The Vernon Journal - Prayer Requests

Keep Praying

2006-12-06T12:34:00.000+07:00

Do you ever feel like everything is on the very edge of total collapse? That is a little of where life is for us right now. This has been a very difficult year and as we enter the Christmas season we want to ask all of you to remember us in prayer. We have commitments, responsibilities and personal business to wade through this month, but we really need prayer just for Lori and I personally.

Please pray for guidance, for strength, for stability and for peace in our lives in this season.

Thank you for your prayers.

Tags:

Pray for Strength

2006-10-06T16:28:00.000+07:00

This is a very difficult time for us. Spiritual strongholds are being shaken, and we are all trying to dig in and fight through this time.
Please pray:

For Paul and Lori

Strength to keep pushing through the hardest year of our lives
Direction as we face difficult decisions
A quick sale of our home in America
Faith to lean on God in this stretching time

For Akha Outreach Foundation

Strength for the staff as they go through a difficult season
Protection over the kids as they go back to their villages during the fall school break
Continued direction from the Lord in all things

We are all spending a lot of time in prayer out here and would love you to join us. Thank you for your partnership in prayer.

Please Pray for our Home

2006-09-06T18:05:00.000+07:00

This has been a really good season for us. We have been experiencing some wonderful victories and personal freedom, but with all victory comes trial and one of our biggest trials right now is coming in the form of our house in the states.

What we are asking for prayer for right now is simply direction - What are we supposed to do with our home? Please join us in asking for clear and precise direction in this matter.

As always, we appreciate and covet your prayers - they really make a difference. Thank you for praying.

Pray for Thailand :: We're OK

2006-09-20T11:17:00.000+07:00

Please hold the nation of Thailand in your prayers :: Last night Thailand underwent a Military coup . Everything has been peaceful thus far, but no one knows how this will turn out. The action is really centered in Bangkok so we're just digging in and watching the news for the outcome of this event. All banks and schools are closed for now, but everyone up north is very calm. Kids are playing out in the rain enjoying their day off.

Nancy, who was here during the coup in 1991, said she didn't remember banks closing last time, but it was encouraging (ok, just kind of encouraging) to know that these things happen in Thailand - this is the 18th Military Coup in Thailand since 1932.

Thank you for your prayers.

Pray against deception...

2006-08-24T17:30:00.000+07:00

Our hearts have been heavy as we've watched many in our village become increasingly infatuated with a form of Buddhist fortune telling. Almost every evening, after everyone has returned from the fields, a large group crowds around a Chinese man who sells "good fortune". We don't really understand all the intricacies of how it supposedly works, but it has been simply explained to us like this: when a person gives his money (in exchange for a piece of paper with numbers written on it) he is then supposed to receive "good fortune" which will eventually yield a profit of 10 times what he originally gave.

We've learned that this growing fad is common only in the Akha villages around Mae Salong. While the area has so many obvious benefits for the Akha who live there (like secure jobs working in the Chinese tea fields), the one drawback we've noticed is that the Akha in Mae Salong are continually reminded of their poverty by daily interactions with their wealthy Chinese neighbors and employers. Many of the Akha in our village have been led to believe that this kind of wealth comes from "good fortune" ...which can be purchased today only for a special price of 100 baht!

I can see how they feel like the victims of a nasty trick of fate who just need a dose of "good fortune" to turn things around. From all appearances, they all work much harder than their wealthy employers, yet they can never seem to get ahead. They trudge to the fields every day, getting only 6 baht for every kilo of tealeaves that they pick, while that same tea is processed and sold for as much as 650 baht. Just being born an Akha puts them at a disadvantage. But paying 20, 50 or 100 baht out of their hard-earned money to buy false hope only serves to make their situation worse.

Please pray for the people of our village who are deceived by this scam; pray that their eyes would be opened. Pray that they would handle their money with wisdom, instead of wasting it on false hope. Also, please pray for Pastor A-Ta who is interning in our village this year; pray that he would address the issue wisely and that he would have the patience and grace needed to effectively reach those who have mistakenly put their faith in "good fortune."

