Prayer Calendar for June/July 2013 Rwanda Team

Here is the prayer calendar for the Rwanda expedition that leaves on June 27.

Prayer Calendar for July 2013 Venezuela Team

At the start of July, a church-planting team leaves for Venezuela. Please keep this team in your prayers as they make final preparations, and as they go!

Here is a prayer calendar for this expedition. It might be easier to read, if you click on the photo of the calendar.

Prayer Calendar for June 2013 Uganda Team

This week a church-planting team leaves for Uganda. Will you join us in praying for this team during the next few weeks?

Here is a prayer calendar with specific, daily prayer requests. Please watch our Facebook page for prayer requests and updates, as well.

Click on the calendar below for a file you can download and print out.

God is the Main Character in This Story

“Do you know what I really enjoy? It’s a story in which God is the main character. When God draws a person to Himself, changes a person’s heart, or provides exactly what a person needs at exactly the right time in a way that only God could have orchestrated – I love that stuff.” With these words, I began a letter on Monday, May 27, to a team of people who have prayed for me and supported me over the years.

Telling stories, particularly when God receives all the glory, is a passion of mine. I recently joined e3 Legacy’s team to communicate, especially through social media, stories of how God is using ordinary people and ordinary families to reach people around the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

My summer plans included two e3 Legacy expeditions: Uganda in June; Costa Rica in July. Dating back to last April, these were my fourth and fifth e3 Legacy expeditions – five expeditions within sixteen months, and in the middle of these was a sixth event that required fundraising. I concluded my letter: “God has already provided $300 to send me to Uganda, but the financial need is – well, God will need to be the main character in this story.”

Hundreds of miles away, a lady with a heart for Uganda – her children and grandchildren live there – began praying and regularly checking the fundraising progress. “Are your fundraising numbers correct that you have $300 for each trip? I am praying the Lord moves in a BIG way!”

“I am committed to going to Uganda and Costa Rica,” I wrote back. “Just keep praying. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills!” The part about cattle was a reference to Psalm 50:10, a declaration that God has abundant resources to meet our needs.

During our Uganda team’s second training meeting, which took place the previous week, we prayed specifically against discouragement – fully a third of our Uganda team members independently expressed feeling discouraged – and for God to release funds for the team. I wrote in my journal: “Lord, thanks for providing for me today. Please meet all of my needs. Help the financial needs to start being met, even from unexpected sources. I look forward to what You do.”

Three days after I sent my letter, a person accepted a request I had made a year or two earlier to be connected through social media. While we shared a common former employer and several mutual friends, we had never worked together or been formally introduced. Wanting to be polite, I said hello, and we exchanged small talk about common interests and experiences.

Later that evening, I helped prepare for a well-promoted fundraising event. On the night of the event, storms came, and I came away discouraged by the event’s turnout. I knew it was God’s responsibility to meet my needs, but I also hoped more people would demonstrably care. When my friend with the heart for Uganda wrote to say she was praying, it was futile to fight back a few tears.

My weekend plans carried me out of town, and I went to an unfamiliar church a little grumpy. When I entered the service, I avoided eye contact and slipped past a greeter, but the greeter tracked me down and shook my hand anyway. God was pursuing me in more ways than I recognized.

It took me a few songs to feel like joining in the singing, but God gradually softened my heart. During the song “Always,” by Kristian Stanfill, God drew my attention to the song’s reference to Psalm 121. The song’s refrain says: “I lift my eyes up. My help comes from the Lord.”

The pastor who spoke that weekend, a guest speaker, gave a message about being led by the Holy Spirit. “If your back’s up against the wall, and you’re not sure how you’re going to get through the next few weeks, and you’re out of options, and you need a fresh injection of faith,” the pastor said, “faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit.” The pastor’s father-in-law, a man with a heart for planting churches in East Africa, had tragically died several months earlier. Curiously, part of the message was about leaving a legacy of faith.

Encouraged, I wrote to the Uganda team later that evening, explaining how God had used the message and the song that referenced Psalm 121 to lift my focus back to God: “HE, not other people, is the faithful source of my help. HE created the heavens and the earth. HE will provide.”

During my trip back home, the person with whom I had recently first connected through social media got in touch with me. “I see that you’re off to Uganda to spread the good news. Wonderful! I am happy to contribute to God’s work,” this person wrote. “Just let me know where to send funds. God’s kingdom is the best investment. I’m sure your team and you will touch many lives for the sake of eternity.” I made a note to follow up with this person once I got back home.

