Join Care of Creation and Renewal For A Day of Prayer
When the world outside your door is beautiful it is sometimes hard to remember how things are elsewhere.
Here in Wisconsin we’re in one of the most beautiful times of the year. Trees that have been dark green through the summer are suddenly a blaze of colors. The air is crisp and cool – even a bit cooler than normal. We’ve seen a few snowflakes in the air, but nothing to worry us yet. The skies have been full of birds flying south to escape before winter sets in. Some of you who live in warm climates would not, perhaps, enjoy the season as much as we do – but even you would agree that God has reserved some of his most spectacular art work for this time of year.
Things aren’t so beautiful in many other places, and for that reason we want to focus this “Call to Prayer” edition of our newsletter primarily on what is happening in two specific places.
Our sister organization, Renewal, is holding their second annual day of prayer today — Wednesday, October 21. Here at Care of Creation we feel a similar urgency to pray – and instead of announcing a separate prayer-event ourselves, I thought I’d ask if you would join us – and our Renewal sisters and brothers – in praying about these things.
Click here if you are a student to find out more about the Renewal Day of Prayer effort; click here or email us directly to tell us that you will be participating in prayer this week].
Here’s our prayer list:
1. Drought in Kenya. We’ve been writing to you about this for the last couple of months. The suffering continues, the danger of violence grows apace. Please pray with us that the winter rains will begin soon, and that when they come they will fall gently and not in a way that will cause floods and yet more suffering.
2. Floods in the Philippines. On the opposite side of the world, sisters and brothers in the Philippines have the opposite problem. Two major typhoons struck the main island of Luzon within a two week period.
Melba Maggay, a prominent Christian leader in Manila, wrote a moving description of her own experience. At the height of the storm, at the depth of her own despair, this is what she wrote:
Inside, in that place where the battle between hope
and despair is waged, my faith in the Lord of wind and rain was being tried. I knew that this was nature striking back against all our environmental sins. God does not suspend natural laws he himself has built into creation. We violate these laws at our own peril.
Still, I also knew he could stop the rain if he wanted to. I confess the shadow of a half-doubt began to creep when I felt the firewall slightly move with the swirling force of the waters. I prayed that the concrete wall at the back, which served as buffer against the raging current from the river, would not give way. I do not think I have ever implored the Almighty as earnestly and anxiously and tearfully as I did at that moment.
The rain did stop and the water began to recede, though in an email to me a week later, Melba signed off:
“Yes, do go ahead with disseminating it. It looks like your coming is the Lord’s timing… Am writing this by candlelight. No electricity. The end is not yet in sight. Warm greetings…”
3. Seminars in Manila and Tokyo in November. I am going to be in Manila in two weeks,presenting the Our Father’s World seminar to a group of church leaders, most of whom will be flood victims. Pray for me on this trip, and for our brothers and sisters in that country. They are motivated as perhaps never before to begin to change how they are treating creation. And I will be at Tokyo Union Church in Japan the following weekend. This is an international congregation that has been partnering with us in supporting our work in Kenya.
4. Staff Meetings in Madison next week. The full Care of Creation staff family (yes, all six of us) will be together next week for fellowship, prayer and planning. Please pray for God’s presence to be with us during this time. We’re marking almost five years of work, and we need much wisdom to discern the future of this important ministry in turbulent times.
5. Financial support. We have recently been successful in securing some new sources of funding both for our work in Kenya and our US operations. However, most of this money will not come to us until the first quarter of the new year, and we have several months of salaries and other expenses to cover in the meantime. Thank you for praying and for giving to this work.
You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Thank you again for your partnership with us and for praying with us and our Brother’s and Sisters at Renewal TODAY (October 21)!
We appreciate you!
For all of us at Care of Creation,
Ed Brown
P.S. If you are unable to join us for the day of prayer on October 21, please lift these requests to God in prayer as you see fit. We here at Care of Creation do appreciate joining us in the work that God is having us do in His Kingdom.
