Prayer Time
In light of the recent events involving the tragic loss of life to friends of many of our students, the worship center at FBC St. Bethlehem will be open from 3-5PM for any students or parents to come and pray and/or have a quiet place to reflect and spend time with God.
When you arrive please enter the church through the office doors.
Fast Facts About Missions Offering At Fuge
In our last post about camp, the new missions emphasis through Fuge camps was briefly introduced. After spending two weeks at Fuge in June, I want to pass along some fast facts about the missions and ministry the missions offering goes to support:
Canada Fast Facts
- About 25% (out of 40% total to fund NAMB missions projects) of the offering collected this summer will go to fund Current Canada, university church plant ministries, and youth related ministries.
- As of May 20,2011, there are 272 Canadian National Baptist Convention churches in Canada! Their goal is 1000 thriving, disciple-making churches by 2020.
- Canada has one of the most diverse cultures in the world. People are invited to come to Canada to live and be themselves. They liken themselves to a mixed salad. People groups receive a lot of government funding for setting up cultural centers for their particular culture in Canadian cities.
- There are 10 provinces, 3 territories, and 34,678,745 people-90% of whom live within 200 miles of the US border. There are two official languages-English and French. Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world in area.
- Of the 34,678,745 people in Canada, less than 8% are evangelical Christians.
- The fastest growing religion in Canada is “No Religion”.
- Quebec is twice the size of Texas with about 7.3 million people-about the population of San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. In those three Texas cities, there are 1,250 Southern Baptist Churches. There are 23 in the entire province of Quebec.
- The largest unreached people group in North America is the French-speaking Quebecois. Per capita, the five most unreached people groups in North America are in Quebec.
- Toronto is considered the most international city in the world. Churches of every kind and in dozens and dozens of languages are desperately needed.
- Montreal has approximate 146,000 university students.
- Since 1990, there has been a 248% growth in churches and mission projects! Praise Him!
- Continue to pray that God will send laborers to Canada. They need summer, semester, 2 year (US/C 2) missionaries, and those committed to sttty long term.
- http://www.currentcanada.com
Sub-Sahran Africa Fast Facts
- 60% of the missions offering collected goes to Sub-Sahara Africa.
- There is great, great need for men to go an equip African men to be Christian leaders in the church, community, and home. Currently, African women are bearing that burden.
- Population: 641,231,195 with 2,938 people groups. 58% are unreached.
- Many of the people groups are small, however:
- 736 are greater than 100,000 people; many are multi-millions
- The IMB is directly engaging 119. The IMB is indirectly reaching 162.
- 455 are unreached (less than 2% are saved). They cannot get the Gospel to their people without help.
- Of the 455 that are unreached, 44 are unengaged, unreached; The Gospel is not being preached there.
Student-aged related statistics for Johannesburg, South Africa
- 70,000 children are born HIV positive each year.
- The average age of children who become victims of a sexual offense is 10.
- The average age of people who commit sexual offenses against children below 12 is 14.
- The graduation pass rate for J-burg is 30%; 40% if you want to get into university.
- The class of 2010 achieved a pass rate of 67.81%. That is up 7.2% from last year.
- There were 18 schools in J-burg where no students passed their end of year exams.
- South African children aged 12 to 17 are more likely to be raped than people of any other age.
- Approximately 5,000 high school girls became pregnant in 2010; more than 110 primary school girls became pregnant the same year.
- Only 54% of the HIV -positive children who should be on antiretroviral treatment are receiving it.
- We have a huge task before us. Please pray not only for laborers for this field, but pray that we open our hearts to giving like we never have before. Though the task is large, our God is infinite. Please pray and give throughout the year so that we can give like Fuge has never seen before! This money goes directly to the field for missionaries and supplies. What seems impossible with man is possible with God.
See You At The Pole Stories
Today is See You At The Pole across the country. Our prayers are with all who are participating where ever you are. May God be glorified and honored this morning through a unified, concentrated voice of prayer. May this morning be the catalyst for a prayer revolution and lifestyle that lasts all year long and not just on one day.
