Soldier Up

We just sent out an update asking people to pray for us for wisdom and perseverance.....  How do we continue in relationship with our friends here that have so far rejected Christ?  How do we continue to love them, serve them, keep our conversation salty with the Gospel?

I was thinking over all this at the sink and realized that this might all sound so very dumb!  After all, we all have friends that do not love Christ.  We just continue to love them, right?  

Yes.  And at the same time there is something about shaking the dust from your feet when friends won’t listen to the message of Christ.   http://biblehub.com/matthew/10-14.htm.  

Sometimes, in this line of work, we have to correct our prone-to-wander minds to remember that this is not just our “job.”  This is our life.  We are Christians and we want to, we long to boast in Christ and to proclaim the Good News of His savlation.  This is not just what we do because we’re supported to do it financially.   This is our heart’s desire....

We’re not sharing about Christ because we have to.... but because we are limited people, we do have to make some hard calls so that we are best able to share about Him with the ones most ready to hear.   We still do have to be intentional....

I told my husband after a hard (very hard) conversation with a Uyghur girlfriend last week....  “I’ve always wanted to imagine that I could simply bake cookies and invite friends over to hear about Jesus.... they would say “yum”, and ask for more, and I could tell them more too and they’d trust in Him and be changed and forever glad.” 

Ministry lately has felt like much more of a battle-field than a bake-off.   And you’d think Scripture would be clear enough for me to not feel so surprised or unready for this but....  I do feel weak.  Unequipped.   Even scared.  There...  I said it.  

For probably almost every day that I’ve ever dreamed of or lived out any “m i ssionary” zeal, I’ve imagined that surely, since God wants all this, that He would bless our efforts and make it all fruitful and sweet and... well...  hopefully, easy.  At least easy enough that I could do it just a little bit.   I thought we could really make it work to be business people here who are Christians and who are very vocal about Christ.  

But it’s just not looking so.  Last week I found myself boldly, fire-fully exhorting a dear friend.  Whenever she’s questioned (at some point she’ll be questioned about her foreign friends), there’s no guessing what she'll say as to what's our real purpose here.  No doubts about “maybe they’re just doing business and they’re also Christian.”  No...  we are here to proclaim salvation in Christ, to urge them with love and tears to believe, and maybe even to make the hard calls of wiping dust from our feet and moving on to pursue other relationships for the sake of seeing this Good News of Christ spread among this people.  It’s plain as day to this friend and anyone she talks to....  

God give me courage for this!    And wisdom!!!  When should we... oh what exactly do you mean in Matthew 10:14 by “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.” ???  “Be bold and courageous,” Lord thank you for your Word..... thank you that you will fight for us.  Fight for the Uyghur people, Lord!  Even as you have already given your Son for them, to make the way to your throne, now show them your Son, that they might come!

God give us your protection!  That we could faithfully, fruitfully proclaim your Gospel here so that many might see and hear the wonders of your love for us in Christ and so that many might come to you and trust in you.  So that this people might be beautified by your salvation!

God soften these hard hearts!  That they might feel pierced by Your Word, by their need for a Savior, by the Truth of who you are and how you have shown us your love in the cross.  

God be praised among the Uyghur people.... and do with us whatever you please, for your glory!

great future potential and present need

Thank you for praying with us for our recent decision for next steps in ministry.   For about a month we swirled this potential plan in our hearts and minds and it seemed good and we thought it was maybe from God for us but then we felt completely redirected after we asked for much prayer and after we visited the capital city and friends across the Uyghur province last month.  It was a great time.

We'll spell out the three main things that the Lord showed us that redirected our hearts and minds back to our original plan of moving there to be engaged in relationship and proclaiming Christ on the ground (rather than moving out of China to be more involved in media ministry).... we'll share more of those details in other places but we will say it here:  We are excited for what the Lord has ahead for our family to get to be a part of there.

And now....  there are three main relationships in town now that we beg for you to support us in prayer for:

1-  Johnny Cash-  a close friend who has recently been increasing his Islamicness and pushing back more than ever on topics of the Gospel and the folly of "religious tolerance"....  ("everyone who's serious and sincere about their beliefs will go to heaven....")

2-   Hanna-  the girl (who loved her culture and her people and really couldn't care less about God) who lived with us this summer recently texted me:  "Don't be afraid when you see me next. Now I look like a Saudi girl (all covered).... Thank you for telling me to read and study more and learn what I believe, now I am a true Muslim."   When she came to my house I told her that I'm glad she sees that just being Uyghur doesn't make her a true Muslim.... and in fact there can be a Uyghur that is not a Muslim!  I told her now that she is serious about God and her need of Him, we'd better find what is really true....  

