Author: Odland

Evangelical

February 2013

Volume 58

Sweet Hour (or Moments) of Prayer by James Swanson

Pastor’s column	1-2
AWANA	2
Library / Book Review	3
Attendance	3 / 3
Missions	4-7
Coming events	8

Like every Christian, I feel the tug from inside to spend more time with my gracious God in prayer. The apostle Paul gives excellent reminders and instruction for my prayer life. He encourages my prayers to look more like constant breathing than a whale rising to the surface for a quick spouting and intake of life-sustaining oxygen.
I read a Tim Challies article that echoed so clearly what God was laying on my own heart that I have included it below.
Is there any area of the Christian life in which we feel more inadequate than in prayer? Is there any area of the Christian life that exposes greater feelings of helplessness and shame? I know some true prayer warriors, people who dedicate themselves to hours and hours of prayer, yet even they confess to knowing so little about it and having so little confidence in what they do and what they pray.
It should come as no surprise that the Christian market is flooded with books on prayer, books that try to teach the how’s and the why’s of prayer. There are hundreds of good options and thousands of terrible ones. I’ve read many of them and often recommend some of my favorites.*
I love reading books on prayer, but sometimes I wonder if I like reading books on prayer more than I like praying. Reading comes naturally to me, prayer does not. Reading is easy to understand, prayer is not. Finishing a good book and looking back on all the parts I have highlighted gives a sense of accomplishment that prayer does not. Reading books on prayer too easily becomes a substitute for praying.
I do not mean to knock the books themselves. They are a blessing and have often proven helpful to me. But ultimately I have learned far more by putting the books aside and just praying—praying on my own and praying with others. For all the good things the books have taught me, I have learned more when praying quietly by myself, praying out loud by myself, praying with Aileen, praying with my fellow elders, praying at church-wide prayer meetings, just plain praying. (continued on page 2)

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February 2013

AWANA Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed
(2 Timothy 2:15)

“I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation
of everyone who believes....” Rom. 1:16a
Sharing the gospel is the heart and soul of the Awana ministry. Whether that be done through memorizing scripture, a council time message, through a gospel presentation at Bible Quizzing or Awana Games.... the gospel is central to what Awana is all about.
The 2012-2013 club year started out with some major positions to be filled. Thanks to those who stepped up and are doing a great job. We implemented a few new theme nights this year with “Missions Night” in October. Jason Hopkins was our guest speaker. He shared with the clubbers his work with Wycliffe Bible Translators and working with the deaf in Africa. Also in October we had “Harvest Night.” Council time messages were geared around how much we have to be thankful for. Clubbers were asked to bring in non-perishable goods. About six totes of food were gathered and taken to the Union Gospel Mission. In December we held “Flashlight Night.” Clubbers were given a small flashlight that they used during game time and also council time where messages were about Jesus being the Light of the World. Several clubbers are preparing to participate in the Regional Bible Quiz here in Sioux Falls in February.
Many new families have begun to attend club this year from outside our church family which is exciting to see. Our goal is to come alongside parents and help them with their God-given responsibility to train up and teach their children in the things of the Word of God. Awana now has a book entitled, "Awana at Home" which helps parents of clubbers learn how to make the most of having that Bible time at home while having fun and helping them work on memorizing their verses right along with their clubbers. It is a great tool for parents. If anyone is interested please feel free to ask about it.
We were very blessed to be able to attend Commander College 101 at Awana headquarters this past week in Chicago. We came back with a renewed passion for the ministry and a great appreciation for the church family that we serve and the support that is given there.
In His service,
Craig & Chris Herman, Commanders, 605-978-1656

