#1000! [A Special Personal Essay] Never Give Up!

The Bulletin Board:(Please SCROLL DOWN this page to find the article titled on this post in LARGE CAPITAL LETTERS. Thank you.)

PRAY FOR AMERICA: THANK GOD for His many blessings on America throughout it's history. May we then ask that AMERICA once again be a blessing TO GOD, by once again submitting to HIS will in our affairs - both personal and national - that He may truly "heal our land." (2 Chron. 7:14)

WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:
UPDATE: "Second US Doctor Sick with Ebola; Crisis 'Out of Control'" - CBNNews.com, Sept. 02, 2014;
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2014/September/A-Losing-Battle-Ebola-Going-to-Get-Worse-CDC-Says/ "Another American doctor in Liberia has tested positive for the Ebola virus, according to the international Christian mission organization, SIM. SIM leaders report the American doctor was treating obstetrics patients at the organization's ELWA Hospital in Monrovia and not treating Ebola patients..."The epidemic is going faster than we are," he warned. 'We need to scale up our response. We can hope for new tools and maybe they'll come, but we can't count on them.' So far, the West African outbreak has killed more than 1,500 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria."
Of course, let's CONTINUE PRAYING FOR AN END TO THE EBOLA CRISIS IN WEST AFRICA AND THE HEALING OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INFECTED.

PRAY FOR THE CRISIS HAPPENING NOW IN IRAQ (see post #907) Pray that allied forces will be able to drive the group ISIS back (see post #964)

LATEST:"Christians in the Middle East Arm Themselves As Genocide Comes to Their Front Door" - Katie Pavlich | Sep 05, 2014;
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/09/05/christians-in-the-middle-east-arm-themselves-as-violence-rages-around-them-n1887849" Earlier this week the BBC and Al Jazeera both reported on armed Iraqi citizen volunteers who helped government forces fight off ISIS in Amerli. Today, the AP is out with a story about Christians in the Middle East who are arming themselves, carrying weapons with them during daily tasks and heading to the hills at night to defend their communities as violence continues to rage around them. Genocide is at their front door and they're doing everything they can to stop it from coming in... So far, the terror army ISIS has slaughtered and tortured thousands of Christians in Iraq and Syria."

URGENT: Emergency Relief For Iraqi Believers Facing Genocide! - August 30, 2014- Liberty Counsel Action is partnering with RUN Ministries to deliver emergency food, water and shelter to Iraqi Christians and Yazidis who have fled their homes and are facing genocide. More than 146,000 people are now threatened by genocide from radical ISIS forces.RUN Ministries has a solid network of believers throughout the Middle East who are willing to risk life and limb to get relief through the ISIS lines of defense. The cost of getting the needed aid to them is $8 per person per day. This includes tents, blankets, food, and water for the first 3 weeks. TO DONATE (as I have), PLEASE GO TO: http://www.grassrootsaction.com/201181/offer.asp?Ref_ID=27781&CID=201181&RID=42814607

"Not Everyone Happy with Religious Ambassador Pick," Caitlin Burke,July 29, 2014;
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/July/Obama-Taps-Rabbi-for-Religious-Freedom-Ambassador/  "..An estimated 76 percent of the world's population live in countries where religious freedom is restricted. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States must take a strong stand against those violations. "Around the world repressive governments and extremists groups have been crystal clear about what they stand against, so we have to be equally clear about what we must stand for," Kerry said. "We stand for greater freedom, for greater tolerance, greater respect, for rights of freedom of expression and freedom of conscience," he said A key development in the 2013 report is the large number of displaced members of religious communities, including entire Christian communities in Syria and Iraq that have been forced to flee their homes because of persecution."
SIGN A PETITION TO THE UN FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS :" The church in Syria has shone brightly for 2,000 years. But today violence and persecution threatens its survival. Thanks to an incredible response, Open Doors is helping 8,000 families in Syria survive each month. We believe the signatures and prayers of 500,000 people will encourage the UN to act and protect the rights and lives of all Syrians, especially the vulnerable Christian community." Go to: http://lp.opendoorsusa.org/emails/nov-13-action/save-syria.html?utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=november

 LATEST SAHEED NEWS!  May 22 - "Pastor Saeed Forcibly Returned to Prison after Beating" - By Caitlin Burke,CBN News, May 22, 2014;
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/May/Pastor-Saeed-Beaten-Sent-Back-to-Iran-Prison/ "Saeed Abedini, a U.S. pastor imprisoned for his faith, was severely beaten at an Iranian hospital before being returned to the brutal Rajai Shahr prison. His Iranian family claims the transfer was unexpected and the reason is unclear. But one of the guards involved in the transfer suggested recent Iranian nuclear talks could be a motive, the family said...""