We would love to hear your stories from See You At The Pole. No matter where you are located, we would love to hear a brief story of what happened at your school.
See You At The Pole – Sept. 22
See You At The Pole is a student-led, student-initiated global prayer movement centered around students prayer together at their flag-poles on the fourth Wednesday in September.
This year’s See You At The Pole takes place Wednesday, September 22 @ 7am.
The following description of the this year’s theme is found here
The 2010 See You at the Pole™ theme is Reveal based on the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9–13.
The Message Bible states the Lord’s Prayer like this:
With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what’s best—as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You’re in charge! You can do anything you want! You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.
For twenty years now, See You at the Pole™ has been about students leading out in prayer, asking God to reveal Who He is on campuses all over the United States and the world.
On Wednesday, September 22, at 7 a.m., GATHER at your school flagpole, PRAY for your school, friends, families, and world. ASK God to REVEAL Who He is to your campus. Pray for AWAKENING.
Begin praying now for our students who will be gathering for prayer.
Prayer for Nan
Be in prayer for Nan as we countdown until Monday when she returns home.
Our Hearts Desire
The entire month of March is being devoted to our Sunday School and the power of the invitation. Inviting is a personal action, one that requires a person to step forward and ask another person a request to gather for a specific reason. An invitation is a sign of acceptance and love as the inviter wants the invitee to be a part of the event.
Sunday School is the our main connecting point for people to meet each other, share their life, and meet Christ together. It is our hearts desire for our friends to come to Christ. In suppor of our Sunday School emphasis this month to PowerUP or Sunday School through the Power of Inviation, our students and adults were asked last Tuesday night at AMPED to identify their friends who needed prayer for their salvation. It was a powerful moment as one-by-one our students and adults came to the alter to put the first name of a friend who they wanted specific prayer for their salvation.
I ask you to join with us in praying for the salvation of our friends and for us as we look for those God Moments to share Christ with them.
The first names of our friends we desire to know to Christ.
Update on Connor’s Procedure
Connor had a pacemaker put in today and all went well. He will be flat on his back for the next 12 hours and will be discharged sometime mid-day tomorrow (Tuesday).
Thank you to all who have prayed.
Connor Update
Received an email from Connor’s family just now:
Good Afternoon from Charlottesville where it is predicted to snow 5 inches tonight! Today is Saturday and Connor is improving every day. After all the tests and all the physicians, interns, residents ect.. studying Connor concurred, he will be recieving his very own defibrillator on Monday. This is an insurance policy that he may never need. He has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This condition is similar to the one his mother had but the location is not textbook. You all know Connor well enough to know he never does anything halfway! His short term memory is still coming around. Hopefully with some time to get rid of all the heavy duty medications he has been on this week and a little work he will regain the memory. He does not remember the day of the event at all. His friends from JMU are here today regaling him with stories of his accident. I think this will be good for him and will help with the memory.
Barring any complications we will be home on Wednesday night with Connor in tow. He has Spring Break coming up so that will give us a few weeks to evaluate and make decisions regarding his return to JMU. We have had so many angels this week. Upon arriving in Harrisonburg, JMU had secured a hotel room at their cost, our son Jerry who works at the Battle House has managed to get the “friends and family” discount at the Marriott here in Charlottesville, 1 block from the hospital. The prayers are working! Please keep them up. We have a long road ahead of us and will need all the prayers to hold us up.
We look forward to being home soon. Thanks again for your supportive emails, text messages and phone calls. It’s meant the world to us. Love, John and Suzette Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!
More detailed Connor Update
Email from Nicole:
Hey this is from Suzette [Connor's step-mom I think] thought it would be more info for you than a text message. Love you
1. We are now in Charlottesville at UVA Medical Center. He will be receiving his very own defibrillator in the next couple of days. He has some serious cognitive issues vascillating between being a college student and being 15 at Fairhope High School. I think this will be a long road back but I think the ability is there. Our plan at this moment is to bring him home to Fairhope and figure it out from there. Keep praying for us. We are defnately in uncharted water!
Nan Update – The Future:)
What are we up to…
I know this update is coming a little sooner than you expected, schedules change frequently here so stay flexible with me. 
