Urgent Prayer Need

The following is an e-mail we just sent out this morning. We appreciate your prayers.

Dear Praying Friends,
We apologize for not getting an update out sooner. We are working on our Spring prayer letter which we hope to finish soon.

We have a more urgent prayer need right now that we want to share with you. We don’t want to go into all the details but we need prayer for a young single gal, “M”, who has visited our cell group and is a co-worker of one of our members. She was living on the mainland with her mother in a very sheltered existence (her mother had taken her out of grade school to have her help make and sell blankets). Her mother got cancer and died recently and “M” decided to come here to get work. Upon her arrival, she was not met at the airport by the people she was to work with and so took a taxi to a neighborhood where she was told that she could find a room to rent. After walking with her suitcase for much of that day, she found a house where the lady rented her a room. It turned out to be a very bad situation as the lady’s brother (whom she believed at the time was the lady’s husband) began to show inappropriate interest in her and became very possessive of “M”. We found out about this when she tried to come to cell group for the second time and he would not allow her. Our group immediately began praying for her and seeking how we could help her. The family, who had invited her, ended up taking her into their own home to help her escape such a potentially dangerous situation. (In reality, having been so sheltered, “M” probably did not really understand how dangerous it was.) Tuesday night, while we were meeting at the house to plan for the next cell group meeting, the lady from whom she had rented the room came by the house and asked for “M” to come out and talk with her in the car. “M” went to talk with the lady and she drove off with her. This poor girl was taken to the man and spent that evening being violated by him. Please, pray for her. This situation grieves us all so deeply and we fully believe that the Lord brought her into our paths so we can minister to her in such a horrible time in her life. Right now, all she wants to do is get her money from work and go back to her hometown which could be another dangerous situation as well since she has no family to be looking out for her. Please pray for wisdom as we minister to “M” and most importantly that she will accept Christ into her heart who is the only one who can truly begin to heal the wounds she has. Thank you so much for praying with us!
By His Grace,
Phil and Pattie

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
Isaiah 61:1-4