Prayer Letters
Graham & Frieda's Update
September 2007
Dear friends,
We returned on August 7 from our two months ministering in Europe (Germany, Czech Republic & Poland) and Indonesia. In each place, we experienced the grace and strength of the Lord. How precious is the fellowship of God’s beloved ones – a joy transcending all cultural and language barriers.
Thanks so much for praying for our travels and ministries. Our faithful God guarded our footsteps as we travelled thousands of kilometers by plane, train and car to visit, equip and encourage God’s people, with a special burden to minister God’s truths concerning relationships in marriage and family.
On the one hand, we tasted the grace and power of God at work. On the other hand, we also felt our weakness … like those moments in Jakarta during Book Launch seminars when it came time for the question & answer time, puzzled by the question, or by the issue behind the question, etc. “Lord, I’m feeling so inadequate. I just don’t know what he’s getting at.” Honestly I came away from these meetings feeling a bit down.
But the Lord knows how to encourage the weak. Some days after this particular meeting, I received an email from one of the participants: “I tell you one thing, on Friday (the day after you gave first lesson to us) we (me and some members of the Bible Study) involved in deep conversation about that issue….we just realized that God forbids us to get married with different religion, the best understanding about that, because HE love us very much and keep us still in HIS plan….this is so encourage us, actually some of us ever facing situation like that.” All praise to God our Strength who keeps reminding us that His power and glory is demonstrated through these ordinary, weak vessels of clay.
God also showed us His presence with us by arranging some unexpected “coincidences”. For example, how He reunited us with a very dear friend and former seminary student of ours (from the mid-1970s). How do you look for such a person in Jakarta with its 12-15 million people? Over the past few years, we’ve repeatedly tried to make contact with this friend, all without success.Again on this visit, we asked around but no-one could tell us where she is presently living and ministering .....
Until God arranged a lunch engagement with the Rector and his wife of a large Christian university in Jakarta.In the course of our conversation, his wife just happened to tell us about this friend of hers that has mentioned our names to her!! Absolutely amazing.
Our meetingwith this dear servant of God was God-planned as she needed a lot of encouragement, counsel, support and prayer for some really painful personal and ministry situations. Mrs. G is a widow who’s been pastoring a small church since her husband died 16 years ago. Five years ago, their church building was ransacked and destroyed by the “opposition”. And she’s still there, persevering, having led the rebuilding project et al. A woman of steel and perseverance, yet also feeling weak and under attack from the enemy. Please don’t forget to pray for this dear sister in Christ, her family and her church.
Strength and weakness go together in God’s ministry equation, don’t they? Someone with the name Paul once wrote: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor.12:10) So if you also struggle with your own personal weaknesses – as Mrs. G and we do, don’t lose heart. Think of what the mighty things that the Lord might be doing through your weakness. (And if you feel strong … well, I’ll let you complete that equation for yourself!)
Let us also tell you a few of the struggles that God’s people are presently experiencing in the countries we visited:
- The intense spiritual battles of Christian young people in German high schools and universities – facing direct attacks and ridicule in the classroom from teachers – young Christians are battling a strong anti-Christian moral climate – hard to withstand the pressures, but God has His faithful, persevering witnesses
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The spiritual hardness of most Czechs towards anything religious and spiritual – the long, hard road that most people must travel in their journey to faith – yet we had our best ever talk about spiritual things with our former landlords
- The small candles burning brightly for Jesus amid the oppressive Catholicism of Poland – a very visible Christian presence, but tragically so far removed from the living presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in His people
- Churches of many different shades and sizes in Indonesia– Christians faithfully gathering for worship, yet in daily life many struggling to practice their faith within the present-day turbulent moral and religious climate
Finally, pray for us as we prepare ourselves for our forthcoming equipping & encouraging ministries in Russia and again in Indonesia – from the end of September to mid-November. May God continue to be honoured as He turns our weakness into His strength.
Again, MANY thanks for continuing in the fight with us through your prayers. We send you our warmest greetings and love.
Your fellow-servants,
Graham & Frieda