Wed 10 Feb 2010
Every month, our team here at the Global Technology Office conglomerates all our prayer requests and publishes them here: www.mygcx.org/PrayforGTO
Would you pick out a couple of requests and pray for them on the appropriate days? Thanks!
Click the image below or visit this link for a printable calendar (download pdf file):
Sat 6 Feb 2010
Here’s a great article which gives a real life example of how you can do this very thing. Think of it as “Prayer, Care, and then Share.” In fact, that’s the title of the article: Prayer, Care and Share.
Fri 29 Jan 2010
This is a very practical way you, your family or perhaps your church or school could send a little help to hurting people in Haiti.
See our previous post for info on Global Aid Network (GAiN) – they’re doing a great work in Haiti. Already they have distributed 1,000,000 meals. Read below how you can participate with them in sending a hygiene kit(s).
Two Campus Crusade staff members – Haitian nationals – are still missing in Haiti. We’ve not heard from them in over two weeks. Also, a few student leaders involved with Campus Crusade in Port-au-Prince died during the earthquake. Please continue to pray for our missionaries and volunteers, that the love and compassion of Jesus would work through them to heal lives.
See more updates with video and links on ccci’s main web site here.
This is a recent photo some of our staff with GAiN sent in.
Esperandieu Pierre – director of Campus Crusade in Haiti – in front of a container with meals before distributing. (Photo taken several months ago. As the Lord arranged it, several containers were already on the ground in Haiti when the earthquake hit).
Tags: pray, hygiene, Haiti, earquake, missing, prayer, help, give, send, kit, relief, aid, GAiN, meals
Fri 15 Jan 2010
Global Aid Network – www.GainUsa.org – is Campus Crusade’s humanitarian arm.
This morning I heard a report from one of our national staff members in Haiti: He was not in Haiti when the quake happened, yet was in Miami for a training conference. His wife and children were at home when it hit. Only yesterday did he finally learn that his family was safe!
Others of our staff have not been located or heard from in Haiti. In total there are approximately 20 full time missionaries with Campus Crusade in Haiti. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.
Wed 13 Jan 2010
“God looks to work in my heart more than looking at my work (temporal results). He cares so much about my heart. That’s good news. What’s He doing in your heart today?” — My recent social status update.
Of all the gifts the Lord could give a man, I’m so glad that He promises me a wonderful gift of a heart that knows Him. This is a promise declared in Jeremiah 24:7 and then graciously delivered through Jesus Christ.
It’s a good thing, too, because Christ himself affirmed that the greatest commandment from God is for us to love and serve Him with a whole heart. This is not a command to be taken lightly. Yet, the way this gift of a new heart (see also Ps 51:10; Ez 36:26; Heb 10:21-22) unfolds, it is something that only He can accomplish: Only Jesus can change a human heart.
One of the best sermons I heard this year was entitled “Beware the Fatal Flaw of Utilitarian Worship” – a look at the life of King Saul. It made me realize how often I resemble Saul in working carefully to fashion appearances of dedicated service to God, yet at the core I tend to be utilitarian in my service and worship of Him.
Utilitarian worship is a tip of the hat toward God while maintaining full control over my heart and ways.
Check out the story of Saul in 1 Samuel, chapter 13. Notice the Lord’s response to Saul after he partially obeyed, yet did not respect what God had told Him to do: In verse 14, He declares that the ultimate solution to Saul’s utilitarian worship is a heart solution.
It is so easy to fall into the trap of image maintenance, and ignore my heart. No matter how hard I work, no matter how “good” my image may appear, nothing else really matters more than a whole heart. It’s where real joy lives.
If my heart is continually being changed by God’s gift as promised in Jeremiah 24:7, then I will move away from utilitarian worship.
Fri 4 Dec 2009
LOTS to pray for this month. Every month, our team here at the Global Technology Office conglomerates all of our critical projects, ongoing needs and specific personal requests and publishes them here: www.mygcx.org/PrayforGTO
It’s a creative way to join us in lifting up our many requests, yet spacing them out a few days at a time.
This month, please especially note the women’s Christmas Cookie Exchange – a neighborhood outreach opportunity which we will host at our house on Tuesday, December 8th. Please pray for the Lord to show His love and redeeming power to many women who will attend. Last December Shannon helped plan this event and it was a big success. Several of the women who attended afterwords joined a neighborhood Bible Study.
Click below to view and print the full Prayer Calendar.
