Jonathan - Fall Update

First of all, I continue to marvel at how when people are praying for you, there's a real sense in which you can "feel" them. It sounds kind of corny, but it really does work. So thank you, thank you, thank you.  Your partnership is priceless.

Sending these updates always makes me think of the apostle Paul, who must have felt and known the prayers of the church for him, and who always mentions his thankfulness in response. Pray for me to be like Paul in communication.

October and November were busy months, with a trip to Uganda, as well as to England and Wales. Two things, in particular, stand out as I look back on the past two months. 

First, I really do believe that through partnerships with national churches, as well as through relationships with local ones, we can best serve the church to see and discover more of Jesus. We continue to see a small cohort of Ugandans taking initiative, using the Person of Jesus in their churches, which bodes well for future training. Meeting with the General Secretary of the Baptist Union for Uganda, I was encouraged by his desire to see the church there mature and grow, and how the inductive method of teaching is picking up steam among many Ugandan church leaders.  Pray for that to continue.

Second, the British church is primed and ready to use our material. The interactive nature of the Person of Jesus study is attractive to the church in a post-Christian context, because it engages the group and encourages dialogue. It welcomes questions and conjecture - all in a way that promotes self-discovery and ultimately, we pray, worshipping Jesus. Pray that seeJesus would have additional opportunities to resource the church, throughout the world, to that end.

Having just passed Thanksgiving, I wanted all of you to know how thankful I am for your prayers for Jaime and our kids while I was on the road. She and they didn't just survive; they thrived.  What a blessing.   On that note, please pray for Ethan, that he would develop more self-control and not be afraid to admit his sin. Please pray for Elli, that her joy would increasingly be in Jesus, and not the things of this world.

Also - continue to pray for courage and discipline in finishing my fundraising. I have approximately one third to go.

seeJesus team in England

November 22, 2011

Our team had a great time in England. I've been to Britain several times but it has always been with Americans. This time we were immersed in British culture. We loved their sense of humor. If I added these six words to my vocabulary, I might pass as British: brilliant, lovely, fantastic, proper, cheerio, and really. As in, "that was a brilliant seminar, really lovely, just fantastic".

In our debriefing, I asked our team for their highlights. Bob Allums (Director of A Praying Life Ministries) said it for all of us, "British Christians responded so warmly to our material and seminars because they are living in a post-Christian world, a world that no longer has a memory about Jesus. Our material fits better in England than America because they engaged with that gap." It is the world that America is becoming.

The British immediately picked up on the style of our material as well. Jonathan Winfree, our African Director, who did The Person of Jesus track with me, was struck by how many in our track were ready to move ahead into more advanced training. They needed very little training in the interactive style of teaching.

Another surprise was Julie Courtney's Ruth track where she takes participants through lessons in Ruth. World Harvest Missionaries were struck by how well it fits Asian culture. That wasn't our intention in writing it, but we worked hard at capturing the original context of Ruth...which is Asian. So naturally it would fit an Asian culture.

The personal highlight for me was doing a two-hour talk to British pastors and church leaders on "The Missing Image of Jesus." I was so busy prior to leaving for England, that the only time I had to prepare was when I woke up about 2am (7am London time) on our flight to London. I had about an hour and a half to sketch out my twenty-year ache on why the church is missing Jesus. I began by looking at why the church has lost its ability to look at Jesus, then eleven things the church is missing because it doesn't look at Jesus, and then eleven things it gains by looking at Jesus. I closed by suggesting three things we need to do: study him, image him, and enter him. I believe, by God's grace, that the Spirit made a strong case for seeing Jesus. It was part-lament, part-seminary lecture, and part a personal love story. Here is the link to the Solent Gospel Partnership website that has the talks in mp3 format:  http://www.solentgospelpartnership.org.uk/media.php. Scroll down past the PowerPoint links to the talks.

We also made some new friends. That is always a joy. The best complements made about our team came from the host of one of the two "Jesus Weekends", "I was also really challenged by the personal humility that all four of you exhibited as a team. None of you put on any airs and you all got really stuck in with chatting with people and had a genuine interest in them." In other words, they noticed Jesus.

Thank you for praying for us! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Paul E. Miller

Jonathan - Uganda - October 21

Please pray today - specifically for our follow up training for those leaders from partner churches who came back in May.  We are having a one day seminar today for two purposes: to get the Ugandans who came re-acquainted with the Person of Jesus study itself, and to encourage and challenge them once again to own it, take it into their churches, and begin using it with others. I've been told by a few Ugandans since arriving that they remember the course and were impacted by it.  One lady mentioned how excited she was and how she has been sharing it since May. That's encouraging.
On another note - I met with the General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Uganda on Wednesday - the meeting could not have gone better. He was excited about the vision of seeJesus, he agreed about the need of the church to learn "becoming the gospel" in addition to believing it. Discipling and resourcing are two passions of his. Starting here in Mbale, and seeing how churches engage and respond, will be the testing ground to see how to potentially take it to other areas of BUU churches in the country. Pray for a relationship with him to grow from here.

