We're Not Sleeping...We're Praying!
No. We are not sleeping – We’re praying!
I am writing this note during lunch break in the annual InFaith Northwest Field Area Coordinators’ Retreat. Eight area coordinators and two field directors from the three Northwestern states are spending several hours today and Tuesday in prayer for all the InFaith missionaries and their ministries in this field. After the first two solid hours of prayer, we have made a small dent in the list of needs and praises we have discovered in our contacts with other servants of Christ. Some of you know that, in addition to being Area Missionary for Northwest Oregon, I also serve as area coordinator for the same location. So, in addition to encouraging, equipping and advising and assisting the 20+ churches and mission points in six counties of Northwest Oregon, I also have the privilege of staying in touch with other missionaries and partners and lifting them up in prayer. It is sometimes heavy-lifting but always an honor. Now, lest you think our “Retreat” is a little too “posh”, look a little closer at the picture and you will realize we are meeting this year via Zoom. Most of us are sitting in our homes or offices…but dedicating the time exclusively to intercession for others and looking forward to the future of God’s service through InFaith in the NW field.
Pictured: (L-R, starting at top) me, Dale Cardwell, FD Nathan Bath, FD Jim VanVoorst, Ben Bobeda, John Pais, Terry Pruitt, Jim Webb (head bowed so deeply he is barely in the picture), Robert McDowell. (Not pictured: Jon Sousa)
God is not sleeping either!
Pastor Seth Lewis (Carver Community Church) found this encouraging devotional thought in the Sunday School Record, a former publication of American Sunday School Union, which became American Missionary Fellowship, and is now called InFaith. In it, we are reminded that no matter what our area of service or our perception of our impact, God has not forgotten us, nor has He gone to sleep as we labor in the name of Jesus.
In waiting, I waited, for the Lord (Psalms 40:1-6).
Waiting is much more difficult than walking. Waiting requires patience, and patience is a rare virtue. It is fine to know that God builds hedges around His people--when the hedge is looked at from the viewpoint of protection. But when the hedge is kept around one until it grows so high that he cannot see over the top, and wonders whether he is ever to get out of the little sphere of influence and service in which he is pent up, it is hard for him sometimes to understand why he may not have a larger environment--hard for him to "brighten the corner" where he is. But God has a purpose in all HIS holdups. "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord," reads Psalm 37:23.
On the margin of his Bible at this verse George Mueller had a notation, "And the stops also." It is a sad mistake for men to break through God's hedges. It is a vital principle of guidance for a Christian never to move out of the place in which he is sure God has placed him, until the Pillar of Cloud moves. --Sunday School Times
Reminders:
• Sandy Area Pastors’ Breakfast , August 19, 9 AM ,Tollgate Inn, Sandy
• Portland Area Pastors’ Prayer , August 27, 10 AM , Woodland Park Chapel, Portland
• NWxNW Ministry Leader’s Fellowship , August 31, 10 AM,Hudson Park Bible Church, Rainier
Now let me ask that you also join me in prayer today for the missionaries and pastors who serve alongside you in the churches of Northwest Oregon. Please take a moment to express your thanksgiving to the Lord for these servant-leaders who sacrifice daily to help grow the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Pray that their burdens will be lifted and their joy will be made complete.
Tom Hiscox, NW Oregon Area Missionary thiscox@infaith.org