I’m unsure when the next update will come, it might be up to three weeks before you hear from me again so I’ll try to make this as detailed as possible about what our plans are so you can continue to pray specifically over the vision here and we will pray that when we can’t reach you that He will lay on your heart exactly what to pray over. I praise Him for already doing that, I have already receive a large amount of emails about people waking in the night with Penny and I on their heart and just started to pray, or on certain days just had a burden for us that they couldn’t shake and spent all day in prayer for us. It’s amazing how He works. Those nights you have been awakened by the Spirit or were burdened we were in desperate and when I say desperate I mean it, desperate need of His power, guidance and knowledge and the Spirit provided it for us through your Prayers. Thank you.
So this week Penny and I sat down and laid out the next 12 weeks and prayed to be led on what to do with the various people with are trying to reach. And this is where we were led: with our one believer we are going through the basics of the faith in a twice a week, 12 week study. Through this she will learn what sin is, what true repentance is forgiveness, prayer and how to live out a Godly life. Our prayer is that we will immediately begin to see much fruit in her life.. Her name is Freda, keep her in prayer.
Secondly there are two people that are very interested in the Word and have both confessed to know it is the truth but no decision or life change has really occurred, with these two we are going to go through the book of John, playing each chapter through a radio we have that contains the enter New Testament in their language, then having discussion about what they heard, what they think about it and how they can apply it to their lives. We are praying that their eyes will be totally opened to see the truth about the Word of Life and the Light that was sent to save them. Their names are Barnabas and Zoe. Pray for them.
Thirdly we are starting to reach out to the village adjacent to us once a week we are going there to tell stories also from the book of John, every week for the next 12 weeks. We were given a book of 12 certain stories from John with pictures and such that we will be using to help illustrate and explain the Word more clearly. There hasn’t been much work done in this village for the past 6 months, it’s a small place and we firmly believe if a spark would start, the whole place would get involved. Plead with Him for this. Also in April we are going to seek to play the Jesus Film here as well. As far as we know they haven’t seen it so pray, pray, pray for that event. We will also be doing a Kids club there on a different morning every week. Pray for Penny as she leads these in this village and in our own. She has a big heart for children and will be leading these clubs, telling the stories and leading the songs and such. Pray that she has wisdom in what to teach and how to most effectively reach these young hearts. Also that the children would be attentive, respectful and the Word would penetrate their hearts.
Fourthly when we first moved to our village, a group of men invited us to come and sit with them and play the Word for them with our radio. This has never happened before. B & K were very surprised and encouraged us to do so as quickly as possible because a door was just flung open for the Word to go out to many influential men of the village. So we have been preparing and praying, we will also be going through the stories of John with them once a week. Please pray that the door will stay open, that we would have wisdom in how to answer their questions. They are already devote followers of a faith. Pray that, that wouldn’t be a hindrance and that they would be open minded, that even now the bondage that they are in would be broken in the Name.
So that is pretty much the specifics of our everyday.. Preparations and going out to visit, meet, pray, share and reap fruit. We also will be trying to show the Jesus Film in our village twice before we leave, once in March and once in May. Please pray for the logistics of all that to be worked out and that the people would come and be receptive. The Film is such a complete source of the Word and it can reach so many more people than we can in the short time that we are here so we are desperately praying that it will work out and that people would be radically changed by the Truth.
On a side note- I’m sure many of you know already but if you don’t, I have malaria. On Saturday afternoon B&K came to the village to get me because I was feeling very sick and they thought I might have had bacterial infection or an ameba so I stay the night in town with them and was feeling a lot better on Sunday after much rest so I went back out to our village. I made it through Monday alright and was feeling fine then I woke up very early Tuesday morning feeling very sick again, needless to say I slept till 3 pm that day until B&K came back to Village to check on me, we took my temperature and decided to go the clinic- they treated me for malaria and I’ve been resting ever since.