APL: What People Are Saying (WPAS) / Bob / Sept 10-11

A 17-year-old comes to the APL seminar anyway / Bob / Sept 23-24

Bob and the pastor at Sovereign Grace Pasadena prayed that those folks who had decided not to come to the APL seminar would come anyway... and here's what happened:

____
Bob,

I attended the prayer seminar this past weekend at Sovereign Grace Church and just wanted to say thanks so much. I learned a lot and have been doing my best to apply it to my life. I also wanted to share with you my own very recent experience which will hopefully be encouraging.

I just recently turned 17 and along with that I tried out and joined the high school worship team at my church (Lake Avenue). A week ago I found out the songs I needed to learn for my first time playing on the worship team. (Something that is important to mention is that I am terrified of things like public speaking and performing, I usually get light-headed and have to sit down during in order not to faint.)

This had been on my mind all week, building up until I had almost convinced myself that I was going to mess up or faint during my first time in front of my high school youth group (about 100-150 kids).
 
Earlier in the week, some of my friends had invited me to go to your prayer seminar, and up until Thursday I had decided I wasn't going to go. At the last minute I decided to go, and I'm glad I did because the timing couldn't have been better.

That Saturday evening after the seminar my worries and fears had gotten pretty bad, but I was praying even more than I already had been and in a different way, and I later learned that other family members and friends had also been praying for me. I woke up Sunday morning (yesterday) extremely nervous, but I continued to pray in a state of helplessness.

Anyways, I mainly wanted to tell you that as I walked up on stage with my guitar for the first time ever as a worship leader, I felt at peace, with no worries or fears, but rather with joy and heart abandoned at the fact that God had answered my prayers for his strength and support. The seminar helped me so much, and I felt I needed to share this with you and say thanks.

Ben XXXX
____

Cool, huh??

APL Helps put a Family Back Together - Confidential / Bob / Sept 2011

How a pastor led his church to respond to the APL Seminar in his church.

From:  Bob Allums     Sept. 10-11, 2011:  I flew out to San Francisco, Ca. to take the APL Seminar to a flagship Southern Baptist church called Petaluma Valley BC.  The pastor, Tom Markum followed up with this sermon inpsired by what we talked about in the seminar.

Loving Our Neighbors to Christ

John 3:16

            One of the ways that I know I have had an experience that has truly impacted my life is in noticing how long after the original experience I continue to reflect on it and even alter my behavior because of it.  And by that measure, I’m beginning to realize that our most recent Prayer Conference impacted me greatly.  Throughout the two weeks since our Prayer Conference, quotes from either the conference itself or the book on which it was based, A Praying Life, have continued to pop up in my mind and impact the way I’m actually living my life.  Quotes like this:

            “When you stop trying to control your life and instead allow your anxieties and problems to bring you to God in prayer, you shift from worry to watching.  As you wait, you begin to see Him work, and your life begins to sparkle with wonder.”  (A Praying Life by Paul Miller)

Folks, those two sentences describe a dynamic shift that can literally change your life. And here’s the shift—instead of trying to manage your way through the anxiety producing issues in your life, pray your way through them.  When you make the shift from worry and management to prayer, you begin to see God working in the midst of your difficult circumstances to produce outcomes that you could not possibly have worked through your own effort. And it’s at that point that your life begins to sparkle with wonder.  It’s an awesome picture of a praying life.

Folks, if you’ve not yet read this book…read it.

            We were talking about all of this in our staff meeting a few days ago and I loved what Pastor Steve said about our Prayer Conference.  He said that what Bob Allums did for us was to put prayer “on the bottom shelf.”  In other words, he made the possibility of actually having a praying life accessible to everyone.  He took away all of the obstacles that so often make us think of a praying life as something that other Christians can have but it’s just not for us. 

            I had a similar kind of reaction to our prayer conference in that I came away thinking that Bob had talked about a praying life in such a winsome, attractive, non-guilt inducing kind of a way that he not only made me want to experience it but I couldn’t find any way to object to what he was saying.  I couldn’t find any reason to even try to opt out of this invitation to a praying life.  I listened to the way he was talking about a praying life and immediately recognized that what he was saying was clearly true. It just kind of left me wondering, why I hadn’t made all of these connections previously.

LOVING OUR NEIGHBORS TO CHRIST

            As I reflected on all of that, I realized that I had had a very similar experience almost exactly 2 years ago.  I was participating in another conference when I was suddenly gripped…in a way that doesn’t happen to me very often…with a powerful sense that God had just opened my eyes to clearly see a brand new vision for the Petaluma Valley Family.  It was a vision of living in the neighborhoods in which God has planted us with the specific intention of loving our neighbors to Christ.  Choosing to live among the people to whom we are closest…our neighbors…in such a way that they begin to get glimpses of the love of Jesus through our relationships with them. 

