Restoring Hope for a Better Tomorrow

Recently in this new season of my life I have become more burdened than ever before for the souls of men and women.  I realize that there are many who are praying for my healing and daily sustenance and for that I am humbled beyond words.  My heart though, aches deeply for those who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Recently, while reading Romans I came across Romans 1:21 “for although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.”  It is clear the wisdom of this world would declare that we are more educated, enlightened and enjoying the best time in history, but the word is clear that if we do not honor, praise and prize God as Preeminent Lord of our lives, that we are truly living as lost men and women, with a knowledge of God but not a relationship with Him as Sovereign Lord.  So much of Europe with all their castles speak to the age of kings and castles.  There is no question that in those days the king’s word was law and his seal was the authority of his word.  There can be no in between or half in and half out, either Jesus is King and Lord or He is not.  As I was praying for a dear friend the other day the Lord put a man on my heart who is at our gym, who knows God but has not honored Him as Lord.  He is not his Savior and Lord.  The Spirit of God led me to pray these words, “Lord, before my healing please save this man at the gym.”  Immediately, it became clear that we needed to invite him to lunch to share God’s goodness and grace with him.  He has accepted our invitation and we are looking forward to the opportunity of sharing the gospel with him.  We are each surrounded daily by people who are lost and will one day be separated from God forever.  My prayer is that everyone who reads this blog and prays for me will put as their first priority, to be used by God to pray for and share the good news with those who do not know Jesus as Lord.  What the enemy intended for evil, God can use for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  Please send me messages of witnessing opportunities the Lord is giving you because of your asking Him to put in your path those who need Him as Lord.  In addition I would be honored to pray for people on your heart who need Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.  If you will send me their names, our BridgeBuilders prayer ministry will join me in praying for their salvation.  It is my joy to know that this cancer can be used to advance the gospel and the gift of eternal life. 

Medically, we went to Dr. Konduri today to get the results of our latest C.T. scan.  Our last scan was done in October.  The scan shows that the bottom tumor in my right lung is basically nondescript or no longer a tumor.  The upper tumor has reduced in size another 20%.  This means that from the beginning of our treatment this tumor has shrunk 90%.  We give God all the praise for this recent report.  The Tarceva will typically work like this for 12-16 months and then the cancer comes back stronger.  We praise God for our treatment in Germany that is boosting my immune system through my own blood and additives that we will be taking for the next 6 months.  It is our prayer that God will use the blood to bring complete healing.  We believe God is able and we commit more than ever to share His good news of His love and healing to anyone who will listen.  We are humbled by the gift of your love and prayers.  Remember – Salvation first.  When you are led to pray for me, ask the Holy Spirit to put someone on your heart who needs the Lord and let us, together, see a harvest of souls that will join us in the work of God and experience the gift of eternal life.  You are a blessing.

We are on our journey back home that has taken us from Germany to Romania then London and Atlanta. The Lord has opened a wide door of opportunity for us. There are few words to express my overwhelming joy at having the chance to return to Romania and the ministry the Lord has prepared for us here.

The people are treasures with a great faith and so few things of the world. We have worked with Pastor Peter from our first trip over 3 years ago where our ministry, H.I.S. BridgeBuilders, was able to give a gift to help construct several small classrooms for the children’s Bible studies. The rooms have been in process for 3 years. Their own men come on the weekend to work on the construction when there is money for supplies. This small, vibrant church voted  not to have air condition or heating so they could invest in their children the Word of God. Their sacrificial, servant hearts humble me every time I am with them.

We were blessed to be able to walk among the people in the Valley of Galati with Bogdon, our city pastor. In the snow and freezing temperatures we were hosted graciously in every house and able to pray with the new believers. As we went in their homes there was no heating and maybe 12 people living in a 2 room home. They opened their doors with no shoes and no socks, but with graciousness and love that only comes from Christ.

By God’s grace we were given funds from several families in Dallas to buy clothing for the children and fire wood for the homes. According to Bogdon, who was once sold drugs and ran a prostitution ring, most of the women in the Valley have been involved in prostitution and the men have stolen and/or dealt drugs. It was amazing though to see how the power of God has changed so many hearts already in the Valley! Now these believers are bringing others to Christ and living a life led by Christ in a sin saturated culture.

