Tag Archives: pray

Enthusiastic Encouragement

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Day Nine

There is a lot of work going on at my house in the last couple of weeks.  I have given my friend Nina the job of finishing the work of furnishing the apartment.  She has been out of work for about 6 months, so was thrilled at the opportunity—especially since it means that we see each other every day until the work finishes, and weekly after that.  There are many handyman jobs to be done here as well.  Nina’s brother, Manuel, is a handyman who is also currently without work, due to the seasonal nature of his work (which is usually outdoor handyman work).

It is really nice to be able to bless these 2 friends, and ministry always moves ahead because the apartment is more and more ready to host missionary guests.  Every day the apartment looks better and better.  I can even begin to look forward to the day when I can have a grand opening party.

So, with all this work going on, I have also been emptying those remaining boxes, and finding all sorts of treasure.  Here’s one from a Women of the Harvest retreat that I attended (By the way, Bethany hates the term retreat.  She says that we’re Christians, and we should always be advancing.  We should call them Advances, not Retreats):

15 Ideas to Encourage and Empower Missionary Women

5 Needs of Missionary Women

  1. To be spiritually mentored
  2. Feel connected
  3. To be known, understood, and prayed for
  4. To have a close friend
  5. Time away from ministry/life responsibilities

5 Simple Ways to Meet Their Needs

  1. Take 60 seconds to reply to their newsletter so they know you read it!  Better yet, ask for more information regarding one of their prayer requests.
  2. Take 5-10 minutes to ask an intentional question about their personal/spiritual lives.
  3. Surprise them with a cash gift for a night out (or a weekend away)!
  4. Send cards via postal mail—a rare treasure in the day of electronic communication!
  5. Introduce them to the free resources of Women of the Harvest.

5 Ways to Advocate for Missionary Women

  1. Share with your church and friends what you’ve learned about the needs of missionary women.
  2. Ask your Missions Committee how they keep in touch with your missionaries.  Do they Skype regularly?
  3. Ask if each of your missionary women have a spiritual mentor in their lives.
  4. Encourage your Missions Committee to take the Member Care quiz.
  5. Contact the parents or extended family of you missionaries to understand their needs.

These are all really good suggestions, and I have done most of them in my ministry of encouraging missionaries.  In fact, I would add that for missionaries serving in Europe: educate people that Europe is a mission field.  Whenever I return to the US, I bang that drum long and loud.  I am tired of having my ministry minimized just because I live in Italy.  It happens every time I return to the States.  I hate to think of the missionaries who desperately need support, and their Christian brothers and sisters put their ministry down just because they’ve got indoor plumbing.

(Sorry, can you tell that it gets under my skin?!)

Speaking of encouraging missionaries, this came in my inbox this morning from Guideposts online:  Be Enthusiastic! Be Full of God.  The Greek root of the word enthusiastic means full of God.  The mark of the Gift of Encouragement is enthusiasm.  I can’t help it!  It just comes bubbling up out of me.  And my genuine enthusiasm often helps people see their ministry in a whole new light.  I love having the Gift of Encouragement!

And finally, as most of you know, this is day 9 of my fast for understanding of these times—End Times, to know what’s ahead and how to prepare for it.  So with that in mind, here’s an excerpt from a prophecy newsletter that I received this morning:

Follow Me, and I will lead you to the wells of life.  I will give the living water to you abundantly.  And, I will also feed you with the hidden manna.  Not only will I feed you with that which has not been revealed, for it shall indeed become revelation to you, but I shall also walk with you in fellowship.  You will know Me even more intimately than you know Me today and understand by way of revelation My purposes for this season.  I am about to bring you higher than ever you have been before.  Come to Me, walk with Me, be one with Me, and drink the waters that I give to you and eat the manna that I feed you.  In the days ahead, you will realize what a great treasure is given to you at this time.  Follow Me now.  Come on, let’s go on a journey, you and I together; a journey of joy in which you will experience the power of the kingdom of God; a journey in which your righteousness will be elevated and thus the power of it shall flow out before you; a journey in which you will have victory over all the works of the enemy, says the Lord Almighty.  (Emphasis mine.)

Well, who can help but be enthusiastic with encouragement like that straight from my Father?  God is good!

Feeling God’s Presence

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You have searched me, Lord, and You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before, and You lay Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are Your thoughts, God!  How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with You.

If only You, God, would slay the wicked!  Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
They speak of You with evil intent; Your adversaries misuse Your name.
Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against You?
I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139

Greetings from my home base in Milan!

I had a very nice visit at my new part-time home in North Carolina—a great visit with family and friends, a good rest, and the opportunity to connect with new friends.  Each day I pray for divine appointments, both for myself and for the missionaries and pastors that I pray for daily.  Many of these new friends are the direct result of those divine appointments.

