May, 2008 Prayer Requests for Umana-Anderson family

We appreciate your prayers for the following:

Lisa:

• Pray for Christ's light to shine through me as I speak this week to a group of English as a second language teachers, an event sponsored by the American Embassy.
• My topic: English plus+ cultural differences:
• My thrust: “As you teach Hondurans the English language, recognize and teach the richness of God’s cultural diversity. As a Christian, I believe God reflects the breath and depth of His character through cultural differences, so let's learn what they are in order to appreciate them and teach others to do likewise.”

May 18-June 1 the children and I will travel to Costa Rica to attend several events, namely our:

• CCI Latin America staff meeting (pray for wisdom for our boss, Robert Bruneau to guide us in light of us insights gleaned during his numerous pastoral visits to the National Associations spread all throughout Latin America).
• Summitt reunion of some 30-40 National CCI Association leaders (pray for God to use our consultant, Don German, to guide us wisely as the teams of leaders in each country learn teamwork).
• Annual Retreat for Latin America Mission missionaries (pray for the children to learn more of what it means to be "MK's" -missionary kids).

Alfredo:

• Pray for him to handle with excellence several consulting projects simultaneousl (without anxiety).

Phil. 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Children: Valerie and Victor:

• As delightful as kids can be, they can also be very cruel and we ask that you accompany us in prayer as we teach Valerie and Victor how to respond to their classmates cruel remarks and actions.
• Pray for them (and us!) to "Be kind to those who offend us."

Romans 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

Kindness is the way to our enemies' heart. And it may do something for our souls. God uses kindness as his strategy of choice when dealing with us. Instead of giving us exactly what we deserve for our offenses against him, he deals with us kindly. His kindness is an example of how we should fashion our own approach to those who offend us. Kindness arrests their attention. It is as unexpected as it is undeserved. Our kindness toward an enemy may awaken a spiritual hunger for the source of our compassion. However, regardless of their response, we must follow the example of our Lord when dealing with our enemies. Taken from Day 74, The Voice of the Martyrs: Extreme Devotion, 2001.