Several homes we visited had some very ill people that cannot even see doctors because they do not have papers. A common cold can be their death sentence. I was humbled by God’s undeserved grace of the medical care I have received. I was so moved and we must continue to pray for their healing and restoration. Not only are we going to pray for that, but we are working on enabling these people to receive the testing and care they need. I am grateful for Chris Anderson, our Director of International Missions, and the amazing work that he is doing in Romania as he works with local pastors, businessman, and Serving Him Ministries.

It was a joy to meet up with Allen Hobbs and BJ Woods, who are on the international board, in Bucharest and spend several days with them in the Valley. What a great God we have to allow us the opportunity to go to Romania six months after I was supposed to go, but couldn’t because of the cancer diagnosis! It is evident that God’s timing is perfect as we were able to establish our international foundation, meet the needs of the people in the bitter cold, pray for healing and medical help, and had the opportunity to preach the gospel.

The climax of any day is the opportunity to preach the gospel. Sunday we had the joy of preaching at the Holy Trinity Church in Galati with Pastor Ovi. This is the largest Baptist church in the city and is partnering with us and continues to pray each week for our ministry in the Valley. This is an incredible gift for us to work with this humble pastor and people. When the invitation was given to know Christ there were two older men that came forward to surrender their lives to Christ. A missionary in the worship service said that typically in Romania you will not have older men come forward. So we praise God for He is mighty to save.

Later that day, we went to our house church in the Valley that is hosted by Gina, the wife of the “King of Thieves”. Gina’s husband, one of Bogdon’s friends, is now in prison. This beautiful, heated home that was once the epicenter of drugs in the Valley is now a lighthouse of hope where there Gospel is preached and lives are transformed daily. Truly, by God’s grace we are taking back the Valley one life, family, and house at a time. In every way it is just like the early church in the Book of Acts. When we shared the Gospel at the house church, a lady named Roxanna gave her life to Christ. We challenged the house church to be strong and courageous and believe God for miracles for themselves and their community.

God has clearly opened this door as I was able to go with my sons and this incredible team and once again be used by God. I was humbled and blessed to watch my sons be such a great encouragement to me, the team, and the people of Romania. Thankfully, the ministry in which we serve is not just a city transforming mission, but a generational ministry in which young and old are called together for His glory.  Thank you for all your prayers and love in this season of God’s blessing!

We have been blessed beyond words by your prayers and provision for our medical and ministry needs. There is no way to adequately express our gratitude other than continue to be faithful to the mission God has given us to do. We have been blessed to see this beautiful country of Germany, but there is a great spiritual void among the people. There is an understanding of religion, but not a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and therefore you do not see the joy of knowing Jesus in many of the people.

It was our joy on our first day in Frankfurt to get to witness to Wolde. He is well educated, originally from Ethiopia, and has several children. He shared that he brought his family to Germany so that they could get a good education while he continues to work at the hotel where he is extremely overqualified for the work he does. I loved his servant heart and when he said he was from Ethiopia the Lord kept reminding me of the Ethiopian in the Bible that was traveling and needed the Word of God. We began to talk at length regarding Jesus Christ and the Gospel. When I asked him about why God should let him into heaven, he said, because he has trusted Christ personally as his Lord and Savior.  We rejoiced together that we are brothers in Christ.

The next evening we had dinner at the hotel and our waiter’s name was Mathias. He was recently married and is a young dad with a two year old son. I thanked God for my sons and daughter who know Christ and had a deep burden to share the gospel with Mathias so that he could train his own son up in the ways of the Lord. The next day I returned to the restraunt to see if Mathias was there, but they said he would not be back until Monday. We were leaving Sunday for Heidelberg, so I began to ask God how we could share the gospel with Mathias. The answer to my prayer came quickly. I wrote a note to Mathias with a gospel tract and a small gift for his son and placed it in an envelope. Then I gave it to Wolde to give to Mathias so that he could have the oppurtunity to share the gospel with Mathias. Please pray for Wolde, this amazing Christian servant leader, and for Mathias and his family to come to Christ.

