Mission Resource #2

I had hoped to do some writing here this week about all that has been going on (there's lots to tell!), but I've not been feeling quite 100%. So, I will continue with some of the mission resources I've collected, and hopefully I'll get back to writing my own posts very soon!
This resource is from prayer guidelines originally published by the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (originally China Inland Mission). If there has ever been a group that knew how to pray, it was them!

DAY 1: THE MISSIONARY'S OWN RELATIONSHIP TO GOD
• That they would put aside all malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy & slander so that like newborn babes they would long for the pure milk of the Word
• That they would pray without ceasing, praying at all times in the Spirit, ever on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints
• That they would be careful how they conduct themselves, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, continually filled with God's Spirit
• That they would grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
• That they would deny self daily, take up their cross and follow Jesus, submitting to Him, resisting the devil.

DAY 2: THE MISSIONARY'S PHYSICAL & EMOTIONAL LIFE
• Adaptation to the climate
• Health in the midst of disease
• Safety in danger
• Victory over loneliness
• Victory over depression

DAY 3: THE MISSIONARY'S FAMILY
• Husband/wife relationship
• Children
• Relationship with others
• Family life as a model to nationals

DAY 4: THE MISSIONARY'S ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE
• Language study
• Continual fluency improvement
• Cultural adaptation and understanding

DAY 5: THE MISSIONARY'S MINISTRY
• Teaching (Col 1:28, 29), preaching (1Cor 1:23,2:2), witnessing (Acts 1:8) making disciples (Mt 28:19-20 2Tim 2:2)
• Pray that God may open up to them a wide door for the Word of the Lord so that it would spread rapidly and be glorified
• Pray for prepared hearts that hear the Word, receive it, and bear fruit with perseverance
• Pray that when they speak, God will give them the words so that they can speak forth the mystery of the Gospel with boldness and without fear.

DAY 6: RELATIONSHIP WITH FELLOW WORKERS
• Other missionaries
• Other like-minded mission groups
• National evangelists, pastors and teachers

DAY 7: HIS COUNTRY OF SERVICE
• Government – national and local
• Political situation
• Visas, continued open doors
• Outreach to cities, villages and tribes

Missions Resource #1

I'm sorry for my absence last week -- we were without internet for four days. Seems the company said we hadn't paid our bill even though we had.....oh well! All fixed now!
As of this moment, our digital camera is officially broken. What does that mean? No pictures for the blog! Since my writing is not all that exciting without something interesting to look at, for the next few weeks I'm going to be posting some interesting missions resources I've been collecting. I hope they'll be an encouragement and challenge for the missionaries who read this blog and a great resource to remind all of us how to better pray for missions!

A Missionary Interpretation of I Corinthians 13

If I have the language ever so perfectly and speak like a native and have not His love, I am nothing.
If I have diplomas and degrees and know all the up-to-date methods and have not His touch of understanding, I am nothing.
If I am able to argue successfully against their religions and yet have not His wooing note, I am nothing.
If I have all faith and great ideals and magnificent plans and have not His love that sweats and bleeds and prays and pleads, I am nothing.
If I give my clothes and my money to them and have not His love for them, I am nothing.
If I surrender all prospects, leave home and friends, make the sacrifice of the missionary career, and turn sour and selfish because of the daily annoyances and slights of missionary life, and though I give my body to be consumed with heat and fevers and have not love that yields its rights, its leisure, its pet plans, I am nothing.
If I can heal all manner of sickness and disease but wound hearts and hurt feelings for want of His love that is kind, I am nothing.
If I can write articles or publish books that win applause but fail to transcribe the Word of the Cross in the language of His love I am nothing.
- copied

My Adopted Country

Happy Birthday, Ghana!
Fifty-two years ago yesterday, Ghana gained her independence. She was the first African nation to do so! That may not seem like a big deal to those of us from the good ol' U.S.A., but on a continent dominated by European powers, that was a big deal! Kwame Nkrumah led the struggle for Ghana's freedom to be ruled by her own people, not outsiders. His stand encouraged many more African countries to do the same.
For Ghana, it was a bloodless revolution, but it was a revolution, nonetheless.
Since independence, things have not always gone smoothly here in Ghana. Several coups occurred, several dictators came and went, several rules of law were written and then ignored. And then, seventeen years ago, one man decided to honor the ideals the Big Six (Ghana's founding fathers) had at independence -- to make Ghana a democratic nation.
Since that time things have not been easy, but Ghanaians have learned what it means to love a country more than a tribe, to choose a leader by what he will do for the country more than what he'll do for their pocket, and to use their vote and not violence to bring about change.
What a wonderful example Ghana has been to the rest of the African continent!
I'm so thankful this is the country where God has called me to live!
Happy 52nd Birthday!