Many people to pray for this month:

1) Joshua and Cristina: Don met them at Costco because Cristina was wearing a church-related t-shirt. He ended up inviting them over to pray with us after chatting with them for quite some time. Even though they loved hearing all that Don had to say, the couple first wisely sought the Lord about it when they got home from the store. They came over that night — the Lord confirmed to them that it was an answer to their prayers. In particular, Cristina (already born again many years ago) had been recently praying that she wanted to be active in praying in the Holy Spirit (in tongues) again. We had some beautiful prayer with her; she was so excited to be praying in tongues so fluently and powerfully.

After lots of scriptural discussion, Don and Ethan also prayed over Joshua. He was filled with the Holy Spirit as he did pray in tongues a little, but he had some reservations about allowing the Holy Spirit to continue to speak through him. Interestingly, about 2-3 weeks later, Don had to call Joshua to get a quote on some carpentry work at our house (Joshua recently started a woodworking business which has been blessed by God - and, Joshua does superb work!). He came to the house with a Spirit-filled co-worker (Caesar) to view the jobs and take pictures, and the afternoon turned into an amazing day. Don and Caesar had a great discussion about the Lord, I had a great chat with Joshua, and we all (including Caesar) ended up praying over Joshua and this time he had a powerful breakthrough, praise God!

2) George: He came to fix something during the pool construction. Rather than getting frustrated with the situation (as the fix could have been a considerable concern), both Don and I thought that “maybe there was a reason” (as we often say to each other in unusual circumstances). Praise God, the repair ended up being a trivial thing, but in the process of it all, Don got chatting with George about the Lord. George was so touched (it was even all brand new to him!) that he wanted to pray for the Holy Spirit anointing right there. He received as Don prayed with him the courtyard by the pool. All of this pool construction and yard renovation has been such a wonderful opportunity for the Lord to connect us with all kinds of people hungering for truth and a true relationship with God!

3) Rosa: Don noticed her trying to drive the wrong way at an intersection into oncoming traffic. She hadn’t seen the “Keep right” sign until Don pointed it out. Thankfully, she was able to correct her path in time, but as she passed by, Don noticed her number plate. He knew it was referring to Jesus, so he ended up following her to where she parked (as he felt strongly moved that God’s hand was upon the two of them connecting). Don quickly found out that she was already Spirit-filled, and he was able to share some scriptural encouragement with her as led by the Holy Spirit.

4) Don went to a jewelry repair place to have a battery looked at in a watch. He ended up preaching to both the owner and a customer. I can’t remember their names, but Don said it was amazing how the owner warmed to the conversation after hearing the customer and Don sharing their mutual passion for the Lord. God desires to see all people come to repentance and into a real relationship with Him through Jesus, and He will often use other situations to bring the truth to someone who would not otherwise be open to seeking Him out of their own accord.

5) Jerrard or Gerard (I don’t know the spelling): Don got chatting with a young guy (mid-twenties) at the gym because he was wearing a church-related t-shirt. Jerrard was super keen to talk and we all (Don, me, and Jerrard) ended up continuing the conversation outside afterward. Jerrard could clearly see God’s miraculous timing upon things (considering what was currently going on in his life), so he followed us back to our house to pray. While chatting outside, a Spirit-filled couple even passed by and made a brief encouraging comment when they heard us mention the Holy Spirit. It seemed as though that, too, had been set up by the Lord because Jerrard really needed to hear what they had to say. I told Jerrard, “See, the Lord set that up for you, too!” (i.e. to reinforce the message we were sharing).

6) Melissa: We met her on the road, literally! We were on the highway, stopped beside her, and we needed to get into her lane as we’d missed our turn. We were thankful she had her window down at the time, so we smiled and called out, asking her if she wouldn’t mind us cutting across. Melissa was so accommodating that Don felt moved to give her a card — which I was able to quickly do for him before the light turned green. I didn’t have time to say much other than, “We felt moved to give you this, to take a look whenever you can…” kind of thing. Melissa smiled in genuine appreciation, and that was it.

About four or five days later, Melissa called Don to say it was very timely that we had connected. The more Don shared with her during the call, the more it was confirmed to her that it was an answer to her recent prayers. We ended up inviting her to meet up with us halfway between her house and ours, which we did later that day. We actually sat inside a large furniture store to chat for a long while first! After that, Melissa was keen to pray, so we went outside, however it was difficult for her to break through, so we ended up coming back to our house where Melissa got re-baptized. She felt her previous baptism (done when she was a lot younger) was not genuine (nor done with proper scriptural understanding), and this time Melissa was ready to truly follow and serve the Lord. She also received the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, praise God!

7) Don made quite a significant mistake on one stretch of a small retaining wall he was constructing in the front yard. This meant having to tear down that part and re-build it, changing the entire course of his afternoon. However, he was very peaceful about it, and as he was telling me the story, I quietly thought that maybe there would be work for the Lord that would come from it — and, there was! . . .

First of all, Don ended up having to return to the hardware store where he had a life-changing conversation with one of the young-ish staff members. Secondly, he was able to glorify God’s name while chatting with one of our neighbors as she walked by with her dog in the late afternoon — if he hadn’t made a mistake with the wall, he wouldn’t have been there at the time. And, Don ended up praying with a twenty-something man who came to the house collecting for a charitable cause. He had an awesome conversation with the young man and discovered that he was already Spirit-filled. When Don started to pray with him, the guy suddenly exclaimed that he used to do that at church (i.e. pray in tongues) while playing the drums during worship time!

Don was able to encourage the young man some more in terms of his walk in the Lord and the work of the Kingdom that he had been called into by God. Again, all of this wouldn’t have happened if Don had finished the block wall early and been away elsewhere for the rest of the day. I love how the Lord turns seemingly negative situations into blessings for others — and that in itself turns into a blessing for us also!

8) Devante: We met him at a pebble/stone paver place up north. He was incredibly helpful with a large piece of stone we needed, and as he worked together with Don on weighing and loading it, we all got chatting about life. We mentioned our Christian ministry and the life-changing power detailed in the Book of Acts. Devante was so amazed and excited to hear these things that were all new to him despite some degree of previous church experience. We shared with him testimonies of healing and peace and overcoming, and Don and I could clearly see that he was hungry and thirsty to be set free from all of his burdens and stresses and to have true, solid hope.

We will pray for him that the Lord will continue to give increase to the words we spoke to him and the prayers that Don prayed over him at the end of the conversation. The Word of God is life unto the humble hearer, and sometimes we are just a small part of a series of things God will do in someone’s life to bring them to a point where they are finally willing to lay down their life, take up their cross, and wholeheartedly follow after Jesus.