SC Prayer Warrior – October, 2011

“Your Father knows what you need before you ask.” Matthew 6:8

This is a reminder that God knows everything about us. Every pain . . . every need that we feel may go unmet . . . every tear . . . every hair. In fact, He knows more about us than we know. That is not to say that we should tell Him what we need and how we feel. Praying through a matter not only helps us to maintain transparency with Him, but helps us to know what we really need.

Church Prayer Emphasis for October:
Please pray for these churches and their pastors this month!

• October 2nd — Landrum, Pastor – Rev. Harold Jones (Gloria)
• October 9th — Liberty , Pastor – Rev. Alan Abshire (Jean)
• October 16th — Lyman, Pastor – Rev. Tom Boland (Marcia)
• October 23rd — Martin Grove (Pickens), Pastor – Rev. James Ramsey (Carol)
• October 30th — Mount Olivet (Six Mile), Pastor – Rev. Aaron Gadsby (Casey)

SC DISTRICT FINAL FRIDAY FAST & PRAYER (October 28)

We are asking all pastors & leaders in the District to partner with us by committing to fast and pray for our District on the last Friday of each month. Pray for these requests that have been established by the DBA:

1) Pray that we will seek a renewed vision for the District . . . seeing 10,000 lives engaged in 80 healthy, growing, multiplying churches; believing in 5 “Jerusalem plant” projects in the next 3 years.
Thank the Lord for answered prayer! Rev. Wayne Otto and Amy and their family will be moving to the Charleston area on November 1 as the planting pastor for our first “Jerusalem” church plant. They have a strong record of pastoral leadership that includes planting six churches (including two daughter congregations) in Michigan. Pray for their family as they make this transition and pray that there will be no snags on the contract on the home to sell and for housing in SC.

2) Pray that we achieve a restructuring of the District into functional, productive zones/teams/or huddles.
Our first zone pastors meeting will be November 1 and 2.

3) Pray for a prevailing strategy to be initiated in order to:

• Recruit/mobilize high‐capacity planters, leaders and teams
• Identify highly receptive cities and contexts as strategic sites
• Empower robust Resources of Prayer, Revival, and Finances!

4) Revitalization of existing congregations that are declining or plateaued.

Edmonds Haiti Ministry Update

Presenting the Gospel…From a Cement Block!
I had been wanting to present the Gospel to the men working on the new guesthouse for several days.  All kinds of things kept coming up throughout the week and I did not get to do it until Saturday, September 10th.  Jesus preached from a boat one time, so I’m sure it was no problem for me to be sitting on a cement block on the job site telling our workers how they could have a relationship with this same Jesus.
The work day began at 5am with one of the workers accusing the other 19 men of stealing a saw (that was later found).  My translator called me before I got out to the construction site telling me the men were wanting to “beat up” this man and throw him out of the gate.  I quickly talked with the workers, pulled the man aside who was accusing everyone of stealing, and calmed everyone down.  That was how the day began, but the rest of the work happened without anymore trouble.  About noon we sat the men down under the shade tree where they take water breaks and eat lunch.  My translator got their attention and I began to speak about God’s love for each of us and how He wanted to have a relationship with each of us.

After presenting the plan of salvation I really had not planned how I would end the time with the men…BUT GOD KNEW!  As soon as I finished talking four men came and knelt in front of me asking me to pray for them.  The first of them was Nicodem who said he was a Christian a long time ago and went to church.  He then said out in front of all the other men that he had not been living like he should and had been hanging around the wrong people and doing the wrong things.  He is one of our hardest and strongest workers and it was quite a scene as this young man knelt in front of me as I sat on a cement block and prayed for him.  The next man who came to kneel in front of me was Bos Meprilien who said that he had never been a Christian.  Bos Chenel was next and then came Fritz.  Fritz is the translator that worked for us on the project throughout February, March, and April, and was stabbed nine times the weekend that we were at a missionary retreat in April.  I visited him in the hospital when we returned to the island that Monday and told him that the Lord had kept him alive for a reason.  He told me that some men had taken him out drinking for his birthday and after he left the bar some other men jumped him.  Fritz could talk the Christian talk, but the Bible tells us that a tree is known by it’s fruit.  The fruit of Fritz’s life did not match a Christian life.  I talked to him a few other times about spiritual matters, and he told me before we left May 30 for Home Ministries, “Pastor Greg, I want you to know that I’m not doing a lot of those things I used to do.”

The final thing I did was ask the men if they needed a Bible to help them learn more about living the Christian life and serving God.  Thirteen of the 20 men raised their hand saying they did not have a Bible!  I received some money today, and those men will have Bibles tomorrow, Lord willing!!!

Please pray for these men and for me and Frer Bonheur as we minister to them and disciple them.  TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!

A House for “The Seashell Lady”
As I sit here listening to the heavy rain storm begin to come to an end, my mind and heart are with a lady named Jildet and her four children who are huddled under a plastic roof praying their tarp house doesn’t fly away in the wind.  I met Jildet a few months ago when she sold me seashells and a small painting to get hospital money for her youngest child, but I only learned of her housing situation 10 days ago.  I rode with our Haitian compound manager, Frer Bonheur, about 15 minutes from our compound to see one of the worst living conditions I have ever seen.  A large brown tarp was pulled over a 10 feet by 10 feet stick frame house, and was covered by dirt at ground level to keep it from blowing away.  A few cots were placed inside for the family to sleep on.  Jildet told me through a translator that during a heavy storm a few nights before that she put the children under her cot to try and keep them dry.  My heart broke as I stood there looking at those children and listening to her tell of one time that the “house” did blow away.  Through a few more questions we learned that she doesn’t go to church and that her children do not go to school because she doesn’t have money to send them.  I had to look away several times to keep from crying.

The Bible says, “Do not withhold good from others when it is within your power to act.”  In Matthew 25 Jesus said, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”  The “righteous” asked him when they did all this and Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.”

I told Jildet that day that I would help.  I don’t fully know where all the help will come from or how it will all turn out, BUT I truly believe that Jildet and her four children are some of those people Jesus meant when he said “the least of these.”

Please pray for Jildet, her family, and that God would provide all the resources needed for her house.  BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, PRAY THAT SHE AND ALL HER FAMILY WOULD SEE JESUS IN ALL WE DO AND BE DRAWN TO HIM!

For the “least of these”,
Greg, Heidi, Haley, and Luke Edmonds

SC Wesleyan Men’s Wild Game Feast

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The South Carolina Wesleyan Men will host their annual Wild Game Feast on November 5th, 2011 at Greenville First Wesleyan Church. The Dinner & Service begins at 6:00pm and will cost $5.

For more information, please contact Bryan Stepp, SC Wesleyan Men Director, at 864-978-8017 or at tpstepp@hotmail.com.