Yes, you are receiving this a day early this week as we will leave this afternoon for a week-long meeting of our East Africa IMB coworkers. We are not looking forward to hours of sitting, but we are eager to be with old friends and make new ones. We are especially excited about hearing how God is at work in their areas and how we can support them in prayer and through our work! Which leads me to the theme of today’s Prayer Update – a shortened bit of my recent reply to an IMB writer preparing a story on “using Facebook and other social media strategies to share prayer requests and promote missions.”
My response began with a praise for the much stronger/faster/more affordable internet in our part of the world (still not the best, but SO MUCH BETTER than what we had in the past!) which allows sending frequent e-mail Prayer Letters to the USA, rather than the once/twice a year mailed-via-volunteers newsletters which was costly and difficult. I did not add our praise for staying in instant touch with our children – a true blessing for missionaries! A blessing that I was especially thankful for this past weekend when tornadoes hit our ‘home area’ in North Carolina where all three of our kids now live! We learned of the destruction and terror via internet news yesterday morning and thanks to e-mails and Facebook, we also learned immediately that our kids and other family members were safe and sound. Thankfully our son waited a day or two to tell us about spotting one of the tornadoes crossing the highway ¼ mile behind him on the highway. He said the policeman in the car beside his truck was also too busy speeding away out of danger to have any intentions of giving tickets at the moment!
Another blessing of the better internet was that during the Kenya’s post-election chaos after Christmas ’07, we were able to receive unedited news about the situation and let our families/friends know that we were safe. Most importantly, as I was then serving as the Prayer Advocate for Kenya, I was able to share up-to-date prayer requests from our Kenyan friends and churches. This is when I quickly learned to use blogs as a mission tool. (1)
I also shared my current goal as the Internet Connector for East Africa: To use blogs/ Facebook/ e-mail messages to share what God is doing in our part of the world. Why? Because I believe strongly that when people know how their prayer and personnel support, as well as their financial support through the Lottie Moon Offering and Cooperative Program is being used and blessed, they will respond with more prayer, greater involvement as volunteers/ coming as long-term personnel and continued financial support – which allows us to be more capable workers in our Father’s Harvest Field. A second motivation: I can freely share what God is doing in our part of the world and how they can join in His work via prayer, but many of my friends and co-workers live and work in restricted areas and they cannot freely share their stories, praises and prayer needs. So I desire to use our stories/ prayer items to guide others in supporting them. (2)
What I did not add, is my prayer request for this week: Pray that during our upcoming mission meeting, I will find ways to strengthen and encourage our co-workers as I help them find ways to share their stories, their praises and needs with prayer supporters. Another prayer request for this week requires admitting our seniority! Pray that Jack and I will be alert and responsive to opportunities for using our experiences, the good and bad ones from the last 32 years, to strengthen and encourage our newer co-workers. Thank you also for praying for me – the allergy/sinus problems had me back in a doctor’s office last Thursday morning, but the new round of medicine is succeeding and I’m finally working with energy again! BERT
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(1) For many of the blogs/ prayer walks/ past updates placed on the internet, go to: Yates-IMB-Kenya - http://bertandjackyates.blogspot.com
(2) For part of my current work, which includes the photos in today’s Prayer Update, go to: 2011 PRAYER NUDGES FROM EAST AFRICA: http://easternafrica2011prayernudges.blogspot.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=351345&id=685050129&l=47f55a92ab
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