Most Christians are not prayed for regularly by anyone. Pretty much, we are on our own. What would happen if we DID pray for one another? Several of our Doorkeepers pray for me and the prayer seminar ministry every day. In my youth, there was a song that was sung in our churches. It acknowledged that "I need the prayers of those I love." Then one phrase that really touched my heart was "I want my friends to pray for me, to intercede for me." One practical suggestion that is given in a prayer seminar is to take time to assign two members to pray for each other for a month. Next month, change partners. I firmly believe this would make a difference. Having lived my seven decades and two years beyond and having been in the ministry for fifty-four years, I still cry: "I need the prayers of those I love. I want my friends to pray for me." Be sure and pray for your family members. If you are not praying for your children, or grandchildren, or great grandchildren, no one else is!

Martin Shikuku and Andrew Sakaria, who are the coordinators of prayer seminars in Kenya, are scheduled to travel to Rwanda on May 29 to conduct seminars. I have been praying for the resources needed for their travel and for prayer seminar workbooks. This is a great opportunity to touch the lives of many who have recently undergone great tragedy because of tribal conflict. Thousands were killed.

Heartwood is a kind of tree that grows in layers. Our residence is up on a hill in a wooded area. The street is Lakeview Drive because there is a small private lake nearby that belongs to the Lakeland Association, componse of ninety-nine households. Fortunately, we live on a corner that sweeps around (a long side sweep and a long sweep in front of our house). There is a lower driveway that leads to our office area and an upper driveway that is our residence. I have been working hard on the grounds adding a number of flower beds. I have been thinking about a name for our property. I have thought about "Windswept" since most days there is a wind. I am leading toward "Heartwood," a kind of tree that grows in layers. One of the advantages of old age is to be able to spend time digging in the dirt constantly adding. When we moved here, there was not a single flower; now that has changed. My interest in flowers/plants is from my mother's interest in flowers and a "pretty yard." It is quite satisfying to see the results of a little effort working with the Lord's power to make things beautiful.

In speaking of our tours to Israel (and one additional country), I have often said that there will be "memories that last for a lifetime." Many of the pilgrims who joined us have testified that is true. Sue and I have a memory that is one on which we linger, forty-seven years after it happened--the birth of Melody Ann, our third child and second daughter. What a delight to make the very first call on a telephone that was dialing instead of asking an operator to dial. I called some friends to come to look after Mona and Mark while Sue and I headed to the hospital. Our family physician, Dr. John Baker, always said that Melody was well-named since her personality lived up to her name. And that has remained true. Today, Sue, Melody, Maggie (our great-granddaughter who will be with us today) are going out to eat. More and more as the years acculumate, I am aware of one of the greatest gifts that God has given us--our family.

Kenya consumed out thoughts and prayers in the first quarter of this year.  The post-election violence hit Martin Shikuku, his family, and his church hard. The Rift Valley in West Kenya, and the Eldoret area, was the heaviest hit area. Our Doorkeepers rallied to Martin's aid with the intention of helping him get reestablished. Today, I had an e-mail from Martin reporting on a recent prayer seminar that he had conducted. He and his family are settled in a rented house in Eldoret, from which they travel each Sunday to their church. God is blessing and week by week, the church is stronger. I look forward to each update from Martin. I believe that he is the person that God has called forth to carry on the prayer seminars in East Africa.

When my brother, Al, was in the last year of his life (had developed lung cancer), he lived in a long-term care facility in Jefferson City, Tennessee (the foothills of the Smokies where we grew up). I found a beautiful picture that looked much like the surrounding mountains with a Scripture verse that I wanted Al to think about often: "Morning by morning, He awakens me and opens my understanding to His will" (Isaiah 50:4). I have the picture on a wall near the door in the kitchen of our office area. As I look at it, I think of my brother and miss him. Then I remember what a joy it is to meet God in the early morning hours (my favorite hours of the entire day).

It was interesting to hear the president of our Sunday school class, our teacher, and our pastor talking about the beauty of this particular Sunday. They were certainly true observations. It has been a beautiful day in Central Virginia. Thankfully, we have had rains that have made a difference in the grass, trees, and flowers. April showers bring May flowers. Our flowers are beautiful as well. I have irises from my sister's garden and some from my niece in Tennessee that were transplanted three years ago. This is the first season that the blooms have been awesome. I love the spring. Maggie, our two-year old great-granddaughter, enjoys walking around in the yard. Often she lies down in the grass and smiles broadly. The birds, squirrels, and deer are plentiful around here. God is good. Someone said that we should slow down and smell the roses! That is good advice.

I know of no other single person who gives himself totally to the Lord Jesus Christ in touching one nation than Ted Cooper. The reason that the prayer seminars have touched so many pastors and laymen in Peru and Ecuador is Ted Cooper. When he heard me share the prayer seminar at an annual meeting for the Church of God of Prophecy in South Carolina, he came to me immediately inviting me to work with him in Peru. I never dreamed what influence this one man has. For years he has been ministering in Peru. Words fail me to tell of all the funds that he has raised to plant churches, provide buildings, and help people. There is a massive building on the Pan American Highway outside Piura, Peru that is the camp site named in his honor because his vision and his work have made it a reality. Now, he needs our prayers. A few years back, he had major heart surgery. Last week he did not feel well, begin to lose his energy. An EKG revealed that his heart is not pumping well. He wore a heart monitor for twenty-four hours that registered heart rate as low as 37 and as high as 235. He has an appoint with his heart docotr on Wednesday, May 7, at 10:45 a.m. Pray for healing. Pray for his wife, Terry, and his children as they stand by him at this point. Those of you who receive the Reflector will remember their names on the Doorkeeper Prayer Calendar. Pray that the impact that he is making in Peru can be continued.

As I read through the Bible systematically, chapter by chapter, May has brought me to Ezra. Christians would do well, in this time of challenge, to study the first three chapters. The first thing that is striking is that Jeremiah's prophecy of the seventy-year captivity and their being able to return to Jerusalem. Isaiah, at least 150 years earlier, had even given the name of the king who would bring this all into reality. His name was Cyrus. God kept His Word. Through it all God was in control. We need to remember that He is still on His throne. History is His story.

Today is the National Day of Prayer. The following thoughts, with which I concur 100%, were written by Bill Wilson and shared in The Daily Jot. "The National Day of Prayer Task Force rightly points out that this country was birthed in prayer with the God of the Bible--the God of Jews and Christians. When the 1775 Continental Congress called the people to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, it didn't ask countrymen to pray to allah. When President Abraham Lincoln asked the nation to set aside a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer in 1863, he didn't ask the country to do it in the name of buddha. When President Ronald Reagan proclaimed Thursday, May 7, 1981 as the National Day of prayer, he mentioned God, as in God Almighty, no less than 14 times, there was no reference to a god other than the God of Jews and Christians.

The first commandment found in Exodus 20:3 proclaims, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Point is, that this nation is, as Ronald Reagan more eloquently said, a nation that was built by the hard work of our people, the freedom they enjoyed and their faith in God. While others who worshipped other gods played a role in this nation, there is only one God and the Founding fathers understood it, and the presidents until this modern age understood it. Unfortunately, Presidents Clinton and Bush have driven this country away from the one true God with their concept of many roads to salvation. Ancient Israel's leaders did the same and it led to their nation's demise and to their people's captivity and slavery."