Pouches of Prayer ~by Vicky Bentley

This October, Anne Graham Lotz is coming to Uganda! For the past two years, she has been preparing for Rooted in More of Jesus, a series of workshops to equip the leaders as Warriors of the Word! She said, “We at AnGeL Ministries are standing on tiptoe in our spirits to watch God build up His people by rooting them in the Word, establishing them in His Holy Spirit and allowing us the privilege of loving them in action!” 

Richard & Suzan Angoma

Amen…We also cannot wait to watch God revive this land we so dearly love. For the last few months Lily Eastham and I have had the privileged of serving AnGeL Ministries. In August, Tim Turner their Special Events Coordinator came to finalize all our plans for the seminars. 

Tim, Lily, and I set off from Kampala for Gulu. I arranged for us to visit Canaan Farm…which any of you who know Richard & Suzan, or have been here, can testify it is like a little slice of heaven on earth!!!!! Seriously, you feel God’s presence in the moist African air, you see His artistic demonstrations of love painted across the sky every dawn and every dusk, you sense His arms of love as the women of Rabuna Fi welcome you will ululations and hugs, and you will never get tired of witnessing life springing forth from death as the farms come alive each season and the saints press closer into Jesus…
 

We started with a grand tour of the ministry climaxing when Richard & Suzan crowned their vision statement by telling Tim how delighted the people of Uganda are that “the daughter of Billy Graham would come all the way to Uganda!”  I was beaming as we crossed the road leading up to the Canaan Vocational Training Center (where the women of Rabuna Fi meet each week for Bible study, literacy training, fellowship and income generating activities) because I knew Tim was in for a special treat... 
 

Pouch of Prayer

The women greeted Tim with a song of praise to our Savior and King, Jesus Christ, in their native Acholi language. Lily and Tim were speechless ~ such an outpouring of worship toward God and love towards us, as brethren in the Lord, is unforgettable. It whets the appetite for heaven!

I asked Tim to share the vision of Rooted in More of Jesus. The room exploded with applause…you see these women really do understand that only Jesus can heal. They are all victims of the violence that displaced and nearly destroyed the precious people of the northern-most regions in this beautiful and bountiful “Pearl of Africa.” Tim and Lily had no idea because their joy in the Lord swallowed up the pain. Jesus is ALIVE in these sisters and the broken, bereft, bitter women they used to be died and they dwell in His love – whole, holy, and HUNGRY for more! 

Looking at their faces shining in His glory I shared that they would be with us at this conference…even though they do not yet know enough English to grab hold of the message, they were already ushered in by the Holy Spirit….



Pouches of Prayer sewn at Rabuna Fi's Canaan Vocational Center

Each bag they loving sew is their entrance card! Jesus gave them front row seats…because they are interceding for the brother or sister whom will receive the “pouch of prayer” at the registration table! The women of Rabuna Fi are asking the Father to lavish the guest who will hold that bag with exceedingly great and precious personal promises, the fullness of the Spirit, and boldness to carry to the uttermost ends of Uganda what Jesus taught them through Anne. It was for sure a holy moment….those ladies erupted in praise and I just know the angels joined right in with us!

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins…
God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which
He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ… and raised us up together,
and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come He might show the

exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus…

we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them…
you who once were far off have been brought near
by the blood of Christ…Now, therefore, you are

no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints

and members of the household of God…built on the foundation of…

Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone…in whom the whole building,

being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord…

you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

~Ephesians 2:1-22~

Jesus is ALIVE! ~by Vicky Bentley

The lyrics of "Happy Day," by Kim Walker penetrated my heart so deeply today: 

Greatest day in history, death is beaten

You have rescued me - Sing it out Jesus is alive!

The empty cross, the empty grave life eternal You have won the day. 

Shout it out Jesus is alive! He's alive!

Oh happy day, happy day! You washed my sin away!

Oh happy day, happy day!  I'll never be the same!

Oh happy day, happy day - forever I am changed! 

When I stand in that place, free at last, meeting face to face I am Yours, Jesus YOU ARE MINE!

Endless joy, perfect peace, earthly pain finally will cease - Celebrate - Jesus is alive! He's alive!

 

Oh what a glorious day! What a glorious way that You have save me! Oh what a glorious day! What a glorious name - Jesus! 

Oh happy day, happy day! You washed my sin away!

Oh happy day, happy day! I'll never be the same – No, no, no, no!

Forever I am changed by Your Blood, by Your Grace Oh God -Forever I am changed! 

