Grieving ravaged lives

Friends,
Thank you for praying.

In the last post I asked for prayer for my time in Asheville to be fruitful, and a great time visiting friends.  It certainly has been.  Though there was a lot of people I would have loved to see and did not, I got to see several of them at the Potluck and at other meetings through the day.  That was great!  Many people were encouraging and it was great to see them.

Later this evening,I also had some time with two special friends, whom I love and who it was great to hang out with.  One I have not seen in years.  It was not easy.  They are no doing well however.  

At the risk of being mello-dramatic, sometimes I wonder if I am suffering in trauma...I wonder if I am traumatized.  I am certainly grieving a serious loss.

Tonight I sat with two men I used to hang out with when I lived in Asheville.  These are men I have prayed with.  These are men I have read the Bible with.  These are men I have been involved with in ministry.  I would love to go back and re-live some of those times.  I would like to understand them more.  I would like to know why today they seem to be worse off than I found them.  Now in their 30s, their lives are ravaged by sin.  They carry around heavy chains of shame.  Now we all carry stuff around, and we are all wrestling with sin, but tonight got me thinking, as I do from time to time, about the many in my who somehow I thought that God had indeed rescued them and pulled them out of their depravity into something glorious, I see them being ruined, and in some cases even rejecting their first love.  I grieve the tragedies of broken marriages, sabotaging addictions, and a full on turning away from the sovereign, self sustaining, righteous and lovingly merciful father of the universe and Jesus Christ the son sent to seek out and rescue the lost from rightful vengeance for their offences. My mind is flooded with people who have had great chances to chose life with the father by forsaking their own, but have preferred idols instead of God.  May he have mercy on us all that we may repent and receive his mercy.

I heard some harsh and defensive words this evening, nestled between the laughter and the hugs, and they are haunting me. I must weigh them for their truth.  I asked the Lord to defend me from the daggers and convict me of the truth.

Thank you for interceding for my grief.

Prayer for asheville visit and Rainbow Gathering June 24- July 6

• Pray for Amigos Bible study, that Danny and Thor, whom we have handed it off to will be able to carry it well throughout the summer. May they feel the goodness of the Lord as they struggle through the challenges they face.
• Pray for pancakes in the park throughout the summer, that those running volunteering will be wise, safe, and loving.
• Pray for a continued openness in the park for those there to receive our volunteers.
• Pray for the health of Phil, who needs a hernia operation and housing.  He is a Christian, vietnam vet with several health problems, and needs to find is way inside.  So pray for his case with SSI, that he may find a way to be cared for weather through that case, or through some other means.
• Pray for me, and my relations with the team as my time setting up personal administrative infrastructure has pulled me a way from a lot of relational moments.
• Pray for open conversations and wise communication as we are sent out as sheep among wolves.  Help us to be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves.  
• Pray for innerworking dynamics of our pancake kitchen team in the woods.  There is an intern from the boston team who will needs a special grace as he encounters the darkness of rainbow for the first time.  
• Pray for my time in Asheville.  It will be quick, but I pray that it is a good time of seeing friends and ministry partners.
• On Sunday, pray for the Outer Circle Rainbow pancake kitchen planning team meeting.  Pray for peace and wisdom in handling logistics.
• Pray for our safety in the woods that Jesus will guard our eyes, hearts, and minds.

Introduction

My Dear Prayer Partners,

Thank you all for visiting this simple Jared and The Outer Circle prayer posting site.  Even though you may get a prayer message  from me every  week, if I can keep it up, I wanted a way to post as needed, but did not want to clutter your mailbox with a continuous flow of prayer concerns.  So I am going to try to use this space as the spot where I can continually journal prayer concerns as they come up.

I don't know how this is going to work.  (I confess, I am actually a bit nervous about knowing how and what to share with you, and when.)  You can begin by praying for the development of this site.  May the Lord establish the work of our hands, as we endeavour  to continue on in the good works God has created for us in Christ.  I am wired to be a designer, and that often means I make things too complicated in the name of simplicity.  So even though I must keep this a simple integration into our lives as we go to the Lord together, I hope I will find a way to post continual needs in one frame, praise reports in another, and use the main blog roll for imminent need.

Finally, there is the issue of prayer coverage.  I hope to have everyday covered by the continual prayer support of you, my prayer partners.  So I am asking everyone to commit to a 1 or more days a week or a month when you will read my emails, and perhaps visit this site.  I will be putting a calendar together so I can know who is praying for me when.  You are also welcome to call me up on the days you are praying, know that it is not necessary.  I am looking forward to correspondence with my prayer team, but am already seeing an inordinant amount of administrative time going into such communication.  With that said, would you let me know you will be praying for me, and when you are doing so, so I can calendar that and know who is interceding for us before the Lord each day of the month? 

Thank you
-Jared Dunham