A Worshipful Heart

As We Leave For India....

The day is almost here! Sheila and I head out Sunday morning for India. As mentioned, we'll be working with at the mission headquarters of Operation Mobilization with female ministry students who are involved in church planting. Church planting, like worship, seems to be a theme in my life although I didn't really choose either one. I'd say God chose them for me! So I'm thrilled to be working with women in ministry who are spreading the Good News in India! We will be spending three days leading them through "A Worshipful Life", curriculum developed by my friend Wendy Bramhall and myself to help people develop a lifestyle of praise. This study really is about obedience based worship and living out our love for Jesus. So we're excited to share it with our sisters in India and to hopefully equip and encourage them to be able to teach this in their own areas of ministry and influence. And of course, we look forward to that taste and glimpse of heaven as we gather with fellow believers from other language groups to worship Jesus.

I'm convinced that many times when I go on ministry trips I learn more than the people I go to teach and train. Pray that Sheila and I will learn the lessons God has for us and that we will have open hearts and minds to see and hear and experience what God desires for us. Pray for our health and stamina and ability to adjust to the time changes. Sufficient rest is hugely important so pray we can sleep when we're supposed to! And - as always - pray against stomach issues which are so common when traveling to another country.

Many of you have signed up to pray and I wanted to give you our itinerary so that you could know more specifically how to pray. **One thing to remember as you pray is that India is 12 1/2 hours AHEAD of CST in the U.S. **For my friends in Alabama, this means if it's 6:00 pm where you are, it's 6:30 am in India. It might help you to pray more appropriately!

Saturday, Feb. 26th - We are packing, trying to get our lives here at home all arranged and saying many good-byes. This is one of the most difficult days of any trip as I tend to feel horribly overwhelmed and usually Satan attacks quite ferociously as we prepare to leave. Pray for peace and joy, clarity of mind and purpose, and meaningful moments with family and friends.

Sunday, Feb. 27th - We head out for India, but of course we do not get there! Pray for us to be able to say our good-byes without fear and to rest well as we travel. Pray for our travel to be safe and without complications. Also pray that God speaks to our hearts in those quiet moments on the plane in preparation for this time of ministry and learning.

Monday, Feb. 28th - Still a travel day! Pray for safety as we travel onward to India, stopping in Frankfurt along the way. Pray for safety as we arrive in India - specifically that our luggage would arrive with us and that we would find our driver upon our arrival. There's nothing like arriving in another country and wondering if you have a ride! Again, pray for rest as we travel so that we are able to adapt more easily to the time change.

Tuesday, March 1st - On this day we'll be settling in, setting up for the conference, working with conference coordinators to plan our time together and rehearsing for worship. Please pray that we have everything we need and that equipment works correctly. Pray most of all that we have clear minds free from jetlag and that we are able to hear from God!

Wednesday, March 2nd - Today the conference begins! Pray for us to be able to build strong and loving relationships with the women present despite such large cultural differences. Pray for us to all hear from God and to move in the Spirit as we teach and lead worship. Pray for understanding and hearts wide open to an encounter with Jesus. And of course, continue to pray that Sheila and I will feel fresh, well rested and supernaturally alert!

Thursday, March 3rd - The conference continues. Pray the same as for Wednesday but please add prayers for stamina and a deepening of relationships. Pray that as we do the learning activities, the group discussions, the journaling questions, and worship together that God moves deeply in our hearts!

Friday, March 4th - The last day of the conference! Continue to pray as on Wednesday and Thursday and pray for a definitive word from God for each ministry student to take with them as they re-enter the world of ministry. They face many hostilities so pray for courage and encouragement and supernatural strength! And pray for God to move in power to bring many souls to himself as they share the Gospel.

Saturday, March 5th - I am not sure what all we'll be doing this day. We will either be working with slum ministries that help women or going shopping. I am not sure which as both are on the agenda.

Sunday, March 6th - We are perhaps leading worship at the local mission church - other plans to be determined.

