Praise and Prayer—July 2014
Reflections—Incarnation (the enfleshing of God—manifesting of God in flesh!)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. —John 1:1-5, 14.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you..” I John 1:1-3a
God enfleshed (incarnated) in us and through us!
“People are not looking for doctrine. They’re looking for a God with skin on, a God they can know, speak with, learn from, struggle with, be honest with, get straight answers from, and connect their lives to…The incarnation is what those inside and outside of Christianity are looking for, …’Jesus teaches you to live your life as He would live your life’ (Willard)…Once you understand the incarnation of Jesus, I believe you will find some remarkable possibilities. First, He is able to live your life, and second, you are in turn able to live His—not completely in either direction but full enough and close enough that your imagination will come alive to a much larger vision for why you exist on planet earth. ” Flesh, —Hugh Halter
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
“..put off your old self…be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4: 22-24
“Only a crucified saint can become an equipper of others.” Primal Fire, Neil Cole
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…And he is the head of the body, the church…to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you the hope of glory…that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” Colossians 1:15, 18, 25-28.
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…” Ephesians 4:11-15
“The equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, is the true calling of a leader in God’s kingdom….When we are more concerned about the success of our spiritual children than our own success, we pass into this phase of maturity. From this point forward our mission is to equip others.” Primal Fire, Neil Cole.
“Depending on the translation, at the very most, ‘leader’ is used only six times in the New Testament, while the word ’servant’ can be found over two hundred times. We should be asking why those of us who have a calling to serve the church obsess so much more over leadership than servantship. Jesus said, ‘I am among you as one who serves’ (Luke 22:27) If we honestly want to be like Jesus—if we honestly want to follow Jesus—we will pursue servantship rather than leadership. We will work to become the greatest servants we can be.” Flesh, Hugh Halter as quoted from Unleader by Lance Ford.
I want to be like Jesus!
Give me a heart that’s pure and true,
Kind and loving in all I do,
Full of mercy for all who come
Running into the Father’s arms.
I want to be like Jesus.
I want eyes that see you.
I want ears to hear you.
Feet that follow after you.
I want to be just like you.
I want to be like Jesus!
Praise
-for the amazing two weeks we experienced in Kenya together with the team from Trinity Christian Academy (TCA), Dallas. Diverse experiences shared together with the team provided innumerable opportunities for all of us to put into practice, not only being like Jesus, but being Jesus’ body—his ‘flesh’ coming into contact with others as we allowed Jesus to lead and live in and through us. “Oh, how He loves us!” This was expressed formally and informally as together we engaged in work projects, VBS’s, church and school meetings and programs, celebrations of completed projects (bus for disabled school in Machokos, bore hole for Masai community at Rruya (Kajiado), water purification for the Otto Hoffman children’s home (Thika), visits to children’s homes and schools for disabled children (Machokos, Kajiado, and Thika), safari to Ol Pejeta and Sweetwaters Tented Camp in the Mt. Kenya region (Nanyuki), worship, and devotional times together. (tcamissionafrica2014.blogspot.com)
-for safe travel by road back to Uganda and on to the Ssese Islands by boat with Chris Hamilton and Melanie Musselman. I had the privilege to assist Debbie as she facilitated the Healing the Wounds of Trauma training at Buyovu with 25 leaders from the islands fellowships. We had a wonderfully hard week together! Through progressive teaching and application of Scripture, heart wounds (some deep-seated) were exposed; opportunity extended to bring these wounds to the cross of Jesus and be symbolically nailed there and be buried with Jesus in his death; forgiveness offered and received; healing obtained, and freedom and hope released. We look forward with anticipation to the impact that these men and women will have in their respective island fishing communities as they actively engage in being more like Jesus and representing/manifesting the reality of HIs body in these communities!
