Petersons' Prayer Guide - March 2006

“We are engaged in a war that we must fight on our knees. Prayer is the power by which we are equipped to overcome the devil. To face him in our own strength is folly and a sure pathway to defeat. The devil dreads our prayers more than anything else. His great concern is to keep us from praying. He loves to see us “up to our eyes” in work, provided we do not pray. By prayer the kingdom of God is built, and by prayer the kingdom of Satan is destroyed. Where there is no prayer, there are no great works and there is no building of the kingdom.” (An excerpt from “Love To Pray” by Alvin VanderGriend, the book we’ve been using as a study guide with our small group.)

Gary’s time of travel last month was just great! God gave him strength for a very demanding schedule, safety on the long drive, and seemingly very fruitful and appreciated ministry as he ran the JOURNEY in South Carolina and taught the Perspectives classes. Each one seemed to go really well, and he came home very encouraged. Thank You, Lord!

Esther enjoyed the Weekend of Champions, apart from the unrelenting rain for the first 36 hours!

The Transcan seemed to go well too. Please pray that those who attended will continue to follow God’s leading as to their involvement in the task of Bible Translation.

I ended up with a heavy cold last month and had some enforced rest while I got over the worst of it. There’s nothing like being sick to make you appreciate feeling strong again! Gary and I are dealing with seasonal allergies now, which can be rather draining. Please pray that we’ll pace ourselves and know when to slow down and rest.

God has given me creative ideas to conquer some of the big projects that have at times overwhelmed me. Please continue to pray for wisdom to manage our time well and find a balance for the various areas of our lives. Our small group has some serious needs right now, so a good bit of time goes into that. Gary made some good headway, catching up with e-mail recently. I still have a LONG way to go!

We are currently taking a 4 week class at church on managing your finances. We have some work to do to apply what we’re learning, along with filing our tax return soon. Pray that we’ll get it all done and be able to manage our $ more efficiently in the days ahead.

Here’s what’s ahead:

3-13 Gary flies to California to take part in the missions conference for one of our supporting churches (Grace Bible in Arroyo Grande). He’ll be involved in various opportunities throughout the time. Pray that He’ll know what to share in each context and that God will use him to encourage the body there and give them a glimpse of how God is using us. He looks forward to seeing his family while in the area and running a race on his old home turf!

16-18 Esther is involved in a statewide competition with her French class.

20-29 Josiah flies to Europe where he is taking an educational tour of Rome, Paris and London during Spring break. He’s worked hard to save for this trip and is very excited. A good friend from school is going too. Pray for safety and good health! He’ll miss 3 days of school, so pray that he will be able catch up with that and jetlag when he returns.

20-25 Gary and I drive to S. Carolina for 2 days, celebrating our wedding anniversary, followed by visits with friends and supporters in N. Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. Pray for a good time of sharing and celebrating our marriage, talking, planning and having some fun. Pray that we’d be a blessing to those we visit, and have safety on the road. Pray too for Esther, who will be staying home alone since she still has her college classes and has to work. She’s planning some sleepovers with friends, so shouldn’t get too lonely!

Thanks for your invaluable partnership with us through your prayers. We are very aware of God working through you to bless us and we are SOO grateful!

John Dudeck going to Montreal

Dear friends and prayer partners,
First, I want to thank you all for your concern, E-Mails, and prayers for me with my bout of pneumonia a few weeks ago. I am grateful to God that I am now completely recovered. The doctor did not find anything "bad", and decided that it was a simple case of viral pneumonia and pleurisy.
Tomorrow morning, Sunday, Feb 19th, I will be traveling with several other friends to Montreal for a week of youth ministry. You may remember the trip that we took to France in 2004, and again last October. The trip this week to Montreal is in connection with the same ministry, La Clef.
This will be a small youth conference, with several college students from Calgary and a few from Charlotte, going to Montreal to meet with the young people there who went with us to France in 2004. The main purposes will be: a) to encourage the youth in Montreal, b) to expose to the visiting young people the opportunities and needs of French-speaking Canada, c) a couple of evangelistic concerts that we will be giving. My own role will be as observer and support for Greg Hardee, my close friend who is the visionary force and leader for this effort. I may also give a hand in the technical area for the concerts.
We would very much appreciate your prayers for this conference. Pray that the Lord will work in the hearts of many young people. Pray for safe travel and that we won't get caught in any bad winter weather. The temperatures will be in the mid-20s F (-4 C) in the daytime, and colder at night. For some of you this is not bad, but for those of us from Charlotte who are not used to it, it's incredibly cold!
Be sure to visit our web site, http://www.laclef.org.
If anyone is sensing the Lord's prompting to support this ministry in the area of our financial needs, please get in touch with me.
John Dudeck Tel: 704-588-9891
jdudeck@zenia.simcsg.sim.org Charlotte, North Carolina