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Weekly Prayer Points,
19 July 2010. G'Day from Steve
The Gift of Perseverance.
"He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 4:25 - Romans 5:1-5
The great American President Abraham Lincoln once said.. "I am not concerned that you have fallen; I am concerned that you arise."
It is estimated 620,000 American's lost their lives in the 1861 - 1865 Civil war which broke out shortly after Lincoln was elected to lead the nation. For many years he had persevered. He had failed many times and yet persisted. He was known as "Honest Abe" by his peers. He and his wife had many times of heart break as only one of their 4 sons reached adulthood. Abraham Lincoln was a Godly man of faith, yet was never aligned with any particular denomination. One month after his inauguration shots were fired in South Carolina that ushered in the bloodiest war in American history. A war Lincoln had hoped to resolve peacefully. But through the most turbulent era of American history he was the man that stood his ground on issues such as the abolishment of slavery. He was assassinated April 14th, 1865 but will always be known and honoured as a great statesmen and leader.
Perseverance, character and hope are qualities we all desire, but we resist "rejoicing" in our sufferings to attain these quiet strengths. I thank God that we have Jesus as our role model when it comes to persevering through difficult times. In Christ.. all things are possible. His death covered our sins and His resurrection made a way for us to be made right before God.
So keep persevering in all the Lord has called you to.
Don't ever give up, rejoice in times of suffering and difficulty.
Godspeed,
Pictured: Abraham Lincoln
Heritage Tour Preparation
Pictured: Artwork planned for the tour truck.
The next 2 weeks will be filled with band rehearsals, Sound and light show set up and the arrival of the tour ministry team. Lots of things need to happen and fall together. But we want to thank so many people who have encouraged us and are praying from a distance. We appreciate you. Itinerant evangelism is hard work..... it always has been and it always will be. The enemy knows the power of the Gospel and he will do anything to oppress the work of preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. So your prayers are greatly valued.
Please pray for the families and team members who will be dedicated to serving for the entire 112 day tour. Thanks.
Foster Home for HIV orphans in PNG
Pictured: Local kids and the completed foster home in Port Moresby, PNG
You may remember we shared a vision a year ago for a home for children orphaned by HIV and other social problems in Port Moresby, PNG.
The wonderful news is the home has been completed under the leadership of the Living Light Foursquare Church. With practical and financial assistance form Joyce Meyer Ministries, the local church and friends of the ministry the project is complete. We want to thank some great friends from St George, QLD and Times Square Church in New York who helped to get the work started. Also thanks to those who sent gifts towards this vision.
Papua New Guinea
Pictured: Peter, Richard, Peter, David, Steve, Digby and Joshua. The P2UIF Band and Steve
Over the past 18 days our ministry has impacted the lives of over 15,000 people in four provinces of PNG. Our partnership with the Band P2 UIF and Living Light Foursquare Church, continues to develop in God's favour.
We praise the Lord for an incredible team in PNG who love the Lord and love using music to reach multitudes for the Gospel. We thank you for your interest and support of the work we are doing. The potential is great and the opportunities endless for ministry in PNG. Please let us know if you would like to be involved in planned trips for 2011.
P2UIF - Papua New Guinea's premier Gospel Band
Pictured: P2 UIF performing at Living Light Foursquare Church last week.
We want to thank the members of P2 UIF and their families for the amazing support and partnership during our time in PNG. These guys have such a heart for evangelism and for empowering young people in music ministry. Our music workshops and evangelistic concerts in the Central, Southern and Western Highlands provinces cost approximately $10,000 of which our ministry was able to contribute partly to. But we are very humbled and blessed by the dedication and sacrifice made by these guys as they have invested in a vision. A vision to use music evangelism to educate thousands of people with Bible based HIV AIDS prevention, Diabetes prevention, Health and nutrition as well as small business training etc. The dream of mobile Music, Media and Medical Missions is slowly developing. P2 UIF are an amazing team who we recognise as partners in PNG with this work. Thanks for your prayers for the
work we have been doing and for your prayers for the guys.
Music Workshops
Pictured: Trent and Peter Ho Leong teaching on electric guitar techniques.
Steve and the team spent their final four days in Port Moresby serving a Youth Conference at Living Light Foursquare Church. About 1,000 young people attended and afternoons were dedicated to music workshops. Ryan, Jordan and Trent were once again involved in teaching and encouraging young people in their music. The evening sessions attracted large crowds and the response each night to the altar calls was amazing. The whole team were involved in praying for people and counselling. A wonderful opportunity to serve.