If I want to learn to pray for my family, and if I want to pray for them well and effectively, I need to get on my knees and pray for them and I need to persevere in those prayers.
If I want to learn to pray for the people in my church, I need to pray with them and pray for them.
If I want to learn how to confess sin in prayer, I need to pray and confess sin, trusting that the more I do it, the more natural it will become.
If I want to learn to better express gratitude in prayer, I need to pray and thank the Lord for his good gifts, and then do it again. And again.
If I want to more naturally pray with my Bible open, praying Scripture, I need to start praying Scripture and trust that in time it will become easier.
If I want to know how to pray, I just need to pray. No book, no classroom, no course, no instructor can teach me so much about prayer that I can avoid the hard work of learning on my knees. Ultimately prayer itself is the classroom.
(Source: http://www.challies.com/christian-living/the-school-of-prayer)
Let’s join our lives together as we live out the words of verse three of the hymn. “Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer, thy wings shall my petition bear, to him, whose truth and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless: and since he bids me seek his face, believe his Word, and trust his grace, I'll cast on him my ev'ry care, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer.”
Pastor James Swanson
*Praying Backwards by Bryan Chapell
A Praying Life by Paul Miller
The Prayer of the Lord by R.C. Sproul
The Valley of Vision by Arthur Bennett

Sweet Hour (or Moments) of Prayer (continued from page 1)

February 2013

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Library — An Easy Share
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to talk about something for which you have a passion?
The other day, I had a repairman come to my home. After he accomplished his work, he discovered he had
locked himself out of his vehicle. While waiting for help, he remained inside due to the cold and made con-
versation: “So, you said you spend a lot of time working in your church library. What exactly could a
church put in a library besides a Bible?” I proceeded to explain about the reference materials we have
which include commentaries, dictionaries, concordances and lexicons… “What in the world is a lexicon?”
He interrupted. So I pulled out my own copy of the NASB Exhaustive Concordance and showed him the
numbering system and definitions. (You will find one in section 220 of our library).
Then I went on to tell of the various cultural issues that Christian media addresses. I had the new, updated version of Ken Ham’s “The Lie” nearby and spoke of the importance of distinguishing between operational science and historical science. (Our copy is in section 213/HAM). I pointed out that the “operational” science that enabled him to perform his repair duties were activities anyone skilled in that vocation could repeat with the same results. However, determining truth about the past, i.e. the “historical” science of origins, which no one had been there to witness, could only be opinion. And, yet, we know that God was there at the beginning so why should we question His report of how He created everything some 6000 years ago as He describes in Scripture? Should we value man’s opinion or God’s truth?
Then I told him of the witnesses that reported how God had affected their lives and that our library held biographies to that purpose. I showed him the biography I was currently reading by Navy Seal Chad Williams entitled “Seal of God” (Our copy is in biographies at BIO/WIL). This interested him and he said he thought he’d like to read it. Though I offered him my copy, he said he’d rather get his own…and then the key arrived and he went on his way. I pray that our conversation produces fruit.
The passion for sharing the reality of God and His truth is evident in our congregation and is part of what builds the inventory on our library shelves. I was recently given a copy of “Rust” (DVD#239) and asked to preview it for the library. I watched it with my folks and it turned out to be a very good teaching movie full of issues for consideration and discussion. The recommendation by another of our congregation showed the passion for teaching children; Chuck Swindoll’s “Paws & Tails” (DVD #218-227).
In the past, ministries often handed out pamphlets as forms of evangelism. Indeed, Jews for Jesus is known for their “broadsiding” ministry – the development of which came from the passion of founder Moshe Rosen – “Called to Controversy “(in BIO/ROS). We have many forms of media that are easy to share just by taking someone through the library and introducing them to your favorite author or subject. Parents have remedied the tediousness of travel for their children with Focus on the Family’s Adventures in Odyssey; we recently added the 56th volume in the audio series. We have, as well, the complete Jonathan Park audio series including the new volume 8, “The Copper Scroll”.
Sometimes we make excuses to not pass on God truths to our fellows because of the awkwardness we feel of speaking. But sharing a good book or a movie can be much easier. Inviting a neighbor family over for pizza, popcorn and a chance to see “October Baby” (DVD#235) may be just the way to help someone see the lives that God created in a different perspective.
Thanks for sharing – and Come, check it out!
Pam Myers

Church Attendance
Numbers shown are the total attendance for each Sunday of the month:
November 690, 626, 664, 548
December 822, 703, 670, 711, 450
January 673, 680, 522, 512

