kristiapplesauce

Monday Prayer - "I'm mad edition".

We are friends with these amazing people who lead at ThriveAfrica and they have had some problems with some break-ins on the property lately....and this news makes me mad. It actually makes my head spin - like there is nowhere to go. I know this not to be true - because there is total hope and justice and glory to be found...but dang.

So won't you please pray for them today - or for however long? Please pray for the safety of the staff there and for the ministry. That the people who live/work/love there won't be discouraged - but rather will be confirmed in what God is calling them to do while in South Africa. That God will bring to justice all the people involved in this crime and that there will be no profit in what they are choosing to do, but rather their hearts will be turned around to the Holy One and that they will know God rather then a life of sin.

In other Monday Prayer news....

If you have any other prayer news, requests or insights - please feel free to leave it here. We will be praying for you throughout the week or beyond if need be. We love you and are honored to stand beside you on this journey. 

All are welcome here.

Prayer

How can we pray for you this week?

Monday Prayer

We pray a lot here in South Africa. Not because it is required and not because it helps us to feel better but because it draws us closer to God. Because there are examples after examples of it in Scripture. Because Christ prayed. Because in our lives we experience suffering, we are cheerful, we get sick, we need forgiveness, and we need the rain (James 5:13-18). We know that we only can grow in knowledge of our Lord with Christ and the Spirits help. We desire to be in His will. We want to be fully pleasing to God and grow in our understanding of who He is. We need His strength, power, endurance, patience, joy and light. Above all we need His salvation and his Holy forgiveness so we pray (Colossians 1:9-14). We pray and pray and pray and pray. We so totally desire to be close to the Father and so we pray. We read the Holy Sciptures, we try to love those around us, and we try to surrender. This may not be the best way of doing things but that's how we roll.

These past weeks have been a little trying. We have lost another sweet friend to AIDS and we have been away from home for what seems to be months now. I have only talked to my family a couple times in the last few months and sometimes it is hard not to fight with Daniel but we still try to pray. Again, not because it is routine and not because it makes us feel better but because it brings things back into perspective and it draws us near to the Cross. 

So if you want to pray with us, please leave it here and all will be prayed for. Everyone is welcome and all will be prayed for throughout the week.

Monday Prayer - Hope edition

Round and round. I have no idea why I torture myself like I do.

So my friend Sarah has a HOPE convo going over at her blog today and asks the question "What does hope mean to you?"

My response was: "It means when I am all used up, discouraged, broken, beat up, tore down, disgusted with myself and with others, mean, hateful, horrible, horrified, sad, twisted, manipulated, nasty, worried, terrified, diseased, shameful, shamed, selfish, without peace, guilty, empty – there is He. I always, always, always seem to forget…but somehow He loves me still and has washed over me forgiveness and that is my hope."

I totally feel that way. I don't know why but I get lost and confused - forgetting my way to the Cross almost daily. But our hope is there and only there. So that is my prayer for today. That I would be diligent in seeking the Lord in all my life, allowing his glorious and beautiful hope and grace and forgiveness and wonder to wash over me.

So anyways - Monday Prayer. If you are keen to leave a prayer request for others to lift you up in prayer this week...please feel free to leave it here. All will be looked after and everyone is welcome here.

Monday Prayer

A couple weeks ago I was doing some training with some peeps from one of our HIV/AIDS support groups and one of the ladies came to me with a problem. She showed me her leg and said it had been causing her grief for quite some time. It was blackened and the outer layer of skin was hard and crusty. She had pain walking on it and said that it was getting worse as time went on. Whenever I get asked these kinds of questions, I reassure them that I am not a doctor - and then I try to do my best. I borrowed some vaseline and knelt down at her feet. I started rubbing and massaging her leg and showing her that she has poor circulation and the excess fluid on her skin/calf/ankle is causing the leg to harden and blister so she needs to help push it away and release it towards the heart. I tried to talk to her about diabetes but that was lost in translation so I went back to talking about circulation and stretching. So as I was showing her how to rub her own leg with petroleum jelly, I noticed a rope loosely tied around her knee. I asked what it was. She showed me that she had another around her other knee and then two others around both elbows. She went on to tell me her church makes her wear them to ward off "evil spirits".

About this time I had probably 10 other people watching me massage her - so I was careful in what I was saying and doing. I asked her a few more questions about the ropes and then finished up with the massage. When I was done, I thanked her and then asked her if she knew who Jesus Christ was? She laughed at me and said 'yes'. I went on to explain that in the Bible Jesus says that He is the only way that we will be saved/ get to heaven and that we don't need ropes or any other "tool" to help us ward off evil things because Jesus has already saved us if we put our hearts and trust in Him. She and the rest of the people were laughing at me now and I just realized that it might be because the conversation was lost in translation - or it might be because they thought I "didn't get it" because there was a culture clash - but regardless, I knew that I wasn't going to miss this opportunity to speak to this aging Mama about Christ. At the end of this conversation I asked her if I could pray for her, which I did. I don't know if she understood any of it...but I know God did so I have to leave it at that.

Anyways, it is Monday  again so it's time to pray. If you have anything to pray about, talk about, praise (about what's going on in your life),thoughts, convictions, frustrations; anything....please feel free to leave it here. All will be covered in prayer throughout the week and everyone is welcomed here.