Please pray for her and pray for peace and wisdom for me.  Hanna is in relationship with another mis ny friend who hears very different comments from her than I hear.  I have a hard time knowing how to respond to her when I know she's not being honest with me, or maybe honest with others..... we have a very close friendship and I think she's hesitant to tell me that she strongly opposes Christ, but it seems that's where she's at.  Please pray for grace to open her eyes and heart to faith in the Living Lamb of God!  She is increasingly involved with a group of Is lam ic radicals...  And then there's Rob, her boyfriend/ near fiancee.... and all of his questions and deception and relationships and exposure to the Gospel to pray for him for too!!!!

3-  Joe and Amie-  the young couple (I've called her something else before, but don't want her name trackable) we just mentioned in our email update.  She is growing, continually hungry for more of Christ.  Praise the Lord!!!  He is questioning and yet crazily open to discussing and hearing about following Christ.  And yet...  such a simple thing makes it enormously difficult for me to be with them, especially with her.  This sweet friend will talk for 2-3 hours without a breath if she can.... she doesn't notice kids screaming, pots burning, dinner needing to be served....  You'd think there could be an easy way to mention this, to bring it to her attention.... but nothing has worked or helped so far.  She's offended when I've tried to point things out....  We need grace and wisdom, and help!  Pray for character growth in her as well as salvation and fruit in both of these young, precious, dearly loved friends!!

very soon

Friends, 

Thank you for praying for our family as we will be traveling very soon to the uyghur province.....  there will be the whole gamut:  planes, trains, and automobiles.  We'll probably even pass some donkey carts, and maybe a camel cart or two on the road.

We will be attending a special wedding in a cultural hub, an area we've never been too and where there are currently no foreign workers allowed to live.  An area thickly Uyghur.  Pray that the Lord would open doors to share resources and speak boldly, clearly of Him!  Please pray, especially, that we would be able to point people to the web site that's up that has the New Testament available in Uyghur.  

We also will be asking the Lord to direct our visits and discussions with foreign friends.... there is one couple we were hoping to work alongside in the city.   But with a recent curveball the Lord has pitched us, we may not end up moving to that city.  We hope so much to encourage this couple and bless them as their lives are beautifully fruitful in this dark place.... but how hard to encourage them by withdrawing our firm intent of moving to join them in the work soon.  Still, we are not positive that the Lord is leading us in another direction (see the post A New and Different Role).

Thank you for your prayers with us for this trip..... that the Lord would give us grace for travels with the kiddos especially, and far more than that, pray for wisdom and peace to know His leading forward for us....  if we should move to this city (like we've been planning and hoping for years now) or if we should join this work from outside that is strategically aimed at the very same goal of seeing Christ's Church flourish among His Uyghur people.  

Our trip is mid Oct....  thank you, thank you for praying.

come see the sights...

Just found these photos of Xinjiang, the Uyghur province, and they are Beeeeautifullll!  Do take a look and continue in prayer with us for the Word of God to speed ahead and be honored there, as it has been among you (2 Thes 3:1)

A New and Different Role... (a great potential)

We just got pitched a curveball, friends, and we never saw it coming.

We've known for years of the excellent work of friends of ours who are making resources (radio Bible teaching, videos, etc.) available for Uyghurs... but for some reason we never considered joining them.  We just assumed that our role in this work was to be on the ground for as long as the Lord gave us here....  sharing Christ with our Uyghur friends through our business and hospitality in our home.  

But things are changing and technology is really beginning to explode in China, and even- more recently- in the Uyghur province.  We are just beginning to see Uyghurs access one site to read download the New Testament in their language and we are just beginning to DREAM of what more the Lord might do, how He might get His Word into their hands (their phones!) in this country where it is illegal to have a printed U New Testament.  Obviously, Bible distribution has been complicated and difficult.  And now, it is estimated that there have been more NTs downloaded in the past 9 months than in the previous 40 years combined.  What more might the Lord do!?

There is a team forming to commit to get God's Word across the U internet world in evangelistic web sites and discussion groups and social media of various kinds and hopefully in salty avenues that would simply introduce the Uyghur people that there ARE some Uyghur Christians and that Christianity is a possibility, an option for them.  Now, they will be persecuted by their culture and will risk being legally prosecuted by the government if there's too much fruit in their lives, so it will not be easy.... but right now, most Uyghurs don't even know that it's possible to know Christ..... don't even know Who He Is...have never tasted his True Word.

