Thank you all for lifting me up in prayer over the four-day retreat for our national church, they were felt!
As we packed into a crowded living room, each of us were challenged by a local leader of a house church movement to be unashamed of Jesus, to give our life fully to Him and His kingdom without reservation, holdout or backup plan. He shared about his own experiences of persecution, arrest, imprisonment and how G0d used it all. Yet, he carried a deep joy in spite of these many experiences.
Later, I stood at the back of the room, and thought about how my dream used to be to reach these people, and now their dream was to reach others. This is the first retreat that was completely planned & led by our Asian friends. I watched with pride as they ministered to each other, prayed, gave prophetic words, encouragement and hugs.
Our time together was a time of fun, laughter and community, deeply touching moments, encounters with God, and fresh challenge to be fully committed.
Please keep praying for:
1. Peter- not yet a believer, but heard from God during the retreat and is very close, he is studying abroad in North America
2. Shi Yuan- a believer as the result of an outreach among a people group that has few or no other known believers; he traveled from deep in the mountains to be with us, and will be in an area that will only receive periodic visits for discipleship
3. Rosemary- a sister who has gone through period of not really following God, is now back; please pray for growth and stability in her relationship with Him and clear guidance and direction