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From Waveland, MS Sept 26, 2006 |
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Greetings! We
trust this e-mail finds you well ... walking in the
strength of the Lord.
I was talking with
a group of volunteers from Vicksburg Mississippi
this past weekend. I told them that Pathfinder
Mission is an enabling ministry. We enable your
ministry to the people on the Gulf Coast. That
ministry includes you coming to the coast to put
your hand to the plow, sending money to pay for
camp operations, relief projects such as the Pods,
and for our personal support. Whatever form it
takes, it comes from you. God has placed us here to
act as a bridge between you and the people of
Southern Mississippi. We feel privileged to act on
your behalf and want to thank you for your
willingness to offer yourselves and your resources
to the Lord. Romans 12:1 .... "Therefore, I urge
you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
pleasing to God—this is true worship"
To close this thought, I want to encourage you and your church to prayerfully consider coming back down to the coast. The need is still so great. One volunteer asked what the best way to make people aware of the need was. I told her to be a witness ... tell others what you have seen and encourage them to come to the Gulf Coast. ( or like the woman at the well, bring them to see)
The 16th of
September we traveled back to Alabama to visit with
our daughter, to meet with our church leadership and
to attend a missions conference at Lighthouse Church
in Thorsby, AL. Thorsby is a little north of
Montgomery. We had dinner with our daughter,
Audrey, and her
family to celebrate her birthday and our
granddaughter,
Brittany's, birthday
( both in September). We
had a wonderful time. If there is one thing we miss
by being here in Waveland it is not being around our
family.
While we
were sitting
there, my old boss from my government contracting
days sat down at the table next to us. Martie
and I had not seen him for about 3 years. We
chatted for a few minutes, sharing what we were up
to. Then he dropped the question .... did I retire
from the Air Force as a civilian. When
I answered ... "No",
he looked surprised. You see
when I was working for him I turned down an
opportunity to be an area manager for the company we
worked for and instead
chose to work as a government civilian. One
of the major reasons was retirement benefits, but
the Lord called us
away before I was eligible to retire. I
could see the bewilderment in his eyes. I am certain
that he thinks I made a poor financial
decision. And from
the world's view, I suppose I did, but from
an eternal perspective, I know I made the
best one. ......... I
was reading Psalm 84 this morning ... better is one
day in His courts than thousands elsewhere (vs.
10). Paul said "I consider everything a loss
compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all
things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain
Christ." (Phil 3:8) Those verses paint a perfect
picture of how we feel about where we are. (But we
miss our family, still)
One of the leaders
at the missions conference at
Lighthouse Church talked about the need to
have "God Room" in our
lives. What he meant was that I need to
allow God to do more through me than I can do
myself. When He is ready not
when I think I have the time ... I need to
exercise faith ... you know ... the substance of
things hoped for ... the evidence of things not
seen..... faith that He can and will do it ... just
like I've seen Him do time and again over the past
year.
My challenge
to you is this
... "Let
the Lord shape you.... let Him work in
your life? He
wants to take you down a path that makes
no sense to the world. " Even as you read this
He may already be preparing you for something
that is way outside your comfort zone ...
something that is way beyond you and your
abilities. He
wants you to get out of the boat and walk with
him, by faith. John Ortberg wrote a book
... "If you want to walk on the water, get out
of the boat" I think the greatest miracle that
I have seen is the Church rising up like a
Phoenix in response to this storm and its
devastation.
Do you remember the
quote my dad had written in his Bible that I
referenced last week?
"We are all faced
with a series of great opportunities brilliantly
disguised as impossible situations". Well we are
.... we ALL are faced with those opportunities ....
everyday. How are we able to overcome those
impossible situations? By trusting God .... by
building some "God room" into our lives and our
walk. Knowing that
He is able to do more than we can ask or think.
Martie and I met
with the Elders and pastor of our church to review
and discuss we are in the context of where we
thought we would be when we first
presented our vision for Pathfinder Mission
last January. It
is amazing what God has done over the past months.
Prov 16:9 says "men make plans in their
hearts ... but God orders their steps." Our
planning is good, but we
see through a glass darkly, we must always be
ready for God to change our course. Are you ready
for Him to change yours? As
I was praying this morning the Lord brought
this thought to me .... "Just because I am flying
in an airplane does not mean that I am holding it up
in the sky." In other words, what happens here is
by His power and for His glory. It is about God and
not about us. This is His work .. not ours. We
were invited to come along. We are along for the
ride. Members of the crew, but not the captain of
the airplane. Do you know what God wants
you to do, but can't see how it can possibly be
done? If so, you are right where He wants you ...
friend maybe
it's time to get out of the boat.
Prayer requests
Please continue to
pray for the McDemotts. Jimmy's mom passed on the
13th of this month.
Our oldest
grand-daughter (Ashley's) best friend, Tiffany, just
lost her dad to cancer last
week.
Bob Caslen's mom
who has terminal cancer.
One of our children
is going through some significant struggles ( and by
definition so our her parents) ... please come along
side us in prayer that the Lord will be in the midst
of the calamity and bring peace, healing and
restoration.
That son of one of
the ladies in our bible study is delivered from his
addiction and accepts Jesus as Lord.
2 Cor 1 says that
'God is the God of all comfort. Who comforts us in
our afflictions so we can comfort others. These are
difficult times for all
the families. I think it is awesome that
God has given me the opportunity to ask you to pray
for them. I am thankful that God hears our
prayers -- that Jesus is our high priest -- and the
Spirit prays those things that are too hard to pray
--- and that
God is willing to act on our behalf.
thank you and be
blessed
Charley
Charley & Martie Elgin Pathfinder Mission Waveland, Mississippi http://www.pathfindermission.org (228) 493-1081 Isa 58:12…. you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in. |
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Pathfinder Mission, P.O. Box
3313, Bay |
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228-469-0507 |
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