Merry Christmas everyone!
It’s amazing that 2016 is almost over. I thank you for all of your prayers, and I praise God for all of His answers to prayer!
As the Lord leads, please pray for me, as these past few days I have felt quite burdened.
Here is the latest in praises and prayer requests:
Praises:
- I spoke at my home church Mountain Creek on Sunday. Many people thanked me for sharing about Bible Translation and my next steps with the Panao Quechua (Pronounced “pa-NOW CATCH-wah”*). They said it was my best presentation yet!
- As of this week I have been blessed with two new financial partners in my Wycliffe ministry, helping send me to work among the Panao Quechua. (After my Wycliffe training and Partnership Development is complete.)
- On Wednesday I had the chance to reconnect with some old friends and get caught up.
- By my quick calculations, I am within $400 of having enough to go to Wycliffe New Member Training (in Orlando, FL, in January), and still have enough to come back and reestablish myself. This is a big praise!
In my last update I asked you to pray for a pastor in Panao. I am still trying to locate his contact information to find out if he will be staying.
Prayer:
As we know, the holidays can be both wonderful and demanding. I recognize that many of you may be experiencing challenges similar to some of those below. Even so, any prayers that you can offer are greatly appreciated. I also pray for you, that you would be strengthened and encouraged.
- Please pray that I would find time for rest. I have been short on sleep lately.
- Please pray that the time spent with family and relatives would be filled with close and meaningful sharing.
- Please pray for balance as I strive to juggle responsibilities: Wycliffe new member training, partnership development, community involvement, family responsibilities, and working at Target.
- Please pray for wisdom as I seek to maintain relationships with multiple churches.
- I recently heard the term humility defined “not as thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less (because you have the bigger picture in mind).” That really resonated with me! Please pray that I would continue to grow in humility, always seeking Christ and striving to see “the bigger picture” beyond the challenges of my day-to-day life. (Philippians 2: 1-5).
I ask for prayer because at the moment I feel burdened by a sense I am falling short in some respect or another in all of these categories. I recognize there is only so much I can do, and I seek to have peace in Christ. At the same time, I must guard against letting this peace turn into undue complacency.
I can’t say enough about how much you all mean to me.
I pray for you as I thank God for our partnership and hear about what is happening in your life. Please let me know if there is any way I can specifically pray for you too.
Thank you, and God bless you.
Alex
*For my linguistics friends, Panao Quechua is pronounced [pʰə.næʊ̯ˈ kʰət͡ʃ.ˈwɐ].