And the action plan for carrying out this vision of loving our neighbors to Christ is called the Prayer, Care, Share plan.  And it really couldn’t be simpler.

            PRAYER—It means, first, that we are going to get in the habit and practice of praying for our neighbors regularly.

--How many neighbors you pray for is completely up to you to decide.  It may 2 for you; 5 for you; 10 for you and 20 for you.  The point is not so much the number.  The point is to pray for our neighbors. 

--How you pray for your neighbors is also completely up to you.  You may decide to pray for your neighbors in your home when you first come home from work.  Someone else may decide to pray for their neighbors during their lunch break at work.  Others may decide, as I enjoy doing, to silently pray for your neighbors as you walk through your neighborhood.  Again, the point is not so much how you pray for your neighbors.  The point is that we pray for our neighbors.

            --And what you pray for your neighbors is also completely up to you.  You may pray that God will bless your neighbors.  You may pray that God will protect the marriages of your neighbors.  You may pray that God will turn the hearts of your neighbors to Him.  Once again, the point is not so much what we pray for our neighbors.  The point is that we pray for our neighbors.

And as I was reflecting on this beautiful vision in light of our just concluded prayer conference, it struck me, that this is actually a great place to apply one of the very practical lessons that we learned in our just concluded Praying Life conference. 

(1) Take a 3x5 index card, as I have done, here, and at the top of the card write, “MY NEIGHBORS.”  Then, start asking.

(2) Ask God to bring to mind the names of the neighbors for which He would like you to pray.  And as He prompts those names in your mind add their names to your prayer card.

(3) And then ask God very specifically but very simply, how He would have you to pray for them.  Then, write down each prayer prompt as God brings it to your mind.

(4) Then, ask God to draw you to a specific verse of scripture that expresses the desire that you have for your neighbors.  On my neighbor prayer card I’ve written, “For God so loved the word, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16  I want my neighbors to know the love of God as demonstrated by Jesus’ sacrifice so that they can have eternal life.  I want that for my neighbors.  And this verse reminds me that God wants that for my neighbors, too.

(5) Then once you have your card prepared, use the prayer card to guide and prompt you as you pray for your neighbors.  It’s that simple.

That’s one way, based on our Praying Life Conference, to do the PRAYER component of our PRAYER, CARE, SHARE action plan.

That brings us to the CARE component of our action plan.  Rooted in Jesus’ command, in Mark 12:31, to “…love your neighbor as yourself,” we are going to look for simple, tangible ways to demonstrate Jesus’ love for our neighbors by taking a genuine and loving interest in our neighbors. And we’re going look for ways to express that love in some simple but tangible ways. 

--Inviting a neighbor over for a cup of coffee.  Simple.  Tangible.  Genuine.

--Baking an extra dozen cookies, the next time you bake cookies, and taking the extra dozen to a neighbor. Simple.  Tangible. Genuine.

--Taking the time to talk to the neighbor we see outside rather than immediately rushing into the house the moment we pull into the driveway.  Simple.  Tangible.  Genuine.

We’re not encouraging you to do anything odd or weird.  We don’t want you to do anything that would in any way make you or your neighbor feel uncomfortable.  The last thing in the world we want is for you to become known as “The Creepy Jesus Dude” in the neighborhood.  If that happens, you did something really, really wrong.  We’re simply encouraging each another to look for simple, natural opportunities to be good neighbors through some simple acts of kindness that expresses Jesus’ love for our neighbors.

And as we are faithful to PRAY for our neighbors and CARE for our neighbors we are absolutely confident that God will begin to give us opportunities to SHARE some expression of the gospel with our neighbors.  And, again, we’re not looking to make anyone uncomfortable…either you or your neighbor…by forcing a God-centered, Gospel-themed conversation into a situation where it doesn’t fit. 

“Boy, the Niners sure don’t look very good this year.”  “Yeah, but Jesus looks great!”  Folks, that’s just weird.  And we don’t want anyone to be weird.  

We have a really simple goal in mind for the sharing component of our action plan.  Our goal is to be prayerfully alert to those divine appointments that we can’t create but God creates all the time.  Divine appointments when God draws us right into the middle of a place in which He is already working and because we’ve been praying about it and watching for it, we recognize it for the divine appointment that it is and we speak quite comfortably and appropriately that word of Good News as God directs us. 

And, again, this is another wonderful place to put the lesson of those prayer cards to work by taking another 3x5 index card, as I have done, here, and at the top of the card write, “ME.”  Then, start asking.

And one of the things I would encourage you to ask for is this: “God, give me opportunities to speak of You to my neighbors.”  Real simple.

