The Multigenerational VisionDear Friends,
I would covet the serious prayer of everyone who reads this. Please foward to any individuals/ families/ churches that you believe will pray for this in earnest.
In a few hours we will be putting our 15 year old son, Jacob, on a plane to Ethiopia. This may seem a bit unusual, in light of the very tight reigns we have always kept on our kids. But :
1) Jacob is very mature for his age — Spiritually & physically ( I am including links to his testimony & blog below so you may get an idea of who you are praying for).
2) We have a strong belief that our children are arrows. It’s not just that we believe that we should have as full of a quiver as the Lord would see fit to give us, but that we are to hone & prepare them to be shot to the far reaches of the earth & into the very gates of hell. This is particularly true of our boys. By God’s grace we are hoping to train our daughters to be helpmeets for godly husbands, and our sons to be dominion takers for Christ.
3) We believe that the greatest works of God are not only to be read about in the past, but hoped for in the future. And, that the means God will use to spread His glory & Christ’s dominion to cover the whole earth is through “weak and foolish” families, churches, and indivduals. Sinners, saved by Grace, still being sanctified, who are in love with Christ & have a desire to see His Kingdom & reputation magnified in all things.
4) We have prayed for/ studied Africa for a number of years. The sorrow & hopelessness there are great. The people – particularly the children – suffer. The governments are shockingly corrupt. Economically, the “bright spots” are still very poor. Spiritually & morally the darkness looms large. And the churches/ Christians there have thin or heretical theological foundations. The problems of Africa are too many to list & have confounded the wisest minds of our time. “BUT GOD, RICH IN MERCY“.
These numbingly overwhelming problems, however, are nothing to a God like ours. In fact, when He moves in a place where the hopelessness & corruption of man seems overwhelming and the situation seems too confounding for the wisest of the world, He gains maximum glory.
5) Finally, Jacob has expressed some idea that God may be leading him to / preparing him for missions. We believe at this point we should trust God & “throw Jacob in the ocean to see if he can swim.”
Anyway, sorry for rambling. Here are the particulars of our prayer request.
Jacob will be going to Ethiopia with four other people from our church. Anthony Mathenia, Chuck Baggett, Malachi Bagget (Chuck’s son; Jacob’s age) & Hannah Wright. Anthony has been involved in Ethiopia for a number of years. He lived in Ethiopia for a while and for the last couple of years has been running “PTI” — the Pastor’s Training Institute. Anthony and/ or other men go in & spend one or two weeks with about 80 pastors from accross Ethiopia who have had little or no theological training. Anthony has one daughter from Ethiopia & is working with a couple of Christ-centered orphan care/ adoption ministries that have work in the States & Africa. And while there he shares a house/ some work with a missionary who drills low cost well in villages that have never had water.
Chuck and Anthony will be teaching at PTI. Jacob will attend these sessions. They also will likely have the opportunity to go out & help with the well drilling. And, they will be taking some clothes & shoes to some orphanages.
Please pray & ask others to for the following :
1) For the safety — physically & Spiritually — of Jacob & the others on the trip. They will be flying from Memphis to Detriot to Amsterdam to Sudan for refueling & then on to Ethiopia. Next Friday they will make the same return trip without the Sudan fueling stop, but with an eight hour layover in Amsterdam. I think the area of Ethiopia where they will stay is relatively safe.
2) Please pray that our family & the others at home will be able to rest in Christ & not be anxious.
3) Most of all, please pray that the trip would be fruitful and that Christ would be magnified in the lives of those who go & those they come in contact with. Please don’t ask for small things, but that God would do a great work; that seeds would be planted these next ten days that would lead to a great revival that would sweep Ethiopia, Mississippi, & beyond. Pray that a thorough reformation would be the fruit of this revival & that Christ’s offices of Saviour & Kings would be on display in a massive way.
Thank you for your attention, your prayers and forwarding this to anyone who might be interested. If anyone who receives this message would like to get updates or a report on this trip, please e-mail me.
For the King,
Les Riley
Jacob’s Testimony
And Blog
The well drilling work
Ethiopia’s Orphan Crisis
Update- Jake is in Addis right now, where it is night time & he is sleeping.
Ellie
By: ellie16 on October 16, 2008
at 2:49 pm