It’s week 7 for Penny and I and it’s been tough for me, everything we had set out to do this week she has done alone, except meet with the men, which I was well enough to help with on Monday night. She’s stayed three nights by herself in the Village this week, made visits, gone to other villages, told stories and been the light – Alone. It’s not easy when both of us are there I can’t imagine what she’s going through, as I lay on my bed fighting in between being cold and burning up, being hungry and throwing up, being so weak I can’t stay awake yet being so awake and too weak to do anything – I am left powerless to do anything for the cause in which I left America to do and yet I feel like God is teaching me something about prayer. I have recently in my devotional times been reading a book called Red Moon Rising, and God has been teaching me a lot about incessant prayer and dependence on Him. Not only through this book but through everyday life here as well, this Christian life is truly an interesting thing. As a team, the four of us have been reading and studying 1&2 Corinthians, we didn’t mean to study them together we were just all talking one Sabbath and realized we had all been studying the same thing. He is good like that. And the more I have studied and read over and over again the same truth comes to life. We can do nothing without Him, the wisdom we think we have is not wisdom at all, we were nothing when He called us so that through us He could do all things and He alone would get ALL the glory from it. Through our weakness we are strong, and even though we can’t fight like the world does, we don’t need too because we have access to more power through our weakness than the world can imagine having in all its power. He is our strength, wisdom and life through Him truly all things are possible and not of ourselves for even our faith is not of ourselves so that no one can boast except through the cross of Christ.
Encouraging and challenging quotes …
“He did everything to give ALL people the opportunity to know Him, why wouldn’t we do anything and everything to tell them about it, lest His great sacrifice be in vain?”- *Inspired by Love Song- Third Day
What I have been learning…
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distress, for Christ sake. For when I am weak then I am Strong. – 2Cor.. 12:10
“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you the less I am loved.” 2Cor 12:15
The Lord has been continually showing me how this life is to be lived opposite what we would naturally think, what the world perceives as strength is really weakness, wisdom really foolishness and trial is really joy: when you are committed to and following the truth. And with that may we all with one heart agree to spend and be spent for the souls of the lost no matter what their reaction may be, may we love them like He does.
Excerpt from my prayer journal –
“ If you were to tell me, that out of everything in this world there was one thing worth living for- would I not pursue it all my days and be totally consumed by it. Who wants to waste their life? You only get one, day by day, time passes. What has my attention, my devotion, my passion, my energy, my thoughts, my affections, my purpose , my time, my heart? Lord, you have given me my worth, I will not throw it to things that are unworthy of it, yet I will spend it on you. For Your worth, none can measure yet do we even need to, for the smallest amount of who you are is worthy of all my life and all that, that entails. You are God.
Lift it up, Lift it up, Lift it up
-Protection over our house, health, and hearts.
-Open doors not only in our village but the village beside us that we will also be doing work in.
- Zoe, Barnabas, Boaz, Anna, Meg, Moe, Alec, and Rachel- potential Believers
- Freda, the only Believer in our Village.
-The Children of our village
- That we would have wisdom each day on where to go who to talk to and that the King would go before us preparing the way.
-Pray against the attacks of the enemy on every side “for a great and effective door has opened to me and there are many adversaries.”-1Cor 16:9
-This is also a verse that’s been laid on my heart for our Village pray that it would be true
John 10:42
Connor Update
Text from Nicole:
11:27 am
News from Suzette. He’s [Connor] having an MRI of the heart. Will find out results this afternoon. Not sure about pace-maker. Be home middle of next week.
Urgent Update on Connor
Text from Nicole at 9:54pm:
It’s taken a turn for the worst! He’s having heart surgery tomorrow. They’re putting in a pace-maker. He has what his mother had. They all may be going home Sunday.
Connor Update
Got a text from Nic with an update on Connor:
1:45pm
Connor just moved to UVA a better technical hospital. Will run test tonight or tomorrow to find out more. His memory is better thanks again for your prayers.
Update on Connor
I have received a few text messages from Nicole (Ms. Jamie’s sister) today about Connor:
11:50am
They just took his tubes out and his dad just came back and said he is moving his arms and legs and looking around. Should be able to see him soon. [Note: this was 3rd hand information]
12:00pm
Still aren’t sure how good He’s [Connor] is doing but that was the text [above] we got from a friend. It’s all coming from others so it might take time to hear all. Thanks again!