And the scripture verse I wrote on my card is Colossians 4:3, “And pray… that God may open a door for our message…”

Loving our neighbors to Christ…by praying for them, caring for them through simple acts of kindness that demonstrate Jesus’ love and sharing with them some expression of the Good News that God’s love reaches even to them.  The Good News that God’s desire is to draw them into His unfolding story.

I want to close by asking you a very simple question.  And I want you to answer honestly. Silently but honestly.  And I want you to do one more thing.  I want you to be  really alert to your immediate response to this question.  OK?

God has given us a vision of loving our neighbors to Christ.  Question:  Do you suppose He wants you to be a part of that vision?

APL Manila report / Danny Arciaga (trained by Bob) / 8.2011

PRAYER LIFE SEMINAR IN MANILA

By Rev. Danny E. Arciaga

How will I present A Praying Life to Filipino Seminary students, pastors and church members in Manila?

The Manila trip was bathed in the prayers of many people who desire to share Paul Miller's A Praying Life: Learning to Pray in a Distracting World. In preparation, I read the book, the participant's manual and the discussion guide. I spent time consulting with Bob Allums on various occasions, and attended his A Praying Life Seminar a couple of times in Illinois. I prepared to teach lessons 1, 2, 6, and 8, at Bob's suggestion. The presentation at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary & Advanced Studies was for two hours on August 11 and 18, 2011. In the evening of the same days I presented at the Sabang Christian Church (Disciples) in Sabang, Cavite (a suburb of Manila).

I also taught for four Sundays following the worship service at the Church of Christ (Disciples) in Sampaloc, Manila, my home church. The A Praying Life Seminar was part of the four Sundays' celebration at their 92nd church anniversary. In the evening of three Sundays, I presented this study at the Muntinlupa UCCP (United Church of Christ in the Philippines), a church plant of my home church in Sampaloc, Manila.

I met several church pastors and leaders in Manila and in Jakarta, Indonesia, wherein I did a one-on-one presentation of the book, and distributed copies of A Praying Life as gifts.

A conservative estimate of 500 people attended and participated in all those scheduled presentations.

Here are a few comments issued during and after the presentations:

“Pastor Danny, this material is a fresh way to help us, the students and I, to re-ignite our passion for prayer. I appreciate your presentation and being a Filipino, you have communicated to us the concepts from the book, the Filipino ways.” – A seminary professor and school chaplain

“Pastor, thank you for sharing this (A Praying Life). I thought I knew all I needed to know and learn about prayer. The prayer card is new to me. I want to see how the Lord works in my life and the people I am praying for.” – A church elder

“Pastor, I like the lesson on 'praying like a child' to God, the Father. It seemed hard for me to be like one because as you may know of my family situation...” – A young person

“Pastor, the five (5) minute exercise was a moment of silencing my mind although my heart was anxiously burdened with issues of my life and family, but it's good to have even minutes to calm me down....” – A church deacon

Personal Observations:

1. The topic of prayer is a big deal in Manila. In a sense it is a central area of Christian life and faith – in areas pertaining to worship, practice in both public and personal prayer life, and the role of prayer in “nation building.”
2. The challenge is how each participant can use the book in the Tagalog language. It is my observation that reading the book prior to attending the seminar is most effective to communicate the contents and message of the book.
3. The interactive format, as we use in group discussion, is not necessarily the only way to solicit or engage the audience to speak or share their opinions or speak on the topic. It is also true in the classroom setting, like in the seminary or in church. Prayer is a very personal and a religious event in both individual and corporate church life in the Philippines.
4. The silence of the audience oftentimes created a vacuum, like moments when I needed to interject a question or thought to illicit a response or reaction; it was tough to make the adjustment to the Filipino psyche.
5. I think I should have given a clear presentation of God's character, as “Father,” in their perspectives of who God is as Holy, Righteous and Loving. This is in response to some practices of how to pray such as, “demanding,” “telling God what to do,” “claiming it,” “pray like the Korean prays,” or “Pray like a spirit filled born-again Christian.”
6. I will continue to develop a presentation that would fit into a 1.5 hour per session, or a one time presentation of 3 hours.

Looking Ahead:

1. A proposed presentation of the A Praying Life Seminar to pastors as a continuing education course at Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
2. A proposed course, or topic, for “Spiritual Formation” in a retreat format.
3. The Seminary will promote the seminar, A Praying Life, to the faith community for future presentations.
4. As of this writing, I have received two invitations for presentations.
5. Two churches who have participated in the past seminar will continue to “put the Word to work” by encouraging each other to continue to use the prayer card system. At one particular church the pastor said they will review or ruminate on the goodness of God at the end of this year.
6. My home church and their church plant will continue to emphasize and revitalize their Wednesday Prayer Meeting using what they learned from the seminar.
7. Future opportunity in Jakarta, Indonesia is being arranged to present the book and to have an A Praying Life seminar.