Hope Chapel

2006-08-24T23:34:00.000+07:00

Join us in praying for our home church, Hope Chapel in Northglenn Colorado, as they go through some growing pains. Please pray for strength and unity in the body. Also, pray that God would raise up a team of passionate lay leaders to help lead the church through this time. Hope Chapel Northglenn has so many unique strengths to offer to the surrounding community and the Enemy would just love to see this group of believers drawn away from thier God-given purpose!

Migraines

2006-08-22T12:09:00.000+07:00

A problem that has been a bother to me for four or five years is becoming chronic. Migraines. It has gotten to the point where I have to have medicine near me all the time just in case. Fortunately, medicine in Thailand is cheap and we've been able to work out a nice little cocktail of pills that is effectively a few Excedrin Migraine tabs. When taken early enough this can curb most of the symptoms, but if I miss that window I'm in for a long day of horrible pain, nausea and even loss of vision.

These migraines seem to be visually triggered, most often by events surrounding a lack of sleep or food, or too much caffeine, driving, lights or rain. The other evening one of the worst migraines I have had, and I've been hospitalized for them, came on while driving back to the village and I had to stop the truck for a few minutes to clear my eyes. Shortly after arriving back in the village the fuzziness in my eyes became so bad I had to have people help me walk back to my home. The neat thing in all of this was that the elders from my village all came and prayed for me, their presence and prayers were a real comfort in an otherwise painful moment.

If this is supposed to be another lifetime thorn in the flesh or a message for me when to slow down, so be it, but I would like to ask for you to pray that I would be healed from the chronic distraction that these migraines have become. Thanks for your prayers.

Pray for Kampot, Cambodia :: FMI Prayer Force

2006-08-16T12:48:00.000+07:00

We have received an update from our Missions Director asking to pray for the people of Kampot, Cambodia.

A flash flood has struck the city covering much of it in as much as seven feet of water. Please join us as we have been asked to pray the following:

Pray for the restoration of lives and homes damaged by the floods, for the peace of God to flood the community, and that God would minister to all affected through the aid provided.

Thank you for your prayers.

Health in the Villages

2006-08-07T16:01:00.000+07:00

It's the rainy season again and we're seeing all the signs of the season - especially in our little Akha clinic. Mostly we are seeing the aches and pains of joints and 'old mountain injuries' which generally tell that it is going to rain. These are easily treated with an ear to hear the complaints and a little paracetamol to help lessen the pain when they sleep. Also on the daily symptoms list are the cuts, bruises and scabies (itching and sores) from the kids.
Last year our local epidemic was Chicken Pox, this year it might be ear infections. We are seeing quite a few babies with fevers and ear infections, we've even seen an adult Akha woman with a bad ear infection. Much of this is simply daily life in an Akha village, but please remember and continue to pray for health and life for the Akha of the hills of Mae Salong during this rainy season.

Visa - it's everywhere we aren't

2006-05-17T23:42:00.000+07:00

We found out this afternoon that a fraudulent charge on our Visa card was made from Florida - for $24,000! Fortunately (?) that is way above our credit limit and immediately cause flags to go up all over the place. Also, fortunately, we contacted our Visa company two days ago to make a phone purchase and let them know that we were in Chiang Mai. Those notes on our account froze the account and kept the fraudulent attempt from doing much damage.

Everything seems to be under control and I must say that the customer service was very pleasant to deal with, but please keep this in prayer. We have had some very interesting financial experiences this year with ATM issues, statement issues and now this reissued Visa card. It's frustrating to deal with this silly "side-business" and we appreciate your prayers that all of our financial business would not be a distraction from our ministry to the Akha.

Please continue to hold our finances in your prayers. Pray that there would be no further complications with this fraudulent charge and that this whole situation would resolve itself quickly.