We arrived in Heidelberg on Sunday afternoon and had a wonderful family devotional out of "Streams in the Desert”. It was unbelievable how the Lord was confirming, through our devotional time, every step we have taken to be here in Germany. The clinic and Dr. Kief are wonderful. Monday I went through my first treatment of oxygen/ozone/vitamin C and took my first shots of the vaccine prepared for me using my own blood that I will be taking over the next six months. The shots are filled with antigens and killer cells to work with the Tarceva to help my body naturally kill the cancer. The doctor is very hopeful about our case and shared with us several other cancer patients who are now, by God’s grace, completely cancer free.

While there the first day, I was preoccupied with giving myself the first shot and the treatments and did not pray with the staff. I was very burdened for them and Monday night I asked God to open the door for me to talk with them about the Lord.

This Tuesday morning while receiving my treatments Maya, Dr. Kief’s daughter who manages the clinic, walked into the room and said, “I am very encouraged by you”. I didn’t quite know what she was talking about. She said that she had looked up our website (hisbridgebuilders.com) from a business card that I had dropped when leaving the clinic the day before. She said in Germany we are all either Protestant or Catholic, but that is only on Sunday and other than that there is no Spirit led living through the week. She said that she felt as though she and others were trapped in a Golden Cage in the churches. This struck me as I go to magnificent churches in every town, but there is so little effect on the surrounding community. This is the country of the great reformer, Martin Luther, and now the churches are “golden cages” that have a form of religion inside their walls, but no demonstration of God’s power and grace in the culture. We must all be on guard or during the next generation our own churches may become golden cages unless we break out of our comfort zones and share the hope of Christ with the least and the lost around us. Comfort is a deadly enemy of the Christian, and the prettier and more magnificent the cage the happier we are to stay in it and watch the world around us decay. I am encouraged to pray more now than ever for my own faith to be God’s light and salt to the culture in which I live. Gratefully we had the opportunity to share the gospel with my nurse Christa and Maya and they both shared that they are already Christians. I asked them to prayerfully consider ways that they could use their clinic to help serve the least. Maya told me the next time we meet would be to visit, as she believes the treatments will be used by God in a positive way, and to discuss ways that she could serve in ministry. We thank God for the opportunity to spur one another on in good works.

I feel great and thank God for your prayers. Pray for us as we go back to witness to several shop owners in Heidelberg that we have met over the last couple of days. Pray that we will never be content to just live in our golden cages, but to live by the golden rule to love others more than ourselves. You are in our prayers of thanksgiving.

This year, I am confident, more now than ever, that our circumstances should not dictate our outlook on life.  I am prayerful that we will not look ou,t but up to a loving Creator and Sustainer, who is faithful to meet us at our every point of need.  Interestingly, in our culture of worldliness within the Christian life, we gauge our lives by worldly measures: i.e. money, success, academics, health, relationships and popularity.  These artificial indicators are just like the many tests I went through that said I was healthy, just months before a C.T. scan found the cancer.  The cancer had been there for months and there were still no noticeable signs.  Prayerfully, we will all abandon the artificial diagnosis of spiritual health and ask God to search, try, and show us the true condition of our hearts.  The Apostle Paul amazes me because he continues to go from city to city to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the full knowledge that he would probably be beaten, stoned, thrown in jail, or killed.  Yet, in all these circumstances he counted it all joy that he could serve God and then stay up all night making tents to provide for his physical needs.  Paul was an ordinary man who lived an expectant and exciting life.  This can be ours as we train our minds and hearts, as Paul did, to love God and others more than ourselves.  Even at the height of his ministry, his goal was that he might know God and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering and dying to self.  There are those that would preach simply to know God and His power.  Let me speak from my heart; there can be no resurrection power until we die to self and surrender completely to the Lordship of Christ.  The battle rages daily and can be measured by our responses to difficult circumstances.  When the Lord is leading and I am following,  I am grateful that I only have digestive issues and not a feeding tube, that my hair is thinning and not completely gone, that my skin is dry and burning and not covered in sores, that my cancer is being used by God to advance His kingdom and not my own.  How great is our God!  Let us not waste the difficult circumstance of our life. Let us rejoice like Paul who when he was imprisoned, saw the Lord use that to bring the Imperial Guard to Christ and ultimately those in the house of Caesar.  He is working for our good and the advancement of the Gospel. God’s character never changes!  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