Wed 25 Nov 2009
Hey faithful prayer partners: we can not begin to thank God enough for you. There’s simply no way we could do what we do without you.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Fri 30 Oct 2009
These days have been another clear example that we need a partnership team – caring, praying friends like you – just so we can continue on in ministry and in life. Not long ago I was talking with Campus Crusade Vice President Roger Bruehl, who has been on staff for over 35 years. Roger told me something I’ll never forget:
“If someone offered me a 6 digit salary to continue doing exactly what I am doing in ministry right now in lieu of having to maintain my own financial and prayer support team, it would be a no brainer: I would choose my partnership team over any salary or incentives – sheerly because of the cherished relationships and prayer support.”
Your relationships with us are cherished. We NEED you in times like these and in ordinary days as well. Would you take 5 minutes and pray for a few of the requests we have listed below? We’re so grateful for you.
In some ways, the last 12 months have been tough for our family. In other ways, we’ve experienced the goodness of God in a new level that we would have not even seen otherwise. So we can in no way claim that God is anything but full time good, loving, awesome, and in control.
Just to recap the last 12 months:
October 2008: Shannon’s mom passed away.
December 2008: Shannon’s grandmother – her dad’s mother – died.
Early 2009: It became obvious my dad’s dementia was worsening and he had some small strokes.
August 2009: We began a new year and another adventure in home school – teaching 3 at home this year. No major hardship here, it just takes a boatload of coordination and daily energy to do it. Do I hear an “amen” from any home school moms out there?
August 2009: My dad’s health slid further downhill and I began traveling back and forth to Georgia, helping my mom.
Sept 27th, 2009: My dad passed away.
October 2009: Continued to help my mom, and then traveled to Virginia to visit Shannon’s dad.
Considering that it is a 24 hour round trip driving to Virginia (Shannon’s family) and a 10 hour round trip to Georgia (my family), in the last 12 months we’ve spent a cumulative 10 1/2 DAYS – approx 13,000 miles – of pure driving time. This doesn’t include this summer’s ministry training event in Colorado – we flew. So, yes we’ve done every possible road trip game possible in the van – sometimes we feel like we’re driving in our sleep. It’s possible we could drive one of the round trips in our sleep. I’ll bet our van could.
So, how are we doing? Emotionally tired! Shannon and I are still in the grieving process – there are lots of emotions, memories and conversations to process.
But, bottom line, we have seen the goodness of God. We feel His comfort and love. Our parents are with the Lord, we feel so much peace knowing that we will see them again.
Here are some prayer requests for our family:
Thank you! God bless you.
Fri 30 Oct 2009
Today would have been my Dad’s 75th birthday. He went to be with the Lord on September 27th. Shannon and I haven’t had time until now to write down the events of the past few months related to his illness. Here’s the quick recap:
As mentioned previously, my Dad’s health had been declining as a result of an Alzheimers-related condition. He started showing some signs of it at age 69. Because of this disease, in recent months he had had several minor strokes and they were happening quite often. Mom had to take him to the hospital a few times but he would pretty much “bounce back” from his stroke after just a day or two. Even so, his condition was worsening.
In late August he was admitted to the hospital again and I went to be with he and Mom for a few days. From late August till mid October I spent almost as many nights in Pelham as at home with my family in Orlando. Dad became just too much for my Mom to handle at home – even with home health care assistance four days a week – and he continued to have mild strokes which kept temporarily taking away his ability to walk. During this time he was also incredibly confused and at times agitated, not always in an angry way, but it made it challenging to understand if he was in pain or not and to care for his basic needs. We made arrangements for him to be admitted to the local nursing home and were waiting for a space to open up there.
September 15 Mom took Dad to the hospital again and I returned to help her. This time my father did not recover and never left the hospital. I was privileged to be at his side when he entered God’s wonderful presence.
His condition had been critical for at least two days, yet I was surprised he passed away so quickly. I had always thought that Dad had a strong heart – and he did – yet pneumonia took over his lungs and shut them down. His vital signs had remained fairly in the normal range even up until an hour before his death. God just took him home and he stopped breathing.
Shannon and the kids drove up for the funeral in Pelham, which was held on September 29th. Afterwords, we all stayed with my Mom for a week and then she returned with us to Florida and stayed for a week. I returned her to Pelham and stayed with her again several days, helping start the process of all the legal/financial steps of settling Dad’s accounts and making sure Mom is taken care of.
