Sabbath Morning Feb. 23, 5:39 AM

Mosquitoes - 0

Reed - 3

I slept pretty good last night, for about six hours or so, waking up to the sounds of roosters. As I awoke my thoughts swirled with everything going on. I have been thinking about what messages to preach..."The people need encouragement" is what Jackson said. Different than the typical doctrinal approach. I think that this morning I will preach on John 16:7 and the advantage of the Holy Spirit. This afternoon I will talk about stress for the health talk and also preach from numbers 13-14 and the faith of Caleb and Joshua who received from God exactly what they expected from Him. This evening I will preach on Phil 4:6-7 and worry/trust in God.

I prayed a little this morning and read Eph. 6:10-20. "for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities..." I needed the reminder that my fight is not against flesh and blood, it is not against circumstances, events, malaria, separation, or anything else from this world. My struggle is against Satan and his hosts. A little scary to think about. But also encouraging at the same time "Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord" I need God's armor, I need His strength, I need HIM, more than I could possibly realize. I praise the Lord that He is freely available. He has promised Himself, His spirit, His power, His righteousness, His wisdom, His love if I would come to Him. That is my desire this morning Lord to receive from You, to receive You.

Lord forgive me for my self pity and selfishness. Forgive me for making things all about me. Forgive me for who I am. Lord I pray for the righteousness of Jesus this morning. I pray for His blood to cover me, I pray for His life in place of my own. I pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit to be upon me today, upon Jackson and Pastor Reuben today, upon Elijah, that we might be strong in you. I pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon my life today, that I might love these people as you do, that I might be moved with compassion for them. That I might be a vessel for you to speak to their hearts, to encourage them, to draw them, to save them.

Lord you are so good. I praise you for the promise of John 6:37 that all who come to you you will in no way cast out. Lord this morning I come to You, believing that You accept me. I come to You, Lord wanting Jesus to fill my life today, I come to You wanting my will to be swallowed up in Yours. Lord you have given so much. You have given Jesus Christ, Yourself, Lord because of that I believe that You will also freely give everything else that You have promised. Thank you Lord. I praise you for all the blessings in my life. I praise You for this opportunity to be here. I praise you for my wife Jade and the encouraging notes she left in my bag. I praise You for Faith, for the wonderful joy that she is.

Lord I praise You for Your word. It has been an encouragement to me this morning. You keep bringing amazing promises to my mind this morning. I praise you for that. Lord I thank You for the privilege of standing by faith in Your strength, in Your righteousness. Lord I want to walk with You today, I want to abide in You. I want to rest in You. I don't want to drift into living in my own strength. I thank You for the work You are doing on my heart, Lord please continue to work this morning upon it. Thank You that I can count on You to finish the work that You start. In Jesus name, Amen.

It is 6:14 and I can hear the choir practicing outside. They are amazing. They have left their jobs for two weeks to work for this crusade. They visit people all day long and sing before each meeting. I pray for that same Spirit of self-sacrifice.

Saturday Night Feb. 23, 10:01 PM

Today was a pretty good day. I preached three times, on the Holy Spirit, Christ's suffering, and how Christ became sin for us (2 cor. 5:21). I also did a health talk about water. The most notable thing that happened today was in the afternoon. Pastor Jackson and I were working on the evening slides when Elijah came to the door and spoke with Jackson. Jackson said that a girl named Sauda Mshana had come and told Elijah that she had some problems and wanted to know how much she had to pay in order to be baptized. We went to talk with her. She has some health problems with her stomach and leg. She also said that there is no peace in her marriage. Her husband drinks. I talked with her (through Jackson) about peace reading John 14:27. I told her that true peace only comes from Jesus, the peace the world offers is only temporary and not really genuine. I asked her if she had ever belonged to a church. She said she was Muslim. I asked her if she would like to accept Christ's peace and she said yes. So I prayed and then had her pray. She prayed for peace in her marriage and health. She prayed in faith believing God would answer her prayer. Afterwards Elijah talked to her and explained that she could be baptized this sabbath and that she was to prepare to do so.

Mosquitoes - 0

Reed - 4