Those of you who pray for us are a real source of blessing and information. I want to begin by thanking you for this bit of refreshing news: Cooperative Program giving grows by 3.64 percent, best one-year gain in four years.

Also, one of you sent this link last week, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Another one of you sent this opportunity:
Someone has said that if Christians really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer we might be speechless. In W.W.II there was an advisor to (Winston) Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace. There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America.
    There is a national call, starting this Friday night, October 1, for 40 days of Prayer. In forty days starting Friday we will have an election for the President of the United States of America. No matter which party you support, please pray each day that the Lord will bless our Nation and place in power, the man that needs to be our leader in these troubled years ahead. The Bible uses the 40 days numerous times, maybe this will be good for this nation.
    If you would like to participate, every evening at 9:00 pm Eastern Time, 8:00 pm Central, 6:00 pm Pacific, stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our citizens, for the elections and for peace in the world. If you know anyone else who would like to participate, please pass this along. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Together, we "CAN" make a difference! [Thanks, Mary!]

There's a "$400 million sermon" somewhere in this article.

Want to know how you can make Halloween a soul-winning night? Try this link.  Not sure which tracts to use? Here are some suggestions.  And, in case you're interested, here's why I don't celebrate Halloween.

One of the best e-mails I received this week came from "Rocky," and I'd like to share it with you (and it's worth the wait):

-----Original Message-----
From: Rocky
Sent: Saturday, 2 October 2004 3:50 PM
To:
Cc:
Subject: State Of The Union

Just open the following link. See what many did not.

Rocky
-----End Original Message-----

Please tell me it's not too late :-(

How did your Representative vote?

Even the Supreme Court?

Finally, on the lighter side of things, I thought I'd share an interesting picture from the site I use to check out those forwarded e-mails that sound like "Microsoft will give you a $100 if you forward this e-mail to ten friends" <g>. Click here for the picture and story.  I hope you'll investigate other things at snopes.com, too.

Matthew 24:14

* Be sure to sign up for the Wednesday Weekly.

+ You prayed for Shirin as she started back into Arabic study, especially that her study group would all be working for the same goal of conveying the truth to the Palestinian people in their heart language... Shirin writes, "Thank you for your prayers. We had a great time talking about our summers and sharing prayer requests in Arabic."

+ One day last week was "one of those days" for me, and I needed a healthy dose of 'renewed strength' ... as you began praying I realized that local holidays were causing a great deal of unwarranted stress (there's more to be said, so suffice it to say that not all is as it seems). That request for renewed strength began with an understanding of the source of the tension, and I thank you :-)

+ Jasmine celebrated her special day last Thursday and could have used some intercession toward handling the life of a five-year-old... wow, it was like she was a different child (well, almost). FWIW, she grew a whole centimeter (~1/2 inch) in September and gained about a pound.

<T H I S  W E E K><

<>< Prayer Garden progress and a clearer handle on available finances has paved the way for yet another venture of faith with the gentleman God seems to have sent to help take care of the Garden. I'll be meeting with him about an hour after I send/publish this issue, so join me in praying that our brainstorming and planning will not only lead to "greener pastures" but also to a deepening of our friendship and a clearer communication of the Good News.

<>< The large wall tiles for the Prayer Garden may very well be in the baker's kiln this week, so pray with us along those lines.

<>< Tuesday looks like an "all-day affair" getting the car we drive inspected and registered. Ask God to grant us patience in seeing it accomplished along with clear understandings plus an awareness of seeing where He is at work in the lives of those we encounter.

>< Pray for the people of Greece. >

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 each of Jasmine's cousins to know Jesus.

* I realize more and more how the gospel can spread through families. Imagine if all of our family members knew the truth.

30, Jasmine is 5 + 4 mos.

* Our screensaver pulls up pictures from her folder and, wow, it's amazing to see the changes.

1, May we give him our best this month.

* We started out taking care of last month's financial accountability report : -)

2, Pray for settlers to know Jesus as Saviour.

* I haven't heard of this happening, but I sure hope it is!

3, Pray for a worshipful encounter with God today.

* Today was a day to focus on His righteousness, mercy, and forgiveness.

4-5, Pray for Shirin and Jasmine as they work on homeschooling material after school.

* Oh, how I wish you could see them working together : -) Thank you for praying (and please continue).

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following. There would be:

57 Asians

21 Europeans

14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south

8 would be Africans

52 would be female

48 would be male

70 would be non-white

30 would be white

70 would be non-Christian

30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual

11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States.

80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth; 1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education; 1 would own a computer

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for both acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.

And, therefore . . .

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep . . . you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace . . . you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness . . . you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation . . . you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death . . . you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If your parents are still alive and still married . . . you are very rare, even in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful . . . you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them, or even touch them on the shoulder . . . you are blessed because you can offer a healing touch.

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.