So.....  crazy curvey change-up that this is.... our family is considering moving out of this country to devote 5 years to this work.   We would love to be able to land in a Uyghur city five years later to pick up with contacts from the web work to sure more with personally...... but we can't be sure of that part yet.  Would you pray for us to have the Lord's peace and wisdom and provision for this?   Ask for the Lord's peace for us....  especially for communicating with our kids about this and for the company that Mr. PrayerFuel has worked at here.  We are asking the Lord to provide the right person to take over one main project on the ground here and to see that well taken care of would be a huge encouragement for us to be able to move forward (and for Mr. PF's business partner here.)  

a full month (of bloglessness)

So we haven't updated here in a while but that's not been because of nothing happening....  It's been quite an amazing 3 weeks here recently.  I will post an update very soon of a very surprising, exciting new possibility for our family.... a big change that we learned about from a weekend gathering we asked you to pray about in mid-Sept.  More on that soon...

For now I want to update you on our dear friend Hanna, again.  She cooked a beautiful batch of polo (rice and carrots and meat) for us this week and while the kids played outside and Dad and her boyfriend took care of them, the two of us talked and watched the pot boil.  We chatted about the real reason for some Uyghur girls wearing head scarves.

Is it for modesty, a heart to honor God or is it simply a matter of looking "Uyghur?"  I admitted to her that I have a very hard time with idea that a head scarf pleases God when all the other clothing that's worn defies modesty in no-uncertain terms.

It's such an issue of The Letter of the Law.  It seems so official and Uyghur proper to wear long pants that cover the knees, but they can be as skinny as can possibly be.... and shirts....  a tank top would never do for wearing solo, but cover it with a scrap of lace and let your bra hang out and shine it's fluorescence wide open across your back..... that's an approved Uyghur style nowadays.

So I told her I just can't see that as Modest (as honoring God and honoring brothers), but I will credit it as being a valid way of associating yourself with your people.....  It just doesn't kill two birds though.  Only one.

Somehow, this seemed to click in her heart.  She got it.... that we really ought to be a people that know what we mean, that mean what we say, that choose things that matter and truly honor God.  Very soon after this part in our discussion, she asked me to help her download the English Bible.... because, she said, she'd already downloaded the New Testament in Uyghur.

Friends, will you pray with me that the Word of God would stir and spark in her heart.  Pray for her and for the several thousands of Uyghurs that have downloaded the scriptures recently?  May God's word till the hard soil in their hearts.    I'll let you know when I hear more form her about this...

just like chocolate...

Perhaps you're wondering, so... how's it going with these guests in your home this summer?

By the grace of God, it has gone very well.  Sad to say, I prepared myself in the week before they came, that it might be really hard....  prepared myself that their could be stealing, that their could be fortune telling games they'd play (like I've seen before from her) and I'd have to tell her straight up that that won't fly in our home, that I'd have to speak up on too many issues about how we do things for our kids....But it has really gone so super smoothly.

She has helped me quite a bit with cleaning up after meals and with cooking, usually once a week, and with watching the kids for me to get groceries or even- imagine this: some time to sit and think quietly outside by myself!  But recently, I've been describing our housing situation as being just like chocolate.... in that it's sweet and delicious but too much of it gets, well...

Would you pray for me, the Mrs. here, for this?  These two guests have almost nothing else in their lives right now....  school is out and they're not working and all their friends are gone.... they are just with us, at our table most meals and with me and the kids all day long, every day.  My husband is at work all day long and the seven of us hang out at our place.... or sometimes I take our crew out for my sanity's sake.   I've been telling myself that this isn't the time for private family time, this is the time to be poured out and that is what's going on....  I feel pretty empty of  people-talking-energy and jealous of time alone with my kids, but she's still with us for 2+ weeks more.

Would you pray that this dear friend would not be hurt by my increased quietness... and perhaps more so, pray that I would have energy to be social still while August is blazing down on us still and a whole new chapter of homeschool is beginning?  I hate that our friend has sensed me backing up a bit and I hope so much that she won't feel hurt by this.  Lord have mercy!  Show them, and us, your great grace!

this isn't America

We have a little more than 2 weeks left with our friends in our home.  (Actually, the boyfriend will move to another nearby home sooner, since the folks he's housesitting for are returning, but I imagine we'll still see lots of him.)  Here's the latest to update you on for prayer...

In discussing with friends here- coworkers who we labor with in this vast harvest field- we have seen a common disinterest in the Savior because of what seems to be a very nonchalant attitude about sin.  They're basically good people, never have done "the big" sins, and they're generally so nice that in the end... what's the big deal, God can forgive people like that?  The Prayerfuel husband has shared his example: So if your life is like a glass of water, mostly all clear and clean, but then there's just one drop of, say, poop water in it, or maybe the saucy drink mixture at the bottom of the kitchen trash can, one drop of that stuff in the glass.... would you offer that glass of water to God for Him to drink it down?  James 2:10-11 is clear enough on this point.  But it seems like there's been very little "getting it" so far...