Prayer Update: Mi Shui

2006-05-01T11:06:00.000+07:00

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. Mi Shui's family was very grateful for the support and had a "bi dza" (Akha literally "give food") in thanks. It was a wonderful time. Little Mi Shui is much happier now that she is back in the village with her sisters and dad - her mom is much happier too. The Akha are really out of their element in the city, they are nervous and feel the lack of community around them. Seeing them in the city helped us to understand some of our cultural struggles while in the village.

We do have another trip down to the hospital in May, please keep her in your prayers that all would be healing well and no surgery be required. Lori sewed a sling for her cast that looks just a little more Akha than the white bandages (white anything in a village does not stay white long) she had before.

Thanks again for all the prayers, we'll keep you updated!

Pray for Mi-Sui

2006-04-23T17:07:00.000+07:00

We've just returned home from the hospital where this three year old girl from our village named Mi-Sui was treated for a broken forearm. The day before yesterday, she fell while playing and broke both bones in her left arm.

Since we have the only car in our village, Mi-sui, her mom, Paul and I headed off to the nearest hospital which is about an hour away. Once we arrived, they did an X-ray and said that the break was too severe and they couldn't treat her there. They sent us another hour south to the Chiang Rai hospital.

The doctors and nurses at the Chiang Rai hospital set her arm around midnight while she was under anesthesia (thank goodness!) and put her in a full-arm cast. She was kept in the hospital for an additional night for observation and was released today.

She will need to be in the cast for about a month before returning to Chiang Rai to make sure that everything is healing properly. If the bones aren't healing properly in a month, she might need surgery, so please pray for quick and complete healing!

Prayer Force Update - Epidemic

2006-03-07T03:35:00.000+07:00

This update is from the Prayer Force page of the FMI website. Please continue to pray for the region and for the affected Foursquare staff:

An update has just been received regarding the Chikungunya epidemic...
This epidemic, spread when an infected mosquito bites a suspect, now claimed 93 lives. When previously reported only 30,000 inhabitants had been infected. This number has now increased to approximately 186,000 inhabitants, including two field staff. Please continue to pray that:
1. God would completely heal those infected by the disease,
2. That the troops deployed would successfully find and spray each and every breeding area in the nation,
3. The medicine currently in research stage would be developed quickly and provide some cure.
Thank you for praying,
Mike Larkin
V.P. Global Operations and Director of Missions

Pray for the Akha of Doi Mae Salong

2006-03-15T14:12:00.000+07:00

This prayer request is for the health of the Akha churches in Doi Mae Salong. Specifically pray for the villages in our area. They are experiencing growing pains, internal struggles and spiritual attack. Pray for protection and for wisdom in leadership.

We especially would like to request prayer for the church pastors. Pray that they would be unified and that they would seek to serve their people. Pray that they would be granted wisdom and compassion beyond their years.

Please pray for us as well, that we might have grace and insight into this situation and that our actions be appropriate to our roles.

Work Permits, Visas and other Necessary Things

2006-03-15T14:14:00.000+07:00

Hurry up and wait. We say that to one another all the time. Also: "How can we be so busy and get nothing done?" Well, we passed a major hurdle this morning (thanks to our wonderful friend, Bu-Zi), receiving preliminary approval on our Work Permits! We have only to bring in "a few more" forms and the major stage of the process will be complete.

Once our work permit is complete, we will need to apply for a new visa. Last year, we had to travel to Myanmar every three months to check in with the passport authority of Thailand. From what we understand, under the work permit and new visa all we will have to do is mail in a letter stating our location and what we are doing. We also will be able to renew or Work Permits and Visas in country, which will save us significant expense.

Please pray that this process would continue to go smoothly. We are still waiting to see when we will go up to the village. Once all the red tape is taken care of we will probably go to Chiang Mai to pick up A-Ju and all go back to the village together. Thanks for your prayers!

