prayer

Unqualified and Under-gifted

If you are presented with new opportunities, do you feel inadequate or weak? Are you afraid of failure? Do you feel unqualified? Under-gifted? Out of your comfort zone? I can relate. Several years ago, I found out about a bunch of high school kids that were close to getting kicked out of school for good. The academic dean asked me for help. I didn’t feel I had the ability to put together such a thing; I thought I was far from qualified. “God, not me" I argued, "I have a new job, I am busy, I am a cancer survivor, I have limited energy and time.” I didn’t know how to create a truant program at a local public high school.

I remembered what God brought me out of, once a rebellious and promiscuous teenager, chain-smoker, alcoholic, drug addict and drug dealer who cut class all but 5 days my junior year of high school. God reminded me – I knew what these kids were going through.

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Poor, Hungry, Desperate

I have just returned from a mission trip to one of the poorest countries in the world – Africa. Extreme poverty is defined as living on $1.25 or less a day. Almost one in three people in sub-Saharan Africa go hungry, far higher than any other region in the world, with the exception of South Asia. Yet, in many ways Africans are wealthier than the late billionaire Steve Jobs. And the people’s contentment has nothing do with whether or not their stomach is full. On the contrary, their satisfaction has to do with their focus and attitude toward their Creator.

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I’ve Got to Remember

I’ve got remember to tell Paul, I thought. My daughter-in-law Megan’s face glowed, was great with child, in her last trimester. I listened intently as she excitedly explained the preparations for the baby’s birth. And then it dawned on me, oh yeah, Paul isn’t here; he’s in heaven with Jesus. October 17, 2009 was the day Paul was promoted to heaven, the day everything changed.

Today would have been Pastor Paul's 59th birthday. How will I remember his life on this, another one of his birthdays? It's the anniversary of the birth of Pastor Paul Giesbrecht. I’ve decided to spend the rest of my life remembering.

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News and Prayer Requests for Kenya

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for your support of my spring Africa trip to Kenya. We count on your prayers, so here are a few specific details about how to pray for Chosen Women: Training African Women for Life, Business and Ministry with Marnie Swedberg and Sharon Hurkens.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Ephesians 1:3-4

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