-for the Prayer Summit that is taking place in S. Sudan this week. Leaders from the church denominations that AIM has partnered with in the region will be joining together some AIM leaders for sharing, fellowship, and prayer. May they experience and be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Prayer
-that Debbie and I will be more and more like Jesus! That we will be an expression of Jesus body—loving, serving, and equipping others! That we will clearly hear Jesus’ voice leading and directing us in our day to day decisions and activities, as well as for longer term ministry possibilities and assignments. Debbie will be leaving Africa to return to the States July 20th and I leave Entebbe August 29, following a few more weeks in Congo working on the housing for the team headed to Banda. Debbie has been asked to facilitate several Healing the Wounds of Trauma trainings in the States—a follow-up to the one she was involved with in W. Virginia and a couple trainings with AIM personnel in the Fall. I am hoping to do the advanced training in the Fall. Pray with us, that we will know where, and that when Debbie gets back to the States she will be able to establish an appropriate base from which to launch Stateside ministry opportunities. Phil Byler, AIM Central Region’s Executive Officer (REO) requested to meet with us last week on our way through Kampala to Entebbe and the islands. He presented and asked us to prayerfully consider the assignments that he was offering us with the region. Join us in praying that we will ‘be filled with the knowledge of his will’ related to this. This week, among other things we hope to also look into what is needed to extend our Uganda residence permits which expire in October.
-for the Healing the Wounds of Trauma training to be held at Buyovu, 13-18 July. This will be with the Community Based Volunteers (CBV’s) that Debbie trained and worked with for many years. We are looking forward to doing this training together. Pray for the AIM Ssese Islands team. Leo and Menda Fowler and family (logistics, boat maintenance, building, etc.) are in the process of reestablishing themselves back home in Alaska. Kathleen Burns, the nurse from Scotland who has been working in the islands for many years now, recently returned to the UK to undergo medical tests and treatment. The timing of her return is uncertain. Last week Debbie and I stayed in Kathleen Burns’ nearly completed house at Buyovu, and felt her pain, knowing that she would have loved to have been there herself. Chris Hamilton and Melanie Musselman are pressing on seeking ways to encourage and strengthen the leaders and believers in the islands fellowships.
-for the details/logistics of purchasing the needed materials/supplies and getting back to Banda, together with the indigenous missions building team from Oicha, as soon as possible after Debbie leaves on the 20th. We need to finish the rehabilitation of the houses for Wendy Atkins, Williards, and ??. Plans are currently in place with MAF for Wendy and Aaron Williard to be flown to Banda with Wendy’s belongings July 24th. Unfortunately, as it stands her house will not be ready. I estimate that there remains at least 2 weeks of work to be done to get her house ready and 4-6 weeks for all the other houses to be ready to be occupied.
-for the details/logistics being worked out with CECA-20, the UNHCR, and others to help the Congolese refugees from Assa and the surrounding area return home from Zemio, CAR. They fled from the LRA in 2008 to Zemio and are now wanting to return to their homes in the Assa area. I have been asked on behalf of AIM and CECA-20 to help facilitate their return.
-CAR—See report below
Christ is in me—the hope of glory!
Steve & Debbie
Stephen & Deborah Wolcott
Alert everyone everywhere in every possible way to the universal rule, reign, and Kingdom of King Jesus! Our God Reigns!
Email: sdwolcott@aimint.net
wolcottsd@gmail.com
Blogsite:http://www.sdwolcott.aimsites.org
Steve’s mobile: 479-233-0823 (USA)
256-772-415201 (Uganda)
243-824-494864 (DRCongo)
Deb’s mobile: 479-427-2598
Africa Inland Mission, P.O. Box 3611, Peachtree City, GA 30269
Reflection on Incarnation—flesh continued:
“..blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 1:3
“..filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God……to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 1:9,10; 2:2,3
CAR report
3.JULY.14
Greetings.
Just a week ago, I was setting off for Carnot and Berbérati. I thank God for his faithfulness and protection, due to your prayers. It was an exceedingly difficult journey due to the state of the roads, and our return to Bangui was delayed several days by mechanical problems, as all our vehicles suffered broken suspensions. And yet, when you see the joy of the brothers and sisters at these visits and when they receive the supplies we bring with us, you know it is all well worth it.
