Tag: prayer

Watching

Posted by Shawn on November 4, 2010

One of the residents of Villa Paraiso is a young man with his wife and 2 kids. This young man is always willing to talk (a lot in English) and makes his presence around the church and is a neighbor of a lady we visit a lot. This young man is not a believer, when asked about things he says he is “watching”.

How many of us have watchers, those who are wondering about Christians, about Jesus, about the church and who watch us? They are looking for evidence in our walk, do we really believe what we say we believe? This young man offered us some food today, he made some great spaghetti and rice. He is currently jobless and here that means no job and no unemployment benefits.

Also, I know that there is that time when I will have to challenge him on his “watching” to see if he will be walking. I don’t believe that just my walk, but also my words will bring to him the good news, the Gospel, the truth of Christ which can free him from sin.

I respect this young man in his honesty, he isn’t pretending to be a Christian. He isn’t pretending to know all. He is honestly watching us. I believe God has a plan for this young man’s life, so if this touches you, please pray for him. His name is Manuel. Pray for salvation and for a job.

Protecting Your Children

Posted by Shawn on June 23, 2010

As a parent we automatically protect our children and keep them from harm… usually. I know there are those who have harmed their children and some even to the point of death. But for most of us, it is natural to protect. We will do whatever is in our power to protect them physically from harm, from hurt feelings, from their own foolishness…

However, how effective are we at protecting them spiritually?

We can’t protect them in the physical from the spiritual, that we can only do within the spiritual realm. Some of you, like me, have warn ourselves out fighting the spiritual enemy in the physical realm. This has resulted in failure and frustration. Only when we truly submit to Our Father in heaven and began praying for our children daily can we truly see victory in these spiritual battles.

We as Christians have probably all heard the verse: Ephesians 6:12 (NAS) “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” But do we understand and put that into our daily practice?

We must be praying for our children everyday. The Lord is the only one who can keep them, not you or I. I know many of us have wanted to lock them in cages for a time, but that wouldn’t even solve the problem anyways. Our children need us to be praying especially when they don’t think they do or want us to.

As the father and Biblical leader of the home I state Joshua 24:15 – “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!” It is my job to cover my children until they no longer need it, and to continue to cover them in prayers long after.

Lord help me to do just that and to never forget the awesome privilege of raising our children under your wings.

Sale pending on the house

Posted by Shawn on December 9, 2009

Praise God!

We have the house in escrow and it is expected to close on the 31st. This is great news, however, this is our busy month for business and we had already planned a trip to visit our son in Mexico. Not much time to pack, sort or even think. So, we are asking for your prayers on the following:

1. Peace and patience in our home
2. A house to rent
3. Someone to help with the business while we are gone
4. Wisdom with selling the business or getting a partner
5. God to get all the Glory
6. Rest for my wife who will probably be taking on way too much (supermom)
7. Clear vision for our Dominican Republic mission

Thank you to all those who have prayed for the house to sell, it is pending and things can change, we just know that God can pull it all the way through if this is His will for us.

Woo hoo!

Letter sent with our support letter

Posted by Shawn on April 16, 2008

We have had many ask in recent months how are future plans are coming. With a future trip on the horizon we figured now would be a good time to bring everyone up to date. First of all we are still moving forth with plans to move to the Dominican Republic. We do need to sell our home in order to free us to be able to move. Once that happens we will be on our way. We are currently praying for further direction beyond that. Before we head to the DR we might go to a language school to dig into the Spanish language. Costa Rica has a school for missionaries that seems to fit our families needs. We are unsure if this is what we need to do. It would not be a cheap undertaking and would take four months to do one session. Although it seems like a good idea we want to be absolutely sure that this is what the Lord has for us.

As far as ministry in the DR there seems to be two things we keep coming back to. The first being a Discipleship Trade School. The second providing a place where other missionary families can come and get some much needed rest and refreshing. Both of these will take time and resources to bring to pass but we know that God is faithful and that if these things are from Him than we will have all we need in order to accomplish what may seem impossible.

For now we continue to move forward. Shawn and I are planning on going on a short term trip in June for two weeks(see attached letter for details). Each time we go, there is more confirmation of the future. It also give us the opportunity to connect with our friends there and to meet others that we might work with in the future. One thing we have learned from our trips is that the more people you know in the country the better. We are looking forward to what God has for us on this particular trip.

We thank you all so much for your prayers and support of our family. Below are some things that we would ask you to keep in your prayers.

We need to raise $3200 for the June trip-we hope to accomplish this by group fundraisers, our support letters, and the selling of tamales (I’ll be taking orders soon)

God’s protection for the team going in June (about 20 people)

Pray for Shawn’s parents and the kids during the two weeks we are gone

The selling of our house

Whether or not to go to a language school before moving to the DR

Clear direction for ministry

Unity of mind and purpose for our family

In this time of waiting we would not grow weary or anxious but trust in the Lord’s perfect timing.