Pray for Thailand

2006-03-07T02:07:00.000+07:00

Please pray for the government, leadership and citizens of Thailand. For some time now there has been controversy over Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's buisiness and political decisions. Currently, there are protests and riots being held throughout Bangkok.

We are not concerned about our safety or our travel plans as we prepare to return to Thailand, and honestly don't know enough about the whole situation (or the cultures behind this situation) to make educated political statements; but we hope you will join us as we pray the following:

Pray that all of these business and political issues would be made clear and that Thailand would be led by men of integrity
Pray that (whatever the outcome of this upheaval) the government of Thailand would rightly judge, justly rule, and care for all of those who call Thailand their home.
Pray for the people of Thailand. Pray that the Lord would touch the eyes of Bangkok and all of Thailand that they might see the glory He has prepared for them.

Thank you for joining us in praying for Thailand. We know that our prayer requests are heard as share them with you, and made powerful as we bring them to our God.

Pray for Lori's Health

2006-02-28T13:16:00.000+07:00

Please pray for Lori. As we have been running around Denver the lack of sleep and the American food seem to have combined with a stomach bug. Pray that she will get the rest she needs and that God would give her health for the remainder of our time in the U.S.

Pray for Aaron

2006-02-25T05:47:00.000+07:00

Many of you have heard by now that Aaron (a friend of ours from Mines days) had surgery yesterday. His appendix had burst and after a major surgery he is recovering in the hospital. Because of the extent of the surgery and the fact that the appendix had burst some time ago he will be in the hospital for the next week or so. Please hold him and his family up in prayer in this time.

Also, because of these events, our get-together will no longer be held at their home. Please check your email or your evite for the new information, or email us for details.

Pray... for Provision

2006-02-14T15:14:00.000+07:00

It's an interesting thing... God provides all our needs and yet He asks us to pray that we might receive our daily bread. Therefore, it is with a strange comfort and conviction that we present this request to those of you who hold us up in prayer.

We have received an incredible gift. God has given us a chance to be a blessing to a small community of Akha people in Thailand and at the same time to be a blessing to a (very) small community here in the States while living in Thailand. We have received a request and are convinced that God will provide the means to see it come to pass but we are asking you to pray that financial provision would come to meet this request.

We do not know what form this will come in, but ask that you pray that we would know that God has provided for us and that it would be very clear how we should proceed. Thank you all for holding us in your prayers.

Prayer Force Update

2006-02-08T07:45:00.000+07:00

For those of you who have a prayerful heart for missions and the world, please visit the FMI prayer force page and subscribe to their email list.

Most recently from FMI, we have a prayer request for a city in Africa which is battling a horrible epidemic disease which has infected a large portion of their population. Prayer and medical assistance are desperately required. Read more details from the FMI prayer force page.

Please also pray for Lori and I during our stateside travel. Pray that our schedules would come together easily and that our stress levels would remain low. Pray especially for Lori as she is feeling especially drained at this time, and for personnal descisions that will need to be made on this trip.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and partnership.

Pray... Against Discouragement

2006-01-09T23:24:00.000+07:00

For several days, Paul & I have been feeling pretty discouraged. We were planning on going back up to the village last Saturday for one last push in the village before coming home to the US. But we haven't made it back up, feeling that we just couldn't handle the stress of being in the village. However, being down in the city hardly seems much better. We've had plumbing projects that have been waiting to get done for months now. We've tried to get them fixed but every time it seems that we get home with the wrong part! The other day I said to Paul, " I know why the sink in the bathroom still isn't fixed! It's because I can't bear the thought of making another attempt to buy the correct part and failing AGAIN!"

Maybe it's because we're so close to our visit to America that the culture shock is finally kicking in full force. We've talked about how it's similar to college days; just after you finished finals you'd get sick for your whole break. We feel a little like that... only the "sickness" didn't wait until "finals" were over.