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First Evangelical Free

Our mission is to help all people in our region get an honest relationship going with God. About 0.5% in Belgium consider themselves evangelical Christians. The evangelical church that does exist hasn’t been here long. Our focus is discipling young adults and training young leaders to walk with Jesus. We would expect this to result in transformation of their lives, families, communities and society. A scripture we use is 2 Timothy 2:1-2 “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
We do what we do because God is continually worth sharing. The need is continually present. The time is continually short. And, God seems to continually call and convict us to this work. Our biggest obstacle to our ministry is the mentality here. The society mostly ignores the existence of God. The ‘god’ and ‘church’ they know of from history brings them bad memories of irrelevance or abuse.
Recently, God saved a young man of 21 after years in and around the church! He saved another young man of 18 years who only had a believing mother and had gotten into the occult. And He saved women of 33 and 35 and helped them stand for Jesus even though it meant breaking off worldly relationships.
Our biggest prayer request is that a striking spiritual battle seems to be taking place in the families of Belgian ministry couples. Flemish ministers are being challenged with marriage problems, unsaved children and sickness or depression.

Duane & Penny Unruh, EFCA ReachGlobal, Ghent, Belgium

February 2013

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Jeremiah & Lori Kepner, Campus Crusade in Arizona
The words Win, Build, Send define much of what we want to accomplish in Cru. We have seen God do much in regards to winning students to Christ, with several people making first time decisions to follow Jesus, as well as Christian students making choices to reject the typical party culture and follow Jesus while in college.
We have also seen God do much in regards to building. We have 20 students involved in Bible Studies and discipleship groups. We have been blessed with 10 community volunteers participating in discipleship as well.
Praises:
Blake, who came to Christ earlier in the semester, recently posted on Facebook about his baptism at a local church.
We had 30 students participate in our recent outreach.
We took 6 students to a recent conference for Jr’s and Sr’s to figure out what’s next in life.
8/10 girls in Lori’s freshman Bible study came to evangelism training.
Prayer:
For students to walk with God well during Christmas break.
For us to raise several hundred in new monthly support
For our efforts to recruit a team of 4-6

Wes Goddard—New Tribes Paraguay
Hi Friends,
Greetings from Paraguay! Please pray for the Bible classes taking place each week with the Pai people. I have two Bible classes on Saturday afternoons that I co-teach with a Pai Bible teacher and another class late in the afternoon. On Sunday mornings, I continue to teach evangelism lessons at the Pikykua community, along with a Pai Bible teacher. Please pray for my cousin, Mark, two Pai couples and me as we visit the Angaite community on the Paraguay river at the end of January. We plan to have a number of half-day teaching sessions from the book of Acts. Pray too for my parents as they plan to come from the USA to visit for two months in March and April.
In Christ, Wes Goddard

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First Evangelical Free

Brian & Sherri Hofer, New Tribes Guinea

Hello Friends,
Thank you so much for your prayers for our ministry here in Northern Guinea among the Konyagi people. We are continuing to work with the village and the local government to start building our house in the village.
We asked for prayer for our meetings with the officials and the Lord has granted us favor with everyone we have met with so far. Unfortunately, some key government officials were called to another town far away during the night for an urgent meeting with the Minister of the Administration of the Territory so we couldn’t get a clear response from them about officially starting the construction of our house. However, we are thankful that some of the officials were able to make it and we have officially received our hut from the village.
This weekend we camped out for the first time in our hut in the village. Their huts are very basic with a hole in the ground in the backyard of the hut for a toilet/shower. We plan on camping there from time to time during the construction of our house to start to get to know the people and get exposure to the language. We are also continuing our language study here in Koundara with a language helper. A funny thing that happened in the village was a mouse chewing on our stuff all night. Once I, Brian, woke up and saw him chewing through a plastic bag to get our bread. I was able to “hit” him before he got away. The next thing I know I’m waking up to the mosquito net falling down on me. With a flashlight, I looked up and there was the mouse on the bamboo pole. He had gotten me back by chewing off the string holding up our net!
Last Sunday afternoon Jakob, our co-worker, and I attended a ceremony for a deceased chief. It was interesting to watch them dance and carry out their traditional ceremony, but it was sad to see the drinking and the sacrifices to the spirit world. The darkness that surrounds the lives of our friends here can only be pierced by the power of God via the Holy Spirit of Christ Jesus our Lord. Please pray for their hearts to become aware of their need for a Savior.
A huge praise is that the Wycliffe translating team has finished with Genesis and has also recorded it as mp3 files which they are making available on SD cards which fit in many people’s phones and radios! They have Luke and John on mp3 as well.
Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement as we learn the language to bring them the Good News of Jesus.
Love,
Brian, Sherri and Kiddos

