his mother stopped preparing food for him in the home as punishment.  He shared that he had visited churches with his friends who were outside his families faith, but his family had forbade him to continue doing that ... so he stopped.  Lloyd went home with a burden to pray for this young man - and asked that God would give him wisdom and opportunity in leading him to faith in Christ. Over several months - Lloyd had many opportunities to build upon his relationship with Kwaku - always sharing the gospel.  One day, Lloyd was riding with Glenn Lewis in Kumasi and saw Kwaku on the roadside.  They stopped and asked Kwaku to take a ride with them. As they talked, the Holy Spirit led the conversation to spiritual places. Kwaku then begin to share his plans to get picked up by a major league soccer team and start his own farm. Lloyd and Glenn asked Kwaku if reaching these goals would satisfy his inner hunger ... if he would then understand his prayers to Allah, if he would then find the peace that he was searching for. Kwaku answered ... no. Lloyd and Glenn shared with Kwaku that the life he was looking for, the peace and satisfaction he was longing for could only be found in Christ.  Kwaku then received Christ there on the roadside in the car.     Kwaku's excitement about his new found faith in Christ led to his family ostracizing him - denying him food and treating him as an outsider. So Lloyd adopted him into their family and into their circle of Christian friends, Kwaku has been amazed at the care and love he sees in the people of God.     Lloyd gave Kwaku his own Bible and Kwaku said, "You have given me the best gift ever, you have given me life!"     Posted Mar 24 2008, 01:16 PM by Transformed

• George & Linda Renner

  Seeking Healing and Peace Kenya’s Presidential rivals agreed to share power in a coalition government in order to bring closure to the post election political crisis. Under the new deal the constitution will be amended to create a Prime Minister post for the opposition leader. Conservative figures estimate that more than 1,100 lives were lost and over 350,000 people displaced. Pray for Kenya as it continues to work through its political crisis. In mid-April, I'm scheduled to teach a one-week course on  "Forgiveness." When I inherited this task last November, I thought it might be a fun assignment and perhaps have some relevance to African realities. Now I'm in awe that the Spirit was preparing me for a ministry that is absolutely urgent. We hope to offer this course many times and are praying about how to "take it on the road" so that we are available for churches all over Kenya. Jesus' stunning  forgiveness is the only foundation for Kenya's healing. Power-sharing by the big politicians is a great step and we are thankful to God. But "on the ground"  there must be forgiveness if there is to be healing and peace. Only Jesus can empower a person to forgive. Posted Mar 10 2008, 07:07 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Kristin Dwyer

  Seeking the Light My Maninka language teacher just completed an intensive crash course. We wanted to do something special for him so we baked some cookies and gave him a small flashlight and a Bible. So you can understand where he is coming from...his father was a culturally religious leader. The other day he told me that his father taught him to close his mind on his family's religion, but he wants to open it. This is huge here...when he opened the light he said, "I think this is good gift....We in Kankan live in darkness." He meant it literally, but it really struck me...but not so much as what he said when he opened the Bible, "I think this too is a kind of light. I think this is a better light for a life." Please pray for this man that as he opens his mind God would close it again on the real truth of Jesus Christ. Posted Mar 10 2008, 03:00 AM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Greg & Asa Swenson

  Barnabas Support Team Our home church requires each missionary family to have a Barnabas Support Team, and ours was formed shortly after we were appointed by WorldVenture in 2006. Since then, they have been a tremendous source of encouragement to us. We have been overwhelmed by their servant spirit and their heart for missions in Japan. They have prayed for us, made a desk for Greg’s office, organized our deputation materials, made display boards, helped in our garage sale, watched our kids, and on and on. We get together every month or two for an update briefing and prayer time. This wonderful group has helped us to focus on God and our goal. We thank God for His care and love He has showered us with through these dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Posted Mar 08 2008, 01:01 PM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• David & Denise McCarthy

  Talibe Center Praise the Lord for the provision of a rental property for a Talibe Day Center. Pray for all the logistics for renovationing, planning, purchasing and organizing visiting teams to help, and fundraising for all the supplies and food. Pray for the young boys who will be ministered to through this ministry that God will reach into their lives with His joy and peace. Posted Mar 08 2008, 12:52 PM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Tim & Carre Gardner

  Reaching Out to Orphans Hundreds of thousands of Russian children have been abandoned by their families, the church, and society and placed in orphanages. Millions more live on the streets of Russia's cities. God has sent us, Tim and Carre Gardner, to the city of Krasnodar, Russia, to bring these children help and hope, though the Good News of Jesus Christ. Our heart is for the millions of parentless Russian children. Many live in orphanages while others try to survive on the streets. Their lives are uncertain. Orphans live loveless and hopeless lives. By age 18, 1 in 10 will commit suicide. Street children beg, steal and prostitute themselves every day, just to stay alive. The life expectancy of a street child is 15 years. They are easy marks for the sex-slave trade. Russia is one of the largest suppliers of child pornography available on the Internet today. We seek to reach Russian orphans and street children with the gospel of hope in Jesus Christ. Pray for us as we reach out to these needy children. Posted Mar 08 2008, 12:34 PM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection

• Nicole Rauch

  Experiencing Persecution My friends and ministry partners in Madagascar are experiencing trials of many kinds including persecution. They have difficult living conditions that challenge them on a daily basis. Please pray the Lord’s covering over each of them. Posted Mar 08 2008, 12:18 PM by WorldVenture Prayer Connection