Dear Family & Friends,
“‘Indeed, a time is coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,’ says the Lord. ‘But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,’ says the Lord. ‘I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people.’” Jeremiah 31:31-33
When you read these words of the Lord, are you able to sense the great desire that He has to be in a whole relationship with His people? He is willing to go beyond being faithful. He is willing to start anew with a new covenant that will make them truly His. We live in under this new covenant! We receive the blessings of the new covenant. Which according to Jeremiah 31:34f includes, “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.” Does the way we live reflect the depth and righteousness of this covenant? Are we living so that people see the righteousness, grace, and mercy of our God in us? Let’s pray for each other to live like we are His people.
We ask that you call on God to give us wisdom as we begin getting back into ministry activities. We want to train people to be disciples that can and will make disciples. We don’t want them all to be continually relying on us. John will be meeting with the leaders of different discipleship groups this week to make plans for how they will each continue. He has also already had a contact about starting a new discipleship group.
The Home of God’s Love continues to wait to hear about their adoption license. We are praying that they will be allowed to continue to do new adoption cases. We are also praying for a land issue dealing with the road that leads back to their property. It is possible that it will be closed causing everyone to use an unpaved road that leads to the back of the property. Please pray for God to intervene in these situations. Also pray that the court cases that have already been started both with the Home of God’s Love and Xi En can successfully be completed, including Ellinor’s, as we are still waiting on court decrees to come through.
We thank you for continually praying for our family. Bethany, Philip, and their girls are happy in Canada working and serving there. Nathanael is now in Knoxville where he will be living and working this next year while he decides where he will be going to graduate school. Andrew & Moriah have had a good start to a new school year. Andrew has hit a bump in the road though. He hurt his knee again in soccer practice last week. We decided that it needed to be checked out. His initial exam indicated that he may have a torn meniscus. We are waiting for a date for an MRI to determine if he will need surgery or not. Please pray that it will be clear what needs to be done for his knee to heal well.
Thank you for praying.
God Bless,
John & Cheryl
1. Please pray that we will receive wisdom as to how to lead the discipleship groups and for new ones to begin.
2. Please pray for The Home of God’s Love as they wait to hear about their adoption license and the road issue.
3. Please continue to pray for Ellinor’s court case. Praise the Lord that she is feeling better.
4. Thank you for praying for our family as we go through transitions and changes and for Andrew’s knee.
Posted on September 8th, 2014 by dunns
Filed under: Uncategorized