February 21st, 2011
{ Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits;}---- Psalms 103:2 NAS
Jeremiah 19:3 NLT “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
John 10:10 AMP “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” ---Jesus
Psalm 91:14-16 NKJ 14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. 16 ith long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”[ God loves you, He calls you by name, and He will guide, bless, and help you
Dear Friends, Emie and I pray the Lord will richly bless you today and throughout this year--- & all the years to come. May His love, joy, & encouragement be with you in new and special ways. We pray He will grant you the desires of your heart and that 2011 will be a year of positive breakthrough and victory in your life and service to the Lord. 2 John 3 “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.”
God encourages us to not give up in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” And in Hebrews 10:36 we are again exhorted to complete what the Lord has called us to do: “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. When we are persistent in fulfilling the various areas of God’s call on our life---we will reap the harvest and receive all that the Lord’s has promised us. May the Lord give us all a clear vision of His highest purposes for each of our lives---and may He give us all the strength, wisdom, anointing, and committed will to fulfill His plan for our lives on earth---prior to graduation day. Amen.
Josepa (Nanay) Machado is an 80+ year old Filipina lady who used to work for many years in Samar for another ministry group with their children’s ministry and as a secretary . Emie & I both knew her in the 1990’s and appreciated her love for the children’s ministry. When she left the ministry because of old age, Nanay had no ministry retirement income nor social security. She moved a fair distance from this region to Romblon island to live with some poor relatives. Emie and I would send her occasional help until a few years ago when we were able to send her some monthly financial help due to the donation for her from one of our friends and ministry partners. She sends us a monthly letter thanking us for the help. In one letter Nanay writes: “… God bless you and may He continue to sustain you as you continue to serve in love. How faithful God is to every one of you. /Thank you so much for what you are sending to me as well as your prayers. Without I could do less… your prayers and giving is not in vain. / I’m still taking medication. I hope I could stop using it. Nevertheless your financial help and prayers are a great help to me./ I continue to pray for you as you do for me./ Love, Nanay Josepa” {In other letters she shares her continued burden & prayers for reaching children
Yesterday I drove to Calbiga, Samar to minister to the church congregation we have in that area. It is about a one hour drive and I took my ministry support team with me, my son Hugh, and daughters Gracia, Faith, and Joy. It was a blessing to join in fellowship and praise & worship the Lord with the church members there. The church sits on a high riverbank lot, in a rural farming area about 3 kilometers from the city proper. We had a really good service there and several people were touched by the Lord during the alter call. The joy of the Lord was there in a special way. Pastor Leo, the Filipino pastor there later sent a text message to my wife and said the people were really happy and blessed by my visit. He also shared that he personally had a break-though as that was the first time he had interpreted for an English speaking pastor. (He had been a little nervous as the regular interpreter was absent, but I found that Pastor Leo did a good job.) There has been a breakthrough in intercessory prayer in Region 8. In a recent prayer conference most of the pastors of various churches in Tacloban, and other areas in the islands of Leyte, Samar, & Biliran have felt led to start a 24 hour prayer chain for the region. In Tacloban various pastors and their church members are beginning to sign up for specific hours of prayer to cover the whole week. Also every morning, Monday to Saturday, from 5 A.M. to 6 A.M. different pastors from the churches are gathering at our Eternal Life
ministry area in the Tacloban Astrodome, and having joint intercessory prayer. I usually am up early and so last week I drove downtown and opened up the prayer area at 5 A.M. all but one day when Emie went. We use the meeting area for Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday night meetings for our local church, for the Tacloban Pastor’s regular weekly meeting, and for special seminars at different times. And we offered it to be used for these daily prayer meetings. I have always believed that “Prayer precedes the victory” and we are looking for a special move of God as a result of fervent prayer.
In December we were able to help out several poor families and seniors with food packets and other help. These people were really happy and thankful for the surprise help. We will continue to help the poor as the Lord leads and provides. The Sunday morning radio broadcasts are continuing to reach people for Jesus throughout region 8 and beyond. Emie gets texts on her cell phone every week from people who have been encouraged and touched by the messages on our radio program. People are getting saved and many are strengthened and encouraged in their faith. Most of the 21 churches we are helping to establish in Leyte, Samar, and Biliran islands are doing pretty well. We still have monthly meetings with the pastors for fellowship, prayer, & teaching. As many of the churches are in more remote and poorer areas, we also continue to help out the pastors with some modest but very helpful financial ministry gifts to assist them in their pioneering church work. The per capita income in the Philippines is still about 4% of the per capita income in the States, so while finances remain a significant challenge in this country, I see these pastors doing the best they can with what they have to work with. Emie and I would once again like to say “thank-you very much” for your friendship, prayers, and financial help to us in sharing the gospel and helping lead people to Jesus. We pray for you often, we trust the Lord to reward you for your partnership, and continue to pray for the salvation of all your relatives and friends. God bless you always. In Christ’s Love, Gordon & Emie
P.S. New people are being saved every month. Please pray we can help them grow to maturity in their faith and to be fruitful servants to the Lord. Please pray for us in all the regular areas we request monthly, and especially for good health, protection, daily prayer support, & abundant financial resources to be provided for every good ministry work for the Lord. In regards to finances, I will simply say---we could really use some help in that area at the present time. We greatly appreciate all who are already helping, but please pray for the Lord to touch the hearts of new people to help us in sharing the gospel and touch hearts of those capable of special gifts. Thank-you.