So we've been praying for a deep conviction of sins in these two and in more friends' lives in this city.  I can't say that I've heard any encouragement from them specifically.... but there is this one work of God that is perhaps directly connected, in answer to these prayers?  H, the girl in our home, has shared with me quite a bit of the total crap that her culture dishes out for her....  the future that she has to look forward to as a daughter-in-law one day, the past that she grew up in that was twisted with pain and lies and neglect.

Lord continue your work to show these friends their need for you, whether it be for their own sins or for the brokenness of their culture.... continue your whole work of kindness to lead them to repentance. It seems like that, for now, perhaps they might begin to see their need for a Savior as they face the reality of the brokenness that their culture perpetuates.  (I'm hoping to write another post soon about the future of a daughter in law in Uyghur culture.  Stay tuned, anthropologists and prayer warriors and friends!)

Now there's one more thing that is on my the tip top of my heart in prayer for these guys:  I'm yearning for them to see that learning about Christianity- that thing they've been so happy to get to learn and hear more and more about all summer long now- is not like learning about America, some far away place, they'd like to go but will never be able to get to, but it's just nice to hear about the people that really are from there.

This isn't America, folks!  This is Christ!  The truth of God, the gift of God, for us who all.  really.  need.  a Savior.  I kind of want to look straight into their eyes and lay friendly hands on their shoulders and tell them this has nothing to do with where we're from and everything to do with what is true.  It seems like they are trying to beautify their lives and relationships, their intents for a family one day, their character and problem-solving skills.... with what they've seen in our home and add it to their surface-level Muslim lives and be applaudable Uyghurs.

Maybe we can speak to them tonight.... as we'll be gathered around a big pot of polo and veggies at our table... and we can ask how his time at the mosque was this afternoon.....  Oh God open doors for your Gospel to penetrate and bring faith into their lives, their blind eyes seeing Christ for the very first time!  May it be today, tonight, by the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead.... raise these friends to new life in Him too!

Thank you for praying dear friends!

Where we are: Prayerfully Prepared

Not long ago we heard a fire-y sermon about evangelism.  It would have made Billy Graham or Bill Bright stand up and hoot and holler I think.  And I think Jesus was happy..... but it does remind me of a quote from one of my hubby's favorite seminary professors:  "You can't say everything when you say anything."

The sermon was aimed at instigating boldness....  "preaching the Gospel without words is like trying to tell the evening news with no words."  and... "I would have trusted Christ a lot sooner if they guy who visited me weekly in more dorm room would have just told me about him way earlier than he did."  Good.... so true....  we do need words and we do want to be wisely bold.  And yet, our goal is to proclaim it clearly, penetratingly, more than just what we would call bold (on our parts).

Ahh... I'm well aware that even just trying to write this post, those professor's words are so true again.  There are years of prayers and heart yearning and ministry labors already poured out on this and I don't have the time to try to coney all of it here now.....  but I do want to tell you two things:

1-  I am beginning to see what I think my husband has known for years.... that our Muslim friends here are hearing, understanding more of Christ and, though we wish it wasn't the case, if they are coming... they are coming to Christ SLOWLY.

Our summer room mate just shared with me this past week some of the heartache of her life, her abuse as a child, her abandonment, her parents separation, her lies to others about it all.   Here I've been aiming at spelling out the whole story of forgiveness of sins, Christ on the cross, and I am so glad we've covered that with her.  But boldness- one loud, complete telling of the Gospel story- on our part doesn't "get us off the hook."

Later, we watched a bit of a Christian music video together as a family and she joined us too.  After that I talked with her about culture and how it changes and people change but God never changes.  She is seeing so many different cultural things in our home this summer...  bread, cakes, cookies.... a dad that helps in the kitchen.... a courteous disagreement between husband and wife... discipline that is firm and loving....  repentance and forgiveness when one of us looses our cool.

So... there seems to be a good, real heart work going on in her.  But it's not coming with instant openness to salvation in Jesus.  Perhaps the Lord has called us to this to teach us this lesson in falling His lead, going His pace.  And I sure do wish it was a speedier pace and I sure Don't know why it isn't... but we will keep trusting Him for that.

Another issue with Slowness is that the Lord is in charge of it.  In all the commands he's given us to preach and make disciples, he's never told us that we need to make it happen fast.  But there is lots of emphasis on that in missiological strategy today.  Even to the point of one direct imperative to go against scripture... where Paul wrote to Timothy about not appointing a new believer to leadership, some strategies say we must promote a new believer to Bible study leader in Two Weeks!!!

May the Lord give us firm faith and patience to trust him for his timing and to be willing to have slow, small "results" and not abandon faithfulness to His battle strategy/ commands in scripture because we think we must have masses of converts....

