Floods in Mumbai

You may have heard in passing on the news about the landslides and flooding in Mumbai (Bombay), India as 28 hours of non-stop rain broke all previous records. The official death toll is over 500, although one political leader told Bro. KP that no one knows how many hundreds have died among the poorest of the poor in the slums.

GFA sent out an email asking people to pray for the situation. 12 of our churches have been washed away and the Bible College has been significantly damaged. And in the midst of this, the students and pastors and church members have organized teams to minister to the flood victims. Please read the complete report at http://www.gfa.org/pray072805.

Reading about Pastor Sam and the damaged Bible College really impacted me because we made an unplanned stop there during our trip to India. Pastor Sam came to the airport during our 5 hour layover and took us to see the Bible College. We were able to speak to the students (see picture), worship with them, and eat the wonderful food they prepared for us.

While I can't say this about all 14,500 of our missionaries, I've met these people personally. And it feels like a part of my family is hurting.

Thank you for your prayers.

Tsunami Update - Mission Network News

This evening at prayer meeting, we got to hear TC's report from his recent trip to India. He was gone for a week and just returned yesterday. Two of the several people with him included Sharon Geiger of Dallas-based KCBI and Greg Yoder, Director of Mission Network News.

It was exciting to hear TC's updates and see his pictures about the tsunami relief, but I'm also looking forward to hearing about it from the media representatives who were with him.

Sharon Geiger is planning a series titled "After the Wave" which will be airing all next week on KCBI's morning show. Or you can see Greg Yoder's pictures and notes at http://www.mnnonline.org/special/.

If your local radio station airs the reports from Mission Network News (I know that KREJ does!), I would love to know if you heard special reports from them this past week or if you hear anything in the upcoming days.

TC showed a picture tonight of a man he spoke with on the beach of Tamil Nadu. He lost his three children and the family he was living with lost two of their children. His wife is still in the hospital--six months later.

They continue to need our prayers.
www.gfa.org/tsunami

Praise God for My House

Countdown to change

The ten days since I posted have been both busy and quiet. Some things in my life seem to be in a temporary holding pattern. I can just imagine the air traffic control units... "Chaos, please establish a holding patten... you will be landing in three weeks."

Okay, so not quite. Thank you for your prayers as we continue to prepare for the internship. We still do not have a response from Melia as to whether she is coming. Seg and AJ moved their furniture to their apartment today. And Lei just used my TV box and my vacuum box to pack her stuff in. She'll be returning home this coming Saturday.

I spent about two hours on Saturday making some 450 mints for CD's wedding this coming weekend. I only have another 200 or so to do tomorrow.

We are attempting to set up phone service and such for the new intern houses. Pots and Pans were purchased for $5 at a yard sale this weekend. Skillet was purchased Thursday at a yard sale. Eyeing the sale Oneida is having on three of their patterns of silverware, but decided that $199 is a little to expensive to put on my list of suggested birthday gifts.

Real suggestions for the upcoming birthday include Bosch cookie paddles, CD player, tape measure (12' or 25' or whaterever), salt and pepper shaker, cooling (cake) racks, and a 4-in-1 screwdriver (mine disappeared last fall...).

Ah-why am I posting this? Your prayers (and occasional comment that encourages and lets me know you're praying) is gift enough for me. THANK YOU!

Answers and Updates

The normalicies of life continue on in conjunction with the big events in life. We don't have an answer yet from Melia, although she returned home on Wednesday. You can continue to pray for her. I do have an answer for the iron...CD has one she will be giving me. PTL!

I took time to help a family pack up this evening. B&J are leaving GFA to head for seminary. The office was my next stop where I worked on my newsletter and then was off to the grocery store to get bacon for sandwiches and powdered sugar to make mints for CD's wedding at the end of the month.

Tomorrow I'll finish up my newsletter draft, have lunch with Rach and T., make mints in the evening, and get ready for Lei's birthday celebration on Saturday. I also need to help RL purchase new software for the software development team, turn in a rough draft of a Service Level Agreement for Helpdesk, find out what's wrong with RL's Outlook rules, write my weekly report, and prepare my August activity plan.

