Prayer Update

RECENT NOTE FROM A SENIOR PASTOR

Just thought I’d let you know we went through Foundations in later winter/early spring with our men’s group. By far the men enjoyed the OIA part of the study most. Thanks for that!! For some of the men, it was difficult at first to resist jumping ahead to the application part. But with practice, they saw the value in spending more time in observation & interpretation. Thanks for what you are doing to help us “be, live and act resolute.”—Pastor Al

RECENT NOTE FROM A TEXAS JAIL

Thanks for making your materials available for use in our jail ministry.  We have 14 guys who go into the Denton County Jail as religious volunteers under the banner of Lifeskills Ministry which was founded by one of our members to use biblical principles to help guys learn a new way to live through the power of Christ – many of us have had to go through that same difficult transformation.  And we tell them that Christ and the State of Texas have the same desire and goal – for them to change how they live –but just use different methods.   We represent 5 different non-denominational Bible churches in the suburbs of Dallas,  and we are a loosely knit group with each individual somewhat following their own teaching/sharing path as guided by the Holy Spirit and the needs of individual inmate groups.  We go into the living pods where about 40 men are housed waiting for any number of court dispositions.  Our meeting arrangements vary depending on the physical layout of each living pod and typically we have from 4 to 15 guys attending the bible study.  FYI, when we announced our plans to do your series on repetitive sin our attendance jumped from 2 or 3 to 12 at the last meeting.    Our inmates are guys with charges that range from DWI and shoplifting or public disturbance to murder, assault, and rape.  Some are weekenders and some will be there for the max of 3 years awaiting trial or transport to a state or federal facility if already found guilty.  In essence, we are the minor league of prison ministry when compared to the really tough state and federal prisons with long-term convicted inmates. So, our population is very fluid and it also tends to be younger guys where video presentations mixed with typical group bible study seems to work best.  As we discussed, there just might be some “repetitive sin” going on in this group, so your series is particularly applicable. —George Beach

RECENT NOTE FROM TEEN CHALLENGE CHAPLAIN

"The men in my class at Teen Challenge were so grateful for and excited about the devotionals.  Many are just starting to read the Bible for the first time, and this devotional is a great help.  Thank you for your generosity!"—Vince Vaughan

RECENT NOTE FROM A MEN'S BREAKFAST

"I just wanted to reach out again and thank you for joining us on Friday night and helping with Guy’s Night at Woodcrest. The feedback from the attendees was excellent, due in large part to you and your message. Here is a sample of what I’ve been hearing:

I could not agree more with your statement about building the relationship up between guys. I got home and told Kiri that that was probably the best event that I’ve been to in our church. It was great to see so many guys come and worship together. The more we do these things the better.—Chad.

Thanks too for sharing with us that, with God, we may have reached a non-believer!   I still find His pursuit of people incredible!    I think about all the things that had to happen to get that gentleman in the building to hear your message; I’m simply amazed." —Brent

RECENT NOTE FROM A MAN WHO STARTED A RESOLUTE GROUP

"Vince, I wanted to share with you what happened at my first meeting of the Young Men's Resolute Group I am starting. Actually, God is the One starting it!

We are meeting from 8 am to 9:30 am on Tuesdays at Bakers Square in the Valley. This last Tuesday was to be our first meeting. The day before I had to work at church and I planned to send a reminder email when I got there. When I arrived, I realized I had forgotten my phone, and I had all their emails saved on there, so I was unable to contact them. I also did not get to read Monday's Devo. When I got home that night, I sent a text at 11 pm. As you might guess, nobody responded. Finally, at 1 am, one of the guys texted and asked some questions about Resolute. He was not sure yet if he wanted to come. The next morning, I was preparing to leave at 6:30 am, as I live an hour away. When I went to back out of my parking spot into the alley, one of my wheels cracked through the ice and fell into a 6-inch deep hole of water. I was unable to get it out, so I called a tow truck. It was going to be an hour before he could get there. I texted the men that I was going to be late and again got no response. I went inside to wait and decided to read my Devo from Tue and Mon.

God had a plan! Tuesday's Devo was all about living for God's plan and purposes and not our own and Monday's Devo was about having the perfect peace of God in the midst of the storms of life. Talk about conviction. Here I was frustrated because things were not going as I wanted or thought they should. Right after this, my phone started blowing up with texts from the men. They were all talking about meeting anyway and waiting for me. When I finally arrived at 9:30 am, I found out some of them had changed their plans so they could stay. When I shared what happened and the devos and how I felt that God was reminding me that this is His Bible study and not mine, it was enough to convince the one who wasn't sure that he wanted to be a part of it. I was humbled to see that it is not by me, but through Him and I was awed to see Him work. To God be the Glory!"—Matthew

RECENT NOTE FROM SOUTH AFRICA

"Hey Vince, I just wanna express my appreciation for you taking time, getting the mind of Christ to put these men's daily devos. I can say these men's devos come from, lots of prayers and pondering and the result is they are always in due season, on target and address the most relevant day-to-day issues that I as a Christian man and fellow men face. Keep up the work you're doing; you have no idea the degree of impact that this ministry to men that you are doing has on men's lives like myself (I even go to the point of sharing your devos with my spouse, and she is always looking forward to hearing what next morning's devos has to say... This is phenomenal, and today's devo... WOW!  God bless."—Mafika

RECENT NOTE FROM WARREN COUNTY PRISON

"I would like to express my gratitude for the donation of 'Thirty Virtues that Build A Man' for the ministry at the Warren County Jail in NY.  Last week of the 13 inmates and 5 guards; the men opened up and were honest in answering the questions from the lessons. I shared a copy with a first-time volunteer and he immediately felt relieved to have such a helpful tool to use. In the desperate and unsettled circumstances, the inmates find themselves they are open to receiving help and hope from Christ. Thank you for the encouragement in God’s work on behalf of our Upstate Prison Ministry.  We see men trust Christ and continue a walk of faith as they now have time on their hands to think." —Jim Harvey

RECENT NOTE FROM EVERGLADES CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION