August Prayer Letter

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, August 8, 2009

Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

How many times we have been reminded of the truth of this verse, amen? So often, we can get caught up looking at circumstances, past history, our own abilities, our resources, our time and our energy and then begin to set our expectations within those limits. In doing this, we are limiting and doubting our Lord Jesus that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think and Whose ways are so far higher than our ways. This month we saw the Lord provide us with unexpected meetings, unexpected contacts and unexpected support. We were again reminded who owns the cattle on a thousand hills! I spent a good part of my time this month making calls to hundreds of churches for consideration to come present our burden to for the Philippines. This process is time consuming and can be at times disheartening as you talk to countless answering machines or hear about challenges being faced around the country. Yet in doing this we are reminded of how God is in control and knows exactly how He will get us to the islands, it also reminds us of the tremendous need for prayer in every aspect of our ministry. As this was the call placed on our lives by God, we know that He has ordained the means of getting us there. As it says in Isaiah 1:19, if ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. So, as things we’re moving slowly on the phone this past month, God made it abundantly clear that He can open doors in unexpected ways. In our time on deputation, we have not seen a month like this where God just introduced us to pastor after pastor that resulted in the scheduling of meetings as well as some great fellowship. Even when there was a gap in the schedule, the Lord led us to the right churches to visit and blessed us with many opportunities to serve and to share our burden.

We spent the last month between Louisiana and Texas and had some great meetings. The Lord again provided every need, sustained us and our vehicle through many miles and much heat and brought us closer to the field. We saw the Lord move in hearts at the altar this month and after the services people often came and shared what God did for them. All I can say is that God is gracious to move in our lives much less allow us to see how He moves in the hearts of others! We had the privilege to go soul winning with different churches and rejoice in the power of the gospel. I would like to ask for prayer for Kathy who was raised at the very church I was knocking doors with but was never saved and is now married to a Mormon and has two small boys. I plead with her out of the scriptures for quite a while and challenged her to study and seek the truth as the souls of her entire family hang in the balance. While we pray God would burden us for every soul in such a way, it seems that some just end up heavier on our hearts and this was one of those times.

On a lighter note, my kids only exposure to Armadillos this month was on the side of the road (as I was warned about) but they have been having a great time and God has given them some wonderful encouragement at all the right times. This next month they will get to see Grandma and Papa again as we will head to New York in mid August for more meetings for about a month. Please pray for safety on the road and that we would continue to see God increase our faith and exceed our expectations for His honour and glory. May the Lord bless your ministry and and continuously increase your impact on this entire world for the sake of souls to the glory of Jesus Christ. Thank you again for your faithful prayer and support.

Because He Lives,

Aaron & Stephanie Putney
Autumn, Anna, Sarah and Emma