Many times we pray these very familiar words “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done”  with no real awareness of the tremendous blessing  it is to be led by a loving God, to be about His will to seek and save the lost in the midst of our journey of life.  While the Lord clearly closed the door for surgery at this time in Los Angeles, He did hear your prayers and open the door for us to do ministry our last two days in LA.  We were blessed the evening following the bronchoscopy (a surgical procedure where a camera views behind the bronchial tree for signs of cancer) to go out to eat at a little café near Rodeo Drive.  There were three restaurants to choose from but we all agreed on the 3rd one mainly because of the price.  God is so good.  He allowed us to have a young waiter/actor named Jonathan.  Immediately I thought of my youngest son Jonathan and we began to share with this struggling actor.  The conversation, led by the Spirit because of your prayers, turned to the topic of his relationships.  He then asked if I was psychic (never had that before).  Relationships was the theme of the service God led us to at Mosaic church and was fresh on my heart.  We had prayed about which church to attend and the Lord clearly led us to Mosaic at Beverly Hills High School.  Now we were witnessing to a man half a mile from where the church meets who is seeking good relationships in his life and a new beginning.  We are praying as we shared with Jonathan for his salvation and for him to experience life changing relationships through a local church.  The next day as I was praying, there was a deep impression that we should go to an inner city community and pray.  Mike Buster had stayed with me and Laura to go to the doctors and continue to walk with us during our stay in LA.  Mike Buster and the 4 men who traveled across the country to be by our side during this season were a tremendous blessing from God.  We did some sight-seeing in Beverly Hills of famous homes and went to the Getty Center, the wealthiest museum in the world.  From the stars’ homes and the multibillion dollar museum, we went to the hood.  We put an address of a housing development in our car and drove about an hour in rush hour traffic and finally found the housing development.  The weather had gotten very windy and cold.  The housing development looked like a prison, cinder block apartments with bars.  When we pulled into a parking space there were two men sitting in the cold near our car.  Mike and I got out and began to talk to these two men.  It was surreal; they were so open to hearing about the work of God through BridgeBuilders and our church.  We both shared that we wanted to pray for them.  The minute we said this, men started coming from everywhere for us to pray with them.  Men were actually running across the street to join our prayer time and we were now surrounded by eight men.  I asked these men in the inner city to pray for my healing and they did.  I told them that by God’s grace when I am healed, we would return and plant our work in their community.  We then linked arms and prayed God’s blessing of salvation for these men, their families, and this community.  Several of the men hugged us and thanked us for coming to pray for them.  Regardless of what I am going through, I have never lived one day like these residents in the housing development.  I have been blessed with godly parents, an education, employment, a beautiful family, home, salvation, and an amazing church family.  What have I done to earn this? Nothing.  I am overwhelmed by God’s goodness and grace to show me just how blessed I am.  These men are now in my heart and prayers.  By God’s will, we will one day return to this band of brothers who prayed for me. 

                Medically, we had a very good meeting with our doctors in LA.  They will be working with our doctor here at Baylor.  It is great how these doctors are working together for our good.  We had the privilege of praying for our doctors, affirming the great work the Lord does through them every day.  The status of the cancer is now confirmed to be stage 4 as it has metastasized in the lungs and the lymph nodes.  The good news is that by God’s grace the Tarceva has shrunk the tumors significantly and the cancer found in the lymph nodes is microscopic.  The Tarceva can stop the cancer from growing for six months to several years.  Eventually in most cases, the cancer goes around the Tarceva and you must take other medications designed for this specific cancer or take chemotherapy.  The Lord has blessed us with Tarceva that is so effective against this cancer.  There are clinical tests for this cancer and the doctors are very hopeful because every day there are new “God given” discoveries that could defeat this cancer.  I am confident that our God is able to heal and that He has created this remarkable drug to hinder the cancer until the Lord brings our healing in His time and His way.  He alone is able.  Please join us in praying for wisdom about our next steps of treatment.  Thank you for your prayers and love.  We are overwhelmed by God’s goodness and grace and the open door He gave us to witness in Los Angeles and be about His will for our lives!  May we each pray with absolute abandonment, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.  May we live everyday knowing that they are not our own, but precious gifts from God to be used for His purpose and plan to seek and save the lost.

         Today it was my fervent prayer along with many of you that the cancer in my body would be surgically removed by our amazing surgeon here in Los Angeles.  The biopsy performed on the lymph nodes behind the bronchial tree of my lungs showed evidence of more cancer.  Therefore, surgery was no longer a good option.    We will have further information following our meeting with our doctors here in Los Angeles in the morning.  We will continue to take Tarceva which God has used to shrink the 2 tumors over 75% and trust God for His miracle of healing in another way.  He is our Jehovah Rapha!!

