The Power of Prayer

I just received the email below from Pam Millington about the upcoming trip to India:

Please take a moment right now to pause and pray. I just received a phone call from Richard Fields who is in contact with our Pastor Leaders (Sanjay and Marshel). Apparently strikes have been called in Gangtok for April 4 & 5 and "everything" is scheduled to be shut down. Richard and Sanjay are working on a Plan B. Remember we have consistently talked about the importance of flexibility. Our scheduled Clinics in Gangtok may or may not occur. We may end up staying in Siliguri--we will have back up hotel reservations for Hotel Conclave for when we arrive.

Prayer Points--

1. Pray that the strike will be called off.

2. Pray that the pastors & their families coming to meet together for training, fellowship and to be with us in Gangtok will arrive safely--at this point, they still plan to come.

3. Pray for the safety and flexibility of our team.

I know that God will use us in just the right way. Does anyone get the idea that the enemy must know the power of Jesus that was planning to gather corporately in Gangtok? I'll update you if I hear more. Otherwise, I'll see you Saturday morning.

Pam

One of Pam's final sentences draws attention to a very real challenge facing believers today: the Evil One and his efforts to thwart God's plan at all costs. Make no mistake - Satan is real, he has power and dominion in this world and he would love nothing more than to halt the spread of the Good News of Jesus, the Christ. Despite what you may have read or heard lately, Satan is headed for eternal destruction and he would love to take as many souls as possible with him. It is certainly within his power to use civil unrest and/or labor disagreement to generate a strike to disrupt the plans of our team...and he may succeed in forcing our team to reschedule and adapt on the fly.

The best part is, it doesn't really matter. Ultimately, God is sovereign and what God has purposed will come to pass. It may not be in the manner that the team originally planned, but as long as they remain obedient and totally dependent upon God, then He will get the glory. And when you boil it all down, isn't that what any of this "Christian life" is all about? Our lives glorifying God and pointing others to Him?

Now, before you start to think that you have no role to play in this, let me encourage you to stop and voice a prayer right now for the concerns that Pam has mentioned. Interceding for fellow followers of Christ is one of the great privileges and weapons that we have at our disposal. In fact, in Philippians, the apostle Paul mentions that is was a great source of joy to lift up the Philippian church in prayer.

Prayer is about power. It is an opportunity to call on God to be who and what He promises to be: Provider, Healer, Deliverer, or whatever else the situation may call for. The former director of the Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma - Dr. Bill Green - had a phrase about prayer that he loved to share: "No prayer is no power. Some prayer is some power. Much prayer is much power." In my own life, I have found this to be an axiom for daily living.

So, how about it? Exercise your prayer muscle and tap in to the power that we can access when we get on our knees before a holy, powerful, merciful and loving God. Ask God to perform God-size tasks, either in India or in your own life. He can handle it.

Michael

India Team

I want to thank everyone in advance for the prayer support you will offer during our trip. To offer some guided focus as you pray, please consider the following: * For the health and safety of the team * Travel mercies both in and out of the country * That God will bring the right people to the Clinics * That the local church and pastors will be encouraged * That threatened strikes in Gangtok will be called off Team Members include: Chris Ayers, Pam Fountain, Sandi Garrett, Debbie Huff, Julia Luke, Casey Lyman, Pam Millington, Deborah O'Hasson, Shane & Valerie Pennington, Phyllis Purcer, Jeff Reames, Rebecca Thomas, Perry Santos. We will be joined by John Boedeker. Pam

Off to India!

Later this week - on Saturday, April 2 to be exact - the team pictured on the left will be departing for India. The team will be there for almost two weeks holding medical clinics and visions clinics for the residents of several communities in northeast India. In addition to the medical and vision clinics there will also be opportunity for pastor training and women's ministry. The team will be lead by John Boedeker and Richard Fields. Missions Pastor Pam Millington and Church Elder Jeff Reames will also be on the team.

Please pray for the team and ask God to allow them to feel no ill effects of their long journey, to recover from any jet lag quickly and to be ready to serve the precious people of India when they arrive. India is a loooooong way away, even by plane.

Because India is so far away you may be tempted to ask: "Why are we going there? Don't we have sick people right here in OKC that we can help?" The fact is, yes, there are sick people here in Oklahoma City and we do indeed help them through the clinic housed within our Community Center at Penn and Hefner. But God has so richly blessed our church with extraordinarily gifted people and an abundance of resources that we would dishonor God by limiting their use and service to only the Oklahoma City area. To be certain, we are called to serve locally first, but as God continues to open doors for us to be involved in ministry around the world, we must be obedient and follow where He leads.

It is clear from even a cursory reading of the Bible that God has a special place in His heart for the poor, downtrodden and defenseless. The majority of the population in India fits this description. Imagine the poorest person you have ever encountered or the most squalid living conditions you have ever seen. Now increase that by a factor of ten, cram tens of millions of people into those conditions and viola': you're in India. If we have the opportunity, means and ability to minister to those that Jesus called "the least of these My brothers" whether we find them across the street or across the ocean, we must go.

Pray for the team, their families that will remain here in the States and the people that they will encounter in India. Ask God to glorify Himself in every situation, circumstance and conversation that occurs during the trip. The greatest desire for each member of the team is that when someone looks at them, that person will see Christ and experience His love for them.

Until all have heard.