Monday, March 7th - Our last day in India - again we'll either be working in the slums or villages near Hyderabad or checking out the markets. Pray that we will have a clear word from God as we head home. 

Tuesday, March 8th - We have about a 36 hour day! We will leave India on March 8th and get home about 30+ hours later on March 8th! Pray for clarity of mind. I will be returning and one week later leaving for Rwanda, so I'll need to come home and immediately prepare to leave again.

**We'd love to hear from you while we're in India. That helps us feel loved and cared for and not quite so isolated! We should have some internet access so I hope to post pictures and let you know what's going on via facebook and twitter and even on my blog if time permits. Also, it is free for you to text me while in India. While it costs me to reply, it doesn't cost you to send a message. (256-348-5174) I can't tell you how sweet it is to get a message assuring me of prayers! **

Good-bye for now! Thank you for praying!

 

My Most Essential Need.......

Our Most Essential Need....

March is a busy time for the Give Worship Project and we have one essential need. We are in desperate need of prayer. Sign up to pray for our trip to India on our prayer calendar at the end of this post.

We have exciting moments ahead in the coming weeks. God is opening the door of opportunity wide and we’ve started 2011 off with a bang! We are in great need of prayer!

1) Feb. 27 - March 9 - Hyderabad, India

Sheila Pierce and I will be working with female ministry students being trained at Operation Mobilization. These women work in the church planting movement in India. Many are from a Hindu background and their families have disowned them. They minister in a country where Christians are persecuted. They have truly counted the cost of following Jesus. We are honored to spend time with these women! We will be leading worship and taking them through “A Worshipful Life” for a few days. We will also be visiting  and working in slum ministries for women. I know God will tenderize our hearts as we worship with the Body in India!

2) March 16 - 27 - Rwanda

I am so excited to be headed back to Rwanda! This will be my third trip to the Land of a Thousand Hills and I cannot wait to step off the plane and say “Maraho!” to so many who have become friends. I will be sharing the good news that Jesus saves with many hundreds of people and helping national churches plant new daughter churches in the villages. Our goal is a church within walking distance for every Rwandan. We will also be training nationals to share the gospel and disciple new believers.

And of course, we will be hosting our 3rd “A Worshipful Life” Conference in Rwanda! We have 200 leaders coming to share the day with us as we worship together, learn and grow as worshipers. It is our honor to also give a copy of “A Worshipful Life” to each church leader that attends.

3) We are  praying about some important "next steps" for me and the Give Worship Project that are in the works. I can't share quite yet but ask that you pray for us to have great wisdom and clear direction as we consider the future.

Thank you so much for your generosity and love! Your prayers and your gifts make a difference for eternity and spread big smiles here on earth. 

Please visit us at www.giveworship.com to contribute. 

Sign up here to pray for us as we go:

 

 

 

Hope for Rwanda ... Come and Remember, Celebrate and Be Encouraged!

Some wonderful friends are in town! My friends Asnath (left) and Anna (right) are here visiting from Rwanda. We are so thrilled to have them here visiting north Alabama! Asnath is enjoying her very first trip to the U.S. ! 

You can come meet both of these wonderful ladies this Saturday night. Come hear the story of Asnath's family as they escaped murder in the Genocide Rwanda endured in 1994. Come learn about the realities of life for a woman in Rwanda and - most of all - come hear about what God is doing in this amazing country. Anna and Asnath are amazing women of God who have helped plant many hundreds of churches in Rwanda. They are courageous and godly and on fire to spread the good news of Jesus Christ! You will be amazed - as I was - as you hear about the thousands and thousands of souls coming into relationship with Jesus for the very first time.

If you've ever had a little bit of longing to travel to Rwanda with me, then this is your chance to come hear and learn more. I believe God will stir your heart in ways you cannot imagine. And if you go to Rwanda there is one thing I can promise you. God WILL change your heart and life. No doubt. 

So here's the information for Saturday. I'd love to see you there. Come hear, come learn, come worship, come check out books and DVDs about the Genocide and subsequent healing of a country, come buy some world famous Rwandan coffee and beautiful photo art. Come let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart...... As Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church said, "I believe Rwanda has many lessons to teach the world."

