Peterson's August 2008 Prayer Guide

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare of the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God and I am trusting Him. Ps. 91: 1-2 NLT

Gary writes: What an incredible month July has been, and much busier than the schedule we originally sent out. By the time the month had started, I had many more groups book in, and by the middle of the month we had already set a record for sign-ups to pray for a Bibleless People Group. On one day I had no sooner finished with one group than I turned around and had another, followed by another. The youth pastor from one group said that in three years of Divinity school he had never heard that there were people without access to a Bible in their language. One person was amazed to find out that there were 80 languages spoken in their home country.

A pastor brought about 10 kids aged 5 to 18 years – most younger than 12 – to spend a day with us, going through our summer program. Since they were staying longer, we threw in a special, behind the scenes tour of the office. The kids from this church of less than 250, raised $130,000 for missions in the past 10 years, most of it in the last 3 years. One 15 year old raised $10,000 this past year! I have never met a more mission minded group of kids in my life! Many have already gone overseas on mission trips, and almost all have done trips in the US, and not just easy ones. They were preparing to head to Sturgis, North Dakota for the biggest Biker rally in the world – to witness to some of the toughest people in the world. The kids are fearless!

We’ve had lots of college groups come through this month, but the biggest was the 203 students/leaders from the Navigators, (mentioned in the last prayer guide). They spent most of a Saturday at the Wycliffe office, and I assembled a team that did a fantastic job of informing, inspiring and involving them. We all had a blast! The response was overwhelming too. Over half of the students signed up to pray for a Bibleless people group, the book store did over $3200 in sales, running out of the most popular items. (The profits go toward Bible Translation). The workshops were very well attended, and we were all thanked profusely for allowing them to come. Wow! I got a call at home afterwards asking if Robyn and I would go out to breakfast with a group of them. We met them at a restaurant in Orlando at 7AM on Sunday. What an incredible group of young men, hungry to learn and eager to serve the Lord. And we still made it back in time for church. What a weekend!

Esther arrived home from Australia last Saturday – July 26th.. It was a happy and sad day for us, as we learned that our dear friend, Geoff Morrow, who was Gary’s mentor into this work with Wycliffe, went home to be with the Lord following 2 heart attacks. He will be greatly missed, but he left a wonderful legacy in many, many lives. Please pray with us for his wife, Aileen, and their family in this time of loss.

August is hopefully going to be a slower month. This week we are enjoying a “staycation” – that’s a vacation where you stay at home. I had hoped to go up the East coast of the US and see some of the historic sites, but with high gas (petrol) prices, we decided to stay at home. And you know what? Esther is happy about that!

August 4-8 I was to be away at a retreat for Wycliffe’s Church Relations department. I have been asked to join this and have considerable interest in this aspect of our work. But for now I feel God has me in the right spot, and they have decided I don’t need to be there. We had postponed some groups coming in that week because of my being away, so we’ll see if we can re-connect and bring some in.

August 11-17 is the second installment on our vacation when we will be going two hours up the coast to Flagler Beach. Some good friends are letting us stay in their bungalow near the beach for a week. It will be away from phones and interruptions, so we’re all looking forward to reading books, walks and runs on the beach, watching some old movies and playing board games together.

August 18th – Josiah starts his last year of High-school. Where has the time gone?

August 22nd – Esther heads back to Trinity College for her third year.

The rest of the month I am filling in for people who are away, and am on call for any group that may walk through the door or book to come and visit on short notice – a common occurrence. I will also be getting ready for the fall when the school groups and home-school groups start booking, and we as a staff will be heading to various teachers conventions to promote our WordSpring education program. We will have two key staff away on a strategic overseas assignment with Wycliffe during the fall, so no doubt we will all have to share the load. I am also trying to train more staff to help me run the Mission Encounter program.

Thanks for your prayers. This has been the busiest summer I’ve had, but with some of the greatest results. And I have shared with many groups – especially with the Navigators – that folk like you were praying for them, and that’s why God was talking to them. We all make a great team! Have a great month!

THE LIDBECK NEWSLETTER

Greetings dear friends.

The month of June has certainly been a great time for us. We celebrated the birth of our first grandchild, Colton, born to Christine and Bryan. Actually, Colton was born May 10, but Kathy flew back to Bloomington, Illinois to spend time learning how to be a grandma and returned June 14. We celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary on the 16th. We have completed 33 years of ministry with American Missionary Fellowship on June 1st. We completed two years leading the church at Parkhill as of June 15th. And we anticipate the marriage of our son, David, on July 4th, completing a round of family milestones.

The Sunday school teacher at Guadalupe Community Church reported that another child received Christ earlier this year. The Hispanic children who attend have become little missionaries, inviting their friends to come. The entire church basement has become a large classroom for Terrie Wilson, whose loving dedication to the Lord and to them is evident to these precious ones. Pray for this small assembly as they grow in grace.

Parkhill Community Church will host the local CDF for a BBQ outreach June 22nd.

