The Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer. The stories in the 2012 Mission Yearbook were gathered around the prayer of Paul for the Colossians, that these faithful brothers and sisters would bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God (1:10).
Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 15, 2012
MINUTE FOR MISSION: RACE RELATIONS - As a white, Presbyterian woman, my heart cries out for an end to the injustice of racism and for the vision of "the beloved community'' to become our reality. I am very thankful for the engagement of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in antiracism work, and my own opportunity to participate through the Presbytery of Detroit Antiracism and Reconciliation Team and Presbyterian Women's Churchwide Antiracism Committee.
CLICK HERE to read more.
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| Climbing Blind |
Staff Report
OA Life
Odessa American
ODESSA-MIDLAND, TEXAS - Rock the Desert continues to work to bring in bands for its August 2-4 concerts. The festival confirmed via twitter on Tuesday that Climbing Blind would be performing at the annual Christian rock event.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the OA story
Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Our mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, we seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).
Epiphany
“The wise ones hurried from the East.
They are the wise of the world.
They are the ones wise in science, for they read the ‘intelligent design’ of the stars.
They are the wise ones of the economy, for they come with gold.
They are the wise ones of politics, for they sought a king.
They are our delegates, as we stand carrying all the learning of the academy,
of the market,
of the laboratory,
of the halls of power.
They came, tenaciously and eagerly and regally.
They came and bowed down before your foolishness.
They sensed the contradiction
between his vulnerability and their sagacity,
between his innocence and their calculation,
between his exposure and their many concealing robes of power
They worshiped him!
They recognized that he called into question all that they treasured,
so they yielded their best to him,
their preciousness,
their secret potions,
their rich perfumes.
And we stand alongside them with
our wealth,
our control,
our smarts,
our sophistication,
our affluence.
Give us freedom like theirs
to yield,
to worship,
to adore,
to have our lives contradicted.
Give us grace like theirs to embrace the foolishness of the child,
that the first will be last and the last first,
that the humble will be exalted and the exalted humbled,
that we may lose the world and gain our lives.
Give us the imagination like theirs
to go home by another route
on the path where foolishness is wisdom
and weakness is strength
and poverty is wealth.
Make our new foolishness specific
that the world might become —
through us — new.”
Prayers for a Privileged People, by Walter Brueggemann
A message from Chris Laufer, Coordinator, Faces of Children
Greetings, Faces of Children Prayer Partner,
Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer for children, those who care for them, those who have authority over them, and also for those who harm them. Your prayers are indeed gifts of love!
We will meet on Wednesday, January 11, 2012, at 11:30 a.m. to pray for the children of our local and global community. The Midland Faces of Children prayer group meets in the Bride's room at First Presbyterian Church-Midland. Please join us for this time of prayer, and afterward for lunch ($5) and a time of fellowship.
If you have requests about children, those who care for them, those who have authority over them, or those who harm them (the really hard prayers to say sometimes), please send them to me at at claufer@facesofchildren.net, or give me a call. Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer for the children of our world.
Thank you for your prayers for the children of our world!
Christmas and New Year’s blessings to you and those you love,
Chris
By Kathleen Thurber
Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram
MIDLAND, TEXAS - For Mildred Stone, giving back has become second nature.
When she recently was asked to attend a luncheon where she’d be honored for her service, Stone replied that she appreciated the offer but that she would have to decline. She said she volunteers because she enjoys the work, not because she wants anyone to know of her contributions.
“I just like to do it and kind of stay in the background,” she said.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the MRT story
The China Aid Association is a non-profit Christian organization - based in Midland, Texas - with a mission to uncover and reveal the truth about religious persecution in China, focusing especially on the unofficial church. They do this, they explain in their website, by exposing the abuses, encouraging the abused and equipping the saints to advance the kingdom of God throughout China.
Nearly 50 Shouwang House Church Members Detained on New Year’s Day in Beijing
Distributed by ChinaAid, January, 2012 ...
"BEIJING, CHINA – On the first Sunday of 2012, nearly 50 members of Shouwang Church in Beijing were detained following the church’s decision to continue its outdoor worship services that began in April, ChinaAid has learned."
CLICK HERE for more on this story from China Aid
By Megan Lea Buck
Features Editor
Midland Reporter-Telegram
MIDLAND, TEXAS - Stephen Ray and his wife, Janet, took their family to the Holy Land in 2000. The trip wasn't the first for Steve and Janet, but the opportunity to visit key places mentioned in the Bible made the experience significant for their children.
"When we took our kids it had a profound effect on our kids' lives," Stephen Ray said. "I thought to myself, wouldn't it be great if we could take everyone."