Come … and remember!
The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. Psalm 98:2

Come … and celebrate!
Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Psalm 66:1-2

Come … and be encouraged!
Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. Proverbs 24:11

Rwanda, a nation of needs: spiritual, physical, and emotional
Find out how you can be a part of God’s healing and reconciliation

Saturday, February 19th
6:30PM
Summit Crossing Community Church

Special Guests from Rwanda:
Anna Kayisinga, e3 Rwanda Program Director
Asnath Uwizeye, Genocide Survivor

Keynote Speaker: Paul Lawler, pastor to the nations (Christ Church, Birmingham, AL)

For more information, contact Mary Wagner at mary.wagner@e3partners.org or 256-683-9479

 

A Canopy of Love

Wow! What a week! I believe that this week will be one I never forget because it contained a sacred, yet heartbreaking, moment that will remain in my memory forever.

Yesterday afternoon I had the privilege of being with my family and holding my grandmother's hand as she passed from this earthly life into the arms of Jesus. As I stood there holding onto my father and my grandmother within a circle of family, tears streamed down my face, unchecked. In one moment I was relieved that her suffering was over and in another moment I felt horribly bereft and strangely childlike and alone - wondering who would ever love me like she had? It was an amazingly sorrowful, yet sacred moment, as I got to be a witness to her journey into eternity. I will miss her so much. 

You see, Mama Gladys was my last living grandparent. As my grandmother she has always cared for me. From before I was born she loved me, thought I was beautiful and sweet and talented and she was always, always proud of me. Every single time I walked in the door to see her, her eyes lit up and she exclaimed "Jan!!" as if my arrival were the most wonderful event in her day! And she never, ever missed a birthday. Until this year she called me every year (or had my aunt call) at about 8:00 pm on January 3rd and said "I remember what I was doing  ____ years ago at this time!" At the age of 45 I now realize that there are not many people in our lives that give us that gift of love, celebration and acceptance.  Who loves us like a grandparent when all of our grandparents are gone?

When I was a child, Mama Gladys took me to school for the first day of school every year. Both of my parents were teachers and couldn't accompany me. She could not bear the thought of my going alone so she took me and made sure I was happily settled each year. She also took care of me when I was sick many, many times. One time I remember vividly was when I came down with a horrific case of chicken pox. I stayed for many days at her house. She claimed to have never had chicken pox but she cared for all of us when we had it. She bathed me, rubbed calamine lotion on me, and gave me a huge pair of her underwear to wear so mine would not itch. (Then she took pictures of me - she was a scrapbooker before her time!!!) She braved the flu, stomach viruses and who knows what else to take care of me. 

Mama Gladys was a tiny little woman, but she was a strong woman. She grew up during the depression, the youngest of many children, and learned early on what it was to do without and to appreciate what she had. She also lived through WWII and having a husband that was captured by the Germans while she remained here wondering what the future held for her and her child. (my Dad!) After retirement she took off on adventures to Hawaii where she learned to hula (in 1975 it was as if she'd gone to the moon! We were amazed!) and other places around the U.S. with her sister. She had no fear. And, sadly, she survived losing her husband and one of her sons much too early and still carried on for many years. She was a strong and courageous woman.

Her faith was very important to her as well. She had a steady faith in Jesus Christ as her Savior and she lived out that faith with joy. From her I learned much about prayer, faithfulness to God and to your family, and kindness to others. Her faith was not an addition to her life. It WAS her life.

Her love has always been like a canopy over my life - protecting me, nurturing me, encouraging me, believing in me. I never left her house without her telling me "You be careful!". Although I didn't fully appreciate it when I was younger, I now feel the loss of that care in my life. (although I've noticed that now my Daddy does it!)

And every single time I saw her she told me she loved me.

There was never any doubt. I will so miss being loved like that.

Tonight heaven is richer and earth is poorer.

My grandmother is with Jesus.