Monday Prayer

When we lived in Wichita our home church had an amazing mentorship program. You just signed up and POOF! Somebody to mentor and love you! I ended up with the most amazing lady on the planet (sorry other people – your mentors suck…oh, I mean, er, um, what?) So, her name is Velda and she rocks. The first meeting we had was at Starbucks (yay! I liked her already!!) and she asked me all about what I was interested in and why I signed up for a mentor. I told her all about how I sucked and what areas I needed improvement. I told her that I constantly battle (like my whole life) making peace with myself and pretty much every single person I have any sort of relationship with. Eventually I seem to cause strife. She was so endearing and kind. She just listened and prayed. She talked to me about her groom and what they were all about. Missions, (who knew?) and how they communicate. She talked to me about their beautiful gigantic family and how they work out their differences. She then talked to me about working through the Peace Maker by Ken Sande. We read it together and since then has been a constant in my life. My husband and I were on our way over here to South Africa so she and I didn’t get a whole lot of face time…but she still prays and emails. I love and crave accountability and she is an amazing leader that I have grown to love.  I am so thankful for her and for the leadership she continually pours into my life.

 

Who are you thankful for today?

 

Monday Prayer is here for you. If you have anything you would like to share, please feel free to leave it here. Everyone is welcomed and all will be prayed for.

Monday prayer - kid edition.

As you may or may not know - we have been flirting for a while now with the idea of growing our family. Is it the right time?; Do we have one naturally or adopt?: Would God have us have a baby at all or is working with kids all that He would choose for us rather then "having one" (or 5).....? So we have been talking and praying for a few years now....Not really concerned either way...if I would get pregnant or if an orphan came into our lives....knowing that God's plan is perfect and we are ready to love whomever comes into our life. So we then met a lady over breakfast the other day who had this beautiful African baby girl so I asked her if she had adopted her (the woman was a white South African, the baby - black) and she said that she was only fostering her but gave us the details of the social worker and of the home where she volunteers. Anyways, so this week we are finding our more information to see where this road may lead. So that is our prayer this week. That we would be wise to know where the open or closed doors would be/lead.

What are you praying about these days? Please feel free to leave your ideas (praise, thanksgiving, hurts, scriptures or anything else you think is relevant) and all will be prayed for. Everyone is welcome here.

Monday Prayer

We visited a new church yesterday. It's interesting all the things you notice when you are a visitor at a new-to-you church. Anyways, so as we were sitting there waiting for the service to begin the pastor came by and greeted us, asked us who we were, wanted us to fill out the visitor book ect . So I got a little anxious because I never like being singled out so as I was nervously waiting for him to point us out or make us stand up (he never did) I started thinking about how it isn't really about us (is it ever? - shame on me!!). But what if being a visitor (this time) was about bringing encouragement to the people there or sharing a warm smile or just being there in the congregation; so the pastor, worship leader and all the others in leadership who had worked hard all week understood it wasn't all in vain (to share the love and salvation of Christ). Maybe we were there for so many other reasons then just to figure out if this was the right church for us. I was shamed and in awe as I came to this conclusion and wondered why I hadn't thought of it before. I seriously doubt I won't have such an aversion to being singled out or asked to fill out a visitors worksheet ever again. Anywho , that is how you can pray for us. We are in East London now, almost completely settled in - looking for a home church to serve and love so if you could please pray that God would lead us there...

And as always, Monday Prayer is here for us to serve and love you. If you have any praise, thoughts, thanksgiving, requests....please feel free to leave them here. All will be prayed for and as always, everyone is welcome here.

Monday Prayer - completion

James 1:2-4 "Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing."

When I think about being complete, I think about a circle or a brand new baby. I think about finishing a race or looking at a masterpiece. I think about listening to music or looking at an amazing piece of art. I think about working so crazy hard at something and then standing back when it is finished and being satisfied. Without flaw. I think about when Christ said "it is finished" when He completed His work here on Earth. I think about when I met my nephew and niece for the very first time just moments after they were born and their perfect perfection.

I can't really think of too many other examples because in this world, I don't know if there are too many...but when I read this scripture, I know that God is at work. I know that He is at work in me and that gives me hope.

If you need some hope, encouragement or a prayer today or throughout this week please feel free to leave a comment. All will be prayed for and as always all are welcome.

   

Monday Prayer

 

There seems to be some sort of disconnect in my brain. I don’t know why that has happened, but it has. We have been so busy with so much and now I don’t even know where to begin. We are almost done moving into our new house so that is good but it seems like since we were with the teams, and then with the move that all the other stuff we are responsible for have fallen short. I know that we can’t be held responsible for “everything” but since it is just us on the ground, it kind of feels that way. Lately Daniel and I have been talking about “being the right tool for the right job” and “using the right tool for the right job” like in our purchases and in our time management and so I guess that is where our prayers are kind of being swayed as of late. Because we are so busy we really desire to honor God and to worship the Holy in all that we do and all that we are. We don’t want to go in circles and we don’t want to waste time or money…we desire to give back all that we have and all that He has entrusted to us to bring Glory to Him. It really matters not how many kids we feed or how many people we talk to because if we aren’t worshiping Him or surrendering our whole hearts then what is it all for? I mean really!?

 

So if you are new to “Monday Prayer”, it is just a small community of peeps who are joined together in/by prayer. If you have anything to add to the conversation, or are in need of people to stand with you in prayer, please feel free to leave a comment. All will be prayed for throughout the week or beyond if necessary. All are welcome.