REACHing NE Ohio College Campuses

Ben & Sandie Dyke write:

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! It was very relaxing and good
to reconnect with extended family. We also went to our annual Great Lakes
staff conference in Indianapolis. We enjoyed this as well as it was a
refreshing time in God’s word. We hope you continue to enjoy reading
about the happenings in our ministry to college students here in NE Ohio.

Please pray for them as they minister to college students amid the chaos of midterms, projects and papers due, flu season, and developing fully devoted followers of Jesus in all the campuses of NE Ohio. Pray specifically for the annual Christmas conference on Dec 27‐Jan 1, 2009! "Pray that our students would attend and that the Lord would speak to them and challenge them to live authentic lives for Christ."

If you'd like to receive their newsletter, then please contact them:

Ben & Sandie Dyke
Cleveland MetroCampus Crusade for Christ
330.338.5293
http://www.crusadecleveland.com/
http://www.benandsandiescru.com/

Sowing Hope Christmas Celebration

photo by krisdecurtis

On Friday, December 12 at 6pm we are ministering to the families on the southside of Wooster. We are inviting them to a meal and a Christmas concert at the Wooster Community Center.

Please pray for God to speak through the lives of those who help serve food and who offer their voices and talents in music to direct people to consider the birth of Jesus, their Savior. May God bring all the logistics together to bring people to Himself.

Battambang Orphanage Moves Forward

photo by fletchy182

Wooster Grace is moving ahead on launching our orphanage in Battambang, Cambodia. We are going to use a rented house as the initial site for housing the orphans. Then when our orphanage is completed, the orphans can move. We want to save as many of these orphan children as we can. May God bless our efforts as a church to develop fully devoted followers of Christ in all the nations of the world.

Pray for Thailand

photo by mvi
Our friends in SE Asia ask you to pray for the ongoing protests in Bangkok, Thailand. The anti- government group has successfully blockaded and shut down the airports in Bangkok, and the police seem unwilling to help resolve the situation. Also, a pro-government group is amassing and mounting their own counter-protests. The situation is becoming very serious and sometimes violent, with no solution forthcoming. Especially pray for our friends who live in Thailand.

51 protesters wounded in Thailand explosions - Yahoo! News

51 protesters wounded in Thailand explosions - Yahoo! News

As violence grows, please pray for our friends in Thailand. Keep in your prayers our fully devoted friends: Dave, Tutu, Christian and Bonnie who all serve the Lord in this volatile area.

May God protect and advance His kingdom amid hostile environments.

Thanksgiving for the nations

by Mike Licht, Notionscapital.com

I returned from Wooster Grace where we served 65 people at the Internationals Thanksgiving Dinner. Most internationals in the Wooster area are unfamiliar with preparing Thanksgiving type food. So Celeste Hodgdon mobilized people from our church to provide an American Thanksgiving meal with all the fixin's.

Many were invited. Sixty-five joined us in the South Fellowship Hall. We ate a meal together. We had various nations represented: Brazil, Germany, Japan, China, Ecuador, Chile, Mexico, United States, and Navajo.

We even had international prepare and share typical dishes from their country of birth. I tasted marinated chicken in a soy sauce/ginger/pepper soak. I wolfed down fried rice. I savored German pastries and cookies. Everything was great!

I thank God that we could provide a meal for internationals to taste the foods of the season with new friends for this season in their lives. Most are involved with graduate school or work in town. Two families benefited from a immigration lottery so that they could be in the United States. I tried learning how to say thanks for coming in the various languages. I mimicked, got corrected, receive more laughs than compliments but I know that everyone was personally thanked. What a great team effort!

I saw the Hodgdon's with a digital camera. So if I can get their pictures, I will post some later. Overall, God is helping our church to develop all people from all the nations of the world into fully devoted followers of Jesus.

Reach out to the nations here in the US

Which Direction Is New York? MTV

If you ever want to know how challenging it is to come to the United States, then check this MTV True Life Series episode. You will have a better understanding how difficult it is for the nations to come to our country.

"All over the world people dream of moving to the United States. Some come for freedom, some come for work; but all immigrants must face the harsh realities of a place that can feel very strange to them. In this episode of True Life, you'll meet two young people from different corners of the globe looking for a better life in America against difficult odds (Taken from MTV episode summaries)."

Each student decides to come to America; Bara from the Czech Republic and Timonthy from Burma. It intringues me that we have missionary partners who serve God in the Czech Republic (The Swains) and we have missionary partners serving in SE Asia (Kevin & Jill Kane; Steve & Deb Wise--Cambodia). I wonder what their take on this journey for these students would be.

Anyways, if you come to a place during Thanksgiving when you feel bored or need a change from festivities, then check out the segments on the link above.

Developing all people into fully devoted followers of Jesus in all the nations of the world! The nations even come to America. Who is near you that you may be able to reach out to for Christmas? Maybe God has placed an international family in your neighborhood, workplace, a place where you frequent regularly to shop or to visit, all may present opportunities to reach out to the nations.