2-  For us, the "solution" that seems to fit into our hearts on this issue:   We want to see our Uyghur friends come to Christ!  So perhaps we need to be more bold?  Perhaps we need better strategies, resources to share with them?  Perhaps we need more people praying for the Red Seas in their hearts- indeed in their whole culture- to open wide???  And if we preach boldly on street corners and the first time we meet any new friend, we'll be sure to get kicked out of this country and what then?  We've done our duty?  But what of the millions that still don't understand the Gospel!?  We sure don't want to sit back and wait til they tell us they're ready, eager to hear about Jesus now that we've been friends for a dozen years....

For us the answer that seems to be fitting into our hearts for this complicated issue is this:
Be PRAYERFULLY PREPARED

We absolutely do want, need!, people praying with us and for us, and for these friends and for authorities not to notice our sharing.... Our own prayers most often focus on "Lord open their hearts to you!  Give them understanding!  Cause them to see the inconsistencies of Islam and give them courage to be willing to turn away from it.  Give them eyes to see and know your love which far surpasses the acceptance they have in their culture because of the name of Islam."

When we have fervently pursued the Father's heart in prayer, when the church is praying with us for the tilling of their hearts, we believe the Father will open doors to proclaim bits of his mystery or to tell the whole story of His love or to salt another conversation with the gourmet flavor of His goodness, thus preventing more decay from the dark deception of Islam.  

And when he does, we want to be ready!  Ready with verses memorized in Uyghur, ready to share a praise song, ready to tell the websites where they can read God's word or share a video or radio Bible teaching in Uyghur....

The hurdles to their salvation are so many-  cultural biases and slanderous stereotypes against Christianity and Christians, coercion and forceful acceptance of Islam for the sake of family and jobs, legality issues (the Uyghur Bible is illegal to have in your possession, evangelism is illegal, web sites are often blocked), the eagerness of China to control the Uyghur territory and "protect" XinJiang from foreign involvement.....

So friends, would you ask with us that the Lord would continue His true work of drawing hearts to Him.  Ask that there would be many who would come to Him (His word promises that in the end there will be many around his throne) and that until harvest time, the workers in His field would be faithful to His commands, to His word.  Ask that we would be well prepared... that our language study woudl be fruitful and graced so that words stick in our brains and are useable to proclaim.  Ask that we would have wisdom to proclaim the right pieces of His word, His story, at the right time in friends' lives.

Ask that His glory would cover Xin Jiang as the waters cover the earth!  And ask that the Uyghur people would be made glad because of hte salvation of our great God, given to us in the Savior Jesus!

We are so grateful for you praying with us.  Would you consider sharing our need for prayer with others?  I think there are just a dozen or so who read here sometimes....

Thank you dear friends!

May Christ be praised!

insider movement

There is a great amount of confusion among U believers and a significant disunity between the missionaries in that area over the issue of what some call "The Insider Movement."

The Insider Movement is a group that wants to turn lots of people to Jesus smoothly and easily...  the idea is that Muslims can come slowly to Christ but somewhere in their turning/ coming process (usually, seemingly very early in that process) these Muslims can be pronounced as followers or believers in Christ even before they acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, and while they still call themselves Muslims and revere the Koran as a Holy Book of God.  The idea is that they should be able to reach other Muslims from within Islam more easily that way....   Those who dislike the movement often refer to it as "Chrislam" for it's obvious closeness to heretical syncretistism.

The disunity is painful and divisive and breeding doctrinal error in this precious young church.

Would you please ask with us for the Lord to make His way clear.... that His Gospel would be preached with faithfulness to His Word and with fearlessness towards the things of this world and with courage to proclaim what we cannot open eyes to see......  May the Lord open blind eyes and give hearing to deaf ears when His true Word is preached for the Uyghur people!

Ask the Lord to bless the resources that He is providing for Uyghurs.... radio teaching, web sites, books and Scripture in the Uyhgur language.  May it be distributed and well received.  May the Lamb of God be seen for Who He truly is and may He be followed and loved by the Uyghur people.  

with us

This cute young couple that is staying with us (the girl is with us, the guy is staying very nearby and is with us for usually two meals a day) are just delightful.  Probably the easiest, most helpful house guests we've ever had in China!

Would you ask that the Lord would give us wisdom for how to advance the cause of Christ in our conversations with them?  We are cautious and want to be very wise in promoting this while they are living with us as guests because we want the situation to be very clear that we are not bribing them with free rent or that are not obligated to listen and smile to us, their landlords.  May communication be clear and my the Gospel penetrate their hearts and minds.

There is typically dark and heavy baggage from home and family life as so many Uyghur families we know of are wretched with anger, lying, adultery, stealing, abuse.  Pray that our family would demonstrate the love and comforts and truth of Christ in a way that makes them eager to learn more about who He is!  Ask the Father to show us open doors and ways to direct conversation to the Truth of who He is.