Interview with APL Seminar Host Pastor / 9.2011 / Bob

Hi, Bob,

It was terrific having you with us. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful reports from those who participated. I sensed that all of the matters about which we had prayed on Friday night were wonderfully answered. I actually had a terrific opportunity to introduce the prayer cards to one of my neighbors yesterday! She was greatly blessed by the idea of praying for a difficult person in her life, trusting the changes to God and then just focusing her attention on loving them!

I’ll gladly answer your questions and look forward to talking further with you in the days to come.

Pressing in and pressing on,

Tom
___________
1. How did you get interested in focusing the membership on prayer? (I really appreciated your story about going to visit other "praying churches"...could you give me a few sentences on that?)

About 5 years ago, I sensed God inviting me to follow Him on a journey to take me deeper in my prayer life. My grand prayer adventure began with a search to discover and visit churches with a demonstrable passion for prayer. I also began to read a wide array of prayer focused books, both classics and contemporary. As oftentimes happens, my personal prayer journey soon became a prayer journey for our church. God is growing us into a house of prayer! We’ve still got a lot of growing to do but prayer is now a vital dimension our church life.

2. How did "A Praying Life" (the book, the seminar, etc.) factor into your spiritual journey?

My 5 year journey into a deeper prayer life has led me to be constantly on the lookout for prayer focused books, seminars and conferences. God has taught me a great deal through the prayer journeys of others and every year one of those books, seminars or conferences stands out as the one having the most impact on my prayer life over the course of that particular year. In 2010, the most life impacting prayer story was the one I found in, “A Praying Life.” While still reading the book, I sensed God prompting me to contact the author to see if he would be willing to lead our 4th annual prayer conference at our church in 2011.

3. How did you prepare your flock for the seminar? (I love that you guys had a prayer meeting about the seminar! Could you bring that in to your answer?)

To prepare our church for the Prayer Life conference, I began talking months ahead of the event about the way “A Praying Life” had impacted me. After talking about the merits of the book, I ordered several boxes of “A Praying Life” three months prior to our conference and began to encourage our congregation to read the book prior to the conference. Finally, and most importantly, we prayed for our conference. One of the lessons we have learned on our journey toward becoming a house of prayer is that God blesses those events/ministries for which we have fervently prayed. The Friday before our prayer conference, we met to lay a foundation of prayer beneath every aspect of our prayer conference. Once again, God answered our prayers!

4. How did you enjoy the seminar?

Our Prayer Life seminar was a huge success on every level. Our seminar leader, Bob Allums, was knowledgeable, genuine and engaging. His teaching was clear, practical and immediately accessible. Our people connected with him within the first few minutes of our first session. By the final session, Bob was no longer a guest among us. He was part of our family. Every so often a major event not only meets but exceeds your expectations. This was one of those events. We were tremendously blessed.

5. Would you mind giving us an endorsement that we could use with other churches who are considering hosting a seminar?

As God has grown my own prayer life over the past 5 years, He’s also grown in me a passion to help my church family discover the joys that can only be experienced through a dynamic prayer life. To that end, I’ve introduced them to several great prayer focused books, taught several prayer focused classes, preached several prayer focused sermons and hosted a number of prayer focused conferences. I don’t know of any single resource that more effectively puts a dynamic prayer life within reach of the average person in the pew as does the Prayer Life seminar. I am delighted to enthusiastically commend the Prayer Life seminar to every pastor who longs to help his congregation see Jesus!

Petaluma Baptist got ready for the seminar by having a prayer meeting!

Prison Visitis / September 2011 / Paul

letter from Brandon to his family this week. I've been visiting Brandon every other week in prison for the last two months. His dad asked me, and it was one of those Jesus moments, where I realized this would be as much a gift to me as to Brandon. I always come away with my faith encouraged. I tell Brandon, who is in for strangling his step child, that on the outside of the Prison it says "Lehigh Country Prison" but the sign really says, "Brandon Bishop School of Advanced Discipleship"!