            I do not want to waste the stewardship of this season of my life not sharing the word with you that God spoke to me following this new information.  In Philippians Paul writes “I want you to know brothers that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”  Each day we hear testimonies of how God is using this trial to bring the truth of Jesus’ goodness and grace to the lives of so many who need Him.  This morning before the procedure I had the joy of praying with two ladies waiting for their family member who was having surgery.  There were tears in their eyes as they thanked me for praying for their family member who experienced a successful surgery.  Last Friday, Laura and I had the joy of praying with two young Christian men from Chicago who were selling their CDs on the sidewalk of Rodeo Drive.  They were blessed beyond words that we stopped and prayed for them and gave to their music career to be light in a dark culture here in LA.  We enjoyed worshipping at Mosaic Church in Beverly Hills where Erwin McManus and his lay leadership meet in six locations across the city and are making a great impact for the Kingdom of God.  We joined them in the Beverly Hills High School auditorium and had the opportunity to affirm Erwin and his team for the tremendous impact they are making on so many lives.  It was our joy to spend time with Caroline Clark, daughter of Brad and Lisa Clark.  She is such a great example of the next generation’s heart to be a passionate witness for Christ in the culture through the entertainment industry where Christ is so absent. 

            The city is beautiful but it breaks my heart for the lostness of this place. People openly sell marijuana through “medical” clinics and overtly pursue materialism,  fame, and every lust of the flesh.  The people are desperately seeking to fill the void of their lives that only Christ can fill.  From movies stars to beggars, this void is the same.  This city urgently needs the body of Christ in the streets modeling His love and compassion to the homeless, lost, and least.  I’m burdened and prayerful that God will one day let us come to this city with a loving compassionate witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.  I may not have come here for my healing after all but to get a burden for these dear people who need healing from our precious Savior.  The remnant is here and vibrant but oh how they need reinforcements.  Please join me in praying to be a faithful steward of what God has shown us and what our part is in sharing the gospel to so many who are desperately seeking.

            In addition, Paul writes “I will rejoice for I know that through your prayers and the help of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance.”  I want each of you who has fervently prayed for us to be greatly encouraged as we commit to be faithful stewards of your prayers to continue with every breath of my being to:

• Proclaim the good news and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ without ceasing.
• Pray for you in your time of need for God to meet you as He has so faithfully met us in our time of need and the needs of our ministry.
• To give my life whole heartedly without reserve for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God.
• To serve the church and the least of these as selflessly and sacrificially as I have been served.
• To believe by faith with you that God is a miracle working God who can do anything at anytime through anyone to bring himself glory.
• To run with endurance the race that is set before me, keeping my eyes on Jesus, and counting it all joy. 

            I pray that I will be a faithful steward of all God’s goodness and grace, your love, and your fervent prayers.  These are His days for His glory to fulfill His purpose alone.  Pray for me as I pray for you that we will be faithful stewards of all that He has entrusted to us.  Thank you for loving and praying for me, my beloved family, and the ministry of H.I.S. BridgeBuilders.  You are loved.

Today, before I went to hear the results of my C.T. scan, I was led to Psalm 118 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!  What a treasure to be loved by God.  No matter what we are going through in life, our Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer loves us.  The Psalmist continues by stating: “Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free; The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.  I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord.

            What a great and awesome God we serve who hears us when we cry out to Him and answers us and sets us free.  We thank God for this opportunity, through cancer, to let God be our strength and our song, for He alone is my salvation.  We proclaim by faith that we will live for His glory and recount His mighty deeds. 

            Today, the doctor informed us that the 2 tumors in my lungs have both shrunk about 65%!!!  This is a miracle from God.  We praise Him also that there were no new evidences of cancer on the C.T. scan.  We believe God and God alone is worthy to receive all the praise and glory for this wonderful report.  We leave this Wednesday to go to Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and prayerfully will have surgery on October 26th to remove both tumors.  Please pray for Dr. Fuller and their team.  We rejoice as well that this same day, we are now at 101 BridgeBuilder 300′s, individuals who are praying for our healing and giving $100 each month to H.I.S. BridgeBuilders.  This miracle of His continued provision and healing is almost too much to comprehend.  Each of you is an evidence of God’s steadfast love to me and to those we minister to in the cities.  It is my fervent desire to continue to be a bridge of His love to the least and the lost.  As God has so graciously demonstrated His steadfast love for us, may we today demonstrate love for those around us who so desperately need to be loved and led to Jesus.  Pray for us as we get to go and minister in Los Angeles through this cancer.  We are excited about a new day and the opportunity we have to be used by Him to bring Him glory and advance the gospel.  You are loved and your prayers are a gift from God.

This past week we have seen the Lord open doors for our ministry that we know are the direct answer to your prayers.  There is a tremendous opportunity in West Dallas to be a part of a collaboration to train people from the community and develop micro businesses in construction, culinary, dental technicians and automotive.  This has the opportunity to provide a platform for the gospel and make disciples of hundreds of people that will have an impact on thousands in our city.  Each one of these outposts is an open door for people to come in and meet Jesus and to have hope for tomorrow.  Recently, one of our staff members shared about a prostitute who came to our eye clinic, but was so tired and on drugs that she could not even get her eyes examined.  Our staff prayed fervently for her and told her Jesus could change her life and set her free from her pimp and that life style.  Each time she would come to the clinic, the pimp would wait outside for her and wonder why she was taking so long because our staff was ministering to her and letting her rest.  When the pimp would come in and try to go back in the back to see her, the staff told him he could not go back into the patient area.  They protected her and gave her a refuge from this storm of her life.  Thirty days passed and the same lady came into the clinic and asked if they remembered her.  She said, “I asked Jesus to come into my life, left the streets and am living with my grandmother and I want to come to the clinic for optical training so I can get a job and begin my life again.” How I praise God for the open door these clinics and businesses are in the city for people to open their hearts to Jesus and be saved.