As we depart for Germany, I am expectant and excited about every door the Lord will open for us to be a witness for Him, whether in the airport, on the planes, in the hotels, or in the clinics.  Thank You God for allowing me to be sent out with two of my sons as Your ambassadors.  We rejoice that we will be able to join Bogdan in the streets of Galati, Romania and minister to some of the poorest people in Europe.  We thank God that we will be able to preach in Pastor Ovi’s church about our God who is able to save you, heal you, and help you.  What a great privilege it is to be used by God.  We are expectant and excited about all that God has planned for us as we keep our eyes, our hearts, our minds, and our very lives focused , captivated and surrendered to Jesus Christ.  We love each of you and thank you for your prayers and partnering with us in our ministry.  We thank God for every remembrance of you.

This past week we had the joy of hosting an open house for our neighborhood. It was a true blessing to meet so many of our new neighbors. We are thankful that God has planted us in a new mission field in North Dallas. We rejoice that in our old neighborhood in Plano several families came to know Christ as their Savior and are now serving with us in ministry.

 There were two neighbors who came alone without their husbands. One of their husbands had died of cancer and the other recently had a stroke. Immediately I felt a connection to these two wonderful ladies who have been through so much. It caused me to think about my wife if she were alone during the Holidays. We just began to pray over them and with them in the hallway of our home. When we were done praying, there were tears of thanks that God had brought us together to cast our cares upon Him in prayer. We are so thankful for the opportunity to pray for others that they too would know the peace of God that passes understanding. What a peace God gives when we are obedient to His word.

I marvel at the faith of Mary as she said to the angel, “Let it be to me according to your Word.” Oh that we would all respond by faith to the whisper of the Holy Spirit to reclaim the Christmas season to be about Christ and the Gospel. I am prayerful that we will not be like Zechariah, who was busy in the church about a religious act of worship and not receive by faith God’s Word that He has for us in this Christmas season. Of to be busy, but not fruitful is the plan of the enemy.

We rejoice that God has demonstrated His grace to us in our children this Christmas. Michael and Caitlin, who recently got engaged, gave us their gift on Sunday and it brought Laura and I to tears. They committed together to be BridgeBuilder 300’s and give $100 monthly to the ministry in order to further the gospel to the hurt and the least. What a joy to our hearts as their first Christmas and their first financial decision together is to build God’s Kingdom. Many of you may be deciding what to buy the person who has everything this Christmas season. Why not prayerfully invest in your mission offering, or be a BridgeBuilders 300 in honor of them, and give the give that will keep on giving into eternity. There is so much real need around us here, in Dallas, and around the world. May we prioritize the continuation of the work that Jesus began over two thousand years ago, to go and tell the good news that Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

We will be together on Christmas Day in BonTon with our family in the afternoon. Recently, Phillip Figg mentioned how his son had come to BonTon last Christmas and was knocking on doors to distribute food in the neighborhood. To his surprise, one of the residents was a young lady who worked where he worked part time and was in great need. This past thanksgiving, Phillip’s son called and said that he was bringing a family to their home for Thanksgiving day. It was the same family they ministered to last Christmas. What a blessing! For more information on our Christmas Day Event, please go to our website at www.hisbridgebuilders.org. There you can also find additional information on BridgeBuilders 300.

We (Myself, Michael, and Jonathan) will be leaving January 7^th to go to Germany and Romania. We will have the opportunity to minister and preach in Romania with our ministry there among some of the poorest people in Europe, where only 2-3% of the population are evangelical Christians, but those that are, are rich in faith. We thank God for every remembrance of you and are expecting great things from a great God!

This Christmas more than any other I am very aware of the gift of family. For so many, this is a season of great joy; but for many others it can be the most difficult time of the year. The amazing miracle of Jesus birth and ministry is that all of us who know Him as Savior and Lord are grafted into the family of God. I marvel at the blessing of my own children and how much I love them and am thankful for them, this year especially. I praise God daily for my wife and children. Some evenings, I stay up late and just look at the Christmas tree, the gifts, the stockings, and am reminded to pray for my precious family. I rejoice that I have a hope within me that is not based on my circumstances, but on a savior, Jesus Christ, who is the hope of the world.

