Next week, please don't look away from South Asia's suffering. (see bottom of page)

Be sure to check out the FAQ page, too, along with a few other pages:

* Southern Baptist tsunami aid: Gifts at $1.4 million & counting.

* New tsunami video download available for Sunday services.

Last month's ideas for the garden have been published and I'm guessing it's an easy six-figure project (maybe even a quarter million). We'll see :-) [*It may take some time for the pictures to load, so be patient with the red 'x' boxes.]

Our weeklong visit with co-workers was enjoyable beyond belief. Returning home, however, had a different 'feeling' to it, and I'm attributing it to the spiritual oppression that's over this land. I could definitely tell that the folks who volunteered their time last week had spent much time in prayer before coming as well as during our stay. Your intercession makes a difference in our lives, and we're grateful!

Remember... every eye will see Him!

Please feel free to recommend the 'Wednesday Weekly' to other like-minded intercessors in your circle of friends. Invite them either to send me an email at scoterry31684-subscribe@topica.com or to subscribe at our Wednesday Weekly website.

Matthew 24:14

* Be sure to sign up for the Wednesday Weekly.

+ You prayed for safe travels to a nearby country, especially uneventful airport experiences for all involved... we traveled safely and had uneventful airport experiences going; however, I forgot to ask about the return trip :-( While most of us were okay, a few of us had some difficulty.

+ You asked that the focus of Philippians be manifested in our lives as we met with co-workers... we learned about a single, servant, spiritual, and secure mindset through each of the four chapters, and I believe those things came across as we met. Thank you for praying!

+ You asked God to give Jasmine a good experience with so many new people... oh, how she wanted to do it all! She had a great experience and wanted to know when we could go back to "be with (her) friends."

<T H I S  W E E K><

<>< Today we meet with "Gary" the architect to go the next step in bringing the Prayer Garden to its future state, so join us in asking for clear communication and understandable expectations as we see God glorified in this project.

<>< Jasmine continues to ask questions about God and other spiritual things, so join me and Shirin in asking Him to give us His parental wisdom as we direct Jasmine to follow Him.

<>< Please join in prayer with Shirin and the other leaders of the women's Bible study for the salvation of the women who will be attending a follow up meeting to the Christmas party. A film about the plan of salvation will be shown followed by a time of questions and answers.

<>< Jasmine asks for prayer for her new tooth to come in straight and not to hurt.

>< Pray for the peoples of Turkey. >

CALENDAR UPDATES

<If you're not receiving our bimonthly snail-mail newsletter, let us know so we can send it to you!><

29, Pray for the girls and staff of the Lazarus home to know Jesus.

* Please continue to pray for this to happen. Shirin and another co-worker are praying for many opportunities this year to share their love for Jesus with the girls and staff of the Lazarus home.

30, Jasmine is 5 yrs 7 mos

* She grew 9cm (~3.5") since last year and, wow, what an imagination!

31, Pray for Hanni’s salvation.

* Every morning I hear his truck start. How I wish I'd hear his heart start for Jesus!

1, Happy 2005! May we honor Him together.

* May this be our daily prayer.

2, Pray for a safe, uneventful airport departure.

* Your prayers saw us go through with the least amount of difficulty we ever experienced, so thank you for praying!

3-8, As we meet with co-workers from all over the region, ask God to be glorified in our midst and for each one to be encouraged to finish His work.

* The worship times were incredible, and I believe many were encouraged to continue. Thank you for praying!

9, Pray for a safe, uneventful airport arrival.

* The three of us made it through almost as easy as walking through a shopping center. Oh, how we appreciate your intercession!

10, spiritual freedom for Palestinians

* Let's pray that their new president will make attaining such freedom possible.

11, a full day of electricity

* It was off and on for most of today, so continue praying.

<>< +++ <>< +++ <>< +++

WORLDVIEW: Next week, please don't look away from South Asia's suffering
By Erich Bridges

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--For days, maybe even weeks, many Christians will focus on the staggering human suffering in southern Asia.

You're probably one of them. You've been moved by the heartrending stories of death and survival. You've shed some tears. Perhaps you've already contributed to relief efforts or plan to do so. You've prayed for the families who have lost loved ones.

But soon you'll grow weary of the avalanche of stories of sadness and loss. Your daily life will crowd back in with its many demands. The new year will bring new crises. The news inevitably will return to Iraq, the economy and other matters - – and your attention will shift away from the people of southern Asia.

Please, don't let that happen this time.

Throughout their annual Christmas season of giving to international missions, Southern Baptists have focused specifically on South Asia. They have prayed for the hundreds of millions of people in the region. They have given to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, and continue to give, that the people of South Asia in particular might hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That –- and the timing of this monumental tragedy -– cannot be a coincidence.

"When disasters like this strike, we usually feel overwhelmed at the number of lives lost," said one Southern Baptist worker in the region. "But to put things in a different perspective, do you realize that over 33,000 people die in South Asia every day? South Asia includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Pretty close to 99 percent of those are lost -- no relationship with Christ. About 33,000 die every day -- not from earthquakes, not from tsunamis, just the average death toll in South Asia. And they're lost. How God's heart must break!"

Whole villages in Sri Lanka were swept into the Indian Ocean by the tsunamis that crashed into the coast. More than a million people have been displaced there.

"The thing that tugs at my heart is, 'How many of those who died did so without knowing Jesus as their Savior?'" the worker asked. "It's one thing to grieve for the lost dead. What are you going to do for the lost who are still living? Pray. Give. Go."

In addition to being spiritually lost, many of the places hit the hardest are difficult to reach physically, cut off by rebel insurgencies, wracked by ethnic conflict. Sri Lanka, for example, has been plagued by a long-running battle between the government and the Tamil Tiger guerrilla movement.

The devastated Andaman Islands of India are very difficult for outsiders to reach without government approval. The Maldive Islands –- home to up to 400,000 inhabitants -– are solidly Muslim and resist ministry by any Christian agency.

Pray for doors to open in both places.

"Reports are starting to come in that some small people groups may have been completely wiped from the face of the earth in places like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands," said Paul Hattaway, an expert on Asia's unreached tribes and peoples. "Other groups like the Mokkien (Sea Gypsies) of Thailand and Myanmar lived right in the path of the tsunami. As one of our co-workers e-mailed us, 'There are some entire tribes that have been wiped out in Burma and Thailand. My heart just broke when I heard this …'"

In the wake of the tsunamis, the countries hit are the least capable financially to address the overwhelming needs. Yet, with a minimum wage of less than $5 per day, one little Thai Baptist church promised $500 to aid others. Another group of 20 church members gathered $3,000 to buy rice to send to the affected areas. If they can give what little money they have, we can give our hearts to the suffering and lost of southern Asia.

"The need is more than just containers of supplies," Hattaway said. "It is more than throwing mineral bottle water from moving trucks -- and feeling like they have done their part. It is about sitting down with a mother who has lost her husband and children, and praying with her, and helping her to put the bottle of water on her lips and nourish her.

"Only the church can do that."

--30—