PrayerPoints, November 2011

NOVEMBER 2011 w^mm ....... ЖйНШНШ / — SOUTHERN BAPTISTS : A PRAYING PEOPLE IMPACTING A LOST WORLD I Thanksgiving from the missionary kid corner Join us for a Thanksgiving trip around the world as missionary kids (MKs) and their families share with us ... Starting Nov. 1 of every year our family cuts out paper hands (our personal hands) one for each day leading up to Thanksgiving. Every night we write something that we are thankful for on our paper hands. Then we curl the fingers to look like leaves and tape them to our paper tree trunk. We call this our Thankful Tree. We usually leave it up through the Christmas holiday and continue to talk about God's love for us. On Thanksgiving Day, we play the "Thankful Corn" game. Beside everyone's plate are three pieces of unpopped popcorn. As we are eating our meal, we go around the table three times dropping corn into a special jar and praising God for something He has done over the past year. We save the jar and the corn. When times are hard during the year, we pull it out and use it as a visual reminder that God is faithful and working for good in our lives. THE FOOD ~ I have a very little oven so even a small turkey won't fit in it. A local restaurant owner orders turkeys from another country and cooks them in his big oven. I cook the rest of the meal. The thing that the students like the best is the sweet potato casserole. THE STORY ~ After everyone has finished eating, we all sit down. One of the Christian students shares about the Thanksgiving story — you know, the story about the Pilgrims. They love the ending where the Indians and the white settlers share a feast together and thank God for providing such good food and special friends. THE SHARING ~ We all sing a song together in English and again in their language. After the song, we ask students to tell about things for which they are thankful. The people who haven't yet trusted in Jesus are very touched when Christians share, and they often get very emotional. Sometimes a few students will pray to receive Jesus. It is our prayer that all of them will one day become Christians and be part of our forever family in God. Choose to be thankful today The dictionary definition of thankfulness is: warmth of feeling, appreciation, gratefulness, gratitude, thanks. Oftentimes, we hu¬ mans are thankful when our boss just promoted us, our friends are treating us right or even if we just found a lost dollar on the sidewalk. When do you ever hear someone say, "Oh, I am just so thankful that I have this trial in my life? I am just so thankful that it will build my faith and make me stronger!" Ha! Try to get your neighbor to quote those exact words ... and mean them! Last summer, I was sitting in one of the bedrooms at a condo we were staying in and my eyes fell upon a verse of Scripture. At that moment, doubts about whether I was saved or not just raced through my brain. I picture the doubts as little men with black masks racing through me — coming to drain me of all I have! Well, those little men did a fine job of robbing me of my joy, weak¬ ening my faith and causing me to worry! These doubts lasted for about one year, and those months were just simply miserable. I was not very thankful for my situation. This struggle with salvation lasted for A LONG TIME! This period of my lifetime caused me to be unthankful. I was over¬ whelmed, scared and worrisome. Now this struggle is gone! I renewed my salvation once and for all, and I will be forever grateful! Although asking for salvation is not something you have to "renew," I just felt like I should so that I didn't have to go on in distress and scared! I will trust my King and praise Him every day for what He has done in my life (and what He will continue to do). I will be forever thankful. Choose to be thankful today. Choose to be thankful because He is faithful and will never let you go! MEREDITH , age 14 (Northern African and Middle Eastern peoples) PRAYER v- POINTS %> PRAYER POINTS -> PRAYER V P О I N T S -I> PRAYER POINTS PRAYER POINTS