Urgent Prayer Request

Dear friends,

Here is an urgent prayer item from David Gomez in Guatemala. Please feel free to pass it along to those who you know will pray!

John

PRAYER REQUEST:

(Summary translation from Spanish) On June 25 at the startup of two simultaneous EE
clinics in Guatemala City ---a Kids' EE teacher training clinic and an EE
Youth clinic--- armed bandits entered the "Open Bible" host church, ordered
everyone to lay on the floor and turn over their cell phones or be shot
dead. The thieves also took the laptop computer belonging to Paola Gomez
(the Kids' EE organizer/teacher/facilitator), as well as the ministry's
video projector.

Most of the people present for the training were teenagers, and the
atmosphere was very tense. However, we know that we have the joy of
"stealing" away souls from the Devil who has come to rob. He who is with us
in more powerful and will give us the victory in the next three days of the
clinics.

We invite you to join with us in this great battle, confident of the Lord's
control and power, knowing that he is very present with us, and that all
will turn out for the good.

In the all-powerful Christ who is Lord over all of heaven and earth,

David

Twitter!

Well, I've finally signed up for Twitter... I'm not sure that's a good thing? But maybe so. You can find my by the user name: jbsorensen.

Have a great week.

John

Kids’ EE Celebrates its 10th Anniversary, and Partners with OneHope

I was recently in Australia with an entire group of Kids' EE specialists working on materials for our partnership with OneHope. One of the specialists was Marcia Ardis and she reminded me about the beginning of Kids' EE.

1999 marked the beginning of Kids’ EE, and now, ten years later, Kids’ EE is planted on every continent around the world. “I feel like we have received a tenth anniversary present from the Lord!” Marcia declares. Those working with Kids’ EE are known to be passionate and oftentimes impatient. This impatience is understandable—children grow up so fast. “If a child’s tender heart is not filled with God, the world will fill it with ‘untruths,’” Marcia explains.

OneHope is a children’s ministry dedicated to child missions and child evangelism. It now partners with Kids’ EE. Together, we share the same vision—to reach millions of children globally, in a short amount of time. Marcia excitedly shares, “This ‘short amount of time’ is what grips our hearts. In just three years, through the partnership, 20 million children will be reached!”

In May, representatives from the worldwide Kids’ EE team met ‘down under,’ in Australia. These reps came together to design a plan to reach these 20 million children. The plan is to have Kids’ EE leaders and field workers train teachers who will then equip children to share the Gospel with others. “This cycle will continue—multiplication at its finest—adults reaching children who reach more children…who reach more…who reach more,” Marcia happily explains. “THANK GOD for this tenth anniversary present!” she exclaims.

Please continue to pray for Kids’ EE, OneHope, and the partnership we are making. God has blessed us so much; pray that He will continue to do so.

The Excitement of Center for Christian Statesmanship is Contagious!

I recently talked to George Roller, Director for the D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship (CCS), and long time EE advocate, and friend.  He spoke of the excitement he has for this summer, but particularly for June 21-28, 2009.  This is the week of Mission to Congress when college and graduate students join EE and The Center to reach out to the Members of Congress, Congressional Staffers, and Congressional Interns. 

Last year's winner, Mike Pence, from Indiana

This year, CCS has the honor of bestowing the 14^th Distinguished Christian Statesmanship Award.  Those who have received this prestigious award in the past include:  Senator John Ashcroft, Senator Sam Brownback, The Honorable Kay Coles James, Ambassador Dan Coats, Representative J.C. Watts, Representative John Hostettler, Representative Marilyn Musgrave, Representative Mike McIntyre, and Representative Mike Pence (the 2008 winner).  This year, the honor is being given to Representative Randy Forbes, a Congressman from Virginia.  Randy has been serving in the House of Representatives since 2001 and has been standing up for his faith in Christ and proclaiming God’s love in his actions.  He fought to include God in the Capitol Visitor Center as well as established the Congressional Prayer Caucus.  I had the immense privilege of handing this award to Mike Pence a year ago in 2008, and I again have the honor of giving this wonderful award, this year to Randy. 

I asked George to share some of the excitement he has for this year.  “I’m excited by the caliber of the new winner, Randy Forbes, and his absolute, strong commitment to Christian values.”  After the National Day of Prayer, Randy organized a press conference to counteract what the president had said about America not counting itself as a Christian or Jewish nation.  The purpose of this prayer conference was to outline our history to show that we were founded on Christian principles.  At that conference, the filing of a bill was announced which will make the first week of May every year a Religious Heritage Week.  “I’m excited about Representative Forbes being our new winner for the year,” George eagerly conveys, “and for the week in June that will give us the opportunity to allow many people on the Hill to hear about our organization and to uplift the name of Jesus Christ to these leaders of our country!”

There is going to be an evening tour of the capitol, with a commentary by the Wall Builders Association, headed up by David Barton, which will promote and make people aware of our country’s strong Christian heritage.  “Thousands of interns will also be coming to Washington D. C. this summer and we will have the opportunity to impact many of them to let them hear the Gospel, and to see Members of Congress as role models, sharing the Gospel,” George excitedly shared.  

Last year's intern BBQ

I hope that you all will pray for this upcoming week, June 21-28, that the interns attending will be greatly impacted, and the Congressmen will be affected by CCS and will make a difference in our country for Christ.

Facebook

Dear friends,

Technology can be a wonderful thing (I say this with a grin...)!

And through the hard work of some younger folks, EE has entered the Facebook age.  Amazing!  We have a lot of staff that regularly use Facebook to communicate with friends and ministry partners.  Now we have an EE page!  You can become a fan by clicking HERE.

May the Lord richly bless you today.

John