Oh what a glorious day! What a glorious way that You have saved me! Oh what a glorious day! What a glorious Name - I love the Name - So much power in the Name - Jesus! 

Fellow sojourners, this is not our home. I know that many of us are facing manifold trials, railing accusations, crushing disappointments, poverty, and have labored to the point of exhaustion for our BELOVED…He knows. He is keeping close watch over you – as my amazing mentor says, “begging the Father to let Him come and get you because He can’t wait to have you in His arms!” 

Ours is a Living Hope – Jesus is alive!

Your future is secure, it’s incorruptible,

Filled with joy unspeakable and full of GLORY…

We are going to see Him and forever be like HIM….

Hold fast; let no one steal your crown,

Let no threat rob you of peace,

Remember His joy can remain because

HE IS OUR VICTORY!

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ…Make no provision for the flesh…Resist the devil and he will flee…set your affection on things above, not on things on earth for you are dead and your life is hidden with Christ is God…greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,  [knowing] that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,  Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,  receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls. 

Please pray...By Vicky Bentley

Dear Co-Laborers in the Harvest,

 

Dear Friends of this ministry - from Rybinsk, Russia - Lyudmila and her Mother, Valentina, emailed asking for prayer. First for Valentina; she fell and is in severe pain. She is being treated but the medication is not adequate and does not enable her to sleep – often she makes it through the night by prayer. I am requesting that you pray for Valentina to be healed. Jesus is more than able and I trust He will receive all the glory from these precious sisters in the Lord.

 

I also ask you to pray that Lyudmila will be led by the Lord to a good job with a generous salary. She has faithfully labored for many years at the same company. Financial hardship is forcing that company to close. Lyudmila is a single mother to two amazing young boys. I can tell you I have seen firsthand the passion she has for Jesus. When I ask her how I can pray she says, “That my boys will be REAL Christians!” Many of us are moms and have breathed that same pray for our own children…The enemy wants our kids and we must stand together in prayer for their salvation and sanctification!

 

I love this family dearly and ask you to pour His love on them in prayer. Thank you and may God speak so deeply and clearly to your heart as you pray that the rest of your life is given to continual communion with the GREATEST Lover of your soul!

 

Agape,

Vicky

 

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father… ~1 Thessalonians 1:2-3~

 

For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe…~1 Thessalonians 2:13~

 

…Pray without ceasing… ~1 Thessalonians 5:13~

 

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,  do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.  For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. ~Ephesians 3:14-20~

 

PS: The ministry in Russia is so dear to our hearts. I know we are focused on Africa but God has more than enough strength to look after ALL people on ALL countries. We are so thankful for Mark Piester, Natasha Chilikina, and the family of God in Vladimir and Rybinsk…please remember to pray for them too….THANKS!

 

 

 

Christian Community: Participation

Christian community is like the Christian's sanctification; it is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifiling to us may be great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritaul pulse, so, too, the Christain community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature. . . . Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in which we may participate.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Easthams: Bibles for the North

Psalm 1:1-2 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the paths of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”

 

We often don’t appreciate how precious it is to have a Bible.  In fact, we have many Bibles in our house.  We have a variety of Bibles: different translations, children’s, study, compact, and even those in different languages.  Many Ugandans don’t even have one Bible in their home. Many pastors, also, don’t have a study Bible or resources available to teach the Bible to their own congregation.

 

Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of Evangelist Billy Graham, is coming to Uganda in October, 2012.  It has been a privilege to come along side AnGeL Ministries to bless the people of Uganda.

 

Through a series of seminars in Gulu (in the north) and Kampala, the goal is to revive the hearts of God’s people in Uganda by reviving the church leadership, rooting them deeper in the Word of God.  Two thousand study Bibles, two thousand compact Bibles, and six hundred children’s Bibles have been donated for this outreach.

 

At a recent planning committee, a decision needed to be made as to which Bibles would go to which venue.  Everyone wanted the study Bibles.  It was finally decided that the Study Bibles would go to the North. “This is the time for the North,” said Pastor Osiru, one of the committee members.  “Let them have it.” She couldn’t have said it better.  The people of northern Uganda are healing from decades of war.  The people desperately need a fresh touch from the Lord.

 

Please continue to pray for the country of Uganda, especially for the people in the northern cities.  Pray for the pastors coming, that they will have the means to come to this great outreach and that the Lord would do a mighty work in their lives so that they can take it back their villages.