Anyway, what really prompted this blog is that Paul's computer just died... really died. It feels like the straw that broke the camels back! We feel paralyzed to deal with another problem however insignificant it might sound in the grand scheme of things!

We could really use your prayers (whether you're the type who prays for the "health" of computers or not) for our state of mind, wisdom and strength for the coming weeks.

PS (Can you do a "PS" in a blog?) Even as I write this, the ill computer is showing unexplained signs of life! "Thank you Lord for bringing us to our knees and then giving us hope to carry on!"

Preparation

2006-01-08T16:16:00.000+07:00

We are a little weird right now. As we are preparing for our trip to America we are finding ourselves in cultural limbo. Pray that we will accomplish what we need to in the remainder of our time in Thailand and that we will be prepared for the cultural adjustment back to America.

A-Wa and the Deaf School

2005-12-31T12:57:00.000+07:00

In Thailand they have a big celebration over the New Year. The schools get a few days off and everyone exchanges gifts. We were told that A-Wa (also named A-Ju) was going to come to Chiang Rai and we were then going to take him up to Mae Salong to see his family during their short break. Well, long story short he didn't get sent up here. We have had a number of communication issues with the school and aren't suprised but are just heartbroken that he didn't get to go see his family.
This is one of the frustrations of not speaking Thai, however, it also helps us to understand much more what it is like to speak a secondary language in a country. We are really learning about prejudices and the struggles that the Akha go through just because theirs is not the primary language in Thailand. These cultural biases exist everywhere in the world, but we are just now getting a taste of what it is like to be on the minority side of them.
We are going to go to Chiang Mai with Dan and Maam and Joe their sister's family in a few days and will go visit A-Wa and the school while there. Please pray for communication, that issues would be worked out for the future, and that A-Wa would continue to adjust and grow in this new environment. Pray for protection over him as there can be many problems in "boarding schools". Pray for his heart that he would know how much his family cares for him.

Urgent Prayer: YWAM Perth

2005-12-18T10:06:00.000+07:00

We just received this email from our friend Adriel McIntosh requesting prayer for a horrible accident which occurred in Nigeria.

A team of Mother and Child Health workers (midwives) have been involved in a tragic road accident outside Port Harcourt, Nigeria where they have been on outreach delivering babies.

Ten girls (of 14 on the team) left in the morning of Sunday, 11 December from Port Harcourt to attend Sunday service with other local YWAMers. Eight YWAMers were killed, six were with YWAM Nigeria and two were from YWAM Perth. There were seven others injured from YWAM Perth with three still in critical condition.

Prayer is being requested for:

Prayer for the family members of the deceased.
Pray for the injured.
Pray for arrangements necessary to ensure the best possible care for the injured and those who are deceased.
Please pray for YWAM Nigeria and YWAM Perth.

More information may be found on YWAM Perth's site.

Thank you for your prayers

YWAM Accident Update

2005-12-26T20:03:00.000+07:00

Here is the latest update on the automobile crash in Nigeria. This information is from the YWAM Perth website. Please keep praying for the injured girls and for the families of those who died.
Following is the latest update (as at Thursday afternoon Perth time, 22 December) on the situation with the accident in Nigeria, and all of those involved.

Following is the latest update on the situation with the accident in Nigeria, and all of those involved.

We now have three girls in hospital in South Africa - Dagmar, Erin, and Sarah. Sarah being one of the girls that had been in Ghana recently joining those in South Africa.

Last night we were made aware by doctors in Johannesburg that the situation with Dagmar, the leader of the Birth Attendant School, has become more critical. The doctors are not sure whether she will regain consciousness, she could but they are not sure at this moment in time. We are asking for urgent prayer for Dagmar. The family are upset (as you can imagine) so please pray for them as they have just received this news.

Please pray for healing in Dagmar's body, particularly her brain, and that she will regain consciousness as soon as possible.

As far as we understand, Erin is recovering and is in good spirits. It will be a while before she is able to travel though.