aug07

August 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than you ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” Isaiah 55:9. This verse is such a blessing. We realize that we cannot count on our own wisdom, but in everything acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths. We thank the Lord for our deputation process. We have learned and are learning more and more about trusting the Lord. After every incident in our life, we look and see God’s mighty hand and we are in awe of his love for each of us. We also see His loving hand opening door after door to help us reach the people of Venezuela. There have been several pastors who have called to ask us if we would like to be apart of their mission’s conferences, and have had several invitations to be apart of meetings that we never knew about, but God directed our path. We have said to each other over and over, “Praise God, only He could do this!”

We have had a very busy last several weeks. In the last part of July we went up into Indiana, where we were able to present our ministry in two different churches, and this week we had another meeting in Ohio. The Lord has been so good to us in providing our every need and we know that the Lord has everything under His control.

One of the greatest blessings to us is going to churches where people tell us that they have been praying for us. It is also a blessing when people pick up the prayer burden and commit to pray for us from that time on. Your prayers are definitely coveted and appreciated. Here are a few of our prayer request:

For Venezuela. Please keep praying for the Venezuelan government. Pray that Venezuela will remain an open country and that the jungle ministries will open again. Please pray for the missionaries there carrying on the work that they will have discernment. Please also pray for the people. Pray that their hearts will be open toward the Lord and that they will be ready to hear the gospel.
For meetings. Please pray that our calendar will continue to fill up and that we will be able to keep our wheels moving. Our desire is to be in Venezuela July of 2009. We currently have around 17% support.
For our local church. Leaving our home church has left a few positions that still need to be filled. We appreciate our church for their support of us, but we would love to see someone come and fill in those positions!
For safety. We have traveled many miles over this past summer, and thank the Lord for the safety that He has given us. Please pray for continued safety as we travel.
For faithfulness. We ask the Lord to help us to be discerning and wise in our lives. Our hearts desire is that God would be able to depend on the Sykes family to completely obey Him in all things.

Thanks again for all of those who have shown us so much hospitality and love. We are truly humbled by your generosity, and continue to count it a blessing to be apart of God’s wonderful family.

Because He lives,

Jason, Sarah, Samuel, and Luke Sykes