To those of you who are in SBC groups, thank you for this past week of prayer! Allow me to share a link that will encourage you and challenge you to continue praying. As Wednesday Weekly Wintercessors, I believe you are part of a precious few people who are actually in regular, weekly contact with someone on the field. I vividly recalling hearing that at one time the #1 complaint among SBC people was that they never heard from their overseas workers; hopefully, Shirin, Jasmine, and I have helped to minimize those complaints.

If you're looking for a solid group in the northwest part of the US, try these folks.

You may have seen the NBC Nightly News Report on the rescue efforts of Baby Bayan, an infant Jonathan had a hand in helping; if not, the link is here.

"Doug" shared a link that I believe expresses the genuine truth about Christmas, and I sure hope you'll take a look.

Concerned about the moral downfall of the US? Try this website to see what folks are doing to improve it:

Outside of the US, particularly in Europe, questions have arisen whether to use "God" or "Christian" in the forthcoming Preamble of the European Union. I have enclosed the information at the bottom of this page, and I hope you find it helpful in prayer.

The most disturbing thing, however, might be found in this article: "Efforts to unite Christians, Muslims undermine the Gospel, panelists say."

A co-worker sent this to me this week, and I thought I'd share it with you. Those of you reading this who are in SBC groups are, in my eyes, 'above average' in your giving. Use this information to stir up the coals that once burned so brightly:

"Last year Southern Baptist gave $115 million through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) and $90 million, channeled to the IMB through The Cooperative Program (CP), toward International Missions. That is really a lot of money, but when you consider that there are over 16 million Southern Baptists, it becomes clear that our response to overseas missions has fallen far short of our vision of reaching the world for Christ. In fact, Southern Baptists, who have one of the largest overseas mission programs, averaged giving less than $13 per person through the IMB."

Matthew 24:14

* Be sure to sign up for the Wednesday Weekly.

+ Flu season! Wabbit season! Rain was with us most of last week, so you prayed that ye ol' flu bug stayed a safe distance away... well, Jasmine has taken a hit to where her high-speed 4.5 year old behavior is now remarkably slow.

+ You prayed for new believers who might be the only one in their family (or even the only believer in their village) as we began celebrating the birth of our Savior. You prayed with us that these believers would be strengthened in their faith and that God would draw them closer then ever to Him this season... this past week we heard of one man from the West Bank who had a vision of Jesus telling him to come to Him. The man came to Jerusalem to find someone to tell him about Jesus. A national believer was able to share with the man, and the man became His follower. Another answer to prayer was that a group of believers were able to go into a West Bank town that had been closed for many months. They were able to encourage three unrelated women in their walk with Jesus. Thank you for your prayers.

+ Last weekend we got to bless an expecting couple, so you prayed with us that our travels would be safe and that our time together would be edifying... the rain didn't interfere with safe driving and our time together was, indeed, edifying. Thank you for praying it so!

<T H I S  W E E K><

<>< I could use your intercession as I attempt the ol' "hit-n-miss" networking/shared printer attempts as I assist co-workers this week.

<>< Join us Sunday in celebrating the 9th anniversary of our appointment as your overseas workers.

<>< Please pray with us for final preparation for the women's Christmas party. The attendees are women who do not come from a Christian background. Shirin had the joy of wrapping and praying over 30 gifts for the children at the party.

<>< Pray with us for our time on Wednesday of planning for the orphanage's Christmas party. We also need prayer to decide what stories about Jesus we would like to give the children for gifts.

>< Pray for the Kabyle Berbers.>

CALENDAR UPDATES

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3, computer ‘health’

* All is well (so far), staying patched and up-to-date.

4, more workers

* Hmm, I was reminded that the workers are on a waiting list, and I'm anticipating great things from God's people as we give sacrificially this season.

5, safety of US family

* So far so good : -)

6, believers to be encouraged

* Several of your American representatives gathered together for an opportunity to encourage one another, and we thank you for praying!

7, Week of Prayer for International work

* Thank you for praying! Please continue : -)

8, Thank God for utilities!

* Today was another great day of electricity! Room temperature is now 64F, and we're grateful for warm clothing.

9, a full day of electricity

* It didn't happen today, I'm sorry to say. The first loss was for 45 minutes, and the second loss was for 15 minutes. Losing electricity is like getting an unexpected phone call, but I'm learning to deal with interruptions <g>.

Dear friends:

I have just a few more items to mention about this 30 Days Muslim Prayer Movement in this email.

First of all, as I was contemplating the importance of our prayer efforts, I was reminded that Europe is right now struggling with the issue of Islam. You see, the European Union (EU) is currently drafting a Constitution for the "member states" or all the countries currently and about to become part of the Union (25 in 2004).

One struggle the EU is having right now is with the wording of the introduction or Preamble. The question is being raised as to whether or not the Preamble should mention the word "God" and "Christian". Currently the majority are against it. The main argument against using "Christian" is because of the Muslim influence in Europe. The word "Christian" should be avoided because the EU, it is argued, should not be a "Christian club".

This may not seem a major issue, but I think our biblical understanding of how God himself views the nations of the world reminds us as Christians that He is to be praised and glorified also as part of our national heritage.

And while I don't want to make this a political issue, it does remind me of the importance of continuing to pray for the Muslim world.

If you want more information regarding Europe's Constitution, check http://www.beter-im-aufbruch.de.vu/ and download the PDF file in English, German, French, Polish or Italian.

By the way, "30-Days" has this year enlarged its leadership team and research pool. With this we hope that the following years material will be even better relevant to the church at large. And although much of the material has been gathered for the 2004 issue, we are always open for well researched articles.

We are also wondering if we can get some more coordinators and translations for Latin America. If you have any contacts either of research folk or coordinators, please let me know. And if you have any particular suggestions for upcoming prayer guides, I'd like to know that too.

Okay, that is it from my end at the moment. Thanks for many comments over the last weeks. Thanks too for those of you who bless us financially, I believe God will richly reward your efforts there. And may God especially bless those of us who have not been doing so well financially of late.

PS. If you are new to this list, don't worry about receiving many emails between now and next years prayer focus - I only send a few emails during the year.

Having said that, I'll email soon :-)

Blessings,

Ron

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Ron Kernahan 30-days@xodigo.com

http://www.30-days.net/ prayer network

http://www.xodigo.com/5ks/ family album

30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus - Oct. 26 - Nov. 24 2003

Calling all Christians to pray for all Muslims

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