One of my dearest friends and brothers in Christ is currently going through a very difficult time financially to start a company in this upside down economy. His soul desire in starting this company is to be able to give more money to ministries. He feels like telling the nay sayers who tell him to quit, “I am sorry, but I have decided to be hopeful.” He is not hopeful in banks or investors, but in a God who loves him and desires to accomplish great things through him for His glory. This man that I call my brother has placed everything he has on the altar to fund his new business so he can give more to ministries. He loves the poor, the orphans, and the widows and calls them God’s POWs. They are his family and he is my brother and Velma’s brother as well. God has knit our hearts together. 

Each Saturday, as my family and many others go to the inner city from north Dallas and have lunch with Velma while doing Bible studies for the community, it is just like the book of Acts. We are gathering house to house, praying, breaking bread, and sharing the Word and there is not a need among the body. Whether it is a former welfare mom, Velma, or a north Dallas millionare, we are all family. I am thankful that we can each do our part to bring the Gospel to the cities in which we live. Amazingly, God has allowed this movement to foster many new relationships between diverse segments of the body of Christ, to demonstrate His love to a lost and dying world. Recently, I received a copy of an incredible video testimony about the “power of family” sharing the relationship that has developed through our ministry between the Murphs and the Yarbroughs. This video was done for us by the Heritage Foundation and we are thankful for this incredible testimony of the power of the gospel to save us and reconcile us to God and each other. You may view this video by going to the following link:

                                                                        Video Testimony

I pray this is an encouragement to all of us, to reach out to those around us and expect great things from a great God this coming year.

Medically, I continue to feel very good and am thankful for your continued prayers. We are planning to go to Germany for medical treatment in early January that will work in conjunction with the Tarceva. By God’s grace and His provision, a family at Prestonwood has provided for our flights and accommodations to allow Michael and Jonathan to go with me. In addition, to going to Germany for treatment, we will be going to Romania to minister with Bogdon, who leads our ministry there, to some of the poorest people in Europe. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity that we have to go and serve God’s family in Romania. We will be leaving January 7^th. I will give you further information in our next blog regarding this treatment. We love you and praise God that you are forever part of our eternal family.

P.S. We have already received $13,800 towards our $25,000 matching grant, we are humbled by God’s continued goodness and grace.

I was humbled beyond words by God’s graciousness to our ministry this past week of Thanksgiving.  Johnson Ellis, a wonderful brother in Christ, shared with us how the Lord had burdened him to seek to help our ministry as a result of a simple act of obedience to give to his ministry several years ago.  Following is the e-mail he sent us regarding this wonderful gift:

      “A couple of years ago God challenged me to run a Crusade in the  island city of Parintins located on the Amazon River of Brazil.   This crusade was held in a stadium that to that time had only been  used for the very pagan- and world famous – annual festival of  the bull.  The Pastor in that city, Elmer Lessa has a dream that one day Parintins would be known more as  a lighthouse for the Gospel than it was known for this pagan festival.

One of the challenges that we faced was where to get the resources for the crusade.  We had partnered with Team Impact -the strong men who do feats of strength – and also with The Rocketman who flew in a jet pack around the stadium. They would be the draw to the Crusade. There was the expense of the stadium, the sound system, the video screens, the buses we floated up the river for transport in the city…  I was not fearful that God would provide  us what we needed financially but while we were only about a month  away from the Crusade we still were looking for God to provide 80%  of the budget.

 I remember one evening as I was driving home I received a call  from Mike Fechner.  Mike had been standing with me in prayer the  year before the Crusade  like no one else.  He had never been to the Amazon but he sensed that God was doing a great thing and that I needed much prayer.  On the phone that day Mike proceeded to explain to me that Bridge Builders had made a commitment to Christ  to give a tithe from every dollar that God gave to them.  He said  that they had recently received a donation to the ministry and  that he wanted to tithe from that gift and give Amazon Outreach  $2,000 for the expense of the Crusade.  I remember doing a couple        of things.  The first is that I almost had a wreck because I could  not believe what I was hearing and the second was the my eyes  filled with tears.  “Lord, what is this?Bridge Builders, a ministry to the needy – to the least of these with their own list of needs now coming to a ministry in another country and being a resource to provide for the lost of the Amazon?!”  That day I learned another lesson from Mike Fechner about sacrificial giving. 

