Dear Friends,
Thanks for taking the time to read this update. As always, we so much appreciate your prayers and support.
It’s early morning on the Lord’s Day the first week of September. I awoke to the sound of distant thunder over the lake, and the whisper of light rain spritzing the branches of the Bougainvillea outside my upper story bedroom window. For me, this was a wonderful reminder of the goodness of God. Because He knows all too well how much I love the early morning thunderstorms!
As I awoke, the words came to me “Awaken the dawn.”
So I looked it up: In Psalm 57:8, King David wrote:
“Awake, my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.”
Today I did just that. Thanks to the glorious storm!
PRAISE REPORTS
This week my friend Tim (pictured with me, below) came over to say he was ready to give his life to Christ. The way he said it was “I am ready to receive the grace I see in you and Noah. Tell me what I need to do.”
I spent the next 40 minutes sharing the GOOD NEWS from about a dozen different angles (he is a well read, thorough person) and we prayed the sinner’s prayer together. He was “all in.” We followed it up watching “The Shack” then a couple days later he came over to watch the “Passion of the Christ.” He already has the You Bible downloaded on his phone and knowing him, he will devour the Bible from start to finish.
I am glad to be bringing him with me on the BIG JOURNEY ahead!
THANK YOU for all of your prayers for Stasia. Her knee operation went smooth, but the recovery process is challenging. Please continue to hold her up in prayer. You can send her a blessing HERE.
ALBANIA HERE WE COME!
Plans are coming together for our trip to Albania at the end of the year: December 28-January 11. Destiny, Noah and I will be working with a church in Elbasan to encourage the saints and proclaim the Gospel on the streets.
Evangelical Christians make up approximately 0.4% of Albania’s total population. Elbasan, like much of central Albania, has deep Islamic and Orthodox roots, and the legacy of communist-era religious suppression still casts a long shadow. Evangelical communities there are often small, tightly knit, and reliant on outside support for church planting, discipleship, and outreach. Pray with us that we can make a real difference while we are there!
If you would like to sow into the effort, we would greatly appreciate it! What’s more, by making a n investment in our work, you get to share in the reward.
“Not that I desire your gifts,” Paul wrote, “but that more may be credited to your account.” (Philippians 4:17)
Paul is referring to a divine accounting. The ledger of Heaven records not just the preacher’s steps, but the giver’s sacrifice. Every dollar sent, every prayer whispered, every envelope sealed in faith—accrues eternal interest.
So, while Destiny, Noah and I traverse the quiet corners of Elbasan, our voices may tremble in a borrowed tongue, but God’s grace will amplify our efforts. And as we reach out in Jesus’ name, behind us will be standing unseen partners. Givers. Senders. Saints who sow in faith. And angels all around!
I will leave you with a quote from my book “Meet Me at the Summit”:
“Here is my encouragement to you: Your life is an answer to prayer. It is the culmination of another One’s dream. Furthermore, chances are others have prayed for you before you were born and have stood in the gap for you as traveled through this miracle called life.
When you came into the planet kicking and crying, others were waiting for you with bated breath. The days, weeks, months and years you live out on earth are your chance to give back. Prayer, that self-deprecating exercise, that moment when you encounter the Miracle Maker, that time dedicated to stretching yourself out as an instrument to change the world, is a powerful way to “pay it forward.”
While there are many more things we can mention, we will leave you with these three prayer points. Until next time, may the Lord bless and keep you…
In His Mighty Grip,