Heritage Tour - Outback Skies TV Vision
Pictured: Outback Skies website.
This weeks update from Richard:
The planning and pre-production is going well. We are seeing God open doors for us, and close the ones that he does not want us to walk through. We have had some good interest from Christian television stations, and need continual prayer for:
- direction and guidance from God for this entire production
- the provision and safety of the entire production team throughout this project
- the favour of God and the favour of man throughout this entire project
- Sponsors who will benefit from being involved in this project who can lower the air travel and car travel costs
- Broadcasters and distributors who have expressed interest in ‘Outback Skies’ and ‘Hymns in the Outback’ to move forward with us on pre-sales and acquisition deals
We want to thank Richard for his enthusiasm and professional approach to this venture.
Go to www.outbackskies.com
Man on a Mission
PIctured: Trent with car and equipment for sale
Trentan Kruger is a wonderful blessing to our ministry. He and Jordan have been working hard in the office helping to set up the Heritage Tour as well as serve with our work in Australia and PNG. To get on the road with the 4 month Heritage tour ahead Trentan needs to sell some things. His Mitsubishi Magna, 2 guitar amplifiers and a small PA system. If you know of anyone who has a need for any of these can you contact us or Trent. We sure do admire faith in action and when Trentan asked if he could let people know via our weekly Prayer Points we felt it was well worth letting you know. Thanks.
If you would like to contact Trent Click Here
Motorhome Ministry opportunity
Pictured: The bus
Thanks so much to all those who have expressed interest in our transportation needs for the tour last week. We will make a final decision this week in regards to the motorhome and believe the Lord is putting the right vehicles and team together. We will keep you updated on progress.
Heritage Promo Video
Watch the New promo video online:
http://www.theheritagetour.com/media/downloads/video/
Heritage Tour 2010
Official Website: www.theheritagetour.com
Can you pray with us as we continue planning this tour, that later in the year, will be traveling to every State in Australia. We have been encouraged to pursue this venture through last years concerts in the country towns. The Heritage Hymns CD seems to be establishing a wonderful foundation on which to grow this vision. Many church leaders are responding to the vision of "honouring the past to inspire the future". What an honour to see and hear God being praised through these hymns once again.
Three simple ways you can be involved:
- Pray - Stand with us in prayer weekly as we seek to serve Christ and proclaim the Gospel.
- Give - There will be many financial needs small and large as we develop the tour and team.
- Go - Pray about being involved and serving on the tour for some of the schedule. More details on this soon.
We are still finalising sponsorships with various organizations so appreciate your prayers on this as well.
Testimonies
We are constantly encouraged by some amazing letters in the mail from people who have been blessed by the ministry. As many of you pray regularly for our work we wanted you to also partner in the blessing of these letters. Thank you to each of you who take the time to communicate with us about what God is doing in your life. We really are encouraged by your words.
You can check out the new testimonies page by Clicking Here
Prayer Requests
- Ongoing financial support for all the projects and missions planned for this year.
- National Heritage Tour, and all that needs to be done before we leave on the 4th August.
- For 'grace' magazine as it is being put together at the moment.
- For Steve's Devotional book as it is in the stages of design.
- For the team serving in the Steve Grace Office as they continue co-ordinating and communicating with Churches across Australia.
- For Cheyne as he flies home from America today to serve on the tour.
- For Chase Merrell and Steven Kent coming from California to serve on the Heritage Tour.
Until next week,
Steve & Kerrie Grace
Little Miracles
Pictured: Steve with Seyanna and Ezekiel on their first ever ride on a Harley Davidson.
Well the good news is there is a Harley Davidson back in the family. A 1996 Fatboy. With a little help from a few good friends from Black Sheep Motorcycle Ministries in California and a partnership with my great mate, Steve Turner I will have a Harley to ride for ministry trips and for times when I'm home. This is a huge blessing. Nothing clears the head better than a good ride on a sunny day. In the midst of our faith venture for the Heritage Tour this is a real shot of encouragement. We believe motorcycles have always been an integral part of the ministry as they connect so well with reaching men in this culture. So we simply want to thank the Lord for His faithfulness. The first passengers yesterday were Ezekiel and Seyanna Roberts, my nephew and niece who are already lined up for another ride tomorrow!!! God is good. Thanks to all who have helped out.
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