Holy Month
In the overlapping time between Lent and Ramadan, many people are seeking God
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The area where we work has both a mosque and a Catholic church. Pray for spiritual awakening during a time of fast for both faiths.
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Dear Friends and Family,
This year, two times of holy reflection for two major world religions have coincided. Lent began on February 14. Within the Christian faith, and particularly for Catholic people, Lent is a time to reflect on Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, to repent of our sins, and to fast in order to seek God. It lasts 40 days and ends with Easter, which is on March 31 this year.
At the same time, Ramadan began on March 11. Ramadan is the Muslim holy month of fasting. It is one of the five pillars of Islam, and similarly to Lent, it is a time when Muslims reflect on their spiritual practices, repent of sins, and fast in order to seek Allah. It ends after 30 days with the feast of Eid al-Fitr. Ramadan is based on the Islamic calendar, so it rotates through the year.
This year, these two holy months overlap, meaning that both Muslims and Catholics are fasting from now until the end of March. In the area where we work, about 80% of the population is Muslim, and about 20% are Catholic, though many of these people follow these religions on the surface, but underneath still follow ancient culture traditions worshipping local deities. However, these months of fasting for both religions are a time when people are particularly open to hearing from God and having spiritual experiences. This makes it a strategic time for us to pray for them to find Jesus and the true God.
This month, please join me and our team in praying strategically for the people of the country where I work, and specifically for the Abaka people. Pray that this will be a time of spiritual awakening, where people are able to hear from God and see the truth. Pray that they will be freed from the oppression that comes with local traditional worship. Pray that they will be interested in reading the books of the Bible that have been translated, and that these books will impact them as they consider their position before God.
There is a specific website that has been set up for 24 hour prayer for this country and for the Ramadan fast. If you would like to join, click the link below and sign up for a time slot to pray through the next 30 days. They will send you a daily prayer reminder.
Thank you for praying with us!
Carla
**Please do not share on social media**
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PRAYER REQUESTS
1) Please pray as we continue to revise 2 Corinthians. It has all been drafted, and we are doing an initial revision. Pray that God will give the team wisdom and understanding as we revise.
2) Pray that there will be a spiritual awakening during this time of fasting.
3) My "extreme prayer" for the Abaka team is that we will have the New Testament finished in the next five years. Please pray with me that God will make this happen! It is "extreme" because it can only be done with God's help, but it is the kind of prayer that God can answer. Our president, Greg Pruett, has written two books on Prayer - Extreme Prayer and Extraordinary Prayer, and I would highly recommend reading them!
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Check out my latest blog! This blog answers the question of how we stay faithful when it feels like God is silent. This experience has been called the Dark Night of the Soul, and is also considered a stage of faith. I wrote this blog based on my own experience with this stage.
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JAMIE JOURNAL
As I looked back through my pictures for the last month, I realized that I had a lot of pictures of the rats, and none of Jamie! It's kind of a strange phase of parenting to move into a time when your child's pets get more pictures than your child! This picture is from back in December, but it captures our life with our little "ratscals" as Jamie likes to say. Despite the bad reputation of rats, they have been very fun little pets. They are curious and cuddly, they love to eat broccoli, and when Jamie's hair is wet they will squeeze the water out to drink!
But of course, Jamie has more happening in her life than just the rats. She has joined chess club for the second year, and is learning lots about strategy and sportsmanship. She is also taking swimming lessons and loves jumping off the diving board. Life is certainly full right now with many good things!
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