   So anyway; I think that I’m trying too hard to believe and have faith; that it makes me worry more. Does that make sense? Like every day I wake up and I’m already thinking and telling myself ‘Have faith and trust in the Lord. How can He make it any more clear to you that He’s here with you guys and He’ll work it all out. He’s answered a couple prayers that you prayed in a matter of minutes.’ I guess in a way the devil is putting thoughts in my head, pushing me to break, curse and be angry at God. But how can I? I honestly think the devil is just jealous and getting angrier cause I’m not giving in to him anymore. Like I keep saying, I truly feel in my heart that this is all God’s doing for us, the more I think about the past and how we ended up here; it’s the work of God.
   Ha-Ha, you wanna know something funny? I feel like when I start to “try” to do things on my own and be in control; I feel in my heart that God is telling us, especially me ‘STOP! I am in control. Trust Me, believe Me in what I am doing, you have nothing to worry about, I’m here‘. Last night I started to ball my eyes out asking God, ‘Why, why does this have to be so painful, when is this pain going to leave both of us?’ So I was reading Paul Miller’s book A Praying Life (Paul is Brandon’s spiritual advisor and spends time with him) and he said “so when it starts getting uncomfortable, don’t pull back from God. He is just starting to work. Be patient“. Once again there is that magic word - patient - the hardest problem I have. God is truly among us, there is no doubt. That’s what I’m talking about when it seems like I’m trying to do things or be in control; our Heavenly Father takes hold of us and tells us to stop that; He is in control and we need to trust - and, oh, be patient. It just so happens that when Paul was here, he said that God put me here to teach me patience, to trust Him. Weird? I don’t think so - it’s God speaking through Paul. Same thing goes for you, mom - last night (Friday) when I called upset. I really feel the Holy Spirit was speaking through you. That was really encouraging what you told me (even though you probably don’t remember what you said; it was encouraging). (He’s right; I don’t).
   Once again, this is from Paul’s book but it’s from John of Landsburg, a 16th century Catholic monk. It’s from a letter he wrote called, A Letter From Jesus Christ. He imagined Jesus speaking personally to us, “I know those moods when you sit there utterly alone, pining, eaten up with unhappiness, in a pure state of grief. You don’t move towards me but desperately imagine that everything you have ever done has been utterly lost and forgotten. This near-despair and self-pity are actually a form of pride. What you think was a state of absolute security from which you have fallen was really trusting too much in your own strength and ability…what really ails you is that things simply haven’t happened as you expected and wanted. In fact, I don’t want you to rely on your own strength and abilities and plans, but to distrust them and to distrust yourself, and to trust me and no one and nothing else. As long as you rely entirely on yourself, you are bound to come to grief. You still have a most important lesson to learn; your own strength will no more help you to stand upright than propping yourself on a broken reed. You must not despair of me. You may hope and trust in me absolutely. My mercy is infinite“. Well, I’d say that pretty much sums it up. Here’s something else Paul said, “suffering is so important to the process of learning how to pray. It’s God’s gift to us to show us what life is really like“. So why is it so hard for me to just drop myself. I know He’s here. He’s planned this out, He’s working in this. But yet why do I still try to be in control? Does He know I don’t mean to? That I don’t try to. I sometimes think God already knows I don’t try to and we’re just human and crazy thinking human minds.
   This is what James McDonald said in his book that I’ve been meaning to tell you. “Sometimes the pressure of life - stress at work, pressure at home, a health problem, a financial crisis - sometimes in all of our lives, we stumble. Sometimes things weigh so heavy upon us, we can’t help but stumble. Contrary to popular opinion, these difficult times are not chance happenings. They are allowed by the loving hand of God to draw us to Himself and to conform our characters to the life of Jesus Christ” After I read that, I felt that that’s now another reason why we are here. That just goes to show things don’t “just happen” or “oh, that was going to happen anyway”. I’ve come to realize that the desert that Paul is talking about that we’re in is actually the valley of the shadow of death. He says in his book, “At some point, each of us comes face-to-face with the valley of the shadow of death. We can’t ignore it. We can’t remain neutral with evil. We either give up and distance ourselves, or we learn to walk with the Shepherd. There is no middle ground. Without the Good Shepherd, we are alone in a meaningless story“. So I feel we are also here to learn to walk with our Good Shepherd, through this whole process. If we do things on our own, we are alone in a meaningless story. The story He is making for us is to learn to fully trust Him. If we can trust Him in this process; and He can get us out of this, then we can trust Him and believe that He will provide for us when we are out. We cannot do things on our own; we tried that and look where it got us. I hate being here and I hate the pain God is putting us through while we’re here. But I love that I’m learning to see God in ways I never thought I would ever see.
   Well, I hope everything I said makes sense and it’s not just me and my stupid crazy thinking or my mind making me think that. But spiritually, that’s what I see God doing right now. He didn’t want us just to come here to change us and have us be more like Christ. But to learn about Him. To see His work. For us to trust Him. It’s not so much me and my lovely wife - but for everyone that is praying for us, supporting us, and wishing we were out. He wants everyone to believe; to trust Him. He’s showing Himself to everyone. We just need to keep an eye out and ear to hear. We may not see it or hear it, but He’s talking to everyone day by day, telling us to trust Him. It’s funny. I got all this from what you told me on Friday and after I balled my eyes out. I asked God, why do we have to keep going through this pain? How much longer is it going to last? And then I stopped crying. Just thinking and reflecting on everything. Boy! Did God open my eyes that night - once again not sure if it’s my stupid mind playing games or God really talked to me. Wish He could tell me or give me a sign that it’s not my mind playing games, ha-ha. But seriously, this whole process, this whole experience is truly God at work. He’s been slowly talking to us and now He’s getting louder and more well known. Is it just me?

