14 June 2010

Latest Prayer Letter


Sometimes kids understand things so much better than we do as adults. Read about what I mean in our latest prayer letter.


13 June 2010

A Call to Prayer

To those of you who have been following Ngankou's story on here, it's time for us to be completely honest with you. Not that we were dishonest before, but there are a few other details to the story that will better enable you to pray for him. (For those of you who didn't see the previous posts, click here.)

So the first day I Ngankou went to church with us, I asked him what he did for work. Well, it turns out his most recent work was as a warden, in a prison, where he was a prisoner. He spent seven years in Federal prison in Pennsylvania before arriving in Peoria this year. He has since been living in a sort of halfway house that is supposed to help prisoners transition back into society. There are very strict rules regarding priveleges, activities outside the house, and visitors. And apparently, when the administration there isn't happy, the rules get tougher.

Two months or so ago they were cracking down on Ngankou because he had not yet found a job. He was offered a nice position doing French to English translation for a company, but said he felt dishonest taking it and going through the training knowing it was not what he wanted to be doing long-term. So, he got in trouble because they felt he didn't want to work. Reduced priveleges meant he could no longer go to church with us, among many other things. He has now started a labor-intensive loading job, to and from which he walks an hour there and an hour back each day.

Apparently that's not enough. When we visited a few weeks ago, they were pressing on him to find his own housing. He wasn't sure where to look or what process to follow, and really didn't seem interested in finding a place to stay. Still convinced he has to atone for his sin, he thinks part of that atonement - earning grace - involves living as a homeless person for awhile. Once again, we felt God gave us the words to say to explain the free gift of grace and that there is no "degree" of sinfulness. He seems to understand it more and more, but still thinks his crime - whatever it may be - is unforgivable. When we left that day, he promised us he would pray that God would reveal Himself to him.

On our way to church today, we stopped by the halfway house to see if he might be able to join us. He is now not allowed to go anywhere other than work, and will be sent back to prison in mid-July. We don't know all the circumstances. We don't know his crime, or why exactly he's being sent back. It seems as though the inmates are given a limited amount of time to meet certain requirements, and that he has not met those requirements - but we can't be sure. We plan to visit often in the coming weeks, and if he is put in prison here, we will continue to visit him there. Our pastor plans to visit him as well. But, he needs you too.

He needs your prayers. We all need to be praying for the situation - that God will continue to work in his heart and draw Ngankou to Himself. We need to pray that God will be glorified in the whole situation and many will come to know him through this. We know God's timing and plans are perfect, but right now my heart is aching for him - with an increased urgency - and frustration at "the system."

Will you pray with us?