I got back to Bangui on Tuesday morning, and am leaving again today for Boali, Bossembélé and Yaoké(places visited in the latter part of last year). These towns are quite easy to get to, and I am planning on returning to Bangui by the end of this weekend. In contrast to that though, could you pray for the following trip due to start at the beginning of next week, which will take me to Bozoum and Paou in the north. May we find grace in the course of all these travels.
Today in Birao the Seleka are meeting together to establish a new headquarters. These gatherings are being orchestrated by Adam Nourédine (Seleka strongman and second-in-command to President Djotodia in the government that came to power in the March 2013 coup). He is in contact with Boko Haram and also with Al-Shabaab militants from Somalia, according to a daily newspaper out today; the International Criminal Court will be after him. We remain convinced that God will send increasing confusion into the ranks of those fomenting trouble in the country.
The CAR E van gel ical Alliance held gatherings in all the districts of Bangui last week, with positive results. A number of our Mu slim brothers readily asked the Chris tians for forgiveness, wishing to begin their Ramadan fast in a spirit of reconciliation. Some came to the closing meeting on Sunday.
The town of Bambari in the middle of the CAR continues to be divided in two, with the anti-Balaka stationed on one side of the Ouaka river, the Seleka on the other, and the French Sangaris in the middle. There have been many atrocities. All Chris tians daring to cross over to the Seleka-occupied zone to get provisions are systematically killed. Pray against manipulations and interference from outside, as there is the question of how the anti-Balaka came to be there in the first place.
God bless you.
This report from Bambari where the Seleka (mu slim rebel group that took over CAR early this year and terrorized the country much of last year) have taken over the town of Bambari as their headquarters. This is the location of a large group of B apt ist chu rches started by B apt ist Mid Miss ions many years ago. It seems the mission station is now serving as a refuge. Anti Balaka are non Mu slims who are fighting the Seleka, but they have gone way too far in revenge killings and almost as many atrocities as the Seleka are guilty of, and now kill other non-mu slims who possibly have had contact with mu slims. Bambari is on the one main road leading from the capital Bangui to the eastern end of the country. If the Seleka control it, it will be very difficult to get supplies to the whole eastern end of the country. Please pray.
Got a call from Goumba this am. He said that if we were to see the station we wouldn’t recognize it. There are at least 2000 people there, and they figured that yesterday there were about 5000! People are just everywhere. Every house is being used to maximum capacity, including the Elmer house, and people are sleeping on the ground or grass all around the station. They are there because the seleka and the anti ball-aka groups are having a confrontation. On one side of town, the seleka are raiding houses & killing people. And on another side of town it is the anti AKA group who are doing the same. So people are afraid.
Pray for Goumba personally. First, because he is at risk from the anti balaka. The rumor is that since he went several times to speak to the seleka commanders over the last year (he was wanting them to leave the station alone), then therefore he was on the side of the seleka. The logic isn’t good, but people on both sides have been known to seek to kill you simply for praying for their “enemy”. Some people are urging Goumba to go hide, but at this point he doesn’t feel that God would have him do that.
Second, pray for Goumba and the other leaders there because they are doing their best to protect and serve the sheep who have come to the station for some shelter. Goumba asked the Sangaris (peacekeeper) troops to send someone to assure the safety of the masses at the station, and they refused (which has happened in other areas too.) So the only protection is God. Pray that He will be glorified and that this will be used for the cause of faith.
PS. Kilas came to see me today. He said he barely escaped with his life from the Selaka, and that his house was completely looted. In fact, he was robbed or looted 3 times over the last year, and the last time the folks took everything, including the kids beds, cooking stuff, etc. He is now sleeping at the yaka, and doing what he can to tend the fields, but doesn’t have much strength. He is praising God for life and a measure of health, because he has been out of meds for quite some time. I gave him enough to purchase all that the doctor recommended, and he hopes to head back to sibut tomorrow.
Wolcott Wanderings 