Tuesday, December 1, 2009

December Prayer requests and Praises

Welcome to the holiday season! Is anyone else shocked that it is Christmas time already?? It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas 08. But here we are enjoying this amazing adventure that God has led us on. We have had another very busy month but here are a couple of the highlights.... Thanksgiving in our new home entertaining 14 friends and our first visitors from Iowa, (thank you to the Mottinger family for the very fun visit).

At Agape, there are great things happening as well. The story of the "Turkey Drop" and God abundance will give you an idea of what happens around the hangar. In order to help the missionaries in Haiti enjoy a comfort of America oversees, Agape does an annual “turkey drop” for the missionaries. Now unlike what you mind is probably envisioning, we do not actually drop the turkeys out of the plane, but we do drop them off for the missionaries to come pick up with their weekly supplies and mail. This year, we delivered 44 turkeys. (BTW-We would like to also drop turkeys in Dominican Republic but the government there does not allow meat to be imported).

To make the “Turkey Drop” happen, the staff at Agape takes the orders for the turkeys, buys them, stores them and then they deliver them in coolers. On the last week of the deliveries, the turkeys were safely stored in the freezer in the hangar, but when the staff arrived on Monday morning, they discovered that 12 turkeys had been defrosted as the freezer when out over the weekend. Now, we have 12 bad turkeys and 0 turkeys ready to load on the plane. Well, here’s where God went to work…in the matter of one phone call, the cost of the replacement turkeys was provided by a complete stranger. And, not only does God provide but He provides over and abundantly as He promises in John 10:10. You see we also received 2 other donations simultaneously which could have bought12 more turkeys. God showed us once again that He is in control. He was not about to let chaos reign, for only He reigns.
John 10:10-11 (Amplified Bible)
10The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [
a]overflows).

Here are our prayer request and praises for this month. Thank you for faithfully lifting us up to the king.
Praises
Praise God that we have found a new church to call ‘home”. We were led to New Life Church over 6 months ago by a trusted ministry friend and it is definitely the place we need to be. A place to be fed and not just watered.
Praise the Lord for His provision and abundance in the replacement of the defrosted turkeys for Haiti. It may seem like a small thing but it is huge when you sit back and see how He defeated Satan’s plan to cause chaos.
Praise Him for the increase in the girls faith. They run around the house singing songs they make up for Jesus and they ask tons of questions every day. It truly warms my heart to watch them fall in love with Him.
Thank God for a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends, our Agape family. When pondering what Thanksgiving would be like without our families, we never realized how God would provide amazing friends to fill our day and bring such fun to our house.

Prayer Requests
Please pray for the staff at Agape. The preparations for Christmas by all the missionaries makes this time of year a time of high demand. It is incredibly busy around the hangar. Please pray for strength and energy for the staff and safety for the flights.
Please continue to pray for the closing of our house in Iowa. God is in control and we trust His timing.
Please pray for our new staff members who are raising support. In this time of financial chaos, we know God will provide for all their needs.
Please pray for the search for a new Executive Director of Agape. God knows who He has called, please pray for that person to hear and respond to the voice of His Father.

We hope you all have a very blessed Christmas and enjoy the celebration of Jesus' birth!
Until next time, stay strong in Him and never give in!
Living victoriously with Christ, Lynn, Lance, Grace and Hope