Do You Believe in The Power of Prayer?

I want to tell you a story:

On Wednesday, October 29, 1996 at 3:05am our youngest daughter came into this world via an emergency C-section. Sharon and I were just a few months out of language school and were still very limited on our communication skills. We felt completely powerless as we watched our extremely little girl (she was less than 4 lbs) struggle for every once of weight gain and loss. We were praying daily for Priscila to gain the weight of about a handful of paper clips (about 5 grams). She would gain a few grams and lose even more. We would go to the hospital each day and they would tell us what her daily weight was from the day before. In reality, she was NOT doing well.

Back in those days (before 9/11) our Mission used to print the missionary's name and country of service. Also, back in the day, many Southern Baptist churches had Wednesday night prayer meetings where they would often pray for the missionary and his/her family. My birthday falls exactly two weeks after Priscila's. Southern Baptist churches, not knowing that Jeff Renard serving in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil had a very sick and dying little girl who was in a neo-natal unit in Niterói. Faithful Baptist prayed! They prayed for Jeff Renard, they prayed for his family and the family's welfare. God heard and responded to these prayers! The day after my 38th birthday, Sharon and I went to the hospital to see our little girl. Where we had been begging God for "just 5 grams", God gave Priscila 40! It was an answer to the power of prayer, not just our prayers, but the prayers of those faithful Southern Baptist in the churches around the USA and even the world.

One other part of this story that needs to be shared. Southern Baptist support their missionaries through various means, but primarily through two methods (Cooperative Program and The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering). The first method (Cooperative Program) the IMB receives a percentage of the total funds. The second method, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offer, 100% of these moneys go directly overseas to support the over 5,000 missionaries. IMB missionaries don't really have health insurance. When a situation like Priscila's birth takes place, the missionaries inform the Mission treasurer and either moneys are deposited into the missionary's account or accounts are settled directly with the hospital (or wherever). In our case, Priscila's hospital bill totalled US$43,000.00. When I went to "Accounting" to try to figure out how much was owed and how I should pay this, I was informed that the bill was already "Paid in Full". It is because of faithful Southern Baptist giving of their tithes and offerings that Priscila's account was taken car of. The words "Thank You" no where comes close enough.

For those of you reading this who are Southern Baptist, the simple truth is that we couldn’t be here without your gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Those gifts are the means by which we devote ourselves to full-time ministry, providing us with a place to call home, food, medical care — even schooling for our children.

Christmas is once again coming around the corner and will be here before we know it. I know that right now the United States is in a financial roller coaster. I won't burden you with a "hard sell" to give this Christmas season. I would like to say that you honor God in you faithfulness. For, as a missionary serving with the IMB, it is both a humbling and exhilarating experience to live life dependent on the faithfulness and generosity of Southern Baptists. Thank you! Please know that many people around the world are truly celebrating Christmas for the first time this year because of your sacrifice for God’s Kingdom.