God's provision

There are many thoughts this late night as I am writing.

Clearly, fundraising for our ministry is not on many people's minds in my home state. Alabama has been devastated by tornadoes. Most of our donors from earlier projects came from Alabama, so we would ask you to pray for our projects for which we are trying to raise funds. Also, please pray for those affected in Alabama.

The immediate project for Homegrown Harvesters is for Pastor Raffy Begafria in Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte. The church building is not complete, and we are praying to raise $2,200, which would allow them to finish their building and provide funds for the church for its anniversary service. The anniversary service, which will involve a celebration of God's work and an evangelistic outreach, will be held May 25. Pastor Raffy will also be preaching the Gospel on May 24 at an engagement ceremony, so please pray for the lost people who will be there and will hear the good news of Christ's salvation.

Even as the funds are slow to be collected, God is still providing. The mother church in Ozamis City has been praying for children's literature for Sunday School. It's hard to call it miraculous, but God has providentially provided for these materials. We would ask your continued prayers, because these materials are promised at this point, but not tangibly here. So, please pray that they would arrive before my trip to the Philippines set for May 18. Also, please pray for that trip.

We did not ask for this one, but God provided it anyway. After she learned about what we were trying to do, a woman in our church asked, "Do you just need children's material?" She had been saving her adult Sunday School materials for years apparently, so she went home and brought back about 30 student books for the evening service. She also gave us a lot of other materials (devotionals, tracts, pamphlets), so we thank God for her generosity.

My final thoughts tonight rest on the biggest international news of the day, the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. His death was a victory for justice but a tragedy for eternity. It should make us sober as we think about a man who will forever be lost, forever without hope, forever without comfort, experiencing only God's wrath. We must realize that we are as deserving of hell as bin Laden is. His eternal punishment would be ours without God's grace through Jesus Christ.

Some of the pastors in this family of churches minister among the Muslim groups in the Philippines. Al-Qaeda even has a presence in the nation, and one of the pastors was a member of al-Qaeda before he converted. We don't expect al-Qaeda to be rejoicing today or in the coming weeks, so please pray for these dear brothers who minister among some of these groups. Pray for their safety and their effectiveness. Let us remember this: Every terrorist, every Muslim is one witness away from being redeemed for eternity.

In Christ,
Micah