After the family returned to the States, Ray had an idea that would allow him to "take everyone" on a trip to the Holy Land. In the middle of the night, he woke up knowing he had to create a video series to document the history of the Catholic faith.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the MRT story
The Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer. The stories in the 2012 Mission Yearbook were gathered around the prayer of Paul for the Colossians, that these faithful brothers and sisters would bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God (1:10).
Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 8, 2012
MINUTE FOR MISSION: BAPTISM OF THE LORD - For over eight years, the Lord has called me to walk alongside our South Sudanese siblings as a member of Christian Solidarity International (CSI), a human rights organization delivering humanitarian aid in South Sudan since 1995. CSI also assists in retrieving family members taken into slavery.
CLICK HERE to read more.
By Meredith Moriak
Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram
MIDLAND, TEXAS - To Kyle Mahan, a second-grader at Santa Rita Elementary, there’s no time like the present to give back to others and be philanthropic.
After seeing a news report about starving children in Africa and being shocked by the physical weakness of their bodies, Kyle said he wanted to do something to help.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the MRT story
The Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer. The stories in the 2012 Mission Yearbook were gathered around the prayer of Paul for the Colossians, that these faithful brothers and sisters would bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God (1:10).
Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 7, 2012
GUATEMALA (continued) - The Union Sinodica Femenil is the national women's organization of the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala. Established in 1951, the Sinodica now has a membership of about 3,000 women and includes 18 presbyteries and 5 different language groups. The mission of the Sinodica is to train, orient, and accompany Presbyterian women in their different ministries. This is often difficult because of the status of women in the society and in the church.
CLICK HERE to read more.
By Meredith Moriak
Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram
MIDLAND, TEXAS - The transition from childhood to adolescence is not an easy one for parents or children. There often seems to be a bit of turbulence. Nationally-known family and teen consultant, Mark Gregston, will speak about those issues Saturday at Midland College.
Gregston, an author, speaker, radio host and the founder and director of Heartlight, a therapeutic boarding school in East Texas, has worked with families for more than 30 years.
During Saturday’s Turbulence Ahead seminar, Gregston will host two sessions “What’s happening to my teen?” and “Parenting teens in a confusing culture.”
The event is coordinated by Charis Ranch, a newly-formed Christian therapeutic counseling program for struggling teens ages 13-17 that currently offers mentoring, guidance and animal connection programs to teens who are struggling, said Executive Director Bella Lucero. The ranch hopes to open a year-long residential program in the future, she said.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the MRT story
The Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer. The stories in the 2012 Mission Yearbook were gathered around the prayer of Paul for the Colossians, that these faithful brothers and sisters would bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God (1:10).
Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 6, 2012
GUATEMALA - In 1986, a group of Central American Christians from a variety of churches asked how to be faithful to Jesus Christ in a context of widespread poverty and violence. They dreamed that their churches might become agents of transformation. More than 25 years later, the Central America Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies (CEDEPCA) continues to offer theological training and pastoral accompaniment to women and men aimed at changing lives, churches, and communities.
CLICK HERE to read more.
Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Our mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, we seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).
Prayer Concerns for the week of 12/4/12
IRAQ, UNITED STATES - Pray for women widowed during decades of violence, war, and uprisings in Iraq. Approximately nine percent of Iraq’s women — about 900,000 — are widows, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Planning. Pray for those with children, and especially for widowed mothers who struggle to provide for their families. Please pray that more programs designed to help widows become economically self-sufficient will be available. Pray God will bring comfort to children who have lost their fathers to violent deaths.
A report from the New York Times
• Pray for the children and people of Iraq following the departure of American troops and almost nine years of war. Pray the multitude of issues facing this country—how to divide the country’s oil wealth, how to share power between Iraq’s three main sectarian groups (Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds), how to establish an impartial justice system—may be resolved peacefully and justly.
Another report from the New York Times
• Give thanks to God so many American soldiers have been able to return from Iraq in time for the Christmas holidays. Pray for these service personnel as they adjust to life back in the United States with their families and friends. Please pray for God’s comforting presence for children whose fathers or mothers will never come home from war.
A report from the Washington Post
• Pray for the thousands of former and current U.S. military personnel who experience post-traumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorder resulting from traumatic events. Many have difficulty maintaining relationships with spouses and children and often experience feelings of isolation. Pray for families who are unsure how to help these wounded loved ones who have such devastating, but invisible injuries.
A report from the Chicago Tribune
• Pray for military veterans and current service personnel who have been injured in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pray they will receive the right treatment and medical care for their conditions.