February 2013

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Spring Break and Summer
Life has been busy, and this is the time of year where I begin to grow excited for our spring break and summer Mission Adventures trips. This Spring Break we have four groups coming. I am excited for these groups as two of them are college groups and two are high school. We have six groups signed up for the summer so far, and I look forward to getting more signed up as the spring moves on.
Weekly Outreaches with the DTS
We have been having a great time running the weekly outreaches for the Winter DTS that is going on now. Students are being challenged to share their faith in many ways, and are at the same time being a huge blessing to our city.
Weekly Staff Evangelism
Every Friday we have been taking staff from our campus in downtown Salem to share the Gospel with people. This is my favorite day of the week. Yesterday, the Lord led me to speak to a young man named Collin, age 22. From the moment I began to speak with him, I just had a nudging from the Holy Spirit that his heart was sensitive and ready to hear the Gospel. After about an hour long talk, and listening to his story, and how he had no idea what he was on earth for, I shared the Gospel with him. God is so amazing, and yesterday another soul was added to the kingdom as this young man surrendered his life to Jesus. After this, I took him to a great youth pastor friend of mine whose church is located downtown, and got him plugged in. Please pray for Collin, and that he would realize and experience the new life he has in Christ. I'd also like you to pray for a young man named Matthew who we have been speaking with weekly. He works in the mall, and is heavily involved with the occult. He has even had experience in levitation, and he is visited regularly by demons. I have been sharing with Him about the love and power of God, but his heart is still hard and enslaved in all that junk. Pray for him.
Mission Adventures Internship
In March we will be having our yearly MA Internship. Last year was our first year running it, and we had four people participate. These year, we have seven signed up so far. Two of them are from the newest YWAM location that is starting Mission Adventures and that is YWAM Boston. So excited to see God opening up doors for new programs. I am also going to be making a trip up to Montana in mid February to speak to the leaders there about Mission Adventures. Pray that YWAM Montana would catch the vision of MA and start running it there in the future.
YWAM Salem
My responsibilities as part of the leadership team here at YWAM Salem keep me very busy aside from all the MA stuff. It is an exciting time here. Even though the winter quarter is the slowest quarter we have, it is still busy. DTS teams are on outreaches all over the globe, and the Winter DTS is in full swing.
Sarah and the kids are doing great. We have managed to avoid the flu which is a plus! Kids are already counting the days till the end of school. Nothing like being antsy!
That's all for now I think. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. We are blessed tremendously, and are truly grateful for the partnership we have with you all.
Love and Blessings
Tim, Sarah, and the A-Team, Mission Adventures Salem

Tim & Sarah Walter, Youth With a Mission, Salem, Oregon

First Evangelical Free Church
2601 West 69th Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57108
www.knowinggodsf.org

First Evangelical Free

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Nonprofit Organization
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Sioux Falls, SD 57101
Permit No. 638

Deadline for next newsletter is
April 26, 2013 office@knowinggodsf.org

March 3, Communion at 8:00 AM & 10:45 AM
March 10, Daylight Saving time begins
March 28, Maundy Thursday service, 7:00 PM
March 31, Easter Sunday services at 8 AM & 10:45 AM ; No Sunday School and No Evening service
April 5, MORP for high school students
April 7, communion at 8:00 AM & 10:45 AM

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you…
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 1:9; 12:12 ESV)
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, (Eph. 1:15-16 ESV)
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ( Colossians 1:9 ESV)
As we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?... Pray without ceasing, (1 Thess. 3:10; 5:17 ESV)