1:42pm
He’s off vent [ventilator]. Knows John and Suzette but when asked about school [he] says Fairhope high. So short term memory might be gone. Please continue to pray!
====
This is all I know at this time.
Still no further word on Nan – will pass that along as well.
Major Prayer Requests
We have received word that Jamie’s sister, Nan (the youngest of the sisters), who is in Niger Africa as a journeyman missionary through the IMB, has malaria. She is in Africa being treated.
Also, Jamie’s sister Nicole (the 2nd youngest), who helped us at our D-Now, her fiancé Jerry, who also was a D-Now leader, his younger brother, Conner, collapsed yesterday and is in a coma state right now.
Below are 2 email that I have received from Vicki, Jamie’s mother.
Please pass these prayer concerns to others you know and to the students that you have emails for.
I will be posting updates as I get them.
Thanks,
Bro. Mark
Concerning Conner:
My Dear Prayer Warriors..
Just received a call from Nicole…Conner is worse than we originally thought…when he collapsed on an exercise machine of some sort at the gym…his heart stopped. An aide there at the gym did CPR on him until the EMT’s arrived and they had to shock his heart 3 times before getting him to start back. He is on life support…they believe he has lost some brain activity…they are keeping his body temp at 90* to keep from losing anymore. He does appear to react to voices when they talk…that is on the machines there is a rise in activity. The family is meeting with a cardiologist sometime this morning and will hopefully know more at that time. Also, remember this young man is 17-18 years old; he graduated early from high school. Also, they just found out the his older brother is coming home from the war on Thursday. The Army has already given him leave so that in itself is NOT a good sign.
Please, please pray that someone will be up there to minister to this family and share Christ with them. Pray for wisdom for the doctors and also for peace for Jerry and Nicole as well.
Thank you so very much.
Vicki
Concerning Nan:
Some of you may not have been aware that we had received news from Nan on Sunday that she had a severe attack of pain on Saturday which they thought could have been appendicitis or something else and we had been awaiting further news which was what prompted the call I speak of in the following.
Again God is SO amazing…I had wanted to call Nan all day yesterday but just didn’t…then this morning was going to call early but just kept putting it off…WHEN I did call and the call went amazingly right through and with perfect reception… Nan laughs…and says…”I just now got back from the doctor!” HIS timing….
Anyway…she has malaria !! So is staying in Kollo with the other girls until this weekend when they are due to go to Niamey…and then we will know more of what all transpired. But until then please do continue praying for her health. And pray that the medicine will help her quickly and she will get over it and be able to continue in her work.
Bill and I both had malaria, at the same time, and it is normally not a good thing. The complications can be quite serious, so it is not a minor thing. BUT I must say…her having it over another kidney stone or possible appendicitis over there is better in my opinion. I could go on and on about what I think they may do but we will wait and see in a few days from her. Just keep them as always in prayer…her body will be extremely weak for a while…this I know…and pray that she will experience no complications from it as well.
I praise God for each and every one of you and your faithfulness to hold her up at this time. Your emails, calls, and words of encouragement to me have meant so very much to my heart. Thank you SO MUCH.
Vicki
Update on Lyla
She had a good night from what I understand. We are hopeful that she will be discharged this afternoon. She was tested for Whopping Cough though and have not heard back from the Dr. yet.
Update on Lyla
03-Dec-08
Lyla’s fever is coming down with Tylenol. She is on IV antibiotics as well until the Spinal Tap culture comes back to make sure there’s not a bacterial infection of any kind.
She is having trouble breathing a little bit so she is going to have X-Ray’s taken of her lungs just make sure it’s nasal stuff and nothing else.
The doctor’s are in good spirits and dont; think it is anything serious. They just want to rule all things out and not have something sneak up on her.
Thank you for your prayers.
04-Dec-08
So far things are ok. The nurse came by a little while ago and heard something in Lyla’s lungs and went to get the Dr. I have not heard back yet but will keep everyone posted. Hopefully all is well and Jamie and Lyla will come home tomorrow.
