P. O. Box 46358
Baton Rouge, LA 70895
August 23, 2009
Dear friends,
Thank you again for all that you do financially and in prayer to support us in our work. Here is a brief look back on August and a look forward to September.
In August, we continued with our weekly study of the Beatitudes at our Gathering of Men morning and luncheon meetings. Also, the Men at the Cross Conference, which focused on men discipling men, was well attended. Thank you for praying for me as I spoke at the pastors’ breakfast.
I called the men to look to Jesus as our model as disciplemaking pastors. We turned to John 17 in which Jesus is with his disciples in the upper room. He has just completed His final discourse with them and is only hours away from His execution. He lifts His eyes and begins praying to His Father. And what does He say?
In verse 4, Jesus says to His Father, “I have glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do.” What was the work that He had accomplished? It is possible that Jesus was talking about everything He did in His earthly ministry. Or some have suggested that He was speaking of the work of the cross as if it had already been accomplished. But listen to what He says in verse 6: “I have manifested Your Name to the men You gave Me.” Then in verse 8, “For the words that You gave Me I have given to them.” Verse 9, “I ask on their behalf.” And verse 18, “I have sent them into the world.” – Who? Eleven men! The eleven men who were listening to Him as He prayed. They were the focus of His pastoral ministry! My prayer is that pastors everywhere would follow this model so that they might one day say to their Father, “I have accomplished the work You gave me to do.”
Trinity Evangelical Free Church, Covington – World Missions Conference, Sunday, September 13th: I am full of thanksgiving and feel very honored to be preaching in the morning worship services at Trinity Church as they and many of their missionaries will be joining together for a full day and evening of focus on world missions! Twenty-three years ago, the Lord took Bec, our boys, and me to Trinity where we were blessed to serve for seven years. Now, sixteen years later, I give thanks to God and to our dear friends at Trinity for the special privilege of being with them for their missions conference. If any of you are in that area and would like more information on the conference, you can contact Trinity at 985-893-0218. Would you please take a moment and pray for Pastor Michael Sprague and for this conference?
Ministry to State Symposium at Park City Presbyterian Church, Dallas, TX, September 21, 22: Chuck Garriott, who leads Ministry to State in Washington, D. C., has invited me to join him and several other men for a symposium in Dallas. The focus of our meeting will be four-fold. First, we will be discussing ministry activity and sharing observations of that which is taking place on the state and national levels as well as in the international context. Secondly, we will give attention to the theological and historical basis for ministry to those in government. Thirdly, we will look to the future and discuss ways in which we can be more effective in our ministry and encourage others around the country to become involved in ministry to those in government. And finally, we will pray together. Please pray above all else for our prayer time.
Jim, Amelia, and Josiah to Kenya! On September 14th, Jim and his family will be leaving to serve at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya for about six weeks. As some of you know, Jim is doing a residency in general surgery in Denver, and his wife Amelia, a pediatrician, will have just finished a fellowship in neonatology. I hope you will go to their blogspot www.kijabemission.blogspot.com to get more details. Please pray for them.
Thank you, dear friends. We thank God for you. We are praying that each of you (and we ourselves) will listen carefully to our Father with a readiness to go wherever, whenever, to do whatever He would have us do beyond the comforts of our western world.
Your brother and sister,
Rod and Bec