            Medically, the Lord has also opened a door for our healing.  Several weeks ago I received a call from a doctor in California who is the son in law of one of our members at Prestonwood.  He is a Thoracic Oncologist at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.  When I spoke to him I was immediately encouraged by his words of wisdom and concern.  We have received a diagnosis from this doctor that is only found in 1% of patients with cancer.  His diagnosis, after receiving our biopsies and medical records is that I have synchronous primary.  This basically means that my 2 tumors formed at about the same time, but one tumor did not come from the other.  This means that surgery is now an option and that I am in Stage 1b or 2 and not Stage 4.  We are overwhelmed by God’s continued grace in our lives and your fervent prayers.  I will get C.T. scans done tomorrow to have as a measurement of how the Tarceva has worked, by God’s grace, to shrink the tumors.  We know that Jesus is our only healer and that he can use any method or doctor at any time to heal me for his glory.  We will go to our doctor on Monday here in Dallas and will blog the results of our tests this Monday evening.  Based on the results of the C.T. scans, we are prepared to fly to California next Wednesday for further tests, with a potential surgery on October 26th to remove the two tumors from my lung.  We know that God has opened this door for His glory and our good. 

            We love you and covet your prayers more now than ever before to continue to believe God by faith, to walk through the doors He opens for each of us to be His ambassador of healing and salvation to the hurting and the lost.

The words of Paul to “follow me as I follow Christ” are a true challenge for all of us.  Where would the people closest to us say that we are leading them?  For many like me, in my twenties, I would have led you to a pursuit of worldly things.  True, I was a Christian, but I was a carnal Christian.  I praise God that in my late twenties through the love of my godly wife, the preaching of Jack Graham, and the faith and prayer life of Velma Mitchell, my heart was awakened to truly surrender to Jesus.  Yes, I still sin but the desire of my heart is to seek Jesus and His will for my life.  As I have fallen more in love with Jesus and long to follow His example of loving all people in spite of what the world says of them. This change of direction in my own life has not only altered my priorities and passions, but also  looking to me for leadership. 

Recently with my battle with cancer I have seen this all around me but especially in my beloved family. My wife, and co-laborer in ministry, has continued faithfully alongside me in this journey as we watch our children follow us in this ministry. All of my children are more connected than ever before to the ministry of H.I.S. BridgeBuilders. Daniel, while at UTSA, goes down to the inner city in San Antonio with my brother, my parents and the college department of his church to mentor young children.  Grace continues to show a growing love for the children of Bonton and encourages me by her gentle, servant heart.  Michael continues to bless me by his love for God and the least. He recently revised our website and is truly engaged in every element of the ministry.  Michael’s love for Clifton and Seandra, a couple from Bonton, is an example to me of the fruit of his life of loving God and others more than himself. Recently, Jonathan, my 15 year old wrote a paper for school that brought me to tears. 

                        Something I Wish to Complete in My Lifetime

                                                by Jonathan Fechner

“One day I hope to be the President of H.I.S. BridgeBuilders not to just follow in my Dad’s footsteps but to serve God and the community of Bonton.  I want to do this because the environment is so happy and the people are such a blessing to be around.  The people of Bonton want to change but they need the opportunity.  It is because of this that I want to serve the community and offer them classes to get through high school, training to get jobs, and a relationship with Christ so that they can support their families and give them a strong spiritual base.  I believe I can do this because of my love for my God and the people of Bonton.  I have already seen many miracles happen in the community.  Two drug dealers become Christian leaders in the community and a homeless drunk stopped drinking, accepted Christ and is trying to find a job. When my Dad gives up the job of being President, someone will need to take his spot, and I feel that person could be me.  I love the Bonton area and I look forward to going down there every week and getting to see the kid’s big smiles and providing them spiritual guidance.  I wouldn’t change anything with BridgeBuilders.  I think it is set up perfectly and has the correct goals.  In order to be President of BridgeBuilders you have to have good people and business skills to partner with other organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and to run micro-businesses.  Business relationships are needed to provide good jobs for people such as a cafe, dental clinic, eye clinic and optical lab and find them jobs at stores such as Walmart.  I believe all these are needed to be the President of BridgeBuilders.”

I share this humbled by God’s grace to save me and give me a second chance to be used for His work. I pray that you and I would always remember that people are following us, the question is where are we leading them?

Medically we are 10 days away from the CT scan to determine what effect the Tarceva has had on the tumors.  We are believing God will deliver us through your fervent prayers.  We love you and thank you for continuing to walk with us as we all follow Jesus.