Finishing Strong

Good Morning!

All is well with the team and, in fact, yesterday they had one of their best days yet of work. Tim said the Africans and North Americans really united as a team yesterday as they worked. The two teams came together in a way that, he said, was really a profound difference from how they were working. What an answer to prayer!

Isn't it neat to hear how the Holy Spirit is uniting their efforts and changing the impact of their work? This picture is of Deo on the left, head of ALARM Burundi, along with the Governor of the province (man laying brick). The President of Burundi will be visiting the work site to see the team and thank them for their work.

Everything else is going really well. The kids team was able to have some fun with the children yesterday. They were able to do some evangelism and that went very well. Everyone is feeling good, no one has gotten sick. This is such great news because typically with a new environment, different food and just the emotional and physical stress your body goes through, it's easy to come down with an upset stomach.

As this team is finishing up their last day of work, pray that it would be a strong finish. Ask the Lord to give them strength and endurance to complete the task with perseverance.

While this team is finishing up, we have another team of 14 preparing to leave Dallas tomorrow for Burundi. We need your prayers over this team, too. The enemy is already working hard on a few of them. One girl has a newly discovered stress fracture, one girl has an eye infection, and one of the guys said he was sick yesterday. None of these things would cause them to forfeit going, but it is evidence of spiritual warfare that distract, discourage and test us. Overall, this team is in incredibly high spirits and very excited to go, but we would appreciate your prayers as they prepare to leave and work through challenging situations.

Prayer for today:

- A strong finish for team 1. Team unity, pure motives, strength and perseverance. They are vulnerable to the enemy as they become increasingly fatigued.

- Pray for the President's visit and that we would continue to have favor with the leadership of Burundi. What an incredible experience for the team!

- Open doors to share Christ. Pray for that haven't had the opportunity to share and for those that haven't heard.

- Protection and healing of team 2. Stress fracture, eye infection and sickness. Pray for the Lord to be quick to restore their bodies to good health. Protection for those that are healthy.

- Pray for the Lord to prepare the hearts and minds of team 2 and for those they will encounter to share his Good News.

- Praise God for the work he's done with uniting the Africans and North Americans and really bringing them together in such an impactful way! Praise him for keeping everyone on team 1 healthy.

Thanks for your prayers!

Blessings,
Kelli Coblentz

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18