For now...I'm off to kill the mosquito and go to bed.

Intern #3

I've mentioned in my previous posts that I will have three interns living with me. Well, that's not for certain yet. I might only have two. But I am praying, fervently, for three interns to live with me (lots of reasons). The young lady who will potentially be the third intern is visiting the ministry right now. We'll call her Melia.

Please pray for Melia--she's not been sleeping well at night and is physically and emotionally exhausted from an intense two days in the office. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is her last day here. Pray that God will make it clear to all involved--including her--if she is supposed to be part of the internship this year. Pray for God's peace and rest in her heart and soul.

And pray for the third intern...whoever she may be.

Sunday Pickup

I sure didn't get my Sunday afternoon nap today. But after church this morning, I did get to eat lunch with some college friends and spend part of the afternoon conversing with them. I brought up home a whole (small) truck load full of stuff... the chair I'm sitting in, a cool floor lamp, a dresser, an oil painting of a European street, tool chest, curtains, picture frames, pillows, bed spread, and more... including a copy of Veggie Tales Madame Blueberry. I made a second trip out this afternoon to pick up a foundation (box springs like thing) for a twin bed. And I just got back from picking up a dresser for one of the interns to use. I think I'll be a little sore tomorrow.

So here's the puzzle. The iron and ironing board went with my roommates to their new apartment. I picked up a really nice ironing board at a yardsale on Saturday for $5. Now I need an iron. Do I go shopping for one? Or is there one coming via God-delivery?

Either way--you play a part. Your prayers (for the God-delivery) or your financial support (for the purchase) are a big part of me getting an iron.

I'm so glad God cares about the little things in our life too.

Friday Night Prayer

It's another late night prayer meeting. We started right at 8:00 and took a break about 11:30. Now we're in the middle of small group prayer sessions, interceeding for our UK, New Zealand, and Canadian offices. We have staff in each of those countries, linking the native missionaries to Christians and churches in those countries who want to support them.

I'm here at the back table with the computers, typing the evening notes and displaying the powerpoint presentations. We just saw pictures for the first time of our Bible College in... umm... I can't tell you. And we saw a picture of 13 native missionaries that are heading into a nearby country--determined to give their lives preaching to Gospel there. Where? Oh... umm... I can't tell you that.

What can I tell you? Your prayers make a difference. God knows what you don't.

RTR - House and Provisions

So much has happened in the past week and I didn't blog about any of it. Gospel for Asia hosted their very first missions conference, we leased another house for the interns, and we celebrated America's Independence Day.

A few highlights... three of our leaders from the Asian subcontinent were here for the missions conference. I would love to tell you the stories they told us, but unfortunately, I can't post them on the web. You'll have to call me and I'll tell you a few over the phone. I didn't get to participate in all the sessions of the conference, but I enjoyed talking with just a few of the 160 pastors and missions leaders who did. I was challenged as they told me of their burden to fast and pray for the lost world and how God wants them to be a part.

PTL! NN signed a lease on a house for the guys to live in for this year's internship program. It's right next door to one of our leaders and everyone is excited.

It's fun to see how the Lord is providing everything I need for my house here. You see, after my roommates leave, I will have no living room furniture, no kitchen table or chairs, no plates, no silverware, no cutting knives, no pots, no pans, no washer or dryer, no iron or ironing board...

But... the people who own our current washer and dryer decided that they didn't want to take them back, so they're donating them to us. One lady donated a crockpot, and then an ice chest, and then a whole set of Corelle plates, saucers, bowls, and mugs. On the way to work this morning, I found a table and chairs by the edge of the road in excellent condition. By 8:10, they were sitting in my garage waiting for future use. I got a call from a local college friend today saying they have chairs and drawers and a lamp for us. I'll pick that up tomorrow night.

I'm just waiting to see what God does next...