• Give thanks to God for the work of the staff and volunteers with the Wounded Warrior Project in providing support for so many injured military men and women.
Wounded Warrior Project website
UNITED STATES - Please continue to pray that God will bring healing to 6-year-old Ty who hasn’t responded well to new chemotherapy treatments. Pray his condition improves—he has come out of the coma he was in, but now he’s unable to form words properly, is lethargic, and can’t stand up. Please keep Ty’s parents and little brother Casey in prayer, as well. Pray God will bring them all comfort, assurance, and peace during this frightening time.
• Pray for 15-year-old Ian who was diagnosed with desmoplastic small round cell tumor, an aggressive and extremely rare form of cancer. Ian is one of only 200 documented people who have been diagnosed with this rare cancer since 1989. Pray for God’s healing presence with Ian during this difficult time. Give thanks to God for Ian’s positive attitude and determination to train for cross country track again in the spring. Praise be to God for Ian’s track teammates and church family as they rally around this young man and his family, providing encouragement and support.
A report from WDAY-TV
• Please continue to keep 11-year-old Dallas in prayer as he adjusts to life in the foster home in which he was placed after his mother was arrested. Give thanks to God that he is doing very well in school now. Pray that his mother Betty* will make better choices for herself and Dallas in the future. Pray she will be able to provide more stability in Dallas’ life.
• Give God thanks that 17-year-old Thomas* is doing well in the alternative high school he attends now. Thomas was expelled from school last year for possessing a firearm — he accidentally shot a friend in the abdomen. Pray Thomas will focus on school and commit to attending regularly. Recently, he skipped school and was involved in a traffic accident that totaled a neighbor’s car. Pray for Thomas’ mother and father as they struggle to parent this young man. Thomas’ father is disabled because of a cancerous brain tumor and his mother has Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune disorder that is aggravated by stress.
Chron's Online website
FACES OF CHILDREN - Please continue to keep 26-year-old Brittany, the friend of a Faces of Children prayer partner, held close in prayer as she begins aggressive radiation treatment for cancer that has spread to her skull. Pray God’s healing power will completely cure Brittany and that this miracle will be a testimony to the people in her life of God’s mercy and love. Pray that God will wrap arms of comfort around this young woman and bring her peace
• Please continue to pray that more churches and individuals will join with the ministry of Faces of Children in spreading awareness about children in crisis and inviting more people to pray for children at risk.
• If you have prayer requests about children, those who care for them, those who have authority over them, or those who harm them (the really hard prayers to say sometimes), please send them to Chris Laufer, FOC Coordinator, at claufer@facesofchildren.net
* Name changed for confidentiality and/or protection.
By Sara Higgins
Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram
MIDLAND, TEXAS - Midland Bible Church will provide the movie and food, but some members recommend that attendees bring a few extra tissues — just in case.
The congregation’s men’s and outreach ministries are hosting a showing of the movie “Courageous” at the church’s auditorium at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $5 and admission will include a steak dinner and a chance to win door prizes including 30 copies of the movie on DVD, two $25 Mardel gift cards and a 46-inch HD television.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the MRT story
The Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer. The stories in the 2012 Mission Yearbook were gathered around the prayer of Paul for the Colossians, that these faithful brothers and sisters would bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God (1:10).
Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 5, 2012
MEXICO (continued) - Seven-year-old Abril plays tambourine as we sing "El Senor Marchando Va!" or "The Lord Marches On!" Four months earlier drug cartels abducted Abril's father, just as they have so many others. As I watch this thin, awkward little girl press on as she looks to her mom, I am struck by God's power. At this moment in the service, I realize God is unstoppable as he carries this little girl and all of us onward, no matter what. This small, Presbyterian mission church, on the edge of the dusty, dangerous town of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, appears just as awkward and vulnerable as Abril, but here you can see the Lord marching on!
CLICK HERE to read more.
By Sara Higgins
Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram
MIDLAND, TEXAS - Advent marks a change in season for churches waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but this year it also brought a new change to the way Catholics celebrate Mass.
Changes to the Roman Missal, the official prayer book used at Mass, came into effect Nov. 27, the first Sunday of Advent for English-speaking parishes around the world. The revisions brought new English translations from the original Latin that affect prayers both priests and their parishes have used for decades.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the MRT story
The Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer. The stories in the 2012 Mission Yearbook were gathered around the prayer of Paul for the Colossians, that these faithful brothers and sisters would bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God (1:10).
Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 4, 2012
MEXICO - Gethsemane Presbyterian Church is a beacon of the dignity, freedom, and hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not unlike the believers of Colossea, believers in the rural Huasteca region of central Mexico struggle to understand and live the reality of their new lives that are "hidden with Christ in God'' (Col. 3:3). Nevertheless, they have no doubts about the power of the gospel to loosen the bonds .
CLICK HERE to read more.
Staff Report
OA Life
Odessa American
ODESSA-MIDLAND, TEXAS - Rock the Desert festival officials have announced on Twitter that they are in the process of booking Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow as a speaker for an "RTD event" with the band Switchfoot, sometime between February and May.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the OA story
The Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer. The stories in the 2012 Mission Yearbook were gathered around the prayer of Paul for the Colossians, that these faithful brothers and sisters would bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God (1:10).
Today in the Mission Yearbook: January 3, 2012
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (continued) - In the mountains of Cochabamba, Bolivia, in celebration of the bicentennial of Latin American Caribbean independence in 2010, the Forum of Ecumenical Theological Education of Latin America and the Caribbean (FETELAC) was formed. According to FETELAC, the reality of Latin America and the Caribbean is dynamic because of the growth of new religious expressions, the renewed manifestation of original and Afro cultures and religions, and new social and political movements.
CLICK HERE to read more.
The China Aid Association is a non-profit Christian organization - based in Midland, Texas - with a mission to uncover and reveal the truth about religious persecution in China, focusing especially on the unofficial church. They do this, they explain in their website, by exposing the abuses, encouraging the abused and equipping the saints to advance the kingdom of God throughout China.
Chinese House Church Alliance’s 2012 New Year’s Message: Nothing can separate us from the love of God
Distributed by ChinaAid, January, 2012 ...
"MIDLAND, TEXAS – 'We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.'
(II Corinthians: 8-9)
In God’s grace and keeping, the Chinese House Church Alliance and all house churches in China usher in 2012, a year full of hope. In the past year, the Chinese government continued its policy of persecution against house churches and did so with increasing intensity.
CLICK HERE for more on this story from China Aid
Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Our mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, we seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).
Christmas … the Very Next Day
“Had we the chance, we would have rushed
to Bethlehem
to see this thing that had come to pass.
Had we been a day later,
we would have found the manger empty
and the family departed.
We would have learned that they fled to Egypt,
warned that the baby was endangered,
sought by the establishment of the day
that understood how his very life
threatened the way things are.
We would have paused at the empty stall
and pondered how this baby
from the very beginning was under threat.
The powers understood that his grace threatened all our coercions;
they understood that his truth challenged all our lies;
they understood that his power to heal nullified our many pathologies;
they understood that his power to forgive
vetoed the power of guilt and the drama of debt among us.
From day one they pursued him, and schemed and conspired
until finally…on a gray Friday …
they got him!
No wonder the family fled,
in order to give him time for his life.
We could still pause at the empty barn —
and ponder that all our babies are under threat,
all the vulnerable who stand at risk before predators,
our babies who face the slow erosion of consumerism,
our babies who face the reach of sexual exploitation,
our babies who face the call to war, placed as we say, ‘in harm’s way,’
our babies, elsewhere in the world,
who know of cold steel against soft arms
and distended bellies from lack of food;
our babies everywhere who are caught in the fearful display of ruthless adult power.
We ponder how peculiar this baby at Bethlehem is,
summoned to save the world,
and yet
we know, how like every child, this one also was at risk.
The manger is empty a day later …
the father warned in a dream.
Our world is so at risk, and yet we seek after and wait for
this child named ‘Emmanuel.’
Come be with us, you who are called ‘God with us.’”
Prayers for a Privileged People, by Walter Brueggemann
A message from Chris Laufer, Coordinator, Faces of Children
Greetings, Faces of Children Prayer Partner,
Please join us in prayer for children on Wednesday, January 4, 2012, at 11:30 a.m. in the Bride's room at First Presbyterian Church-Midland. Please join us for this time of prayer, and afterward for lunch ($5) and a time of fellowship.
If you have requests about children, those who care for them, those who have authority over them, or those who harm them (the really hard prayers to say sometimes), please send them to me at at claufer@facesofchildren.net, or give me a call. Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer for the children of our world.
Thank you for your prayers for the children of our world!
Christmas and New Year’s blessings to you and those you love,
Chris
The Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study is a daily devotional with 365 inspiring mission stories that come from next door and all across the globe. It inspires thousands of Presbyterians daily as they uphold the mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in intercessory prayer. The stories in the 2012 Mission Yearbook were gathered around the prayer of Paul for the Colossians, that these faithful brothers and sisters would bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God (1:10).
