Monday, September 29

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggedy Jig

Thank you, thank you, thank you. For your intercession, for your love, and for your support. Dr. Grant and the entire Iraq ministry team returned home jubilantly--and safely! God marvelously answered all our prayers and did a mighty work among the Kurdish, Assyrian, Chaledean, and Arab believers of that tortured land. As soon as he recovers a bit from jet lag and clears off the vast piles of correspondence on his desk, Dr. Grant will be sharing some of the amazing stories from the trip--those of us in his Sunday School class have already gotten a debriefing. What a wonderful testimony of God's grace!

Friday, September 26

Call Jehovah

As I prayed for Dr. Grant and the SGI team recently, the 19th century words of Call Jehovah became a part of my intercession. I sang what little I could remember, “Call Jehovah your salvation, rest beneath th’ Almighty’s shade”. From there I could recall only the hymn tune. When I got home I headed straight for my trusty hymnbook to pray the rest of the song on behalf of our brothers and sisters in the Servant Group team:

“From the sword at noon-day wasting,
From the noisome pestilence,
In the depth of mid-night blasting,
God shall be your sure defense:
He shall charge His angel legions
Watch and ward o’er you to keep;
Though you walk through hostile regions,
Though in desert wilds you sleep.”

Come to find out, the hymn talked about “hostile regions” and “desert wilds”.

Even now, Dr. Grant and the Servant Group team are making their way home. While everyone here at King’s Meadow and in the Franklin community has been earnestly petitioning for their safety, we are constantly reminded that they have answered the call to share the gospel in a land of opportunity despite the risks. As Dr. Grant reminded us before they left:

“Yes, it will be a difficult trip. Yes, it will be a costly trip. Yes, it will be a dangerous trip. But [we are] committed to running toward the roar. Besides, the opportunities our team has been afforded are absolutely incredible. “

Come to find out, he was thinking about more eternal things than “hostile regions” and “desert wilds”.