Important Prayer Request

Hi everybody. This will be a shorter post this time, I promise :)

But it’s also one of the most important posts I could ever make. I want to ask you all please, please, please to be praying for my friend Derek. I do not think that he knows Jesus as his own friend yet. But I know that deep inside, he would like to. I also know that once he sees Jesus as a friend and experiences God taking him by the hand, he will never wish to go back to the way things were before. There is no going back once we begin to personally understand who God is and once we become inseparably caught up in His presence in our lives.

So please pray. I want the very best for my friend. I want a relationship with Jesus Christ to be a reality for him. There is no experience I could ever wish more for him. This is the very top of the list! Please pray that God will say, “Hi Derek. Come and follow me. I will fulfill you and give you purpose and hope like no one else. Give your life to me.” And please pray that Derek will be bold and ready to respond.

This is a friend who has supported me more than I can accurately describe, and in various ways. He has supported me in very large aspects and with small details to make my time and my service in Ukraine possible and to add some comforting touches of America for me. And I know he will continue to support me with thoughtful attention.

Derek, I know you’ll read this. Thanks for giving me the “ok” to post this request. I want you to know how valued and supported you really are.

To everyone who has been praying for me: I know you make a difference and I appreciate your efforts and prayers on my behalf. Right now, this friend needs your prayers even more urgently than I do. I am realizing that just as important as being a “doer,” by role as a Christian should be as a spiritual facilitator. I am powerless by myself but I am strong with Christ and other believers standing with me. I am happy to ask you to join me in this way.

Okay, I have to add this photo. Derek had this cake custom-made for my going-away cookout. That's the Ukrainian flag and national colors. I'm telling you, he thinks of the little details!