A  few months ago God put a burning desire in my heart to reciprocate that generosity Bridge Builders had shown.  God opened  the doors just two days ago for that opportunity that I would like to share with you.  A foundation that helps ministries of Christ like Bridge Builders has committed up to a $25,000 matching grant  for every dollar that is raised!  If you were planning on giving $1 God has turned it into $2 for His needy children. If  you want to step out in faith and give $1,000 or $10,000 God has provided a way to multiply that to $2,000 or $20,000!

 I  know that there has to be hundreds of you out there just like me who have especially during the last 6 months had a burning desire to encourage Mike, Laura, Velma and the host of faithful workers  at Bridge Builders.  Most of you are faithfully praying for the healing of our dear Brother.  While I know that Mike would also like to see his cancer removed, I would venture to say that his heart’s desire is even more committed to seeing the cancer of  poverty and broken hearts and those lost without Christ healed by the gift that God gave us when He died on the cross for our sins.

You will get a lot of ministry letters this time of year from many ministries that are on the front lines for Christ.  Before you stick this newsletter in one of your piles around the house please  just pray this simple prayer. “Lord teach me to give the way you would give.  Use the gift that you challenge me to give today to  encourage Mike and his ministry and the least of these that they work with right here in Dallas and around the world.” 

Please pray for God to speak to His people about this amazing opportunity to advance the Gospel to the least.  If you are interested in giving toward this matching grant, please e-mail my assistant manderwald@hisbb.org to enable us to exponentially advance the gospel this Christmas season.  I am prayerful that we will never forget the joy of giving.  Amazon Outreach is an amazing ministry advancing the Gospel along the Amazon river in Brazil to many people who have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ.  By God’s grace I had the joy to go to this very city with two of my sons and meet the Pastor and share the Gospel with many who said: “Yes, I want Jesus to be my Savior & Lord.”  What a joy it is to give our lives and our resources so that others may experience the amazing gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.  There is no greater gift than the gift God gave when He sent His Son, Jesus. to save us from our sins.  “Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.”  Only Jesus would count it joy to die for us so that we might live forever with Him.  I pray that we will each experience the joy of giving this Christ season. 

So often in the scriptures we hear references to enlarging our tents and it immediately brings to mind a greater space to provide for our families.  Specifically,  Is. 54:2 says: “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitation be stretched out; do not hold back, lengthen your cords and strength your stakes.”  What a picture of God’s promise to His people to expect His blessing as we continue to seek His reign and rule in our lives.  These past weeks the Lord has enlarged our tent in regards to our ministry for the Lord and we are humbled beyond words.

 Several weeks ago I had the joy of leading a prayer segment for a movement of prayer and city transformation called God of the City.  Unlike any other time when I have been asked to pray, I was asked to pray for healing for those in need at this gathering.  I was humbled at the joy of praying, believing in a God who is still in the process of healing me to allow me the privilege of praying this for others. Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” These have been a guide to my life and ministry, specifically to proclaim good news to the poor.  I remember, like it was yesterday, reading these verses in the Holy Land in the very place that Jesus spoke them.  There was a breaking of my hard heart as never before for the least, to broaden my tent and not hold back as Christ Himself came from heaven in all His glory to dwell among us and deliver us from our sins.  Amazingly our Lord’s first message was from Isaiah and a word to preach good news to the poor.  This has embedded in my heart the priority this should be for every Christian as it is for our Lord.  Recently with this season of cancer the ministry of God’s healing as He speaks of bringing sight to the blind is ever before me.  I am overwhelmed with this broadening of our tent of ministry to pray, believing by faith for others for healing in the mighty name of Jesus, no matter what they are facing.  This time of prayer at God of the City confirmed this new area of ministry as I was able to share in the power of the Holy Spirit that we are to Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me Bless His holy name.  Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. Ps. 103:1-4  The Lord led me to invite everyone up to the platform who needed prayer for healing and over 100 people came forward.  I was shocked and overwhelmed at God’s goodness to let me pray over His children for a faith in a Holy Omnipotent God who is able.  I am thankful beyond words for the incredible prayer warriors that serve God of the City to unite and mobilize the bride of Christ to bring glory to God and transformation to our city. 