In one of my first encounters back home in Milan a man at a local church asked me to pray for him to “feel the presence of God.”  Of course, this made me extremely sad.  If he’s a believer, then he’s already got the presence of God—always.  It made me wonder if he’s being discipled at all because he should know that.  Unfortunately, because this was actually during the church service, I didn’t have time or the opportunity to explain all this to him or to his leaders, but instead just had a moment to pray, which I did.  I prayed that he would come to understand the omnipresence of God that has never left him and never will leave him.  Afterward, he left before I could explain anything.

This is sadly typical of the Church (the universal Body of Christ) in Italy.  They get hooked on that wonderful feeling of God’s presence, but have little understanding of God, Himself.  None of us “feels” God’s presence all the time.  That’s where faith is so important.  Faith is based on facts, not on feelings.  We must believe that He is right here with us at all times and through all circumstances.  Sometimes it feels like our prayers echo back off the ceiling unheard.  I have felt this especially in the midst of depression.  Read Psalm 139 to understand what the facts are.  Psalm 139 is an assurance not just of God’s presence, but of His intimate knowledge of each of us—especially believers.  He hears our prayers even before the words are formed on our lips.  More than that, Romans 8:26-27 tells us that the Holy Spirit searches our heart and intercedes (prays) for us according to God’s will.

If you are suffering from depression or otherwise not feeling God’s presence, read Psalm 139—in fact, read it aloud daily—and take comfort from it.  “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).  If God is on your side, that’s all you need to live a victorious life!

The Panic in Their Eyes

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I don’t think of myself as a scary or intimidating person.  But with one word I can strike terror into the hearts of people in many countries throughout Europe.  And it doesn’t matter what that word is or what language it’s in.

Last evening was a perfect example: I was having dinner in the hotel restaurant here in Budapest.  Like most hotels and hotel restaurants in cities throughout Europe, the staff speak English—at least enough to do their jobs.  The restaurant was empty for a while, so it was just me and the two waiters.  One waiter, let’s call him Neo, had served me coffee earlier in the afternoon.  He spoke excellent English.

The other waiter had seated me then skittered off and busied himself with the task of removing one fork from each place setting on each table.  When Neo emerged from the kitchen the frightened waiter whispered something to him.  Neo came to give me a menu, then joined the other man in the task of fork removal.  I quickly made my choice and then watched as both men worked their way closer and closer to me.  The frightened waiter worked his way to me, skipping my table and moving on without once looking directly at me.  Neo, seeing that my menu was closed, came and took my order.

The thing I had done to so frighten the other waiter was this: I spoke English.  The poor man was terrified that I might speak to him in English.  I have seen this reaction many times in Italy.  I am fluent in Italian.  But even if I speak Italian, many times people will panic when they hear my English-accented Italian, fearing that I will switch to English.

And guess who is the most frightened of all: my own English students.  Some students who stopped coming to me for English lessons years ago will get that look of terror in their eyes when they see me enter a room.  When (if) they speak to me, they will speak only Italian.  Some won’t risk speaking to me at all.  In non-classroom settings, I have never insisted that my students speak English with me.  I prefer my social interactions to be relaxed and stress-free.  But most of them have never given me the chance to tell them that—in any language.

That’s not to say that all my English students are afraid of speaking English.  Many brave souls will speak English with me.  A few will actually seek me out for English conversation.  But those lazy ones who didn’t want to study, instead wishing that I would just open their skulls and pour the language inside.  Or maybe they want me to find the USB port in their brains and download the English language file.  Sorry to say, it simply doesn’t work that way.

One time I saw that terror reaction from one word to an American boy in his early 20’s.  He was sitting beside me in an airport restaurant in the US.  He asked where I was going, and I said, “Milan.”  He asked what I do there.  At the word “missionary” I thought he was going to throw up.  He quickly finished, paid, and left.  I’m not going to speculate on why he had that extreme reaction, but I do pray for him from time to time.

Then today at lunch the tables were turned on me.  I had ordered in English, and so enjoyed my lunch (chanterelle mushroom soup—yum!) that when the waiter took my plate and asked how I liked it, I answered one of the dozen or so Hungarian words I know: finom (delicious).  He answered something in Hungarian.  And every time he came back, he spoke to me in Hungarian.

When the frightened waiter from last night came to start his shift, my lunch waiter whispered something to him.  Now I was the one with the terrified look.  Here’s how my imagination translated that whispered sentence: “You’re wrong, Laszlo, she does speak Hungarian!  She’s been holding out on us!”