Brandon

Peru / Richard / Sept 2011

Greetings Praying Friend,


It went well in Piura both in the evening Person of Jesus training Monday - Wednesday and the hour plus sessions with the high school students on Wednesday-Thursday mornings. There were 50 students with only 6 or so believers in the group. The POJ training started with over 80 participants on Monday and ended with 103 on Wednesday. I taught two lessons on Monday, trained 30 people to teach a section of lesson 4 on Tuesday, and had 12 of those leaders teach either lesson 7 or 9 in groups of 15-20 in each group on Wednesday night. The pastor and wife, Jorge and July (pronounced as Julie) were thrilled with the training. We are talking about me returning to Piura in April to do more Small Group Leadership Training. They anticipate using the Person of Jesus material in their small groups and want follow-up training.

July also corrected and improved the translation I have in Spanish for lesson 1-4 of A Praying Life training material (the old PrayerLife). I will use lesson 1-2 next week at a church on Thursday evening. July had translated lesson 1 from the Person of Jesus back in 2005! That is what I first used in the trip to Peru in 2005.

Tonight I begin working with the leadership team (50-70) at the Miraflores (Lima) Alliance Church. They oversee the 200+ small groups the church has. We will also meet all day tomorrow.

Ellen got her new job with CL Weber, thanks to our pastor, Andy Hudson. I had worked there in 2008 as I transitioned to seeJesus. We are happy to see how quickly God provided a job for her in this turned-down economy.

I have spent most of the day in bed, running to the bathroom on a "need" basis. I appreciate your prayers as I lead the training tonight. I am taking steps to recuperate and plan to be good to go later today. At least that is what I am praying.

Thanks for helping others see and reflect Jesus!

Richard

Wednesday Night POJ Training 

Pastor Jorge & July Merino

Students after Thursday study on Jesus

With the Students

Participant leading a POJ lesson

APL in Mt. Morris, IL / 8.27.2011 / Bob

Hurricane Irene kept Steve Byrd grounded (and dodging trees) for the weekend so I took his APL Seminar in Mt. Morris, Illinois.  Unlike for the rest of you, it was a beautiful weekend here and since it was a Saturday night and all day Sunday seminar at a campground, Helen graciously came with me.  

You are probably wondering why Steve would be scheduled to do a seminar in Illinois when I live right here.  I was originally scheduled to be at one that eventually cancelled.  So, it made sense that I take this one, anyway, and the storm just added to the common sense.

Well, the Spirit showed up, alright!  We went through Lessons 1 and 2 on Saturday night at the Evangelical Free Church there in Mt. Morris.  A gentleman named Chester came up afterward...in tears...and said (and I will try to quote him)...

"I read Paul Miller's book and enjoyed it.  Then, I read it again.  Then, someone at church asked me to review it so I read it a third time.  By the third time, I realized that I should be reading this book every few months for the rest of my life."

Then he explained that his son was in the States on a visit from mission service in Zambia.  He showed it to his son with a recommendation and a testimony of all that the book meant to him.  The son started flipping through it, reading portions, and ended up spending the next 36 hours reading it!   

Chester then said he would personally pay for all the expenses for a Trainer and spouse to go to Zambia if we would take the A Praying Life Seminar to all of the Action Intl missionaries, there!  (BTW, I asked him if we could send someone in training with the Trainer as discipleship...instead of a spouse...and he loved that idea.)  

He shared that the missionaries get discouraged out there and would benefit greatly from our training.  I believe after getting to know him over the weekend, he would be fine with our taking POJ into Zambia on the same trip.

I am not sure what the next move is regarding Zambia. Not sure which Trainer team to ask to go. All I know is that it is very important, as Paul Miller tells us, that we "go where the Spirit opens the door." In other words, where we are welcomed. 

Please be in prayer about this door opening in sub-Saharan Africa.

On a side note, Lydia was in Lusaka, Zambia a few years ago with a team from Trinity College, so she's pumped by this possibility!

Fayetteville Fruit / 8.2011 / Bob

CONFIDENTIAL

In December of 2009, my church, Spring Valley PCA in Roselle, Ill. gave an APL seminar to Heritage Bapt. Church in Fayetteville, Ga (Atlanta).

Last Friday night, I got a call from one of the families in the church that shared a neat prayer story.  Long story short, an entire family is being reconciled because of what Paul has called "time on target praying."  This reconciliation will also bear fruit in two significant church families, as well, because church leadership is involved.  

Naturally, we cannot write publicly about this and I am withholding sensitive details for obvious reasons.  But, I wanted our staff to know that our work has borne fruit in being a part of a neat prayer story all because one church gave a seminar to a church in need.