We are so thankful for your prayers with us.

unrest

There's very little in the news about this, but we've heard in text messages and quick posts from friends in the Uyghur province that there has been increased tension,  night markets have been closed for a month, and increased military presence on the ground.  It probably has to do with the anniversary of the riots in the capital city in 2009.  

Would you pray for the workers that are still there.... that they would be bold and that the Lord would open doors in their friends' and neighbors' lives to hear the Gospel and receive the seed into good soil in their minds during this time of less available activity.    Pray for peace in hearts and on the streets and wisdom to deal honorably with authorities.

Thanks friends...

that dating couple

Perhaps you saw the pic of our friends at our table?  (Sorry, no posting photos here!)  Well two of those friends will be staying with us for several weeks this summer....  the sweet girl will be with us and the guy will stay with our friend nearby.

This new development came about exactly one day after we shared hard heart-level truths with each other.... that this semester has been very poor language study for me (the wife).  I had two sweet tutors that came to the house four mornings a week for class with me but...  one girl made me feel entirely uncomfortable with her interactions with others in our home so I just couldn't study with her often (one morning) and the other sweetheart, she came three mornings a week, well....  "bless her heart" (as southerners might say) she was NOT a gifted teacher.  We spent a lot of time waiting for her to think of a word or an example sentence for me...

I really yearn for opportunity to improve my language level but how does a homeschooling mama in China get time for this?  Grace.... the Lord is bringing a great tutor into our schoolroom for the summer!

Would you ask that both H and K would be soft to the message of Christ?  They have heard the Good News before but this is a bold opporunity to engage with Christians with each other and with not many other peers who would dissuade them from learning more....  May the Lord open wide their hearts to him!

prayers for a big step ahead

Friends,

For quite a while we have been asking the Lord to lead our next steps to Xin Jiang.  Right now we are feeling a pinch because there is one business possibility in the works that- if the timing works out in the next two months or so- and if the marketing is successful enough in the next three months or so...  this could be a great way for our family to move there soon.  I can't tell you how we long for that....  oh so deeply, yearningly...

Would you please ask that the Lord would give us favor in this business plan?  Ask that technology here would be sufficient to run the operation.  Ask for a great local partner for marketing.  Ask for eyes to be blinded to the work if their intent is to find a cause to get us out of the country.  Ask for God to use this or anything else in creation to get us there.... or at least to build his kingdom in Xin Jiang, among Uyghurs!  

However you please Lord, build a strong, thriving church for your praise among the Uyghur people!  We long that you would use us in some way to be a part of that!  Take the years we have labored here and use it somehow for your praise!  Take our lives and pour us out however you please, for Your praise, for their salvation!  

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."   Rev. 4:11

What's happening with Eve?

Thank you for praying for my dear friend, whom I call Eve.  Right now there's just not much to update you about her..... she's just as sweet as can be and eager to come teach me her language and she hasn't shared a single word about her dream with me!  I'm so eager to hear it from her and I don't want to let her know that her friend at her campus told me about her dream so I'm just plain ole' continuing on in this sweet friendship for now...

Since her dream, I took a few bold steps ahead in praying for her....(she understands my English prayers at the beginning of my class time- that God would help me study and learn well and that He would bless her...).  My husband suggested to me that maybe I have been too bold... that somehow I have made her a bit timid to tell me much?  I don't know.  It could be, or it could be just that I've only known her about 3 months and she's just not ready to bear her soul....  I will continue on in loving and serving her, encouraging her and praying for her (hopefully with Holy Spirit led wisdom and not inappropriate words based on my willingness to be bold/ eagerness for her salvation!)

But when she had this dream, I told her that I was praying for her and for her boyfriend.  I even told her my hope that he could come to our city for some days so we could get to know him and them together as a couple.  And you know what....  he's coming!    He will be here in mid June for 4-5 days before they head back to their hometown together.

Will you continue to pray for this precious young couple.... that the Lord would draw them both to Christ!  Ask with us, that the boyfriend would maybe be able to stay with our friend at a place very near us so that the two of them and a few more great friends, could often gather for fun and discussion times at our place for those few days here.  Ask for the Holy Spirit to continue His work of opening their eyes, softening their hearts, and giving them courage to embrace the Gospel of Christ!

The Best Must Read at Prayer Fuel (yet)

Friends,

This is seems like it might be one of the sweetest miracles I've yet had the privilege of announcing here.

Two days ago my language tutor had a dream.  I have only heard this from a friend we work with who heard it from her Monday afternoon.  She's coming to my house this morning and I'm bursting at the seams to hear more from her...

