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Sunday, August 5, 2012

Our Passions for HIS Glory - July 2012 Newsletter

 
“…if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”
Colossians 1:23


 

Our Passions for HIS Glory

 
As Leah and I walk through our first full summer together, we find that expectations can crop up everywhere.  For example, we were wanting to make sure we were well rested, recuperating from the past school year, and able to do ministry the way we have wanted to over the summer. These were difficult to keep balanced, but it has been a great learning experience, especially for me (Malcolm).
This summer brought more challenges than the school year in some ways. I got the chance to step out of my comfort zone of being in a leadership role when Leah and I got to lead the evangelism team at Night Vision. The time and energy spent there was great, and all the effort was not a loss as we learned just the other day that over 100 people gave their lives to Christ at the event.  Praise God for His faithfulness in working in people’s hearts! God exceedingly showed how faithful He can be if we are just willing to get out and let him work. I’m in awe of how God can take all of our insecurities and make them disappear and loose all meaning compared to watching people come into a saving relationship with Christ. Thank you for your prayers and help!
Almost as soon as the show was done, we were off Denver as we had planned a climbing trip with the three interns we have this summer. The purpose of this trip was to go climb and share the gospel with climbers we met (and, at least for Leah and I, to learn how to plan and lead some sort of trip).  We really want to learn how to use the things we are passionate about for the glory of God’s name.
One story of the week was when we were working on a boulder problem with about 6 other people at the same time, learning about them as we climbed.  After a couple of hours the conversation about God naturally came up and we had a full blown conversation about whether or not God was perfect and whether Christ was the only way to go to heaven. For me, there is nothing more exciting then talking to people about Christ while climbing!
We had a very fun week as we got to go to Boulder and Mt Evans for climbing, and Rocky Mountain National Park, Water World, and a Rockies Game for some relaxing good times.  I’m blown away with the blessings that God have given us.  We got to spend a week in some of the most beautiful places, enjoyed God’s creation and sharing the best news ever with people that desperately need him.  As always the first time you do something there is always kinks and quirks to work out, but overall I came away thinking these trips could be very successful in the future. 

Sharing the Gospel at Night Vision
 

Prayer Requests

 

-       Pray for those who received Christ at Night Vision, and for the staff who are following up with all of them!!
-       Pray for our students – freshmen move in  August 23rd, our big kick off BBQ is August 25th, and classes begin August 27th!! Pray that our students will come back ready to serve, and that students and staff will get the chance to reach as many people as possible and quickly as possible.
-       Pray for us as we leave August 14th for our last trip for the summer! We’re bummed because we’ll be gone for all the beginning activities (we’re returning August 27th), but we’re so excited to get a fun vacation AND get to see some dear friends get married August 25th in Oregon!! Pray that we will have a safe trip, and also come back ready to go hard on campus for the 2012-13 school year!!
-       Thank you to all of you who have been sending us prayer requests!! Please know we’re praying for you all.

 



Friday, August 3, 2012

Never Will I Leave You



Malcolm got to write the newsletter this time around (which he did a great job, I can't wait to post it)! We had a great time this last month and God has been showing us both a lot. I (Leah, if you couldn't guess) really wanted to share something that God showed me this past month.

When we were up in Denver, God really put on my heart to reach out to a couple friends of mine from childhood. They have both been on my "Most Wanted" list for a long time. When we were in middle school, I took both of them to Camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je west where one did pray to receive Christ (though I do remember she was very afraid of hell, so I'm not sure if it was actual surrender to Christ or not - I'm not judging her decision, but she definitely is not living for Christ needless to say). The other I remember loved her experience at camp, but not sure she really made any commitments to Jesus. Regardless, they both have been exposed to the Gospel, but neither are living for Christ. In fact, I have seen them both go through very hard things since leaving high school. I don't want to share their personal lives here.

Anyway, with one friend, it took almost all week just to set down a time to see her. She kept changing times, bailing on our set time, etc. It was becoming a little discouraging. But God kept encouraging my heart saying, "Keep pursuing her. Show her how I won't give up pursuing her." So I kept pressing! Finally, we set down to have dinner after her work. Malcolm and I went to her work, and asked if we were still on for dinner. "Oh, I have to go to Boulder for something tonight!" she replied. AH! All this work, and I got 15 minutes of chat time! I wanted so badly to share the Gospel with her, to remind her of how good God is and how much He loves her! But God (and Malcolm) reminded me as we drove away - HE is in control! It's not my job to change hearts. It's my job to be obedient. And that's what I did. Gosh, even now my heart hurts for this friend of mine! How badly she needs Christ's healing in her life! How much hope she could have!! 

God keeps reminding me of one thing she said to me as we were hugging, "You are such a light to my life." How good is God! I barely did anything, and yet I did exactly what God wanted me to do - be obedient - and He did all the rest of the work!

My other friend is at a whole different place than my other friend. We got a whole hour to catch up, but I also didn't get to share the Gospel with her. But while I used the restroom, Malcolm got to share his testimony with her! (May I just say, I love that man I married!) 

I really desired to open up these relationships again, and to show these ladies just how much I love them and care for them, and ultimately how much God loves them. Pray for them please! And pray that I can be more bold next time to share the Gospel - or really, just be faithful to be obedient to what God wants me to do. 

God has really put this on my heart to encourage anyone who is reading this that it is never too late to reach out to those around you! Whenever I think of these friends, He has brought these scriptures to mind:

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5

"...if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."
2 Timothy 2:13

God doesn't give up! God is relentless in His pursuit of people! We don't have to give up either. There are 2 times in which it's too late to keep reaching out to other people: if they die, or if you die. Sharing the Gospel with nonbelievers is one thing you can't do in heaven. Let's pray for each other in this!! Let's be persistent to show how persistent God is!!