Support of the Team

Part of getting situated and familiar in this "foreign land" has been going on walks around our neighborhood and driving around trying to get from point A to point B--exploring slightly different routes each time. It was on one of those drives recently that traffic was halted by the screams of about eight police cars racing across the intersection.
I watched and was overtaken somewhat by the intensity and velocity at which they pursued the call they received. I was especially drawn to one car that pulled over in the middle of an intersection blocking the on-coming traffic to allow the others to scream past them without cause to worry about what might come at them from the other direction.

As I watched this entire scene unfold, I thought about how valuable it is to have others looking out for us. We have responded to the "emergency call" God put out to this part of Los Angeles, and people like you are praying for us and helping keep us safe from danger and distraction, allowing us to focus on and accomplish the things God has called us to do--to reach the lost, train up leaders, and see the nations come to Jesus.

We have three prayer requests. First, pray we would meet strategic people and make contacts at strategic places. We live across from a park that is teeming with activity and have been able to meet some people there, often at the playground as we watch Rebecca and Justice play with their children. We have gotten to know some of our neighbors as well, but we still want to nurture those relationships and expand out further. There is an elementary school about three blocks away and a row of stores that we still have not gotten into yet--maybe key relationships and contacts will come through one of these places. Pray that we would have wisdom and be guided in His timing.

Second, pray for grace in our lives, especially in the area of our strength and energy. As we are confronting so many new things every day, we typically feel exhausted and fatigued--sometimes by mid-day. Pray for each of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual energy levels and times of rest while we are constantly "on call" to our community.

Last, continue to pray for our protection. Though we have not noticed any blatant crime on our street, that is not to say it is not here. With the Fourth of July last month we felt a bit like we were in a war zone with all the bottle rockets and mortars going off day and night through much of the month. There is a lot of garbage around our house and the park, and as is typical in poorer neighborhoods like ours, there are unwanted visitors from cockroaches to mice and fleas, lice and termites to rats and opossums. We have only experienced a little of that so far, but we ask that you would pray with us that we would be protected from harm’s way in the physical and spiritual realms.

Thank you for going with us – your prayers are important!