The New Testament never commands us to pray for dreams and visions for people to come to Christ.  But it does give us examples.  And among Muslims, dreams and visions are counted as very important and many thousands of Muslims that have come to Christ tell us that a dream of Jesus was key in their turning to Christ.  We know that dreams could also lead people astray.... but at this time we are praying that the Lord will sovereignly guide and awaken and draw to himself this precious friend with this dream.

In her dream, an angel came and took her to Mary.  Mary gave birth to a great light.

When our friend saw her, she seemed in shock and confused and was considering that perhaps what she had been taught her whole life about Jesus and Muhammed was not the truth.

PRAY!  Will you please join me in prayer for "Eve"..... for salvation.   I'm praying too that the Lord will use her like the woman at the well who would run into town and announce to everyone "Come meet the One... who we have heard about our whole lives but never known in truth before!"

Since I heard this news,  I have not stopped praying for Eve's boyfriend too....  May they come to Christ together!  May the Lord use them as a young couple to spark the growth and flourishing of many more!

Saturdays this summer

What joy to see how the Father has drawn together pieces for us to serve and interact with our community, with many Chinese neighbors and friends and with several Uyghur guys, in the team that the prayerfuel husband will be sweating for and swinging hard at this summer.  So many details have come together...

May the Lord open doors with this work to proclaim his Gospel.  

May the business be blessed so that we can use it to move towards U. land.  

May the character of Christ be demonstrated to all who are apart of this, so that many might see the goodness of God and be drawn to the Gospel.  

the sin list

I had a bit of a run-in with a tutor of mine recently.  She lied boldly to me.   And then... what's to say she's not lying about me?  Perhaps some will say it wasn't a big deal but it was completely a lie and that's just plain hard for me.  She meant no harm by it, she just really wanted to get her way, so she lied straight to my face.

A dear friend who has more experience with Uyghurs than I yet have encouraged me.  She said, "Yes.  They will lie.  They lie before they trust Christ and some life after trusting Christ.  It's deep in their minds, in the pattern of how they live and how they speak and interact and what's acceptable and normal to them.  It's at the bottom of their "sin list" and it  hardly matters to them."

So... I don't really have a way to wrap this up as a pretty package to ask for your prayers.... but would you pray for wisdom, gentleness for us to address this with friends and pray for TRUTH to reign in our hearts, our homes, our tongues?  Pray that somehow truth would stand out as boldly beautiful to these loose-lipped friends.  Also, may the Lord open doors to talk about sin and even guilt (which is not something that usually lands on their radars) and shame (which is what they usually do hone in on) for wrong... pray for in any and every way the Lord would open doors to speak of His truth and His grace and forgiveness in Christ.  May attention be drawn, eyes be opened to Christ, the Truth, the true Word of God!

For His Glory!

Thank you for praying dear friends-

pray for Lausanne

Dear Friends,

If you don't know about the Lausanne Movement, please do not pass go, but click here to read up on this crucial work of God for the church, for the world today.    

Dear friends of ours are serving together with Lausanne and have created a prayer guide for the month of May.  We have found the prayer guide to speak to us like a devotional and to lead us in bold prayers for the Kingdom.  What better thing could we set aside time for each day this May?  

Will you please join us in praying through this great series of requests:  The Message of the Gospel, The People Shaped by the Gospel, The World Apart from the Gospel, Our Partnership in the Gospel.  

And... a note I can't help but mention.  When you click on the link above, you'll see a video from Michael Oh, who has just begun as the new Executive Director for the Lausanne Movement.   If you want to find a guy to follow after, whose following hard after Christ, can we just commend this guy?  You'll see he's a skinny guy and we feel honored and firingly spurred on to know that some of his skinniness came in days that he's spent fasting for our own beloved Uyghur people and for us.  

Please join us!  For the King!  For eternity!  For the joy ahead, with the multitude he died to redeem all standing before His throne...

your friends at prayerfuel

the summer guy

We are so grateful to the Lord that within 24 hours of connecting with a business savvy local friend who wants to collaborate with us for our summer business plan, we also heard of a Cornell student who applied to join us for that same kind of summer work!  Sorry to be vague, but we'll just leave it at that for now...

Would you ask the Lord to bless and provide for this cool guy whose coming all this way to serve with us for most of June through early August?  Ask for the Father to use him here to bless the work we're involved in, to continue to pour into the friends who we've already been sharing Christ with.   We are really looking forward to having another pair of hands around for this summer when we know there will be lots going on!

Thank you for this young helper for us this summer Lord!  Bless him now and prepare him to serve you humbly, healthily and with great impact for your glory Lord!

pray for the Uyghur Johnny Cash

One of the guys that the husband here at prayerful meets with for language tutoring is a guy that really stands out as a Johnny Cash of his culture or maybe a Leonardo daVinci or ...