I hope this encourages you as much as it does me.  When you are in a very small organization like ours.  And, when you run on a comparatively very, very small budget the way we do, it is great to hear of such significant fruit, isn't it?

Plus, it makes for a great idea...churches (or individuals) giving seminars to other churches in need.

Incarnation Seminar / 8.2011 / Paul

Here's the first couple in the Incarnation Seminar that I did last November at Redeemer in Winterhaven, FL. This is a two hour video, but if you just watch the first 30 minutes you get a pretty good feel for it. When I watched the video I was more than a little humbled because although I think we were a help to Terry and Tammy I did not incarnate well with Terry. That is, I was focused on the truth Terry needed to see but not on Terry as a person. If I had been, I would have been slower, given Terry more time to reflect. I asked the Trainers to give me feedback and they were excellent. For instance, Scott Cook said, that my comment, "I think we have enough data" was a little depersonalizing. Absolutely. You'll see me make it at about 15 minutes when I stop Terry and Tammy. I'm going to keep doing these and keep video taping them. I really want the church to see how to love.

http://vimeo.com/27496179

POJ Adapted Sample Lesson with Jill / 8.2011 / Paul

Here's a link to Jill teaching one of the lessons for her adaptation of the Person of Jesus study. We video taped this 9 months ago. I just wanted it up here so Tracy could see it. The working title is "Kim and Friends".

This particular lesson is an adaptation of Lesson 6 "Self-Righteousness". I had told Jill before she did this lesson that there wasn't any point in trying to get the idea across. I thought it was too complex. Jill absolutely nails it. She tells the Parable that Jesus tells Simon of the two servants who owed 50 and 500 Denari.
http://vimeo.com/17088127

Pucón, Chile / 8.2011 / Richard

Below is an email that I received recently from Pastor Santiago Castro from Pucón, Chile. I first met Santiago in 2007 when I went to Chile to train leaders. He was the pastor of a church plant in Iquique in northern Chile where I was leading one of the trainings. Afterwards, he started several Person of Jesus groups in Iquique. Though he moved to southern Chile in 2010, one of those groups in Iquique continues today. 

I returned to Chile twice in 2010. We had kept in contact over the three years through email and Skype. During the January trip I met Santiago's wife Ruth and talked about their future. They were moving to Temuco in southern Chile where Santiago would be the chaplain in several rural schools. While planning for the trip in June, I invited him to help me train leaders in the Alliance seminary in Temuco and in a church in Villarrica, not far from Pucón. On the June trip, Santiago took me to one of the schools where I shared with the children about Jesus. He joined me in the evenings at the Person of Jesus training both at the seminary in Temuco and the church in Villarrica. He taught several several lessons during the trainings, helping me prepare others to lead Person of Jesus groups. Through his encouragement, I was able to teach for the first time in Spanish without having to use a translator. 


Today the church in Villarrica has 18 Person of Jesus groups. And, Santiago lives about twenty minutes down the road in Pucón. Here is his report about his Person of Jesus group that meet in Santiago and Ruth's home:

Report of study group in Pucón, Chile.
Pucón is a resort town in southern Chile, located between a lake and a volcano.
Church: Christian and Missionary Alliance.
Group Leader: Santiago Castro Leguizamón.
Purpose: Evangelism and Discipleship.

How is our Person of Jesus group doing?

We regularly meet at our house every Thursday for about 90 minutes. While drinking coffee, we move forward in the study, each one with a Bible, with the expectation that God will speak to us.

Today, for example, two people attended for the first time. One is a believer in Christ but has little relationship with other believers. The other, however, has no Christian background. At the end of the lesson, I asked the group how God spoke to them that today. All gave significant responses, but the one that struck me the most was the non-believer’s response. He said he would have liked to be with Jesus. He understood the need to repent and be forgiven. Also, he asked what are the sins (if there is a list), and how you can confess to be forgiven and have peace, like the woman who anointed Jesus' feet (Luke 7:36-50). Finally he asked if there was a place in Pucón that sold Bibles. He left the study with a new Bible that he received as a gift from someone who was there that night!

Castro Santiago Leguizamon
Group Leader.

Santiago learning to lead a Person of Jesus
group at the training in Iquique 2007

Santago and Ruth with Richard in January 2010

Chaplain Santiago with students in June 2010

Santiago training leaders at the seminary
in Temuco June 2010

Santiago training leaders in the church in Villarrica
June 2010

Pucón, Chile at the lake with volcano 

Santiago and Ruth with Person of Jesus group meeting
in their home in Pucón August 2011

Vancouver pictures / 7.2011 / Bob

Hi folks! Our friends at Christ Church of China sent some wonderful pictures from our POJ seminar in July, for their Summer Conference. Bob did A Praying Life there last year. Take a look.

Tracy, some of these are really nice (and there are a lot more!). If you'd like to pursue using them in a Network or appeal letter, we can ask for permission.
-Lydia