Praise The Lord!

  • Our initial Ukrainian document has been processed so will be ready for us to take it to the Ukrainian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, on Sept 28!! Hallelujah

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  • Our brave little car has held up all these thousands of miles. Whatever quirk and noise it developed, it still got us back to Ohio! We are so grateful for how God has protected us.

  • This past week was blessed with visiting friends and family as we journeyed down to Florida.

  • And we met many wonderful people again at this last speaking engagement in North America. How God has blessed us over and over to meet old friends and to make new.

PRAYER

  • Wrap up. That’s what it’s all about for us in the next couple of days. Pray mostly that we would not forget anything vital.

  • Travel. Pray that our connections would be smooth and also that we would connect with our friend on Thursday in Poland to leave our two big suitcases with him. Otherwise we need to pay several hundred extra dollars to take them back and forth to England. And of course it will be much less hassle for us without them.

  • Last week I saw a report that 400 Baptist churches have been destroyed in the Russian occupied territory of Ukraine. Even if the buildings themselves are not totally destroyed of course people and pastors have had to flee. And if that is true for the Baptists then there are at least that many churches of other denominations destroyed. And the Russian have even destroyed Orthodox churches. Russia is not a land of freedom, definitely not spiritual freedom. Pray for the believers who are still living in these occupied areas that God will give them protection and that the Light of Jesus will shine through them into the darkness surrounding them.

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We heard an inspiring message on the Lord’s Prayer on Sunday—about surrender. But one of the things that came up was the full text for the Serenity Prayer which we do not recall seeing before.

“God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.” By Reinhold Neibuhr

I highlighted the middle lines. How we fight hardship. How we resist moving ahead in this sinful world and doing what God has laid before us. And how often we resist surrendering to His will (Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done) and so prevent Him from doing the work in our lives that is His desire—and is for our good. Words I will take with me as we continue this journey.

And thank you as always for praying for us and with us.

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