Happy New Year!

Today is New Year's Day 2008. I'm looking forward to this year with great optimism. I feel like my eyes are wide open, and even more importantly, my heart.

Unfortunately, I had to go to the doctor today after fighting off a cold for the past four days. It finally got the best of me and has turned into a full-blown sinus infection. I'm not excited about the prospect of using antibiotics because of all the skin and digestive problems they (in part) caused me last year. I'm going to see if using a prescription decongestant will clear it and if not then I'll resort to the Z-pack. Please pray for quick healing and for wisdom in knowing whether or not to use the antibiotics.

Other than that I'm plugging away at getting my condo in order to leave, with or without a renter in place. I have also started packing little by little. I went to Goodwill the other day and bought four long, loose, frumpy skirts to wear in Oman and Yemen, where women must be almost completely covered any time they leave their home. In Yemen I will actually wear a balto (long black robe) over my clothes. I won't have to veil my face but I will need to cover my head in order to respect their cultural customs and not invite unwanted stares from men. Apparently attracting "unwanted stares" is an extremely shameful thing over there. I'd hate for a Yemeni woman to walk past a typical American construction site! All kidding aside, and without going to extremes, this process of learning about Muslim culture has prompted me to examine my own concept of modesty. I can feel the holy spirit counseling me through this process as I lean into him more and more with decisions having to do with modesty and overall purity.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Please continue to pray for my mom's health, and now my health, as well as for peace and wisdom regarding my condo situation, and for final fundraising dollars to come in. God has been so faithful and has provided so much already.

Please begin to pray, if you haven't already, for the Omani people I will meet during the first 12 days of my trip. They are known to be generous and hospitable people. Pray for God's will for our trip to be done. We found out a few days ago that our request for a booth at the annual Muscat Festival was denied. We don't know the reason, but know that God must have something else planned for us to do. Pray that God will send visions of Christ in dreams in the upcoming weeks to prepare them for meeting us and possibly hearing the truth about Jesus for the first time.

Recent studies show that 50-60% of Muslims who come to know Christ do so after having a dream about him, often before they've ever heard of him or thought much about him, other than what the Qu'ran teaches that he is one of many prophets but not the Son of God. Often they have never heard the gospel message of truth, but their dream affects them in a way that they begin seeking the truth about Jesus, or they see someone wearing a cross and are compelled to ask about it, or they start seeking out a Bible (which is not easy in most Muslim countries) to see what it says about Jesus. Sometimes the answers to their search take weeks and sometimes years or decades for them to find the truth. I heard several first-hand accounts of this from speakers at the Islam class I took and from a middle-eastern missionary who spoke at Austin Stone. It's a fascinating phenomenon well documented by international mission organizations throughout the world and is obvious evidence of God working supernaturally in Muslim cultures to bring them closer to him.

Matthew 15: 16-17
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being."