We are once again at “crunch time” for Camp Challenge. There are only a couple of staff slots left to fill. Last year saw our largest attendance since 1985 when the Las Palitas fire burned the facility to the ground. A junior high group from Nevada will be returning for the fun (the wife of the young couple in charge of the youth attended Camp Challenge as a girl and recollects the fun
that she had, and the change it brought).

Camp staff who got/are getting married since last year includes Joel Topping to Emily Mittel, Josh York to Stephanie Mittel, Alie Sparrow to Zack Heinrich, David Lidbeck to Brandy Noice, and Johnny Power to Becca Shepard. This represents a LOT of leadership, half of whom will be ministering with us again this summer.

Pray for fruit for the upcoming camps beginning July 14 and ending August 2. We are speaking to the issue of the return of Jesus Christ.

Celebrating the completion of 33 years of ministry on the Central California Coast between Los Angeles and Salinas, Wayne & Kathy proudly hold a plaque awarded by Rinconada Country Church.

Have a great summer.
Wayne & Kathy Lidbeck
wlidbeck@sbcglobal.net
American Missionary Fellowship
Box 370, Villanova, PA 19085
Regional Director: Lance Eisele 559-734-0954
LanceEisele@americanmissionary.org

Peterson's Prayer Guide - July 2008

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. 1 Cor. 15:58 (NLT)

If you’re anything like us, you are praying for friends who are scattered across the globe on summer mission trips. Praise God with us for what He is doing in and through the Body of Christ – those who are going, and those who are praying, the long-term and the short-term. May each of us be strong and steady in the work He has given us to do.

Gary & I have just returned from a wonderful, little break, courtesy of some good friends who gave us the use of their condo up the coast a few hours. It was a true gift from the Lord as we enjoyed quiet, rest, and a beautiful part of Florida, walking, running, swimming and reading - just what the Doctor ordered!

From all we’ve heard, Esther is doing well with life on the dairy farm, enjoying the time with relatives, and working hard. So far she is keeping healthy, for which we thank God. We are excited that she has been able to see another aunt and two more cousins who flew across the country to spend 10 days on the farm. On July 19th she will celebrate her 20th birthday. We praise the Lord for our wonderful daughter! Please pray for her safe return as she travels from the 24-26th.

Josiah writes, “This last week I attended the Florida American Legion Boys State on the campus of Florida State University in the capital of Tallahassee. The program is designed to provide 11th grade boys a hands-on opportunity to learn about state and local government through classes, mock elections, and job enactments as well as providing participants with the history of the state coupled with tours of the historic sites of the capital and speeches from prominent state officials. I had the honor of being elected state senate chaplain the first day and presided over the prayers and mediations for the rest of the week for the whole assemble. I thank God for the opportunity and all that I learned through the experience! Though I am still unsure of whether I want to pursue politics in the future, the things I learned will help me to be a more aware and active citizen.” Thanks for praying for our son!

Gary made it to the international Perspectives conference in Dallas, TX. It was a who’s who in missions! Some were his favorite Perspective course authors. He was like a kid in a candy store – and it was all non-fattening! He came home VERY inspired, encouraged, challenged and motivated to do better. He’s already seen a positive impact from it in his work.

God gave many more strategic opportunities for Gary at Wordspring in June. The time with the university students from Campus Outreach Ministries was beyond everyone’s expectations, including theirs! Over half of the 132 who came made a commitment to pray for a Bibleless people group, and all of Gary’s staff had great conversations with students. The leaders told him that many of the students from last years visit have already changed their majors to prepare for missions. They were sure many would do so out of this group as well. We credit your prayers for the powerful work God is doing in their hearts.

Gary’s July schedule. Remember to pray also for the unexpected visitors.

1st Sharing with a church youth group visiting our headquarters and helping on a work project.

3rd Special tour and talk for a Korean American youth group from Virginia visiting with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). We have three other youth groups visiting this day that my colleagues will have to do because I am already committed to this group.

7th I will be the missionary speaker for our “Face to Face” program – a program run Monday – Friday where visitors hear from various Wycliffe missionaries and have a question and answer time. Numbers can vary from a couple of people to over 40. Recently I had a standing room only crowd, but it’s usually around 10.

8th I will do the 10am tour – filling in while our regular guides are on vacation or away on business.

10th & 11th Special tour and talk for youth group from New York. 60 students + leaders divided so we have 30 each day.

12th Special all day program for 178 university students, 20 leaders and 5 children with the Navigators. This is the 4th year this group has come to visit, and there are about twice as many coming as we’ve had in the past. They are one of the most interested and committed group of students we have visit every year. It will take a lot of staff and creative planning to make this a special day for them. If the response is anything like it was with Campus Outreach, it will be an incredible day.

14th I will cover as receptionist for WordSpring in the afternoon so the staff can have a meeting.

18th and 23rd.I do the Face to Face presentation.

28th – August 1st the Petersons will be on VACATION!!!!