This past Saturday we had the joy of being a part of H.I.S. BridgeBuilders’ Thanksgiving outreach in San Antonio through our ministry there in the inner city.  My parents and twin brother, Mel, bless me by their obedience to enlarge their tents daily to embrace the least of that city.  We gave away  hundreds of bags of food and clothing.  My father asked me to share and immediately the Lord led me to Luke 8 where the woman touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and she was healed.  We asked people who needed to be healed from sin and needed salvation to come forward as well as those who needed physical and emotional healing.  In God’s providence there is now an immediate connection when you tell a crowd of people you are battling Stage 4 lung cancer. They now look at me and know I’m in need just as much as they are.  What a joy to see how God has opened the door of greater ministry through what the enemy intended for evil. 

He is enlarging our tent as well in our personal family.  This past Sunday, our son Michael asked Caitlin Sammons to marry him and they are now engaged.  We are overwhelmed by God’s goodness and grace as we love others, He meets the desires of our hearts.  Our childrens’ first response when they found out Michael was engaged was: “We have a new sister.”  Caitlin is an amazing Godly young lady.  We celebrate this marvelous blessing as He enlarges our tents in every area of our lives. 

We praise God for each of you in this season of Thanksgiving and thank you for enlarging your tents to pray for us and be a part of our ministry to the least.  We now have 115 BridgeBuilders 300’s who have committed to pray for our healing and to give $100 per month to our ministry.  If you would like to join this group, please e-mail manderwald@hisbb.org.  May God remind us daily that we are each blessed abundantly to be a blessing to others. We love you and thank God for you!

This past week was another example of God’s leading and us following as we seek God and a greater surrender to Him and His will and not our own. For most of us, the prospect of going to the cancer hospital is not exactly the kind of ministry assignment we would desire. The Lord is showing me that this is one of the most strategic places we can minister to people in great need. This past Wednesday, as we went to our oncologist at Baylor, we continued to thank God for his leading us in our next steps. This truly is an incredible journey of faith of asking God and hearing Him answer in our time of need. God is so faithful if we will be faithful to earnestly seek Him. So often in our times of need, we seek the counsel of many men and not the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct us to the path we should take. Whether the decision is about family, financial, or physical needs, God’s word will be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths.

I am thankful for the doctors at Baylor, at M.D. Anderson, and at Cedars Sinai.  They are truly a gift from God as his instruments of help.  However, God alone is the healer. It is amazing the peace that comes when you don’t look to the counsel of this world to be your ultimate source of guidance in areas of your life. The Word says “call to me and I will tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” God longs to give us His peace and path if you will be still and listen to His voice. I am thankful for all of the doctors, but each time we meet with them, they give us multiple options.  It is for us to pray and hear the direction we are to go. What a peace there is when you know that the God who loves you and has allowed you to be in your situation of great need is the same God who will make a way through the valley of the shadow of death. It humbles me that your prayers are lifting us up to go through this with peace and the praise of God in our hearts. Because of Him, I don’t go to my doctor expecting my healing.  I go expecting my God to heal me however He chooses and am looking forward to how I can minister to my doctors and to those in the hospital. This week my doctor was laughing and very open to our time of prayer.  We are thankful for the relationship that we are building with this wonderful doctor.  He asked me when I wanted to come back for my next appointment.  I asked him if he normally asks the patient when they want to come back. He said he’s learned with me that I will do whatever I’m led to do by God.  We are thankful for God’s leading and his peace that passes understanding that we pray is a continued witness to our doctor. 

When we were leaving the hospital, we saw a lady named Sharon who was extremely upset and wouldn’t talk to her husband about what the doctors were saying. She was anxious and fearful and couldn’t go any further in her battle against cancer. The Lord was clear, go and pray for her. I went up to her and shared with her that I too had cancer but I would like to pray for her. She was overwhelmed with gratitude. All she said was yes, yes, yes, please pray. She was shaking and completely overcome so we went together to the throne of grace to cast our cares on Jesus. We prayed and she repeated these words near the end of our prayer; “Jesus save me! Jesus help me! Jesus heal me!” When we finished praying, she was at peace and ready to take her next steps in her fight against cancer. What peace we forfeit when we rely on the world to give us what only our Creator and Great I Am that I Am can provide. After we prayed, I knew this was why I went to the hospital. Nothing was changed with my condition; there was no new information, just the joy of praying for Sharon.