We need to continue to pray for Pastor Saeed - that his health will improve and that he will be re-united with his wife and two young children who live in the United States. We also remain hopeful that in addition to getting the medical care he so desperately needs, that Iranian officials display the kind of humanitarian treatment that often accompanies the start of the Iranian New Year which began on March 21st. This is the time of year when the Iranian government frequently offers clemency to prisoners of conscience. [If you have not yet, please sign the petition for his clemency- http://beheardproject.com/saeed#sign]

PRAY ALSO : - For comfort and peace for Saeed’s wife and children here in the U.S.\

- For a strong witness and testimony from Pastor Abedini in the prison where God has placed him

- For Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ

- For leadership from the White House and State Department in defending the freedoms of Abedini and other Americans

- GO TO SaveSaeed.org to sign a petition over 600,000 others asking for his immediate release

/PRAYER ALERT- UKRAINE: As the Lord leads, please pray: 

*For God to suppress President Putin’s ambitions to "restore" the Soviet empire.
*For the people of Ukrainen [esp. for the church 'to be THE church']  as they wait to see if the Russian troops will advance.
*About President Obama and  to use wisdom in crafting our  foreign policy, and wisdom for his advisers.
Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
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NEVER GIVE UP! - by Stan M. Yonashiro, Sept. 16, 2014

          Fellow Christian, I am sure that you’ll agree that trying to share the gospel with someone can always be a challenge. For many, sharing with family members can be the most difficult. Many times it’s just more complicated because family members tend to regard someone they’ve known throughout their lives as being uppity/presumptuous to dare to tell them about what they should believe. In my case, I couldn’t even speak the same language as my family member.

            He was my grandfather – my Mom’s Dad - who had emigrated from Japan to Hawaii many years before and with my grandmother had made a success of himself, raised a large extended family, and had many friends. Even into his 80’s he was robust and still active which was why when he suddenly had a heart attack it took us all by surprise. Afterwards he was bedridden and when his friends stopped visiting him after about a month, my Mom told me that he had fallen into depression. A lifelong Buddhist - even having literally helped build one of the larges Buddhist temples in Hawaii – I have to wonder if he came to realize that his faith had nothing to offer him when his life was nearing its end.

            I had never been close to my grandfather my entire life because he didn’t speak English and I didn’t know enough Japanese to even attempt a conversation with him. But in what proved to be his last days, I felt God leading me to try to reach out to him. And so, for about a month, I drove to his home every Sunday on my way to worship at a nearby church. I quietly slipped into his room, sat by his bedside and prayed for several minutes for God to somehow reach out and help him to be able to understand the gospel.

            On the evening of my final Sunday visit, I “just happened” to be visiting a church on the other side of town and there I “just happened” to meet a woman around my grandfather’s age who turns out to “just happened” to have grown up in the same village in Japan as my grandfather! I shared with the woman about my grandfather and asked her to pray for him, thinking that was the end of that.

 Well, the next day, as I was preparing dinner, the phone rang and it was that same woman. She told me that she had discovered where my grandfather lived (very difficult to find at the top of a hill) and went to visit him with a friend of hers. She told me that when my grandmother opened the door, she said, “I am here in the name of the living God.” (How’s that for an intro!) Not knowing what else to do, my (probably stunned) grandmother let the two into the house and took them to my grandfather’s bedside. The woman then had the man share his testimony and then she read him a number of passages from the Bible’s book of Romans. After awhile, she leaned over and asked my grandfather if he wanted to pray to receive Christ and he said Yes! As I stood in shock listening, the woman told me that in all the years she had shared her faith, she was never more convinced someone had made a true decision to trust in Christ.

            Unfortunately, my grandfather died not long after and I never got to confirm what had happened. He never spoke up of having made a decision and to this day I don’t know anyone in my family who would believe such an incredible thing had happened. DID it really happen? Truthfully, no one can really know for sure this side of Heaven, though you can be sure that when I get to Heaven, I will be very interested to see if he’s there.

            What I am left with is what I hope you are as well – the knowledge that God can do incredible things beyond human explanation. (Ephesians 3:20) How else does one explain how that woman “just happened” to be from the same village as my grandfather AND that she “just happened” to be there the one night I visited her church? Who but God could have moved that woman to make such an effort to visit my grandfather AND to actually figure out exactly where he lived (again, not something you could have determined with just an address)? Who but God could have given her such boldness to share Christ with him AND (as she believed) have worked through her sharing (and her friend’s testimony) to so speak to my grandfather’s heart that even after having believed in Buddhism for a lifetime he made a decision to trust in Christ? Finally, I am left to wonder if God arranged such a series of events in answer to my prayers for my grandfather – even though I admittedly did not pray with much believing faith. (Did my prayers lay the groundwork for God acting?)

            I share this to encourage you to NEVER GIVE UP trying to share the gospel with someone who you might easily dismiss as “unreachable.” I challenge you to always look past the obstacles and to ignore the discouraging voice of the Evil One causing you to focus on what “seems” impossible but not at all so with God who specializes in dealing with the impossible. (Isaiah 45:1-3; Mark 10:27) Persist in praying for that person (see Luke 18:1-8), knowing that your prayers invite the God of Heaven to move into any situation that seems humanly impossible and to work what would only be described as a miracle. And if you read the Scriptures at all, you will know that He tends to specialize in miracles. So, my friend, persist in asking Him to provide you a miracle and bring your loved one to understand the gospel. Knowing how He moved to bring the gospel to my grandfather, can you say that ANYTHING is really too hard  for God?

Don’t Misunderstand Me. I’m not saying that if you have a difficult time  sharing with a loved one or anyone, you merely pray after an initial attempt to share with them when you meet opposition. My point is that we very much need to continue to invite God to work in their heart and lives to cause them to become more open to the gospel. But we still need to be watchful of alternative ways God may have us to share with them. He just may want to use someone closer to their age or background – someone who literally or otherwise “speaks their language” to share their testimony. He may have a different presentation of the gospel we could share with them. Or He may just have us do all we can to be Jesus in our actions that through them our loved ones will see Jesus. The main point is to NEVER GIVE UP praying, believing God to continue working, and being open to however He may want to use you or others to reach out to your loved ones. The point is to always expect that He wants to do what seems impossible for us.