Mom and Dad had been married 50 years. She is taking it day by day, but has been doing well. For several years, she single handedly cared for my Dad with his dementia. The vows “to have and to hold in sickness and health” definitely applied to her and she fulfilled them beautifully. It was a tough job towards the end, very time consuming, yet the Lord gave her such joy in doing it. I’m so proud of her. Mom’s at home alone in Pelham now, staying active and relying on God’s grace. She wanted me to tell you all how much she has felt your prayers and appreciates you so much.
At the funeral service, my brother spoke. He basically shared with everyone what he had wanted to tell Dad on the day he passed away. It was an amazing tribute and I encourage you to read it here. Even if you didn’t know my Dad, I think you’ll enjoy some of the stories told. We laughed and cried and praised God for Dad’s life. We’ll miss him a ton, but he’s been transferred, by grace, into the Kingdom of God’s Beloved Son.
P.S. You can also read the obituary here.
Fri 30 Oct 2009
L.D. “Babby” Hand, Jr., certainly the greatest father in the world, went to be with the Lord September 27, 2009. I can’t begin to describe the deep levels of impact Dad has had in my life and walk with the Lord. He was a quiet man. His words were few but if you caught him at the right time the communication you received was priceless! He had a special way to assess a situation with wisdom. When he told you what he thought, it was quality, sage advice – never overexaggerated opinion. Yet, due to his quiet ways, he often could catch you off guard with his witty sense of humor. His laugh and his smile are engraved in my memory. Hopefully this post will capture a scant portion of some moments of his dry wit – read on below.
The funeral was extremely God honoring and humbling. Dad never liked any extra attention, but it was a very accurate celebration of his life. He met Jesus in a personal way about 20 years or so ago. Basically we’ve been celebrating with him ever since then here on earth, now we celebrate him being fully in God’s presence. My father had always been a church attender and perhaps had a meaningful salvation experience early on in life. But about 20 years ago – roughly the same time my life changed as a student in college – I began to notice many distinct changes in my Dad’s life. God’s powerful love seemed to flow through him. And he began to serve the Lord – in many ways totally behind the scenes. He volunteered at the state prison nearby – working with Prison Fellowship Ministries to coordinate Bible Studies. For many years he coordinated the Project Angel Tree program for our county – providing Christmas presents for the children of prison inmates who would not get to spend Christmas with their fathers.
My brother Hollis spoke at the service – following up a great message from two different pastors – and really put an incredible cap on the whole service. It was a wonderful tribute – just perfect for illustrating how Dad had a strong faithfulness to us that we never doubted.
For the full text of Hollis’ tribute, click here to download the text file. But here are a few choice excerpts. My slight edits are in [brackets]:
“[Dad] always persevered through adversity through faith and hard work. He was very fortunate to not struggle with materialism as so many men do. He did not care at all if our house was relatively older and smaller than most of our neighbors. . . . He had no problem at all with driving older, rusted cars rather than buy one he couldn’t afford. I remember being very upset with him when I was about 14 or 15 years old and we had only one car in our family, an old Chevrolet Nova – [no air conditioning] – with almost 200,000 miles on it. [But now] how proud I am now of how disciplined he was with our family finances!”
“ Dad’s own legacy is that he loved the Lord with all his heart, and to his family he showed unconditional love and commitment that honored God. His life and ministry to others are evidence of Christ’s overflowing love that lived in his heart. As it is written in God’s word:
Love is patient, love is kind it does not envy, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13,1-8, NIV
Anyone who knew my Dad would agree that you could easily substitute his name in place of the word “love” in this passage. Dad showed his love for David and me in the most excellent of ways: he was always telling us how proud he was of us, and he always wanted to spend time with us. David and I enjoyed spending time in his office with him when he was president of the Hand Trading Company. We went with him to the Albany airport when we were young to watch the airplanes land and take off, and Dad renewed his pilot’s license so he could take the whole family on an airplane ride in order to celebrate David’s 6th birthday. We went to see air shows to see air force jets and other military aircraft perform. We would build model airplanes and rockets together, and then go to my granddaddy’s farm to shoot the rockets into the air in a field and watch them parachute down. Some of those rockets are still on the mantle of the fireplace in the den of mom’s house, as a reminder of his legacy of love for his sons.”
Hand Clan (clockwise):
Shannon, David, Addison, Toby and Avery.
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