I was reminded of my new ministry by my beautiful daughter Grace. She is the youngest of our 4 children, and unknown to me, did a short video testimony for our youth ministry. I was humbled by her words and God’s goodness to continue to keep my heart open to the needs of others before my own. Please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TobmuRkgmak to watch Grace’s video testimony. I am prayerful, more now than ever, that in whatever situation you are facing you will fervently seek God.  Remember, He loves you and has plans to bless you and to prosper you with a future and a hope.

           Much of the journey of the life of faith is learning to be utterly dependent on an utterly dependable God.  We are living daily dependent on God with our fight against cancer and are confident that he will heal us whenever and however He chooses.  It is amazing to see how over and over God’s people are at an apparent dead-end and God makes a way for His people and for His glory.  In many of these instances God uses His people to be the very answer to the prayers of the people praying.  Clearly the gift of Moses to deliver his people is a reminder of “delayed but not denied.”  The 40 years Moses was learning to walk with God in the desert of his life, he was being prepared to be God’s agent to set his people free.  This culminated in Moses risking his life before Pharaoh to demand the release of the Hebrews.  For decades the people prayed and now their prayers were being answered because one man who encountered God in a burning bush heard and obeyed the voice of God.  I am certain that we all have said if God would speak to me in a burning bush I would certainly hear Him and obey Him.  The reality is that He speaks to us every time we open His Word, the Bible.  The question is do we listen and obey. 

              My heart is burdened greatly during this Christ exalting season of giving thanks and celebrating the birth of our Savior.  Every day during these next two months, our staff will encounter 1000s of people in our cities that are praying to be delivered from their current state of despair.   In this season of great disparity, our ministry attempts to meet needs of our communities.  We host a wonderful outreach on Christmas Day at 2:00 in Turner Courts gym (refer to hisbridgebuilders.org for directions).  Years ago after opening our presents in our home with my family and parents, we decided to take some bags of fruit and candy to BonTon to celebrate Christmas.  I will never forget the sight as we went from house to house – no Christmas tree, few if any toys, and an empty refrigerator.  It was no different from any other day.  Last year on Christmas day the community residents stood in line around the gym waiting to be served.  Each year we order an 18-wheeler from Feed the Children with 800 boxes of food and household supplies. We give each child one toy, give away clothing (both new and used) and feed the community Christmas dinner.  The cost for the single day is about $15,000.  I am hopeful that we will receive this necessary funding so that we can answer the prayers of the residents of the inner city on Christmas day .

                We are thankful that 112 people have said “yes” to BridgeBuilders’ 300.  We are prayerful that God will lead some of you this Christmas to become a BridgeBuilders 300 by giving $100 monthly to the ministry and praying for my healing.  If you desire to participate, please contact Mary Anderwald at 214-377-1551 or manderwald@hisbb.org.

         Today we celebrated the Habitat home dedications of Clifton Reese and Carla Robinson in Bonton.  We are grateful that a man who once slept in a car and sold drugs is now reconciled to God and to his wife, was trained as an optical lab technician in the BridgeBuilders clinic and is working in the lab and is now a first-time homeowner.  His heart is to let his house be a lighthouse for Christ for the neighborhood children as he has four children of his own.  We celebrate also with Carla who said she never dreamed she would have a house of her own.  She too works in the clinic.  At the dedication she said that her home is the “house that love built.”  I know for Clifton and Carla, their dream may have been delayed but through Christ, the church, and HIS BridgeBuilders, their dreams were not denied.   

         In over 2000 scriptures in God’s Word, He tells us to go and to give in His name to the least and the lost.  I pray the delay in the answer is not because we are not listening or obeying to the still small voice of God.  God is speaking.  I pray we are listening.  The poor of this nation and the earth are crying out.  Let’s not delay any longer.  We love you and long to walk with you to reach the lost and the least.  Please consider helping us this Christmas to continue to share His love and light through your giving, serving, and praying. 

         Prayerfully the delay will be over soon for many who are crying out to God.