Venture in Faith Prayer Requests

New update july 15, 2009

In order to venture in faith, one has to learn what faith is and who is the object of our faith.  That was my prayer, on June 22, while John and I were in Nicaragua.  We had spent 4 days sharing our projects with the community who donated the acre of land to us.  In preparing for the presentation, Ministry of Mercy always choses to present GOD as the one in charge of all our projects.  GOD is the one who will work things out for us.  We have to trust in Him that Where GOD guides, HE provides.  Well, truly these are good words and seems like the right motives for our projects. Yet, how do you bring that to a discussion table for a health clinic in a developing country.  The people have many expectations of Americans, one is that we are wealthy and by large amounts of money, we can get things done.  Well, here in Ministry of Mercy, we don’t have large amounts of money and we rely solely on the supply GOD gives us, and nothing else.  This has been our journey up til now.  Things are now progressing forward as we have our ONG papers, we have the land now in our name,  GOD we need you more than ever to go before us and continue the work you have put in front of us.

How do we now move out in GOD’s direction using the Bible as our plumb line?  In order to do this, we have to ask ourselves, IS GOD still with us?  How then do we proceed?  What can you do as partners with us in this venture to build all the projects we say we are going to build on this property.  

I will admit that I was overwhelmed.  I was blessed in that we were giving wonderful opportunities to share our faith in GOD, our testimony of our personal relationship with GOD through the gospel of JESUS CHRIST, our LORD.  In one of the meetings, a woman stood up and said, she was so blessed to see what we were doing, because of the scripture of our ministry, LUKE 4:18-19.  She read aloud this passage and the rest of the people in the meeting acknowledged that we have come as ambassadors of the true and living GOD, and representives of JESUS CHRIST.  Our policy has always been to bring our relationship with JESUS CHRIST in with us through the front door and present Him first and then our projects.  To do this means we put Him first and us second, so that always HE receives the credit, the glory.  This so rang true as I sat and contemplated all the meetings we had with leaders of the communities, health directors of the community clinics and women leaders and health professionals.  Everything GOD prepared us to receive, HE has been faithful to bring it to fruition. Where do we go from here…

I have just spent almost a month in study of the life of Abraham and Sarah as they are the biblical models of “venturing in faith”.  GOD spoke to Abraham to go and take his family to a place HE had set for them.  GOD, whom Abraham didn’t really know because he was raised in a family that believed in many gods and worshipped many idols, stepped out into the unknown because GOD asked him to.  

In Abrahams case the initiative lies with GOD. It was GOD who called Abraham out of the land he was living in to a place that HE wanted Abraham to go. GOD had a purpose for an ordinary man to do something extraordinary for GOD.  Abraham didn’t even have a family heritage of worshipping the true GOD, but a heathen heritage of idol worship.  I find that incredibly striking that it is GOD who initiates HIS plan and purpose for His people.  I thought of that for a long time. It struck me that in my daily life, GOD speaks to me.  People ask me how did you end up in Nicaragua?  I tell them, GOD spoke in my ear one day, as I was doing a bible study.  As plain as you talk to someone face to face, GOD whispered in my ear and said,  ’I am sending you to Nicaragua.’  I didn’t know where that country was and was perplexed when I heard it.  I didn’t take to much notice of it, until 2 weeks later, when I received a call from a man, who asked me if I could get some nurses together to go the hurricane affected area of Nicaragua.  How odd, that I had heard of that country recently.

It became a quest to get to Nicaragua, and GOD mapped out the way.  Now I see that HE was leading us on a faith journey that helped us see that we needed to rely on HIM completely and not upon our own self effort.  This has become that challenge of Ministry of Mercy, to do things GOD’s way and in HIS time.  

I write to you because, in order to do things GOD’s way, we need to be constantly in prayer and totally dependent upon HIM and not upon our selves.  I am learning more as I study the faith venture into the deep waters GOD has taken Abraham and Sarah. Our study of their venture is helping us in our venture.  

One thing that I have learned is that I need to be more thorough in the things of GOD.  I don’t want to be like a cake unturned so that it is not cooked on all sides.  In the spiritual realm between me and GOD, I want His grace to be at the very center of my being so that its divine operation is felt in all my powers, my actions, my words and my thoughts.  To be cooked on all sides means that there cannot be the appearance of holiness on one side and reigning sin on the other side, that is like a cake not turned.  Yet we are human and learning the lessons through the life of Abraham and seeing the intervention of grace from GOD as HE remains faithful still to complete the work HE purposed in Abrahams life.  I am encouraged to first realize that GOD has given us this land, and HE wants to work out HIS plans and purpose as we would step into the deep waters of faith in HIM, to complete what HE has started to HIS completion.  

John and I are asking for prayer and prayer that is sought out to keep John and I and the rest of the Ministry of Mercy team accountable to what GOD would want us to do.  Right now as we are starting, GOD wants to clean up our heart, mind and souls to be faithful to HIM and obedient to HIM.  Therefore, as GOD has called us to committ our very existence to HIM.  A call to leave our home and go to the place HE would like us to go to serve HIM.  The place of communion and blessing, is always and only in the place of obedience.  Our prayer right now is that we would be obedient to the call. As of today, there are many challenges in our lives as My mom is having open heart surgery next week on July 23.  As Jordan has spent last week hospitalized for dengue fever virus that will always be with her and she will have pouts of fevers all the time.  As our kids are going through trials and life and needing our support.  We covet your prayers and words of encouragement and discernment as we venture out in deep waters and test our faith in GOD, the faithful.  I know this was long, but GOD is doing incredible, amazing things in our hearts and in our lives as we learn to trust and to know HIM more.  I can spend a lifetime studying HIS WORD and receive more and more from it that compels me to seek and study more.  And, it is amazing to see HIS words come to life in our small existence on earth. That Almighty GOD wants to set Himself down in my fraility and weakness is a revolution to me. Our attitude and prayer is that we would be humble and bow down in adoration to HIM and not settle upon adequacy or second best but that GOD would look for HIS abundance. Therefore, we are asking for prayer supporters to work and pray with us and share with us this “Venture of Faith.”

PS if you want to continue to receive our prayer requests, drop us a line to put you on our prayer chain.  Or see our website and click prayer>  thanks   Judges 16:6 “Tell me where your great strengh lies.”  

The secret strength of faith lies inthe food it feeds upon; for faith studies what the promise is.  ”JESUS is the author and finisher of our faith. Who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of GOD.”   thank you friends for praying with us and joining our team.    love in JESUS  John and Mary Nicosia.