Yes, life can be quite exciting... we believe we have found a church where we can worship in Arabic. The Spirit within me wept as we sang songs exalting Jesus even though my mind had difficulty understanding the words. It was an experience I'll always remember.

My first experience like this was back in 12/99 when the song "Osah-na fil ali" ("Hosanna in the highest" in Arabic) touched my heart and Spirit; in fact, many folks from this morning were there, too.

The only bit of "disturbance" was when I saw the Lord's Supper had been "tacked on" to a wonderful albeit unrelated message from Psalm 1. The "delay" proved worthy as you might tell from these two links (you may have to cut and paste to get the full URL).

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=1&cid=578&u=/nm/20020804/ts_nm/mideast_blast_dc_19

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FP%2FFrontPage%2FFrontPage&cid=1002116796299

"Outside the Damascus Gate to East Jerusalem's Old City, police exchanged fire with a 19-year-old Palestinian who shot dead an Israeli in a telephone truck. The gunman and a Palestinian passerby were killed, police said. "

Yes, that was the way we entered into the Old City for worship and, had it not been for the Lord's Supper, we could have been caught in that exchange. So... the next time worship goes into "overtime," count your blessings : -)

[Isn't it strange that we cheer for extra innings or overtime, but we look at our watch during the invitation to see how close to noon it is?]

In other news... you have reduced the number of Wednesday Weekly knee-mails by 95.5%

By being able to access https://acts82640.tripod.com/ on a Wednesday basis, you are allowing me to send a fewer number of knee-emails than ever before, and I am most grateful! I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating the local Internet connection can be; nonetheless, we have found a solution : -)

As I've mentioned in the past, we'll go to a "web based" knee-mail unless you need/prefer this type of communication. This will be the first of the "Final Four" Wednesday Weekly knee-mails I send. I want to give all of you ample time to respond to "Please keep me on the regular list - I cannot access the web from where I am."

Thank you for making my life easier, especially as you've been praying. Want proof? Read on...

Last week...

(1) You asked God to surround the three of us with His mercy since the enemy may try to disrupt our family time... as I shared in the beginning your intercession kept us out of harm's way Sunday afternoon. Thank you :-)

(2) You continued praying that we'd find the needs to our storage challenges... our Thursday trip was a disaster, but we found cabinets for the bathroom and have now stored towels, sheets, and toiletries. We were able to work through a co-worker to find these cabinets and then ventured back to the store a few days later to *order* the size and color of our bedroom closets. I thought of you as this need was met, and I am grateful for your intercession : -)

(3) You surrounded the Global Prayer Center (GPC) and adjacent Prayer Garden in intercession so as to make it a place that will glorify God and make His name known among the peoples of the world... this is the beginning of what needs to happen there, and I look forward to seeing you there soon.

This week...

(1) Pray for "Omar" as he and I have opportunities to discuss his eternal destiny. Ask God to convict him of sin and his need for a Saviour.

(2) Continue praying for reliable Internet connections (yes, I miss the Adelphia cable modem connection we had in Virginia - *well* worth the cost).

(3) We need to open a local bank account and could certainly use your intercession to make sure all goes well. The only thing worse than not understanding is being misunderstood.

(4) Pray for the safe arrival of a volunteer family, especially that their luggage would arrive the same time they do.

Love and grace,

Scott

* CALENDAR UPDATES *

31, Shirin’s mom to fall in love with Jesus

* This is an ongoing prayer need and, unfortunately, she hasn't done this - yet.

1, Pastor Hanna’s wife’s return

* Another ongoing need... governments continue to keep them apart.

2, Jasmine’s safety

* Wow, was she livid today... willful disobedience puts her in danger, and she was full of it today. Thank you for praying for her to learn how to be safe.

3, family health

* Thanks to your ongoing intercession the three of us have remained healthy, a big issue when the Wal*Mart pharmacy is a plane ride away <g>

4, more people to hear God’s word

* We sat shoulder to shoulder with at least 60 others in a room that wouldn't hold many more; in fact, the spill over was maybe half as many, reminding me of the four friends who tore a hole in the roof to get their friend to Jesus.

5, more workers

* God will be sending a volunteer family later this month, so begin praying for their safe, uneventful arrival.

6, safe arrival of packages/mail