Before departing on church-planting expeditions, e3 Legacy teams meet four times for training. Following each training time, teams typically participate in a day of fasting, as spiritual preparation. While I had been out of town, I missed training sessions for the Uganda and Costa Rica expeditions – they happened concurrently, and I was unable to join either of them. I contacted the leaders of each expedition to verify that we would be fasting on Monday. The leader of the Uganda expedition said “yes,” we were fasting on Monday. The leader of the Costa Rica expedition said “Tuesday.” I had committed to both expeditions. In my heart, I decided to trust the Lord through a two-day fast.

For a few years, I’ve followed a plan to read the Bible completely through each year. It includes parts of the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs each day. Very late on Monday evening, I did my daily reading. My scheduled reading for Monday included Psalm 121. Shortly after I read that, without thinking much about it, I checked my Uganda fundraising page.

My fundraising thermometer for the Uganda expedition had skyrocketed. When I investigated to see how God had provided, I discovered that God used the person with whom I’d recently connected through social media to fund the remainder of the Uganda trip. I was stunned – joyful, but stunned.

I only slept a few hours Monday night. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I could scarcely wait for Tuesday to arrive. When I awoke on Tuesday morning, my friend with the heart for Uganda had already noticed that God provided. “When the Lord moves, He moves BIG!” Her message was waiting in my inbox.

On Tuesday morning, I wrote another letter to the team of people who have prayed for me and supported me over the years. It began: “Here’s a story in which God is the main character – a testimony to God providing exactly what I needed at exactly the right time in a way that only God could have orchestrated.”

When I’d written the first letter a week earlier, little did I know that the next story I’d share would be about God providing for me.

David R. Hoskinson recently joined e3 Legacy’s team as Communications Coordinator. He plans to join e3 Legacy expeditions to Uganda and Costa Rica during June and July.

What I Want to See All Over Uganda

Next week, an e3 Legacy team from the United States heads to Uganda to partner with Ugandan church leaders to plant new churches. A member of the team leaving from the United States shared the following account of how God is preparing him to go.

Yesterday I wept for the first time in a long time. It was in song. I was leading worship for my church yesterday morning, and the last lines I sang came out as mere babbling. Why was I crying? Why was I bawling into my microphone? It was because of you guys.

Before we started our last set, my church watched a video about church planters in Ethiopia. It ended with an Ethiopian pastor weeping and shouting in an interview, saying “This is what I want to see all over Ethiopia! This is what I want to see all over Ethiopia!”

After a week of praying that God would stir a deeper love in my heart for the people of Uganda, this hit me like a train. Seeing such an earnest heart for his people moved me in a way I had not expected. This will likely be the heart of the church leaders we will be working alongside. This is their vision for Uganda, and it is one that we must share if we are to take part in it.

Then, in our last song, we ended repeating the lines “Let the amen sound from your people again!” And it hit me even harder (like a collision of trains): this is our ministry. We are taking on the task of bringing people back into relationship with their Creator and welcoming them into a global family of believers, and they will sing to God just as we are. The amen will sound from His people again and for the first time.

How humbling that God drew us of all people for this task. And so I wept. And so I pray that this message reaches you, as well. And I pray that God is deepening your love for the people we are going to minister to. Be seeking Him as we fast tomorrow. We must be desperate for Him, for it is only by His grace that we will succeed.

Sterling Pounds departs next week for an e3 Legacy expedition to plant new churches in Uganda. This week, the team completes its fourth day of seeking the Lord through fasting, in preparation for ministering in Uganda.

Fasting Testimonials

Fasting presents pleasant surprises. Won’t you join us in one of our upcoming fasting opportunities? Share your experience with us like Rebecca and Alissa do below.

“I am 30 minutes from finishing up my fasting here in Texas. I was SO skeptical about doing this, but trusted that God would help me. He did. Every time I felt hunger pains or puny, I prayed. I prayed way more than I ever do and it was a great day! Thank you for presenting me with this challenge. I am so excited for the trip and grateful that I get to be a part of it and that I get to meet so many wonderful people!”