He's talented artistically, musically, athletically.  He's well loved by the Uyghur students on his campus.  He's close friends with a few foreigner Christian guys and he's heard the Gospel probably 40-50 times but as of yet, he's still brushed over the claims of Christ and the differences between the Gospel and Islam.  

Please pray boldly, fervently with us, that the Lord would arrest him however He must, but that somehow this friend would be seized with a full, deep awareness and understanding, a revelation of Christ, and that he would become a leader in his network to exhort other Uyghurs to trust Christ too!

possibilities...

There are a number of possibilities on the horizon that are really sweet and encouraging for one reason or another....  there's a business opportunity that could just be the stone for us to step towards Xin Jiang on (this is your class deal, BJ!), there's an investor looking to create a place here that our local company could provide business consulting for and it could become another super opportunity to connect with local Uyhgurs and other Muslims, and there's even a hope for our family to be able to buy a vehicle (a personal note, but wow, would it be sweet for our crew and oh how we hunger for the Lord to fill it with friends and opportunities to proclaim Christ!)  We'd love your prayers with us for these business possibilities and for wisdom and patience for us to follow His timing and provision.

Answers

For now... this is much the same as the prayer email update we are sending out this week.  For future, we plan to write more details here than we include in our email updates.  Thank you for checking in here and praying specifically...  Please do let us know of your prayers with us too.... what an encouragment you are to us!  Thank you friends!

You’ve prayed for the Father to lead us to the right language tutors?  He has answered!  We have both begun meeting with two different tutors several times each week this semester.   We trust that these are the ones the Father has arranged just for us.  He has been working already in their hearts, drawing them with His Gospel, and we know that they are influential among their social networks with other Uyhgurs in this area.  How sweet too, that He has provided specific areas for our families to connect in relationship with these precious Uyghur friends.   Both of us are hoping to study the Word as our language material this semester.   Please ask the Father to soften their hearts to the seed of His Word to be planted in them.  

Please pray for a gathering in our home this weekend....  We're hoping many students will come and for opportunity to be clear to speak of Christ and connect with ones that are interested to hear more.  

And... this is big...  for years we have been praying for increased opportunity for the Gospel to be proclaimed on the internet in Uyghur.  Dear friends that we labor here have recently opened a new website with lots of Scripture in Uyghur.  In the first 4 weeks of running, there were over 26,000 hits and 4,000 people downloaded Scripture from this site!  Rejoice with us... and please continue to pray!

• Pray that this site would remain up and not be blocked by the government who is very savvy with their censoring and firewalls.
• Pray that people would find links and share links to this site and talk about it with others.
• Pray that people would receive the Scriptures from this site and have faith sparked in their hearts to trust in Christ the Savior!  Ask for wisdom to connect and follow-up with those who want to learn more and begin trusting Christ.

For this Mt. Carmel {XinJiang}

We are preparing to head back into the land we love.  My heart is full and our lives are full, feeling packed with things to do (packing!!) and good-byes.  Thank you for praying with us as we re-enter the battleground and all that that entails.

We should be sending an update soon and will spill all the details for this there... but we are still lacking financial support, so your prayers with us for that (and perhaps the Father might lead you to give?) would be greatly appreciated.

But for now... here are some words that have encouraged me this afternoon (from a book that I'm enjoying some parts of):

"Remember how Abraham tried to help God out of His difficulties and because of his folly)had Ishmael?  We try to do the same thing today.  On the other hand, Elijah made it as difficult as he could for the Lord.  He wanted fire, but yet he soaked the sacrifices with water!  God loves such holy boldness in our prayers.  "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heather for thine inheiritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession" (Psalm 2:8).

"Oh my ministering brethren!  Much of our praying is but giving God advice!  Our praying is discolored with ambition, either or ourselves or for our denominations.  Perish the thought!  Our goal must be God alone.  It is His honor that is sullied, His blessed Son who is ignored, His laws broken, His name profaned, His Book forgotten, His house made a circus of social efforts.... (Ravenill, Why Revival Tarries, p 41.)

"Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer.  We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, but few pray-ers; many singers, but few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, few fighters.  Failing her, we fail everywhere. (p 25.)"

"The ugly fact is that altar fires are either out or burning very low.  The prayer meeting is dead or dying.  By our attitude to prayer we tell God that what was begun in the Spirit, we can finish in the flesh.  What church ever asks its candidating ministers what time they spend in prayer?  Yet ministers who do not spend two hours a day in prayer are not worth a dime a dozen, degrees or no degrees. (p 21)."

He asks, 'Where are the Elijah's of God?'  Oh Lord may they be found in us... the writer and the readers here!  Send your fire into us Lord, even as we beg like inattentive children...  Lord, teach us to pray!

We go, we give, we pray, we preach.... All for You, all for You

What a holy, magnificent privilege this is, 
to give and live our all for You, in You. 

For your glory God!