Peterson's Prayer Guide - March 2007

Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere. Ephesians 6:18

Aren’t you grateful that God gave us specific instructions as to how to fight the spiritual battles we face? He reminded us that our battles aren’t against people, and has made His weapons available for our use. Josiah and I have been memorizing Ephesians 6:10-20 recently and it has been a great reminder to us. May all of us be faithful to put on our armor each morning and gain victory in our battles.

Thanks for praying for Gary and his ministry opportunities. He shared with several hundred students, teachers, and parent-chaperones who came to visit in February. Word-Spring attendance has been way up for December – February. Gary had some incredible divine appointments this past month. The Perspectives classes he taught were a mix. The first two went really well, and the last one was very hard. But God had some things to teach him through that, so good has come from it. We usually mention some of the groups and tours he knows about for the coming month, but there are so many that come on short notice that we decided not to try and list them. Please ask God to help him and the team to be sensitive to the Spirit as they meet the folk who come, and that the visitors would be impacted through what they see and hear.

Sunday, March 4th I’ll accompany Gary down to Lantana, Florida to share at a mission conference at Maranatha Bible Church. He has spoken there several times in the past. Pray we’ll be a blessing and that God will orchestrate our contacts and conversations. Pray for safe travel as we drive the 6 hour round trip that day as well. It means an early start and late finish.

Gary was unable to run the half marathon last month and continues to have trouble with a calf muscle. Pray for healing and that he won’t become discouraged. He is cycling for exercise instead for the time being.

Praise the Lord with us that Esther is now employed part time and that she’s really enjoying her job at Chick Fil-A (a fast food restaurant chain owned by a Christian who doesn’t open on Sundays). This allows Esther to attend and serve in church on Sundays.

Praise that Esther got to help at the Child Evangelism booth at the Florida State Fair. She had the opportunity to lead a number of kids and a family to Christ. She was pretty excited about it as she shared with us what she saw God do. Her car wouldn’t start on a couple of the cold mornings we had recently. We’re going to visit her on Saturday (Feb. 24th) and hope that Gary can find any problems and fix them. She is taking mid term exams right now. She’s begun teaching Spanish to the 6 other team members who are going to Costa Rica for the mission trip during Spring Break (Mar. 3-11). Her finances for that are almost complete. She would be grateful for your prayers for the trip: safety, health and the preparation of hearts – for the team and for those they’ll be ministering to.

Josiah has been accepted to attend a 2 week “National Student Leadership Conference” on US Policy and Politics in Washington DC in June/ July. This is quite an honor and we are grateful that he received $1000 in scholarships. He still needs to find another $1000 to cover the costs. His referee job will help, but we’d like to find some local business sponsors as well. Pray that this will come together and that God will use it to help prepare Josiah for his future.

Gary’s Mom is experiencing some unexplained dizzy spells that make her sick and unable to function from time to time. Please pray for her as she deals with this.

My Mum has just completed 6 weeks of treatment for her bladder cancer. We were also relieved to hear that a reason was found for her deteriorating eyesight, and that it was treatable. Please pray the medicine will be effective and her sight will improve soon.

Allergy season is here! Pray we’ll stay healthy and able to keep functioning as we deal with them. Gary had several days off work with a bad cold last month, and we’ve both been feeling rather tired lately.

I am feeling overwhelmed at times with all that needs to be done. I want very much to get our home office cleaned out and organized better. Getting rid of old files is hard to keep up with. Then there are finances, taxes etc…and the e-mail that has piled up in my inbox again… Pray that I’ll know where to focus each day and see good progress.

Our church here is about to launch a 4 week campaign called, “Just Walk Across the Street”. As small group leaders, we’ll be pretty involved in facilitating it within our group. Pray that God will grow each of us in our heart for evangelism and that we’ll put feet to what we learn and become more effective in our witness to those around us.

God will not forget your part in this ministry! Thanks again, from the bottom of our hearts for all that you do on our behalf.

Robyn, for the Petersons