– Rebecca, age 30

“My fasting experience was incredible. My entire life group (small Group) did it with me to support me. We didn’t do the whole 12 hours because some people needed to take medicine and I had a huge math test, so I had some almonds before the test and they ate bread with their medicine. The idea was still intact; every time my belly growled, I prayed for my own heart, the people on the team, and the people of Cambodia. Also, our speaker at church this weekend was speaking on human nature and used what happened in Cambodia as one of his examples. I learned more about what happened and so did most of my prayer support group, and it lit a fire of prayer under us.”

– Alissa, age 16

To Fast, or Not to Fast

One aspect of pre-expedition training that our team members go through in preparing for ministering internationally includes fasting. Frankly, it’s not one of the parts most team members look forward to. Yet, I’m reminded of why our Lord loves children when I think of a nine-year-old girl whose mom told her that team preparation included fasting. Her response must have delighted God: “Can we do it today? I’ve never done that before; it’ll be fun!” Oh, out of the mouths of babes.

As we prepare our teams for one the most important parts of our expedition training – four days of prayer and fasting (no, not in a row), we share with them about this discipline of the faith.

So, what is biblical fasting?

The basic root meaning of the Greek word for fasting, nesteia, simply means “not to eat.”  Why did people in the Bible “not eat”?  Leviticus 16:29 says that fasting is synonymous with “afflicting one’s soul.”  For the Hebrews, fasting was more than afflicting one’s body, but also one’s soul. 

Biblical fasting is “not eating” with spiritual communication in mind.   In the Bible, fasting always occurs together with prayer. Biblical fasting is deliberately abstaining from food for a spiritual reason: communication and relationship with the Father. It should not be done with the mindset of attaining things, but rather of drawing closer to God Who has shown mercy and grace to us.  We fast to subdue our fallen flesh, so we can commune closely with our Lord.

Not Commanded, but Expected

When Jesus spoke of fasting, he did not say, “if you fast,” but “when you fast” (Matthew 6:16).  Our Lord assumes that Christians will fast. 

God said, “When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you” (Jeremiah 29:13-14).  When you are willing to set aside the legitimate appetites of the body to concentrate on the work of praying, you are demonstrating that you mean business, that you are seeking God with all your heart.

Fasting puts things in proper focus.  It is a physical way of saying, “Food and the things of this life are not as important to me right now as __________________.”

Getting Right with God First

We cannot fast and pray expecting God to bless when there is known sin in our lives.  Fasting does not impress God with our spirituality to the point that He ignores our disobedience.  Genuine fasting will always cause us to examine our hearts to make sure everything is right with Him. Also, fasting does not serve to change God’s mind, speed up His answer, or manipulate His will.

Fasting Specifics

Our team fasting is a time of connecting with the Lord, not legalism. Therefore, we provide guidelines for the team and encourage them to keep whatever commitment they make to the Lord. This liquid-only fast is from from 7am-7pm, but some team members chose to do a 24-hour fast. Some have health issues or are training athletically, so we suggest protein shakes. Again, the purpose is to seek God; to spend the time praying when you normally would be eating; to pray, and hunger reminds you to pray; to die to our own desires; to rely on God to do whatever it is you committed to do before the Lord.

Because it’s a corporate fast, we send an email to team members with the prayer focus for the fast. We encourage team members to invite their support team to join them in praying and/or fasting on the prayer/fast days. They can forward the prayer focus email to their supporters. 

Preparing for Fasting Success

Because fasting is a new experience for most team members, we provide tips for success. We caution them to be prepared for some dizziness, headaches, or nausea in the early going and encourage them to break their fast gradually with a light and easy meal to digest. They are encouraged to enter fasting with a positive faith that God will reward those who fast with the right motives. Jesus promised that “when you fast, your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:18). Of course, we need to avoid the temptation to grumble; when tempted to complain about being hungry, take a “heart check.” Sometime during the fast, it is good mix fasting with prayer, time in Scripture reading, singing, or devotional reading. Remember, fasting is not an end in itself. Seek the Lord, not the experience of fasting. Check your motives concerning your fasting. Hypocrisy and spiritual pride can easily creep in. There is a reward for fasting, but only for fasting done with the right motives: “Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:28).

Will You Join Us?

We have two more prayer and fast days before we depart for Uganda June 20. We would be honored to have you partner with us by fasting and praying. If you would like to do that, send us an email, and we will send you the prayer focus for the day.

Remember, God wants to use this precious prayer and fast time to intensify our desire for Him, reveal His will, and grant understanding and peace.