Petersons’ Prayer Guide - August 2007

The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Isaiah 58:11

Breaking news! On July 25th I’m heading to Australia for a month. I have mentioned my mother’s health quite often in recent letters, so you may have guessed that I have been quite concerned about her. It has been hard to be on the other side of the world with her going through so much. After praying and getting input from others, we feel it would be good for me to go and spend some time with her. She is thrilled that I’m coming and already has plans for me to help her with various things. It just so happens that my sister, Jenny, is expecting a baby while I’m there! She has requested that I come up and help for several days after the birth. (They also have a toddler whom I have yet to meet!) They live on a dairy farm about a 4 hour drive from my mother’s home. Mum should be having another cystoscopy while I’m there and that will tell us how quickly her cancer is moving. Please pray:
- for safety in travel on the 27 hour trip and as I drive on the other side of the road
- that I would stay healthy as I adjust to cold winter weather
- that I would be a blessing to Mum
- that Jenny’s baby would make a safe entrance into the world.
Pray also for our family as we have this, our longest separation ever. Esther will have returned to college before I get home, but we’re glad she will be here to help while I’m away. Josiah starts school the August 20th. I get back the 25th. We’ve had some offers to help with the cost of the trip, for which we are most grateful!

Before I leave, we want to get our newsletter well underway. Pray for Gary as he gets it sent out without my help. We are looking forward to the arrival of some Australian relatives (the Hoses) July 22nd. They will be here for a week.

Josiah made it home safely from his National Student Leadership Conference. Thanks for your prayers. It was a fantastic learning experience for him! He is currently at a weekend retreat with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and was looking forward to being with other Christians after having been with many non-Christians at the conference. He will be a leader in the Christian group at his school this coming year. Thank You, Lord, for these opportunities for our son.

Last month we asked you to pray for wisdom as to what to do with Esther’s car. We had it checked and the repairs needed were much more than the car was worth, so we have parted with it. We don’t have the resources to replace it, so unless the Lord has some surprise in store, we are discussing how Esther could adjust her life to live without a vehicle. It would mean us going to pick her up from college any time she comes home (a 4 hour round trip each time we pick her up or take her back). She would also have to depend on others to transport her to church, activities, and to the store when needed, and she would no longer be able to work at Chick Fil-A. She has accepted a part-time job in the college office as a recruiter, and could increase her hours there to make up for it. She wanted to continue have a “normal” job in the community for the sake of interacting with the real world. Anyway, pray that God will work things out for her best and His glory with these new circumstances. Thanks!

Both the kids have found part-time summer jobs, and that’s working out pretty well. I’m actually glad they’re not full time as they will be a bit less tired when they return to school this way, and they have time to do some things with friends. Esther is working at a fast food place, and doing several other odd jobs. Josiah has just started doing book-keeping and data entry for a tree service company belonging to a friend of ours. It could be a long–term job if he can keep up once school resumes. We’ll see.

Gary has hit the ground flying back at the office. It seems that word is getting out that Wycliffe has a program to offer school-aged groups, and they are coming in thick and fast! One day this week there were three groups that came to learn and be exposed to the work of Wycliffe. They expected 33 people, but it turned out to be almost 80! Gary is responsible for the development of a program for older students, but he works with all ages at different times. He is really enjoying this role and getting a lot of positive feedback about how he connects with kids as well as adults. We’re glad he can work in this area of gifting.

As always, we are extremely grateful for your prayer support with all that is going on. God bless you for all you do!